The Dynamic Daily Newspaper of Navi Mumbai

Wednesday, 18 November 2020

VOL. 14 • ISSUE 136 RNI No. MAHEN/2007/21778 POSTAL REGN. No. NMB/154/2020-22/VASHI MDG POST OFFICE

Pages 8 • Price 2www.newsband.in

By Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Cor-

poration (NMMC) has decided to con-duct rapid antigen test for Covid-19 at the city railway stations from next week. The com-muters who come to board trains at the station will have to undergo this test while en-tering the station premises, a senior officer said.

The rapid anti-gen test for COVID-19 is a rapid point-of-care

nasopharyngeal swab test that directly detects the presence or absence

of coronavirus antigen in the patient’s body.

These tests are designed to detect a specific pro-tein in the virus that

elicits the body’s immune response.

“We had planned to start conducting this test at the railway stations before Diwali. However, due to various rea-sons, we could not do that. Now we have decided to do it from next week. If everything goes according to our plans, we will do it from Monday,”

Covid 19: Rapid antigen tests at railway stations from next week

Six members from B-2 type colony in

Vashi die in an unfortunate mishap

at KaradIn the most tragic

incident, six members from B-2 type in Sector 16, Vashi died in a trag-ic accident in Karad. The family members of Madhusudan Nair and Mohan Belayadan were travelling from Goa to Mumbai in the ill-fated bus which fell 45 feet from the bridge over the river Tarli in Karad in Satara district on No-vember 14…

(More on page 3)

Economic wing cracks down on

online investment scheme

The Economic Wing of Navi Mumbai Po-lice on Sunday raided a seminar at a hotel in Vashi and arrested nine who were trying to en-courage investment in scheme and offering various returns through the Richhood Club web based portal…

(More on page 2)

Residents of Rabale-MIDC demand

speed breakersThe residents of

Rabale MIDC have de-manded speed break-ers in the area. It is alleged that after the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has concretised the road the vehicles are over speeding. With no speed breakers to check the speed, there could be an accident.

(More on page 5)

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By Abhitash D.SinghNavi Mumbai

There was a feeling of joy and devotion

as the devotees thronged the religious places which were allowed to re-open from Monday, November 16, 2020 by the state government af-ter almost eight months.

Speaking with the Newsband correspon-dent Santosh Shetty, a former corporator from Nerul and a trustee of a temple in Nerul said, "The state government has finally allowed all the religious places to re-open after eight months. There are strict Covid-19 protocols that needs to

be followed while visit-ing the religious shrines. We too are following all the Covid-19 protocols in our temple. Around 500 devotees visited our temple after 8 months and they all followed the Covid-19 norms.”

Ravindra Patil, Trust-

ee of Shree Sai Mandir at Wahal said, "On the first day of opening of our Sai temple more than 1000 devotees visited the shrine. We followed all the Covid-19 protocols. We have also placed

Residents offer prayers as religious places re-openState government allows religious places

to re-open after 8 monthsBy Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai:

Over 2,000 motorists were booked for vi-

olating the traffic norms during Diwali festival.

The traffic depart-ment had deployed their officials at all the major junctions and main roads such as Thane-Belapur road, Sion-Panvel high-way and Palm Beach road to keep a watch on the violators. The offi-cials were instructed to

take action on the spot if anyone was found vio-lating the norms.

“Diwali is one of the major festivals of the state. The festive spirit gets on one day earlier and the youngsters start roaming around on bikes and in cars. Therefore, we had instructed our officials to pay special attention so that people do not take the traffic norms for granted,” said a senior officer from the

traffic department. “Many youngsters

ride bikes and drive cars when they are drunk. This apart, cases of signal jumping, rash driving are also very common during such festival. Several inno-cent people have to pay with their lives because of such errant motor-ists. Therefore, we had decided to go hard on them,” he said.

Traffic officials in-

formed that the motor-ists even argued with them while taking ac-tion for parking related violations. The city does not have sufficient park-ing lots. More and more vehicles started entering the city in the afternoon and vehicles were parked randomly on roads near the celebration sites. The traffic officials also started overlooking the

2000 motorists penalized for violating traffic

norms during Diwali

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Photo by Sumit Renose

2 Wednesday, 18 November 2020

Printed and owned by Kailash Shankarlalji Gindodia Published by Shiv Kailash Gindodia Editor: Varda Sharma Printed at Siddhakala Print Media & Publications Pvt. Ltd. Plot No. W-230, T.T.C. Ind. Area, MIDC, Khairane, Navi Mumbai – 400 710 and published at 1313/1314, 13th Floor, Real Tech Park, Plot No. 39/2,

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ATTENTION READERS: While every effort is made to check the genuineness of party/parties inserting ads in this paper, we cannot be held responsible for the truthfulness of its contents. The publishers, Editor and/or the staff cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage due to transactions that they may en-ter into guided by the ads.

PUBLIC NOTICE All the concerned persons including bonafide residents, environmental groups. NGO's and others are hereby informed that the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Maharashtra, has accorded Environmental Clearance to M/s. Mayuresh Real Estate and Management Pvt. Ltd (428 Kalbadevi Road, 2nd Floor, Abhay House, Mumbai - 400002, Maharashtra) for their project 'Pro-posed Residential cum Commercial building on Plot 75 & 76 Sector 15, Belapur, Navi Mumbai by M/s. Mayuresh Real Estate and Management Pvt. Ltd'. Under File No: SEIAA-EC-0000002346 dated 10/11/2020 The copy of clearance letter is available with the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board and may also be seen on the website of the Ministry of Environment and Forests at https://www.ecmpcb.in/login M/s. Mayuresh Real Estate & Management Pvt. Ltd (428 Kalbadevi Road, 2nd Floor, Abhay House, Mumbai - 400002, Maharashtra).

