New Metro lines, `194-cr WiFi project for Mumbai Ex-corporator’s son admits to killing city RTI activist THE MURDER

POLL BONANZA? CM provides infra boost; 2 Metro lines to connect MMR better 173.9

With civic bodies across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), going to polls next year, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday rolled out an infrastructure bonanza for the region.

Fadnavis announced two new Metro lines — Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-VikhroliKanjurmarg and ThaneBhiwandi-Kalyan — and sanctioned Rs194 crore for the first phase of the WiFi project.

Elections for the municipal corporations of Mumbai, Thane, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, MiraBhayander and Ulhasnagar are scheduled for early 2017. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aggressively competing against its ally, Shiv Sena, to expand its presence across all civic bodies, especially those in Mumbai and Thane.

While the Sena and BJP are in an alliance in Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar and Mira-Bhayander, Uddhav Thackeray’s party has more seats in most of these civic bodies. In the BhiwandiNizampur municipal corporation, the Congress is the singlelargest party.

In their battle for supremacy in the BMC, BJP and Sena leaders have already been sparring openly, and the announcements made by the Fadnavisled Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Wednesday will only add more spice to the fight. KM-LONG

Amjad Khan, son of ex-corporator Razzak Khan confessed that he shot RTI activist Bhupendra Vira on the night of October 15 while the latter was watching television. The Mumbai crime branch have recovered a pistol and five live rounds from Amjad on Wednesday after he confessed to the crime.

Additional commissioner of police KMM Prasanna (crime branch), while confirming the weapon’s recovery, said, “We have been questioning Razzak and Amjad about the involvement of other people and if there was a conspiracy to kill Vira.”

Razzak and Amjad were arrested a day after the incident when Vira’s family said they suspected the duo owing to past enmity. As the police initiated investigations, a witness surfaced, who had spotted Amjad heading towards Vira’s residence a few minutes before the murder. Based on circumstantial evidence, the Vakola police arrested Amjad and his father. They have been remanded in police custody till October 24.

The investigation has been handed over to the crime branch.

Buyers suing firms for faulty products or approaching consumer courts to settle disputes won’t need to hire lawyers. Also, all such cases have to be decided within 90 days.

These consumer-friendly moves are part of a new consumer rights bill that is likely to be tabled in Parliament next month.

The last issue that remains to be fixed is the exact provisions on celebrity endorsements. The government is not in favour of harsh jail terms for celebrities appearing in deceptive advertisements, but they may face heavy fines and bans if products they endorse are found dangerous, substandard and misleading.

A parliamentary panel had recommended up to five years of jail for celebrities endorsing untruthful products.

The bill will make provisions to set up a consumer protection authority, empowered to initiate complaints and investigation on its own.

Buyers won’t need to hire lawyers to sue firms for faulty products or bad service. The consumer affairs ministry’s previous stand was that lawyers must represent cases involving more than `2 lakh worth of goods and services.

The bill seeks to replace an outdated law governing legal rights of consumers and expand their rights in a changed economy marked by e-commerce and digital transactions.