Dance bars in Maharashtra can continue to operate as before

The Supreme Court has ruled that dance bars in Maharashtra will continue to operate under the old terms and conditions that permitted serving of liquor with CCTV cameras at the entrance. The honorable bench did not put on hold the new rules that limited the timings of the dances up to 11.30 p.m., prohibited serving of liquor and installation of CCTV cameras in the dance bar itself. However, the judges said the "persons granted license should be allowed to continue under old terms and conditions".
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 22 September 2016.

The bench took exception to the new rules that prohibits serving of liquor at the dance bars and said that if somebody has a bar license and a dance bar, there cannot be any restriction on serving liquor.
As to installation of CCTV at the entrance, senior counsel appearing for the Maharashtra government said that installing CCTV in dance area was a part of the police power of the state. However, senior counsel appearing for the dance bar owners said that CCTVs had a chilling affect on the people who come to dance bars because people have some right to privacy.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Maharashtra tops the list of pothole deaths - seven fold increase since 2014

Potholes are an integral part of modern day life in the country and, as per available statistics, the number of deaths due to potholes was 10,727. The potholes were die to roads under repair or under construction apart from speed-breakers.
The overall figure under these three categories have reduced marginally from 2014 but, the number of people killed due to potholes has increased significantly from 3039 in previous year to 3,416 in 2015.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 1 August 2016.

In Maharashtra, there has been a seven-fold increase in fatalities as a result of potholes - it has increased from 124 in 2014 to 812 in 2015. This is based on latest Road Accidents Report published by the transport research wing of the road ministry. Obviously, this is an indication of how road owning agencies fail to maintain stretches in spite of increasing allocations of funds by both the Center and the state for building new roads and flyovers.
The data compiled by the road transport ministry shows that 10,876 accidents were reported last year due to potholes across the country. The actual number could be higher because there is no robust and scientific mechanism to collect the data. Many accidents go unreported and there is no detailed investigation into causes of road deaths in our country.
In the opinion of top road engineers who are working with government departments, until the drainage system in cities and towns was improved, roads would keep developing potholes.


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Dahi-handi celebrations is a part and parcel of celebration of Janmashtami or the birth of Lord Sri Krishna and, while it is a major festival in some places like Mathura and Dwarka, the people of Mumbai love the dahi-handi part more than flocking to the temples to offer prayers. This is probably because of renowned Bollywood film stars who have imparted the festivities with songs and dance sequences that the commoners have lapped up. Lord Krishna is fondly called Govinda who loves milk products like dahi (curd), and hence the name ‘dahi handi’ or earthen pot of curd.
Anyway, this year, it has been a low key affair because of the drought conditions and also due to restrictions imposed on height of pyramids as well as curbs on decibel levels. In fact, many prominent mandals have called off the celebrations citing the acute drought in various parts of the state.
This has been reported in ndtv.com dated 6 September 2015.

The festivities are all about climbing a pyramid of people to reach the top and snatch away the pot full of treasure – this can, at times, run into several lakhs of rupees. Those who are able to do so get anointed as the modern day Lord Krishna. And, most of these groups enjoy political patronage.
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(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Police officers in the city of Malegaon, in the western Maharashtra state, say the photos are needed for reference in case a criminal case arises under the recently introduced law, which bans the slaughter of all cows and sale and consumption of their meat.

The need for photographic evidence has apparently arisen after three people were charged locally for selling beef. Wonder what purpose a photograph of the cow would serve once the deed is done – the deed means slaughter.
The census of livestock in India is taken at 5-year-intervals and the last one was taken in 2012 – as per that census, the total bovine count in Maharashtra was just over 21m. In comparison, the human count was around 112m.
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However, introducing such a ban in all states of the country is not possible right now since the government does not have an absolute majority in both Houses of Parliament. Obviously, that would have to wait till such time the BJP manages to get the required numbers in the Rajya Sabha.
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Maharashtra could soon have unpaid sweepers cleaning government offices

#SwatchhBharat #tobacco #spitting #maharashtra In keeping with the Swatchh Bharat campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the initiative proposed to be taken by Maharashtra to ban tobacco chewing and spitting in public in order to ensure cleanliness is a laudable step. Chewing of tobacco can lead to cancer and spitting in public places carries with it the grave danger of spreading diseases.
Spitting in public places could lead to spread of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 6 March 2015.
Under the proposal, if a person is caught not just spitting tobacco juice but even chewing it in a public place, he might have to become an unpaid government sweeper for a day – he would have to sweep for eight hours.
This is what the state health department is considering in the hope that such a stringent punishment against tobacco users would help to curb the habit.
Health Minister Deepak Sawant has indicated that if a person is found spitting from a luxury car, he would also not be spared - he should be made to clean a government office for a day. However, if a driver spits on the road, his license should be suspended for at least a month.
This proposal has, apparently, been forwarded to the state law and judiciary department for legal opinion.
Implementation is difficult because in Maharashtra every second person is addicted to tobacco and a situation could come when the government offices would be full of unpaid sweepers and there would not be enough places to clean.