* THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAITHURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 20178 TIMES CITY

METRO DIGEST

Sunrise:Friday: 0632hrsSunset:Thursday: 1818hrsForecast: A few spells of rain orthundershowers likely to occur in cityand suburbs. Heavy rainfall likely at oneor two places. Max and min temp likelyto be 31°C & 26°C respectively.Relative humidity: Colaba 90%,Santacruz 81%Monday’s rainfall: Colaba 0.2 mm,Santacruz - NA

Colaba

28.6°/25.5°

Santacruz

30.6°/25.8°

WEATHER

Aspecial NIA court onWednesday granted bail to yet

another accused, Sameer Kulkarni,in the Malegaon 2008 blast case ona surety of Rs 50,000.

Bail for blast accused

Mumbai:While videoconfe-rencing is increasingly be-ing used to connect jails andcourts, the Bombay high co-urt has ruled that an accusedcannot be denied his right toremain present in court du-ring trial.

A trial court order hadrejected the accused’splea to remain present incourt at the time of recor-ding evidence by poin-ting out that video con-ferencing was availab-le. The other groundwas the accused had oncejumped parole and bringinghim to a court in Mumbai co-uld mean risking it again.

A division bench of justi-ces Rajendra Savant andSandeep Shinde struckdown the trial court’s orderand pointed out that undersection 273 of the Indian Pe-nal Code recording of evi-

dence or other proceedingsshould be in the presence ofthe accused. The only excep-tion is when the court is re-cording the evidence of a mi-nor rape survivor.

“The said provision con-fers right on the accused tobe present at the time of re-cording evidence. The pre-sence of the accused is ne-cessary to facilitate instruc-

tions to be given to his la-wyer in the said case, so

that there is aneffective repre-sentative of the

accused at the time ofthe trial. In our view,

recording of evidence by vi-deo conferencing would ha-ve the effect of impingingupon the aspect of fair trial,”said the judges.

The court said that it wasthe prosecution’s responsi-bility to ensure custody ofthe accused. “He cannot bedenied the facility of remai-ning present (during trial)

on the specious ground thathe could escape again,” thebench said.

The court was hearing apetition filed by Kishan Maz-goankar, who is facing trialfor abetting his wife’s suici-de in 1993. Mazgoankar, pre-sently lodged in Yerwada ja-il, had sought his transfer toa prison in Mumbai so thathe could attend his trial. Theprosecution had opposed hisplea on the grounds thatMazgoankar had jumped pa-role in 1977 when he was injail in a murder case. He hadcommitted the crime in 1993when he was absconding inthe first case.

The prosecution said the-re was a chance of him esca-ping if he was brought out ofjail. “The recording of evi-dence by video conferencewhich is by now a known mo-dality for interacting withundertrials would sufficethe purpose,” the prosecu-tion had argued.

Accused has a right tobe in court for trial: HC

Shibu.Thomas@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: If all goes accordingto plan, from November, artstructures to be installed any-where in the city will first beexamined for their appropria-teness and design by a team ofexperts on the Mumbai UrbanArt Commission (MUAC).

Civic officials have had a ro-und of discussions with BMCcommissioner Ajoy Mehta onMUAC and according to sour-ces, most of the backend pro-cess for the project has beencompleted. CM Devendra Fad-navis had announced settingup of the MUAC on Tuesday.

BMC receives numerousapplications for erecting artstructures in public spaces, butthere is no mechanism to ex-amine the appropriateness oftheir design and content withlocational suitability as well

the impact the art would haveon the overall aesthetics of thearea. Therefore, said civic offi-cials, they decided to form anMUAC that would provide pro-fessional advice to the munici-pal commissioner on such de-cisions. The art installationsthat MUAC will examine inclu-de paintings, murals, statues,

sculptures, monuments, foun-tains, arches and other structu-res of a permanent characterintended for ornament or com-memoration.

The civic chief will appointa chairperson and three mem-bers from the field of architec-ture and art, who will serve athree-year term, but the dailyoperations will be run by a di-rector—a civic official appoin-ted by BMC chief.

The civic administrationclarified that there should beno overlap between MUAC andthe Mumbai Heritage Conser-vation Committee. MHCC es-sentially works towards theconservation of existing struc-tures/precincts under the he-ritage list, while MUAC will de-al more with art structures tobe placed in public spaces andcould also involve in relocationof existing art structures.

