Mumbai Underground: Austerity drive
At Gandhi Bhawan, the Congress head office in Mumbai, there is a drive to cut down on wasteful expenditure.
Police had a tough time managing crowd at the Churchgate station Sunday as people kept flocking to take selfies with the damaged rake of the local train that overshot the metal buffer and crashed into the platform. (Source: Express Photo by Kevin DSouza)
At Gandhi Bhawan, the Congress head office in Mumbai, there is a drive to cut down on wasteful expenditure. So, the long hours of chai pe charcha are now passe, with MPCC president Ashok Chavan enforcing budget discipline and also ensuring that meaningful work is carried out instead of the party office turning into an “idle adda”. A couple of leaders were amused when they learnt that the new committee is going to thoroughly scrunitise the accounts — no more debiting the MPCC account for lavish food bills complete with fruit juices and milk shakes.
Thank You Raj, says NCP
The NCP is thrilled at BJP MLA Raj Purohit’s alleged statements about the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is the fodder that will last the Opposition the entire monsoon session. NCP leader Jitendra Awhad was so pleased with the development that he displayed a massive poster to express gratitude to Purohit, with a catchline: “Thanks. You did what we could have never done so well.”
Mumbai Roadies
With most of Mumbai’s roads under BMC, some under the PWD, some under MMRDA and some with the MSRDC, a huge crater opposed Radio Club in the chic Colaba area remained unattended to for quite a few hours. The reason? Massive confusion over which agency is responsible for this portion of the road. The BMC, which faces ample flak during monsoon, relished in promptly telling complainants and journalists that the road is under the PWD and that the civic body doesn’t have anything to do with it. While the staff on ground might have been aware, most senior PWD officials in turn, turned away complainants and journalists, pushing the blame on the BMC. The PWD, under whose jurisdiction the road actually was, eventually started restoration work at 7.30 pm, completing the work by midnight.
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Chef in a box
Renowned Mumbai-based chef Ajay Chopra, who was earlier heading the kitchens of Westin hotel, is now on his own. As opposed to going the routine way and opening a new restaurant, Chopra has launched a web-based start-up that offers ready-to-cook meals. Priced between Rs 240 and Rs 410, the ingredients for a select range of starters and main courses — in vegetarian and non-vegetarian options — are delivered to your doorstep. It contains every ingredient, from cooking oil and required masalas to sauces and meat or
veggies, which only need to be prepared by following the instructions that come with them. The only drawback is that it is currently delivering only in Jogeshwari, Goregaon and Malad. But Chopra assures his patrons that they will soon be expanding to other parts of the city.
MNS for women
The cine wing of Raj Thackeray’s MNS has sent the film federation a circular, demanding that washrooms be made available for women on outdoor sets. They have also asked film producers to provide transport for women who work night shifts in the film and television industry. While the demands are in favour of women, coming from MNS, with its reputation for troublemaking, there is an underlying threat that producers perceive.
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