The Dynamic Daily Newspaper of Navi Mumbai

Tuesday, 20 October 2020

VOL. 14 • ISSUE 113 RNI No. MAHEN/2007/21778 POSTAL REGN. No. NMB/154/2020-22/VASHI MDG POST OFFICE

Pages 8 • Price 2www.newsband.in

By Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

All the schools run by the Navi Mum-

bai Municipal Corpora-tion (NMMC) will be under the surveillance of CCTV cameras in two months. Once com-pleted, the NMMC will be one of the few civic bodies in the whole of India to have done this, a senior officer said. The civic body has allocated a budget of Rs 3.75 crore on this project.

NMMC runs a total of 70 schools of which 53 are primary and 17 are secondary schools.

“We have already started the tendering

process and the contract will be awarded within a month. The contrac-tor will be given a time-frame of one month to

finish the project. Thus, we can say that the cam-eras will be installed within two months,” said an executive engi-neer of NMMC wishing

not to be named, as he is not authorized to speak to media.

According to the engineer, surveys were

conducted earlier this year, to understand the number of cameras re-quired in each school.

Civic schools to be under CCTV surveillance in two months

Mastermind behind gutkha racket arrested

The anti-narcotics squad of the Navi Mum-bai Police on Saturday morning arrested the mastermind behind the gutkha racket in Navi Mumbai. Pramod Das alias Kalu (35) was ar-rested by the police while he was trying to flee from Mumbai air-port to Bhubaneswar

(More on page 3)

NMMC asks Urban Haat officials not to host exhibitions for

nowThe Navi Mumbai

Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has asked the officials of Urban Haat not to host any exhibi-tion for now as a num-ber of city residents are still getting infected with Covid-19 every day.

(More on page 3)

As Navratri begins, flower prices scale up

With the onset of Navratri festival, the flower prices have scaled up. The devotees point out that although every year, the flower prices go up during the festival period, however, this year, the prices are extremely high and un-affordable…

(More on page 3)

State government gives nod to start gyms from 25th October

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By Chandrashekhar HendveNavi Mumbai

Under ‘Mission Be-gin Again’, the

Maharashtra State Gov-ernment has given its nod to start gym opera-tions in the state from Dussehra i.e. 25th Oc-tober, 2020. Chief Min-ister Uddhav Thackeray said, “Approval is being given to start gymnasi-ums, fitness centres in

the state from Dussehra with strict compliance of corona preventive rules, measures and SOP (Standard Opera-tion Procedure)”. He interacted with repre-sentatives of gyms, fit-ness centres through an online meeting.

“Gymnasiums and fitness centres are for public health. However, maximum care should be taken to prevent the spread of corona infec-tion in this area”, he added. The Chief Min-ister also directed that the SOP prepared for gyms should be strictly followed.

However, group ex-ercises such as Zumba, yoga, steam and sauna have not been given

green signal as per the instructions in the SOP.

Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister Ajoy Mehta, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Ashish Kumar Singh, Additional Com-missioner of Mumbai Municipal Corpora-tion Ashwini Bhide, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Vi-kas Kharge, Principal

Secretary Health De-partment Pradip Vyas, Dr. Shashank Joshi as well as Nikhil Rajpuria of Maharashtra Gym Owners Association, se-nior journalists Sandeep Acharya, Karan Talreja, Abhimanyu Sable, Ma-hesh Gaikwad, Hemant Dudhwadkar, Sainath Durge, Rajesh Desai, Yogini Patil were pres-ent in the meeting.

Group exercises like zumba, steam, sauna and yoga centres to remain closed

By Abhitash D. SinghNavi Mumbai

The Maharashtra Government’s health

department has directed the Commissioner of the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to cancel the agreement for the treatment of Covid-19 patients at Dr. D Y Patil Hospital in Nerul and MGM Hospital in Kamothe. Following the directions from the state government the PCMC Chief Sudhakar Deshmukh has ordered for the cancellation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with both the hospitals.

Earlier, when the Covid-19 was at its peak in the PCMC jurisdic-

tion, the then former PCMC chief Ganesh Deshmukh had entered into an agreement with the Dr. D Y Patil Hospi-

tal on 11th May, 2020. The agreement with the MGM Hospital was signed later when Sud-hakar Deshmukh took the charge as the PCMC

Commissioner.The PCMC has come

into criticism after enter-ing into the agreement.

Rajesh Tope, Maha-

rashtra Health Minister speaking with the News-band correspondent in-formed, “The state had

PCMC to cancel MoU with Dr. DY Patil & MGM Hospital

Action initiated after state government’s directions

2 Tuesday, 20 October 2020

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“The number will vary depending on the structure of the school premises. We will in-stall such cameras in the classrooms, teachers’ common rooms, balco-nies, near the gates and toilets. The data collect-ing machines will be kept at the principals’ rooms,” he further said.

The CCTV cameras on the school premises was a topic of discus-sion in the satellite city in 2018, after a minor girl was allegedly raped by someone inside her school premises at Vashi. The girl said that an unidentified person took her to the toilet by

covering her mouth with a handkerchief when she was entering the school and raped her inside it. The police could not ar-rest anyone in that case.

The parents of the students have welcomed the move. Usha Pathare, a parent from Vashi said, “When a school has CCTV cameras installed on its premises, miscre-ants normally get scared to enter its compound. They will be scared that their faces would be cap-

tured by the cameras and that they will be arrested by police. Therefore, ev-ery school including the private ones should in-stall such cameras.”

