News

TOI : AHMEDNAGAR: There’s no let-up in crimes against women in the state. A day after TOI front-paged the story of a minor girl who was gang-raped and murdered in a Latur village comes the news of a 13-year-old girl who was raped and burned alive in Ahmednagar district on Saturday.

The shocking incident occurred in Shelkewadi village in Sangamner taluka on Saturday. The prime suspect, Deepak Gopinath Wayaal (21), who stays in the neighbourhood of the victim’s house, was arrested by the Sangamner rural police on Sunday and charged with sexual assault and murder.

According to the police, the victim was admitted to the Pimpri-Chinchwad civic hospital near Pune with more than 90% burns. She succumbed to her wounds soon after. Shelkewadi is located some 10 km from Aalephata, which falls along the Pune-Nashik highway. A post mortem confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted, police said.

Little did the victim have an inkling of what lay in store for her when she returned home from her school on Saturday. The girl’s parents were away at work on their farm and she was alone at home when the suspect entered the house and raped her, the police said.

The suspect then compounded his heinous offence by pouring kerosene over the the hapless victim and setting her ablaze. The girl’s shrill cries for help drew the attention of her old grandmother, who was at a neighbour’s place. The suspect fled the spot on seeing her rush towards the house, the police said.

Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that Wayaal is a non-matriculate person, who got married only four months ago…More

TOI : PUNE: Two site engineers of a construction company were booked for negligence which claimed the life of a student on Friday night.

C.P. Bagal and Company had undertaken road work from Dange chowk to Chinchwad village. In the absence of any caution board, motorist Abhishek Tej Pratap Singh (21) — a student of D.Y. Patil College — staying at Senapati Bapat Road, fell in the pit dug up for the road work.

Singh was seriously injured in the fall and succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. The police have booked site in-charge Pramod Dashrath Mane and Anant Ramrao Survase, both residents of Pradikaran.

The police said that besides the absence of a caution board, there were also no street lights on the stretch of road, which may have resulted in the mishap. The Hinjewadi police is investigating further…More

TOI : PUNE: The state government is planning a new rehabilitation policy for the farmers whose lands are acquired for industrial developments schemes including special economic zones (SEZs). The policy is expected to be declared in February after getting cabinet nod, said Ashok Chavan, state minister for industries and mining, on Saturday at the 25th anniversary of Mitcon, a government-owned consultancy firm.

The state has been acquiring land for industries through MIDC but it generally receives strong resistence from the farmers, who are not happy with the package offered to them.

Earlier, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had also accepted that farmers resist land acquisition and said that the new policy would be declared by January. The earlier package offered one-time payment to the farmers which got poor response from the farmers. Later government officials hinted at the proposed new policy that would offer long-term benefits to the farmers.

Refusing to disclose details of the proposed policy, Chavan said, “As the proposed draft of the new rehabilitation policy is yet to be approved by the state cabinet, I will not comment now. But the government has considered all the issues associated with it. Though there is resistance from the farmers for land acquisition, it can not be compared with either Goa or Nandigram. Every state has its own issues.”

Chavan said that Maharashtra especially Pune is getting preference from industrialists. Mumbai is like a magnet and as Pune is close to it, companies are setting up their business here. There is heavy pressure on infrastructure too. Considering all these issues, the government will take care of the farmers’ problems in the new policy, Chavan said.

Chavan also stressed on industrialisation of other parts of the states such as Vidarbha, Marathwada excluding Aurangabad and parts of Konkan.

He said, “The government has declared various policies and incentives…More

TOI : PUNE: If you thought the policeman next door is ‘fit’ enough to protect you against growing crime in the city, then you are in for a shock!

Two health check-up drives undertaken by the city police along with an NGO and a hospital have found over 50 per cent of the city cops suffering from hyper-tension, cardiac ailments or diabetes. The startling figures came to light after around 556 policemen were asked to undergo certain tests since October last with the help of Jehangir hospital and non-government organisation Bhoi Pratishthan. Of the 328 policemen, who underwent checking at Jehangir, 163 were detected with health problems: 68 suffered from cardiac ailments, 58 were diabetics and 37 needed other treatment. The remaining 165 were found to be fit.

Similarly, Bhoi Pratishthan conducted a medical check-up of around 228 policemen recently. Just 61 were found fit. A whooping 68 policemen were suffering from diabetes, 57 from hyper -tension and 46 needed physician’s help.

Additional commissioner of police (administration) Shobha Ohatkar said they have planned similar check-ups for around 6,000 constables and 2,000 police officers. “We have a tie-up with Jehangir hospital for free medical check-up camps specifically for constables in batches on holidays. These camps will start soon,” she said. Apart from medical camps, a stress management and diet planning session is also being organised regularly. “Besides yoga and counselling sessions, they are educated about the importance of a balanced diet,” Ohatkar said.

She further added that these policemen were unaware of their problems and the camps have proved to be an eye-opener for them. Ohatkat attributed failing health of the police department to long working hours and hectic schedules. Apart from hampering their work, the ailments also result in absenteeism, she added…More

TOI : PUNE: To beat the stringent regulations put up by Japan and US on Indian mangoes and help local farmers get a better price abroad, the state marketing board will hold mango festivals in the US and Japan around March.

The Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB), through the proposed festivals in March at US and Japan, is exploring new markets for the state farmers, said Harshavardhan Patil, state minister for marketing and employment guarantee scheme.

This year, the proposed export of mango to the US and Japan would be around 1,000 tonne to 1,200 tonne, of which 75 per cent would be to US alone, Patil said. The transportation cost increases the selling price in US and Japan, which is the major hurdle in offering competitive prices to the alphanso. The government is also mulling to offer subsidy on transportation, he added.

The US and Japan are among the largest consumers of mangoes. As of today, Mexico, Philippines and Thailand are the biggest suppliers to the US. To make its mark, the Indian government had conducted a pilot study in the US and Japan last year. On its feedback the board took initiative to train around 110 farmers to export their produce to these countries. This would be the first time that the Indian farmers would export to the US and Japan. To encourage the farmers for export, the state is offering 50 per cent subsidy for necessary certification. One certificate costs around Rs 18,000 to a farmer…More