NMMT faces monthly loss of Rs crores

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Tuesday, 16 February 2021

VOL. 14 • ISSUE 212 RNI No. MAHEN/2007/21778 POSTAL REGN. No. NMB/154/2020-22/VASHI MDG POST OFFICE Pages 8 • Price 2

www.newsband.in

By Abhitash D.Singh

A

fter giving three ex- tensions for FasT- ag, the union ministry of road transport and highways from the midnight of Monday 15th Febru- ary, 2021 has made it compulsory for all the vehicles to use FasTag.

Few people from Navi Mumbai feel that its implementation should be extended as many do not know how to use it.

Speaking with the media about implementation of FasTag from 15th February midnight on priority basis, Nitin Gadkari, union minister for road transport and

highways said, " Know- ing that it will be time consuming process for the people, we had extended the FasTag registration date limit several times before and now it cannot be extended further. Everyone should

purchase the FasTags immediately and also learn its usage which is simple."

Gadkari further added, "Those who will not have the FasTag from

FasTag mandatory for all vehicles from 15th Feb, 2021 midnight

Additional Director General of Police

honoured with Kuvalayananda Yoga

Award

Dr. Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, Additional Director General of Police Highways (Traf- fic) was honoured with Kuvalayanand Yoga Award by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshy- ari. The award was presented to him at a function held recently at Kaivalyadham in Lo- navala…

(More on page 8) Kuval Avengers lift

Pagote Premier League 2021 trophy

In the 5th Pag- ote Premier League 2021 that was held at a ground at Pagote in Uran taluka on Febru- ary 12th, Kuval Aveng- ers emerged victorious and Kings XI emerged runners-up. The win- ning team was honoured with a grand trophy at the hands of dignitaries…

(More on page 5) Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi intro-

duces a 360-degree approach to Diabetes

Fortis Hiranandani Care Hospital, Vashi has launched its 1st Dia- betes Clinic, which will focus on providing evidence-based comprehensive Diabetes care and control facilities to the citizens of Navi Mumbai...

(More on page 4)

CM inspects Trans Harbour Link project

CONTINUED ON PAGE... 6

The 22 km long 6-lane bridge connecting Shivdi and Nhava on the mainland will

reduce traffic congestion in Mumbai

By: Chandrashekhar Hendve

C

hief Minister of Ma- harashtra, Uddhav Thackeray inspected the work of Trans Har-

bour Link project on 13th February, 2021 in the presence of Tour- ism Minister Aditya Thackeray, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority Commissioner RA Ra- jiv and others.

The proposal for the

Trans Harbour Link project was under consideration for about 30 years to reduce traffic congestion in the city of

Mumbai and to develop the region in Navi Mum- bai. The plan was to build a bridge between Shivdi on Mumbai Is- land and Nhava on the mainland (Navi Mum- bai) to speed up traffic

T

he Navi Mumbai Municipal Corpora- tion's transport under- taking (NMMT), which was facing a financial loss to the tune of Rs 6.25 crore per month before the lockdown, is currently facing a monthly loss of Rs 7.80 crore.

Prior to the lockdown, in the financial year 2019-2020, NMMT was earning an average of Rs 9.99 crore per month through ticket fares, student passes and fines, and a total of Rs 51.57 lakh through advertisements.

During the lockdown, NMMT earned Rs 1.65

crore in June, Rs 2.72 crore in July, Rs 3.55 crore in August, Rs 5.72 crore in September, Rs 7.30 crore in October, Rs 7.82 crore in Novem- ber and Rs 8.67 crore

in December. During Covid 19, NMMT was earning an average of Rs 28.18 lakh from advertisements. 8.67 crore from tickets and fines in December and through

advertisements. The combined revenue was Rs 38.77 lakh and Rs 9.06 crore respectively.

Prior to the lockdown, NMMT had an average monthly ex-

penditure of Rs 7.76 crore on salaries, Rs 4 crore on fuel and Rs 4.99 crore on other expenses. However, due to non-reduction of diesel rates and salary, the expendi- ture has gone up to Rs 16.86 crore in December 2020. NMMT officials say the figure is likely to remain the same for the next few months.

NMMT faces monthly loss of Rs. 7.80 crores

Efforts are being made to reduce losses by increasing the number of electric buses in NMMT:

Shirish Aradwad, General Manager, NMMT

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CM INSPECTS TRANS HARBOUR LINK...

between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The state government had ordered that the ownership and implementation of this project will be with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) as per the Government Resolution dated Feb- ruary 4, 2009. It was also directed that funds would be made available by the MMRDA for this project. The project was earlier planned as a road transport project.

This was later given the status of Regional Development project by the Government of Ma- harashtra vide Govern- ment Resolution dated June 8, 2011.

The project includes a 22 km long 6-lane (3 + 3 lane) bridge connect-

ing Shivdi and Nhava on the mainland in Mumbai. The length of the bridge is 16.5 km at sea and the length of the overpass approaches is 5.5 km.

The project will develop the region in Navi Mumbai and Raigad districts and will help reduce traffic congestion in the city of Mumbai.

This project will enable faster communication with the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport by re- ducing the distance between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and Konkan, thereby helping motor- ists to save on fuel and transportation costs.

