Following a parent’s death, other parents of Kumud Vidyalaya and New Model English High School insist on a meeting with New Model English High School authorities. They demand compensation and free education for Farida’s (the deceased parent) three children.

Monday’s accident of a parent of an eight year old girl who is studying at Kumud Vidyamandir by the school bus of New Model English High School (both the schools share a common school compound) in Deonar Municipal colony angered parents of both the schools. The incident occurred at 12.30 pm.

Family : pix M M Shirodkar

On Tuesday, with the help of local social workers in the area a meeting involving parents was held inside the school gate and it was unanimously decided that now onwards parents won’t allow school bus to enter inside the school gate.
Gulnaz, a parent whose one child studies in Kumud Vidyamandir and another child at New Model English High school said, “Both the schools share a common compound and a common school gate. Their school timing is also similar. Therefore at 12.30 pm it is chaos in front of the school gate owing to maddening rush of parents and vehicles. School bus, autos and bikes should not be allowed inside the gate during rush hour.”
The parents were demanding compensation for Farida’s death from New Model English High School authorities and insisted on meeting the school management. “I attended this meeting because tomorrow such thing can happen to me and my children” said Javed, a parent.
A local social worker and MNS activist Advocate Vijay Raorane said, “Due to the school bus driver’s negligence a parent’s precious life is lost. Her family should be compensated properly and the school authorities should take proper steps not to allow such mishaps to occur in future.”

Pix M M Shirodkar

However, there were conflicting reports. Some say that due to rush hour not only the school bus but also autos and bikes ferrying children cause heavy traffic inside the gate. “The lady might have had a fall while reversing the bus and might have died due to heart attack. Otherwise blood stains could have been there on the spot where the accident had occurred” said a source.
When CG Plus met Dharmanand Kunder, trustee of New Model English High School, he said, “The school bus is running on contract basis. It is very unfortunate that such a precious life is lost. The bus driver himself surrendered to the police and we are fully cooperating with the police.”
Prahlad Panaskar, senior police inspector of Deonar police said, “The accused bus driver Subbaraj Subramani Pillai (40) was sent to three days judicial custody by Kurla court. But when Subbaraj appealed against it in the high court, the high court granted him bail on producing 15000 rupees bail amount.”
“The post mortem report of Farida concluded death due to haemorrhage and shock, injuring her vital organs. It has not mentioned her pregnancy. The death was not due to rash driving of the driver, but when driver was reversing the bus she fell injuring her head on the back side. Her legs were also injured” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Keshav Shinde of Deonar police. “Henceforth school bus will not be allowed to enter inside the school gate.”
Dharmanand Kunder said that when Tuesday he went to Deonar police station, victim’s brother was also present there. He demanded 50 lakh rupees as compensation and a job for his brother-in-law. “Post mortem report revealed that the victim had died due to haemorrhage and shock owing to the fall. She had leg injury also and was not pregnant as claimed by her relatives. It was a ploy from her relatives to gain sympathy it seems.”

Divulging further he said that the police did not even name New Model English High School in the FIR. “A case has been lodged against the bus driver. The driver was released on bail” revealed Kunder.

When again on Wednesday a meeting was arranged between the two parties at Deonar police station, Kunder agreed to give two lakhs rupees compensation to the victim’s children. He also agreed to provide free education to all the three children in the school as far as he is able to run the school at that premise as the New Model High School is fighting a court case with the authorities of Kumud Vidyalaya over ownership issue.

When Farida’s relatives demanded a job to her husband in the school, Kunder agreed to give him a 5000 rupee job and promised to send a ‘staff approval’ proposal to the education department.

Excerpt from Hindustan Times Mumbai, , reported by HT Correspondent on February 21, 2011: Read Full Article

An 85-year-old man, on his way to the local mosque to offer morning prayers, was run over by a vehicle around 4.45am on Sunday. The hit-and-run incident took place on the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road. The deceased, Mohammad Latif Batullah Idris, was walking towards the mosque when an unknown vehicle hit him. The driver did not stop and instead fled.

Excerpt from Mid-Day, reported by Shiva Devnath and Poornima Swaminathan on 2010-12-02: Read Full Article

The stench from this tempo carrying the biomedical waste, which was parked for over four hours, spread panic among residents

Foul smell is nothing new for the residents of Deonar, home to the city’s oldest and largest dumping ground. But the stench that assaulted them yesterday wasn’t of garbage it was human blood.

Around 1.30 am, Deonar police found a room full of hazardous bio-medical hospital waste dumped in a house in the area.

The stench from this tempo carrying the biomedical waste, which was parked for over four hours, spread panic among residents. The incident occurred when a tempo loaded with biomedical waste discarded from hospitals, parked at Atlanta Ground in Deonar, made residents uneasy with its stench, when it didn’t budge for four hours from its place.

“There was the smell of rotten human blood and flesh coming from the truck parked in the ground. Children playing in the ground brought it to the notice of their parents, who informed the police about it,” said ACP Keshav Shinde of Deonar police station.

