News from the city that never sleeps
What's the story
State government and the BMC were pulled up by the Bombay High Court for dragging their feet on implementing court orders. Salman Khan in a surprise move teemed up with BMC for a cleanliness campaign. Mumbai is inundated with new projects with civic polls round the corner. To know more about this and why school principals no longer teach, tap in!
Legal troubles
Zakir Naik-run school may shut soon
Islamic International School run by radical preacher, Zakir Naik's foundation is facing an imminent shutdown. Children's parents are worried as it leaves them in a lurch in the middle of the academic-year. The school is unregistered and therefore "illegal" and has been accused of brainwashing students to stay away from "un-Islamic-environment". Education minister has vowed to not let students suffer due to the shutdown.
Cleanliness campaign
Salman Khan lends support to BMC
Salman Khan will be the face of BMC's 'anti-open-defecation' campaign in Mumbai and his foundation 'Being Human' will donate five mobile toilets to be placed at Bandstand; Khan had recently expressed concern over health-hazards due to open-defecation. There are 117 major 'open-defecation' spots and BMC plans to address this by cleanliness drives and building toilets. BMC believes Khan's support would enhance their awareness drive.
Inflation
Parking charges at airports see an uptick
Cars and vehicles parked at domestic and international airports will now shell out Rs.20-30 more. The revised minimum parking fee is now Rs.130 for 30 minutes; for tourist buses charges have risen from Rs.400 to Rs.500. Travellers and tourist-vehicle owners were annoyed at the increase as they found even existing charges exorbitant. Airport authorities said charges were reviewed after 2 years due to inflation.
Survey
School principals too overburdened to teach
A recent survey indicate that 80% of school principals have no time to teach. 55% of principals were consumed with administrative/HR work; 28% spent most of their time planning academics whereas 10% mostly handled parents. Survey findings indicated that 63% of principals didn't feel ready for international quality-accreditation of their schools while a massive 82% wasn't even aware of school-evaluation framework in India.
Weather
High Court pulls up BMC
Bombay HC pulled up BMC for non-compliance of the court's order. The court's reprimand is concerning the delay on BMC's part to finalize a site for a doppler radar weather system in Mumbai. BMC chief has been instructed to convene a meeting urgently to approve and handover the site within 8-weeks. A PIL was filed after heavy-rains in June caused major disruptions in Mumbai.
Do you know?
Doppler weather radar sytem
The existing Doppler radar weather system in Mumbai is used to study cloud formation around Mumbai and can give warnings of heavy rainfall up to six hours in advance. Mumbai in the past has been hit with cloud-bursts that paralyzed the city.
Vasai
Vasai station's escalator gathers dust
The escalator at Vasai station has been non-operational since August. Authorities said frequent power cuts were responsible for the problem as the escalator malfunctioned after every power-cut or voltage-fluctuation. In a recent meeting of top officials, training locals to repair the escalator was discussed but no time-frame was given. Railways minister, Suresh Prabhu, had inaugurated the escalator worth Rs.1 crore in July this year.
Police
Court raps state for CCTV non-installation
The Bombay High Court came down heavily on the state for failing to implement its order. In 2014, HC had directed the government to install CCTVs in all police stations to curb custodial deaths. A status-update report submitted to the court on CCTV installation failed to even mention if cameras covered lock-ups. The court has sought a fresh report within 4 weeks.
Infrastructure
Ahead of civic polls, metro corridors for Mumbai
PM Modi will be laying the foundation stone for 2 metro corridors connecting DN Nagar and Mankhurd and Wadala and Kasarvadavali in Thane, on December 10. Five metro corridors have been sanctioned for a total cost of Rs.61,289 which will be completed in 2021. BJP is reportedly keen to take credit for metro corridors ahead of Mumbai's crucial civic polls.