BMC on track to set upurban art body by Nov

WHAT MUAC WILL DO Set up guidelines, with

civic chief’s approval, for the process of permitting art installations in public spaces and their maintenance

Review, approve proposed art work with respect to de-sign, execution & placement

Advise civic chief on qual-ity and style of art, museums, art galleries & other facilities

Richa.Pinto@timesgroup.com

Nagpur: A day after the stateformed an SIT to probe pestici-de poisoning deaths in Vidarb-ha, 18 more farmers who hadinhaled toxic fumes were ad-mitted to hospitals in the re-gion. Fifteen of the new pati-ents were admitted to hospitalsin Yavatmal (5 in the local Go-vernment Medical College orGMC and 10 in rural hospitals),while three were admitted tothe GMC in Akola.

At least 35 farmers died bet-ween July and October after in-haling poisonous fumes whilespraying pesticides and aro-und 450 were hospitalized. Ya-vatmal alone witnessed 19 of

the deaths.Dr Baba Elke, head of de-

partment of medicine at Yavat-mal GMC, said, “22 patients areundergoing treatment here, ofwhich 6 are in ICU and 3 on ven-tilator support. Of the 10 newpatients at the rural hospitals,3 have been discharged afterpreliminary aid while 2 havebeen referred to the GMC.”

In Akola, three new caseswere reported, taking the num-ber of patients being treatedthere to 7. Two persons werestill on ventilator support inNagpur and 8 were being trea-ted in Chandrapur.

Meanwhile, the pink boll-worm pest being blamed forhigher use of pesticides madean early entry this year. It is a la-te-season pest which attacksthe cotton crop by November.“This time it was found by Julyend,” farmers said. Dr V NWaghmare of the Central Insti-tute of Cotton Research, said,“This was in areas where cropwas extended beyond Decem-ber by irrigating fields. In suchcases, eggs of the earlier pestsremain in fields and wormsspread quickly,” he said.

15 New CasesIn Yavatmal

And 3 In Akola

18 more Vidarbha farmers hit bypesticide poisoning in hospital

MNS ACTIVISTS RANSACK AGRI DEPT OFFICE Demanding registration of

a culpable homicide charge against agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar and top agriculture department officials for causing deaths of farmers, MNS activists ransacked the office of the district ag-riculture office at Yavatmal on Wednesday

The MNS men damaged furniture, window panes and scattered office files

Police have booked 12 MNS leaders

“The state government should immediately declare ex gratia at par with that granted to

victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy and

arrest all those responsible for the murder of 35 farmers and

farm labour-ers across

Vidarbha,” demanded convener

of Zilla Shetkari Nyaya Hakka Andolan Samiti Devanand Pawar on Wednesday

Pawar demanded ac-tion against agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar, MoS for agri-culture Sadabhau Khot and principal secretary Vijay Kumar Goel

‘TREAT DEATHS ON PAR WITH BHOPAL TRAGEDY’

OFFICER SUSPENDED

The state govt has suspended the Ya-

vatmal zilla parishad agriculture officer for dereliction of

duty

DEATH TOLL SO FAR

35

Yavatmal

Yavatmal rural

Chandrapur

Akola

Nagpur

118

52

9Agrochemical firm faces FIR

Mumbai: The 2018 version ofthe Maharashtra CommonEntrance Test for admission toengineering courses may turnout to be more challengingthan even the Joint EntranceTest, mainly because studentswill get less time to answer it.

In the JEE exam, studentscan on an average take two mi-nutes for each question in allthree subjects, physics, che-mistry and maths. It quizzescandidates on 30 questions andgrants them 60 minutes. Incontrast, the state’s CET cutsthe time dramatically. For phy-sics and chemistry each ques-tion can only be allotted 54 se-conds; there are 90 minutes tosolve 100 questions. In maths,there are 50 questions with 90minutes allotted to solve them,giving students an average of1.8 minutes to attempt each.

Moreover, while there ismerely one paper for JEE (Ma-in) with a mix of questionsfrom physics, chemistry andmaths, CET will have a diffe-rent format. “Each subject inJEE carries a-third of the we-ightage. But in CET, 100 marksare set aside for maths, whilephysics and chemistry put to-gether are a 100-mark paper,”said a student. These issueswill be raised with DTE afterthe notification came out onOctober 4.