PUBLIC NOTICE Re: Apartment No.RH-II/J-5, admeasuring 61.50 sq. mtrs. buil-tup area , situated at Sector-7, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Tal. & Dist. Thane.THIS is to notify that my Client i.e. 1. MR SACHIN SUHAS BAKRE, 2. MRS MOHANA S BAKRE are the Owners of the Apartment No.RH-II/J-5, admeasuring 61.50 sq. mtrs. builtup area, situated at Sector-7, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Tal. & Dist. Thane.The original documents i.e. a) Allotment Letter from CIDCO to Mr SHASHIKANT ATMARAM KOPPIKAR, the Original Apartment Owner, b) Payment Receipts and Possession Letter from CIDCO to Mr SHASHIKANT ATMARAM KOPPIKAR, the Original Apartment Owner, c) Deed of Apartment dated 28th September 1978 executed between CIDCO and Mr SHASHIKANT ATMARAM KOPPIKAR duly registered on 19th October 1978 under Serial No. 279 along with Stamp Duty and Registration Receipt, d) Deed of Apartment dated 11th May 1979 executed between Mr SHASHIKANT ATMARAM KO-PPIKAR and Smt MEENAKSHI NANKANY duly registered on 11th May 1979 , under Serial No.1278/79, along with Stamp Duty and Registration Receipt are lost, misplaced by my client while travel-ing from Vashi Station to home and the same are not traceable and a complaint was lodged with Vashi Police Station on 11th Novem-ber 2020 and recorded the same under Property missing register no.2091/2020 dated 11th November 2020. Any person/s, Organization/s, Company/ies, Institution/s, Bank/s or any other Govt. / Concerned authorities having any right, title, claim etc. against or in the aforesaid Apartment or by virtue of the loss of aforesaid document, by way of inheritance, mortgage, possession, sale, gift, lease, charge, trust, maintenance, development, ease-ment, transfer, licence, either agitated in any litigation or otherwise or any other right or interest whatsoever are hereby required to make the same known in writing to the undersigned within a period of 15 days from the date of publication hereof.If no claim is made as required hereinabove, my client will be at lib-erty to deem that such right/s, if any, have been waived for all intents and purposes and shall not be binding on my client. Sd/- ADV M.T. THACKER ADVOCATE M.T.THACKER & ASSOCIATES Advocates, High court E-6/0:4, Sector-7, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400 703. E Mail: office@mtthacker.com Tel: 27825052 / 27825084 / 85Date: 18-11-2020 Ref: no.1466(10-11-2020)

Panvel: Through BJP's North Raigad district president MLA Prashant Thakur, Diwali faral was distributed to tribal families at Kon-dachi Wadi, Dehrang in Panvel taluka. North Rajgad District Youth Front President Mayuresh Netkar, District Secretary Chinmay Samel, Panvel Taluka President Anand Dhawale, General Secretary Vishwajeet Patil, Panvel City President Rohit Jagtap Vice President Abhishek Bhopi, Kamothe City President Harshvardhan Patil, General Secretary Navnath Bhosale, Vice President Tejas Jadhav, Member Kiran Jadhav , Surendra Hallikar were present.

Diwali faral distributed in tribal pada

By Crime ReporterNavi Mumbai

The Economic Wing of Navi Mumbai

Police on Sunday raided a seminar at a hotel in Vashi and arrested nine who were trying to en-courage investment in scheme and offering various returns through the Richhood Club web based portal. A year ago, the same gang had laun-dered lakhs of rupees from several investors in Mumbai and Thane luring maximum return on investment through Smart Vision Products India Pvt. Ltd. The com-pany was later closed down on the pretext of Covid 19. After the gang became active again through a new invest-ment scheme, the Navi Mumbai police took ac-tion against them. Police are searching for the ab-sconding CMD and oth-er directors of the gang.

A year ago, the ac-cused in the case had of-fered to give maximum return on investment through Smart Vision Products India Pvt. Ltd.

Many investors from Mumbai and Thane had invested lakhs of rupees in the investment scheme brought by this gang. However, after the lock-down was imposed in March, the gang closed down the company and fled on the pretext of Corona. Therefore, the investors did not get any return from Smart Vi-sion Product Company or the amount they in-vested. As a result, some investors rushed to the Navi Mumbai Police's Economic Wing. Ac-cordingly, the Economic Wing started tracing the gang.

After the Economic Wing received informa-tion that Smart Vision Products India Pvt. gang has once again begun op-erations, a team from the Economic Wing Unit-1 raided a seminar at the Royal Orchid Hotel last Sunday on the instruc-tions of senior officials. It is learnt that the team had launched an unli-censed online invest-ment scheme through Richhood Club web

based portal, which was designed to lure inves-tor’s high returns in the shortest possible time.

The police have reg-istered a case, including fraud under the Prize Cheats and Money Cir-culation Scheme (Ban-ning) Act and protec-tion of the interests of Maharashtra depositors. Police later arrested Ananda Tole, Pradip Maurya, Bhupendra Mewada, Vinayak More, Satish Maji, Ravi Gherade, Ananda Sap-kal, Anil Bhoite and Milkeram Prajapati, members and directors of the company's core committee. Meanwhile, the company's CMD Salil Gauss and direc-tors Pratiksha Mote and Rashmi Hiranandani are wanted and police have launched a search. Although the seven in-vestors have lodged a complaint with the Navi Mumbai Police, it is be-ing speculated that a large number of people may have invested large sums of money in the gang's scheme.

Economic wing cracks down on Richhood club for promising high returns on online investment scheme

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

COVID 19: RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS....

said a senior health offi-cer from NMMC wish-ing not to be named.

“Presently, we are conducting such tests in the areas that fall under MIDC. Recently, we also started this at the construction sites. A huge number of labour-ers who had been to their hometowns dur-ing the lockdown, are now returning back to the city. Therefore, it is very important to check if there is any Covid-19 patients among them. We are now conducting around 2,500 tests in day,” he said.

Conducting the tests at the railway station is, however, likely to be challenging as despite restrictions, a huge number of commuters are coming to board the trains.

