Finder returns purse with ₹50k earrings

Finder returns purse with ₹50k earrings

George Mendonca

Navi Mumbai:15.11.2020

In an unusual show of honesty, a homemaker from Vashigaon in Navi Mumbai returned a purse containing a pair of gold earrings worth Rs 50,000 and Rs 1,000 she had found on the roadside to its rightful owner. Jayshree Bhagat

(38), who hails from a middle-class family, went out of her way to return the purse to Jaya Pawar.

Bhagat said she was was returning home by auto after buying groceries around 1.30pm on Wednesday when she spotted a black purse lying on a cement seat at a corner as the rickshaw slowed down near Bharat Sevashram building. “I guessed that someone had forgotten it there. Since it could contain valuables and even important documents, I took custody of the purse,” said Bhagat.

When she checked its contents on returning home, she found the earrings and cash. Besides, there was an Aadhaar card in the purse.

SETTING AN EXAMPLE: Jayshree Bhagat (R) returns the purse to its owner Jaya Pawar

Purse owner had shifted home, finder tracked her

I went to the address that was mentioned on the Aadhaar card, but I was told that the woman had shifted from the house,” Bhagat said, adding that she sought help from her brother-in-law to track down the woman’s residence in Vashigaon the next day. “I met her at the place and returned her valuables,” Bhagat said.

Pawar said that she had gone to the place where she left her purse to see her mother off around 1pm the same day.

While they were waiting for an autorickshaw at the spot, they sat on the cement seat along the road. “When my mother hailed an autorickshaw, I left to go home, leaving the purse behind on the cement seat,” said Pawar.

It’s only after she reached home that she realized her mistake. She did rush back to the spot, but the purse was missing. “I thought I would never get the purse and my valuables back,” said Pawar. “But honest people like Jayshree Bhagat do exist. I am glad I have been proven wrong.”

Beg, borrow, work: How scholarship delays are impacting students

Beg, borrow, work: How scholarship delays are impacting students

The pandemic has only increased disbursal delays, forcing research scholars and students to turn to kin for loans or do small-time jobs

Ketaki Desai, Manimugdha S Sharma & Ardhra Nair | TNN

15.11.2020

Kamalakar Shete, an MCom student from Ahmednagar, has been calling the social welfare department twice a week for months now. Eligible for the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Swadhar Yojana applicable to SC students, he is yet to receive the scholarship worth Rs 51,000 for the 2019-20 academic year. “I am already done with my final-year examinations but the scholarship amount is yet to come. The department says they have no funds due to the pandemic but not a year has passed when the scholarship amount was ever disbursed on time. It would always come after the academic year had ended,” says Shete, adding that he finds it difficult to keep asking his parents for money as they survive on farming a small one-acre plot with an annual income of about Rs 50,000.

Scholarship delays, both at the central and state levels, have become a regular feature of student life for many. Recently, Lady Shri Ram College for Women student Aishwarya Reddy died by suicide saying she didn’t want to burden her parents with educational expenses. Reddy was eligible for INSPIRE scholarship money but did not get it as, according to the department for science and technology, it had not received the requisite paperwork which, they say, is a simple process of submitting three documents.

Some students disagree. Vijay got an email this summer with an offer letter from the INSPIRE scholarship. A Delhi University student he says, “They ask for bank details. I have a minor account and when I uploaded those details, they asked for a joint account. When I uploaded the details for a joint account, they asked for a minor account. I have sent countless emails and always get the same response to change to the other type of account.” Another student who qualified for the scholarship this summer, Rinku, says the process of getting his marksheet attested in his college has been a painful process. “I live 100km away in Haryana, yet they keep asking me to come another day, delaying the process,” the 18-year-old says.

Scholarship issues predate the pandemic, according to many students and activist groups. Swati Moitra, now an assistant professor in a college in Kolkata, faced the same issues a decade ago as a research scholar in JNU. “I was a junior research fellow and the payments were regularly delayed by 5-6 months,” says Moitra, who eventually gave up the fellowship when she got a job at Delhi University because of the consistent delays.

TEDIOUS APPLICATION PROCESS

Getting scholarship money is not easy. Former JNUSU president and current AISA national president N Sai Balaji last received his JRF scholarship in August 2019. He hasn’t got it as he hasn’t been able to get his thesis synopsis cleared because of the pandemic. “The process is painful,” he says. “You first have to fill up a form, sign it and upload it, which then goes to your supervisor. He downloads it, signs it, scans it and uploads it. It goes to someone else in the administration. Finally, it’s uploaded on UGC’s portal.”

STUDENT TURNS WAITER

Many students are forced to find other sources of income. Vinayak Renewad, an MA economics student from Nanded, has been working part-time jobs since his graduation because of the delay in disbursal of scholarship amount. From working as a waiter to sleeping on shop floors, Renewad says he has done it all. “In hotels, I could get meals and also sleep there. In shops, food needs to be arranged, but there one can sleep on the floor, cutting down on hostel fee.”