Ramesh Bhagat, an-other parent said, “At times parents allege that their kids are beaten up by teachers. The teach-ers, on the other hand, deny that. There will never be such confu-sion, if every classroom has CCTV cameras in-side it.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CIVIC SCHOOLS TO BE UNDER CCTV...

Samarthanam Trust distributes ration kits to people with different abilities

By Chandrashekhar HendveNavi Mumbai

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled in Belapur distributed ration kits

to 250 persons with different abilities in Navi Mumbai. Manohar Gangur-

de, Airoli Divisional Officer, Ganesh Aghav, Superintendent, Circle 2, Sub-hash Mhase, Sanitation Officer, Anil Patil, Sudesh Parab, Jitendra Karnik of Samarthnam Sanstha distributed the kits.

Celebrating white colour in auspicious way

By Chandrashekhar Hendve, Navi Mumbai

We have seen many forms of Durga, and Durga has come

to our support whenever there is a crisis on the human race. Even today, Adi Maya, Adi Bhavani and many others forms of Durga, in the form of doctors, nurses and para medical staff have come to our aid in this pandemic.

From the last six months, the covid warriors (men and women) of Terna Specialty Hospital and Research Centre at Nerul in Navi Mumbai have been fighting Coro-na for 24 hours. The covid warriors of Terna Speciality Hospital gave a positive message to corona positive patients by posing as Navdurga.

APMC security guards manhandled for asking labourers to wear masksBy Crime Reporter, Navi Mumbai

Anger for being told to wear masks and follow the guidelines, few

labourers at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) fruit di-vision manhandled the security guards on Saturday afternoon. While it is nec-essary to use face masks to prevent the spread of corona, many labourers in the market are violating the rule. The reckless behaviour of the workers has led to fear of the surge of corona in the market.

Various measures are being taken by the state government to curb the spread of corona. As a part of this, the government has made it mandatory for

everyone to wear face mask while ven-turing out of the house. Meanwhile, the state government has also started taking action against those who do not wear masks. The APMC adminis-tration has also stopped giving access to those who do not wear masks in the market. But even after that, some traders in the APMC market and their labourers can be seen roaming around without the masks.

After the incident, the security guards lodged complaint with the APMC police station and the police have registered a case against the labourers who pushed the security guards.

Onions bring tears again

Due to continuous heavy rains, the onion crop has been adversely hit. As a result, the onion prices have gone up to Rs 70 per kg (By: Sumit Renose)

Ayush Mhatre offers his prayers to an idol of Goddesses Durga at Jai Ambe Navratri Utsav Mandal (By Dinesh Pawar)

3Tuesday, 20 October 2020

Mastermind behind gutkha racket arrested

NMMC asks Urban Haat officials not to host exhibitions for now

The accused was arrested from Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee to Bhubaneswar

By Crime Reporter,Navi Mumbai

The anti-narcotics squad of the Navi

Mumbai Police on Sat-urday morning arrested the mastermind behind the gutkha racket in Navi Mumbai. Pramod Das alias Kalu (35) was ar-rested by the police while he was trying to flee from Mumbai airport to Bhu-baneswar.

The accused was op-erating the gutkha racket in Navi Mumbai and was smuggling stocks of gut-kha from Gujarat to various places in Navi Mumbai. Similarly, last week, he had ordered stocks of gutkha worth Rs. 36 lakhs from Gujarat which was being brought to the satellite city in three vehicles for distribution.

However, after the anti-narcotics squad of Navi Mumbai police came to know of this, they conducted a raid at Mahape MIDC and confiscated the stock of gutkha and intercepted the three vehicles. Four people were also arrested in this connection.

During further investigation, the police found out that Das was the mastermind behind the racket. The police had kept a close watch on his house at Koparkhairane and Ghansoli. However, he was not found.

Realising that the police were looking for him he planned to flee to Bhubaneswar. He reached Mumbai airport on Saturday morning. Howev-er, after the Navi Mumbai police got the information, the police traced him through mobile location and arrested him from the Mumbai airport.

Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai Mu-

nicipal Corpora-tion (NMMC) has asked the officials of Urban Haat not to host any exhi-bition for now as a number of city residents are still getting infected with Covid-19 every day.

Urban Haat, the exhibition cum trade centre (managed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation) at CBD Belapur, has been shut ever since the lockdown was announced in March. The officials had planned to reopen it and host the first exhibition in this month.

“At present, we have requests for two exhibitions at our centre. We had planned to hold the first one from 15th of this month. However, holding such exhibitions during this time of pandemic, is not in accordance with the guidelines of NMMC. There-fore, they asked us to wait for some more days before hosting such pro-grammes,” said KVS Nair, manager of Urban Haat.

Talking about the two existing requests Nair said, “The first is a re-quest for a handicraft exhibition, to be held by the Government of India. The second request is for a handicraft and handloom exhibition by a private organization. If we get the permis-sion from the concerned officials of NMMC, we will host the first exhibi-

tion around D i w a l i . Our centre is big and spacious, and hence e n s u r i n g social dis-tance in-side it will not be a problem.”

By Dinesh Pawar, Uran

On behalf of Navdur-ga Navratrautsav

Mandal at Bori in Uran city, a health and blood donation camps were organized at Rotary

English Medium High School, Bori on Sunday.