The officer said, “It is true that conducting the tests at the railway stations won’t be an easy task. At the ini-tial stage, we may do it at one or two stations. After that, all stations, where the trains halt, will be covered. This test, at the railway sta-tions, will play a big role in terms of stopping the spread of Covid-19 in the Mumbai region.”

Vishal Mane, a daily commuter from Belapur said, “This is a good move. But NMMC should also ensure that the commuters do not miss the trains for un-

dergoing the tests. No one will leave home early to undergo the tests. Therefore, the NMMC should plan it well, before executing it.”

3Wednesday, 18 November 2020

By Lakshman Sundar, Vashi

Sri Vara Siddhi Vinayaka Seva Sa-maj (SVSVSS) at Sector 29, Vashi,

Navi Mumbai celebrated the transi-tion of Lord Guru (Planet Lord Jupi-ter) from Dhanur Rasi (Sagittarius) to Makar Rasi (Capricorn) by performing a Guru Peyarchi Shanti Homam at its temple prem-ises on Sunday, November 15, 2020. Brahmashri Venkatesh Gana-padigal performed the homams along with other Brah-min Pandits. The day began with an abhishe-gam to Lord Guru in the Navagraha Mandir at the premises. Lord Guru and other grahams were ex-quisitely decorated for the occasion. There was a Navagraha Homam in which each planet was

propitiated. It was followed by Nak-shatra Homam for each of the 27 im-portant stars from Ashwini to Revathi. In view of the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, the public was not allowed to participate. Incidentally on this day

( G u r u p e y a r c h i Day) in 1998 SVSVSS got the official letter of al-lotment of the land for this temple.

After Poornaa-hudi prasadams were given to a few attendees.

Sri Vara Siddhi Vinayak Seva Samaj organises Guru Peyarchi Shanti Homam

A Well Decorated idol Lord Guru With His Consort Tara At SVS-VSS’ Navagraha Mandir, Vashi

By Crime ReporterNavi Mumbai

In the most tragic incident, six members

from B-2 type in Sec-tor 16, Vashi died in a tragic accident in Karad. The family members of Madhusudan Nair and Mohan Belayadan were travelling from Goa to Mumbai in the ill-fated bus which fell 45 feet from the bridge over the river Tarli in Karad in Satara district on No-vember 14. Five mem-bers of Nair family, including son-in-law and 3-year-old grand-son, died on the spot. Archana Nair (15) is the only survivor in the accident. Three members of the Nair family were cremated in Kerala while Mohan Beldayan's son-in-law and grandson were cremated in Satara.

Madhusudan Gov-indan Nair (42), who died in the accident, was staying with his wife Usha Nair (40), son Aditya Nair (23) and daughter Archana Nair (15) in B-2 type colony in Vashi Sector-16. Mo-han Beldayan, who was injured in the accident, was also staying with his wife Lila Mohan and two daughters Divya Mohan (30) and Dipti Mohan (28) in a B-2 type building in Vashi. His married daughter Deepa Nair was residing in Koparkhairane. All of them are originally from the state of Kerala. The deceased Madhusudan Nair worked in LIC. He

used to also take private classes. His son Aditya Nair was in the Mer-chant Navy.

Aditya Nair had been stranded on the ship for the last nine months due to Covid. He had returned to his home in Vashi a few days back after 9 months. Therefore, the families of Madhusudan Nair and Mohan Bel-

dayan decided to go on a family trip to Goa dur-ing the Diwali holidays. Accordingly, the Nair family had left for Goa on the Pune-Bangalore highway in a private travel bus at 10.30 pm last Friday. However, at around 4 am, the bus driver dosed off and the vehicle fell 40 to 45 feet deep from the bridge over the Tarli river at Karad in Satara district. Madhusudan Nair of the Nair family, his wife Usha's son Aditya, Mo-han Belaydan's son-in-law Sajan Nair (35) and

Sajan's son Arav Nair (3 years) were killed on the spot.

Mohan Belayadan (59), his wife Lila Mohan (55), his daugh-ters Divya Mohan (30), Dipit Mohan (28), Deepa Nair (32) and Madhunsudan's daugh-ter Archana Nair (15 years), Sijin Shivdas (28) and the bus driver Rinku Sahu (30) were

seriously injured. All of them were admitted to a hospital in Satara for treatment. Upon learning of the incident, former Vashi corporator Raju (Vikram) Shinde immediately contacted his colleagues in Satara area and immediately provided help and ad-mitted all the injured to Dr. DY Patil Hospital in Nerul on Monday.

Six members from B-2 type colony in Vashi die in an unfortunate mishap at Karad

PUBLIC NOTICE Re: Apartment No.C-2B/1/2:1, admeasuring 40.34 sq. mtrs. builtup area on the Second floor of the building no.C-2B/1, on Plot No.20B, situated at Sector-15, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Tal. & Dist. Thane.THIS is to notify that my Client i.e. MR AVINASH VINAYAK PATIL is the Owner of the Apartment No.C-2B/1/2:1, admeasuring 40.34 sq. mtrs. builtup area on the Second floor of the building no.C-2B/1, on Plot No.20B, situated at Sector-15, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Tal. & Dist. Thane.The original documents i.e. a) Allotment letter issued by CIDCO in favour of the Original Apartment Owner MR EBRAHIM ABDUL MAJEED and b) Possession Letter issued by CIDCO in favour of the Original Apartment Owner MR EBRAHIM ABDUL MAJEED are lost, misplaced by my client on 28th October 2020 while traveling from Vashi Station to home and the same are not traceable and a complaint was lodged with Vashi Police Station on 9th Novem-ber 2020 and recorded the same under Property missing register no.2067/2020 dated 9th November 2020. Any person/s, Organization/s, Company/ies, Institution/s, Bank/s or any other Govt. / Concerned authorities having any right, title, claim etc. against or in the aforesaid Apartment or by virtue of the loss of aforesaid document, by way of inheritance, mortgage, possession, sale, gift, lease, charge, trust, maintenance, development, ease-ment, transfer, licence, either agitated in any litigation or otherwise or any other right or interest whatsoever are hereby required to make the same known in writing to the undersigned within a period of 15 days from the date of publication hereof.If no claim is made as required hereinabove, my client will be at lib-erty to deem that such right/s, if any, have been waived for all intents and purposes and shall not be binding on my client. Sd/- ADV M.T. THACKER ADVOCATE M.T.THACKER & ASSOCIATES Advocates, High Court E-6/0:4, Sector-1, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400 703. E Mail: office@mtthacker.com Tel: 27825052 / 27825084 / 85Date: 18-11-2020 Ref: No. 2009024

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2000 MOTORISTS PENALIzED...

matter towards evening.The officials from the

CCTV command centers also kept the vigil on the vehicles coming in and going out of the city.