Administrative staff are not of much help, according to law student Kuldeep Ambekar. While this widespread problem isn’t exclusive to the pandemic, it has worsened the situation for many. Lokesh Chugh, national spokesperson for NSUI says, “Attending 6-8 hours of classes everyday uses up 4-5 GB of data. That costs money.” Chugh is himself a PhD student whose scholarship money has been delayed for 8-9 months.

NO STIPEND BUT LOTS OF COVID WORK

Lalan Kumar is a senior research scholar at Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, which is directly run by CSIR. He has been working on the anti-Covid vaccine, but his dues of Rs 35,000 (excluding HRA) per month are pending since June. “When singer Kanika Kapoor had tested positive, there was much panic in Lucknow. I was working from 5am till 2am every day at the lab, doing tests and making sanitiser to overcome the shortage. I took no leave during this pandemic period. And yet my dues are held up for the last five months. How long can one borrow from friends and family?” Kumar says.

Priyanka Kushwaha from Bahraich is a PhD scholar at IIT Bombay. Her dues were held up for eight months and only recently five months of pending money was cleared. “As a teaching assistant, I have also been taking classes online while pursuing my research. My work hasn’t stopped, but the scholarship has,” says Kushwaha, who recently took to Twitter to complain.

Diabetic pets patiently sit through insulin shots, swallow bitter pills

Diabetic pets patiently sit through insulin shots, swallow bitter pills

Alex.Fernandes@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:15.11.2020

Scoobee is a “sweet” pug in more ways than one. The 10-year-old canine has had diabetes for three months and requires two shots of insulin a day. When Scoobee is given the injection after meals, he barely yelps or winces.

“He’s very cooperative. No fuss at all,” says his owner, Shivaji Park resident Seema Kulkarni. Occasionally, his blood is tested with a glucometer.

Scoobee has low-carb food, rich in fibre, with minced chicken or chunks of it thrown in with the white of an egg. A daily stroll for about 45 minutes is a must. When he was first diagnosed, his sugar had shot up abnormally high —to 650 against the normal range of 80-120.

On World Diabetes Day on Saturday, November 14, veterinarians said not only is the incidence of diabetes among pets on the rise, the disorder is catching them young as well.

Until recently, diabetes was found in aged dogs with cataract, says Dr Narendra Pardeshi, a veterinary surgeon from Pune. “But now, we diagnose little puppies and kittens too with juvenile diabetes,” says Dr Pardeshi. Weaning young pups from their mothers could trigger this condition.

“Not only are they deprived of mother’s milk but also fed high carb and deprived of the much-needed protein, which possibly precipitates diabetes in them, says Dr Pardeshi.

Dr Gautam Bhojne, assistant professor at the department of medicine, Nagpur Veterinary College, pointed out that a study done on over 600 dogs from Nagpur in 2017 showed the condition was seen in pets—not street dogs. Not just dogs and birds, now even cats are being diagnosed with the condition. Bandit, a 12-year-old cat, pet to a family in Matunga, has had it since a year. The feline is given two insulin shots daily. Her blood is tested three to four times daily with a glucometer to watch for low sugar. “Bandit is an angel when it comes to the daily pricks,” says Radhika Iyer (name changed on request) who adopted the cat as a kitten.

A “cooperative, no-fuss” Scoobee (10) is given insulin twice a

HC okays kin’s plea to sell flat of bedridden woman to fund her expenses

HC okays kin’s plea to sell flat of bedridden woman to fund her expenses

Rosy.Sequeira@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:15.11.2020

The Bombay high court has allowed the sale of a flat in Cuffe Parade to meet medical and other expenses of a woman bedridden for 14 years after suffering irreversible brain damage.

The direction by a bench of Justices Burgess Colabawalla and Abhay Ahuja came on a petition by 59-yearold Anjali Mehta’s two guardians, including brother-inlaw Hormuz. The city civil court had directed them to move the HC as it did not have jurisdiction to allow alienation of property.

Admitted to a city hospital in October 2006 for chest pain, Anjali suffered a cardiac arrest and then anoxic brain affectation, which affected her mental capacity. She requires nurses and attendants to look after her round-the-clock.

In September 2015, her husband Neville, as guardian and manager, was permitted to negotiate the sale of the flat. However, before it could be concluded, his health deteriorated. The couple then moved into a flat in Commonwealth Building on Madame Cama Road, where Hormuz also lives. Neville died due to cancer in April 2016. The petitioners were appointed guardians and managers of Anjali’s person and property in August 2017.

The petitioners’ advocate Jehangir Jeejeebhoy said Anjali had no money in her bank account to meet her medical and other expenses, including maintenance of properties. She is the sole and absolute owner of the flat at Pallonji Mansion in Cuffe Parade and the properties she inherited from her late parents.