The camp was at-tended by Councillors Atul Thakur, Sudesh Sa-lunkhe, Nandan Pansare, Hershal Samel, Shankar

Malusare, members from Navi Mumbai Mu-nicipal Corporation’s Blood Bank, Vashi, Public Relations Officer Sarita Shivkumar Kher-wasia.

Health and blood donation camp held at Uran-Bori

Sharing festival spirit after 7 months (By: C.K. Subramaniam)

Last week the police seized stocks of gutkha worth Rs. 36 lakhs which was brought to the satellite city in three vehicles from Gujarat.

As Navratri begins, flower prices scale upBy Dinesh Pawar, Uran

With the onset of Navratri festival,

the flower prices have scaled up. The devotees point out that although every year, the flower prices go up during the festival period, howev-er, this year, the prices are extremely high and unaffordable.

“Every year during festival, be it Ganesh utsav or Navratri, the flower prices zoom up. However, this year the price is really high. A simple garland of half feet is sold at Rs 80,” said a consumer.

Agreeing with this, a florist said, “This year the business has been very bad. First due to the pandemic. Secondly, due to the sudden heavy rains which lashed the state last week. Due to

this, the flower beds have been destroyed and there has been a re-duction in the arrival of

flowers in the market. With more demand and less supply, the rates at the market have scaled up”.

As per the rates, Marigold (Genda) flow-ers which generally are

high in demand during Navratri festival are be-ing sold at Rs. 200 per kg to 280, generally the

flower is sold at Rs 120.The price of vani,

which is offered to the Goddess has gone up to Rs. 50 per piece. Earlier, these were being sold at 20 for two pieces.

4 Tuesday, 20 October 2020

Festivals, for most people, seem to be no more than a welcome break from the monotonous routine. But, there is more to festivals than mere fun and enjoyment and every festival has a reason and significance behind its celebration. Behind the celebration of the Navratri festival there is proper meaning and significance. The festi-val celebrates the power of women in the form of Shakti puja. The idea of shakti perhaps grew out of a conflict and compromise between a power-ful matriarchal culture that existed in India before the Aryan migrations (2500, B.C.) and the male-dominated society of the Aryans. The Indus Val-ley people worshipped the Mother Goddess and they never really gave place to male dominance. The Earth Mother continues to be worshipped in India as the power that nurtures the seed and brings it to fruition and this basic reverence of an agricultural cul-ture says that man is really dependent on woman for she gives life, food and strength.

Our Veda says that Devi repre-sents the omnipresent cosmic Energy and the whole Creation is permeated by this Energy. The prosperity that we enjoy in our daily lives is a mani-festation of this Mother Divine and she serves us in so many forms. She dwells in the forms of our mother, father, friends, husband, wife, son, daughter and also the Guru. We can say that Devi Puja is an expression of expanded consciousness showing reverence to the whole Creation and the puja that we perform during the 9 days of Navratri is a way of hon-

ouring and showing our gratitude to the Mother Divine. While we attend the puja, we give up all our worldly activities for a while and enter into deep meditation and this reverence towards Devi gives us power of sus-tainability. I will give my example here. I am a diabetic and I fast on 9 days but this is partial fasting as I have to take medicines at time. But the feeling of this worship puts me in a trance of purity and gives me en-ergy to sustain the lack of grains, as I am not eating any grain on these 9 days. In normal days if you tell me to fast for one day, I will feel weak.

But in Navratri the name of Devi gives me the strength to bear fasting and the rituals related to it.

This is the thought behind Shakti Puja in Navratri but in these nine days each day she has a different name and performance.

On the first day, Devi Shailaputri is worshipped and this is the name for Devi Parvati who is known as the daughter of Himalaya. Shaila means extraordinary or rising to great heights

and on this first day of Navratri, Devi Shailaputri is worshipped so that we may also attain the highest state of consciousness.

On the second day, Devi Brah-macharini is worshipped .It is the form of Devi Parvati in which she undertook severe penance to gain Lord Shiva as Her consorts and this day is especially sacred for medita-tion and exploring our inner divinity.

On the third day, Devi Chan-draghata is worshipped. Chan-draghata is the form that Devi Parvati took at the time of Her marriage with Lord Shiva. Here Chandra refers to

the moon and moon represents our mind. As our mind is restless and keeps moving from one thought to another. So this day directs us to remove all vagaries of the mind, and concentrate with a single focus on Mother Divine.

On the fourth day, Mother Divine is worshipped as Devi Kushmanda. Ku means little, ushma means en-ergy and anda refers to egg. This entire universe which arose from the

cosmic egg is manifested from an in-finitesimal energy of Devi and on this day we remember our origin and pay reverence to Mother Divine.

On the fifth day, the mother form of Devi Parvati is worshipped. As she is the mother of Lord Karthikeya and represents motherly affection ,so we worship this form of Devi to bring abundance of wisdom, wealth, power, prosperity and liberation.

On the sixth day, Devi manifests as Katyayaniand she takes this form to annihilate the demonic forces in the universe. She was born from the anger of the gods and she is the one who slayed Mahishasura. She is the anger that arises in creation to restore balance .We worship her on the the sixth day to put an end to all our inner foes that behave as obstacle on the path of spirituality.

On the seventh day, we invoke Devi Kalaratri. Mother Nature has two extremes. One is terrifying and the other is beautiful and serene. Devi Kalaratri is a fierce form of Devi and It is only at night that we get a glimpse of infinity in the skies. Devi Kalaratri is that infinite dark energy that houses innumerable universes.

