Are you experiencing depression, mood instability, and loneliness? Blame the disruption in your body's internal clock, researchers say.

Our 24-hour biological body clock governs the fundamental physiological and behavioural functions including from body temperature to eating habits in almost all organisms. Disruptions in that biological clock may arise from increased activity during rest periods and/or inactivity during the day. Disturbances to the body's internal clock or the circadian rhythms are also associated with lower happiness and health satisfaction, and worse cognitive function, according to a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

"Our findings indicate an association between altered daily circadian rhythms and mood disorders and well-being," said study author Laura Lyall, from the University of Glasgow.

"The study reinforces the idea that mood disorders are associated with disturbed circadian rhythms, and we provide evidence that altered rest-activity rhythms are also linked to worse subjective well-being and cognitive ability," Lyall added.

The study included data from 91,105 participants aged between 37-73. The researchers objectively measured the rest and activity rhythm patterns which is known as relative amplitude.

The results showed that lower relative amplitude was linked with greater odds of reporting lifetime history of major depression or bipolar disorder.

It was also associated with greater mood instability, higher neuroticism scores, more subjective loneliness, lower happiness and health satisfaction, and slower reaction time.

However, the researcher said that the findings showed observational associations rather than cause and effect, and "cannot tell us whether mood disorders and reduced well-being cause disturbed rest-activity patterns, or whether disturbed circadian rhythmicity makes people vulnerable to mood disorders and poorer well-being," Lyall said.

She also noted that rest-activity rhythms differ between younger and older adults which may cause difference in the daily clock and mental health link based on their age.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

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 According to a recent study, the number of suicide attempts in youth has doubled since 2008.

The research looked at trends in emergency room and inpatient encounters for suicide ideation and attempts in children ages 5-17 years at U.S. children's hospitals from 2008 to 2015.

During the study period, researchers at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center identified 115,856 encounters for suicide ideation and attempts in emergency departments at 31 children's hospitals. Nearly two-thirds of those encounters were girls. While increases were seen across all age groups, they were highest among teens ages 15-17, followed by ages 12-14.

Just over half of the encounters were children ages 15-17; another 37 percent were children ages 12-14; and 12.8 percent were children ages 5-11. Seasonal variation was also seen consistently across the period, with October accounting for nearly twice as many encounters as reported in July.

Using data from the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS), the researchers used billing codes to identify emergency department encounters, observation stays and inpatient hospitalizations tied to suicide ideation and attempts. In addition to looking at overall suicide ideation and attempt rates in school-age children and adolescents, the researchers analyzed the data month-by-month and found seasonal trends in the encounters. Peaks for encounters among the groups were highest in the fall and spring, and lowest in the summer.

"To our knowledge, this is one of only a few studies to report higher rates of hospitalization for suicide during the academic school year," said study lead author Greg Plemmons.

Rates were lowest in summer, a season which has historically seen the highest numbers in adults, suggesting that youth may face increased stress and mental health challenges when school is in session.

"The growing impact of mental health issues in pediatrics on hospitals and clinics can longer be ignored," said Plemmons.

The study has been published in the journal Pediatrics

Summer is one of the hardest seasons for skin care. Scorching heat, pollution and sweat make it impossible for one to keep their skin clean and glowing. So, activated bamboo charcoal comes as a rescue during the summer.

During the hot summer days, your skin also absorbs impurities from surroundings. This, in turn, results in blemishes and blackheads. In order to prevent your skin from these damages, Vanlalmuanpuii from green trends Unisex Hair & Style Salon and Bina NG, Salon Director from Page 3 Luxury Salon & Makeover Studio, shares ways in which activated charcoal can be infused into your everyday skin care routine:

1. Scrub: Developing a skin care routine is important because it helps the skin maintain the elasticity while strengthening and paving way to clear, beautiful and smooth skin. With a plethora of products available in the market, it is important to add a basic face wash and scrub with activate charcoal to cleanse and exfoliate one's face regularly. Activated charcoal scrub helps to remove impurities, gently exfoliates, balances oily skin and shrinks appearance of pores.

2. Facial: A bi-monthly facial infused with activated bamboo charcoal will keep your skin free from toxins, impurities, dirt and blemishes. The creams and peel off masks used as part of facials, help in keeping one's skin well hydrated and reduce the puffiness.

3 Mask: Activated charcoal draws bacteria, poisons, chemicals, impurities and other micro-particles to the surface of skin, helping you achieve flawless complexion. A DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Charcoal mask by blending activated bamboo charcoal, aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, tea tree oil and fuller's earth is the perfect anti-aging solution that your skin deserves.

4. Deep cleansing: With your skin exposed to harsh sun rays and pollution, pores in your skin get clogged with toxins leaving your skin dull and lifeless. This in turn affects the overall complexion of the skin during summer. A strong remedy for this is infusing activated bamboo charcoal in a deep cleansing technique, which opens the pores and clears toxins, dirt and protects the skin for acne breakouts as well.

5. Peel off mask: Activated bamboo charcoal peel off masks is one of the soothing ways to help beautify and better one's skin. The mask is one of the powerful ways to clear the skin of toxins, dirt, impurities and blemishes. Not to forget, charcoal peel off mask is also one of the quickest ways to see immediate results.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

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According to WHO, about 9.8 million people die every year due to hypertension-related complications. Hypertension is considered a silent killer producing heart disease, kidney failure and strokes. About 35 percent of world population above the age of 25 suffers from hypertension. One of the important strategies to lower hypertension in the population and its complications is reducing salt intake. Developed countries like Finland, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada have been actively campaigning for the reduction of salt intake in the population. In these countries, there has been a close association between government and NGO’s for this purpose. Finland was the first country to show an enormous health benefit by reducing salt in the diet. Not only the population’s health improves, there is also a great benefit in saving health expenditure related to heart revascularization and dialysis.

How does eating salt lead to or cause hypertension?

Eating salt increases the amount of salt in your blood, which ruins the balance of electrolytes and other vitamins and minerals in your body. This imbalance reduces your kidney's ability to filter out toxins from your body. It also reduces your kidney's ability to get rid of excess fluid from your body. This results in high blood pressure due to excess fluid in your body that exerts pressure on the blood vessels leading to the kidneys. 

How much is too much?

Dr Umesh Khanna, Senior Nephrologist and Secretary of Amar Gandhi Foundation said, “The WHO’s recommendation of salt intake from all sources is less than 5 grams per day. Salt or sodium is present in natural food, it is added while cooking and also used as a preservative for processed food. Considering the rapid economic growth that is happening in our country with urbanization and increased demand for processed food, it is imperative that we act at the earliest to control the salt intake of the Indian population.”

What happens when you reduce your salt intake?
“Salt or Sodium in various forms has been used as a preservative for several thousand years. It enhances the taste, prevents the growth of harmful microorganisms and can improve the texture of food, Taste is often a habit and high salt intake can saturate the taste buds. If you lower salt intake for 2 weeks you can start appreciating low salt intake and other tastes,” says Dr Umesh Khanna

What are the most common hidden sources of salt one should keep an eye out for?

Dr Umesh Khanna said, “Sodium in various forms is used as a flavouring, buffering, anticaking, leavening, thickening and stabilizing agent. The biggest culprit is in baked goods especially bread and instant noodles.”

How can a person start to reduce their salt intake?

Here are a few tips by Dr Umesh Khanna

Get used to low salt to allow the taste buds to recover: Not only does reducing your salt intake affect your blood pressure and other health parameters, it also helps you taste foods better.

Eat fresh food when possible: Since processed foods are packed with high levels of salt, switching to fresh and natural foods is the best way to reduce your daily salt intake.

Add less salt in cooking: With high amounts of salt added to food, your taste buds become immune to the level of salt and you will eventually need more salt in your food to bring out the taste you are looking for. Gradually reducing this amount will help you give up the high salt habit one step at a time. And since your taste buds will eventually become more sensitive to salt content in food, dishes made with low salt will start to taste as delicious as one with high salt content.

Do not add extra salt while at the table: A common practice in India is to provide a little bit of salt on the side of one’s plate while eating and to provide a salt shaker for one to spice up their soups. By stopping this practice, you can reduce your salt intake.

Use herbs and spices as flavouring agents: Ditch the salt and use herbs and other natural flavouring agents to your dishes that will help enhance the flavour while reducing your salt intake.

Dr Umesh Khanna, MD, DNB Nephrology, Lancelot Kidney & GI Center, Karuna Hospital & Asian Heart Institute. He is the Chairman, Mumbai Kidney Foundation, Trustee, Sapiens Health Foundation, Secretary, Mumbai Nephrology Group and the Secretary, Amar Gandhi Foundation

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Regulating salt consumption is key to prevent hypertension, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and heart failure, say experts. According to World Health Organization (WHO), adults should reduce consumption of sodium to less than 2 grams a day, or the equivalent of about one teaspoon of table salt to reduce the risk of heart disease. 

Hypertension is a condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure. Hypertension is also referred to as high or raised blood pressure. Hypertension can also affect fertility in both males and females, says Rajalaxmi Walavalkar of Cocoon Fertility. Hypertension not only affects fertility but also is also known to cause trouble sleeping. Trouble sleeping leads to signs of premature ageing, like fine lines, uneven pigmentation and reduced elasticity.

"Hypertension can lead to cardiovascular diseases. The rise in blood pressure caused by eating too much salt may damage the arteries leading to the heart," Vijay D'Silva, Director at the Asian Heart Institute, said in statement.

According to a recent study, published in the journal Hypertension, about half of adults living in Asia are suffering from the high blood pressure.

While lifestyle factors, including diet and stress, are behind the high hypertension rates in Asia, one common problem is high salt intake, the study showed.

Asians not only tend to have diets high in sodium, but they are genetically more sensitive to sodium, the researchers said.

"Raised blood pressure due to high salt consumption is the biggest single contributing risk factor for non-communicable diseases and damage to your kidney," explained Bhupendra Gandhi of the NGO Amar Gandhi Foundation.

Previously, it was believed that eating high amounts of fruit and vegetables might help counteract the effect of high salt on blood pressure.

However, another study led by researchers from the Imperial College London and Northwestern University, showed that people eating higher amounts of salt had higher blood pressure -- no matter how healthy a person's overall diet.

"Anyone with hypertension is at an increased risk of infertility. A high salt diet leading to high blood pressure can result in delayed puberty and even impact reproductive health," Walavalkar noted.

Besides affecting the heart and fertility, hypertension can affect the skin too, the health experts said.

"High blood pressure can harden your arteries, which decreases the flow of blood and oxygen. An impairment of the flow of oxygen, to an organ such as your face, can cause your skin to dry and wrinkles faster which can make one look less youthful," said Amit Karkhanis - Medical Cosmetologist and founder of Dr Tvacha clinic.

Reducing salt consumption in everyday life, cutting down on fried foods and processed foods, can not only curb the problem of hypertension but also save multiple organs from damage and pave way for a healthy life.

Also read: Mumbai Health: These 7 Lifestyle Changes May Help Lower Heart Disease Risk

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

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50 percent of people between the age of 60 to 69 years suffer from hypertension. This statistic only worsens as a person grows older reaching about 75 percent in those over the age of 70. In fact, the lifetime risk of developing hypertension is approximately 90 percent for men and women who were non-hypertensive at 55 or 65 years respectively – making hypertension a condition that requires our immediate attention.

While the condition affects one’s whole body, your heart is one organ that takes the worst beating. Dr Santosh Kumar Dora, Senior Cardiologist, Asian Heart Institute tells you how hypertension affects your heart and what you can do to deal with the condition.

How does hypertension affect your heart?

• It can result in hardening and thickening of the heart arteries, leading to their narrowing and causing the heart to receive less blood supply.
• It can also cause a heart attack. In fact, persons who present with an acute heart attack often have preexisting hypertension that evaded detection and treatment.
• It can cause abnormal thickening of heart muscle, the presence of which is a strong predictor of future cardiovascular death.
• High blood pressure puts more load on the heart and increases the amount of work that the heart has to do.

