BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya has filed three defamation suits in the Bombay High Court against Ambadas Danve, leader of the opposition Maharashtra Legislative Council, Lokshahi news channel and one Anil Thatte, who runs a YouTube channel for uploading content pertaining to an alleged obscene video of Mr Somaiya.

Mr Somaiya has sought Rs 100 crore damages from each of the defendants claiming that they have made allegedly defamatory statements against him with regard to the video.

He also sought a direction to the respondents to take down the videos, not upload any more such defamatory videos or make statements against Somaiya in future.

Mr Somaiya also sought an unconditional apology from the defendants.

A single bench of Justice SM Modak on Wednesday directed the respondents to file their affidavits within four weeks.

Mr Somaiya’s lawyer Hrishikesh Mundargi informed the court that the Lokshahi news channel in July ran the alleged obscene video along with defamatory statements.

“The defendants (Lokshahi channel and Danve) gave scandalous opinions. Somaiya is a married man with children. He has a political standing in society. He has unearthed several scams of certain political leaders, following which these alleged videos have surfaced,” Mundargi said.

He added a police complaint has already been lodged by Somaiya and the probe is on. As per the plea, Thatte, too, in his YouTube channel published the videos which maligned Somaiya’s reputation. 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday issued the Guidelines for Air Pollution Mitigation which banned open-air burning of trash or any other material across Mumbai.

The guidelines, signed by municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, came amid the worsening Air Quality Index (AQI) in India’s financial capital. “There shall be a complete ban on open burning anywhere in the geographical area under BMC, especially at garbage dumping grounds and possible sites of trash burning,” an official release said.

Last week, after holding a joint meeting with all concerned authorities, Chahal had announced that the guidelines would be issued by Monday, but they were released two days late.

Builders in the city must engage only the vehicles fitted with a tracking system for the transportation of construction materials, the guidelines said.

CCTV cameras must be installed along the periphery of all construction sites “to ensure that vehicles are plying after cleaning tyres and not overloaded”.

All projects with a more than 70-metre height shall have at least a 35-feet high wall of tin sheets around the site, the BMC said.

All under-construction and “under-demolition” buildings shall be covered by green cloth, jute sheets or tarpaulin from all sides.

“There shall be continuous sprinkling / spraying of water during the process of demolishing a structure,” read a guideline.

Water fogging should be done during loading and unloading of materials at construction sites, while water should be sprinkled on debris and earth materials prone to generating dust, the BMC said.

All vehicles carrying construction materials shall be fully covered and not overloaded to avoid any spillage on the road.

The guidelines also asked for the deployment of sensor-based air pollution monitors at work sites. Action should be taken immediately when pollution levels exceed prescribed limits, the guidelines said.

Works like grinding, cutting, drilling, sawing and trimming should be carried out in enclosed areas with continuous water sprinkling or fogging, they said.

The guidelines also made the erection of 25-foot walls mandatory around all BMC worksites like under-construction bridges and flyovers, and also the above-ground metro works.

Ward officers shall deploy squads comprising two engineers, a policeman and a marshal for air pollution mitigation enforcement, the BMC said.

“The enforcement squads shall visit the premises and videograph the worksite. If the worksite is not adhering to above-stated provisions, stringent action, such as issue of a stop-work notice and the sealing of worksite, shall be taken immediately,” the guidelines read.

The civic body gave 15 days and 30 days for the installation of sprinklers and fog guns, respectively, at construction and other work sites.

An earthquake of magnitude 4.5 on the Richter Scale jolted China’s Xinjiang region on Wednesday, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) reported.

The depth of the quake that occurred at 21:22:18 IST today was found to be 10 km.

“Earthquake of Magnitude:4.5, Occurred on 25-10-2023, 21:22:18 IST, Lat: 36.55 & Long: 84.29, Depth: 10 Km, Region: Xinjiang,” the NCS posted on X.

No casualties are reported.

Further details are awaited.