ABRACADABRA

Hospital Bldg. alteration to operate world’s heaviest woman

Mumbai: Emam Ahmed, termed as the world’s heaviest woman has been making the headline all around the world, especially in Mumbai as she is to be operated in the city’s Saifee Hospital. However she might have to wait a little longer as the civic body has declined permission for the alterations that the hospital intends to make, to operate Ahmed. Reportedly, the hospital has spent around `2 crore on the structure and will now have to look for a place within their premises.

A higher official from the BMC’s building and construction department has said, “The BMC has declined permission for the temporary construction and so now we have been ordered to demolish the structure. The structure was built outside the hospital building. Now we have been informed that they are looking for a place inside the hospital” The operation for Ahmed was made world over as she was touted to be the world’s heaviest woman, weighing 500 kgs and was ready to fly to India after Minister Sushma Swaraj intervened in the matter.

Doctors from Saifee had visited Ahmed in Egypt and had promised her to conduct the operation at Saifee. However it is now getting delayed because BMC declined to provide permission. A higher official from the BMC added that the land on which the hospital was built on a piece of land which was told to be an open space and meant as a cementery. “As per the Development Control Regulation (DCR), no construction can be made on a open space and so we have declined permission for the same. Even if the structure was built inside their compound walls, it is still illegal and so we have decided to decline permission”

80 falcons air transported

Dubai: In an unusual sight, a Saudi prince is claimed to have bought tickets of a passenger jet for his 80 falcons, according to media reports. A picture posted on the Reddit has gone viral which shows a flock of blindfolded falcons seated on a plane around the cabin among passengers, each bird seemingly tied securely down to the seats. Reddit user lensoo posted it online, writing: “My captain friend sent me this photo. Saudi prince bought ticket for his 80 hawks,” the Khaleej Times reported. Transportation of falcons, the national bird of the UAE, is not a rare practice in the Middle East.

Falcons can get their own forest green passports to fly in the UAE. That passport allows them to travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Morocco, and Syria. Qatar Airways’ website also states that a maximum of six falcons can be brought on economy class. A Fly Dubai spokesman said falcons must have their own seat, with a cloth placed underneath them to prevent accidents. Etihad Airways also allows falcons on board.

More ugly more dowry- Text Book

Mumbai: A textbook for Class XII in Maharashtra has cited an outrageous reason for the dowry problem prevalent in India — “ugliness” and physical handicap of a girl.  The remark appears in a chapter in the sociology textbook titled ‘Major Social Problems in India’ of the state Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board.

Along with other factors like religion, caste system, social prestige and compensation principle, the chapter cites “ugliness” as a reason for the grooms’ families to demand more dowry.

“If a girl is ugly and handicapped, then it becomes very difficult for her to get married. To marry such girls, bridegroom and his family demand more dowry. Parents of such girls become helpless and pay dowry as per the demands of the bridegroom's  family. It leads to rise in the practice of dowry system,” the textbook says.

When asked about the passage which could be objected to by gender rights groups, an official of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education said the matter will be looked into.     Board chairman Gangadhar Mamane said, “I will discuss the issue with the board of studies and will then comment on it.”

Declared `13,680cr in Black money. But no case!

Gandhinagar: Mahesh Shah, the Ahmedabad based property dealer who created a countrywide sensation declaring `13,860 crores under the Income Declaration Scheme and then failed to follow it up, may go scot free.

The man who hogged headlines for weeks on end, had faced the ire of the income-tax department when he failed to pay the first installment of `1560 crores.

The department for all its threats of criminal action now realizes it has virtually no case against him, inside sources say. According to these sources, the case has reached a dead end. The pertinent IDS clause says that in case of nonpayment of tax on amount declared, the disclosure stands nullified and is deemed never to have been made.

The disclosure thus is of no consequence and there is therefore little scope of any action against the declarant. The entire sequence of events now acquires a mysterious hue.

Shah declared an unaccounted income of `13,860 crores under IDS and went missing without paying the first installment.

He subsequently came before the media and stated that the amount he disclosed did not belong to him but to some very ‘influential’ people who had promised him a big commission.