Eating right

Eating a heart-healthy diet is important for managing your blood pressure and reducing your risk of heart attack, heart disease, stroke and other diseases. Aim to eat a diet that's rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grain and high fibre foods, fat-free and low fat or 1 % dairy products etc. Avoid saturated and trans fats, excess salt and added sugar in your diet. DASH (Dietary approach to stop hypertension) diet pattern which contains low sodium, high potassium and rich in fruits and vegetables reduces by an average of 5.5 mm Hg for systolic and 3 mm Hg for diastolic blood pressure. For hypertensive patients, the reduction is 11.4 mm Hg for systolic and 5.5 for diastolic blood pressure. Low salt (< 1500 mg/day) further potentiates the reduction of blood pressure.

Maintain a healthy weight:

As your body weight increases, your blood pressure can rise. In fact, being overweight can make you more likely to develop high blood pressure than if you are at your desirable weight. You can reduce your risk of high blood pressure by losing weight. Even small amounts of weight loss can make a big difference in helping to prevent and treat high blood pressure. Studies conducted in obese hypertensive patients show a decrease in body weight by 1 kg resulted in a reduction of systolic and diastolic pressure by 1.2 and 1.0 mmHg, respectively.

Be physically active:

Physical activity not only helps control your blood pressure, it also helps you manage your weight, strengthen your heart and manage your stress level.

Even moderately intense physical activity, such as brisk walking, is beneficial when done regularly for a total of 30 minutes or longer at least 5 days a week. Hiking or stair-climbing, jogging, running, bicycling, swimming, fitness classes, team sports, dance classes are some of the activities which can help you stay fit. Studies say that regular dynamic physical exercise for at least 30 minutes daily for most days of a week leads to 5 to 9 mm Hg reduction of systolic blood pressure.

Say no to tobacco:

While smoking has not been conclusively proven to cause high blood pressure, each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your blood pressure for many minutes after you finish. For your overall health and to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke, avoid all forms of tobacco as well as secondhand smoke. A study has shown that smoking cessation leads to a reduction of systolic blood pressure by 3.5 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 1.9 mm Hg.

Avoid drinking:

Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure to unhealthy levels. Having more than three drinks in one sitting temporarily increases your blood pressure, but repeated binge drinking can lead to long-term increases. If you have high blood pressure, avoid alcohol or drink alcohol only in moderation.

Also read: World Hypertension Day: Why And How You Should Reduce Your Salt Intake

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Among couples being treated for infertility, depression in the male partner was linked to lower pregnancy chances, according to a study.

The study showed that couples in which the male partner had major depression were 60 per cent less likely to conceive and give birth than those in which the male partner did not have major depression.

On the other hand, depression in the female partner was not found to influence the rate of birth.

In addition, intake of a class of antidepressants known as non-selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (non-SSRIs) was also linked to a higher risk of early pregnancy loss among females being treated for infertility, the study appearing in the journal Fertility and Sterility, noted.

However, SSRIs, another class of antidepressants, were not linked to pregnancy loss. Neither depression in the female partner nor the use of any other class of antidepressant were linked to lower pregnancy rates.

"Our study provides infertility patients and their physicians with new information to consider when making treatment decisions," said Esther Eisenberg, at National Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in Maryland, US.

Citing previous studies, the authors noted that 41 per cent of women seeking fertility treatments have symptoms of depression.

Another study of men seeking in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments reported that nearly 50 per cent experienced depression.

For the study, the team analysed data for 1,650 women and 1,608 men to evaluate the potential influence of depression in couples seeking non-IVF treatments.

Among the women, 5.96 per cent were rated as having active major depression, compared to 2.28 per cent of the men.

Women using non-SSRIs were roughly 3.5 times as likely to have a first-trimester pregnancy loss, compared to those not using antidepressants.

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Eating the right fruits, vegetables and spices can ensure you remain cool during the summer season, suggest experts. Chef Sudhir Nair, Executive Chef at Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield by Marriott, Bengaluru and Chef Kasiviswanathan, the Executive Chef for Radisson Blu Atria, Bengaluru share some easy and interesting tips that will help your body cope with the heat:

1. Opt for a light breakfast: Eat and enjoy a light breakfast every morning comprising of fresh fruits and lots of liquids. Avoid citrus juices and instead opt for tender coconut or melon juice. Cucumber juice or salad would also be a great option. Try and cut down on a heavy breakfast to keep yourself cool and healthy during the summer months.

2. Avoid high starch food: During summer, it is good to avoid high starch foods, especially rice or wheat. Lunch should be the heaviest meal of the day in summers. Keep low on yoghurt consumption. Instead, increase the intake of buttermilk. Keep your food low on spices and high on liquid.

3. Keep yourself away from aerated drinks: Do not drink chilled water or aerated beverages. This is because chilled water or aerated beverages will disrupt the digestive process in the body. Keep a close watch on your sugar consumption. Ice creams though tempting in this time is rich in sugar and cream but an iced fruit lolly would be a legitimate indulgence.

4. Avoid spicy food: Avoid using spices such as mustard, ginger, and chilli. Also, eat less of tomato, peppers and garlic during summer.

5. Use herbs for cooking: Cook with cooling herbs such as fennel, dill, mint, and coriander. Allow use of spices like cumin, cinnamon, green cardamom in your food. Use vegetables such as white pumpkin, broccoli, snake gourds, drumstick and madras cucumber.

6. Boil, steam, and stew: Milk, coconut, butter and ghee in small proportions is cooling for the body. Best methods of cooking these foods would by boiling, steaming and stewing. It is best to avoid fried foods during summer as they would give undue stress to the digestive tract.

7. Enjoy small meals: Enjoying small meals throughout the day during summer is the smartest way to keep yourself cool during the season. Include fruits like ice apples, varieties of melons, sugarcane, and varieties of ripe mango, cashew apples and jackfruit in your diet. All of these are found in abundance in this season.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

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Consuming fish which are high in Omega-3 fatty acids twice a week can help reduce the risk of heart failure, coronary heart disease, cardiac arrest and ischemic stroke, says a new scientific advisory from the American Heart Association.

The Association recommends eating two 3.5-ounce servings of non-fried fish, or about three-fourth cup of flaked fish every week.

Emphasis should be placed on eating oily fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines or albacore tuna, which are all high in omega-3 fatty acids.

"Scientific studies have established the beneficial effects of eating seafood rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, especially when it replaces less healthy foods such as meats that are high in artery-clogging saturated fat," said Eric B. Rimm, Professor at the Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, US.

Further, the advisory, published in the journal Circulation, laid emphasis on eating fish such as shark, swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, bigeye tuna, marlin and orange roughy that are high in mercury.

Even though mercury contamination has been linked with serious neurological problems in newborns, it does not have adverse effects on heart disease risk in adults, the advisory noted.

Moreover, the benefits of eating fish substantially outweighed any risks associated with mercury contamination, especially if a variety of seafood is consumed, it said.

According to a study, published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, adding fatty fish to our diet increases the size and lipid composition of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles, also known as good cholesterol, in people with impaired glucose metabolism.

Another study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, showed that Omega-3 fatty acids are more beneficial than flaxseed and other oils for preventing cancer.

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Turns out, sex and some certain virus can provide aid to fight against cancer.

According to a research conducted by the Ottawa Hospital, a common treatment for erectile dysfunction combined with the flu vaccine may be able to help the immune system mop up cancer cells left behind after surgery.

The study showed that this unconventional strategy can reduce the spread of cancer by more than 90 percent in a mouse model. It is now being evaluated in a world-first clinical trial.

"Surgery is very effective in removing solid tumours," said senior author Rebecca Auer.

"However, we're now realizing that, tragically, surgery can also suppress the immune system in a way that makes it easier for any remaining cancer cells to persist and spread to other organs. Our research suggests that combining erectile dysfunction drugs with the flu vaccine may be able to block this phenomenon and help prevent cancer from coming back after surgery."

The current study investigated sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis) and an inactivated influenza vaccine (Agriflu) in a mouse model that mimics the spread of cancer (metastasis) after surgery.

Auer is now leading the first clinical trial in the world of an erectile dysfunction drug (tadalafil) and the flu vaccine in people with cancer.

It will involve 24 patients at The Ottawa Hospital undergoing abdominal cancer surgery. This trial is designed to evaluate the safety and look for changes in the immune system. If successful, larger trials could look at possible benefits to patients.

"We're really excited about this research because it suggests that two safe and relatively inexpensive therapies may be able to solve a big problem in cancer," said Auer. "If confirmed in clinical trials, this could become the first therapy to address the immune problems caused by cancer surgery."

Using a variety of mouse and human models, Auer's team also made progress in understanding how erectile dysfunction drugs and the flu vaccine affect cancer after surgery.

Normally, immune cells called natural killer (NK) cells play a major role in killing metastatic cancer cells. But surgery causes another kind of immune cell, called a myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC), to block the NK cells.

Auer's team has found that erectile dysfunction drugs block these MDSCs, which allows the NK cells to do their job, fighting cancer. The flu vaccine further stimulated the NK cells.

"Cancer immunotherapy is a huge area of research right now, but we're still learning how best to use it in the time around surgery," said first author Lee-Hwa Tai. "This research is an important step forward that opens up many possibilities."

The study is published in the journal OncoImmunology.

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Researchers have found that long term chronic isolation cause the build-up of a chemical in the brain, that increases stress, aggression and fear.

The mice isolated for two weeks showed behavioural changes like, increased aggressiveness towards unfamiliar mice, persistent fear, and hypersensitivity to threatening stimuli.

When encountering a threatening stimulus, mice that have been socially isolated remain frozen in place long after the threat has passed, whereas normal mice stop freezing soon after the threat is removed, the research said.

Although the study was done in mice, it has potential implications for understanding how chronic stress affects humans and has potential applications for treating mental health disorders, said lead author Moriel Zelikowsky, postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology in the US.

Previous studies have determined that social isolation for two weeks in mice resulted in the upregulation of the signalling molecule neuropeptide, tachykinin 2 (Tac2)/neurokinin B (NkB) -- a short protein molecule.

In the new study, published in the journal Cell, the team found that chronic isolation leads to an increase in Tac2 gene expression and the production of a neuropeptide called neurokinin B (NkB) throughout the brain.

But, administration of a drug that chemically blocks NkB-specific receptors enabled the stressed mice to behave normally, eliminating the negative effects of social isolation.

On the other hand, artificially increasing Tac2 levels and activating the corresponding neurons in normal, animals led them to behave like isolated and stressed, the research showed.

Suppressing the Tac2 gene in certain different brain parts, increased fear behaviours, or aggression accordingly, implying that it must increase in different brain regions to produce the various effects of social isolation, the researchers said.

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A slow and steady weight loss plan is always a good idea, but losing weight too fast means putting your health at a risk which can lead to severe issues. So, be wise about undertaking excessive exercising or going for a crash diet. Pooja Chaudhary, wellness consultant, Healthians, an online diagnostic center that offers at-home services, lists down the common factors to take care of during a weight loss regime:

Losing weight around 0.45 kg-0.9 kg per week is a safe bet. But losing more than that can be considered as rapid weight loss which can have an impact on the health. At the start of exercise plan or diet plan, people witness a sudden weight loss of 2-3 kg. This is actually the water weight.

Angeli Misra, Co-founder of Lifeline Laboratory, lists down a few side effects of losing weight too fast:

1. It could damage your liver: Alcohol is not the only factor that puts you at a risk of developing a fatty liver. Sometimes following a surgery to reduce weight can also affect your liver.

2. Loose skin: Rapid weight loss leads to loose skin as skin loses elasticity.

3. It may slow down your metabolism: Excess of everything is bad. Excessive exercises and crash dieting can slow down your metabolism as you easily and soon get tired. Due to that your body works slow and you feel a sense of fatigue.

4. Other side effects: Losing weight fast by doing excessive exercise, swimming and crash diet may be linked to several other side effects like hunger, fatigue, irritability, muscle cramps, dizziness, constipation or diarrhea.

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Researchers have found that a common antibacterial substance found in toothpaste may combat life-threatening diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF) when combined with a drug.

The study, published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, found that when triclosan -- a substance that reduces or prevents bacteria from growing -- is combined with an antibiotic called tobramycin, it kills the cells that protect the CF bacteria, known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by up to 99.9 per cent.

CF is a common genetic disease with one in every 2,500 to 3,500 people diagnosed with it at an early age. It results in a thick mucus in the lungs, which becomes a magnet for bacteria.

