Bank fraud case furthered by Enforcement Directorate
The ED has attached Rs. 166 crore worth properties in the Varron Group fraud case. These 20 immovable properties are located in Mumbai, Pune, and Ratnagiri. Varron Group had allegedly submitted fake bills to banks in order to accrue Letters of Credit. The Group then defaulted on its payment. In 2017, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the company and its director, officials from Bank of India and Canara Bank of forging bills worth Rs. 300 crores.
Source: India Today, MoneyLife
Read more: The sad story of Mumbai’s first “slum self-development project”
Child labour plagues Mumbai
A construction contractor employed an under-age boy to repair the roof of a Kandivali house following which the boy suffered 65% burn injuries. The injuries were sustained after he came into contact with a high-tension wire. Earlier in March, a minor boy forcibly employed as a domestic worker in a Navi Mumbai household was rescued. According to reports by the International Labour Organization and others, the pandemic has reversed many gains made over the years in fighting the practice of child labour.
Source: Times of India, Free Press Journal, Business Standard
Read more: Mumbai teens release a Child Rights Manifesto: Demand to be heard, School fee unaffordable to many parents, but is the government listening?
Work on oxygen plants still in limbo
Allegations of corruption and BMC’s delays have caused their plans of setting up oxygen plants within a month to be stuck in bureaucratic limbo. While BMC has denied these allegations, they are still yet to give work orders despite having floated tenders for the operations in April. The BJP has made accusations suggesting that BMC is spending Rs. 86 crores while the setting up oxygen plants is estimated to be Rs. 30 crores. The BMC has denied these accusations and stated that the pricing of plants depends on the manufacturing and quality of the work, capacity of the plant, payment conditions, etc.
Source: Times of India, Indian Express
Read more: An IIT Bombay team finds innovative ways of increasing oxygen supply
Violence against girls and women continues unabated
In Andheri, a 38-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping his teenage daughter. On Mumbai’s outskirts, an under-age girl was raped at knife-point by a 26-year-old man. Vashi Police have arrested a 31 year old who threatened to kill his 32 year old aunt’s children and subsequently sexually assaulted her. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data from 2018 claims that every fourth victim of rape in India was a minor while in 94 percent cases, the assailant was known to the victim. Earlier this year, a special court in Mumbai found a 65-year-old man had been sexually abusing his daughter since she was 15 years of age and after her marriage began violating her daughter, his grand-daughter, as well.
Source: SheThePeople, The Week, Times of India, India Today
Eastern Express Highway to be shut for maintenance
The highway will be shut for nine hours on May 29th and May 30th to facilitate bridge widening work. Heavy vehicles will be diverted from Kharegaon toll plaza and via Mumbra-Shilphata- Rabale-Airoli and further.
Source: Times of India, ABP Live
Several HC judges made permanent
The Department of Justice issued a notification giving permanent posts to ten additional judges in Bombay’s High Court. However, the High Court still faces a deficit of 32 judges. Bombay is permitted to have 94 judges of which currently only 62 are employed posts. Earlier in the year, Bombay High Court had sent a proposal to the Supreme Court Collegium for the permanent hiring of 18 advocates and 4 judges.
Source: Times of India, Times of India
Also read: Effects of Urbanisation: A look at marginalised women’s mental health, The cost of the delay in Mumbai Metro Project