The project is being implemented by MMRDA with a loan from JICA - Japan In- ternational Cooperation Agency, which conducted a preliminary survey of the project by ap-

pointing a consultant to check the feasibility of lending for the project.

The survey examined the technical aspects as well as the impact of the project on the environment and social life. The final report on the preliminary survey was received in August 2016. The total estimat- ed cost of the project is Rs. 17,843 crores. These include construction costs, inflation, contin- gency expenses, land acquisition, adminis- trative costs, interest during the construction period, etc. Including matters. With flavour March 31, 2017 and d.

The loan agreement was signed on March 27, 2020.

The project will be constructed by 3 civil contractors and 1 intelligent transport system contractor. Larsen &

Toubro Ltd., IHI Infra- structure Systems Co.

for Package-1 of the project. Ltd. Devu En- gineering and Construc- tion Company Ltd. for Package-2 of Consor- tium, Tata Projects Ltd.

JV and Larsen & Tou- bro Ltd. for Package-3.

To these contractors.

Commencement orders were issued on March 23, 2018. Construction of project piles, pile caps, bridge pillars is underway at the actual work site. Work has also started on the construction of the bridge segment in the casting yard and the construction of the bridge segment and the construction of the temporary bridge are in progress. At present the economic progress of the project is about 42%.

The construction period of the project is about four and a half years.

By Vikram Gaikwad

I

n order to challenge the ruling and established political parties in the upcoming Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s (NMMC) elections, 10 big and small secular parties and organizations came together in a rally to show their strength to the Navi Mumbai Development Front.

Republican Sena head, Anandraj Ambedkar, MLA Kapil Patil, MLA Abu Azmi, MLA Bhai Jayant Patil and other dignitaries were present at the public meeting organised by Navi Mumbai Vikas Aghadi at Vishnu- das Bhave Natyagriha.

During the meeting the members of the Navi Mumbai Vikas Aghadi announced the decision to contest on all the 111 seats of NMMC.

Speaking during the occasion, Lok Bharati Party teacher MLA Kap- il Patil said that middle

class workers, slum dwellers, peddlers, project affected, traders, un- organized workers and industrial workers have not received justice for

the last 40 years. Kapil Patil appealed to the people to support the al- liance in this election.

Republican Sen head, Anandraj Ambedkar appealed to help the alli-

ance by electing as many corporators as possible in the upcoming NMMC election. Bhai Jayant Patil, MLA of Shetkari Kamgar Paksha, in his

speech criticized the education emperors of Navi Mumbai, and said that they grabbed the lands for lesser price, saying that they would provide free education

to the local citizens.

However, no effort is being towards this end, he said.

Hiraman Pagar of Ghar Hak Sangharsh

Samiti, Khajmiya Patel, Navi Mumbai district chief of Republican Sena, Afsar Imam, district president of Sam- ajwadi Party, Shukla, Pappu Yadav, Rajendra

Korde, state secretary of PWD, Prof. Sudha- kar Jadhav, Col. Chan- drasekhar Ranade of Socialist Party, R.K.

Sunil Kamble, Swarajya

India Party Vice Presi- dent Vandanatai, Vinita Balkundari, Sunanda Baviskar, Datta Bansode, Prakash Wankhade, Su- nil Wankhede, Ashok

Jamdade, Nandu Bhal- erao, along with Janata Dal Secular, CPI, CPM, Maharashtra Janshakti Sena Haji Kamil Khan, Usman Sheikh, Sauda- gar, Shailendra Yadav, Siddharth Salvi of Ma-

harashtra Hawkers Fed- eration, Vanchit Samaj Insaf Party were present.

The gathering was well attended by the citizens.

Navi Mumbai Vikas Aghadi holds meeting ahead of the NMMC election

Staged demonstration of Janashakti against Dhanashakti

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By Chandrasekhar Hendve

M

ajhi Aai Prat- ishtan organised a blood donation and a free health camp in Ai- roli recently. The camps were held in Mahabodhi Buddha Vihara at Airoli Sector-1, Navi Mum- bai. Shiv Sena Deputy District Chief, Manoj Haldankar was the chief guest during the occasion.

During the health camp, body mass index, eye treatment, ECG, general checkup of the citizens were done. About 65 units of blood were collected in the camp.

The blood donors were honoured with cer- tificates by Deputy Dis- trict Chief Manoj Hal- dankar.

Deputy City Chief Raju Patil, Department

Head Revendra Pa- til, Vishal Dolas, Ram Suryavanshi, Sanghpal Jadhav, Tushar Danane, Ramesh Suryavanshi, Prakash Ayre, Pritam Madhale, Sandesh Jad- hav, Babita Parmeshwar and organizer Sudhir Ashok Parmeshwar of Majhi Aai Pratishthan Charitable Trust and other dignitaries were present.

Majhi Aai Pratishtan organized blood donation and free health camps in Airoli

By Crime Reporter

A

young man, who was hit by a speed- ing tempo coming from Mumbra towards Mahape, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday night. Turbhe MIDC police have registered a case against the driver of the tempo responsible for the accident.

The young man who died in the accident has not been identified yet, police said.