On the eight day we worship Devi Mahagauri ,she beautiful, gives mo-mentum and freedom in life. Ma-hagauri represents the beautiful and serene aspect of Natureand she is the energy which propels our lives and also liberates us.

On the ninth day, we worship Devi Siddhidatri. Siddhi means perfection. Devi Siddhidatri brings perfection in life and she makes the impossible, possible.

So, these are the nine forms of Devi we worship, next week what Mantras we tell and what is the form of worship. So till then Happy Navratri readers.

NAVRAtRI -tHE tRUE MEANING Of SHAktI PUjA

Films division pays tribute to Dr. APj Abdul kalamDocumentary ‘People’s President’ was released on his 89th birth anniversary

By Chandrashekhar HendveMumbai

The 89th birth anniver-sary of Dr. APJ Abdul

Kalam, who served as the 11th President of India with distinction and who was instrumental in India’s suc-cess in missile and nuclear technology, was celebrated on 15th October, 2020. Films Division paid

tribute to Bharat Ratna Abdul Kalam by stream-ing People’s President (52 Min./ English/ 2016) on its Website and YouTube channel. Directed by Pankaj Vyas, the documentary is dedicated to his life and work including Dr Kalam’s

pivotal role in the success of Indian aerospace science programme.

By Crime Reporter, Navi Mumbai

Three police squad have been de-ployed to search for an abscond-

ing rickshaw driver who allegedly hit an on duty Sub-Inspector Pankaj Ma-hajan and fled. In the incident Mahajan has sustained injuries and has been ad-mitted to Ashtavinayak Hospital for treatment.

Five police personnel, including Sub-Inspector Mahajan, who was in-jured in the incident, were on bando-bast duty in Roadpali area on Sunday evening. A speeding rickshaw driver hit Mahajan and fled. As a result, Ma-hajan fell down and sustained serious injuries on his mouth and hands. He was immediately admitted to hospital

for treatment.Deputy Commissioner of Police of

Circle-2 Shivraj Patil, Assistant Com-missioner of Police Gidde, Senior In-spector of Police Satish Gaikwad and others went to the hospital and met Mahajan.

On duty police man hit by autorickshaw

5Tuesday, 20 October 2020

The state government has slowly started opening various ac-tivities but they should not open the cinema halls, religious places and other such activities where many people come together. There will be chances of spread of the dangerous disease if the cinema gets permission.Shahid Khan, Sr. Journalist, Nerul

From last few months, I am missing cinema and other things very desperately waiting for cinemas to be opened. Literally waiting for popcorn, Nirma ad, fun with friends, shouting, clap-ping and whistling, box office, book my show, buy 1 get 1 offer and many more.

Nikhat Khan, Koparkhairane

While it is not an essential service, it provides livelihood to a lot of people and therefore, it is probably okay to re-open cinema halls. However, one must exercise caution and care when visiting a cinema hall and maintain social distancing at all times.

Bhupal Singh, Service, Kopar Khairane.

SHOULD CINEMA HALLS BE ALLOwED TO REOPEN?Cinema is in the blood of every Indian. Every Indian must be very happy when theatre opens. Malls are open. Most of the shops are open. Events are permitted. Local are running. Met-ros are running. Then why not Cinemas? Government should start theatre with minimum 50% occupancy. As corona fear has gone down drastically.

Kanta Singhadiya, Chembur

QUESTION FOR NEXT wEEK DO yOU THINK TANISHQ SHOULD HAVE wITHDRAwN THEIR ADVERTISEMENT FEATURING INTER-FAITH BABy SHOwER?

NAVI MUMBAIKARS SPEAK

In my opinion everything should now be started. Under "Mis-sion Begin Again" the state government is slowly starting various activities so I will say that they should now open everything including Cinema as well as Auditoriums where plays are performed. It is now a known fact to everyone that we have to learn to live with coronavirus & Covid-19 then bold steps like opening of every activity in the city should be initiated soon. We all need to take care ourselves only.

Vikrant Bhandari, Social Activist, UlweNo. At this point our first priority should be to stop the spread of Covid-19, which has already wreaked havoc on the econ-omy of the country. Therefore, we should first concentrate on the revival of the most essential services and the theatres are definitely not one of them. The theatres should not be opened for the next four to five months.

Gopal Sharma, Service, Vashi.

Readers desirous of contributing in this column may send their views along with their passport size picture and address to contact@newsband.in

Yes, cinema halls need to be opened with proper precau-tions: like thermal scanning, social distancing etc. But most importantly, the people need to follow the guidelines. If rules are followed properly all will be good. Everything is opening after the lock down. So, it is ok to open cinema halls too with responsibility.

Pratik yadav, Founder, Parivartan Foundation, Nerul

Yes, as long as there is adequate physical distancing of at least six feet outside the auditoria, common areas and waiting areas at all times. There should also be hand sanitizers, preferably in the touch-free mode, at the entry and exit points, as well as the common areas within the premises. Respiratory etiquettes should also be strictly followed. This involves the strict practice of covering one’s mouth and nose, while coughing or sneezing with a tissue or handkerchief or flexed elbow and disposing off used tissues properly. Use of face masks should also be made mandatory. Spitting should also be strictly prohibited within the premises.