These bacteria are notoriously difficult to kill because they are protected by a slimy barrier known as a biofilm, which allows the disease to thrive even when treated with antibiotics, the researcher said.

"The problem that we're really tackling is finding ways to kill these biofilms," said lead author Chris Waters, Professor at the Michigan State University.

According to the researcher, there are many common biofilm-related infections that people get such as ear infections and swollen, painful gums caused by gingivitis.

But more serious, potentially fatal diseases join the ranks of CF including endocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, as well as infections from artificial hip and pacemaker implants, the researcher added.

For the study, the researchers grew 6,000 biofilms in petri dishes, added in tobramycin along with many different compounds, to see what worked better at killing the bacteria.

Twenty-five potential compounds were effective, but one stood out, the researcher said.

"It's well known that triclosan, when used by itself, isn't effective at killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa. But when I saw it listed as a possible compound to use with tobramycin, I was intrigued. We found triclosan was the one that worked every time," said Alessandra Hunt from the Michigan State University.

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Owing to a higher level of outdoor air pollution during summers, dogs born during this time are more likely to be at higher risk of heart disease, according to a study.

For both dogs and humans, outside air pollution during pregnancy and at the time of birth appears to play a role in later development of heart disease.

Overall, dogs have a 0.3 to 2 per cent risk of developing heart disease depending on breed, but among those that are genetically predisposed to the heart disease, the birth month difference in risk was found to be marginal.

However, breeds not genetically predisposed to the disease, such as Norfolk terrier, Berger Picard, American Staffordshire terrier, English toy spaniel, Bouvier des flandres, Border terrier and Havanese were also found to be at highest risk.

This suggests that the effect supports an environmental mechanism, the researchers said, in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, also supports earlier findings in humans pointing to the role of early gestational exposure to fine air particulates and increased risk of heart disease later in life.

"It's important to study dogs because the canine heart is a remarkably similar model to the human cardiovascular system," said Mary Regina Boland, Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US.

"Also, humans and dogs share their lives together and are exposed to similar environmental effects, so seeing this birth season-cardiovascular disease relationship in both species illuminates mechanisms behind this birth-season disease relationship," Boland added.

Because dogs' pregnancies are shorter than humans (lasting only 2 months), pollution as a possible mechanism is still thought to be through the mother's inhalation of air pollution effecting the uterine environment, which in turn affects the developing cardiovascular system of the baby or puppy, the study showed.

For the new study, the team examined 129,778 canines encompassing 253 different breeds.

The research team found that risk climbs to the greatest level in dogs born in July, who have a 74 per cent greater risk of heart disease than would typically be expected.

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Washington D.C.: Intermittent fasting diets could increase diabetes risk, suggests a study. These findings suggest that fasting-based diets may be associated with long-term health risks and careful consideration should be made before starting such weight loss programmes.

In order to investigate whether an intermittent fasting diet could also generate damaging free radicals, Ana Bonassa and colleagues, from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, examined the effects of fasting every other day on the body weight, free radical levels and insulin function of normal, adult rats, over a 3-month period.

Although the rats' body weight and food intake decreased as expected over the study period, the amount of fat tissue in their abdomen actually increased. Furthermore, the cells of the pancreas that release insulin showed damage, with the presence of increased levels of free radicals and markers of insulin resistance were also detected.

Ana Bonassa commented, "This is the first study to show that, despite weight loss, intermittent fasting diets may actually damage the pancreas and affect insulin function in normal healthy individuals, which could lead to diabetes and serious health issues."

Ana cautioned, "We should consider that overweight or obese people who opt for intermittent fasting diets may already have insulin resistance, so although this diet may lead to early, rapid weight loss, in the long-term there could be potentially serious damaging effects to their health, such as the development of type-2 diabetes."

The findings were presented at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, ECE 2018.

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Many people are so busy that they barely have time to eat, let alone pause for a water break, and you may find you often go hours and hours without quenching your thirst. But staying hydrated has real advantages, including helping you maintain your energy and focus so you can operate more efficiently, so it's important to give your drinking habits the attention they deserve. Dr. Manoj Kutteri, Wellness Director at Atmantan Wellness Centre gives some simple ways to make fueling up with fluid throughout the day a little easier

Always carry a water bottle
If you have a bottle within arm’s reach, it's very likely that you'll mindlessly sip from it throughout the day, without having to make a conscious effort. It is important to drink fluids during your workouts, especially if you are exercising outdoors or in a hotter climate. You should carry water with you while exercising. And it is necessary that you drink water in the few hours, leading up to your workout, as well as you need to be drinking water during the workout as well. It is recommended to drink a glass of water every 15 minutes during your exercise session

Have Infused Water
Drink infused water also called fruit-flavored water or fruit-infused water. Fruit-flavored water is a combination of fruits, vegetables, and herbs immersed in cold water. The health benefits of fruit-infused water include flushing toxins from your system, filling you up, so you don't eat much junk food, keeping your organs healthy while you are sweating, etc.

Electrolyte Drinks
Electrolytes are electrically-charged substances found in your blood, urine and other bodily fluids. They are essential to keep a healthy balance within the body and come in different forms, including chlorine, potassium, phosphate, magnesium, calcium and sodium. Sweat releases electrolytes, so in order to replenish them, you must consume foods and drinks that contain electrolytes like coconut water, citrus fruits, salt water, cranberry drink, watermelon juice, cucumber drink, etc.

Fruits and Vegetables
Another tip for staying hydrated in summer is adding fruits and vegetables with high water content to your diet. Strawberries, cucumbers and watermelon contain about 92 percent of water per volume. Other fruits with high water content are cantaloupe with 90 percent, grapefruit with 91 percent, and peaches with 88 percent. Pineapple, cranberries, orange and raspberries contain 87 percent water by weight. Also, vegetables like tomatoes, beetroot, carrots and celery contain water.

Also Read: Top 7 Tips To Keep Your Skin Hydrated And Healthy During Summer

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Washington D.C: Do you find it difficult to resist food cravings? Researchers have found that stimulating the brain with magnetic energy can help reduce food cravings in obese people. The technique has yielded positive results after just a single treatment session, revealing its potential to become a safer alternative to treat obesity, avoiding invasive surgery and drug side effects.

It has been reported that, in some obesity cases, the reward system in the brain may be altered, causing a greater reward response to food than in normal weight individuals. This can make patients more vulnerable to craving, and can lead to weight gain. This dysfunction in the reward system can also be seen in cases of addiction to substances, e.g. drugs or alcohol, or behaviours, e.g. gambling.

Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dTMS) is a medical treatment that uses magnetic energy to stimulate neurons in specific areas of the brain. It is used to treat depression and addictive behaviours, and previous studies have suggested that dTMS could be a good option to reduce drug and food cravings. However, the potential mechanism driving these changes had not been investigated until now.

In this study, Professor Livio Luzi and colleagues, from the Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico Policlinico San Donato, Italy, investigated the effects of dTMS on appetite and satiety in obese people.

They studied the effects of a single 30-minute session of dTMS, at a high or low frequency, on blood markers potentially associated with food reward in a group of 40 obese patients. They found that high-frequency dTMS significantly increased blood levels of beta-endorphins - neurotransmitters involved in producing heightened feelings of reward after food ingestion - compared to low-frequency dTMS or controls.

"For the first time, this study is able to suggest an explanation of how dTMS could alter food cravings in obese subjects" said Luzi. "We also found that some blood markers potentially associated with food reward, for example glucose, vary according to gender, suggesting male/female differences in how vulnerable patients are to food cravings, and their ability to lose weight."

"Given the distressing effects of obesity in patients, and the socioeconomic burden of the condition, it is increasingly urgent to identify new strategies to counteract the current obesity trends. dTMS could present a much safer and cheaper alternative to treat obesity compared to drugs or surgery", Professor Luzi adds.

The results of the study were presented in Barcelona at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, ECE 2018.

Want to stay young for long? If so, start exercising four to five times a day as it may help keep your heart stay healthy and slow down ageing, according to researchers. Research showed that different sizes of arteries are affected differently by varying amounts of exercise.

While exercising for about two to three days a week for about 30 minutes may be sufficient to minimise stiffening of middle-sized arteries, exercising for about four to five days a week is required to keep the larger central arteries youthful.

The study would help "develop exercise programmes to keep the heart youthful and even turn back time on older hearts and blood vessels", said one of the study authors, Benjamin Levine from the University of Texas.

With age, arteries -- which transport blood in and out of the heart -- become prone to stiffening, increasing the risk of heart diseases.

For the study, published in The Journal of Physiology, the team examined 102 people over 60 years old, with a consistent lifelong exercise history.

The participants were divided into four groups depending on their exercise history -- Sedentary: less than 2 exercise sessions per week; Casual Exercisers: 2-3 exercise sessions per week; Committed Exercisers: 4-5 exercise sessions per week and Masters Athletes: 6-7 exercise sessions per week.

A lifelong history of casual exercise (two-three times a week) resulted in more youthful middle-sized arteries, which supply oxygenated blood to the head and neck.

However, committed exercisers (4-5 times per week) also had more youthful large central arteries, which provide blood to the chest and abdomen, in addition to healthier middle-sized ones.

Larger arteries need more frequent exercise to slow down ageing, the researchers said.

The findings will help see "if we can reverse the ageing of a heart and blood vessels by using the right amount of exercise at the right time", Levine explained.

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Cancer care
Former ATS chief Himanshu Roy took his life earlier this month. While his suicide note didn't mention a reason, doctors and friends claim repeated recurrence of cancer had broken him, and he was low.

When the fight to overpower the disease is long-drawn, often with no light at the end of the tunnel, patients don't just need medication but also counselling and physical therapy.

Viji Venkatesh

"There is a stigma associated with cancer in our society. Such that people even lose their jobs after it being detected, which adds to the financial stress. With such physical and mental strain, it is important to have a third person to share your problems with and help you cope," says Viji Venkatesh, region head, South Asia, The Max Foundation, an organisation that works for cancer patients.

"We get 60,000 new cases every year. We are able to sustain and offer proper support because of our network of support groups, where patients are provided encouragement at every level. In order to beat the darkness accompanying the disease, patients need something to look forward to. Every year, we take a group of patients for a trip to Goa; we organise group talk sessions with other patients and celebrate all festivals. We have identified 90 places with cheap accommodation near the [Tata Memorial] hospital, and we also have yoga sessions. All these small initiatives help build the psychological strength of the patient," explains SH Jafri, head of CSR and PR, and international patient advisor at The Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel.

Experts explain why a holistic approach to cancer treatment is essential.

The body
Patients have less muscle mass due to weight and protein loss in the body. Hence, there is a need to improve the quality of life by giving the right exercises and dietary plan based on the different stages of treatment to improve strength. "Cancer treatment is teamwork — the counsellor, physiotherapist, nutritionist and oncologist need to work together. One must understand the capacity of the body, how much it can take; this can be gauged only by a professional," elaborates Dr Nilesh Makwana, director and consulting physiotherapist, Muscle N Mind Physiotherapy Centre.

Dr. Nilesh

Chances of a relapse in some kinds of cancers reduce when the patient undergoes physical therapy. An expert will understand the fatigue level of the patient and devise a plan based on the kind and the stage of the disease. For example, during treatment, in addition to the pain medication given by the doctor, a physiotherapist will use electrotherapy modalities such as TENS to relieve the pain and block the pain channels and improve joint mobility and the properties of the muscle. The treatment for relapse patients is different as the intensity of their medication is higher. "Different cancers need different treatments. For example, one of my patients had lung cancer, for which a part of the lung had to be removed. This reduces lung capacity. So, we improved the stamina by giving rehabilitation with oxygen, so that the other part of the lung gets enough oxygen to oxygenate the rest of the body. Another patient suffering from bone cancer had the thigh bone removed, and a knee and hip replacement at an advanced stage. Plus, the chemotherapy had reduced the body mass. We devised a strengthening programme for the lower body, without oxygen procedure one would need for lung cancer, modified footwear to repair the body imbalance and other procedures," shares Dr Makwana.

The mind
"The need for counselling begins right from when the cancer is detected. Acceptance of diagnosis is difficult. The patient and the family need to know the outcome of the disease — you cannot just tell the patient that everything will be alright," says Dr Adwaita A Gore, medical oncologist, Zen Multi Speciality Hospital. Acceptance has to come from the family as only then will they have the collective strength to support the patient. Dr Gore has seen cases where a delay in treatment was caused because the family refused to accept the truth.