The deceased youth, aged between 25 and 30, was crossing the road at around 11.30 pm last Saturday at a distance from Mahape check post on Mumbra- Mahape road. He was hit by a tempo heading towards Navi Mumbai from Mumbra. As the youth was seriously injured, the police on

duty at Mahape check post admitted the injured youth to the Municipal Hospital at Vashi. But doctors there pronounced him dead. According to the Turbhe MIDC police, a

case has been registered against the driver of the tempo who hit the youth and arrested him. The deceased has not been identified yet and police are trying to identify him.

By: Crime Reporter

P

retending to get admission in a Medical College in MD (General Medicine), a man allegedly duped Rs.

22 lakh from a person living in Pan- vel. The accused has been identified as Ameya Vinayak Kasture and the Pan- vel city police has registered a case of fraud against him and started searching for him. Amay Kasture, allegedly duped Rs. 48 lakh from a doctor in Kolhapur a year ago. The Kalamboli police has also filed a case against him for embezzlement along with fraud a year back.

The complainant in the case, Mangilal Rathore, lives in Panvel area and his son Surendra wanted to complete his MD (General Medicine) degree as he had obtained the degree of MD Physician from abroad. For this, Surendra had also given NEET exam in the year 2018-19. After this examination, Surendra's name was also included in the merit list. How- ever, he did not secure seat in any of the colleges. As Rathore was trying to get admission in medical college for Surendra, the accused Ameya Kasture contacted Rathore and told him that his son would get admission in Vasantrao Pawar Medical College and Hospital in Nashik.

At that time, Rathore ignored Ameya Kasture. However, Kasture contacted Rathore again and offered to get his son admitted for Rs 42 to 45

lakh. Rathore, considering his son's medical education, agreed to pay Amey Kasture. He also visited his home in the Fortuner Harmony building. Rathore then sent Rs 22 lakh online to Amey Kasture between November 2018 and May 2019. Despite giving the money his son didn’t get admission, follow- ing which Rathore visited the accused house. However he gave vague answers and avoided meeting him.

Suspecting, Rathod demanded his money back from Kasture. Kas- ture handed over two cheques of Rs 10 lakh to Rathore, but both cheques bounced. When Rathore asked about it, he started giving vague answers.

When Rathore then sent a notice to Amey Kasture through a lawyer in March 2020, Kasture went to Rathore's house and said that he would return his money within eight days. He then turned off his mobile phone and fled.

After realizing that Amey Kasture had cheated, Rathore lodged a complaint at the Panvel City Police Station. Ac- cordingly, the police have registered a case of fraud against the accused and started searching for him.

In 2019, the son of Dr. Sunil Sawant of Kolhapur was lured to get admission for MD through the management quo- ta for the year 2019-20 at MGM Medi- cal College, Kamothe. He demanded Rs 48 lakh from Sawant saying that it would cost Rs 1 crore and cheated Dr.

Sawant in similar way.

Young man killed in crash

Lured by the offer of getting admission in Medical College, Panvel resident cheated

By Ryhea George

A

honey tasting event was conducted at Sector-5 opposite Aai Mata Mandir in Kharghar. Dr. Madhu- rita Gupta through her Non Profit Myvets Trust and Bee City India are achieving the UNDP’s (United Nations Devel- opment Programme) Sustainable Develop- ment Goals (SDGs) and contributing to an Agriculture-based Rural Green Economy. Along with Dr. Madhurita Gup- ta, Dr. Yuvraj Kaginkar, executive director of Bee City India and a member of Central Bee Research Institute presided over the event. PCMC Mayor, Dr. Kavita Choutmol and MLA Prashant Thakur were present during the event. Around 60 people visited the event.

The aim of the event was to bring awareness about promoting honey bee keeping in the ur- ban area and how it can impact the pollina- tion and environmental conservation. The event also aimed at bringing

awareness on how one can produce raw-unprocessed honey at home itself.

“We conducted this event with an aim to create an awareness towards raw unprocessed honey. We let people taste, smell and observe varieties of honey which are directly sourced from the Western Ghats.

For example, there is one type of honey called

the Tulsi Honey which is kept in the Tulsi Farm so that the bees collect the nectar from the Tulsi flowers itself, hence the flavours come naturally,” said Dr. Madhurita Gupta.

Mustard honey, Ajwain honey, market

honey and honey made with sugar syrup and honey made with jag- gery were kept on the table for the visitors to know the difference between these by smelling, tasting and observing it.

Dr. Yuvraj Kaginkar said, “People have got used to consuming com- mercialised honey. This event was conducted not only to bring awareness about raw honey but

also to educate people on how to identify real honey. Honey making is a very natural process.

In raw honey, there are some yeast like bacteria which is normally present. This bacteria reacts

Informative honey tasting event conducted in Kharghar

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“Love yourself first, because that's who you'll be spending the rest of your life with.”

With Valentine’s Day love is in the air. However, this year, the scenario is a bit different with Covid related precautions looming large. Imag- ine the scenario when lovers keep a distance in exchanging the gifts and professing their love but for couples living together the day is celebrated in home only. It is evident that due to the COVID pandemic, most couples are choosing to celebrate Valentine’s Day 2021 indoors rather than step- ping out. There is ‘lockdown fatigue’

in many couples this year so they need innovative ways of express- ing and communicating their love to their partner. The couples who previ- ously celebrated Valentine’s Day at a club, restaurant or outdoors, prefer doing so at home this year. There is always a huge demand for dining, spa and sport experiences on Valentine’s Day. But this year, adding intimacy to a relationship through interac- tive gifts have gained a new appeal among couples. A Valentine’s Day is a great way to remind our loved ones that, no matter what, we will always love them. Nothing says ‘I love you’

better than a well-thought-out sur- prise gift so couples make their relationship stronger by ordering cus- tomized gifts for their loved ones.

