Mumbai News Highlights (August 8):  Maharashtra on Monday issued a notice announcing that the monsoon session of the state legislature will be held from August 10 to 18. The development hints that the much-delayed Cabinet expansion in the state is likely to take place on August 9, Tuesday. Sources said the expansion will include five ministers each from the BJP as well as from the rebel camp of the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while a bigger expansion will take place after the monsoon session.

In other news, a special court in Mumbai Monday sent Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to 14-day judicial custody in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai ‘chawl’. This came after the ED prosecutor said that the agency no longer needed his custody for the probe. Raut was arrested by the central agency on August 1 in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl in suburban Goregaon.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the delay in cabinet expansion has nothing to do with the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court. While reiterating that the cabinet expansion will be done soon, Fadnavis said, “The court has not put any restrictions on us against carrying our cabinet expansion. It has not stopped us from carrying out our cabinet expansion. Therefore, it is incorrect to link it with hearing in court.”

Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in Mumbai, Thane, and neighbouring areas Monday, while an orange alert has been issued for Mumbai city over the next three days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD has also issued a red alert for 'extremely heavy rainfall’ for Ratnagiri, Raigad, Pune, Kolhapur, and Satara districts of Maharashtra.

Officials with the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan on Monday confirmed that they are preparing for the Cabinet swearing-in ceremony to be held on Tuesday morning.

Sources in the ruling coalition said the much-delayed expansion will include five ministers each from the BJP as well as from the rebel camp of the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while a bigger expansion will take place after the monsoon session.

The monsoon session of state legislature of Maharashtra will be held from August 10 to 18. 

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Colaba has released forecast and warnings for the next 5 days for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri. 

All five districts are under red alert for heavy rainfall today.

An ED prosecutor has said that the agency does not want his further custody to a special court. The court directs Raut to be sent to judicial custody till August 22.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who is currently in ED custody in connection with the Patra chawl redevelopment case, will be taken to Arthur Road Jail. 

His lawyer sought that Raut should be permitted to access home food,  medicines and bed while in jail given his health condition. The court has passed an interim order allowing Raut home food and medicines, till a report is received from the jail superintendent and the chief medical officer of the jail on his health. The court said that his plea for a bed cannot be considered as adequate arrangement for a bed is made by the jail SP in prison.

Earlier, ED prosecutor had informed the court that Raut had been taken for medical examination after he insisted for it before being produced in the special court today.

The ED prosecutor told the court that while his medical examination, mandatory as per law at least 24 hours before being produced in court, was done yesterday, Raut insisted that he be taken for the test today again before the hearing.

Shiv Sena supporters gathered in front of Matoshree today to show support to Uddhav Thackeray. This comes at a time when senior leader Sanjay Raut has been in ED custody over alleged fraud involving the Patra Chawl in Mumbai.

The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours. "Follow the instructions from the local government administration and do not leave your house unless necessary", says the State Emergency Operation Centre, Mantralaya, Mumbai.

Mike Hankey assumed the post of Consul General of the United States in Mumbai on August 7, succeeding former Consul General David J Ranz.  

Immediately prior to coming to Mumbai, Consul General Hankey served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Amman; prior to that he headed the Palestinian Affairs Unit at the US Embassy in Jerusalem. A career diplomat since 2001, Consul General Hankey’s previous assignments include postings in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, and Nigeria.

“I am honoured to represent the United States of America in Western India at a time when the US-India relationship is stronger than ever. As we celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties, we will continue to work to build a more prosperous, free, connected, and secure world. Our shared commitment to democratic values, economic partnership, and people-to-people ties is the foundation which ensures greater cooperation into the future. I look forward to exploring all that Mumbai and Western India have to offer artistically and culturally over the next three years,” said Hankey.

Consul General Hankey is accompanied by his wife and their two sons in Mumbai.

Generally cloudy sky with moderate rain is likely in Mumbai and suburbs. There is also a possibility of heavy rain at isolated places.

High Tide: 0850hrs : 3.72 mtr Low Tide : 1438hrs : 2.35 mtr

Next High Tide : 2015hrs : 3.27mtr

Next Low Tide : dt. 09 Aug. 2022 : 0242hrs : 0.86 mtr

The Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) recently asked the state government to come up within six months with a ‘clear policy’ on provision of jobs for transgender persons. The direction was especially in respect to the Police Department as the applicant has applied for the post of a police sub-inspector (PSI) and has to undergo a specific physical test.