The link
Dr Gore says that doctors identify the main caregivers as they are the vital link between doctor and patient. Patient interaction with the doctor will be for a short period, as compared to a close member who will motivate the patient throughout. The stress also takes a toll on the caregiver, hence s/he too needs a support group.

Occupy your mind
Try and continue working unless the treatment demands one to stop. This helps to continue the treatment.

Dr Adwaita A Gore

The talk
Counselling differs for all age groups. "For someone who is going to undergo an operation for throat cancer, he or she needs to know before the surgery that they might lose their voice. It's only a counsellor who can successfully explain that while you may lose your voice, there are now techniques available to enable you to speak again," says Dr Gore.

Financial counselling
"Financial counselling is crucial to motivating patients to continue treatment. They need to know that their family can be taken care of after they are no more," says Dr Gore.

Madhu Kastia, 57, housewife

Survivor speak
You have to believe that you can fight cancer — without that, you can't do anything. Think of it as regular fever. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014, and breast cancer in 2017. I was always into painting, and it was suggested to me that I pursue it to aid my treatment. I would finish one painting at every chemo session. I have gifted my works to my doctors, and a few have been displayed at Breach Candy Hospital. At hospitals, I would counsel other patients to be strong and take part in everything to live life like any other healthy person. I was advised by my doctors to pursue aqua aerobics and it has helped me improve my heart functioning from 25 to 40 per cent. My doctors emphasised the importance of physiotherapy. After my breast cancer surgery, I could move my hand easily because of physiotherapy. I had no hair when my daughter got married. But my supporters helped me in my fight, and to move on. Even getting a good wig that looks close to your real hair really helps build your confidence. My biggest support system has been my daughters and my husband.

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A lot of men don't pay attention to their skin and let it suffer. Just take out a few minutes from your busy schedule and rinse, tone, exfoliate, moisturise daily without fail for a lasting youthful skin, suggest experts. Shubhika Jain, Founder of RAS Luxury Oils, and Megha Asher, Founder of Juicy Chemistry have listed a regime important for men:

1. Use natural homemade scrub: If you use soap to clean your skin, it is one of the biggest mistakes. Soap strips your skin off of nutrients that are necessary. Men need skin exfoliation to remove the dead skin. Using a natural, herbal/home-made scrub can help you remove impurities and other debris that are clogged in the pores along with keeping the skin healthy. Men who shave will find that their cleanser helps ensure the razor has a clean shaving surface to avoid ingrown hairs and razor burn.

2. Always moisturise: Since your skin is tougher and is thicker, it tends to get rough very easily. Hence, it needs its moisture. In addition to that, not all moisturisers are the same. One of the best ways to ensure proper hydration is to use a face oil or a face serum. It is a myth that using oil on an oily face makes it oilier. Actually it is the reverse of that. Super absorbent face oils are like elixirs and help in balancing the sebum production and controlling oil production.

You can also try active plant ingredients like a light aloe vera gel based moisturiser, that works best naturally by hydrating skin and protecting against the damaging, age-accelerating effects of UVA and UVB rays and seal moisture into the skin.

3. Use toner before and after cleansing: Toners keep you refreshed on the go while making your skin look dewy and naturally glowy. They also balance the oil levels in the skin. The toner can be used before and after cleansing the face.

4. Keep a facial scrub handy: Face scrubs help in exfoliating and removing dead skin cells that makes the skin look dull. It helps to prepare the skin for shaving. Scrub 1-3 times a week depending on the skin type for a better looking skin.

5. Applying sunscreen: Men are not as conscious about their sunscreen use as women, but they should be. UV rays lead to accelerated skin aging and can cause skin cancer. It is important to wear a sunscreen if you are going to be outdoors for more than 30 minutes.

One of the most common causes of wrinkles and premature ageing is sun exposure and damage. Using a daily SPF cream will significantly help your skin in the fight against ageing and also decrease the risk of UV-induced skin damage.

6. Use mild and soothing shaving products: Many men shave either daily or every few days. Shaving products should protect and moisturise the skin. They should also be mild and soothing; harsh products can remove the skin's natural lipids which are already under pressure from shaving.

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One among every 10 parents blame "contaminated" meals from restaurants as the leading cause behind food-borne illnesses in their children, a survey has revealed.

While just one third of parents said their children got sick from spoiled or contaminated food eaten at home, a whopping 68 per cent named restaurants as the most common source, according to the "National Poll on Children's Health" led by C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.

The poll also reported that only 25 per cent of people check health inspection ratings before dining out.

"Contaminated food can make both kids and adults sick. For young children, whose immune systems are not fully developed, this kind of illness can present a greater risk of serious complications," said Gary L. Freed from University of Michigan.

He explained that virus Hepatitis A is being increasingly passed on through unwashed hands, causing food contamination and, thus, recommends vaccination for one-year-old children.

Other places where eating made children sick included school (21 per cent), friend's house (14 per cent) or at a potluck (11 per cent), the report stated.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), about one in every 10 people around the world falls ill due to food-borne disease each year. Of those 600 million people, almost 420,000 die as a result.

Food-borne illnesses are most often caused by toxins, parasites, viruses and bacteria -- such as salmonella and E. coli. It can occur when germs, either certain bacteria or viruses, contaminate food or drinks, according to the report.

Once contaminated food enters the body, some germs release toxins that can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and sometimes fever or muscle aches.

"Simple precautions, like checking restaurant inspections and following food safety rules when cooking and storing food, can help keep your family safe," Freed said.

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Several wedding guests, including children, fell ill after lunch

Gajar ka halwa made for a bitter end to a wedding in Kelwa on Sunday, after 175 guests fell violently ill. All those admitted to hospital for food poisoning were discharged the same night after treatment. Ironically, the food had been supplied by none other than the father of the bride, who is a local caterer.

A sample of the wedding buffet has been sent to the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) to find the cause behind the mass food poisoning. Action will be taken based on the FDA’s report, said the police.

More than 700 people had attended the wedding, which featured a vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian menu. Around 1 pm, some people started feeling giddy, and complained of stomach ache. Many also started vomiting after lunch. Around 175 people were taken to Safale Primary Health Centre. "There was  chaos, as nobody understood what was happening. The entire health centre was filled with patients," said a cop from Kelwa police station.

"The situation eventually settled down after a couple of hours, when the patients started feeling better," he added.

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A massive fire broke out in a three-storey building in the Kasa area here in the wee hours today, the district rural police said. One person was feared dead, but there was no official confirmation yet, they said. The police received a call around 3.30 am about the blaze in the residential-cum-commercial building, located near a temple in the Kasa area of the Dahanu taluka.

The building's ground floor and the first floor, which housed a provisions store and its godown, were completely gutted in the fire, the police said in a release issued here. However, residents of the four apartments on the building's second floor were evacuated, the police said, adding that one person was feared killed in the fire, but there was no official confirmation yet. Three fire engines were rushed to the spot. The flames were doused but the cooling work was still on, the police added.

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A 28-year-old labourer died after he fell off the 20th floor of an under-construction building in suburban Malad, police said on Tuesday. The incident occurred when Abu Tahir was doing a plastering work on the 20th floor of the high-rise in a Malwani area, said a police official.

Tahir was rushed to a hospital by locals where doctors declared him brought dead. A case was registered under section 304 (A) (causing death due to negligence) against two persons for not ensuring the safety of the labourer, he said, adding that further investigation is on.

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The bus met with an accident soon after the accused drove it out from the depot

Unable to get a rail ticket for his native place Uttar Pradesh, a mentally unstable man decided to drive a state transport (ST) bus to his destination on Tuesday morning. However, his attempt failed when he banged into a roadside tree, soon after driving the vehicle out of the depot in Palghar.

According to the Boisar police, accused Sabir Ali Mansori, who is a Palghar resident, works as a scrap dealer. Around 10 am on Tuesday, he went to the ST bus depot and found a Boisar-Palghar bus parked in one of the slots. He immediately got into it and started the vehicle. The moment he left the depot, the bus collided head on with a roadside tree.

Accused Sabir Ali Mansori. Pics/Hanif Patel

The bus driver Amolsingh Rajput mentioned in his complaint that after parking the bus, he had gone to the control room to inform the officials that he would take the vehicle out on its route. On hearing a lot of commotion outside, he rushed back to see that the bus had met with an accident.

Police sources said that soon after the incident, the people who had gathered at the spot, beat up Mansori and handed him over to the police. The Boisar cops have booked him under sections 379 and 511 of IPC. Speaking to mid-day, Prakash Birajdar, senior inspector, said, "Following his arrest, the accused was produced in court and later sent to police custody. Even he was in a state of shock after the incident. We have received his medical reports, which will be verified before the next course of action."

Also Read: Aadhaar Scheme Helps 31-Year-Old Mentally Ill Woman Reunite With Family

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Cadbury Junction

The picturesque canopies and gentle streams of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) attract not just birds, butterflies and bees, but shutterbugs and couples as well.

Our neighbourhood national park in Borivli has emerged as one of the go to destinations for pre-wedding photoshoots, says Ahmed Anwar, Director and Chief Conservator of Forest (CFO), SGNP. He says, "I can clearly see the increase in the pre-wedding as well as maternity photoshoot in SGNP since last year. What I can gather from this is that youngsters love to picture their memories with greenery." Call it a trend or a tradition, but the pre-wedding photoshoot, replete with wardrobe changes and high-end photo-editing, is part of modern wedding arrangements.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park and inset (Darshan Ambre)

While couples often venture out of the city to local or exotic destinations — say, a vineyard in Nashik or Koh Samui — SGNP's green acres or Ballard Estate are preferred, too. This is especially true for those couples who want to spend about Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 a day— a starting range for pre-wedding photoshoots, making them selective about the destination for their shoots. Other locations that are sought out, say photographers and couples, are the stairs of Asiatic Library in Fort, Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, Utsav Chowk in Kharghar and forts, such as those in Sion, Worli and Vasai.

Vasai Fort and inset (Tejas Chachad)

Sanket Sawant, a wedding photographer from Thane says, "Couples come ready with ideas about the locations. Their first
choice, very often, turns out to be SGNP. Other places they like to head to are Upvan and Cadbury Bridge in Thane." Couples can getthe permission at SGNP after they pay fixed amount of R3,300. Photography is allowed in a 5 km area that is
accessible for visitors. Security concerns restrict people from venturing further into the core forested areas. Early monsoon and post monsoon, up until winter, is the best time to shoot at SGNP, say photographers.

However, instead of the wilderness offered by SGNP, should couples choose to opt for sunset-lit beaches, there is a problem,
say photographers. Professional photography is not allowed on Juhu Beach and Girgaum Chowpatty specifically for prewedding
shoots. If one wants to shoot there, permission from the civic body has to be taken, which takes time. Therefore, many photographers don’t choose these locations. Vasai Fort, a structure erected in the year 1184, has remained an attraction
for decades, not just for Bollywood, but also couples seeking to replicate a Bollywood moment. What's more attractive, unlike SGNP, is that there is no fees to shoot inside the fort. However, the bigger hurdle is dealing with crowds and local residents that gather around the posing couple.

Photographers say that rather than head there on weekends, make use of the busy weekdays, when the fort is empty. Sagar Mahadik, who has been working as a wedding photographer for the last four years, says, “Many people demand locations with a lot of greenery and seclusion, which SGNP offers. For that matter, Ballard Eastate roads are very much empty on weekends. If a couple is ready to go out of Mumbai, then the ShivTemple atAmbernath, Palava City in Dombivli are also secluded favourites.”

Ambre says that even if SGNP gets crowded during the wedding season, the good news is that photographers cooperate
with each other.

Santosh Kumar Shah

Virar resident and former film distributor Santosh Kumar Shah, 48, has lived through what can only be described as a tragic Bollywood plot, thanks to a landlord and policeman from hell.

Trouble began in January 2013, when he decided to move from Andheri to Virar. Shah had been a distributor for films such as Mahasangram (1990) and Insaaf (1997). He got a 1BHK apartment on a rent of Rs 2,700 and Rs 15,000 deposit, owned by one Ravikant Patil in Virar East.

