Ex-min Anil Deshmukh’s aide gets spl court relief in corruption case

First India Bureau Mumbai: A special court on Friday granted bail to Kundan Shinde, an aide of former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, in a corruption case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Special CBI judge SH Gwalani allowed the bail plea of Shinde, who worked as a personal assistant to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Deshmukh, said Shinde’s lawyer Aniket Nikam.

In June 2021, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Shinde in connection with a money laundering case. Later, the CBI took his custody in a corruption case. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Wednesday allowed Shinde’s bail plea in the money laundering case. Other accused in the case include Anil Deshmukh and dismissed Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze. Deshmukh is out on bail, while Waze continues to be in judicial

‘THANK YOU’ BMC

custody.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in March 2021 alleged that Deshmukh, the then home minister, had given a

Kundan Shinde used to work as a PA to the former Maha Home minister target to police officers to collect Rs100 crore per month from restaurants and bars.

Waze, who was arrested in the case of an explosives-laden vehicle found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai last year, had also levelled similar allegations.

The high court in April 2021 directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary inquiry.

Based on the inquiry, the central agency had registered an FIR against Deshmukh and others for alleged corruption and misuse of official power.

Muddy water to flow in Mulund households for a month

Recently, the civic body alerted residents of boiling the drinking water from January 20 “until further notice”

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Over 15,000 households in Mulund West are receiving muddy water from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) since the last two weeks and they may have to stick to the boil-and-consume routine for over a month from now, the time sought to repair the damage. Recently, the civic body alerted residents of boiling the drinking water from January 20 “until further notice”

P Velrasu, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), said, “We are in the process of appointing a contractor and it will take a month to repair the deep tunnel, as it is required to be isolated

RAIGAD ZP TO SPEND `7.61 CR TO TIDE OVER WATER SCARCITY ing the quality of water continuously by taking samples from different areas. We have noticed that it is improving gradually.”

The Raigad Zilla Parishad will spend Rs7.61 crore over the next two to three months to alleviate water scarcity in 1,238 villages, a senior official said on Friday. The figure includes Rs80 lakh that will be spent to remove sludge from wells to deepen them, Raigad ZP chief executive officer Kiran Patil said. “Water will be supplied through tankers on trucks and bullock carts to 258 villages and 688 wadis, for which a sum of Rs3.44 crore has been earmarked. We will also spend Rs1,19 crore to repair 22 items related to water projects here,” Patil said. Patil said 207 borewells will be installed at a cost of Rs1.19 crore and 77 will be repaired, for which Rs27.49 lakh will be spent.

The water to Mumbai and suburbs tions against me and Shiv Sena. He should prove his charge or else apologize. I have sent a legal notice to him

WESTERN RAILWAY TO TWEAK AC TRAIN SERVICES through my lawyer Sarthak Shetty. Jai Maharashtra,” Raut said in a tweet.

Rane, one of the bitter critics of former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his faction of the Shiv Sena, has been engaged in a war of words with Raut. Of late, the verbal duel between the two leaders became uglier and more personal.

VBA CHIEF SLAMS UNION BUDGET, ATTACKS CENTRE

Mumbai: Western Railway (WR) is tweaking AC train services on the basis of commuter patterns and crowding. Operating 79 such services across the city, the service is quite popular among commuters. “We are working on a plan to tweak services based on commuter pattern data and crowding in such a way that it will benefit more passengers,” WR General Manager Ashok Kumar Mishra said. He also said that the WR had demanded 40 new AC rakes as a part of a long-term plan.

Pune: Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar slammed the Union Budget for 2023-24 saying it would increase dissatisfaction among citizens. He also targeted the Modi government for silence on allegations of stock and accounting irregularities against the Adani group by a US-based research firm. Ambedkar said state-run entities like the Life Insurance Corporation and State Bank of India had invested heavily in the Adani group, which is worrisome.

USE IPHONES TO AVOID PHONE TAPPING, RECORDING: DANVE TO PARTY WORKERS comes from the Bhandup Water Treatment Plant (WTP), which runs through a water tunnel underground passing through Thane.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC and Leader of the Opposition Ambadas Danve has asked the party’s office bearers and leaders from his region of Aurangabad to only use iPhones to avoid phone-tapping and recording. “The main leaders must use iPhones. This is what I have told the office bearers in Aurangabad district. The party hasn’t given any such instructions. Sometimes things we say to people can be misinterpreted. People record conversations and then leak it, so it’s better to use iPhones for safety reasons,” Danve said.

An illegal borewell dug in Thane has damaged the tunnel, stated a note by the BMC. To ensure that the water from its source in Gundavali reaches the WTP, as a stopgap the civic body is using the pipeline which used to supply filtered water to Mulund. This has led to unfiltered water coming to the households.

SENIOR CITIZEN LOSES `90,000 IN CARD SWIPE FRAUD

Navi Mumbai: A 60-yearold resident of Koparkhairane lost Rs90,000 in debit card swap fraud at an ATM in Janta Market in Turbhe. The complainant was trying to withdraw money from an ATM in Janta Market but was facing issues. An unidentified man, on the pretext of helping him, asked for his pin and card. Later the complainant received a withdrawal notification of Rs90,000 from his account. Upon realising that his card had been exchanged, he approached the police.

Thane Unit Chief Appointed Bjp Spokesperson

Thane: Niranjan Davkhare, the chief of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Thane unit, was appointed as the spokesperson of the party’s state unit. He was appointed by Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, a party release said. Davkhare is a Member of the Legislative Council from the Konkan graduates’ constituency for the past 11 years. He is the son of the former deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Vasant Davkhare. Niranjan Davkhare’s constituency comprises 55 talukas in the state’s Konkan region.

Crucial Read

CIDCO: EODB

PORTAL AIDS ZERO

PENDENCY TARGET

Navi Mumbai: The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has achieved the target of zero pendency for the services provided through the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) portal. This feat was achieved by clearing the files related to the services provided through the EODB portal. CIDCO has also established an Ease of Doing Business Cell to provide free guidance to the citizens for the use of the EODB portal.

GOWARDHAN RAISES COW MILK

PRICE BY ` 2/LTR

Mumbai: Gowardhan, which is one of the largest private dairies in the country, has increased the price of milk by `2 per litre. The change will come into effect from February 2. With this, the Gowardhan Gold variant will now cost `56 per litre as compared to the prior `54 per litre. Gowardhan sells more than 2.5 lakh litres of cow milk daily in Mumbai. Chairman of Parag Milk Foods, Devendra Shah, attributed the price hikes to “the rise in costs of energy, packaging, logistics and cattle feed.”

MMRDA TO PREP

BLUEPRINT FOR $250 BN ECONOMY

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will be preparing a blueprint for making the region a $250 billion economy in the next five years. The authority called for expression of interest from various consultants for the same. SVR Srinivas, the MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner, said, “The state is looking to have a $1 trillion economy. If the state has to reach that target, the MMR has to produce the growth rate.” The authorities plan to encourage commercial establishments in neighbouring areas of the city.