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TOI : PUNE: Driven by suspicious activities in a bungalow at Pimpale Nilakh, people residing in the neighbourhood ‘raided’ the bungalow on Saturday night to unearth a sex racket involving three men and six girls, mostly college students.

The racket was being operated in the guise of a massage parlour.

The Sangvi police, who were summoned at the sight soon after the ‘raid’, booked nine suspects under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA).

According to the police, Jyoti Massage Clinic at Samartha colony in Vishalnagar was in operation for the past few months and was often frequented by suspicious characters and a large number of young girls.

The residents stormed the bungalow on Saturday and took its occupants by surprise.

Two of the male suspects managed to give police the slip on the way to the police station. However, they were nabbed on Sunday morning following pressure by angry residents.

The suspects were identified as Nandakumar Shivajirao Kadam (bungalow owner), Bharat Arjun Kamble of Sutarwadi in Pashan (manager of the ‘parlour’) and his accomplice Raju Namdeo Sutar.

The girls were identified as Deepa Naidu, Lata Koli, Smita Reddy, Sonali Patil, Swati Pawar and Sonali Kamble.

The police said a shop act licence recovered from the bungalow suggested that the parlour was owned by Jyoti Rahul Naidu. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Following mental and physical torture from in-laws, a married woman from Pimpri committed suicide recently.

The police booked her husband Nitin Gangawane, father-in-law Sadashiv Gangawane, brothers-in-law Pravin and Sachin and sister-in-law Sonali Gangawane while her mother-in-law Vimalabai was arrested.

A resident of Sant Tukaramnagar in Pimpri, Sarika, 26, married Nitin six years back. After the first six months, her husband and in-laws started torturing Sarika for dowry.

She relented and brought the money from her father. But they started torturing her again demanding more money.

When Sarika refused to accede to their demand, they subjected her to mental and physical harassment. Fed up, Sarika consumed poison and died. Police inspector D.T. Karche of Pimpri police is investigating the case. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: With all eyes focused on multicrore projects, the city continues to lack in basic amenities like public urinals. The condition is even worse when it comes to facilities meant for women.

Ironically, Bibvewadi ward office has six women corporators, but there is not a single public toilet for women in the entire area.

“I sought information about number of urinals in Bibvewadi from the ward officer through right to information act (RTI). The details furnished were appalling. The Bibvewadi ward office has only eight public urinals for a staggering population of 1, 54, 516 people. Importantly, all the eight loos are for men and not a single for women. And this when six out of nine corporators of this ward are women,” said Sanjay Shirodkar an RTI activist.

As per the health department of Pune Municipal Corporation, there should one urinal for every 100 people in a given area. However in Bibwewadi there is just one toilet for 19,314 people.

Citing reasons for not being able to provide a toilet for women in Kondhwa-Budruk ward number 140, BJP corporator Ranjana Kundalik Tilekar said, “I tried to get one in my ward. But getting land for this purpose is very difficult.”

Among other wards in Bibvewadi, where women corporators are in power, but the public facility for women are totally absent are Mahadaji Shinde Chattri ward (ward number 97), Mitthanagar ward (ward number 122), Sukhsagarnagar ward (ward number 137), Upper Indiranagar (ward number 139), Vishwakarma Institute ward (ward number 138).

All the women corporators of these wards are from leading political parties like NCP, Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena.

There are total nine wards under the Bibvewadi ward office. Out of these nine wards, ward number 97, 121,122, 138 do not have urinals at all! Only ward number 120 has three…More

TOI : PUNE: To inculcate the habit of scientific temperament and rationalism among the younger population, these values should be given precedence in the education system.

This was underlined by prominent thinkers and activists here on Saturday in a two-day seminar on the subject.

Organised by the Maharashtra Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS) and Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, the seminar saw activists from all over the state discussing ways to create science-oriented mindset in the students.

Observations and recommendations from these deliberations will be included in an ‘educational manifesto’ which will be released on Sunday. This will later be sent to various education institutions across the state.

Narendra Dabholkar, executive president, MANS, N.D. Patil, Chairman of Rayat Shikshan Sanshta, noted scholar Raosaheb Kasbe, IT expert Achyut Godbole elaborated on how to create anti-superstition mindset through education.

Dabholkar said, “While religious fundamentalism of all sorts is on the rise, the role of electronic media and politicians is less said the better. The only hope now is the education sector. Keeping this in mind, we have taken this step.”

“Only scientific temperament will enable us to cope with the competition of globalisation,” Kasbe said.

Godbole focussed on emphasising social sciences in education, which will help create more responsible citizens, while Patil stressed on providing free and compulsory education to all the children in the country. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The biggest sporting extravaganza of the city is about to unfold even as the medical team prepares to set up an anti-doping cell and a village polyclinic for the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) to be held in October this year.

