Wage rise for civic teachersTeachers in all municipal corporations in Maharashtra will get wages as per the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission as per orders issued by the state government today. The new wages will be given with retrospective effect from January 1, 1996 and will be applicable to teachers in all categories. (UNI)BMC official held for taking bribeA BMC official was trapped by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 1,000. Prabhakar Deshmukh had asked for the money when a hutment dweller had requested permission to transfer a hut to her name. He is in custody till November 22.Thieves arrested at KandivliKandivli police arrested five thieves who had planned to loot a shopowner on Thursday. A police team, comprising Inspector J N Tayade, Sub-Inspectors Deepak Phatangare and Suryakant Talekar, arrested the suspects at Bhanu Park, Kandivli (W) while they lay in wait for the shopowner. The suspects, Jalil Sheikh, JohnD'Souza, Vinod Sonavane, Deveshwar Rathod and J Kukian, have been remanded to police custody till December 1.BEST to scrap monthly passesThe BEST will discontinue its monthly bus pass scheme from December 1, 1999. The decision was announced today after a study showed the scheme had not evoked a favourable response. The study reveals that between July '98 to April '99, the percentage of passengers availing monthly passes on individual routes ranged from 0.50 to 8.75. The BEST has also withdrawn its proposal to introduce the `Daily Travel As You Like' ticket scheme. As per the scheme, a ticket for Rs 15 would have enabled the passenger to travel any number of journeys within Mumbai and a ticket of Rs 20 would have been valid for the area beyond that on BEST buses except a/c and luxury services.
