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TOI : PUNE: Seven days after six couples were severely beaten up at Pancard Club off Baner road here on New Year’s Eve, the Chatushrungi police on Monday arrested the first suspect, Yuvraj Patil Dhankude (27) of Hinjewadi.

Senior police inspector Sheshrao Suryavanshi, in charge at the Chatushrungi police station, told TOI that Dhankude, who is a son of an agriculturist, was arrested following a tip-off.

Suryavanshi said the police would conduct an identification parade of Dhankude to determine his involvement in the crime.

Dhankude was produced before the court of judicial magistrate first class A.K. Mandavgade, who remanded him to magisterial custody and later released him on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 15,000.

The court directed Dhankude to report daily at the police station till January 11. Advocate Dilip Shelar appeared for Dhankude.

The police had registered a case against four unknown youths for thrashing the couples. The dispute had started with the youths taking photographs of the women at the poolside in the club. When the couples objected, the miscreants kept quiet. However, they let out the anger soon after the dance party started.

The youths started assaulting the couples with belts and also used liquor bottles. Three men and two women were injured in the attack, even as the miscreants fled the scene…More

TOI : PUNE: The anti-extortion cell (AEC) of the Pune police arrested an engineering student for illegally keeping a country-made revolver in Pimpri on Monday.

According to cell chief police inspector Bhanupratap Barge, they received a tip-off that a country-made
revolver was to be brought to the KSB chowk, Pimpri, for selling.

Barge said, “A trap was laid and the student, Rahul Rajendra Manjrekar (19) of Talegaon Dabhade walked into it with the weapon.”

Manjrekar is a second year student of diploma in mechanical engineering in a Pimpri-based college. tn…More

TOI : PUNE: In view of the haphazard digging of roads going on all over the city, the traffic police department has shot off a letter to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), urging it to prepare a ‘calendar’ of the works to be taken up during the year.

The letter says the calendar should mention all the development works which will require digging of roads.

Assistant commissioner of police (traffic), Suresh Bhoomkar, said, “The PMC has been asked to co-ordinate with other agencies like MSEB, BSNL and the PWD and prepare a list of the roads where development works are likely to be carried out during the year….More

TOI : PUNE: In a solution to the ever-worsening problem of plastic waste, city-based BVG India Ltd has developed a technological process for producing pure diesel and petrol from all types of plastic wastes. The company has completed basic prototype trials and aims at carrying out the remaining trials by the end of January.

It plans to set up a manufacturing and processing plant by the end of March and start production from April. The plant will have a capacity to process 25 tonnes of plastic waste per day to produce an average of 15,000 litres of fuel, depending on the quality of the plastic.

Ganesh Limaye, one of the directors of the company, said the plant will tackle the growing problem of plastic waste and that it was a first such initiative in the state. “The plant will produce 900 ml of fuel from one kg of plastic. All types of plastic will be processed in the plant. The company is investing Rs 20 crore for the plant in the initial stage,” Limaye said. Plastic would be converted into fuel by random depolymerisation in a specially designed reactor, Limaye said. “An advanced reactor has been set up and the company has also developed a catalyst for this process. Depolymerisation will be carried out in absence of oxygen and in the presence of patented catalyst and additive. The conversion efficiency is about 70 per cent.”

“Non bio-degradable plastic has become a major concern. City infrastructure like sanitation, water supply and rivers are being badly affected by plastic waste. Data shows that the gap between generation and recycling of plastic is 80 per cent and most of it ends up in landfill and incineration. This is because of the absence of any other suitable way of disposal,” Limaye said

The company has tied up with the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation for…More

TOI : PUNE: For a state that is seemingly better off on the health front, it comes as somewhat of a shocker that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is 375 per one lakh women - the third highest in the country after Kerala and Tamil Nadu!

Addressing a press conference, Dr Suresh Deshpande, organising chairperson of the Association of Maharashtra Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies (AMOGS), said lack of trained doctors was the prime reason for nearly 60 per cent deaths in the state. He lamented that expecting mothers were dying in large numbers despite the new medical advances that had been made in the last decade.

While India’s MMR is 407 per one lakh women, it is just 7 per one lakh women in richer countries, Dr Deshpande said. “Attempts are being made to bring down the MMR to below 100 by 2015, but that seems difficult. Awareness among the people will play a key role in bringing down the MMR. Our organisation is conducting awareness campaigns and workshops in this regard.”

Bleeding, anaemia, high blood pressure and infections were the main reasons for maternal mortality, Dr Deshpande said.

AMOGS is holding a state-level conference in Pune from January 11 to 13 to highlight the MMR issue among doctors from the state. Experts from India and abroad will participate in the conference, the theme for which will be “Difficult labour and vaginal surgeries”. About 60 papers are to be presented during the conference…More