“If the difficulty level is thesame as JEE, then it will be ex-tremely challenging for stu-dents to attempt the JEE,” saidSubhash Joshi, director of Sci-ence Pariwar. The Directorateof Technical Education had al-so stated the pattern of the pa-pers would follow the one set bythe CBSE for JEE. But theDTE’s notification is silent oncurriculum for the competiti-ve test. “Whether students ne-

ed to refer to NCERT text booksor the state Class XII books isunclear,” added Joshi. The sta-te government’s February 27resolution stated students ne-ed to prepare keeping the JEEin mind. The GR stated the pat-tern and difficulty levels wouldbe the same as the JEE.

While class XI syllabus wo-uld also be tested, students saythere is no scientific process inselecting topics for class XI. To-pics not connected to the por-tion in class XII or those thathave no particular relevance tothe portion of class XII have be-en included, they claimed. Forinstance, surface chemistry isincluded while chemical kine-tics in chemistry, required inclass XII, has been deleted fromthe class XI syllabus to be studi-ed for the CET. The situation isthe same in physics: currentelectricity, which is there inclass XII, has been omittedfrom the class XI CET portion.

Time Constraints, Marking Format A Concern

State’s CET may betougher than JEE?

Hemali.Chhapia@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Of the 7,000 housingsocieties associated with the ci-vic body to help in waste mana-gement, only 30 are segregatingtheir wet waste, said BMC offici-als on Wednesday. Also, most ofthese societies are not bulk gene-rators and are associated withBMC through advanced localmanagements (ALMs).

Officials said ALMs wereplaced under scrutiny on lear-ning that most of them are enga-ged in raising other issues—ille-gal constructions and hawkers-—rather than helping BMC toconvince societies to segregatewaste. Officials said around twodecades ago, ALMs were intro-duced to rope in societies to helpin waste management and keepthe surroundings clean. BMChas registered the ALMs givingthem easy access to civic offici-als and address their issues onpriority. There are 719 ALMs inthe city of which only over 300are active. Also, active ALMs al-so not fulfilling their core duty-—help BMC convince societiesto segregate their wet waste.

On Wednesday, BMC direc-ted its officials to inspect societi-es associated with ALMs tocheck if they are ready to parti-cipate in waste segregation dri-ves or to deregister them. Acti-vist Ashoke Pandit of Gulmo-har Area Society’s Welfare Gro-up said, “What will BMCachieve by deregistering ALMs?Instead of doing its work proper-ly, BMC passing its responsibili-ty on ALMs.” —Vijay VSingh

Only 30 socssegregatingwaste: BMC

Mumbai: Bombay high co-urt on Wednesday declined tolift its stay on the state go-vernment granting permis-sion for bullock cart races inMaharashtra, saying it willsubject the animal to crueltyand pain.

A bench of Chief JusticeManjula Chellur and JusticeNitin Jamdar passed the di-rection after the governmentsaid it had come out with ru-les under Prevention of Cru-elty to Animals (Maharash-tra Amendment) Act 2017 toconduct and regulate racesand eliminate pain to the ani-mal. Senior advocate AspiChinoy, representing the government, said the stateproposed to notify rules and urged the court to vacateits August 16 stay and permitthe races.

But the judges said primafacie the proposed rules wo-uld not remove the SC’s obser-vations in the jallikattu case,

where it had said bulls cannotbe performing animals asthey are not anatomically de-signed for that, and also thevery conduct of bullock cartraces would mean inflictingcruelty and pain to the ani-mals. “...till the matter is dis-posed of, there shall be no per-mission to conduct bullockcart races in Maharashtra,’’it added. It said the govern-ment shall not grant permis-sion even after notifying theproposed rules.

The court heard a petitionchallenging the Act which al-

lows bullock cart races. Chi-noy said adequate precau-tions are taken, including li-fetime disqualification if any-one is caught subjecting theanimal to cruelty, no use ofwhips, supervision by tehsil-dar, videography, frequentbreaks and food for animalsduring the race.