Jubel D'Cruz, Dombivili, Mumbai

Cinema theatres remain completely closed while the feature film is going on. There is very little room for the impure air inside to get out and the pure air to get inside. Therefore, the possibility of Corona spreading in such a congested environ-ment cannot be denied. Corona is currently under control. The possibility of Corona's influence will increase if the cinema the-atres are started.

Sudhir Kangutkar, B. R. Nagar, Diva (East)

In the absence of vaccine for Covid-19, we need to take preven-tive measures. As preventive measures, apart from using san-itizer and masks, we need to give priority to keeping social dis-tances at public places. Before the start of a show and during the show spectators are likely to follow the social distancing rules. However, after the show spectators are likely to rush towards the exit doors and in the process, likely to violate the rules. Further, it is unknown if the cinema halls are medically well equipped to identify positive patients, if any, amongst the spectators. In the

absence of the necessary equipment, spectators with corona positive, if any, are likely to get the entry and spread the virus. Keeping all this in view, it is felt that at least at this point of time, the decision to reopen cinema halls be suitably postponed.Ravikant Shridhar Tawde, Navi Mumbai.

Tulja Bhavani Sakhi Parivar Group celebrated the sec-ond day of Navratri on Sunday at Uran, Navi Mumbai (By Dinesh Pawar)

Nirmala Sakhi Group Savarkhar, Uran celebrated the second day of Navratri by wearing orange colour.(By Dinesh Pawar)

Sarvajanik Navratri Utsav Mandal, Ganpati Chowk celebrates it's 49th year (By Dinesh Pawar)

6 Tuesday, 20 October 2020

EditorialISSUE: 113 20 OCTOBER, 2020

The Ministry of Environment had earlier notified the retail-

ers to start charging for the plastic bags from the customers. This was a good step as it helped in encour-aging the buyers to carry bags from home.

Plastic bags, which came in use more than decade back, almost rev-olutionized the concept of carrying baskets and packaging. It provided a cheaper alternative to paper or cloth bags. It also was superior hygieni-cally due to use and throw possibil-ity. However, the menace that was unfolding could be realized only recently after it has played havoc with the environment especially in the megapolises. One can see huge dumps of garbage littered with plas-tic bags thrown any and everywhere by the users without the minutest concern for the environment. Seg-regation of these non-biodegradable wastes is next to impossible making it difficult to recycle which other-wise also, generates toxic fumes. Several incidences in the past have been reported regarding death of stray cattle and dogs due to intake of polythene bags.

Realising the potential threat to environment, earlier in October 2000, the civic body had banned the use of plastic bags of less than

20 micron thickness. However, due to poor implementation, the plas-tic bags continued to be used ex-tensively. Though shopkeepers in certain areas in Navi Mumbai, had even at that time, joined campaign against the use of plastic bags by certain NGOs, and had switched over to paper bags, because of con-venience and less cost, most of them still continued to use plastic bags. Ironically, the users are mostly the educated lot, who are well aware of the problems associated with the use of such bags. While in western countries people have switched over to jute bags or paper bags, in India, people have changed over from the traditional jute or cloth bags to such trendy plastic bags. To carry bags from home is considered old fash-ioned.

It is already late and quite a lot of damage has been done to the nature. Now it is time to put the acts to-gether to prevent further onslaught on nature. The bans, rules and regu-lations can bear results only if they are supported by the citizens. It is time to say no to the plastic bags and patronize the cloth or the jute bags, baskets or the paper bags. A small step taken now shall result in a giant step in the path of preserving the environment.

Stern action is the need of the hour

By Chandrashekhar Hendve, Navi Mumbai

On behalf of Maratha Samajik Prat-ishthan, a felicitation ceremony

was organized for the students of Da-havi Baravi. As per the suggestion of Santosh Palande, President of Maratha Social Foundation, under the guidance

of Sunil Sawant, meritorious students of 10th and 12th class of Ganpati Pada in Digha area of Navi Mumbai were honoured. Vivek Shankhapal, San-jay Lotankar, Arun Datkhile, Kishore Borhade Dada, Omkar Padwal were present.

Meritorious students awarded

House rent and other taxes should be waived off: Opposition leader Pritam Mhatre

Due to the pandemic and the lockdown, residents are reeling under great financial crunch, he says

Panvel:

Opposition leader of Panvel City Mu-

nicipal Corporation, (PCMC) Pritam Janar-dan Mhatre has demand-ed in a statement to the commissioner of PCMC to waive off the house rent and other taxes un-der its jurisdiction in the backdrop of Covid 19 pandemic.

“Currently, the Co-rona crisis and the pe-riod of lockdown have caused huge financial losses to the citizens”, said Mhatre. There is still no relaxation in some areas. Many citi-

zens have lost their jobs due to the lockdown. But, the expenditures

have not reduced, such as house rent, electricity bill, and various types of bank installments, he

pointed out.“In the financial year

2020-2021, 100 percent exemption should be given for housing and other taxes for houses below 500 square feet and 50 percent exemp-tion for residential hous-es with an area of more than 500 square feet,” he said.

Pritam Mhatre, Cor-porator Sarika Bhagat, Pramod Bhagat, and Ravindra Bhagat have demanded the Com-missioner to take this into consideration and implement it as soon as possible.