“While the NMMC area was monitored from the command center at the police commission-er’s office, the PCMC

area was monitored from the center above Belapur railway station. Whenever our officials spotted something sus-picious or unusual, they informed the respective police stations instantly. Thankfully no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the city,” said an official from the wireless de-partment.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

RESIDENTS OFFER PRAyERS AS ...

the placard outside our temple mentioning "No Mask No Darshan". I am very happy that finally government has opened all the religious places."

On the line of state government guidelines, the Navi Mumbai's reli-gious places trustee and members have made it mandatory for all the devotees to wear face masks and also follow the social distancing norms.

Satya Pandey, a resi-dent of Sector-17 Ulwe

who used to visit Sai Temple at Wahal every Thursday said, "It is re-ally heartening that the government has allowed all the religious places to re-open from Monday 16th November. Now again I will start going to Sai Temple on every Thursday which I used do before lockdown. We will pray that pandemic comes to an end soon.”

Earlier, the places of religious worship were shut nationwide in late March due to the coro-navirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown.

By Chandrashekhar Hendve, Uran

The members of Success Foun-dation and Enjoy Group, Suraj

Bhagat, Nilesh Thakur, Rupesh Pa-

til, Anand Mhatre, Anil Thakur, Anil Bhoir and the entire team celebrated the festival of light- ‘Diwali’- with the tribal families at the tribal wadi.

Success Foundation and Enjoy Group celebrate Diwali with tribal families

4 Wednesday, 18 November 2020

The last few days all of us were in the fervour of Deepavali celebra-

tions ,lockdown could not diminish the festivity. We donned new clothes, ate sweets, only firecrackers were the exception this year and it was a good decision to ban firecrackers. We all know that Diwali is the big-gest and the brightest of all festivals. This festival is marked by four days of celebration, and it is celebrated all around India and also in different parts of the world. This is a beau-tiful and one of the most pious oc-casion, that illuminates the country with its sheer magic and brilliance and dazzles people everywhere with joy and celebration.

There are several legends point-ing to the origins of Diwali, like there are many who believe Diwali to be the celebration to mark the wedding of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, with Lord Vishnu. While others think it to be a celebration of Lak-shmi's birthday, as Lakshmi is said to have been born on the new-moon day of Kartik. In Bengal, this festival , is dedicated to the worship of the pow-erful goddess Kali, the dark goddess of strength. The elephant god Lord Ganesha is also worshipped in some homes on Diwali, because he sym-bolises auspiciousness and wisdom. In Jain homes, Diwali has the added significance of marking the great event of Lord Mahavira attaining the eternal bliss called nirvana so Di-wali is not only important to Hindus, but, is also celebrated among Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs .In Hindus, the day signifies the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya, after his 14 years of exile and victory over Ravana. It is said that Ram, on that special day, was welcomed to the kingdom of Ay-

odhya with rows of diyas, lightened throughout the kingdom. So the tra-dition of lighting oil lamps on Diwali symbolizes the victory of good over evil and freedom from spiritual dark-ness.

People in various parts of India celebrate Diwali in versatile ways with various practises, rituals . Let us see how the different parts of India celebrate this festival:• In Bengal Diwali coincides with

Kali Puja or Shyama Puja that takes place at night. Here God-

dess Kali is decked up with hibis-cus flowers and worshipped offer-ing many preparations . The night before Kali Puja, Bengalis follow the Bhoot Chaturdashi ritual to overcome the evil power by light-ing up 14 diyas at home.

· In Varanasi Devotees believe that Gods and Goddesses come down to earth to take a dip in the holi Ganga during this time. Prayers and diyas are offered to river Ganga and the banks, adorned with lamps and rangolis look profoundly mesmerising and spectacular.

• In Odisha, people perform Kauri-ya Kathi on Diwali . It is a ritual in which people worship their an-cestors in heaven by burning jute sticks to call upon their ancestors and seek their blessings.

• Diwali in Maharashtra commenc-es with the Vasu Baras ritual that takes place to honour cows and on Dhanteras people pay homage to

the ancient doctor, Dhanvantari. On the occasion of Diwali, Maha-rashtrians worship Goddess Lak-shmi and celebrations end with Bhav Bij and Tusli Vivah that marks the starting of weddings.

• Gujaratis celebrate the Gujarati New Year’s Day, Bestu Varas, on the next day of Diwali. Their celebrations start with Vaag Ba-ras, followed by Dhanteras, Kali Chaudash, Diwali, Bestu Varas, and Bhai Bij.

• In Goa, Diwali is dedicated to

Lord Krishna destroying the de-mon Narkasur so the effigies of the demon are made and burnt down on the dawn of Narakasura Chaturdashi, a day before Diwali. In Punjab, Diwali is celebrated with lighting up of households and gurudwaras, gifting, burst-ing crackers and feasting. Punjabi Hindus worship Goddess Laksh-mi and Diwali marks the arrival of winters in Punjab.

• In Eastern India, people keep their doors open on the occasion of Diwali to allow the entry of Goddess Lakshmi in their house.

• In the southern part of India, people celebrate the festival in the Tamil month of Aipasi ,Thula month and on this day, they bathe in oil and eat sweets to commence the festival. Besides, they also cel-ebrate a unique festival called Th-alai Deepavali when newlyweds spend time at the bride’s parental

house.• In Andhra Pradesh people chant

prayers and seek blessings from the clay idol, Satyabhama and after that , they begin celebrating Diwali with their loved ones with excitement.