All of us know that Valentine’s Day occurs every February 14. Peo-

ple across the world exchange candy, flowers and gifts with the loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But the question is who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from?

One legend says that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. It was the time when Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, so he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine defied Claudius, as he thought it as injustice so he continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When these actions of Valentine were discovered, Clau- dius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Ro- man prisons. It is said that an impris- oned Valentine actually sent the first

“valentine” greeting after he fell in love with a young girl who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, he wrote her a letter signed

“From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is shrouded in mystery the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sym- pathetic, heroic and romantic figure.

Some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial. During the Middle Ages, in France and Eng- land it was believed that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

There are many ways to celebrate the day, but for a lot of couples, Valentine’s Day begins on the 7th of February with Rose Day. The idea of Valentine’s Week is to make someone’s entire week special. But they say no love is possible until you love your own self. Valentine’s Day should be celebrated as the day to love yourself. For this you have to work on some things which affect you. The first is the negativity. In the past, the negativity bias was a use- ful adaptive response but today it just makes you pay too much attention to what’s wrong with you and the world so stop thinking negatively about anything.

These days the environment is su-

persaturated with data, so your mind filters out almost all of the information around you, this is attentional filtering. It saves you from overload- ing of information but a side effect of attentional filtering is that the world ends up looking like whatever it is you’re focused on. Your mind has a tendency to view you as being far less intelligent, capable, good looking, charming, and ultimately, worthy of love than you actually are.

This is further enhanced by a media

culture that preys on fear, and an ad- vertising culture that strives to make you feel small unless you’re up to date with all of the latest trends. Try to understand that if you are having trouble loving yourself, there is nothing wrong with you but it is a side effect of modernity. So, the first step in loving yourself is realizing the truth about your importance.

Everything in your life is guided from your relationship to yourself.

You should learn to treat yourself like someone worthy of love, re- spect, and compassion, and your life will be more effortless, abundant, and joyful than you can imagine.

If you treat yourself like someone worthy of contempt, disdain, and indifference, and each day will be a struggle to keep your head above water. Here the unfortunate part is that most people never put much energy into their relationship with them- selves. They drift through life acting as their own worst critic, working to inhibit their potential, and keeping their hearts and minds guarded so the real work of learning to love yourself is learning to see who you truly are and accepting it all and along the path, you’ll discover deep gifts that you were born with. The highest gift of love for yourself and the world is sharing those gifts freely and abundantly. You have to realize that it’s human to be disgusting, lazy, jealous, and aggressive from time to time and it is normal to have dark thoughts and feelings. You can even act on these feelings as long as you find a safe outlet to do so without harming yourself or others and thus keeping your negative energy at bay.

LOVE tHYsELf

F

ortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi has launched its 1st Diabetes Clinic, which will focus on providing evidence-based comprehensive Dia- betes care and control facilities to the citizens of Navi Mumbai. During the pandemic, Navi Mumbai witnessed the burden of Diabetes, some patients were diagnosed with Diabetes during COVID-19 screening and some strug- gled with Diabetes & COVID19 at the same time. With rapid urbanization and adoption of sedentary lifestyle, the city could soon become the ‘Dia- betes capital of the state.’

During the pandemic it was noted that COVID-related mortality in diabetic patients was 2 to 3 times higher than in non-diabetic patients. With this understanding, Fortis’ Diabetes Clinic aims to take a 360-degree holistic and

state of the art approach to Diabetes care. The center will offer continuous

personalized care and help patients with increased compliance to health- care plans.

Speaking on the occasion Dr Farah Ingale, Director-Internal Medicine, Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi

said, “At Fortis, we are committed to providing end-to-end services at af-

fordable rates for patients from all walks of life. Diabetes is one syndrome that requires lifestyle modification that includes nutritional adjustments and physical activity along with medication, if required. With the launch of the Diabetes Clinic, our aim is to provide a one-stop solution for patients so that they can rely on us 24/7 for managing their condition & could work together with us to improve their health outcomes.”

The clinic has specialized Diabe- tes Nurse Practitioners who will help patients manage and remotely monitor their Diabetes. They would encourage patients to come to the center for

screening from time to time and will look after their overall wellbeing. Ad- ditionally, the center has a team of Di- abetologists Nephrologists, Diabetic Foot Experts, Ophthalmologists, En- docrinologists, Nutritionists and Car- diologists to deal with complications.

In future, digital therapeutics will be available which will involve the use of digital tools or systems to treat and manage medical conditions.

Mr Sandeep Guduru, Facility Di- rector, Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi, said “Our newly launched Dia- betes Clinic will be dedicated to providing accessible Diabetes treatment for patients who seek medical aid. Our patients with chronic conditions like Diabetes stand to benefit from continuous and real-time care, as we enable world-class care for patients.”

Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi introduces a 360-degree approach to Diabetes Care

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By Indrani Basu

M

aghi Ganesh Jayanti or birthday of Ganesh was a special occasion celebrated across Navi Mum- bai on 15th Febru- ary. More than 60 years old shyambhu (naturally born) Bhangleswar Man- galmurti Ganesh located at a temple in KopriGaon in Vashi is one the popular Ganesh temples located at the bank of Ko- prigaon talao in

sector 26 Vashi . The temple has been observing the Jayanti of the Elephant God with pomp and gaiety for last 60 years.

Kamalakar Thakur, an 82-year-old villager said, “The idol was excavat- ed in early 60s by the villagers near Bhangaleswar river. Though there is no trace of the river flow at present, but a pond had existed at that place.”

Under the guidance of Kamalakar Thakur, the Thakur family built a small temple nearly 8 feet below the ground

level to protect the idol of lord from natural calamity.

The current temple (a simple village temple) which has been built with the contributions made by devotees stands tall above the old temple bearing the testimony of that shyambhu Ganesh idol.

Thousands of devotees flocked at the temple since early morning to pay obeisance to the Vignaharta. On previous night a palki yatra or proces- sion with lord's palaquine was hosted by the devotees. While Kirtan, Abhang were some of the prominent attrac- tions, bhandara or mass lunch fetched thousands of village devotees on 15th February. Kamalakar shared, “The number of devotees has been increasing day by day and similarly the cost of the bhandara. While a mere Rs. 50 was the total expense for village mass lunch in 1962, today the expense goes in few lakhs”.

Maghi Ganesh Jayanti celebrated at Shyambhu Ganesh Bhangleswar temple

By Dinesh Pawar

I

n the 5th Pagote Premier League 2021 that was held at a ground at Pagote in Uran taluka on Febru- ary 12th, Kuval Aveng- ers emerged victorious and Kings XI emerged runners-up. The win- ning team was honoured with a grand trophy at

the hands of dignitaries.

Five teams’Kaushik Knight Riders, Kings XI, Khandoba Warriors, Vrisha Strikers and Kuval Avengers from Pagote village- had participated in the match.

Best Batman Ganesh Singh, Best Bowler Vipul Patil, Best Fielder Vivek Patil were also

honoured with trophies at the hands of dignitaries. Sumit Patil, Nilesh Patil, Milind Tandel, Sujit Tandel, Kunal Patil, Kiran Pandit Bhupendra Tandel, Jairam Patil, Mahendra Patil, Gramst, Gram Panchayat members were present on this occasion.

Kuval Avengers lift Pagote Premier League 2021 trophy

Runners-up were Kings XI

By Abhitash D.Singh

T

he Navi Mumbai Municipal Corpora- tion (NMMC) is all bent to achieve the first rank in the nationwide cleanliness drive 2021. Apart from colouring

all the walls of Navi Mum- bai , the storm water drains are also given a new look in the satellite city.

N M M C A d d i t i o n a l Commissioner Sanjay Kakde said, "Colour- ing the storm water drains with light and green colours is an innovative concept, which gives

an appealing look to the city. It is heartening to see that along with the NMMC staff and officials, the citizens of

Navi Mumbai are coming ahead with many innovative ideas and sup- porting us in our aim of getting the first rank in Swachh Survey 2021."

While few citi-

zens appreciated the civic body’s initiative of colouring the storm water drains, few also said that there are many

places in the satellite city which need attention by the cleanliness department.

Amar Bansode, a real estate consultant from Navi Mumbai said,

"We should feel proud that NMMC achieved 3rd rank in Swa- chh Survey of 2020 and also we are improv- ing our ranking year by year in cleanliness, but colouring the storm water drains with light colours in order to be number one in ranking is just a show off. There are many areas which can hardly be described as clean. The civic body should pay attention towards all such places."

swacch survey 2021: storm water drains get new look

A

ssistant Inspector of Police, Bhushan Pawar shot himself at the APMC police station at around 11 am on Sun-

day. He was rushed to MGM Hospital in Vashi.

However, doctors there declared him dead. It is learnt that API Pawar was suffering from de-

pression from several months but did not share this with any of his col- leagues, said S. Mengde, DCP, zone 1. Further, in- vestigation is going on.

Assistant police inspector shoots himself at police station

INFORMATIVE HONEY TASTING EVENT...

to the atmosphere and starts fermenting. One can notice the fermenta- tion that has started to produce bubbles. What we get in the market is deprived of the bacteria which helps it to remain good for a long time but the nutritional value of

honey is deteriorated.

Hydroxymethyl Perforo acid is produced while heating honey which can be harmful for your body.

Most of the citizens are not aware of such things and hence such events help to educate the com- moners about how the market has been fooling us with such products which are not fit for con-

sumption.”

He further added,

“The market knows the consumer behaviour and hence they give clear honey, which is appealing to the eye. While in reality, honey will get crystalised in room tem- perature. Hence inform- ing the citizens about such properties was necessary.”

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Editorial

ISSUE: 212 16 FEBRUARY, 2021

T

he students these days are under tremendous pressure. Not only the number of subjects has increased over the years, the excellence of the students is also judged on the basis of performance in two boards only. These exams fail to test the higher order skills like reasoning and analysis and do not encourage creativity.

The field of education has never been marred with so much contro- versy as it is today. Not only the interference of politicians has been increasing in recent years, a new trend has set in where the education ministers decide the content of the books to be taught in schools. The political rivalries have spilled over into schools and the victims are the children who are at a loss to understand what is correct. The education department and institutions are being run by the politicians as their personal fiefdoms where their thinking and ideas are the writ.

