Aug 1 (Mumbai Mirror): The Maharashtra government has selected Mumbai, Nagpur and Aurangabad among 10 other cities in the state under the 'Smart City' project, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday. Briefing about the selection, Fadnavis said in the Legislative Assembly that a high-level committee under chairmanship of Chief Secretary was set up and Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Pune-Pimpri Chinchwad, Amravati, Solapur, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombivali, Aurangabad, Nashik and Thane have been selected. These cities will be developed into smart cities under the NDA government's flagship urban projects while many other Indian cities have been selected under the mega Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) plan. The government has proposed to spend around Rs 1 lakh crore on the two schemes over the next five years.

Purchases above Rs 3 lac to be done through e-tendering

Maharashtra government told the legislative assembly on Friday that the cabinet has approved a new procurement policy in which all purchases of Rs 3 lakh and above will be done through electronic tendering. Industries Minister Subhash Desai said in a statement that a decision has been taken keeping rising prices in mind and the need for transparency in government purchases.

"Under the new procurement policy, small and medium scale industrialists, especially those belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, would be given priority. The policy's aim is to ensure that there is no autonomous power in purchases and that procurement powers are decentralised, he said. Priority would also be given to industrialists from the state if the lowest bidder is from outside the state, " said Desai.

The policy is to be implemented from October 1 this year, according to the minister. Further details can be found on mahatender.gov.in

HC reserves order on Maggi ban

The Bombay High Court on Friday reserved its order till August 3 on a petition filed by Nestle India against the orders of Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Food and Drugs Administration of Maharashtra banning Maggi for containing lead beyond the permissible limit. The order was reserved by justices V M Kanade and B P Colabawala who had asked both sides to give their consent for a fresh independent test. The parties could not arrive at a consensus on the suggestion mooted by HC, which then said it would pass an order on Monday. Nestle's lawyer Iqbal Chhagla said the company was agreeable to the suggestion but the tests should be conducted in the presence of a renowned scientist and the samples available with the company should be used. Darius Khambata, appearing for FDA, contended that one of the samples must be from the lot collected by state FDA.