• One very interesting tradition is Buddhi Diwali’ (Dark Diwali) festival of Kullu valley. In Kullu valley Diwali is set to celebrate its age-old tradition after one month of the Diwali. During the festival, people dance and sing folklore related to the epic Mahabharata through the night in front of bon-fires. The reason for the delayed Diwali was that the news of Lord Ram’s victorious return to Ayod-hya reached late in these parts, due to which it was celebrated late in few remote villages of the state, including Sirmaur, Kullu and Shimla.With all the lights and diyas erad-

icating dark shadows and evil, and all the prayers and love among people, Diwali creates a wonderful atmo-sphere full of goodness and purity. It is not just the lights, gambling, and fun-filled surprises and gifts; but Diwali is also a time to reflect on one's life, past deeds and making the right changes for the upcoming year. Diwali is also a celebration to forget and forgive the injustices and grudges. People celebrate with an air of freedom, festivity, and friendli-ness everywhere creating a harmony in atmosphere. In Diwali a happy and refreshed mind rejuvenates a person to make changes as a healthy, ethical and strong individual .It is a cele-bration that unites people from every corner, religion and caste. Diwali is a time when people mingle about in joy and embrace one another. The lights of Diwali illuminates our in-ner self and they also signify a time to destroy all our dark desires, dark thoughts, and have a deeper, inner il-lumination and self-reflection.

DIffERENt sHADEs Of DIwAlI

Kharghar: In order to recreate the memory of Shivaji Maharaj's greatness, culture and tradition, a replica of Sinhagad fort was cre-ated by the youth of Kharghar. Arjun Ghatge, Chaitanya Jhanjale, Rakesh Thorat, Omkar Bhosale, Sahil Warang, Rishi Kamble, Abhi Kamble, Harshad Bhosale, and Mitra Parivar Kharghar made a special effort for this project.

Replica of sinhagad fort made by the youths of Kharghar

5Wednesday, 18 November 2020

FROM THE CAMPUS: WHAT WAS yOUR FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD CARTOON CHARACTER AND WHy DID yOU LIKE IT? When I say my favourite cartoon the one that comes to my mind would be the old BEN10 series. I used to rush to watch it after my school. It used to be aired around 5pm-6pm, reaching home removing shoes and keeping my bag aside and grabbing the remote and go to cartoon network, that was my routine. This series had a great character design, each alien was dif-ferent, cool and more like an extra-terrestrial being than most of the shows aired at that time. This series had an amazing

story line like how accidentally a 10-year-old boy becomes a hero with 10 super cool aliens in his possession. It was all cool to see how Ben with is grandpa and cousin sister embarked on amazing adventures on his summer vacation fighting evil masterminds one after the other. And it was fun also because he was shown as a mischievous child who becomes responsible as the series goes on.

Jeeva Joy (@creative.realm)

My favourite cartoon character from childhood was the Oswald and I loved it because it always had a story and a moral to finish with. I loved the episode with a big banana and all his friends and how he shared it with them. It was all about how one can live in a community like a family if we really want to live like that. I must say Oswald should be back in the cartoons for today’s kids to watch and learn from it.

Sania Vinod

As a kid, Captain Planet was a favourite. The cartoon series was a perfect mix of entertainment and education. The central character, Captain Planet, was a superhero and an environment enthusiast. He would use his superpowers to protect the envi-ronment and with him were his team who too received magical powers from Captain Planet. Each of their powers were named after the elements of nature. All in all, it was an entertaining series.Rajeev Raut, student of CKT College, Panvel I loved the Scooby-Doo series growing up. A dog doubling up

as a detective with his goofy partner, Shaggy, made for a fun watch. Together, the duo solved many mysteries. The joy on the adorable Scooby's face after such finds would seem un-matchable.

Sunil Mane, ex-student of Modern School, Vashi.

QUESTION FOR NExT WEEK: DO yOU THINK ELECTIONS IN USA AFFECTS INDIA IN ANy WAyS?

Send your views along with your picture to contact@newsband.in

Shinchan has been my all time favourite character ever since I was a kid. He is very funny and troublesome, however very loving and kind at the same time. I have learnt to listen to my heart and do things that I find right without worrying about what the world would think of me. I also learned caring for my fam-ily especially for my younger siblings just like he cares for his sister Hemamari.

Samreen Barakab, College Student, Vashi

As a child, I was a fan of chotta bheem. I liked his strength, his leadership and his fight for justice. I started eating besan ladoos thinking that bheem also becomes strong by eating them. Till date the ladoos are still my favorite. I learnt to be kind and polite to others and be obedient to elders by watching this character during my childhood.

Armaan Barakab, College Student, Nerul

By Chandrashekhar HendveNavi Mumbai

The residents of Rabale MIDC have demanded speed break-

ers in the area. It is alleged that after the Navi Mumbai Munici-pal Corporation (NMMC) has concretised the road the vehicles are over speeding. With no speed breakers to check the speed, there could be an accident.

The project-affected rickshaw association has demanded imme-diate speed breakers and repair of old speed breakers at few spots. Roads in Rabale MIDC have been concretised by the NMMC. With smooth riding surface, the motor-ists are pressing on the accelera-tors without any fear of potholes. Near Rabale MTNL and near Gavdevi Hotel, the speed breakers have been completely removed and this is causing problem to the pedestrians, said a resident.

“All the roads in MIDC have been concretised by the civic body, which is heartening. However, the speed breakers too have been re-moved. As vehicles come speeding, accidents are likely to occur. There-

fore, the civic body should make speed breakers and repair those which are in bad condition” said, Jitendra Jhagde, Rabale- MIDC, Shakha Pramukh, Shiv Sena.

