News

TOI : PUNE: With demand for wine from local as well as international market growing, Pune district is becoming the hot-spot for wine production. The district has already surpassed Nashik (hub of winery business) in production and sale of bulk wine.

Even though the number of wine-producing units are less here compared to Nashik, Pune produces nearly 90 lakh litres of wine every year and sells 72 lakh litres, while in Nashik, the production is around 40 lakh litres and sales around 25 lakh litres.

The number of wineries is also increasing in the district. At present, Pune has 12 wineries, with a total production capacity of 1,25,00,000 litres per year. Two proposals for setting up wineries were submitted to the government in 2007. The new proposals are from Indapur and Ambegoan talukas…More

TOI : PUNE: The State Crime Investigation Department (CID), Pune, has submitted a report to the state government recommending a ban on online lotteries on the grounds that they were operating illegally in Maharashtra.

The report has also indicted the lottery commissionerate, finance department, law and judiciary department and the home department for their alleged failure in keeping a check on the activities of online lottery operators in the state.

CID additional director general of police S.P.S. Yadav told TOI that he had recently submitted a detailed report to the additional chief secretary of the home department in Mumbai strongly recommending a ban on online lotteries with immediate effect. He said the lottery sale was in breach of the conditions of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998…More

TOI : PUNE: When Pune girl Swati Suman flew sorties to felicitate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the Prime Minister’s rally on January 27, it was a historic moment for the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in the state.

For, it was for the first time since the NCC was established more than 50 years back that a cadet from the state flew an aircraft during the PM’s rally.

“I was very excited to fly in the rally. I was the only girl in the group,” a jubilant Swati told TOI. “Everyone in my group, my friends and family are proud to know that I am the first NCC cadet from Maharashtra, either male or female, to fly during the PM’s rally.”
More

TOI : PUNE: Weather played spoilsport as Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi’s tryst with paragliding came to a disappointing end on the third and final day of his training session near here.

The Congress leader, who is in Karanjagao, near Kamshet, 60 km away from Pune, could not undergo any practical session at Sanjay Rao’s Nirvana Adventures training centre due to ‘unfavourable conditions’.

As per schedule, Gandhi along with his friends and Rao’s crew arrived at the training spot around 3 pm. They waited here for more than two hours but were unable to fly as there was not enough wind.

When enquired about it Rao said, “The weather has played a complete spoilsport. Rahul was to fly today for a good period but unfavourable conditions just let us down.”

Rahul Gandhi and his friends left for New Delhi straight from Karanjgao around 5.30 pm…More

TOI : PUNE: The three-day celebrations of the 188th Corps Day of the Bombay Engineering Group (BEG), commonly known as the Bombay Sappers, concluded on Thursday with a review parade held by the officers and jawans of the Khadki-based group.

The parade was attended by Lieutenant General Noble Thamburaj, general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) of Army’ Southern Command, and Lieutenant General R.R. Goswami, the engineer-in-chief of the Army’s aCorps of Engineers.

A special mela was organised at the BEG grounds in Khadki by the Army Wives’ Welfare Association (AWWA) on the occasion. More than two dozen stalls were set up displaying various wares manufactured by AWWA members.

The spectators were also enthralled with a cultural programme featuring songs and dances.

The BEG’s inter-regimental basketball competition finals were held during the afternoon. The annual extravaganza culminated with a Group Day dinner at the BEG officers’ mess…More