A 30-year-old man who was found dead in a gutter near the Shivaji Nagar dumping ground on Saturday was murdered, police said on Monday. The police had initially assumed that the man had died of natural causes. But, the post-mortem report proved that the man had been smothered to death. The police have now registered a case of murder against unknown persons.

Inspector DM Desai said, “Around 7.15am on Saturday, some locals spotted the body of a man in a gutter. After his body was fished out, he was identified as Mohamad Ismail Ansari, a resident of Shivaji Nagar.” He added, “The man was bleeding profusely from his ears and nose.

The body was sent to Rajawadi Hospital for a post-mortem. Initially, a report of accidental death was filed, but was changed to murder.”

An officer from Shivaji Nagar police station speaking on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media, said, “Ansari, used to work in an embroidery unit in Shivaji Nagar. Ansari’s relatives told us he had run away from home in Bihar around 15 years ago. A few months ago, after his parents passed away, he came to the city and contacted his relatives living here. Ever since, he has been staying in Kamala Raman Nagar in Govandi, close to where his relatives live.”

Ansari’s relatives have alleged that local goons killed him as he had refused to cough up the money demanded by them. The police are questioning five people, including the son of a social worker, against whom Ansari’s relatives have made allegations.

Residents from Shivaji Nagar protested outside the Shivaji Nagar police station on Monday, saying the area had been witnessing a lot of criminal activity in the past few months.

Assistant commissioner of police (Deonar division) said, “We are taking preventive measures to ensure that crime is under control. But, since a major portion of the area is occupied by slums, where petty fights become serious crimes, it becomes difficult.”

Excerpt from Hindustan Times, reported by HT Correspondent on October 28, 2010: Read Full Article

The BEST driver, who ran over a two-year-old girl on Monday and was beaten up by a mob, died to his injuries on Tuesday while undergoing treatment at Lilavati Hospital. Aatmaram Gaikwad, 57, a resident of BEST staff quarters at Deonar, was assaulted after he ran over Chandni Patil, who was crossing the road from her residence in a chawl near Bandra Terminus to a tea stall owned by her father at the Terminus.

The accident took place around 7am when Gaikwad was taking a U-turn from the Bandra Terminus. Chandni came under the rear wheel of the bus and was crushed. She was declared dead before admission at Bhabha Hospital. The mob started pelting stones at the bus and beating up Gaikwad with sticks, a police official said, requesting anonymity.

Excerpt from OneIndia, reported by Denise Baptiste on October 21, 2010: Read Full Article

Have you ever come across someone telling you they have seen the richest beggar ? In this case, it is true.

Beggars are no choosers but here, these beggars are. They live a lifestyle on dirty roads, homes in the slum and poor hygienic conditions. But, if you ever venture out to take a peek at their bank balance, you will be amazingly shocked.

Listed below are some beggars who live in Mumbai, India. They are regarded as the richest beggars in India having a huge bank balance and a lot of property, but still continue to live the life they first started.

1.Massu- Known as Massu or Malana. This 60-year-old, beggar begs for a living and gets a daily wage of 1,000 to 1,500. He owns a one bedroom flat, west of Mumbai and another nearby. His work place is at Lokhandwala where he sits near expensive restaurants which is visited by film stars and other famous personalities. He has 30 lakh investment in properties alone.

2.Krishna Kumar Gite-This 42-year-old has assets worth 5 lakh in properties alone. He makes a daily wage of 1,500 to 2,000. his work place is on Chami Road near the CP Tank.

3.Bharat Jain- He makes a daily earning of 2,000 to 2,500. This 45-year-old begs near the Azad Maidan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. This rich beggar also owns a family apartment which is worth 60 lakh. He has also rented out a shop to a juice center in Bhandup, where he collects a sum of 7,000 a month towards the rent.

4. Haji- This 26-year-old begs near temples and mosques in Deonar and Chembur. His family business is run by his mother and sister who owns a Zari workshop where they have employed 15 workers. He has assets worth 15 lakh earning a daily wage of 1,000 to 2,000.

These profiles of the richest beggars in India are outstanding. Next time you see a beggar on the streets in India, think again for you might have met a celebrity.

Press Trust Of India : A fast-track court, which acquitted all the six accused in the alleged rape of an American student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai last year, has observed that the victim was never raped and no “sexual intercourse” took place.
The court at Sewree had acquitted the accused, all students, on October 6 for lack of evidence. A detailed copy of the judgement was made available to the lawyers on Tuesday.
The court’s observations that the victim was never raped and no “sexual intercourse” took place were noted in the 100-page document. It described the 23-year-old victim’s statements as “neither wholly reliable nor wholly unreliable”.