Residents of Rabale-MIDC demand speed breakers

By Ashok Dhamija, Kamothe

Diwali is a time to re-move the darkness of

ignorance within us and replace it with the light of hope and knowledge instead. The tiny tots of Ryan Shalom Montessori, Kamothe took part in a week-long celebration of one of the most popular festivals in India virtually with a number of fun filled and creative interactive activities under the supervision of their teachers. The young children dressed up in tra-ditional attire created elegant lanterns, decorative colorful diyas, home made

sweets too.“The week long Diwali

festive celebrations com-prised a bunch of exhila-rating activities for the stu-dents ahead of the holiday break in the school add-ing sanctity to the festival a Special Assembly too was conducted. Teachers dis-

cussed and explained the importance of this popular festival during the E-learn-ing class. It was a unique Diwali we ever celebrated and was a memorable one for the Ryanites whose heart was filled with joy and fervor” shared Soni-ta Das, Section Head of the institute.

Ryan Shalom‘s Diwali celebration

6 Wednesday, 18 November 2020

EditorialISSUE: 132 11 NOVEMBER, 2020

The environmental concerns, which in the very recent past

did not make any news at all, today creates ripples across the globe as it is linked to the very survival of the human race. Few decades back, it was not so because more than environment what was needed was food and shelter especially in the underdeveloped and developing countries. So for their survival, the forest were being slaughtered mercilessly and it was already very late when it dawned upon the human civilization that by doing so they were destroying the very nature which was nurturing them. The resilience of the nature and its finite ability to absorb onslaught has already been tested to its brim. However today, the awareness about conservation of forests and their environment at large has per-colated deep down in the society. The governmental and non-gov-ernmental organizations are vying with each other to take a lead in the field. Navi Mumbai too through its development authorities- CI-DCO and NMMC does come out with programmes or drives for tree plantation.

Though the spirit for these drives is right but as regards its im-plementation, more hype is being created than the concrete imple-mentation of these programmes. Going by the statistics being pro-vided, Navi Mumbai should have had a very thick forest cover by now. The ground reality is unfor-tunately contrary to these statis-tics, which indicates that either the statistics is wrong or no feedback or monitoring post plantation care is being done on the part of the authorities. There seems to be no accountability for the huge money

being spent on such drives, which at least so far have not yielded un-fortunately to say any result.

Over the years the forest cover has been uniformly reducing. The green jungles full of life are be-ing cut mercilessly and are being replaced concrete jungles in the process of unmindful urbaniza-tion, which is disturbing the sensi-tive ecological balance created by nature. The climatic conditions are changing for worse and in a way by cutting trees we are literally closing the oxygen plants provided by nature although knowing quite well that the oxygen is one of the vital requirements for survival of life. Similarly in the coastal areas, especially in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, incidences of unmind-ful destroying of mangroves vital for ecological balance are regu-larly being reported. In a haste to bring in more and more land under development, the mangroves are being destroyed and illegal recla-mation of land is being carried out. This is adversely disturbing the aquatic life.

Lot of authorities like CIDCO, NMMC, Forest department, Pol-lution Control Board have been created to control pollution. How-ever, all these departments should be made jointly responsible for addressing this grave concern for the very existence of the human civilization. This is not only to be limited to the government orga-nizations. The non-governmental organizations and every citizen of the country will have to continue in their own way in preserving the environment, in particularly the trees, to ensure that this human civilization does not get wiped out by its own acts.

Concern for environmentIndrani Basu, Navi Mumbai

With a standard operating protocol in place, the city religious cen-

tres reopened on Monday after long wait of eight months. While majority religious places have reopened, a few are still to open within a fortnight.

All nine Gurudwaras in Navi Mum-bai reopened on November 16 with a mandate to wear mask, hand sanitiza-tion and following 6 feet distances. “As soon as we received the notice, we sanitized all our Gurudwaras thor-oughly. New Panvel Gurudwara, the Gurunank Darbar came forward with a noble cause of sanitizing all local Gurudwaras, gardens, markets and other crowded places launching with a truck operating sanitizing machine,” informed M.S. Randhawa, General Secretary of Supreme Council of Navi

Mumbai Gurudwaras.“The weekly langaar will be held

maintaining 6 feet distances. Sanitiza-tion will be done after every gathering. Meanwhile, the Gurdwaras performed their Sevas by feeding hundreds of locals including truck drivers, clean-ers, roadside vendors, poor, needy and destitute for last six month during the period of lockdown.”

However, the Vashi Kali temple run by Navi Mumbai Bengali associa-tion will not be opened for public for the time being. President of the Asso-ciation, Nemai Gorai informed, “Al-though we received the state permit to reopen the temple for public, we will defer the date tentatively till December 1 as we are going to implement some stringent measures at our end to en-sure health safety of the devotees and also for the staffs. We intend to imple-ment the screening of the devotees at the entrance. That will include ther-mal screening, checking of Oxygen level. We shall be displaying signages inside the premises to educate devo-tees about the guidelines laid down by the State Government to be followed during the visit of the temple complex. We have already installed pedal sani-tize dispenser in our complex and will plan for more equipment to regularize the system. Meanwhile, we are look-ing ahead to restart our hobby classes soon mandating protocols in place.

We have already upgraded the facili-ties for our in built ‘Home for cancer patients” and wish to begin the book-ings shortly.”

The city mosques have reopened and started their functions with SOP to be followed by everyone. “The mosques have mandated to bring indi-vidual’s own mat for paying Namaaz. Most of the mosques have removed their big carpets and make the field vacant. We have asked everyone to follow guidelines like wearing mask, maintaining physical distance and hand sanitization to ensure safety of their own health,” informed Ikbal Kaware, a senior member from Ko-perkhairane, Jama Masjid. Trustee Abbas Mullah from that mosque shared, “We request namazis to offer maximum portion of daily Namaaz at

home and the portion of ‘Farz’ can be offered inside the mosque as it would take hardly a few minutes to read and offer. In this way we may control the crowd. For Friday mass, we are plan-ning to hold Namaaz dividing in two or three sessions so that safe distances could be managed.”

