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indianexpress: The Emissions Inventory Report 2007 brought out by the Air Pollution Management Cell (APMC) of Pune Municipal Corporation says unpaved and paved roads in the city are responsible for the dust load and cause maximum pollution. Contrary to belief, vehicle emissions account for less than one-fourth of the pollution, accounting for only 16 per cent of the pollution levels.

“The dust rising from the roads due to vehicular traffic — which would not happen if the roads were well made — is responsible for over 70 per cent of the PM 10 (particulate matters of size 10 microns) in the city,” said Ajay Ojha who heads the APMC.

The APMC carried out the study in association with Nagpur-based National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). “This study is more Pune specific unlike the first one and the data is an improved and updated version than the ones in the previous years,” said NEERI deputy director Rakesh Kumar.

The study has calculated that the city accounts for 10,100.5 tonnes of PM 10 a year — from 15 activities that have been identified as major sources of air pollution. Paved and unpaved roads account for 6682.8 tonnes a year of the total count. Other sources include mobile vehicles, industrial and non-industrial generators, street sweeping, agriculture pumps, agriculture wind blown dust, dust from agriculture preparation, trash burning and construction activities.

indianexpress:  The city witnessed three break-ins in Samartha, Yerawada and Swargate areas of the city on Saturday. In the first incident, Vijay Pukhraj Parmar, a resident of Popular Nest Building, Rasta Peth, in a complaint lodged with the Samartha police said that some unidentified thieves broke open the door lock of his residence while he was away and decamped with cash estimated to be around Rs 2.5 lakh kept in a wooden cupboard along with gold and silver ornaments totally estimated to be around Rs 4.4 lakh.

In another incident, Maruti Genba Jagtap (47), a resident of Yerawada lodged a complaint with the Yerawada police saying that an unidentified thief broke open the door lock of his residence and decamped with a booty of gold and silver ornaments including cash totally estimated at Rs 61,000.

In the third incident, Digambar Ramchandra Kulkarni (75), a resident of Chapekar Colony, Market Yard, in a complaint lodged with the Swargate police said that a gang of unidentified thieves tried to burgle some flats in his society. However, they were spotted by the residents leading to a hue and cry following which they fled.

The thieves were chased by a team of constables from the Swargate police station. They thieves stoned the police to avoid arrests and escaped in the cover of darkness, police said. No arrests have been made so far in any of the three cases.

indianexpress:  Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH), the leading provider of global IT and business process outsourcing services, has been named for the 2007 Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies List. This is the fifth consecutive year in which the company has been named to the prestigious list, making it the only company receiving the ‘Five-year all-stars’ distinction on this year’s list.

Cognizant outpaced other technology outsourcing industry competitors as the only IT outsourcing firm to rank on Fortune’s list, and was also recognised in the strongest sales growth sub-listing. The report appears in the September 17 issue of Fortune.

“For Cognizant, this has been a year of stellar progress. We are honoured to be ranked as the only company to make it to the prestigious Fortune 100 Fastest Growing Companies List for five consecutive years,” said Francisco D’Souza, president and CEO, Cognizant.

“It is a testament to our dedicated associates and loyal clients that have allowed us to deliver a long track record of strong growth,” he said.

indianexpress: After a lull in the last couple of days, the city can expect rain in the next week because of weather-related developments over the Bay of Bengal.
“There is a possibility of a low pressure area developing over the Bay of Bengal off the Andhra coast and this may move in the north-western direction, increasing rainfall activity in the city,” said India Meteorological Department (IMD) deputy director general A B Mazumdar.

In the last two days, the city has recorded no rainfall. The maximum temperature has been around 30 degree Celsius which is expected to fall with the rain next week.

The monsoon is likely to withdraw from the city by September 30, according to the IMD. Parts of the city had witnessed heavy spells of rains last week.

indianexpress: Twelve-Year-Old Nitin Chavan lies in a ward at Sassoon General Hospital (SGS), crying, unable to even move his head. His father Ramesh Chavan is not sure he will ever see his son sit up and walk again.

A native of Umbraj village in Satara district, Nitin met with an accident when he fell from a 20 feet dahihandi pyramid. Always fascinated by the formation during Janmashtami, he would accompany friends for a dekko at the grand affair every year. Only this time, curiosity got the better of him and he decided to be part of the human pyramid.

After he fell, Nitin’s parents rushed him to the civil hospital in Satara and later got him to SGH, where even after two weeks, he is unable to move his limbs. The doctors tending to him say it is a case of quadriplegia, wherein he might never be able to move again.

For the parents, it is only hope that keeps them going even as they watch their son lie listlessly. “I am prepared to wait here for six months, but he should go back walking,” said Chavan, an ice-cream vendor.

indianexpress: The Bank of Maharashtra, which was first registered in Pune on September 16, 1935, will be celebrating its 73rd foundation day on Monday. To mark the occasion, the bank launched two new schemes in the month — the Maha Suraksha Deposit Scheme and the Maha Grih Suraksha scheme. These schemes will provide life insurance cover to the deposit account holders and to home loan borrowers.

In a press release, the bank said the Maha Suraksha Deposit Scheme provides life insurance to savings/ current/ term deposit account holders under a One Year Renewable Term Insurance Plan of LIC of India.

The deposit holders of the bank between 18 and 59 years of age, who opt to become member under the scheme, would get an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh on life, at a low premium. The amount of annual premium depends on the age of the person opting for the scheme.

The Maha Grih Suraksha Scheme provides life insurance cover to the housing loan borrowers of the bank through LIC under ‘Group Mortgage Redemption Assurance Scheme’. Premium is payable in a single installment and depends on the age at entry of the borrower, the loan amount to be covered and the term of the loan.