This was Shinde’s first meeting with PM Modi after the Cockroach Janta Party-led student protests

Mumbai: Political circles were once again rife with speculation after DCM Eknath Shinde visited Delhi on Friday and met PM Narendra Modi in Parliament. This was Shinde’s first meeting with PM Modi after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student protests and came ahead of the possible Union Cabinet reshuffle and the introduction of the delimitation bill in Parliament. The meeting gains significance as Supreme Court (SC) is currently hearing Shiv Sena’s name and symbol case. Sena functionaries said PM Modi was meeting NDA constituent parties and Shinde too met PM as chief of Shiv Sena, which now has 13 Lok Sabha MPs. The functionary said PM Modi also met 6 Sena MPs who joined Shinde recently from Sena (UBT) and discussed issues related to their constituencies over breakfast on Friday. Sena functionaries said that PM Modi had a breakfast meeting with other newly joined NDA MPs, including TMC rebel MPs who have joined NCPI and newly joined Sena MPs who switched over from Sena (UBT). PM Modi is said to have assured that ‘NDA was one parivaar (family) and that he was standing with each one of them’.Political circles were once again rife with speculation after DCM Eknath Shinde visited Delhi on Friday and met PM Narendra Modi in Parliament. This was Shinde’s first meeting with PM Modi after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student protests and came ahead of the possible Union Cabinet reshuffle and the introduction of the delimitation bill in Parliament. The meeting gains significance as Supreme Court (SC) is currently hearing Shiv Sena’s name and symbol case. Sena functionaries said PM Modi was meeting NDA constituent parties and Shinde too met PM as chief of Shiv Sena, which now has 13 Lok Sabha MPs. The functionary said PM Modi also met 6 Sena MPs who joined Shinde recently from Sena (UBT) and discussed issues related to their constituencies over breakfast on Friday. Sena functionaries said that PM Modi had a breakfast meeting with other newly joined NDA MPs including TMC rebel MPs who have joined NCPI and newly joined Sena MPs who switched over from Sena (UBT). PM Modi is said to have assured that ‘NDA was one parivaar (family) and that he was standing with each one of them’.“I met Prime Minister. Whenever Parliament is in session, I come here to meet our MPs. PM gave me time to meet him, and we discussed Maharashtra’s development and other related issues… I am happy that the six newly elected Shiv Sena MPs from NDA were invited by Prime Minister for tea today. All our MPs are happy about this. During my meeting with PM, he also mentioned this. We discussed the development of their constituencies and the support they would receive from both the state and centre for development projects,” Shinde said.“The meeting was a cordial one… We discussed matters regarding Maharashtra’s development and the rainfall situation. It is a matter of happiness that PM personally invited the six new Shiv Sena MPs, who are now part of NDA, for tea today. All our MPs are pleased about this, and Prime Minister himself mentioned it during our meeting,” Shinde said.Shinde also took a dig at the opposition for seeking Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation. “Parliament is running. There should be a discussion in it. First, they made a demand for resignation. Dharmendra Pradhan already gave his resignation. Now, the agitators, the youth, are busy with their own work, but the opposition, even though Parliament is running, is still not ready to discuss. Govt is ready to discuss; govt is with the youth, and it was by respecting and honouring the youth that Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. But these people just want to do politics in the name of the youth,” Shinde said.

The magnets from the child’s toy

Mumbai: What appeared to be a stomach infection in a two-year-old boy turned out to be a medical emergency after two tiny toy magnets, which had been swallowed separately, locked onto each other inside his intestines, tearing holes in his bowel and forcing emergency surgery.Swallowing foreign objects is among the commonest reasons young children are taken to emergency departments of hospitals. Coins remain the object most frequently swallowed, while button batteries are considered the most dangerous because of the chemical burns they can cause.However, as the child’s parents didn’t suspect he had swallowed magnets, they took him to Surya Hospital in Santa Cruz for an OPD consultation for fever, intermittent abdominal pain, vomiting and loose stools. His symptoms initially pointed to gastroenteritis, but because of the severity of his pain, doctors conducted an ultrasound that suggested acute appendicitis. He was then rushed to the operating theatre.What surgeons found instead came as a complete surprise. “The abdomen was full of pus. As we were suctioning it out, two tiny magnets suddenly got stuck to the metal suction catheter,” recalled paediatric surgeon Dr Satej Mhasker, who led the surgery.Once the two magnets were found, doctors realised they had probably been swallowed at different times. The magnets had attracted each other across two loops of the intestine, trapping the bowel wall between them. The constant magnetic pull eventually led to perforations.The minimally invasive procedure was then converted into an open operation to repair the two holes—one in the small intestine and another in the caecum, part of the large intestine. Both perforations were repaired, the contaminated abdominal cavity was cleaned and the child recovered well. The operation took place on July 8 and he was discharged a week later.The mystery was solved only after the surgery. While looking through toys at home, the parents said they discovered one containing similar magnets. They brought it to Dr Mhasker during a follow-up visit last week, confirming the source of the swallowed magnets.The magnets involved were made of neodymium, a rare-earth metal used to manufacture some of the world’s strongest permanent magnets found in electric vehicle motors, smartphones, headphones, MRI scanners and computer hard drives. They are also used in magnetic building sets, puzzle balls and other toys.“These magnets are tiny, but their magnetic strength is five to 30 times greater than ordinary magnets,” Dr Mhasker said. “They are often concealed inside plastic toys and can come loose if the toy breaks.”Several European countries have tightened safety standards and made warning labels mandatory for high-powered magnetic toys. In 2021, the UK’s NHS had called for restrictions after reporting that 65 children required emergency surgery over a three-year period after swallowing neodymium magnets.“In India, some of these toys are imported or sold cheap, and safety standards may not be followed,” Dr Mhasker said.