After eight long months the wait is finally over, and churches too have re-opened. “Devotees are eagerly waiting to visit the churches, we know, but they will have to follow all the protocols for their own safety as well as for the safe-ty of the staffs of the Parish,” told Fa-ther Arul Manickam of Praem Parish Priest. “The Catholics could pay visit to the blessed sacrament in the church for personal prayer, but each one will get permission only for 5 minutes and maximum 50 devotees will be allowed in a day,” informed Parish priest Man-ickam from Our Lady of Visitation Church, Nerul. He added, “We have already made arrangements for sani-tization, washing of hand feet at the entrance. Without correct wearing of mask, one will not be allowed inside. Attending “Mass’ is still not permit-ted and is being streamed live till we get further notice from the Cardinal.”

The Jain Temples or Jinalayas are slowly going back to normalcy after reopening on Monday while adhering to protocols to be followed by visitors as well as staffs.

City religious centres reopen after eight long months following protocols issued by State Government

Our lady of Visitation Church, Nerul Sanitizing Truck introduced by Panvel Gurdwara

By Dinesh Pawar, Uran

Bhikaji Tambotkar, a disciple of Vinoba

Bhave, and a senior so-cial worker from Uran, passed away tragically on Saturday (November 14) at the age of 80. He is survived by his wife Priyavanda Tambotkar (Madam), daughter

Chaitali Thakkar and granddaughter.

Bhikaji Tambotkar (Sir), a senior philan-thropist worked in the field of education and social work for many years. He was known for his tree planting activities.

social worker Bhikaji tambotkar passes away

7Wednesday, 18 November 2020

By Ashok Dhamija

Indian football fans are in for a treat this festive season as Discovery

Plus, India’s first aggregated real-life entertainment streaming app will give a peek insight of one of Spain’s great-est ever player Andres Iniesta through an all-new titled ‘Andrés Iniesta – The unexpected hero’.

The 85-minute movie is the first-ever documentary on the legendary player widely considered one of the best of his gener-ation who played a key role in his country winning the 2010 World Cup in addi-tion to the Euro titles in 2008 and 2012 and ensured Spain became the first country to annex three consecu-tive major world championships. The film p r o v i d e s an intimate view on one of the most b e l o v e d players on and off the field, with unpublished footage & touching testimonials from teammates, family and officials

The documentary focuses on Ini-esta’s life and an incredible career spanning the beginning of his path at Barcelona Youth Academy, La Masía, through to his meteoric rise to fame playing for FC Barcelona and Spain, where his on-pitch skills secured them the World title and his arrival at Vissel Kobe in Japan after a long association of 22 years with the Spanish Club Bar-celona. Alongside testimonials directly from Iniesta, the film also brings to-gether tributes from globally-renowned football players such as Lionel Messi,

Neymar, Luis Suárez, Manager Pep Guardiola and Xavier Hernández.

The documentary also goes on to take viewers through an extremely emotional journey where the Spanish central midfielder recalls his tryst with depression just before the 2010 World Cup following his injury and the death of his friend Dani Jarque, the 26-year-old Espanyol Captain & defender.

Iniesta on the occasion commented, “I am delighted to know that through

this documentary my Indian fans will get a glimpse of my journey in the world of football. It is a story about my life and all the things I’ve lived””. He also added, “I hope people will find inspiration after watching my journey. It’s their love and constant sup-port that has played a very notable role in

me fighting some of the most diffi-cult times in my playing career”.

I s s a c John, Digi-tal Head, APAC –

Discovery, said, ““Andres Iniesta is an extraordinary soccer player and there's a lot more than just football that makes him an icon. We are delighted to pres-ent the football fans of the country with a glimpse into Iniesta's personal life, his tremendous football career and his peerless humility above all. He further added, “Discovery Plus as a platform has thrived on building pas-sionate communities and our exclusive sports specials will provide sports fans in India numerous gripping yet inspir-ing stories of struggle and triumphs of some of the most legendary athletes they admire.”

Discovery Plus to stream legendary footballer Andrés Inesita gripping biopic

* The first official documentary about the Vissel Kobe and former World cup winning Spanish footballer ANDRES INIESTA features never-seen-before, unpublished footage from his time on the field

* The eagerly awaited film also includes exclusive interviews with globally-renowned football stars Messi, Neymar, Suárez, Xavi, among others

Panvel: The prize distribu-tion of the fort competition or-ganized by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Panvel on the occasion of Diwali received an overwhelming response. The event was held in the presence of Panvel Municipal Corporation House Leader Paresh Thakur.

Corporator Ruchita Londhe, Morcha North District Secretary Chinmay Samel, City President Rohit Jagtap, Vice President Ab- hishek Bhopi, Secretary Komal Patil, Member Atharva Gujre, Aniket Bhoir

were present on the occasion.Panvel Municipal Corpora-

tion Hall Leader Paresh Thakur personally inspected the forts and appreciated the contestants. The winners were Sangram Gurd (Raje Shivrai Pratish-than), Janjira Fort (Partha Mali and Team), Khanderi Island (Bal Mitramandal), Rajgad Fort (Sairaj Chaudhary and Team) and Sindhudurg Fort (Katta Ku-tumb).

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Panvel’s fort competition receives huge response

Navi Mumbai

The team of Shripad Foundation along with Jayashree Founda-

tion distributed stationery kits to the children from tower wadi and damini wadi, Panvel. More than 100 educa-tion and hygiene kits were distributed to the children from these areas.

“Under our campaign ‘Saraswati', we tried to make Diwali happy for children living in deprived areas. The campaign was launched on the occa-

sion of Children’s Day and Lakshmi Pujan day,” said a volunteer from Shripad Foundation.

The kit included a 100 page regular notebook, 2 pens, 2 pencils, a sharpen-er, an eraser, a scale, a colouring book, a wax crayon, a sanitizer, a mask, a lamp, chocolates and sweets.

