Govt allots prime Mumbai plot to Hema Malini at Rs 35 per square metre!

January 29, 2016

Mumbai, Jan 29: Bollywood dreamgirl Hema Malini's plans to start a dance academy on a plot of land in Mumbai's Andheri area hit a roadblock on Thursday, as an RTI activist accused her of land-grabbing.

Exactly a month ago, the Maharashtra government had allotted a prime 2,000-square-metre plot to the Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha member in the suburban upmarket Oshiwara area for her proposed dance academy.

According to documents procured under the Right to Information (RTI) by activist Anil Galgali, Hema Malini was allotted the plot worth crores of rupees for a paltry Rs.70,000.

"Not only that, this is the second time Hema Malini has been allotted a prime plot in the Mumbai suburbs. Earlier, in 1997, the (then) Shiv Sena-BJP government had given her a plot of land, but she could not develop it due to CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) issues," Galgali said.

He claimed that though Hema Malini has not yet returned the earlier plot, the current government has allotted her another plot.

Interestingly, Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla was allotted a plot in Andheri West, but following a controversy generated by then opposition BJP-Shiv Sena, he was forced to surrender it in February 2014 -- just before the Lok Sabha elections.

The details of the allotment to Hema Malini from the Mumbai Suburban District Collectorate showed that she was given the land at only Rs.35 per square metre.

Moreover, she was allotted another plot of 1,741 square metres in the same locality in April 1997 for Rs.10 lakh, but since it fell partly under CRZ, she never developed it, nor did she raise 25 percent of the project cost, but continues to retain that plot, Galgali said.

In the new allotment, the Hema Malini Dance Academy's cultural complex project is expected to cost around Rs.18.49 crore for which she is yet to submit proof of availability of 25 percent funds and resources to raise the balance 75 percent.

The RTI reply said the academy has only around Rs.3.5 crore; less than the 25 percent minimum requirement, and it was unclear about the balance 75 percent.

Galgali has shot off a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis pointing out the governement's 'benevolence' to Hema Malini, and how it was flouting the state's policy of taking back reserved land given to various organisations, but allotting a plot reserved for a garden to the BJP MP for her dance academy.

When Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse made the allotment on December 29, 2015, Hema had said how the matter had been buried in bureaucratic red tape for 20 years, but the new government expedited it in record time.

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Basanti in ku*to ka land mat lena......

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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Udupi: Hindutva activist arrested for allegedly raping young woman while out on bail

News Network

December 1,2025

Udupi, Dec 1: A horrific case of alleged rape has unfolded in Udupi, where a worker from a Hindutva organisation, previously arrested and released on bail for harassing a young woman, is now accused of waylaying and sexually assaulting her.

The arrested individual has been identified as Pradeep Poojary (26), a member of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike's Nairkode unit in Perdur.

Poojary had allegedly been relentlessly harassing the young woman, pressuring her to marry him. When she bravely stood up to him and refused his demands, she filed a formal complaint at the Hiriyadka police station. He was subsequently arrested in that initial harassment case but was later granted bail.

According to police reports, driven by the same malicious grudge, Poojary allegedly intercepted the woman again on November 29. While she was walking through a deserted area, the accused is claimed to have threatened her by grabbing her neck. When she again refused to marry him, he allegedly proceeded to rape her.

The survivor immediately informed her family about the traumatic assault. Following this, her parents lodged a complaint at the Udupi women’s police station.

Police arrested Poojary again and produced him before the court. He has since been remanded to judicial custody.

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