No amenities
Shah was assured of every possible amenity in the house. But when he moved in, he found out that there was neither electricity nor any water supply. Shah said he complained to Patil about this and was assured it would be sorted out in a few days, but that never happened. He realised Patil had cheated others in the same flat, so he registered a complaint at the Virar police station. Patil was served a notice under Section 149 of the CrPC.

Soon after, Shah alleges Patil verbally threatened and abused him, asking him to withdraw the complaint and vacate the house. Patil then came to the flat with a woman and builder Bhushan Patil. Shah called the cops and went to the police station, when he saw Patil and the builder there. Shah said he was slapped by PSI Asif Baig. Shah's case was transferred to API DF Patil, following a robbery attempt in his flat.

PSI denies allegations
Baig denied all the charges. In fact, he said he would receive complaints against Shah from other society members, as he never paid his utility bills on time, resulting in the disconnection of his electricity and water. He would also call senior officers now and then for every problem.

Meanwhile, Shah alleged that in June 2014, he was assaulted by the accused and some more people. He called the cops, but nobody turned up. Shah attempted to meet Thane SP Rajesh Pradhan, but fainted before he could do so. The SP ordered his team to take Shah to the hospital and file an FIR against the accused.

Framed and locked up
When Shah came back to the police station to register the plaint, the cops ended up arresting him under charges of molestation and the POCSO Act. He ended up spending 20 months in prison for a crime he didn't commit. A court acquitted him and he was released on January 13, 2016. All cases against him were dropped in June 2017.

Shah then went back to the flat to collect his belongings but found nothing there. To his surprise, another tenant was residing there. His car was also missing.

Currently, Shah has no job and little money. He eats food at religious shrines and sleeps at railway stations. Last month, he approached current Thane SP Manjunath Shinde, who has asked Virar police to look into the matter. Palghar district PRO said, "We have received an application from Shah and ordered Virar police to investigate."

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Glass containers in which Arora has collected soil from different parts of Aarey. PICS/ABIGAIL D’Souza 

A conversation with artist Vikram Arora throws up a vital piece of insight into the issue of deforestation at Aarey Colony. Arora, along with four artists from Hong Kong and a Serbian national based in Mumbai, is spending a few days living with locals in the city’s jeopardised green cover, and he tells us, “The tribals here have a family that doesn’t include only the people they live with. It includes the trees they planted, the animals and birds that depend on those trees, the leopards around them and so on. So everything is inter-dependent, and the fallout [of deforestation] is ecological in nature, because the birds don’t have those trees any more. And the leopards will confront humans because their habitat has been taken away.”

This is the issue that forms the backbone of a project called Forest Tales: Mysteries Hidden in Concrete. It involves the six people creating individual works of art based on their experience of living in the heart of Aarey Colony, immersing themselves in the local culture by tilling the soil that nurtures the food that their hosts cook for them.

Chim Chi Ho tilling soil

Arora tells us that one of his projects, for instance, requires him to collect 33 types of soil from different parts of Aarey, symbolic of the 33 hectares of land in the area that is lost to the demands of construction work for the disputed Metro project. “I will put these bits of soil into 33 different containers on which I will draw Warli art, a traditional tribal style. The idea is to archive the memory of the soil in case that land is also taken away in the future. I will present the different glass containers as an installation to show how, if we proceed without long-term planning, we will end up building a fragile future for ourselves,” he says.

The other project he has embarked on is called Cut Me a Slice of That. For it, he will bake a pie inspired by savelya, a local sweet dish made with coconut and jaggery, which his host taught him to make. He will then serve that pie cut into different pieces when the various works of art are showcased to the public at an event later this week. “It’s meant to reflect the sentiment of how the land grab is taking place, piece by piece. For example, every time there is an emergency in the city, the NSG commandos are given a space in Aarey. A veterinary college is also given space here if they want it. Now the Metro wants its chunk too for the car shed. So, they keep taking this land away piece by piece, through rampant deforestation,” he explains.

(From left) Michael Leung, Vikram Arora, Gum Cheng, Yip Kai Chun and Chim Chi Ho, the artists living in Aarey. Katarina Rasic is not in the photo

Arora adds, however, that not everyone in the local community is against displacement. A few padas (settlement clusters), he says, are happy because they think they will get a house in a tower, though they eventually might never get to reach this carrot being dangled before them. “They are driven by economic sensibilities, thinking they will be moving into high society when, and if, they get those houses. But the whole idea is not only about them shifting base. Instead, it’s about the trees that are being cut to facilitate that process,” he says, pointing out how unless this urbanisation challenge is managed in a sensitive manner, ecological concerns are bound to be sacrificed at the altar of rampant concretisation.

Vikram Arora

ON May 20 AT Keltipada, Adivasi Pada, Unit no 18, Aarey Milk Colony, Goregaon East.
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Chef Cham Hun Chakap plates a portion of chilli chicken. Chilli chicken is one of the spicier dishes that can be traced back to Tangra. But the food of the Kolkata locality is often a lot sweeter than other Indo-Chinese dishes because that’s how the Bengalis prefered it. This can be evidenced in something like honey chilli potato.

Chef Cham Hun Chakap moves around the kitchen with the assurance of a well-set batsman completing a comfortable single down to deep midwicket. He is running the show behind the scenes at a restaurant in an upscale Powai hotel, which is hosting an event called Tangra Festival. The dish that the chef is whipping up for us is chilli chicken, possibly the most ubiquitous item in the culinary spectrum of Indo-Chinese dishes. And he tells us that it was invented in Tangra, the new Chinatown in Kolkata, considered by many to be the Mecca of this particular cuisine.

Tangra does indeed occupy a unique spot in the country’s food-scape. It all goes back to about 100 years ago, when the British — along with Kolkata’s older Chinese community in Tirreti Bazaar — established the area, setting up leather factories there to manufacture boots and other goods for soldiers at the battlefront during World War I. Business picked up further during World War II. But then, the British packed their bags in 1947. So, the Chinese community took over the tanning operations. Their life ambled comfortably along, only to be turned upside down by the Indo-China war of 1962, when many indigenous Chinese people immigrated to safer havens like Canada, Australia and Taiwan. And suddenly, the community in Kolkata found its numbers to have considerably dwindled.

Food to the rescue
What’s worse is that the ones who were left behind, and who had picked up the mantle of the leather business from their predecessors, found themselves on the wrong side of the law after the state government deemed the tanning industry to be an environmental hazard in the mid-’90s. A large number of factories thus faced closure, with some being shifted to the nearby neighbourhood of Bantala. Many of the owners faced overnight financial ruin. So, to get out of the soup they found themselves in, they turned their attention to another business that had been gaining momentum in the area over the ’70s and ’80s — restaurants serving “Chinese” dishes.

“Initially, these restaurants were serving the authentic cuisine of the Chinese mainland. But that did not suit the palate of Kolkata’s Bengalis, who found it to be too bland. So the restaurants were running in losses in the beginning, till their owners decided to alter the recipes, adding Indian herbs and flavours,” chef Cham says, adding that this formed the genesis of what we call Chindian cuisine.

Illustration/Ravi Jadhav

These dishes, of course, bore as much resemblance to true-blue Chinese food as idli-sambar does to tandoori chicken. Instead of being stir-fried, for instance, most of the preparations were gravy-based. The spice quotient was also so much higher than a Shanghai local would put his chopsticks down to fan his mouth after one bite. Plus, while something like a Peking duck is roasted over a length of time, Tangra food was geared to suit the purposes of the quick-service restaurants there. This automatically also meant that the meat — including the fish items — was almost invariably diced into pieces, instead of being served whole, like some of the dishes in mainland China.

Pan-Indian acceptance
Be that as it may, the cuisine gradually started spreading to other parts of the country. Nelson Wang, a Tangra local who opened SoBo’s China Garden in 1984, is widely credited with having invented chicken Manchurian, a dish which if you say is Chinese, you might also say that the giant panda is India’s national animal. Punjabis also caught on to the trend, developing a brand of Sino-Ludhianvi dishes. And with time, Indo-Chinese food became a mainstay of restaurants in various cities, including Mumbai, where lunch home menus reserve equal space for “Chinese” dishes as they do for stuff like chana masala and aloo matar.

The credit for this goes to the original restaurateurs of Tangra who Indianised their indigenous dishes. But things are no longer hunky-dory in the Kolkata neighbourhood, says Dominic Lee, a fourth-generation Tangra local. “Many of the smaller restaurants are finding it difficult to sustain themselves, with only the bigger eateries, which have space for parking, constantly managing to upgrade themselves because they have the requisite capital,” he tells us, adding that the recent controversy around dubious meat being supposedly sold in the city’s restaurants has led to a further dip in fortunes.

Nonetheless, he continues, the legacy of the cuisine has left a permanent imprint on the history of India’s food. Take chilli chicken, something so popular that it’s travelled all the way from the humble Kolkata locality to the swish Powai hotel where chef Cham is making us his version of it. But when he is done in a matter of mere minutes, he recognises the look of doubt on our face after we have had a taste. “I have to make a blander variety because most of our customers are from the West, and they wouldn’t be able to handle something too spicy,” he explains, revealing how Indo-Chinese cuisine of the Tangra variety is a preserve of only our own countrymen.

Looking for it anywhere else in the world would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, for all practical purposes.

Awesome sauce
A huge contribution that Tangra has had is popularising the concept of chilli sauce. “You will find it in all the kathi roll shops dotted around Kolkata. But before we added it to our food to suit Indian taste buds, people had no clue about it,” says Lee.
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In a freak mishap, one coach of a Central Railway harbour line train dashed the dead-end and derailed at Goregaon yard on Saturday night. No passenger or staff was injured in the incident and there were no repercussions on any services.

Sources said the incident occurred around 7.45pm on Friday when the train, belonging to Sanpada crashed, was being parked. Four wheels went off the rails and it took around four hours to put the train back on track. A spokesperson confirmed the incident, saying that an internal departmental inquiry will be conducted.

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The by-elections to Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra began this morning for which all major parties have gone all out as the outcome is likely to have a bearing on their future course. There was no untoward incident at any polling booth so far, police said.

In Palghar, the bypoll was necessitated following the death of BJP's Chintaman Wanaga. The BJP's bickering ally Shiv Sena has fielded the late MP's son Srinivas in a bid to garner the sympathy vote. The BJP has put up former Congress minister Rajendra Gavit. The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) led by Vasai-Virar strongman Hitendra Thakur is also in the fray with the nomination of its ex-MP Baliram Jadhav.

Kiran Raja Gahla of the CPI-M, which has a base in Talasari and Dahanu, and former MP Damu Shingada (Congress) are also contesting in a multi-cornered fight from the seat reserved for scheduled tribes (ST).
The Sena has accused the BJP of distributing cash to voters. During a rally, Uddhav played an audio clip wherein Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis purportedly exhorted party cadre to win the elections "by all means possible." Fadnavis said the audio recording was doctored.

An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana today said its nominee will win the Palghar seat, despite the BJP roping in UP CM Yogi Adityanath in the poll campaign. "Lord Ram will emerge from the ballot box, wielding bow and arrow (Sena's symbol) and win this seat," it said.

The constituency includes extended suburbs of Mumbai such as Vasai, Virar, Nalasopara, and Palghar in the newly-created Palghar district. As many as 18 candidates are in fray in Bhandara- Gondia and seven in Palghar. There are total 3,49,1218 voters.

In Palghar, out of the 2,097 polling booths, 14 are listed as critical, while in Bhandara-Gondia, out of 2,149 polling booths, 71 are situated in Naxal-hit areas and 113 are listed as critical.

In Bhandara-Gondia, the BJP and the NCP have locked horns in the bypoll, being held after the resignation of BJP MP Nana Patole. Patole, a leader of the powerful OBC Kunbi community, had switched side from the Congress to the BJP and was elected as an MP from the constituency in Vidarbha in 2014 by defeating former union minister and NCP heavyweight Praful Patel.

The NCP, which has allied with the Congress, has fielded former BJP MLA Madhukar Kukde, against BJP's Hemant Patle, who belongs to the Powar community and is also a former legislator.

Counting of votes will be undertaken on May 31.