Buyer ready to pay ₹19.5 crore for flat, wants deal by Dec 31

A person has offered Rs 19.5 crore for the flat, and is willing to pay related charges, but wants the sale transaction to be completed by December 31.

The judges noted that the petitioners had spent over Rs 1 crore from Anjali’s account to look after her and her properties from April 2017 to October 2020. They have themselves also infused nearly Rs 26 lakh into her account to meet her expenses. The judges said it was clear Anjali was incapable of taking care of herself. “In these circumstances, considering totality of facts, it will be in the interest of Anjali if permission is granted for sale of the Pallonji Mansion flat,’’ they said in their November 11 order. They directed the petitioners to invest the proceeds “to earn optimum returns and to utilize the money for Anjali’s proper upkeep and fulfilling her needs and requirements”. They have to file a detailed report a month after the sale stating what they have done with the proceeds, besides quarterly reports on the expenses on Anjali and her properties.

The judges said the flat should not be sold for less than Rs 19.5 crore, as mentioned in the petition. Since Pallonji Mansion is on collector’s land, they requested the collector, through assistant government pleader Jyoti Chavan, to consider granting an NOC for the sale before December 2.

The judges said the apartment should not be sold for less than Rs19.5 crore

CM’s Diwali gift: Temples allowed to open across state from Monday

CM’s Diwali gift: Temples allowed to open across state from Monday

‘Must Follow SOPs Or Face Strict Action’

Bhavika.Jain1@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:15.11.2020

Nearly seven months after the lockdown was imposed, the Maharashtra government announced on Diwali that all religious places in the state can re-open from Monday, November 16.

The state government has put together a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP), which must be followed by all religious institutions. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday warned of strict action against violators.

In keeping with the “new normal”, touching of idols, holy books, physical offering of prasad and sprinkling of holy water will not be allowed. Devotees are expected to get their own prayer mats or pieces of cloth to pray on. Live choirs and singing groups will not be allowed; recorded devotional songs will be played.

The festive season and holidays bring lakhs of devotees and tourists to the temple towns like Kolhapur

Places of worship to open from tomorrow

The government has also issued an advisory requesting people above the age of 65, those with comorbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 to not enter places of worship. Also, all Covid-19-related protocols of masking, a distance of six feet, and hand hygiene have to be followed.

“We can’t forget that the demon in the form of coronavirus is still around. Even though it is slowly falling silent, we cannot let our guard down. We must continue to show self-restraint, just like we did while celebrating all the religious festivals this year,” said Thackeray. He further said devotees must not treat guidelines laid down as government order but consider them as God’s wish.

As per the guidelines issued by the state, religious trusts have to stagger timings, have separate entry and exit, community kitchens should maintain social distancing, large gatherings must not be allowed and any shops inside or outside the premises should maintain adequate distancing. Crowd management at eating places and toilets should be strictly followed.

Staffers at religious places should undergo Covid tests before resuming work. Weekly tests of highly exposed groups are recommended. If a Covid-19 patient is detected on the premises, there should be a room to isolate the patient and the nearest health facility should be contacted. Disinfecting and sanitisation of the premises should be undertaken multiple times each day.

Happy Deepavali

 

Unemployment, a factor to be considered in theft cases: Madras HC

Unemployment, a factor to be considered in theft cases: Madras HC

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court saw the pleasant side of the virus when two youth, accused of lifting bikes, were granted relief on Friday.

Published: 14th November 2020 06:21 AM 

The Madras High Court (File Photo| PTI)

By Jegadeeswari Pandian

Express News Service

MADURAI: Coronavirus seldom reveals its "smiling face". The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court saw the pleasant side of the virus when two youth, accused of lifting bikes, were granted relief on Friday.

Citing unemployment problems faced by the youth during the pandemic-induced lockdown, Justice SM Subramaniam observed that the COVID-19 pandemic is an unfortunate situation and that a large number of young men and women lost their jobs.

"The petitioners were also out of business due to the crisis. Probably, this might have forced them to commit the crime. At the same time, this could be established only during the course of the trial," he said, adding that unemployment and the prevailing circumstances in the society are the two dominating factors that needed to be considered while granting bail to the accused in such cases. 

The judge also pointed out that detention is a preferable concept and that only under extraordinary and exceptional circumstances, should individuals be detained for a longer period. “Keeping the petitioners under detention for a longer period will further corrupt their mind and they will be tempted to commit more crime,” the judge added.

According to sources, the two youth – Deepak, a waiter at a hotel, and Naveen, an autorickshaw driver – were arrested on September 16 on charges of stealing five two-wheelers in August and September. However, the duo denied the charges in the court and said that they had been unemployed for a while and were roaming around in search of a job when the police “foisted” the case on them.