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TOI : PUNE: Nine people, including seven women, were killed and four injured when the Qualis car (MH 12 AV 9999) they were travelling in collided with an on-coming truck (AP 37 W 3663) on the Pune-Solapur road, near Bhigvan, around 11 pm on Friday night. Among the killed, eight were residents of Sukhasagarnagar, Bibvewadi.

According to the Daund police, 13 people, including the driver, were travelling in the Qualis, which was heading towards Pune, when the mishap took place. Truck driver Nivas Rao Sitaram Miya fled the scene after the accident.

The police said the Qualis was returning to Pune from Tuljapur. The truck hit the Qualis head on at high speed. Such was the impact that six people died on the spot. Three others succumbed while being taken to the hospital. Local villagers helped in taking out the people from the mangled Qualis and shifting the injured to the hospital.

The deceased are Laxmibai Hari Pawar (35), Rukmini Dnyandev Lanagar (45), Sunanda Laxman Lohokare (45), Vandana deepak Mahamuni (38), Ambadas Rajaram Pawar (37), Sunanda Dattatray Adagale (35), Ratan Mukinda Bhosale (45), Bhagyashree Ambadas Bhalla (32) and Parobai Mahadev Kamble (35), a resident of Bhuinj in Satara district. The injured have been identified as Anjali Rahul Pandit (48), Surekha Tanaji Bharekar (26), Alkesh Vidyadhar Vaghmare (14) and driver Nawab Habib Mulari (45). Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Finally, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has ranked first in the state government urban development’s (UD) progress card which keeps track of the physical progress of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) projects.

In a review meeting, held in Mumbai on Saturday, it was announced that the PMC had topped the charts with 93 per cent target achievement and A + grade, followed by the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC). Incidentally, the PMC had been stamped a ‘failure’ last month, for failing to keep the momentum of its works.

“The work done by the Pune civic body in the month of January is satisfactory. Though it has not yet started some JNNURM projects, the overall performance is good compared to its earlier accomplishments,” UD principal secretary T C Benjamin told TOI on Saturday.

The PMC was ranked first for the month of July, in the premier edition of the progress card. Then on, it continuously slipped from the position to reach a ‘failure’ status over the last few months.

The progress card is worked out in such a way, that each project implemented under the JNNURM has milestones fixed. Marks are allocated to the municipal corporations as per the achievement or failure to reach these milestones.

“In the last few months, the PMC had slipped from the rank because of technical snags in the works. However, the civic administration put in efforts to keep the momentum going. We are satisfied that the PMC has ranked first,” mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale told the media.

She added that all projects expected to be completed before the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) would meet the deadline.

Recently, PMC commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi had questioned the rating system and had said that the PMC will surge ahead of all other municipal corporations in the state in…More

TOI : PUNE: If you are driving down the Pune-Mumbai expressway and a man or youth astride a two-wheeler offers help by saying that your car is spewing smoke, beware. The ‘Samaritan’ may be a cheat disguised as a mechanic.

According to the victims, a gang of such cheats looking for unsuspecting people is on the prowl on the expressway. Car drivers have been duped to the tune of anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 4,000.

Speaking to TOI, Dattakumar Sawant, a senior citizen, said he was travelling with his wife towards Pune on Friday and a biker took Rs 1,400 from him on the pretext of changing a ‘faulty’ part that was “spewing smoke”.

Explaining the modus operandi, Sawant said that he was driving his car towards Pune and was about to touch the e-way when a pillion rider on a bike started waving frantically towards him and made him stop. “The two men told me that there was smoke emanating from my car and offered help, saying they were into transport business and were aware of car problems. They asked me to start the engine while they opened the bonnet and checked. Then they asked me to check the engine while one of them started it from the driver’s seat. To my surprise, a fire broke out from the alternator,” the victim said.

Sawant said he was caught unawares as one of the men told him that he would get a mechanic. “However, he returned in less than five minutes, saying it was easy to change the part and charged me Rs 1,400.”

On reaching Pune, Sawant discovered that he had been taken for a ride. He has appealed to other citizens to be alert.

Another citizen, Sadanand Sharangpani, had a similar experience when he was travelling alone in his car and was…More

TOI : PUNE: They served the country for 15 to 21 years, braved the freezing climate of Kargil mountains to throw out Pakistani intruders. And now, the dilly dallying and red tape in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) force these heroes to sell vegetables and drive rickshaws for a living.

The PMC had selected 43 ex-servicemen and two war widows for its nuisance detection squad (NDS) in 2001. For six years they worked for the squad, with their appointments being renewed after every six months. However, after April 2007, the newly-formed civic standing committee refused to clear their appointments and decided to wind up the squad, leaving these 45 people jobless.

“Since April 2007, we have been waiting to get absorbed in the squad again,” Havaldar (retd) Duttatray Jadhav, who fought in Kargil, told TOI. Jadhav, who sells vegetables in Bibvewadi, feels that he and his associates are victims of politics.

Naik (retd) Rohidas Khengre, who was a driver in the army, sells vegetables on Pune-Satara road. Naik (retd.) Vishawanath Safale is jobless and depends on his family. Both were part of Operation Vijay.

Naik (retd) Maruti Lavhate, a sanitary inspector, drives an autorickshaw. Holder of a master’s degree in political science, Lavhate used to look after the administration of a hospital in the army. “I have worked in -20 degrees Celsius temperature in Ladakh, but never complained. But the red-tapism and politics in PMC is really too much. Even the state government had given a green signal for our absorption,” he added.

When contacted, municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi said, “the standing committee has not given a go ahead for absorbing these people into the NDS. We will try to resolve this issue within 15 to 20 days.”

“These people have done good work during their tenure. They should get absorbed into the NDS as…More

TOI : PUNE: A case of cheating has been registered against three people for duping ICICI bank, Bhandarkar road branch of Rs 21 lakh.

The complaint was registered by one Sanjiv Shatavir Patil (32), an employee of ICICI bank, against Gaurav Shravan Sharma, Sujit Sudhakar Ghangale and Vishal Gaghale at Deccan police station. Ghangale has been arrested.

The complainant said that the accused trio took a housing loan from the bank last year, but failed to repay the amount. When bank officials probed into the matter they found that the documents produced by accused at the time of sanctioning were fake. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More