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In a jolt to its ally Shiv Sena which had "hijacked" the family of its late MP, its ally Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday won the bypoll to Maharashtra's Palghar Lok Sabha seat.

BJP's Rajendra Gavit defeated his nearest rival, Shriniwas Vanga of the Sena and the son of sitting MP Chintaman Vanga, whose death in January had necessitated the bypoll.

"I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and all the party leaders and workers for this victory," he said.

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Sagar Thakkar, the mastermind of the Mira Road call centre scam, always knew how to make money, but never learnt how to hold on to it. "The real masterminds are free. I got caught because I showed off my wealth," said the 26-year-old who appeared on the police's radar after he bought a Rs 2.5-crore Audi owned by Virat Kohli.

"Buying a second-hand Audi R8 was not a big deal for me. I didn't even know it was Virat's car," said Shaggy."I had planned to return the car within a few days, but by then I had been arrested."

Started young
"I was only 15 when I started working, due to a financial crisis at home. I used to sell Chinese hard disks and flash drives at cheap rates. I had a dealer in China from whom I would buy my stock. Initially, no one would buy from me because I was so young, so I started selling the gadgets really cheap. Within a couple of years, I was sending shipments as far as Canada."

It was this business acumen that impressed the original ringleaders of the IRS racket, who eventually hired Shaggy to work at one of their bogus call centres when he was about 18. He would eventually go on to operate such call centres in Mumbai and Ahmedabad, raking in several crores from the scam. But that was not always the plan. "I was a bright child. I wanted to complete my education and become a pilot. I wanted to earn some quick money, so I could save up for the course. But as money poured in, I began to enjoy the comforts it brought," he recalled.

His parents did not approve either. "I would study in the afternoon and then work at the call centre at night. My parents didn't like me working at night. My father would say, 'What is the need for you to work; we can survive with less money.' Initially, he didn't even know about the fraud; all he knew was that I was working at a call centre. But I did so well that I became the head of the team immediately, and started earning lots of money. It was at that point that my attitude changed," said Shaggy.

Jail time
"Obviously, I regret it now. My love for money took me down the wrong path. I have lost the prime of my life in being chased by the law," said the conman, adding, "Jail was a nightmare. The food, sleeping area and overall atmosphere was horrible. I thought I would get bail soon, but got frustrated when that did not happen."
Cut off from crime, he turned to education once again. "I wanted to learn coding, but the jail didn't have the resources for it. I read books on economics and finance, and also learnt Marathi. I can speak the language quite well now," he said.

If only...
He remains bitter about getting caught, but didn't seem to show any remorse for the crimes he had committed. "I am not the mastermind of the scam. The real masterminds are free and happy. I don't want to disclose their names, but they have been operating since 2001. I got trapped because I showed off," he said, adding, "If I had not been arrested, I would have spread this business, or started a new one that would have spread beyond India by now."

Now, he is left with a fraction of the crores he once had. "I spent so much money, I didn't even save anything," said Shaggy. Shaggy has now set his sight on the future. "I will work hard again to repair mine and my family's reputation. A driven person like me will never sit and spill tears, but will always work hard to make the future better than my past."

Rs 25000
Amount found in Shaggy's accounts after arrest

Rs 2.5cr
Value of the Audi sports car he bought

Also Read: The big Mira Road call centre scam: What we know so far

The Vangaon police from Palghar district found the bodies of a man and woman who were in a relationship, hanging from a tree in the jungle on Thursday morning. As the area is under the jurisdiction of the Boisar police, the Vangaon police informed them. The Boisar police conducted a panchanama and sent the bodies for autopsy to the local government hospital.

The man and woman have been identified by the police. According to police sources, the victims belonged to Boisar, and while the man stayed at Hanuman Nagar, the woman stayed at Ganesh Nagar. Investigation revealed that they worked in the same company in Boisar MIDC. Police sources revealed that they had fallen in love and wanted to live together, but were both married.

Hemant Katkar, Palghar District police PRO said, "The bodies were found at around 8 am. They were identified late in the afternoon. They were missing from June 25 and their family members were looking for them, but no missing complaint was made. No suicide note was found, but an ADR was registered and the investigation is on."

Also Read: Mumbai: 21-year-old student hangs herself in Worli hostel

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A day after the plane crash at Ghatkopar, family members have now begun laying all five victims to rest, after identifying them with the help of their personal effects and teeth. On the other hand, their doubts and questions are yet to be put to rest, so they have now raised demands for a proper investigation of the mishap. Co-pilot Marya Zuberi was buried at the Shia Kabristan in Govandi's Rafi Nagar on Friday evening, while aircraft maintenance engineer Surabhi Gupta will be taken back to her native place for the last rites.

All five bodies were badly charred, so their DNA samples had been sent to the Kalina forensic laboratory for identification. However, the victims' kin did not want to wait too long, so they decided to go ahead with the last rites. Captain Pradip Rajput was identified by his bracelet, Gupta by her earrings, and Zuberi with the help of her engagement ring. Junior flight technician Manish Pandey's face was partially recognisable. Dr Hemlata Pandey, forensic odontologist from KEM hospital, reconfirmed the identity with the help of photographs where their teeth are visible. "In such cases, when everything turns to ashes, teeth remain intact," said Dr Pandey.

Prabhat and daughter Charvi. Pics/Suresh Karkera

'We want answers'
As Marya's husband and male family members lowered her body into the ground, her daughter Charvi as she wept outside the cemetery. Upon returning to their residence at Mira Road, her husband Prabhat Kathuriya told mid-day, "We are going to file an FIR." In a press statement titled 'Who Killed Marya?', Prabhat, a lawyer, said: "She left the house assuring me that she would return soon, as the weather conditions were clearly not right for a test flight of a small plane. She was sure that the commission to undertake such a flight would not be given."

We know that the aircraft was well beyond its prime. We know it was more than 20 years old. We know it had already had an accident in 2009 and that the UP government chose to sell it rather than spend on its repairs. Considering all the above stated facts we, the family of Marya Zuberi, want answers. We want to know who exactly was at fault and who will bear the responsibility?"

He told this paper, "I am startled that the police haven't enquired about the crew's cell phones. A colleague told me that when she tried Marya's number at 2.30 pm (after the crash), it was ringing, but there was no response. That could reveal something." First pilot in family The family will remember Marya as a trailblazer. She was the first among them to become a pilot, after battling the stigma and restrictions often imposed on women in conservative society. "She was our brave child," said uncle Gauhar Raza.

Also Read: Ghatkopar plane crash: Neighbours of Mira Road co-pilot unable to believe she is no more

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A 24-year-old man's parents hatched a plan to kill him after they were physically abused by him on more than one occasion. On Saturday, Waliv Police arrested the parents, sister and her husband of the deceased person. Upon enquiry, the accused told the police that the deceased person would physically and verbally harass them often.

As per the police investigations, the deceased, Rohit Chaudhary, who was a driver, was found lying dead in a pit in Bhoiwada, Bhyander. Initially, the identity of the man was unknown. His mother later filed a missing complaint. After probing the matter, the police found injury marks on the face and neck of the individual and later managed to identify him. The police then registered a murder case.

After checking mobile records, it was revealed to the cops that the last call to the deceased was made by his sister. Upon suspicion, cops then questioned the family and found out that Rohit would beat and abuse them.

During questioning, the family confessed to the crime. They stated that they recently visited their native place in Uttar Pradesh and hired two men to kill Rohit for an amount of Rs 2 and a half lakh. An advance amount of Rs 1 lakh was transferred in the bank of the contract killers.

The police have arrested the father Lalchand, mother Sunita, sister Shruti and her husband Anup. Police are currently on the hunt for the contract killers in Uttar Pradesh.

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The Navy was deployed to evacuate train commuters stranded at the Nallasopara station in Mumbai due to flooding of railway tracks between Nallasopara and Vasai Road stations, officials said on Wednesday.

Following a request from the Western Railway, the Western Naval Command deployed high-chassis vehicles that could traverse the flooded areas and reach the stranded commuters, a Defence spokesperson said this morning. Mumbai has been experiencing heavy rains for the past 48 hours resulting in water-logging in several areas which has severely hit road and rail transport also.

The Western Naval Command has been maintaining rescue teams and emergency equipment to provide assistance to Mumbaikars in emergent situations, the spokesperson said.

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The heavy showers on Tuesday caused severe waterlogging on the tracks of Kelwe and Nalasopara railway stations, stranding long distance trains. The Gujarat Duronto Express was halted at Kelwe while the Vadodara Express and Shatabdi Express were also stopped at Nalasopara early in the morning.

Passengers of the trains were stranded, with no way to reach their destinations. But Palghar police stepped in and helped by arranging transport for them to Mumbai in Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) and private vehicles.

"Around 700-800 passengers were stuck at Nalasopara station when the Tulinj police provided them food and shelter at Kutchi Hall and helped them reach their destinations beyond Borivali in buses and private vehicles," said PRO Hemant Katkar from Palghar district police. Around 100 passengers stuck at Kelwe station were sent to their destination, Borivali, in three buses, he added.

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It's been a grim one week for residents of Vasai-Virar. Situated in Palghar district, 30 km north of Mumbai, the city — Maharashtra's fifth largest — has been fighting a tough battle against torrential downpour, which left several areas under water for nearly five days.

The situation was so deplorable that, for the first time in its history, the Western Railway was forced to collectively summon the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Navy, Army, the Coast Guard along with the Railway Protection Force to rescue over 2,000 passengers stranded in trains mid-way due to waterlogging on July 10 — the day the region received 240 mm rainfall.

On Thursday, two days after rain stopped, several areas continued to be severely waterlogged and had no electricity supply. Meanwhile, three people lost their lives after drowning, and hundreds of residents were forced to remain home bound.

Residents wade through knee-high water near H Colony, Vasai West, on Friday. Pics/Hanif Patel

Far from the hubbub of Mumbai, this fast-developing region, which comes under the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC), was drowning and any attempt to save it, appeared foolhardy. For old-time residents, who've witnessed the transformation of this green land into concrete, the flooding situation is new and alarming.

Local experts and environmentalists, however, blame unchecked dumping of sand in wetlands, and haphazard construction activities for residential and commercial spaces in Vasai-Virar — the new address for the up and coming middle-class — as the reason behind the slow crumble the city witnessed this monsoon.

Satish Lokhande, commissioner, VVMC vs Sameer Vartak, activist

How residents suffered
Before Vasai-Virar got its own municipal corporation in July 2009, it was already a chosen destination for real estate sharks due to its proximity to the Maximum City. Located along the banks of Vasai creek, which separates the region from Mumbai and Mira-Bhayandar, the agrarian belt, comprising Vasai, Nalasopara, Naigaon and Virar, soon transformed into a residential hub. This change is evident in the four-fold increase of the population in the short span of 20 years — from three lakh in 1991 to over 12 lakh as per the 2011 Census.

On July 9, Vasai-Virar witnessed the first heavy downpour of the season. Several parts of Vasai and Nalasopara unexpectedly began flooding with low-lying areas along the creek facing the biggest risk. In Vasai, Suncity, Gass, 100 Feet Road, Samta Nagar, Evershine City were waterlogged, while Achole Road, Chheda Nagar and Samta Nagar in Nalasopara were also inundated with flood water. For Sameer Dudhwani, who resides on the second floor of DG Nagar Housing Society in Vasai West, where water levels had reached four feet, the heavy showers brought with it unexpected tragedy.

Sameer Dudhwani (right) shows a photograph of his ailing 65-year-old mother, Dilshad, who died on her way to the hospital on July 10, as he was unable to get her out of their waterlogged residential colony, DG Nagar Housing Society in Vasai West, in time for her dialysis appointment. Pics/Hanif Patel

Dudhwani, who resides with his wife and parents, lost his ailing 65-year-old mother, Dilshad, because he could not take her to the hospital on time. "My mother was on dialysis, and would get it done thrice a week.

She had an appointment for July 10, and we were supposed to take her to the hospital, but couldn't step out. As her condition became worse, my neighbours and I decided to lift her on our shoulders and wade out of the colony," Dudhwani recalled. Outside, they struggled to find transport. "Finally, a tempo driver helped us take her to the hospital. But, she died before reaching the hospital," he said.

