May 1, dusted and done

Early morning walkers and joggers at the nursery of Indian cricket Shivaji Park were not greeted with the familiar sight of cricket in the numerous nets on the ground Instead the ground was taken over by the May Day parade yesterday So we have speeches and we have speeches The cynical may sigh at politicianrsquos promises and call them platitudes Others may turn a deaf ear to the blah blah Yet The Maharashtra Day Speech delivered by Governor K Sankaranarayanan to mark the occasion touched upon some cityspecific issues The heat is on The Mumbai sun sears through at Shivaji Park as the Governor takes some combatthemercury measures PicsSandeep Mahankal Governor Sankaranarayanan said ldquoLet us all pay our solemn tributes to the martyrs who dreamt of creating Samyukta Maharashtra and worked towards its fulfillmentrdquo Besides celebrating International Labour Day the Governor also said ldquoWe are celebrating the Birth Centenary of the first Chief Minister and the Architect of Modern Maharashtra the late Shri Yashwantraoji Chavanrdquo Even while talking about water scarcity and steps being taken to alleviate the problems what the Governor said about housing will be of special interest to Mumbaikars considering that the big lsquoHrsquo is a hot topic in the city Biker boysu00a0Two wheelers in formation as they whizz past at the 52nd Maharashtra Day celebrations at Shivaji Parku00a0 ldquoTo protect the interests of the flat purchasers the Government has introduced a new comprehensive law titled as Maharashtra Housing Regulation and Development Act 2012 The proposed Act provides for establishing a Housing Regulatory Authority and the Housing Appellate Tribunal This will remove information asymmetry by ensuring full disclosure by promoters or developers and also ensure compliance of agreed terms and conditions between developer and buyers This will usher in transparency and discipline in the transactions of flats and put a check on abuses and malpracticesrdquo Marchers on the move The Shivaji Park resounds to the click of heels as the parade passes u00a0 On the contentious mill worker issue the Governor said that ldquoMy Government has decided to provide houses to mill workers at reduced and affordable rates In all 6948 houses are constructed by MHADA for the mill workers The cost of each tenement in multistoried buildings has been reduced from the earlier price of Rs 834 lakh to Rs 750 lakh These houses will be allotted through the computerized lottery system of MHADA The Government has also decided to give free houses to the next kin of the mill workers who lost their lives in the Samyukta Maharashtra movementrdquo The Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti roughly translated as United Maharashtra Committee was an organization that spearheaded the demand in the 1950s for the creation of a separate Marathispeaking state out of the then bilingual State of Bombay in western India with the city of Bombay now known as Mumbai as its capital In this age of email a letter is still better At least that is the credo of the postal department The Governor also inaugurated a philatelic exhibition titled lsquoMaharashtra Through Postage Stampsrsquo held by the Maharashtra Postal Circle on the occasion of Maharashtra Day at General Post Office GPO complex in South Mumbai The Governor released a Special Cover on Maharashtra and a calendar on heritage buildings of Mumbai through postage stamps on what was a very busy day for him This philatelics need to head there as the exhibition will remain open for the public till May 7 2012 u00a0 International eye Some May Day images from around the world Canine sign Lyon Rhocircne France A woman takes part in a march with her dog as part of the annual May Day workers39 events on May 1 2012 in Lyon Central Eastern France Both candidates for the French presidential election final round on May 6 2012 Socialist Francois Hollande and Francersquos incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy still campaign that day and have a number of major rallies planned for the final week of campaigning The messages on her board refer to Sarkozy39s ldquoaffairsrdquo as presented by the demonstrator on the dog39s board the slogan refers to 39Cassetoi pauvre con39 Get lost you stupid bashelliprd as Sarkozy replied to a man who refused to shake hands with him during the 2008 Paris agricultural fairu00a0PicsAFP Greece grouse Athens Greece Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in central Athens to mark the May Day celebrations on May 1 2012 Red signal Moscow Russian Federation Russian communist party supporters hold red flags and posters as they walk past the Kremlin during the May Labour Day rally of the Russian Communist Party in Moscow on May 1 2012 Salary soup Taipei Taiwanu00a0 A foreign student displays a placard during a May Day rally in Taipei on May 1 2012 Local and foreign labourers took part in the event to demand the government helps to raise their salary and enhance their working environment safety