Indrani Basu, Navi Mumbai

Navaratri mandals are trying their best to create an atmosphere of

festivity and joy in the backdrop of Covid 19 pandemic. All the guidelines announced by the Navi Mumbai Mu-nicipal Corporation (NMMC) are be-ing strictly followed.

Following the regulations, the mandals have cancelled the Dandiya program and are instead holding health camps, distributing free masks, creat-ing awareness on social distancing.

Lohana Community celebrates tra-ditional Garba at Lohana Samaj Hall at Koperkhairane. Every year, after performing ceremonious puja in front of the Devi Idol, ladies and gents start Garba and Raas dandiya in full cos-tume. "Dandiya, the major attraction of Navaratri festival, could not be or-ganized because the corporation did not give permission in the backdrop of the pandemic. So, we installed the Garba or Garbo, the sacred kalash on the first day, ceremoniously. We only allow 7 persons for the ceremony and telecast live to our members and well-wishers. Thermal checking, hand sanitization, Spo2 check are being done prior to the entry in the prem-ises” informed Sajay Palan, President of Lohana Samaj. The Samaj will dis-tribute 5000 free masks among needy population. Every evening at 9 pm, they perform arti in front of the de-ity of Mata Amba allowing only five people and telecast live.

Gujrat Bhavan at Vashi, sector-14 is the place which is the main attrac-tion for all Gujaratis. A large number of Gujaratis gather every year for dandiya and Garba. This year there is no celebration at all, not even any guest is allowed to go inside the Bha-van. Hashmukhbhai, the President informed, “We keep one priest there to perform arti in front of the kalash along with 2-3 members. We ordered our gatekeeper not to allow anyone in-side the premises. We will respect the guidelines laid down by the authority and will support the cause wholeheart-edly.” Daily sanitization is being done for the safety.

Pragati Mitra Mandal is celebrat-ing its 32nd year of Navaratri celebra-tion at Minatai Thakrey Udyan, sector 14-15, in Vashi.

Two and half ft tall idol of Devi Maa has been installed for puja. Daily arti is being performed by the mem-bers keeping social distance in mind. Raju Shinde, the organizer told, “It is a very simple celebration, this year, following the guidelines. We keep the pandal open on all four sides so that devotees can have darshan maintain-ing social distance, without standing in queue. Apart from that, we keep sanitizers and tell everyone to cover face with a mask. On day of Ashtami ‘havan’ will be performed permitting only 5-6 members.” The organizer is planning to conduct a free health camp during these nine days.

Navaratri organisers celebrate festivity by following guidelines

7Tuesday, 20 October 2020

By Ashok Dhamija

For the second time in as many matches defending champions

Mumbai Indians outplayed former champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday. In the process MI registered its fifth vic-tory on the trot

Chasing a target of 149 runs for a victory MI skipper Rohit Sharma (35) along with his opening partner Quin-ton de Kock knocked off 94 of them in less than 11 overs before the former edged one behind the wickets to Dinesh Karthik off 21year all-rounder Shivam Mavi (1/24). The South African wicket keeper batsman de Kock continued his fine form with the bat and soon com-pleted his third fifty off the tournament off 25 balls with eight boundaries and two sixes in the next over. The de-pendable Suryakumar Yadav (10) for once failed after he dragged one back onto the stumps off leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/23). Needing 38 runs for victory in 6.3 overs at this stage de Kock (78 n.o.) along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya continued to make mer-ry of KKR pacers in the next couple of overs including Pat Cummings. All-rounder Cummings leaked as many as 15 runs with the latter accounting 14 off those including two fours and a six in the 16th over to Pandya (21 n.o.). The four times champions MI in the end cruised to a comfortable victory in the next over with 19 balls to spare and eight wickets in hand.

Earlier Eoin Morgan, who took over charge of KKR from Dinesh Karthik and elected to bat after winning the toss, played a key role in KKR post-ing a decent score on the board after his team’s top order collapse. MI pacer Trent Boult (1/32) once again struck upfront to pick his 50th IPL wicket that of Rahul Tripathi (7) caught brilliantly at Point by Suryakumar in the 3rd over. Nathan Coulter-Nile (1/51) picked his first wicket for the Rohit Sharma-led unit as he had Nitish Rana caught with a short ball inside the power play which yielded 32 runs in all. Leg spinner Rahul Chahar double strike in his opening over (8th of the innings) that of for-mer U-19 India World Cupper Shubman Gill (21) and the experienced Dinesh Karthik (4) off consecutive balls proved to be crucial phase in the

context of the match. Jasprit Bumrah dismissal of KKR all-rounder Andre Russell of a sharp bouncer saw KKR lose half their side at 61 by the 12th over. Skipper Morgan (39 n.o.) and Pat Cummins (53 n.o.) however ensured an important recovery thereafter, with the latter dominating the partnership. The duo accumulated 87 runs which included 35 runs in the last two overs. The co Vice-captain of Australian team Cummins in the process completed his maiden IPL half-century

With their win, fifth victory on the trot MI retained their top position in the points table. They next take on Kings XI Punjab who are placed at the bottom after losing a few matches from a posi-tion of strength.

Rohit Sharma in his post-match views expressed that It felt special to win as comprehensively (had defeated the same rivals KKR by 49 runs in their first leg league encounter for their first win in the tourney).