But the judges questionedwhether the law can changethe anatomy of a bullock whocan perform agricultural andrelated tasks. “By the verystructure of the bullock, itcan’t be made to run. Bybirth, they are not natural ra-cers. Horses, dogs, parrotscan be performing animals,not bullocks,’’ said the CJ.Chinoy said those used “arespecially bred for racing”. Hesaid the amendment envisa-ges no pain or suffering forthe animal. The CJ asked, “Isit practical to conduct a racewithout cruelty? How can abullock run on its own? Byamending the Act, can it be-come different? How can thelaw say it can run?’’

HC refuses to lift stay onbullock cart races in state

Rosy.Sequeira@timesgroup.com

NO BULL RUN FOR NOW

File pic

Mumbai: The state govern-ment has sent a proposal tothe Union government see-king colour coding for pesti-cides being used in the state.

The proposal mentionsthere are only a few pestici-des in the state that are noti-fied in the list which makes itmandatory for the user to useunder expert guidance.

In the backdrop of inci-dents reported from Vidarb-ha, the state wants the Cent-re to colour-code pesticidesinto Red, Yellow and Blue.

While red will notify ex-tremely strong, yellow is formoderately strong and bluewill denote mildly strongpesticides. Once colour co-ding is done the governmentplans to invoke a rarely usedsection in the insecticide actmaking it mandatory for far-

mers who employ farmhands for spraying to seek alicence.

“Under section 10 (3A) (1) ,a licence is required for emp-loying farm hands to handlehazardous pesticides and wewill start implementing thatonce the colour codificationand notification of these pes-

ticides comes through,” saida senior official from the ag-riculture department.

The state government al-so wants to put an end to di-rect employment of farm la-bourers for spraying opera-tions. They will invite appli-cations from those who holda Masters in Agriculture orMasters in Chemistry to runservice-providing agencieswhich will enroll these farmhands, get them healthcheck-ups and keep a recordof their employment.

“We will be issuing an ad-vertisement in newspapersto appoint degree holders inagriculture and chemistryas pest control operators.These people will be sent fortraining to the Central Insti-tute of Plant Management,Hyderabad,” said principalsecretary in the agriculturedepartment, Bijay Kumar.

Colour-code pesticides toindicate danger levels: State

Bhavika.Jain @timesgroup.com

Guardian minister for NagpurChandrashekhar Bawankuleon Wednesday paid a visit tohomes of pesticide victims inNagpur district. Relatives ofManikrao Shinde, a victimfrom Piplarethi village, said hehad fallen unconscious whilespraying pesticide in thefarms. He also visited the kinof Dhananjay Varekar, a victimfrom Narkhed tehsil.

Minister meetsvictims’ families

The builders of Amrit NaharShakti housing society in

Chandivli will lead a marchThursday urging residents topledge to avoid firecrackersduring Diwali.

No crackers, urges bldr

A drilling machine worth Rs 3 lakh was stolen from a

Mumbai Metro construction siteat Dahisar (W) recently. Policesuspect insider involvement andare questioning workers.

Drill machine worth ̀̀ 3Lstolen from Metro site

A 39-year-old man, ImranShaikh, was arrested on

Tuesday for kidnapping twoboys—aged five and seven—toforce their mother to marry him.

Man kidnaps 2 boys, held

The Maharashtra State Board ofSecondary and Higher

Secondary Education has extendedthe submission date for the HSCexam applications from October 9to October 17, with regular fees.

HSC exam form dates

KILLINGFIELDS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

SHiv Sena workers on Wednesday removed the enclosure put up by aBJP leader to demarcate an area fora kabutarkhana in Girgaum

Kalyan: A 32-year-old man fromSaparde in Kalyan, Dnyanesh-war Patil (32), was arrested onWednesday for allegedly killinghis girlfriend for abusing hismother during an argument.

On October 6, local residentsin Wadeghar found an unidenti-fied woman’s body with her facesmashed in and informed Kha-dakpada police. The Kalyan cri-me unit was also roped in.

Police found the name ‘Su-nil’ tattooed on her hand andchecked missing complaints.They finally identified her as La-ta Gavai (35) from Saparde. Du-ring investigation, police learntthat she was seeing Patil and qu-estioned him. He confessed tothe crime. —Pradeep Gupta

Tattoo on bodyleads cops to

‘killer’ boyfriend

Row over kabutarkhana