It is quite unfortunate that the system of education has never been given much thought in our country.

Lack of schools and colleges espe- cially those run by the government have made matters still worse. Due

to the widening gap between the demand and the supply, there is a fight for admission at every stage of learning. The scapegoats in this tussle are the children. Whether it is admission for nursery or higher standards, the children are made to undergo rigor- ous mock interview practices, which ends only when they get admission in the institutions of their choice.

Lack of educational institutions has also led many private institutions to start the policy of auctioning the seats in their institutions by way of donations. Since the demand can be met only by the privileged few, the gap between the learning opportunities for the poor and socially dis- advantaged and the effluent lot, has widened.

There should be coherence in the education policy pursued in the country. System of rote learning kills the spirit of inquiry and snatch- es away the childhood. Political in- terferences should be rooted out and the education policy should be decided by board of eminent scholars who have credible experience and image, rather than rightist or leftist who want to twist the system to suit their taste.

Need for uniform education policy

By Ashok Dhamija

I

ndian business, small or big, in their quest to flourish are on the lookout for new customers while ensuring continuity with existing ones be it at local level, countrywide or even globally. While it was a general consensus that to make sale/ deal hap- pen or business grow, it is mandatory to visit the clients or customers in person. This mindset has changed completely post-COVID19 where

‘Work From Home’

(WFH) concept have flourished due to forced lockdown. Caching on this huge potential Blue- mark's 'Ablifree Busi- ness Network' (ABN), a family of 50,000+

businesses from across the globe has launched a networking platform for Indian businesses so that they can realize this dream with ease. Utiliz- ing technologically advanced tools to bring the dream into reality, with combination of Global networking app; “Abli-

free” and Global online exhibition platform;

“Abliexpo” for the benefit of the SMEs and MSMEs of India.

One can become part of ABN’s global network for free simply downloading the app Ablifree. ABN’s expert team will then help the businesses with their growth plans from local to national and national to international markets seamlessly

Govinda Sadamate, CEO of ABN shared,

"Any business can become the part of ABN’s global network for free by contacting us or simply downloading the app Ablifree. ABN’s expert team then helps the businesses with their growth. We believe, in order to grow as a great nation, our SMEs and MSMEs need to prosper.

And ABN is committed to the mission of helping every single Indian business to grow locally as well as globally."

Sanjay Landge, Man- aging Director of ABN

added, "Every business member of ABN is like a family member. ABN conducts various ben- eficial online exhibi- tions for the members.

Through these exhibi- tions, the members get National and Global scale reach in negligible cost as compared to the funds required to take your business global via traditional path."

About ABN:

• New method for In- dian businesses to expand globally

• Everyone can take their business global

• Take your business now national as well as international

• Opportunity to connect with National and Global businesses for free

• New marketing method for new de-

• Take your business cade Local to National and National to In- ternational

• Even small businesses can go global now

Local to global: Tapping business opportunities through ABN

FASTAG MANDATORY FOR ALL VEHICLES...

15th February midnight, they will be charged twice the toll charges as a fine with effect from 15th February midnight."

The central government had earlier planned to launch the FasTag from the start of the new year in 2021 but taking into consideration the problems being faced by the people, the government extended the deadline for all the vehicles from January 1 to February 15, 2021.

As per the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, since December 1, 2017, FasTag had been made mandatory for registration of new four-wheelers. Also, the ministry in November 2020 issued a notifica-

tion for making FasTag mandatory from January 1, 2021 for old vehicles or that were sold before December 1, 2017.

Vikrant Bhandari, a social activist from Navi

Mumbai said, " It is good that the central government is coming up with FasTag initiative from Monday midnight making it compulsory for all, but before implementation the government should have made people aware about it and its usage as also its benefits. The deadline for mandatory implementation of FasTag should be

extended further."

Vijay Gaikwad, a resident of Kharghar said, " I am using FasT- ag from 1st January, 2021 itself but there are many friends of mine with vehicles who do not know how to use it. So, its mandatory implementation from Monday midnight will be really problematic for few people who are not aware about it at all.

Making it mandatory from Monday midnight will create chaos and hence it should be extended further."

A FasTag is a device that employs Radio Fre- quency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the pre- paid or savings account linked to it and is affixed on the windscreen of the vehicles.

NMMT FACES MONTHLY LOSS OF RS.7.80...

NMMT's bus service was started at 50 per cent capacity through 285 buses from July after the state government eased travel restrictions.

As a result, NMMT's daily income of Rs 40 lakh came down to Rs 28 lakh per day. “With diesel prices rising day by day, NMMT's losses are increasing as staff salaries and other an- cillary expenses are not declining. Earlier, the loss was to the tune of Rs. 6.25 crore per month. Now the loss has reached to Rs. 7.80 crore. Efforts are being made to reduce the loss by increasing the number of electric buses in NMMT,” said Shiish Aradwad, General Man- ager, NMMT.

NMMT has also

started passenger transport at full capacity from September 22 after the state government gave permission to start bus service at full capacity on September 17.

At present, 393 buses of NMMT run daily on 76 bus routes in and around Navi Mumbai city and these buses are running around 2000 rounds.