Y H Doiphode, chief medical officer (CMO), CYG, spoke to TOI about the preparations for the big event to be held at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati sports city in Mhalunge, Balewadi. “We will set up one medical room each in 11 different premises of the complex besides a polyclinic for emergency services with ten beds with round-the-clock service,” he informed.

Four city hospitals including Birla Hospital, Ruby Hall Clinic, Aundh Medical will also work as super speciality hospitals to attend major injuries. The CYG medical committee is still working on a few aspects including allotment of space for medical rooms of the contingents depending on their strength, facilitate bringing of medicines through custom at Mumbai airport, etc.

“We will also be arranging for the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) medical commission, compiling data after the Games, a detailed account of the sick report pattern as well as services utilised during the course of the Games,” Doiphode added. A medical hand book will also be handed over to each athlete and the managers of the contingents which will mainly carry detailed information on all the medical facilities available at the complex and also where to reach and whom to contact in case of emergency.

On setting up an anti-doping cell, Doiphode said, “The cell will be set up at the stadium which will be strictly as per the requirements of the CGF. The copies of CGF guidelines for anti-doping programme were given to us by the federation and we will be working on those lines.”

Dr M Jegathesan, Chairman of medical and doping control commission, CGF visited…More

TOI : PUNE: Three minor girls are reported to have eloped with their lovers in two separate incidents in the city. Of these, two from Yerawada are as young as 12 and 14 years old.

According to a complainant, her 12-year-old daughter and her 14-year-old friend were allegedly wooed by Arjun Singh and Raju Malviya hailing from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Both the accused were working with Delhi Caterers in Yerawada.

The accused met the girls when they were working with the caterers. Their parents filed a case with Yerawada police.

The complainant narrowed down on Arjun as he had earlier spoken to her seeking marriage with her daughter. In the second case, a 16-year-old girl was reported missing from Old Sangvi. Her father has accused one Ankush Kamble of forcing her to elope. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The number of international flights from Pune is set to go up significantly as a precursor to the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) scheduled for October 2008. Destinations include Frankfurt, Dubai, Muscat, Sharjah and Singapore.

As of now, only one international flight is in operation on the Pune-Dubai-Pune route by the Air India (formerly Indian). The enhanced international flights from Pune is expected to be reflected in the post-June operational schedule for the airliners, Deepak Shastri, director of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Pune, told TOI on Monday.

By then, said Shastri, the ongoing runway recarpeting and repair works at Pune’s Lohegaon airport will be completed in all respects and the airport will have 8,300 ft runway availability — instead of the present 6,500 ft, which limits the operation of bigger aircraft. Also, flights will operate round-the-clock, with the 11 pm to 6 am night time slot available for international flights and the day time for domestic flights.
Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: A 16-year-old girl from Pimpri was raped, allegedly by a youth who she thought was her friend, at Rahatni village on Saturday afternoon.

According to the police, Sandeep Rohidas Kamble approached her when she went to get medicines for her grandmother. He picked a conversation with her while both of them started walking, when Kamble’s friend arrived on a two-wheeler and offered a ‘lift’.

The police said that when the girl refused the offer, Kamble forced her on the two-wheeler and both of them were dropped at a cremation ground at Rahatni village. Kamble’s friend then left the scene. Soon after that, Kamble allegedly raped the girl, a standard IX student of a school in Pimpri, the police added. The suspect and his friend have been booked. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: If suicide is a pointer to the rot within society, the figures released by the National Crime and Records Bureau (NCRB) are alarming for Pune. Social distress is taking its toll on citizens unable to cope with the stress and the ruthless rat race of competitive life.

According to the report, ‘Accidental deaths and suicides in India-2006′, released in November 2007, the number of suicides in Pune are on rise. In 2006, 529 people committed suicide as compared to 506 in 2005. This includes 101 housewives, 141 private service employees, 41 students. 23 unemployed and 23 government servants. Ironically, 19 people in the IT hub of the state committed suicide because of abject poverty in 2006.

Familial and societal pressure appears to be the main cause for suicide. Ninety-three men and 57 women committed suicides because of ‘family problems’ in 2006. Drug addiction and abuse drove 33 males to suicide. Cancellation or non-settlement of marriage was the triggering factor in six suicides (three male and female) and two women committed because they were unable to conceive.

Illness (other and prolonged) was the reason why 77 males and 33 females committed suicide, while mental illness pushed 10 males and 14 females to take this step. The number of those who committed suicide because of HIV infection and STDs was 7, while incurable cancer was the reason why 5 others committed suicide. Fifteen people including 14 male and 1 female committed suicide because of bankruptcy or a sudden change in their economic status.

Of the 41 students who killed themselves, failure in the examinations was the main reason, with 10 males and 6 females committing suicide.

“Four years ago I came to this city with hundreds of dreams. But today I am finding it difficult to cope with the stress and rat race in life,” says…More