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders - 148/5 in 20 overs (Pat Cum-mins 53*, Eoin Morgan 39*; Rahul Chahar 2/18) lost to Mumbai Indians - 149/2 in 16.5 overs (Quinton de Kock 78*, Rohit Sharma 35; Varun Chakra-varthy 1/23) by eight wickets. Man of the Match: Quinton de Kock (Mumbai Indians)

Mumbai Indians cruise past kolkata knight Riders

Man of the Match

By Ashok Dhamija, Panvel

Konkan Railway (KR) in coordina-

tion with Central Rail-way (CR) have decided to run Fully Reserved Festival Special Trains between Nagpur / Pune Jn. and Madgaon Jn. via Panvel Jn. in order to cater to the extra rush of passengers. The details are as under:

A) Nagpur - Madgaon Jn. - Nagpur Weekly Festival Special

Train No. 01235 Nagpur - Madgaon Jn. Weekly Festi-val Special will leave from Nag-pur at 16:00 hrs on Friday, 23rd & 30th October and 6th November 2020. Train will reach Madgaon Jn. at 16:40 hrs on the next day. On its return jour-ney Train No. 01236 Madgaon Jn. - Nagpur Weekly Festival Spe-cial will leave from Madgaon Jn. at 19:40 hrs on Saturday, 24th & 31st October and 7th November 2020. Train will reach Nagpur at 20:30 hrs on the next day. The above Special will include O ne AC-2 Tier, Four AC-3 Tier, Eleven Second Sleeper

Class and Four Second Class Seating coaches Halts en-route includes Wardha, Badnera, Akola, Bhusaval, Na-shik, Igatpuri, Kalyan, Panvel Jn., Roha, Man-gaon, Khed, Chiplun, Sangameshwar Road, Ratnagiri, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Kankavali, Sind-

hudurg, Kudal, Sawant-wadi Road, Thivim and Karmali stations in both directions.

B) Pune Jn. - Magdaon Jn.- Pune Jn. Weekly Festival Special

Train No.01409 Pune Jn. - Magdaon Jn. Weekly Festival Special will leave from Pune Jn. at 18:45 hrs on Fri-day, 23rd & 30th Octo-ber and 6th November 2020. Train will reach Madgaon Jn. at 08:30 hrs on the next day. On its return journey Train

No. 01410 Madgaon Jn. - Pune Jn. Weekly Fes-tival Special will leave from Madgaon Jn. at 16:00 hrs on Saturday, 24th & 31st October and 7th November 2020. Train will reach Pune Jn. at 05:50 hrs on the next day.The above Special will include O ne AC-2 Tier, Four AC-3 Tier,

Eleven Second Sleeper Class and Four Second Class Seating and Two SLR coaches Halts en-route includes Lonavala, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Khed, Chiplun, S a ng a m e s hwa r Road, Ratnagiri, Rajapur Road, V a i b h a v w a d i

Road, Kankavali, Sind-hudurg, Kudal, Sawant-wadi Road, Thivim and Karmali stations in both directions. Reser-vation for all the above Specials can be made at all PRS Centers and on website www.irtc.co.in.

Passengers are re-quested to kindly avail the services and fol-low all norms of State & Central Government regarding COVID-19 including social dis-tancing, sanitization etc. in trains and at the Railway stations.

KR & CR to run weekly festival special trains via Panvel from 23rd October

already extended Ma-hatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojna (MPJAY) health insurance scheme to all the hospitals and have also capped the charges along with reservation of 80 percent beds in private hospitals. It is difficult to understand why the PCMC got into agree-ment with private hos-pitals- Dr. D Y Patil and MGM Hospital. They paid Rs. 5 crore to both the hospitals under the agreement even know-ing that both the hos-pitals were empanelled under MPJAY scheme. The PCMC chief should,

on priority basis, cancel the agreement with both the hospitals.”

The official from the health department in-formed, “The payment made by the civic body to both the private hospi-tals includes expenditure on hospital maintenance which is covered by the state health insurance scheme. Thus, there would be the duplica-tion of expenditure on patients.”

Speaking with the Newsband correspon-dent about the state di-rection to cancel the MoUs with Dr. D Y Patil Hospital & MGM Hos-pital, the PCMC Chief Sudhakar Deshmukh in-

formed, “It was the need of the hour to get sign agreement with both the Hospitals earlier as PCMC does not have a hospital of its own and the sub-district hospital had only 150 beds with just 10 fitted with oxy-gen. Since now, we have received the guidelines from the state govern-ment, we will follow it. Earlier the decision to enter into the agree-ment was taken due to the situation prevailing then. But now after the state guidelines we have issued orders for cancel-ling the agreement with Dr. D Y Patil Hospital, Nerul and MGM Hospi-tal, Kamothe.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PCMC TO CANCEL MOU...

Sangita Pawar Saheli Group dressed in white attire during the third day of Navratri (By Dinesh Pawar)

8 Tuesday, 20 October 2020

NMMC begins the second phase of 'My Family - My Responsibility' campaign

Navi Mumbai

After success-fully com-

pleting the first phase of ‘'My Family - My Re-sponsibility' cam-paign’, the Navi Mumbai Munici-pal Corporation (NMMC) has started the second phase of the survey.

The first phase of 'My Family - My Responsibility' campaign was imple-mented from 15th September till 10th October, during which the civic body surveyed 3,35,469 families with the help of 670 teams. This exceeded the target of 3,16,449 families that was given by the state government for the first phase of the campaign. The health survey of 10,53,896 citizens has been completed. Now, in the second phase, the teams will re-visit the families reg-istered in the previous survey and reg-ister their health in the government's app.