Sameer Dudhwani

What made it worse was the fact that they could not bury her immediately due to lack of transport on the waterlogged roads. "We managed to bury the body only the following day," recounted a grief-stricken Dudhwani. Rosario D'Souza, a resident of 100 Feet Road, said the fire brigade officials from VVMC were a godsend, as they helped him drop his nine month-pregnant wife, who was in labour, to the hospital in an inflatable boat.

Rosario D'Souza, a resident of 100 Feet Road, said fire brigade officials from VVMC helped him drop his wife, who was in labour, to the hospital in an inflatable boat

The Vasai-Nalasopara-Virar rail stretch on WR was also severely affected with 400 mm water on the tracks by Tuesday morning. Passenger trains had to be stopped as water levels increased. Several outstation trains, including the Vadodara, Bhuj Bandra, Lokshakti and Jamnagar express trains, were halted. Passengers remained stuck for hours together without food, water or any help.

As the situation continued to get worse, AK Gupta, general manager, WR, rallied for help from all possible quarters. By late afternoon, teams from the NDRF started rescuing stranded local train passengers in inflatable boats. "Meanwhile, RPF teams reached out to passengers on the express trains. They had formed a human chain and taken out many passengers, but we also sought the help of the Navy for transport vehicles that could run in water," said Ravinder Bhakar, WR's chief public relations officer.

WR on Tuesday called the NDRF to help rescue passengers stranded in local trains, after the tracks were submerged in 400 mm water 

Poor town planning
According to bird enthusiast and Vasai resident Amol Lopes, the Vasai-Virar belt has always received heavy rainfall. "It rains a lot in this region every year, but it's the first time that we have witnessed flooding to such an extent," said Lopes, who has been living in Vasai for the last 37 years.

"The main reason is that a lot of construction bodies have recently started dumping sand and debris in the wetland areas. We have a lot of lakes and small ponds in Vasai and Virar, which serve as important channels to carry rain water to the nullahs and the sea. Due to the unchecked dumping, there is no natural reservoir for the rain water, causing townships to choke. In fact, several residents have reclaimed these wetlands and built houses over them," Lopes said, citing areas such as Gogte and Umela salt pans, and Vasai Suncity Road that are at risk due to this activity.

Fasle Hoque Qureshi, 33, (fourth from right) is a resident of Ambali Nagar. On July 10, he arranged biscuit packets for the stranded passengers of the Rajkot Trivandrum Express. The next day, Hoque, who also owns a restaurant, had food cooked and delivered to residents of Sant Jalaram Bapu Nagar. Among those who helped him were Farukh Pathan, a retired government official, advocate Ashok Mishra and local residents Usman Khan, Sandip Shukla and Jaiprakash

Environmentalist Stalin D from NGO Vanashakti raised similar concerns. "Check the maps of Vasai and Virar and you will realise why it is going underwater. Vasai and Virar are natural floodplains and not at all fit for townships, built on raised, reclaimed land. Yet, authorities continue to plan newer projects; due to this, illegal reclamation of land, and destruction of ecologically important wetlands and mangrove forests are rampant. No wetland has been spared and those un-built are also earmarked. Citizens don't have a choice as they cannot afford housing elsewhere," he said.

According to local activist Dominica Dabrey, at present, there are two major colonies under construction in Vasai West, which are blocking the path of the rain water that flows through a nullah. "The local corporation built a boundary wall near the nullah, narrowing its width, and causing excess rain water to overflow," said Dabrey.

Another local activist Sameer Vertak also showed mid-day several spots in Nalasopara where construction next to nullahs was rampant. He also pointed out a spot where debris had been dumped in a narrow gutter. Part of the Ulhas river, locally known as Sopara river, which starts from the hills in the eastern part of Vasai and ends in the Vasai creek, has also been encroached, and diverted, Vertak said.

"Also, while the population in these areas has increased manifold, the drainage system is as it was 15 years ago. The corporation has to increase the width of the drainage culvert, and clean them regularly," he said.

'Blame the rain gods'
Father Francis D'Britto, who first rang the alarm bells in 1989, when he approached the local tehsildar office of Vasai, demanding that they chart out a plan for the township, said, "At the time, I had warned them that if they did not tackle the situation soon, this place would drown. Look what's happening now."

 
Stalin D

Local MLA Hitendra Thakur said that Vasai recorded the highest rainfall till July 10, this season. "Last year, we recorded a total of 1,000 mm rainfall from the beginning of the monsoon season till July 10. But, this year we received around 1,700 mm rainfall," he said.

When contacted, Satish Lokhande, commissioner of VVMC also claimed that Vasai-Virar had received "abnormal rainfall" this year. "Also, due to the high tide, the water levels increased in Vasai creek, causing flooding in low-lying areas like Tulinj, Central Park and Deen Dayal Nagar," he said. Lokhande admitted that the drainage capacity in these areas was poor.

He, however, denied that unauthorised construction and encroachment in the Vasai area was responsible for the flood-like situation. "The drainage culvert carrying water from the city is very narrow. It needs to be enlarged and two new culverts need to be built. But, the culvert is on railway land. Our corporation is working on getting requisite permissions."

Chulna villagers rescue orphans

Over the last one week, residents of Chulna village in Vasai West, have come to the rescue of girls from a nearby hostel, Fatima Mata Convent. The hostel is home to 75 girls, most of whom are orphans. During the heavy showers that crippled Vasai, the area around the ashram was severely waterlogged, and the girls were forced to stay indoors. The residents, however, decided to make room for them in their own houses. Each villager adopted three to four girls. "We have kept them at our homes, where we are taking care of them. We have even arranged bus services for them so that they can go to school as usual. They will be with us till the situation gets better," said Asmita D'Costa.

With inputs by Rajendra B Aklekar

Also Read: Mumbai Rains: Vasai-Virar limp back to normalcy after deluge

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Local fishermen yesterday rescued three teenagers who had got stranded in the sea off Uttan while taking selfies. Sources said the three, residents of Bhayander, had gone for a picnic to Bhati Bandar village beach near Uttan last morning and got engrossed clicking selfies on the rocks.

They'd failed to pay attention to the high tide, and before any one of them realised, they were surrounded by water from all sides. Scared, they'd then started screaming for help.

Fishermen rescued the three teenagers who had got stranded near Uttan while taking selfies. Pics/Azim Tamboli

The fisherfolk from the village heard their cries and rushed to their aid, while a villager called up the fire brigade. By the time fire officials reached the spot, the fishermen had rescued the boys — Sachin Waghmare, 16, Vishal Minde, 19, and Sumit Fatpara, 18 — studying in Stds XI and XII.

Chief Fire Officer Prakash Borade from Mira-Bhayander fire station said, "We received the call and rushed to the spot around 11.30 am. But when we reached, we saw that the local fishermen had already helped the youngsters out. Later, we called their parents and handed them over."

Also Read: Travel: Go camping to tranquil Uttan in Bhayander

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A board director of the Bassein Catholic Cooperative Bank, Dilip Mathak, 45, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself on Tuesday afternoon. His body was recovered by his family from his home in Pachubandar, Vasai West. No suicide note has been discovered yet.

Mathak used to reside with his mother, wife —whom he married in January this year — and younger brother. His body was found in a small room behind his bungalow around 5 pm. One of his family members informed the Vasai village police, who rushed to the spot, conducted a panchnama and sent the body for an autopsy at the local government hospital.

According to police sources, Mathak was a prominent name in Vasai, and was also the president of its Koli Yuwa Sanstha. He was a very friendly person. One of his friends said they're in deep shock as Mathak suddenly took this step, even though everything seemed to be going well for him. Speaking to mid-day, a police official from Vasai village police station said, "The reason behind the suicide has not been revealed yet and neither have we found a suicide note. We have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and are investigating the matter."

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Thane: Thousands of people, including grieving family members and friends, in Thane on Thursday received the mortal remains of Major Kaustubh P. Rane who was killed in a gun battle in Jammu and Kashmir. Rane was among the four Army personnel killed in a gunfight with terrorists near the Line of Control (LoC) in Bandipura district on Tuesday. His body reached his home in Mira Road town early on Thursday, an official said.

Late on Wednesday, the coffin, draped in the national Tricolour, arrived in Mumbai where it was solemnly received by Rane's grieving family members, Army and civilian officials. Early on Thursday, decked with flowers the coffin was brought to his hometown in a military truck for the last rites which will be performed with full military honours later in the day.

Thousands of emotional onlookers lined the roads on both sides or from building tops and terraces as they showered flowers on the coffin, raising slogans of "Major Kaustubh Rane, Amar Rahe" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai", waving the Indian flag. Many women could be seen weeping.

Since Tuesday, the Mira Road township has been in mourning over the death of their hero, who lived over 25 years in Sheetal Nagar area, barely five km north of Mumbai. Rane, 29, is survived by his aged parents Prakash and Jyoti Rane, sister Kashyapi, wife Kanika and a two-and-half-year-old son Agastya.

His father had retired from a Tata Group company, while his mother is a former Assistant Headmistress of Utkarsh Mandir High School in Malad, Mumbai. The only son of his parents, Rane fulfilled his childhood dreams of joining the armed forces by completing his military training from Pune and was later commissioned as an officer from the elite Officers Training Academy, Chennai in 2011.

The Major had visited Mira Road town in April for a brief period before returning to the front. It was a proud moment for the family when Rane was decorated with the Sena Gallantry Medal by President Ram Nath Kovind on the 69th Republic Day celebrations this year.

Also read: Mumbai: Mira Road family mourns 29-year-old martyred Major

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from IANS

Major Kaustubh Rane, who was killed in the Gurez sector of Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir on August 4 during an operation to foil an infiltration bid, was bid a tearful adieu by mourners today. Major Rane was laid to rest with full military honours at a crematorium in Mira Road township in the district around 12.30 pm.

Scores of mourners thronged Rane's house in Shital Nagar area in Mira Road in the morning to catch the last glimpse of the martyred army man. The funeral procession started from his residence around 9.30 am. His body, kept in a casket draped in tricolour, was carried in a flower-bedecked truck to the crematorium. At a few junctions on the way, flowers were showered on the vehicle carrying the mortal remains.

When the procession reached the crematorium two hours later, chaos prevailed for some time due to a huge rush of mourners. People even climbed trees and stood on terraces of neighbouring buildings as well as on the compound wall of the crematorium to witness the funeral.

Rane's family members had to appeal to the people to maintain peace. When the family members placed floral wreaths on his body, mourners shouted slogans like 'Vande Mataram', 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Major Kaustubh Rane Amar Rahe'. His wife Kanika, who carried their two-and-a-half-year-old son Agastya in her arms, was inconsolable. Before the martyr's father lit the funeral pyre, a 21-gun salute was given. Apart from local politicians, Army officers, including Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) of South Western Command, were present on the occasion.

Major Rane and three soldiers were killed while foiling an infiltration bid in north Kashmir's Gurez sector. At least two militants were gunned down in the operation.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Nalasopara has heaved a big sigh of relief after the arrest of suspected Sanatan Sanstha member Vaibhav Raut, who had allegedly terrorised his neighbourhood with his activities.

According to the police, Raut, who called himself a gau rakshak, has been involved in a series of attacks on butchers in the area every Bakri-eid. Raut allegedly tried to create communal tension, particularly in the neighbouring Sopara village, by harassing locals and carrying out illegal raids on mutton and beef shops.

Every year, the police would extern him from the area for short periods, by serving him notices under section 144 of the Mumbai Police Act; he, however, would stay put by bringing in political influence in the name of cow protection, said an officer, adding that even the police will breathe easy after his arrest.

Living in terror
Sopara village's Muslim community, especially the butchers, lived in fear and insecurity due to Raut's activities — even when beef hadn't been banned by the government, he would go around conducting 'raids' on meat shops and harassing the owners, said a local, Anis Qureshi. Speaking to mid-day, he added, "In 2014, Raut forcibly stopped my tempo in his area and assaulted the driver.

The driver called me and I went to the spot, but Raut and his colleague abused and assaulted me too, saying I was smuggling cow meat. They forcibly took me and my tempo to Nalasopara police station. I have never carried or supplied cow meat; after I showed all the relevant documents to the cops, they let me go and registered a case against Raut and his colleague.