Andheri GRP have registered a case of molestation, criminal intimidation and mischief in a public place against the accused Mohammad Rizwan Ansari

Mumbai: After a video of a ‘drunk’ man hurling expletives and assaulting a woman for sleeping on a local train seat went viral on social media, Andheri GRP tracked down the accused and arrested him on Friday.A case of molestation, criminal intimidation and mischief in a public place has been registered against Mohammad Rizwan Ansari, a salesman from Govandi.The incident occurred in a second-class general compartment of a Western Railway local between Jogeshwari and Andheri stations on Wednesday, around 5pm.The woman, a Nepalese national, was sleeping on a seat when Ansari, who was allegedly drunk, got into the compartment at Jogeshwari station. One of the female commuters filmed the incident where Ansari could be seen yelling at the woman for sleeping on the seat. He also hit her, but co-passengers did not intervene. There appeared to be sufficient seating space in the compartment from the video, but Ansari kept hurling abuses at the woman. After the altercation, he walked away. When the woman warned him against raising his voice, Ansari returned, took out his belt to threaten her and hurled abuses.Police said they identified and tracked down Ansari on the basis of the video clip and CCTV footage from railway stations. Police said Ansari tried to mislead them by claiming that the victim was male and that he had alerted Wadala railway cops about the altercation on his way home.The detection was made by senior inspector Sachin Gavate, supervised by DCP Sunita Salunke-Thakre and commissioner Rakesh Kalasagar.In June, 21-year-old Mayank Lohar was allegedly stabbed to death by a co-traveller, Roshan Suvarna, over an argument about keeping the train compartment door closed amid rain. In a similar incident, in January, college lecturer Alok Kumar Singh was allegedly murdered by a co-traveller, Omkar Shinde, over a trivial argument about alighting at the station.

The caterer operating these facilities at IIT-Bombay was served a notice recommending corrective measures.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has issued notices to two mess facilities at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, directing them to stop operations after inspectors found they were functioning without the required permissions and registrations, news agency PTI reported.According to the FDA, inspections of the mess facilities in Hostel No. 1 and 2 at the Powai campus revealed that the operators did not possess the necessary licences and registrations. They were subsequently directed to cease operations.PTI reported that inspections of the mess facilities in Hostel No. 12, 13 and 14 also revealed certain deficiencies. The caterer operating these facilities was served a notice recommending corrective measures.The action comes as part of the Maharashtra FDA’s state-wide food safety enforcement drive under newly-appointed commissioner Tukaram Mundhe.As part of the drive, the FDA has also suspended the licences of several eateries and restaurants across the state over issues ranging from poor hygiene to lack of mandatory permissions.The suspended establishments include M/s Eat Nino Pvt Ltd, Shop No. 10, Sarvoday Bhuvan, Gokhale Road, Dadar; M/s Jai Maa Kali Dhaba, SVP Nagar, MHADA, Andheri (West); M/s A J Hospitality (House of Maharashtra), Linking Road, Santacruz (West); and M/s South India Dosa Corner, Kurla (West), the FDA said.In addition, notices directing three other food business operators to stop operations were issued during the enforcement drive.The FDA also suspended the licence of Punjab Grill, a restaurant in Navi Mumbai.According to PTI, the regulator inspected 63 restaurants between August 4 and August 6. Of these, 38 establishments were issued notices directing them to improve hygiene and comply with other food safety norms, while the licences of seven restaurants were suspended.(With agency inputs)