Present on the occasion were Preeti Mane, Kalpesh Santosh Mane, Vaibhav Jadhav, Founder of Jayashree Founda-tion, Suraj Thakur, Neeraj Bhodke.

Bringing smiles on the faces of children

Navi Mumbai

Akshara samajik pratishthan, which

has been working in the social, educational and medical fields for the last 11 years, distributed essential items to about 250 to 300 families in certain tribal padas and urban areas in Maharashtra.

The Diwali Faral Kit was distributed at Ray Road in Mumbai by the pratishthan. The chief guest on the occasion was famous cine Natya actress Sanjeevani

Patil, director-journalist Maheshwar Tetambe, president of Akshara samajik pratishthan Amol Vanjare, social activist Shekhar Adke and other dignitaries were present.

“Akshara samajik pratishthan is con-tinuously implementing various social activities like medical health, fi-nancial aid, educational aid etc.”, said Amol Vanjare.

Akshara samajik pratishthan distributes essential items to families in tribal padas

8 Wednesday, 18 November 2020

By Chandrashekhar HendveNavi Mumbai

On the occasion of International Stu-

dents’ Day, the Founders of Dream and Believe Foundation organized a drive distributing books, masks and chocolates to more than 100 chil-dren in association with Aarine foundation on 7th November 2020 at Office of Bhim Army Maharashtra Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai. “Due to lockdown getting statio-nery has become a diffi-cult task. At many stores, stationery and other edu-cational items are out of stock and in some cases, even if they are available, they are sold at very high rates. Under ‘Mission 2000’, Aarine Founda-tion is supporting poor students. Along with Dream & Believe Foun-dation and The Interna-tional Glamour Project – India’s Biggest Interna-tionally associated Pag-eant Platform for Teens, Miss & Mrs. Stationeries were distributed to the needy students,” said Ni-tesh Misaal, Chairman of Aarine Foundation.

The Dream and Be-lieve Foundation and the International Glamour Project were represented by Miss Anushka Gosavi. Guests of Honour for this event were the Finalists of The International Glam-our Project: Miss Teen India, Miss India, Mrs India 2020 Uttara Iyer, Dhruvi Shah and Rashmi Choudhary respectively. They spent quality time with children by doing a lot of ‘smile activi-

ties’ like playing games, dancing and sharing the importance of education encouraging them to live their dreams. They guid-ed them to achieve & ful-

fill their dreams through regular studies and hard work. To greet children they did the cake cutting ceremony. They distrib-uted stationery along with chocolates and masks to these children by maintaining social distancing and follow-ing all pandemic SOP.

The event benefitted more than 100 children from the low socio – eco-nomic backgrounds re-siding in areas of Kalam-boli and Panvel.

Present on the occa-

sion were Nitesh Mis-aal, Chairman of Aarine foundation, Hemlata Gai-kwad – Head of Lokseva Shikshan Santha, Neha Shinde – President of

Bhimarmy Maharashtra state, Sharad Deshmukh, Arun Desai, Nagesh Khandagale and others.

To further create awareness about use of sanitizers and masks, Dream and Believe Foun-dation organized ‘Mask and Sanitizer distribu-tion Program’ in Ramesh mittal corry, Shirvane, Nerul MIDC. Volunteers of Aarine foundation and Dream and Believe Foundation distributed 3000 sanitizer sachet and 1000 mask in this area.

Dream and Believe Foundation celebrates International Students’ Day along with Aarine Foundation

By Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

Irregular water supply, which had annoyed

the residents across Navi Mumbai before Diwali, is still an issue in the nodes that fall under the City and Industrial Develop-ment Corporation (Cidco).

The residents claim that they are receiving water only for a couple of hours in a day and that they are un-able to finish their household activities because of that.

Jayati Patil, a resi-dent of Kharghar said, “On Monday we re-ceived water for an hour in the morning and for one-and-a-half hour in the evening. This a very busy period when we

have a lot of activities at home. Our friends and relatives are also visiting us. How can we manage our lives with this much water?”

“Irregular water sup-ply at Kharghar is not a new thing. But can’t

Cidco take proper care of our needs during the festive season atleast?” she said.

Asha Sharma, a resident of Ulwe said, “Both on Sunday and Monday all residents of our society were depen-

dent on water provided by the private tankers. Unfortunately, that water was also not clean and hence we could not use it properly. We really don’t know what to do about? Sufficient water supply is not a

luxury, but an es-sential requirement. We hope, Cidco un-derstands that and will take requisite action about it.”

Gajanan Dalal, executive engineer of Cidco said, “There is a defi-ciency of 25 mld

water in our area. We are constructing some new pipelines and once those are ready, the deficiency will not be there. We hope to see a permanent solution of this issue by early next year.”

water cuts continue to irk residents in Cidco nodes

By: Indrani Basu, Navi Mumbai

A symbolic appearance of Goddess Annapurna was done with a heap

of cooked rice, delicately decorated with 108 cooked vegetables, a huge Mohan Bhog in Vashi Kali temple on November 16 to pay obeisance to Goddess of Food, Devi Annapurna to mark the occasion of 'Annakut’.

In Hindu mythology it is said that

once Ma Annapurna became angry due to the reckless wastage of food by the inhabitants of this earth. In order to teach them a lesson, she created food shortage and a famine broke out. This famine was so devastating that the whole world was reeling under the scarcity of food. Lord Shiva then begged for rice from Ma Annapurna

in disguise of a beggar. Devi thus constructed a heap of food and rice as huge as a mountain called Govardhan Parvat to meet the need of the people on earth. The staunch devotees have a spoonful of that anna or rice with a belief that Maa Annapurna saves them from hunger and poverty.

Residents observe Annakut with great religious fervor

Annakut in Kali Temple in Vashi

Anna or rice is mixed well for distribution

Homage was paid to freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai on the occasion of his memorial day. Taluka Man-dal President Arunsheth Bhagat, North Raigad District General Secretary Avinash Koli, Deepak Behere, Yuva Morcha Taluka President Anand Dhawale and other activists were present on the occasion.