"Large numbers of Muslims as well as gau rakshaks had gathered outside the police station that day... he had succeeded in creating communal tension; clashes could have erupted anytime. Huge police bandobast was then deployed in the area, for the first time in the history of Nalasopara."

Policespeak
"There are two cases of rioting and one of not following the district collector's order registered against Raut at Nalasopara police station. Since 2015, we have been serving him notices to leave the area during Bakri-eid to maintain law and order there," said Datta Totewar, SDPO, Nalasopara Division of Palghar district.

Also Read: Crime: Trio planning 'terror attack' held from Nalasopara, Pune

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On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, the Palghar police on Sunday were fining traffic violators with kindness in the Vasai division. As part of the 'Rakhi with Khakhi' initiative, women police constables deployed at five spots were stopping those found breaking traffic rules, tying a rakhi on their wrist, and instead of slapping a fine on them, were asking them to donate whatever they could for flood-ravaged Kerala.

The constables were deployed at Babhola, Ambadi, Panchvati, T-Point and Evershine City in Vasai for over two hours in the morning. They caught several motorists for not wearing helmets and speeding. Women traffic violators were also stopped; however, instead of a rakhi, they got chocolates and roses and were asked to pay back in kind if they wished to.

Motorist Aslam Shaikh said, "Police caught me at Vasai naka for not wearing a helmet. The cops tied a rakhi, and I was asked to pay in the donation box. The money will be used for relief in Kerala. It is a really impressive initiative."

There were some motorists who, despite not violating rules, stopped near the cops to donate for the cause, like Vasai resident Nitesh Bhalerao. "I was passing by and saw women police officers tying a rakhi on the wrists of motorists. Out of curiosity, I stopped my motorcycle and put forward my hand for the rakhi. As a gift, I donated some amount for Kerala. It was a really good gesture by the Palghar police," he said.

Speaking to mid-day about the funds they managed to collect through this exercise, Additional Superintendent of Police Vijaykant Sagar said, "The initiative 'Rakhi with Khaki', which was carried out from 10 am to 1 pm, helped us collect Rs 70,000, which will be transferred to the Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund."

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After months of stiff resistance to the high-speed train, villagers in Palghar finally took the bullet for their community. In return for their land, the bullet train authorities have not only promised the residents of 73 hamlets handsome compensation, but will also give them long-pending basic facilities, such as hospitals, schools and water supply.

This is the first time the authorities are using such a tactic to acquire land for government projects. Since June, the villagers have rebuffed all attempts to persuade them to get on board with the project, despite promises of hefty compensation. But when the authorities decided to ask individual land owners what they wanted, most of them demanded basic facilities that would benefit the entire community, which they had long been deprived of.

Authorities built a medical centre and school in pre-fabricated pods

Basic needs met
The locals' needs were simple enough - hospitals, schools, water - and easy to address. The National High Speed Railway Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) used shipping containers and train coaches set up the first two requirements at a cost of just R5 lakh per container, and around R4 lakh per year for salaries. The team is also looking at providing schools. The existing school at Dahanu is being upgraded, and the NHSRCL will ensure that it is staffed.

At Virathan Khurd, a medical facility was built in one of these pre-fabricated pods. At Silte village, the dilapidated health centre is being upgraded and converted into a permanent hospital. Dahanu's civic body will supply doctors and nurses who will visit the villages twice a week.

"Another health centre will be set up in a container at Silte. We are also planning to deploy a mobile health unit once a week in every village with the help of the local  civic body," said Dhananjay Kumar, NHSRCL spokesperson.

On Saturday, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani will visit the villages to inaugurate the facilities. As for the water supply, the authorities will explore the possibility of tapping groundwater. If it is not feasible, then alternative arrangements will be made, said sources.

Everyone wins
This novel approach to appeasing project-affected people (PAPs) was born out of equal parts necessity and empathy. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project requires a total of 350 hectares of land in Maharashtra alone, and the lion's share of this land is in Palghar (221 ha). Of the 104 affected villages in the state, 73 are in Palghar tehsil. The resistance from these villagers threatened to derail the project from its 2022 deadline.

"The village sarpanchs have now authorised only a select set of people whose land is actually affected, and only they and the representatives of the sarpanch's office can deal with the land issues. No outsiders are allowed to deal with the NHSRCL teams," said Kumar.

"During conversations with the villagers and the sarpanch, they showed us a new road and other developmental projects for which the authorities had taken land from them. They said that despite these new projects, their village's condition had not improved. They lamented that they did not even have a hospital, and they had to travel far for medical attention," said the official.

"Our teams held extended discussions with the locals and made a list of all their requirements. We prioritised their needs and fixed them one by one, after which the villagers realised that we were serious about their welfare," he added.

All this is in addition to the compensation to be given to the land owners. "We are giving compensation at five times the value of the land, and an additional 25 per cent of the value to those who have willingly consented to the land acquisition in Maharashtra and Gujarat," said Kumar.

Sarpanchspeak
Speaking to mid-day, Dilip Bhoir, sarpanch of Silte village, confirmed: "The bullet train officials have indeed been working for our welfare. We gave them a list of our needs, and accordingly, they are upgrading the medical units. We have strictly told them not to get in touch with anybody except the affected land owners. This way, there will be no political interference or unnecessary activism."

Also Read: NHRCL: Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train fares likely between Rs 250 and Rs 3000

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The 'late' patriarch 'showman' Raj Kapoor's guru-mantra, 'the show must go on' continues to inspire his three illustrious actor-director sons Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv Kapoor.

On Thursday, at the legendary R K Studios at Chembur, on Ganeshotsav following an elaborate Pujan, the sacred Ganesh aarti was performed by Randhir, Rajiv and 'nonagenarian' actor Vishwa Mehra (popularly called 'Mamaji' who was very close to Raj-saab and his family) late afternoon at 3.30 pm.

The Ganeshotsav at R K Studios assumed extra-sentimental significance this year, because the iconic studio-property has been put up for sale. If the realty deal goes through, this could possibly be their last obeisance within their hallowed studio premises, witness to glorious cinematic history. It was an emotionally overwhelming moment for the Kapoors and the large number of guest-devotees when 'Mamaji', 92, broke down while performing the aarti. Rajiv spontaneously assisted 'Mamaji'.

Rajiv and Randhir Kapoor with guests and staffers at the aarti

The loyalist said, "It was 63 years ago that the first Ganeshotsav was held at RK and I have been with Raj Kapoor-saab even prior to that. The golden era I spent with creative genius Raj-saab, all his buddies and his technical crew flashed in my mind, from the time we shot 'Awara' (1951) in RK studios. Suddenly, I realised that none of those senior talented masters are alive and I was perhaps the odd surviving man out."

Where's Rishi?
Conspicuous by his absence was charismatic Rishi Kapoor, a staunch Ganesh-bhakt. He has his own Ganapati idol at his Pali Hill home. Rishi said, "Unfortunately, owing to some prior commitment, I just could not make it. But the very next day [Friday morning] I went for Ganesh darshan at RK."

Tradition to continue
A sentimental Randhir said, "As long as the studios are there, the ceremony will exist, Whenever we shift to another location and office premises, the annual Ganeshotsav tradition will continue. We share a divine bonding with Lord Ganesha. We were compelled to sell the studios, as we were incurring huge losses. Especially after the devastating fire that broke out at RK, it was just not economically viable to reconstruct it. Film folk were also reluctant to travel all the way to Chembur," he finished.

Also Read: R.K. Studios Sale: Rishi Kapoor Reveals Why They Took The Decision

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The Borivali Police on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old accused who allegedly duped and cheated people on the pretext of providing them with confirmed railway reservation ticket by possessing himself as a railway officer. The arrested accused has been identified as Piyush Gyanendra Sharma. The police nabbed the accused with the help of RPF and GRP from Vasai.

Sources from the police revealed "Sharma is a habitual offender and has cheated many people’s including a 35-year-old lady victim identified as Geeta Jain (Name changed on request) who had came to Borivali Railway station to book reservation tickets for a group of people planning to visit Palitana Temple in Gujarat last month.

Speaking with Mid-day the lady who became a victim of Sharma's cheating said, "We are from Palitana district, 60 to 70 people from this district had planned to visit the Paltina temple in the month of December. I came here in order to book the reservation ticket for all of them. I was busy filling the reservation form when the accused arrived and asked whether I am going to use card or cash to pay the reservation amount.  He asked me to fill out the forms and give the money to him and he shall give me all the reservation tickets together."

She further added, "I believed and gave him the form and the money, he took the form and money and asked me to wait after which he went away. I was sitting and waiting for him, even when the reservation window started to shut down. I went and asked the sitting clerk that how you can close the window without giving my ticket. When the clerk asked me I revealed the story then he informed me that such officer does not work here someone might have made you fool, the duty clerk helped and took me to the RPF office, later we went to the Borivali police station and registered a complaint."

The Borivali Police station who nabbed the accused with the help of RPF and GRP said, "The accused is a habitual offender. He revealed and confessed that he has cheated more people in such manner in Vasai, Malad, Bhayandar, and Borivali. He has been booked and arrested under section 170 and 420 of IPC was produced before the court today and remanded in Police custody."

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In a shocking incident, the parents of a four-year-old girl have lodged a police complaint against a woman teacher from a Kandivli school on Monday for molesting their child during the school hours. The Kandivli police have booked the teacher under the stringent POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) act. The police are probing the case and till now no arrests have been made. 

The minor child, who is in junior KG, complained to her parents after returning from school on Monday that the teacher had touched her inappropriately. When the parents of the minor girl approached the school, the management informed the parents that the school premises are entirely covered by cameras, except inside the washrooms. The police were summoned and the CCTV footage was shown to the parents as well as cops. "Nothing concrete has been found in the CCTV footage." the police officer said. 

"It is not clear as of now as to where the molestation occurred. We are quizzing school staffers and recording statements," said a police official as reported in Times of Internet. School authorities said that they were cooperating in the probe. "For the safety of children, we have hired only female staff for the pre-primary section," said a school representative.

In a similar incident, the Charkop Police arrested a transgender for allegedly molesting a minor girl. According to the police sources, the incident took place in Charkop, Kandivli (W). The accused transgender came to the victim’s house to offer blessings in exchange for cash and allegedly touched the girl inappropriately. 

The girl informed her mother about the incident who was in the kitchen at the time. The mother immediately approached the Charkop Police to register a formal complaint against the transgender. The Charkop police registered a complaint on the request of the mother and made the arrest within an hour by tracing the accused in the same locality.

Also Read: Mumbai Crime: 26-Year-Old Man Who Molested Manipur Student On Suburban Train Arrested

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The Kandivli police have arrested the father of an 18-year-old girl after she allegedly accused him of constantly molesting and sexually harassing her for two years. In her written complaint,  the girl has alleged that her father has been molesting her since 2016. She also said that she mustered courage and filed a complaint against him after he tried to 'touch her inappropriately' on the eve of September 11.

"On Monday, she came to the police station accompanied by an older woman from her neighbourhood. She said that over the last two years, her father has made several inappropriate comments and actions. And that he would also often make lewd gestures in front of her and try to make her uncomfortable in various ways,” said an official from the Kandivali police as reported in Mumbai Mirror.

Since the girl was facing and dealing with the abuse for a long time, the Kandivli police have booked the father under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, along with the relevant
sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Post the arrest of her father on Monday evening, the girl’s mother lashed out at her, accusing her own daughter of falsely implicating her father, the police sources said.

"The mother believes that the daughter is doing this under the influence of someone. She thinks that with the father in prison, it will give her the necessary freedom to do what she wants and scare her parents from taking any disciplinary action against her” said an official elaborating on the mother’s statement. 

In another incident, the parents of a four-year-old girl lodged a police complaint against a woman teacher from a Kandivli school on Monday for molesting their child during the school hours. The Kandivli police have booked the teacher under the stringent POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) act. The police are probing the case and till now no arrests have been made.

The minor child, who is in junior KG, complained to her parents after returning from school on Monday that the teacher had touched her inappropriately. When the parents of the minor girl approached the school, the management informed the parents that the school premises are entirely covered by cameras, except inside the washrooms. The police were summoned and the CCTV footage was shown to the parents as well as cops. "Nothing concrete has been found in the CCTV footage." the police officer said. 

Also Read: Watch Video: Woman Steals Mobile-Phone From Mulund Shop

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