The case dates back to April 12, 2009 when, according to police, six friends – Vinamra Soni (23), Harshvardharn Yadav (22), Jaskaran Singh Bullar (21), Anish Borkatki (21), Dev Colabawala (21) and Kundanraj Bodgohai (22) took the student to a house in Andheri and allegedly gang raped her.
“The victim claims that she doesn’t remember anything about the incident that took place at the house of one of the accused (Bodgohai). In such a scenario there should be some corroborative, independent or medical evidence. No such evidence is available in this case,” the verdict said.
The court further said the victim, who had been out with her friend to meet the boys at Cafe XO bar in Deonar (where TISS is located), was not an invited guest and had just landed at the place without any prior notice.
“So there is no scope of any prior meeting of minds.The victim had gone to the caf out of her will and was never forced to accompany the boys (accused) to Kundan’s house at Andheri,” Principle Judge S D Jagmalani noted.
One of the important medical witnesses, Dr Minal Sarmarkar, did not support the prosecution’s claim that the victim was drugged with a date-rape drug. Sarmarkar had testified that the drug’s sample was not traced in her urine.
The prosecution has to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts and there can be no presumptions that the victim would always tell the entire story truthfully, the Judge observed.
“The victim’s testimony falls under the third category – neither wholly reliable nor wholly unreliable. In this category, court has to circumspect and look for corroboration. Such corroborative evidence were not available in this case.”
The American student’s claim that she had fallen unconscious after the incident was rejected by the court. “The victim had called her friend (Rishabh Choksi) during the time she claimed she was outraged by the accused. The claim that she fell unconscious can not be accepted.”
It is true that the victim is a foreign national and the court has sympathy towards such foreign citizens but at the same time the court should not ignore basic principles of criminal law, the Judge maintained.

Excerpt from CG+, reported by Vibha Singh on March 20, 2010: Read Full Article

Twenty thousand one hundred sixty litres of water everyday. How much water is that? For an area battling water scarcity, where every drop counts, it has to be a lot in quantifiable terms. Thirty seven school students from class 5 in the Marathi-medium municipal school in Deonar  colony have made their school change its water consumption habits.

The persistence of these class 5 students (above) got their teacher Dr Seema Chudekar (right) to start them off on a water saving project. They began with  measuring the water lost through leaking taps in their school

Just how big is the feat? Considering that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on an average, supplies 90 litres of water per person per day; the quantity of water saved by the group is enough to meet the water needs of 200 people. In times of severe water crisis, it’s an example worth emulating.

Suprabha Marathe, executive engineer, rainwater harvesting and water conservation cell of the BMC said, “Considering that the BMC supplies 90 litres of water per person per day, the savings brought about by the students will prove sufficient to take care of water needs of 200 people.”

Excerpt from CG+, reported by Sudhakar Anchan on January 09, 2010: Read Full Article

On the complaint of an accused, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) laid a trap at Deonar police station and caught sub inspector Mohan N Bobade accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000.

Sub Inspector Mohan N Bobade

Bobade was caught red handed on December 29 by ACB officials. ACB’s police inspector Pratibha Munde said, “We caught the sub inspector red handed while accepting the bribe from the complainant.”

The complainant, Ramesh Kumar Rathod (52) who owns ‘Rathod Grihavasthu Bhandar’ at Building No 92, Shop No 6 in Mankhurd said, “On November 23, Deonar police arrested me for illegally selling Bharat Gas, as I only had the license for Century Gas.

Excerpt from Mumbai Mirror, as told by Lekha Menon On January 16, 2010: Read Full Article

Nisa Godrej swaps balance sheets for a session of story telling at Jafari English High School, Govandi, as part of the TFI initiative….

As executive vice president, business development, Godrej Industries, Nisa Godrej is hardly new to presiding over meetings, issuing orders or commanding attention in clinical settings.

But on Friday, the 30-year-old Harvard graduate was a tad nervous before stepping into one. Reason? Her audience were not suited-booted executives, but a class full of boisterous, noisy and energetic eight-year-olds.

It was quite a change of role for Nisa who played teacher to Class 2 students of Jafari English High School in Govandi. She was there as part of Teach For India’s (TFI) efforts to get sector leaders engaged in the issue of education inequality. The visit also served as a unique finale for the 2009-2010  Fellowship recruitment campaign which ends on January 17.

The contrast couldn’t have been more striking. Here was a corporate hotshot educated in some of the world’s best institutes and on the other hand, were students, hailing from middle to lower-middle class backgrounds in one of the poorest suburbs of the city. But for once, the ‘teaching session’ that lasted almost an hour showed how corporates could effectively contribute towards change, if motivated in the right direction.

The excitement ran high in the corridors  as Nisa entered the premises. Clad in a striking black dress, she had an interesting task ahead of her - to read out a chapter from a story book and interact with students. And the lesson for the day was surely a far cry from balance-sheets and bottomlines that the Godrej scion must be used to - about a pup, Pepper, that has three cakes, ignoring his mom’s advice and falls ill.

Accompanied by a TFI ‘fellow’, Neha Jain, a former publishing industry executive who had given up a corporate career to become a teacher in the school, Nisa soon overcame her initial inhibition and mixed freely with the kids - reading out to them, asking them questions, complimenting them and engaging in light banter. Soon, she had the girls eating out of her hands.