Under the World

Raising a sore point

MNS chief Raj Thackeray, at a press conference last week, asked software developers Probity to make a presentation on its much-talked about pothole-tracking software introduced in the BMC. Project developer Shantanu Kulkarni gave a stellar presentation, complete with figures proving the benefits the corporation has reaped through this technology. At the end of the presentation, a reporter raised his hand and asked, "Who brought this beneficial technology to the BMC?" Kulkarni looked around nervously, stumbled a bit as the MNS chief coolly looked though him, and finally said, "Erm... Uddhav Thackerayji." Following a moment of awkward silence, the MNS-called conference quickly recovered with a barrage of criticism on the software and the Shiv-Sena led BMC

Budget or child's play?

After the BEST administration presented its budget estimate for the fiscal of 2013-14, a Congress committee member took severe objection to the proposal for a bus fare hike to pull the public utility out of the trough and have a surplus budget. While interacting with reporters after the formal committee meeting, Ravi Raja, who has always opposed bus fare hikes in the past, said the administration should instead look at tapping other sources of revenue and make policy corrections to maximise income. Taking potshots at the BEST's general manager, he said, "Anyone can balance the budget by simply hiking fares and putting the burden on the consumers. Why do you need an IAS officer for that? Even a clerk can do it." BEST has hiked fare by a minimum of Re 1 and a maximum of Rs 6 in April. It had raised fares only slightly in 2010.

Honours for top dog

When a prosecution team failed to prove a narcotics case slapped on a Nigerian national, it was the Mumbai police's sniffer dog 'Dolly' who came to their rescue. Lauded for her impeccable talent to sniff, the Special Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act court made a special mention of Dolly while convicting the Nigerian male to 13 years of rigorous imprisonment after having found him guilty of possessing 2.890-kg of heroin. Although the accused was arrested along with the contraband, he had maintained he was falsely implicated in the case. While the police could not bring in enough corroborative evidence to prove its case, this sharp canine made the job easy. Dolly's role has a special mention in the court's judgment copy for helping the police solve the case.

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