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TOI : PUNE: The dog menace is on the rise. 28 people in Pune district and one in Pune Municipal limits succumbed to dog bites last year. 3,199 dog bite cases were registered in Pune city last year, compared to 2,935 in 2006. To control the growing dog menace, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will conduct a dog census and strengthen it sterilisation drive.

According to the PMC’s health department, the estimated number of stray dogs in Pune is over 40,000 and about 150-200 dog bites cases are registered daily in the city.

“In 2005 and 2006, three deaths happened due to rabies in the Pune city, with one death being registered in 2007. However, in the district, the number of deaths registered due to rabies was 15 in 2005, 21 in 2006 and 28 in 2007″ said N.D. Thakur, in-charge of the animal birth control department, PMC.

He added that the civic body, along with help from the local NGOs, has succeeded to sterilise about 40-50 per cent stray dogs. “Now, we plan to organise a one-day sterilisation camp in different colonies. We also give anti-rabies vaccines to these stray dogs during sterilisation. The PMC has three vans and 14 dog catchers. Whenever we receive a complain regarding stray dogs, we send one of these vans to that area,” said Thakur. After the process, sterilised dogs are released back where they were picked up from.

There is increasing pressure on the PMC to kill stray dogs. “But we can’t kill these animals as per the government resolution. We have started educating people and elected representatives on this matter, and the results are positive,” Thakur said.

“Haffkine’s bio pharmaceuticals was the chief supplier of anti-rabies vaccine to Maharashtra state hospitals. Haffkin stopped its production of vaccines, so we have supplied muscular vaccines to five centres in the…More

TOI : PUNE: Maharatta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) is organising the ‘Pune Expo 2008′ at the agriculture college ground from February 28 to March 3, to be inaugurated by Baba Kalyani, CMD of Bharat Forge.

The industry body will also take up the issue of clean development mechanism (CDM) during the exhibition, chairman of the exhibition committee, MCCIA, Abhijit Pawar said.

The MCCIA will publish an industrial directory at the inaugural day of the exhibition. Commenting on the specifications of the exhibition, Pawar said, “In the future, we wish to have more sector specific exhibitions, as bringing all sectors under the same roof is not the only purpose. Our aim is to have increased seller-buyer meets.”

Over 300 companies will participate and around 1,50,000 people are expected to visit the expo, almost 50 per cent of the participating companies will be small and medium enterprises. The expo is also expected to host product launches of some electrical bikes, a bike from TVS and products of Kirloskar. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Around 35 children of the Vidya Valley School Sus Village reportedly fell sick after consuming macaroni and vegetables that were served at the school for breakfast on Tuesday morning.

Nalini Sengupta, principal of Vidya Valley, told TOI that around the children got ill after eating the food served by the school caterer on Tuesday morning. “We compulsorily serve breakfast to the children as well as staff every morning. On Tuesday, after breakfast, some children vomited and complained of stomach ache.

We have a full-time nurse in the school who took care of them and they were sent home,” said Sengupta. She admitted that there could have been something wrong with either the vegetables or the water and that school authorities are investigating the matter.

“Though I do not believe this is a serious issue, I also agree that such an incident should not have happened. We are looking into the matter on priority basis,” said Sengupta.

However, a parent, on condition of anonymity, said that a similar incident had occurred in 2006 at the school and the parents had subsequently found out that the caterer did not even have a legal license to operate the canteen. “We wanted them to make the breakfast system optional, but that did not happen. Our demand now is to have a better canteen for the children,” said the parent.

Taruna Madan, a parent whose son studies in Std VI at the same school said, “We have full faith in the principal and she has been very approachable in this situation, but the caterer serving the food needs to be taken to task as this is his responsibility.” Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: In a tragic incident, a newly-married businessman from Aundh was killed after his car hit a tree on Fergusson College road late on Tuesday night. According to the police, the businessman, Ashish Chopra (30), had married only last month. He had recently returned from the US and had started a firm at Bhosari. He lived at Shirin Gardens at Aundh.

Chopra had come to Fergusson College road to meet his friends who had arrived from New Delhi. While returning home at around 12.30 am, his car went off the road and hit a bus-stop near Namaskar hotel. The vehicle then rammed into a tree before jumping on to the footpath.

Some labourers who were repairing the footpath rushed Chopra to a private hospital. His family members later shifted him to another hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Three shops were gutted in a fire at Dehu Road main bazaar on Tuesday morning. No one was injured in the incident.

The fire began at around 5.15 am at Kirti departmental stores and later spread to adjacent shops. It took more than three hours for the fire-brigade to bring the situation under control.

Local residents, who had gone to a mosque for early morning prayers spotted smoke emanating from the departmental stores and alerted the shopkeepers and families in the area. The fire engulfed two other shops. Fire-tenders from the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation were the first to reach the spot followed by fire-tenders from Dehu Ammunition Depot, Dehu Ordnance Depot, and Central Ordnance Depot.

Dehu Road Cantonment Board’s (DCB) chief executive officer, Rajendra Pawar, said he had called up the army depots for additional help. Narrow road and large number of onlookers posed some problems for the firemen. NCP unit president, Dehu Road, Micky Kocchar said that the Dehu Road Cantonment Board should have a separate fire-brigade. He said that there should be a central system whereby all fire-tenders of army depots could rush to the spot immediately. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More