Aradwad said that as NNMT's bus service has started at full capacity, its revenue is gradually increasing. NMMT currently has 30 electric buses, 140 CNG buses and the rest diesel-pow- ered buses. NMMT will get another 150 electric buses in June. This will reduce fuel consump- tion and reduce the cost of running transport services, he said.

During the pandemic, NMMT provided services to employees

working in emergency services at hospitals, police etc. During this period, NMMT operated bus services in Thane, Kalyan, Badlapur, Am- bernath, Dombivali, Panvel, Uran, Chembur, Govandi, Mankhurd, Dahisar Mori, Kharghar and Ulwe and provided services to about 10,000 essential employees daily. As there was a shortage of ambulances to transport patients in Navi Mumbai, 18 NMMT buses were con- verted into ambulances and made available to the health department.

CBD, NRI, Nerul, San- pada, Turbhe, Turbhe MIDC, APMC, Vashi, Koparkherne, Rabale MIDC, Rabale Police Station and Panvel Uran, Jaswai, a total of 995 buses were provided by NMMT from Mumbra since last May 5.

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By Chandrashekhar Hendve

I

n times of epidemics like Covid, the country and the state have seen the importance of doctors as well as nurses, paramedical staff and health workers. Medical Education Minister, Amit Deshmukh has directed that in the near future, a minimum wage for nurses serving in government and private hospitals should be introduced.

A meeting of the Board of Gover- nors of the Maharashtra State Board of Nursing and Paramedical Educa- tion was held at the Ministry under the chairmanship of Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh. Secretary of Medical Education Department Saurabh Vijay, Medical Director Dr.

Tatyarao Lahane, concerned officers of the Governing Council were present.Mr. Deshmukh said that just as it has been decided how many patients should have one doctor, it has also been clarified how many patients should have nurses. Since doctors as well as nurses play an important role in curing patients, the minimum wage for nurses should be fixed and the necessary action should be taken immediately by the Department of Medical Education to ensure that those working in government and private hospi-

tals get the same.

“After Covid, we all understand the importance of the medical field.

Schools also need to have nurses. Even places like factories, airports, public transport need to have nurses for im- mediate treatment. The board should appoint a think tank to consider how new job opportunities may become available for nurses in the near future, what courses need to be started anew.

So that this think tank can think of different opportunities in this field,” said Mr. Deshmukh.

At present, the number of nurses in hospitals is low in many remote and hilly areas of Maharashtra except Mumbai and Pune. Therefore, in the coming period, the Board should pre- pare a report on the need for nurses and also give priority to start the process of filling the vacancies of nurses, Deshmukh said.

Necessary action should be taken to conduct the practical examination of the students pursuing nursing course in the coming academic year in the hospital as well as to examine the possibility of taking the online theory examination, to decide the ex- act fee for the course, to appoint the sanctioned posts on the board, Mr.

Deshmukh said.

Medical Education Minister directs to take action to ensure that nurses get at least equal pay

T

he western sector HQR of Central Reserve Police Force, an elite Force dealing with the internal security, anti-terrorist/naxal operations, VIP security, Disaster relief, Law &

Order and other such duties to keep peace and harmony in the nation, organized a blood donation camp on 14th February, 2021 at 102 Bn RAF, Taloja in association with TATA Me- morial Hospital, Navi Mumbai in memory of CRPF Martyrs during Pulwama (J&K) terrorist attack.

Western Sector CRPF also organized the camp at four other

places under its jurisdic- tion i.e. Group Centre Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Pune, Nagpur and Range

Gadchiroli in which total 200 units of blood were collected.

Rashmi Shukla, ADG CRPF visited the camp. Sanjay A. Lath- kar, IGP WS led from

the front for this noble cause. Khajan Singh, DIGP, WS CRPF, Chan- dra Bhushan, DIGP, S.

Radhakrishnan, DIGP along with Rajesh Ku- mar, Commandant 102 RAF and other senior officers & personnel of WS CRPF and 102 RAF were present at the event.

J

SW Cement, India’s leading Green Ce- ment producer and part of US$ 12 billion JSW Group is digitizing its Sales & Marketing operations to provide channel partners ease of doing business by le- veraging AI-based digital interventions. It has partnered with Yalochat, world’s leading conversational commerce service provider, to intro- duce AI-based Anytime Anywhere Business transactions for its trade customers. The Yalochat partnership enables JSW Cement to upsell, trans- act and provide better service to its customers over messaging apps like WhatsApp. This will differentiate JSW Cement as it traverses from current 14 MTPA to 25 MTPA capacity by FY2023.

According to Mr.

Parth Jindal, Manag- ing Director of JSW Cement, “Digital Tech- nology is shaping the long-term sustainable growth strategy of all JSW Group businesses.

We are in a unique posi- tion to deliver integrated home-building solutions to Indian consumers.

Our digital transformation will ensure the ease of doing business to our customers through continued improvements in the overall Brand experience combined with efficient operations for well-synchronized &

timely deliveries. As

we march towards our target of achieving 25 MTPA capacity in the Cement business, we will ensure more invest- ments in Technology and Research to develop

& deliver innovative products that meet the evolving needs of our customers. I am happy to welcome Yalochat as our technology partner in this journey.”

