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TOI : PUNE: A 23-year-old woman was raped in Pune on Monday night by five youngsters, four of whom have been arrested, the police said on Tuesday.

The crime took place around 8.30 p.m. in Hadapsar, Pune, police officials told IANS.

A case was registered at the Hadapsar police station and four of the accused were soon nabbed while the search is now on for the fifth. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: To facilitate the Shivaji Maharaj procession on Tuesday, the stretch between Sant Kabir chowk to Sonya Maruti chowk on Laxmi road will be closed after 3 pm. Stretches on other roads will also be closed as the procession progresses.

The procession will begin from Bhavanimata temple at 4 pm and will head to Padumjee chowk and Bharat talkies. It will then go to Islampura chowk via Nehru road from A.D. Camp chowk before heading towards Sant Kabir chowk and Nanachawdi chowk via Laxmi road.

The procession will also cover Chacha Halwai chowk, Aruna chowk, Nana Peth chowk, Alpana talkies chowk, Dulya Maruti chowk, Hamejkhan chowk, Satranjiwala chowk, Sonya Maruti, Phadke Haud chowk and then will proceed to Lal Mahal and Shaniwarwada to Shivaji statue from Gadgil statue.

The traffic police have requested motorists to use alternative routes. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Spurred by the success of the online exam for infotech (IT), the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has taken steps to bring in two more subjects under the online exam scheme at the higher secondary certificate (HSC, Class XII) level.

Sources at the board’s Pune headquarters told TOI on Monday that an online exam for general knowledge (GK) would be introduced for the March 2009 board exam while the same for computer science would be introduced from March 2010.

“The academic council as well as the governing body of the board has cleared proposals to this effect and they are now awaiting a formal nod from the state government,” a board official said.

The board had introduced general knowledge as a subject in 2001 for HSC students at the military preparatory schools (sainik shalas), a measure to prepare them for competitive exams like the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the combined defence services entrance exams, among others.

Each of the 36 districts in Maharashtra have at least one such sainik school that regularly rolls out between 125 to 150 HSC students. As such, between 4,500 and 5,400 students are expected to take the maiden online exam for GK in 2009, the official said.

When contacted, Vijaysheela Sardesai, chairperson of the board, avoided getting into specifics of the board’s plan but confirmed the board’s move to extend the online exam initiative to other subjects. “We definitely want to do it once we ensure complete accuracy in the online systems required for fresh subjects,” she said.

Meanwhile, the online IT exam has shown an impressive 30 per cent rise in enrolments for the March 2008 board exam, over the March 2007 exam. Against 36,000 students (from 536 junior colleges) who took the online IT exam in 2007, the enrolment has…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has embarked on an ambitious public-private partnership project to provide wireless connectivity for the entire twin township. While the initial plan was to make the 13-km stretch of the Pune-Mumbai highway passing through the township as a wi-fi zone, the municipal corporation changed the scope of work and has now decided to cover the entire area of 171 sq.km.

The target set for completion of the project is 2012, but the corporation hopes to start internet services in phases from the current year itself. “There has been a good response from companies willing to provide such services… The period for submission of bids has been extended till next month,” Neelkanth Poman, in-charge of the computers department of the municipal corporation, told TOI.

And it’s not just wireless connectivity that the PCMC is looking at. The project is being visualised as a means to empower citizens where they can have abundant internet access, besides helping in strengthening the economy, building infrastructure for e-governance, e-education and e-health facilities, providing means for commercial transactions, having speedier disaster response and so on. The PCMC wants citizens to be able to choose from a range of service delivery modes, with preference to online, electronic, video and voice-based channels due to its convenience and functionality. It will also ensure that citizens with disability can access information and services, say civic officials. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: A security guard working at a construction site behind the Gultekdi market yard opened fire on his colleague on Sunday night after the latter demanded he repay a loan of Rs 6,000 taken from him.

The accused, Jaiprakash Upadhyay, of Uttar Pradesh, fired once at Gopal Jaiprakash Singh (22) of Alandi road at the construction site. The bullet hit Singh in the back and he was admitted to the Sassoon hospital.

Interestingly, Gopal filed a false complaint with the police after Upadhyay allegedly threatened to kill him. Gopal told the police that three or four people had come to the construction site and fired at him while telling him to leave Maharashtra and return to his native village.

However, the police smelt a rat as Upadhyay had left the scene soon after the incident. On grilling Gopal’s cousin, Ajay alias Pravin Singh, the police learned of the truth. The police tried to contact Upadhyay on his cellphone, but he had switched it off. Upadhyay, who lives at Tadiwala road in Pune, was arrested while he was about to leave for Uttar Pradesh by the Dharbhanga Express.

According to the police, Gopal and Ajay had gone to the construction site to collect the money from Upadhyay. However, the latter said he could not pay and started arguing. As heated words were being exchanged, Upadhyay pulled out a countrymade pistol and shot at Gopal, said additional commissioner of police (south region) Vivek Phansalkar. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Tension prevailed in the Warje area on Monday after the president of the local Shiv Sena unit, Nitin alias Ganesh Shivaji Koli, allegedly opened fire on one Vijay Nikam behind the Warje octroi post in the wee hours of the day.

The police have arrested Koli and have stepped up bandobast in the area. The injured Nikam was admitted to the Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital and his condition is said to be critical.

Nikam and Koli had a running feud after the dahi handi festival last year as the latter had not displayed Nikam’s name on a hoarding put up for the celebrations. Since then, the two have frequently been involved in a war of words.

On Sunday night, after another round of verbal slanging between the two, Nikam barged into the house of one Ashish Jadhav with a pistol and demanded that he show him Koli’s house. Jadhav, who panicked, led him to Bathe chawl near Neelkant Mitramandal at Warje where Koli lived.

Koli’s mother, who opened the door, screamed after spotting a furious Nikam with a pistol. Koli, who also had a pistol with him, rushed out of the house and fired at Nikam. The bullet went through Nikam’s temple.

Koli was nabbed after a massive manhunt by a police team led by inspector Sunil Gharge. He was arrested on charges of attempted murder and illegal possession of a pistol. He has been remanded to police custody till February 22. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More