RTI Application Reveals Adarsh-Like Building Scam In Bandra

• Building Scam. An RTI application has revealed that a housing society was built in Bandra on a plot that was reserved to construct a hostel for students from backward classes. The ten-storey Sai Prasad co-operative housing society, which also violates Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules, has flats owned by Congress leader Kripashankar Singh, his brother-in-law Surendra Pratap Uma Shankar Singh, former BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak, and joint commissioner of police Himanshu Roy, as well as several IAS and IPS officers. The state government is believed to have sold the 1,500 square feet flats to politicians and bureaucrats at Rs57 lakh as opposed to their market value of Rs8 crore. [DNA]

• Adarsh Update. On Tuesday, the CBI arrested former BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak and former principal secretary of the Urban Development Department (UDD), Ramanand Tiwari in connection with the Adarsh housing society scam. Phatak is alleged to have granted Adarsh’s co-operative housing society permission to raise more floors, while the UDD allotted the land for the building’s construction during Tiwari’s tenure. The sons of both Phatak and Tiwari own flats in Adarsh. [Mumbai Mirror]

• IPL Ads. Only 40 per cent of the 2,500 ad spots on sale for each of the IPL matches, which will be broadcast on the SET Max TV channel, have been sold so far, as compared to previous editions when 90 per cent of the slots were sold before the cricket tournament began. The channel has reportedly priced each ten-second ad spot for IPL 5 at Rs5 lakh, down from Rs8 lakh last year. [Hindustan Times]