Nilesh Narwekar, CEO of JSW Cement said, “We have embed- ded digital interventions across all working practices of our frontline

sales workforce and are in the process of extending these to the chan- nels as well. The digital transformation of our sales & marketing operations will help drive efficiency & effective- ness to create frontline impact. Introduction of mobile-tech in Sup- ply Chain equips our sales force with data at their fingertips. This helps them to analyze &

evaluate channel performance and enables faster decision-making to support the requirement of our trade network. Con-

tinuing on this journey, we are now extending the benefits of these digital interventions to our dealers and have chosen WhatsApp as a medium to offer conversational commerce services.

This will enable them to place orders anytime of the day wherever they are, measure performance, get their account statement, thereby re- maining connected with their business.”

Commenting on the digitization of Sales

& Marketing operations, K Swaminathan,

Chief Marketing Officer of JSW Cement said,

"Through our digital initiatives we are com- bining capabilities, pro- cesses, structures and technologies to scale-up interactivity with our customers as well as provide them optimal Personalised service on a real-time basis to scale up their business as well as our business. We are establishing a centre of excellence to deliver best customer service through advanced mobile & AI interventions."

CRPF organises blood donation camp

JSW Cement offers its customers ease of doing business through AI-based digital interventions

For inserting advertisements

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(8)

By Vikram Gaikwad

D

r. Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, Ad- ditional Director General of Po- lice Highways (Traffic) was honoured with Kuvalayanand Yoga Award by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. The award was presented to him at a function held recently at Kaivalyadham in Lonavala. Swami Maheshanand, President of Kaivalyadham, OP Ti- wari, General Secretary, Ranjit Singh Bhogal, Joint Director (Research), Subodh Tiwari, Chief Executive Offi- cer were present on the occasion.

Dr. Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay is a keen student of Sanskrit and some of his books have been published. For the last six months, he has been holding the charge of the Additional Director General of Police, Highways (Traffic) Police Department. In order to reduce the number of accidents in the trans-

port department, various schemes are being implemented across the state under his guidance.

The award was presented to him at a function held recently at Kaivalyad- ham in Lonavala. Swami Maheshanand, President of Kaivalyadham, OP Ti- wari, General Secretary, Ranjit Singh Bhogal, Joint Director (Research), Subodh Tiwari, Chief Executive Of- ficer were present on the occasion.

Dr. Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay is a keen student of Sanskrit and some of his books have been published. For the last six months, he has been holding the charge of the Additional Director General of Police, Highways (Traffic) Police Department. In order to reduce the number of accidents in the transport department, various schemes are being implemented across the state under his guidance.

Additional Director General of Police Dr. Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay honoured

with Kuvalayananda Yoga Award

By Lakshman Sundar

S

^riVinayaka Seva Sa-^Vara ^Siddhi maj at Sector 29, Vashi celebrated its 10th Prad- ishta Day (Installation of Idols Day) of Lord Maha Ganapathy and His Consorts- Sri Sid- dhi and Sri Buddhi at its temple premises on Monday, February 15, 2021. All the idols of the deities and navagrahas were exquisitely deco- rated with ornaments and flowers and the atmosphere was suffused with divine fragrance.

The Grand Pradishta Day commenced at 7 in

the morning with the Special Abhishegams to the Idols of Shri. Maha Ganapathy (Vara Sid- dhi Vinayaka) and His Consorts Siddhi & Bud- dhi. It was followed by Sri Lakshmi Ganapathi Homams, Navagraha Homams for each gra- ham and Nakshatram Homam for each of the 27 important naksha- trams which were per- formed by Brahmasri Venkatesa Ganapadigal of Vashi with his team of pandits. Many devotees had contributed for the sankalpam and their names and Nakshatram

were announced and they offered prayers to Agni (Fire God) when their Rasi and Naksha- tram were read out. The homams were followed by a brief and eloquent narration by Brahmasri Venkatesa Ganapadigal on the importance of these sacred homams and the benefits they offer.After Poornaahuthi, Aarati and Deepaarad- hana, a few devotees sang in praise of Lord Ganapthy. Then sump- tuous prasadams were offered to those present.

Sri Vara Siddhi Vinayaka Seva Samaj, Vashi celebrates 10th Pradishta Day

U

nder the 32nd Na- tional Road Safety Mission, a seatbelt awareness campaign was organized on Mumbai-Pune Expressway at 10 am on Sunday at Toll Naka in Khalapur. Shrirang Barne, Ex-officio Chair- man, Raigad Road Safety Committee, participated in the campaign organized by the Regional Transport Office, Panvel, Rotary Club of Panvel

Central, Driving School Association and raised awareness among the drivers about the importance of wearing seat belts. Panvel Regional Trans- port Officer Abhay Deshpande, Navi Mumbai Transport Deputy Commis- sioner Purushottam Karad, Deputy Regional Transport Officer Anil Patil, Rotary Governor Girish Gune were present on the occasion.

Panvel Regional Transport Offi-

cer Abhay Deshpande, Navi Mumbai Transport Deputy Commissioner of Police Purushottam Karad, Deputy Regional Transport Officer Anil Pa- til, Rotary Governor Girish Gune also expressed their views. All the officials present at the event appreciated the drivers who were wearing seat belts at Khalapur Toll Naka on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. They were given roses and road safety guide booklets.

Seatbelt awareness campaign organised on Mumbai-Pune Expressway