Once one of the best bus services in the country, the Bombay Electric Supply & Transport company has regressed into a loss-making, lumbering giant that clearly is not interested in serving the Mumbai long-suffering commuter, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
The number of buses available for service could go down below 3,000 now.
Kolkata trams -- now in their 150th year -- are the last to survive modernity in Indian cities, writes Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Hours after BEST drivers and conductors went on a flash strike in Mumbai on Tuesday against the new computerised scheduling system and left thousands of commuters stranded, the Bombay high court has directed the protesters to call off the stir and report to work immediately.
A senior BEST official expressed hope of the stalemate getting resolved soon.
The team heard a loud crackle. Then the scream came from Dilshan at the front of the bus. 'Get down.' Jayawardene was hit first; his sock filled with blood. Outside, twelve gunmen blocked the exit. A revealing excerpt from Nicholas Brookes's An Island's Eleven: A History of Cricket in Sri Lanka.
The workers' union has accepted the '10-step' pay hike to be granted to them by way of an interim measure by the civic transport undertaking's management.
'A government whose policies are focused around making the life of ordinary citizens, specially the most deprived sections, richer; a government that prioritises education, health and transport, that doesn't treat its citizens as subjects who must come to it for everything, is rare in our country.' 'When such a government is thrown out, one is left stunned,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
Kailash Gahlot, a key minister in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, has resigned, potentially impacting the party's ambitious plan to roll out a Rs 1000 monthly honorarium scheme for women ahead of the Assembly polls in February. Gahlot, who represented the Jat-dominated Najafgarh constituency in West Delhi, cited several issues, including the "Sheeshmahal" controversy over his former official residence, the Delhi government's tussle with the Centre, and the failure to clean the Yamuna River, in his resignation letter. Delhi BJP leaders welcomed Gahlot's resignation, fueling speculation that he could join the party before the assembly polls. However, AAP leaders claimed Gahlot resigned due to pressure from central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, and that joining the BJP was his last option. Gahlot's resignation has sparked speculation about his future and the impact it will have on the AAP's electoral prospects.
As Mumbai's real estate and electric vehicle penetration grows, two of the city's private power distribution companies, Adani Electricity and Tata Power, are eyeing a bigger business pie, particularly betting on high-value customers. Adani Electricity Mumbai (AEML), the subsidiary which houses Adani Energy Solutions' Mumbai distribution business, recorded a six per cent growth in total units sold in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), the company's presentation shows. This gain came at over 13 per cent growth in the year-ago period.
Incessant rains with intermittent spells of moderate to heavy showers since Friday morning have slowed down public transport services and traffic in Mumbai.
The BEST services resumed after the shutdown ended around 4 pm.
Thousands of movie buffs remember the double deckers of Mumbai, associating them with stars and blockbuster songs of yesteryear, recalls Debarghya Sanyal.
A gunman, hailing from Bihar, who had come to the city to pass on a message to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, was gunned down by police in an exchange of fire after he kept a conductor of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus hostage near Bailbazaar area in the eastern suburb of Kurla.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
Mumbai's iconic red double-decker buses, which have been an integral part of the city's public transport system for more than eight decades, will go off the streets this week, an official from the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking said on Tuesday.
'Our objective is to reach a localisation rate of 50% in the span of five years.'
Even as the lockdown remains in force till June 30, the Maharashtra government, as part of the phase-wise reopening of the economy and public activities under 'Mission Begin Again', has allowed private offices to resume operations with 10 per cent staff. Since the lockdown came into force in March, regular operations of BEST buses were suspended and services were available only for the essential services staff and health workers.
Notwithstanding the Bombay high court order asking the protesting BEST drivers and conductors to call off their stir, the employees continued their agitation for the second day on Wednesday, inconveniencing thousands of commuters in Mumbai and suburbs.
A senior railway official noted that waterlogging at the new location between Bhandup and Nahur led to the suspension of local services on the Main Line from 5:15 am.
Petrol pumps in Mumbai, Nagpur and other parts of the state witnessed long queues on Tuesday as people came to fill up their vehicle tanks fearing shortage of fuel amid the protest by truck drivers.
'In Mumbai, isolation is a very different isolation.' 'It's not about actual physical loneliness.' 'It's the loneliness in the company of others, and I felt that that is a very Mumbai thing.' 'You can be travelling in the ladies compartment squashed against everybody's armpits and still be really, really sad and alone.'
Mumbai has been witnessing heavy rains since Wednesday.
Hyderabad residents are drawn to an eco-friendly Ganesh idol made out of 17,000 coconuts.
Over 42,000 BEST employees are participating in the strike called to demand revise pay scale.
BEST unions had struck work demanding, among other things, a pay-revision and an increase in dearness allowance.
Until September 14, Vaidehi Ankolekar was a bus conductor on Mumbai's famed BEST buses. Now, she is known nationwide as the mother of India's latest cricketing hero. That Saturday, her son Atharva bowled India to the Asia Cup Under-19 title.
The monsoon spelt mayhem in several parts of the country on Monday, particularly Mumbai where local train services and flight operations were hit and everyday life disrupted as well as Assam that was grappling with floods yet again.
Buses that run on battery, trucks that purr on LNG, and more from the stables of Tata Motors, Mahindras and Ashok Leyland. The Auto Expo 2018 had these and more.
The India Meteorological Department attributed the westerly wind and moisture incursion from the Arabian Sea as the reason behind the spell.
Hyderabad-based Gold Stone Group, which sells BYD buses in the country, is setting up a greenfield manufacturing facility at a cost of around Rs 200 crore
The NCMC facilitates convenient travel while integrating last-mile connectivity, a must in India's extensive landscape. It enables travellers to pay for a cross-section of needs, including toll tax, retail shopping, and withdrawing money.
A land-owning class, the Jats are a powerful community and account for 28 per cent of Haryana's population. The time, they believe, has now come for them to take revenge.
The ad is one more illustration of the way Maharashtra's new Shinde-Fadnavis government has been milking the Ganpati festival, with CM Eknath Shinde visiting Ganpati Mandals all day these last 10 days.
The two-day nationwide strike called by central trade unions to protest the Centre's alleged anti-worker policies evoked mixed response all over country on Tuesday.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Bad economics does not always mean good politics. Its time UPA woke up to that.
No one was injured in the incident which took place on platform no. 1 of the CSMT around 9.40 am, Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.
The weather bureau has issued a red alert for neighbouring Raigad and Palghar districts predicting heavy to very rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rain at isolated places for Wednesday. An orange alert is sounded for Thane district.