BMC’s Universal Footpath Policy 2023 modified

Mumbai: To push forward with its ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign launched earlier this week to remove all encroachments from footpaths, BMC has dropped certain provisions of Universal Footpath Policy 2023 that allowed some structures to be set up and vehicles to be parked on pavements on a temporary basis “in isolated and rare cases”.The modifications are part of a set of guidelines issued for implementation of the campaign. The guidelines retain the provision that all forms of footpath encroachments must be removed following the due process of law, but they remove detailed clauses governing permissions for parking and temporary structures.The modifications apply to footpaths that have been identified as per these guidelines.Listing informal commercial activities such as vending stalls, hawkers, feeder pillar boxes of electricity and telephone utilities, and parking of vehicles as “common but undesirable features”, the guidelines said these sometimes make footpaths inaccessible/unusable. “For assuring increased comfort, uninterrupted access, optimum footpath width; encroachment of all forms on footpath shall be removed by following due process of law. The subsequent text covering temporary parking on footpaths shall stand omitted,” stated a section.Under the 2023 policy, parking on footpaths was described as dangerous for pedestrians, but it allowed licences or permissions in isolated and rare cases for a maximum of 15 days with reasons recorded in writing and with the prior approval of the additional municipal commissioner. The policy prescribed a minimum 1.2m width for pedestrians in such cases.These provisions now stand deleted.The 2023 policy also said that no temporary permission should be granted to erect structures on footpaths without the prior approval of the additional municipal commissioner or the municipal commissioner, while requiring a minimum 1.5m width for pedestrian movement. This, too, has been omitted in the modification.The detailed six-page guidelines also assign responsibility across departments for making footpaths obstruction-free. Licence and encroachment officials will be responsible for removing unauthorised structures and hawkers, enforcing a zero-tolerance approach towards shopkeepers displaying goods on footpaths, and removing unauthorised banners, hoardings and advertisements.Phase 1 of the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign will cover 320km of footpaths. BMC chief Ashwini Bhide, along with senior civic officers, inspected footpaths in high footfall areas of Andheri West and Goregaon on Thursday, with priority given to S V Road-Ram Ganesh Gadkari Marg stretch leading to Cooper Hospital that seeks heavy pedestrian and ambulance movement.

The Bombay high court has framed a timeline for the criminal prosecution

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday fast-tracked their trial and granted bail to Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre and three other accused who were behind bars for allegedly assaulting doctors, including a woman, at Dombivli’s Shastri Nagar Municipal Hospital on July 6. All four accused are to remain outside Maharashtra till the criminal trial begins.Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad imposed the stringent condition after Mhatre’s senior counsel Aabad Ponda submitted that for his release, the 73-year-old, who has “learnt a lesson”, has offered to reside in any other state till the filing of chargesheet.The four accused, who were housed in a Kalyan jail, after release will shift to Goa temporarily. Mhatre gave the address of a north Goa resort, while Ramesh Pawar, Pramod alias Prakash Nikam and Akshay Karande, represented by advocate Sana Raees Khan, would be at a guesthouse, not far. “Mhatre will have company,” the ACJ said in jest.The HC framed a timeline for the criminal prosecution. It directed that the voice and video samples be sent to the state forensic lab in three working days. The report is to be submitted in 15 days from or by Aug 22, post which, in 10 days, the chargesheet is to be filed, and then within five days, the court should frame charges — the last pre-trial step. The HC directed the state to appoint within 15 days a lawyer with “large experience” as special public prosecutor as the case is “very important’’ and specifically directed that such SPP should not be replaced without the court’s nod.The endeavour should be to complete trial in three months once charges are framed, the HC said.ACJ Ghuge, dictating the order in open court, said, “In a democracy an elected representative is by the people and for the people. If the elected representative is accused of assaulting his own voters, such a situation is bound to dent the fabric of democracy in this country and erode public confidence.”Police had arrested Mhatre on July 8 for allegedly slapping and punching a doctor and assaulting a resident medical officer. A local court granted him bail on July 14, while he was in a hospital. He was released, but on July 18, the HC took up the matter suo motu and put a stay on the bail order for all four, directed Mhatre to surrender. He did so on July 19.The HC had, in its July 18 order, said, “…in the labour ward of Shastri Nagar Municipal Hospital, Dombivli, a lady doctor and two male doctors were physically brutally assaulted by persons, namely, Ramesh Mhatre, Ramesh Pawar, Pramod alias Prakash Nikam and Akshay Karande… There has been an uproar from the masses… to the beating of doctors on duty.’’ And had said the crime was “more grave because a lady doctor was also assaulted and it is reported that she has resigned out of fear”.Senior counsel S U Kamdar for Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had given a strike call and withdrawn it after the HC suo motu took up the matter, said the female doctor as well as the first informant doctor, be given police protection. Both have tendered their resignations, which the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation hadn’t accepted, the HC was informed. The court asked the municipal corporation to ensure they are protected.Public prosecutor Shishir Hirey, on videoconferencing, and additional public prosecutor K V Saste said chargesheet would be filed soon, but three witness statements are yet to be recorded before a magistrate and would be done soon.Senior counsel Ashok Mundargi had earlier submitted that the trial be expedited to ensure that common citizens are assured that the system works, especially in high-profile cases. The HC thus directed its registry to appoint, in a week, a judge from Kalyan courts to preside over a fast-track court in the case.State government shall ensure that adequate police protection is granted to the victims and the witnesses whenever required during the investigation or the trial, the HC directed.Bail conditions imposed:– The accused cannot tamper with the investigation and won’t influence the witnesses, before or during trial when they are permitted to stay in their own homes– ⁠They won’t leave India without prior permission of the court– ⁠Mhatre will surrender passport, other three said they don’t have a passport– ⁠ ⁠They should not commit any similar offence and should not prolong or delay the trial– Neither the defence nor prosecution should seek unnecessary or trivial adjournments