The panel also asked the departments concerned in the state to file affidavits on the steps are taken by it in implementing the 2014 Supreme Court judgement asking it to take steps to treat transgender persons as Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) of citizens and extend all kinds of reservations for admission in educational institutes and for public appointments. The plea referred to the judgement and sought reservation of posts for transgender persons in recruitment to 800 posts in the impugned advertisement. Read the full report here

A pioneering project by the women of Swamini Self Help Group (SHG) in the coastal Vengurla town in Sindhudurg district has become a role model for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) project to be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) across the state’s 720-km-long coastline and in two other states — Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

“We belong to the fishing community and always thought about making use of nature’s beauty for our livelihood but had no direction. A UNDP team got in touch with us in 2014 and told us not to focus on traditional tourism practices but doing so in an eco-friendly manner under which we will give a guided tour to tourists, explaining mangroves and its importance,” said Shweta Hule of Swamini SHG.

With the UNDP’s help, a project report was submitted for which an approval to the project cost of Rs 5.96 lakh was received from the state’s Mangrove Cell in 2016. The women purchased two manual rowing boats with 12 persons to push the wooden oars and a Gazebo.

In Maharashtra, around 160 hectares of mangrove restoration was completed by June this year and mangrove nurseries have been established in project districts. In addition, channel digging and mangrove plantation has been initiated on 78 hectares. Read more here

The Shiv Sena on Sunday demanded strict action against the three men involved in the rape of a 35-year-old woman in Bhandara district.

A three-member delegation of the party led by spokesperson Manisha Kaiyande visited the hospital in Nagpur where the victim is undergoing treatment. The delegation also met the doctors and the police personnel probing the case. Kaiyande demanded financial assistance and counselling for the survivor and sought that the trial in the case be expedited in a fast-track court. Read more

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday emphasised reforms for ushering in greater transparency and accountability in functioning in urban local bodies. Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the state government will launch an integrated web portal as a single delivery platform for all notified micro-municipal services of the urban local bodies on August 15.

The portal will automate the administrative work of municipalities and ensure online facilities for service delivery with 404 ULBs onboarded. The objective is to make basic services under these ULBS easily accessible to people, including water supply, sewerage, building plans licenses, finances and no objection certificates.

Speaking at the Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog in New Delhi, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde also highlighted the steps taken by the state for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and said that his government was fully committed to the effective rollout of the policy. Read the full report here

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the delay in cabinet expansion has nothing to do with the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court.  While reiterating that the cabinet expansion will be done soon, Fadnavis said, “The court has not put any restrictions on us against carrying our cabinet expansion. It has not stopped us from carrying out our cabinet expansion. Therefore, it is incorrect to link it with hearing in court.”

The deputy CM said, “In Maharashtra, BJP and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) alliance is in power. Therefore, BJP apart from working for the electoral success of its candidates will also support Sena rebels, who have joined us in the parliamentary and assembly elections in 2024.”

In the last eight years between 2014 and 2022, a total of 22 decisions related to OBC welfare were taken. Of these 21 decisions were taken during my tenure as CM of Maharashtra (2014 to 2019), Fadnavis added. Read more

Officials from the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) on Sunday arrested three partners of a company for non-payment of GST and alleged fraudulent availing of input tax credit amounting to Rs 78 crore.

The three accused are identified as Hiren Patel, Sandesh Khamkar and Vaibhav Kotlapure, who are partners in A S Agri and Aqua LLP company. They were booked under the CGST Act and produced before a magistrate court and remanded to judicial custody. Read more

Stay tuned as we bring you all the latest news from Mumbai.

The girl with her mother in Mumbai. Mohamed Thaver

Kidnapped Mumbai girl reunited with kin after 9 years: ‘They were good to me initially… later, beat me with a belt’

On Saturday, the Gilbert Hill residence of the 16-year-old girl who was reunited with her family after nine years, was swarming with activity as mediapersons, local residents and relatives made a beeline to the Karnataka Milan Welfare society to catch a glimpse of “Girl no. 166”.

Such was the crowd that the girl’s family had whisked her away to an unknown location fearing that she may be harmed or injured. Her paternal uncle told The Sunday Express, “There was so much crowd that our lawyer told us to ensure that she was protected. We then moved her away to another location and will produce her whenever the police want to talk to her.” This was a day after the girl, just seven when she went missing on January 22, 2013, was reunited with her family. The 16-year-old was found living 500 m from her home in Andheri (West). Harry Joseph D’Souza and his wife Soni D’Souza had reportedly kidnapped her as they were desperate for a child. While Harry has been arrested, Soni has been called for questioning.

On Saturday, recounting the day of her kidnapping, the girl said the incident took place when her brother, who was walking ahead of her, had entered the school. “I was lured by (Harry) D’Souza on the pretext of getting an ice-cream. While he did buy me an ice-cream, he took me to Haji Malang in Kalyan. I kept crying, so he threatened to throw me off the hill. Initially they were good to me, but after they had a daughter in 2015, they would beat me up with a belt, rolling pin etc,” the girl said.