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indianexpress: In a move to help pedestrians to cross the roads safely, the traffic branch of police will be putting speed limit restriction on five busy roads, including Ganeshkhind Road and Senapati Bapat Road in the city from December three.

This will be carried out on an experimental basis for 15 days.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Traffic) Mahesh Ghurye says in a press release, “Pune city is growing at a fast pace, and the number of vehicles is increasing rapidly. Taking into consideration the unavailability of wide roads, parking spaces, accident-prone spots, etc, we are trying to facilitate the pedestrians cross the roads safely.”

As a first step towards achieving the objective, the traffic branch will be putting speed limit on a few roads.

However, there will not be any speed restrictions for fire brigade, ambulance, police vans and convoy, the press release clarifies.

The traffic police have also invited suggestions and corrections from citizens, if any, within 15days, after which the final decision will be taken.

indianexpress: State Minister for Urban Development Rajesh Tope on Saturday announced in the State Legislative Assembly that criminal proceedings would be initiated against National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) and its Director Ashish Saha on charges of felling 150 fully grown trees inside the campus of the institute during October 21 midnight. The action is expected in the next eight days. Despite repeated efforts neither Saha nor any NIBM officials were available for comment.
“NIBM has violated the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and indulged in illegal felling of trees on forest land with seeking permission from the forest department.

 Moreover, the NIBM staff had resorted to use of force against social activists who had entered the area for inspection. Taking these two violations into consideration, I have directed that criminal cases be lodged against NIBM director for violating the Forest Conservation Act and using force. The action will be taken within eight days,” Tope said.

This was in line with the statement made by Tope while answering the Legislative Assembly Questions (LAQ) on NIBM. Tope answered questions raised by 18 MLAs including Pune city MLAs Balasaheb Shivarkar and Chandrakant Chhajed on the NIBM tree cutting incident in the well of the House during the ongoing winter session of state legislative assembly at Nagpur. The MLAs alleged that NIBM, a premier bank management institute in the country, had illegally chopped off hundreds of fully-grown trees inside its campus in a midnight operation that was suspicious in nature. They further said that NIBM officials had barred the entry of media persons in the institute campus after the tree-cutting episode, raising serious doubts about its legality.

indianexpress:  A Group of 100 Kashmiri youngsters has come forward with city-based NGO ‘Sarhad’ to adopt a 500-strong village called Perne, about 25 km from here.
Beginning January, the group will hold medical camps and tree plantation drives besides taking a look at the situation of employment, roads and electrification of the village. They are even taking a group of women to Vaishnovodevi early next year — all this to bring about a change in public opinion.

“People perceive us to be a bunch of rich children who come here to study but have a better social and party life,” 25-year-old Shahid Khan, a member of the group who is pursuing an MBA in a city college, says. “During this year’s rave party, our image took a hit. People said ‘mahol kharaab kar dete hain (they are a nuisance).’ People even question our patriotism during cricket matches.”

Feroz Hussain, a 23-year-old student of journalism, says their main message is clear. “We are also Indians,” he said.

This concept of adopting villages was pushed ahead after talks about Kashmiri migrants — who make an annual trip to Kalewadi — came to fore. “We want to bridge the divide and contribute to the city and its people,” Hussain says. “This movement should sustain even after we return to Kashmir after finishing with studies.”

As part of this venture, the students scouted the city fringes, identified the village and spoke to the panchayat about the issues plaguing the area. “The response from the villagers has been encouraging. They are with us completely,” says 22-year-old engineering student Fahim Shah, who adds that work in the villages is currently in the initial stages. In the first six months, the group will hold camps and put up cultural shows. “The idea is to have a cultural exchange between Kashmiris and Punekars,” says Shah.

indianexpress: In a ghastly accident, a reader in the geography department of the University of Pune, Dr Vrushali Hemant Deosthali (52), was crushed to death by a speeding dumper on Saturday morning on Senapati Bapat Road. The incident occurred as she was trying to avoid the dug up section of the road. The driver of the dumper, Namnath Manjulkar had been arrested by the Deccan police for rash driving and claiming a life. According to police, Deosthali had left home and was heading towards the university. At 9.30 am, when she reached the Pyramid Store chowk on S B Road, her two-wheeler was hit by a speeding dumper, which was coming from behind.

indianexpress:  Whether the minority community leaders could have been intimated about the PMC’s action to demolish illegal portions of Gani Baba Dargah in Gultekdi and issues pertaining to a good education system are some of the issues which have been forwarded by the Pune District Collector Prabhakar Deshmukh after the formation of the first District Minority Welfare Committee to the National Minority Commission (NMC).

This meeting comes in the wake of the Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announcing a separate department for minorities welfare, wherein, a non-political group of experts will be set up to conduct a districtwise survey of socio-economic conditions of Muslims in the state.

Members of the newly formed district minority welfare committee have requested the Collector Prabhakar Deshmukh that before any ‘action is taken at any religious place,’ local community members need to be informed to prevent violence. The issue of demolition of illegal portions of Gani Baba Dargah in Gultekdi area by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was put forth by the committee members in the first round of talks in the special meeting convened by the collector. From better education to a demand of single window system to address the issues of the minority community, were other issues taken up before the collector for discussion. This was the first meeting of the district committee after the members were elected last month. One of the members, Mehboob Sheikh said: ‘We have demanded that such meetings should be held every month. A single window system at the collectorate itself will help address the problems faced by the minority community.’’ The district minority committee was formed under the directions of the minority commission. Why is the quality of education in the 31 municipal schools in the district for the minority community so poor? What can be done to improve it? These and many other issues were put forth before the committee chairman. We have also demanded a Maulana Abdul Kalam community hall in the city on the lines of the hall in Pimpri-Chinchwad,’’ said Sheikh.

indianexpress: For the first time, the district court at Shivaji Nagar held a session on Saturday morning to sensitise the judges about the issues relating to ‘HIV/AIDS and human rights.’ This session was prompted by a notice from the National Legal Services Authority which has asked the judges to mark the World AIDS Day on Saturday by educating themselves on the issue.

“The government came up with the ‘HIV AIDS Bill 2004,’ which is currently pending,” said lawyer Asim Sarode, who held the session. “Even though there is no law now, the rights of the people with HIV/AIDS can be protected by the judiciary in the lower courts. And these steps can be taken even before the bill becomes the law.”

Among the issues touched upon that needed judges to be aware with respect to HIV/AIDS included protection of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) from discrimination at work, during marriage or divorce, and at prisons.