The main objective of the 'My Fam-ily - My Responsibility' campaign con-ceived by the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is to find the coronavirus cases quickly and begin treatment and prevent the possible spread of corona.

Meanwhile, Abhijit Bangar, Com-missioner NMMC, has been imple-menting 'Mission Break the Chain' in the Corporation from the very begin-ning and has been emphasizing on the effective implementation of the three principles of 'Rapid Tracing', 'Testing' and 'Treatment'.

The Commissioner paid special attention in the implementation of

the government's 'My Family, My Responsibi l i ty ' campaign. The de-partmental wise review of the daily survey conducted in the municipal area was done through webinars.

Each team of two to three peo-

ple visited 50 to 55 houses daily and recorded the health information of the family members, which included their temperature and oxygen level. Now, in the second phase, which started on Oc-tober 14, the same teams will re-visit the houses and check the current body temperature and oxygen level of the citizens. From this, it will be possible to know the difference in the health condition of the citizens as their health condition has been registered in the previous survey. This will give an idea of who is suffering from the problem after the first survey and if it is found, remedial measures can be taken.

For the second phase of the survey, the teams have been given a target of reaching 75 to 100 houses per day.

A person suffering from fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, will be given special at-tention as also the people who have co-morbidity such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, organ transplantation, asthma.

The teams are also conducting various public awareness campaigns and are informing the citizens about the various ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’. They are also encouraging citizens to donate plasma for the health benefits of others.

Navi Mumbai

Residents of Kunde village were sud-

denly woken up by flash floods at around 2 a.m. on Monday.

“All of a sudden, wa-ter started gushing into our lanes and homes,” said Sanman Patil, a resident of Kunde. There has been no rain, he said.

The village along with many other areas has been facing unsea-sonal floods since February 2019. “This is mainly be-cause of the block-ing of free flow of tidal waters re-sulting from the burial of wetlands and destruction of mangroves by various infrastruc-ture project pro-ponents,” said B N Kumar, director NatConnect Foundation.

E n v i r o n m e n t a l groups- Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishthan and Nat-Connect Foundation have been repeatedly complaining to various authorities against this phenomenon.

"It is due to the cal-lous anti-environment attitude of CIDCO that the Uran villagers have

to suffer," said Nandaku-mar Pawar, Head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishthan.

Recalling that the High court appointed mangrove protection and conservation committee had asked for reversing the burial and replanting the mangroves, B N Ku-

mar said, no action has been taken as yet.

The green groups last week, called for the scrapping of the NM-SEZ project which they said turned out to be anti-environment. The documents obtained via the RTI Act route clearly demonstrated that the landfill at Pagote and Bhendkhal wetlands was

illegal, they point out.The planning au-

thorities are well aware that the Dronagiri node where land develop-ment is taking place on 2700 hecters is situated below 3 metres of RL (Reduced level). As it is, huge mangrove stretches

and wetlands have been recklessly buried. Any fur-ther reclamation on mangroves and destruction of wet-lands would spell an ecological di-saster for the entire Uran taluka, says Mr. Kumar.

“CIDCO's own legal papers say that 99% of these areas fall under 3 metres of high tide lines. It means de-velopment is invi-tation to disaster. Instead of protect-ing mangroves and

wetlands, which are nat-ural sources to combat flood situation, the proj-ect proponents are plan-ning to build seawalls ostensibly to block tidal water and destroy the wetlands,” Pawar said.

People's lives and nature must weigh high rather than short-term gains for projects, Ku-mar said.

By Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

With the increase in vehicular popu-

lation, it has become a challenge for the city residents to cross the busy Sion-Panvel High-way. A large number of people meet with ac-cidents while crossing the road every year. The residents believe that the number of accidents will definitely come down, if some more infrastruc-tures are provided to cross the busy road be-tween Vashi and Kalam-boli.

The twenty-five-

kilometer long High-way, starts at Sion in Mumbai and ends at Kalamboli, near Pan-vel. This road is play-ing a vital role as it connects the Greater Mumbai with the Mumbai-Pune Ex-pressway and Mum-bai-Goa Highway.

Mrunali Salvi, a resident of Kharghar said, “At present there are four to five foot-over-bridges (FOBs) on this road, but those are not sufficient. You will see groups of people crossing the road near Kalamboli, Kamothe,

Belapur, Nerul, Sanpada and at Vashi every day. It is very risky to cross the road. But these peo-ple have no other option

and hence they risk their lives every day.”

“It will not take a lot of money to develop a few more FOBs on this

road. The authori-ties concerned should take this matter into consideration and do something about it as early as possible,” she said.

Sunil Singh, a resident of Nerul said, “The public work de-partment (PWD) had developed eight un-derpasses across this road around seven years ago. However, the residents cannot use them as many of

them are filled with wa-ter and debris. On the one hand, the authori-ties are not providing

us with sufficient infra-structures, while on the other they are not even maintaining the existing ones.”

When contacted, PWD officials said that they have plans to de-velop a few more FOBs on this road.

Sarika Desai, deputy engineer of PWD said, “We are now conducting surveys to understand the areas that are in need of such FOBs. Based on the survey reports final decisions will be taken and the works at the sites will be started by second half of 2021.”

Uran village flooded again, Greens blame wetland burial

Residents demand more infrastructures to cross Sion-Panvel Highway