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The Times of India •

A river of forgotten promises lies buried in Mumbai’s poll noise

As a sudden dust storm swept through the city, followed by rain, bringing both relief from sun-parched days and havoc to the homes lining the banks of the Mithi River, it was a grim prelude to the impending monsoon season for families settled along the brackish river’s edge. Two decades on, not much has changed, say its residents. As monsoon clouds gather, it’s a familiar scene every year.
The Times of India •

Koliwadas say low catch, soaring diesel prices are factors in poll

Vast Koli settlements in Andheri Versova, Khar Danda, Worli, Madh, Colaba, Vasai and Satpati face common concerns. Educated young men and women are leaving the occupation. Fishing is a diminishing trade thanks to the high cost of diesel used to fuel boats. The catch is vastly depleted owing to polluted waters and overfishing, the use of purse seine nets and LED lights. Infrastructure projects like the Coastal Road have driven another nail to the coffin of their dying trade, they say. The Kolis uniformly feel that govts do not consult them or take them into confidence over issues that put their livelihood at stake.
The Times of India •

When messenger lies, message suffers, say pundits on Pandey's death stunt

A French newspaper thought Alfred Nobel had died, wrote a nasty obituary about him, calling him a merchant of death, and Nobel, so some historians say, read it and got an attack of conscience. Internet in India thought Poonam Pandey had died, then it discovered she hadn’t, it was a stunt, apparently for a ‘good cause’, then Internet went nuts. But did Pandey have an attack of conscience after reviewing social media users’ responses to her ‘death’?
Times Of India •

Jamtara loses crown as new remote districts rewrite India’s cybercrime map

Move over Jamtara , there’s a new cyber playground in town. The once-notorious hub for online mischief in Jharkhand no longer reigns as India’s cybercrime epicentre. Emerging from the shadows are fresh contenders—districts like Bharatpur , Mathura, Nuh , Deogarh , Gurgaon, Alwar , Bokaro, Karma Tand, and Giridih—that have claimed the spotlight and are collectively responsible for 80% of reported cybercrimes across country.
The Times of India •

No ‘Aadhaar’: Film runs into UIDAI roadblock

Filmmaker Suman Ghosh—who had to contend with the Central Board of Film Certification in 2017 before it freed the “cow” and four other words that were asked to be beeped out from his documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen—has run into trouble again. This time it’s with his feature film ‘ Aadhaar ’, a Hindi comic drama. Only it’s not a tussle between Ghosh and the certifying body, but a “super censor” in the form of Unique Identification Authority of India that issues Aadhaar card.
The Times of India •

Goa police book Delhi woman for sexual assault on French woman

A woman from Delhi who identifies herself as a queer rights activist has been booked for “sexual assault” and “wrongful confinement” of a French woman — who also identifies herself as queer — in Goa last week. The French woman has alleged that on February 23 she was “drugged”, “groped” and “so-called shamanic rituals” were performed on her by the accused before she went on to sexually assault her by hand.
The Times Of India •

Eye in sky is police ally in fight against Covid-19

“Oh red-shirt-waley, jo cricket khel rahe ho! Ghar jao warna police aapke khilaaf karwaai shuru karegi,” a voice booms in the air above Dharavi. The boy in red looks up wide-eyed at a flying machine buzzing above his head, and scurries off. “Aur ghar jaake haath dhona mat bhul na!” the voice trails off. A synthesised boom bap beat-led voice courses through the sky a little later in the day, rapping. For over a month, Mumbai’s skies have been dotted with swarms of light and small, unmanned aerial vehicles popularly known as drones.
The Times Of India •

One lakh litres of craft beer in Maharashtra to go down the drain

Chaitanya Khanapure, a computer engineer, was having a decade-long run in Mumbai’s swelling realm of tech innovation but an idea for a switchover kept gnawing at him. When he quit everything to study and brew beer for a living two years ago, it was about concocting his own unique flavours of ale and the sweet spot that locally brewed craft beer had hit in 2018 — a far cry from 2009, when he was a student and tasted the first kick of hops, malt and wheat at Doolally, India’s first microbrewery in Pune.
The Times Of India •

Conservationists divided on Maharashtra plan to lease out forts

Apart from the ravages of time, weather and apathy, a critical challenge that the architectural legacy in the country is often faced with is resistance to change, even if that involves actual efforts to restore the remains of its past.That is what happened when Maharashtra decided to lease out 25 forts identified as Class-II category of lesser historical significance to private players for conversion into heritage hotels.
The Times Of India •

Neighbouring towers dump 18 truckloads of trash in Raj Bhavan

There is never a shortage of ways in which Indians toss out their trash anytime, anywhere. In a curious case of rampant trash disposal, a tranquil patch of the 47-acre Raj Bhavan complex on the southern tip of the Malabar Point—despite being sheltered by a cliff and enshrined by the sea—has become the target of an aerial barrage of trash, allegedly dropping out of posh highrises that fringe the bhavan’s Lower Gates and landing with a splat on the western side of the compound.
The Times Of India •

In diversity push, Academy to open 3rd office in Mumbai after London & NYC

In January 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had responded to the #OscarsSoWhite outrage by announcing a diversity committee and a fixed goal: To widen its membership and double the number of women and people of colour by 2020. Now, almost three and a half years later, India finds itself in the middle of the revolution with the Oscar granting body trying to broaden its reach in a country that is home to the world’s largest film industry.
The Times Of India •

Kin get five years in prison for forcing girl into sexual 'rites'

One year ago, a 17-year-old girl from Mumbra had looked her father and grandmother in the eye as well as a shaman from Dombivli and his agent, before calling them out and narrating to the court the horror of being forced as a 15 year old to perform sexual 'rituals' by all four who were convinced that if she could satisfy a Jinn or spirit with perverse acts, the family would receive a shower of gold coins and hidden treasures.
The Times Of India •

Boy thrashed at Worli shelter, staff used to steal food, gifts

While the scale of horrors at shelter homes in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and a nationwide survey of over 2,000 such places are gradually lifting the lid on atrocities within care institutions, the brutal beating of a 13-year-old boy at a private shelter home in Worli last week reflects how the rot runs deep in the heart of Mumbai.Last Friday, Riyaz (name changed) was whipped by the caretaker of Anand Kendra, a home for orphaned and destitute boys, for being “too naughty”.
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