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TOI : PUNE: The tragic death of 10-year-old Atharva Dongre, killed a fortnight ago in an accident involving a PMPML bus, has prompted Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) officials to create a special students’ transport project. Students will be dropped to and from schools in the core city areas in dedicated PMPML buses, which take the students right up to the school gate. The programme will be implemented from June.

Chief executive officer T. S. Dharurkar revealed the plan on Friday during a condolence meeting held in Atharva’s memory. The Lok Panchayat, in association with the S.M. Joshi socialist foundation, held a discussion, ‘Atharva is gone. Now, what about other students’ safety?’

The PMPML is in the process of talking with school authorities to co-ordinate the timings of schools located close to each other.

“We need co-operation from schools in the city area to co-ordinate the timings as they are just five minutes away from each other. Small buses can be deployed and a ring route, covering all the schools, can be identified. If that happens then we can dedicate buses for students from different areas for a drop to various schools. The project can also be replicated in suburban areas, like Kothrud and Sinhagad road, where there are many schools,” Dharurkar said.

“We are ready to provide training to students on bus and traffic safety. Drivers and conductors of the special buses will also be trained,” Dharurkar said. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: On the festival of colours, Puneites had another reason to cheer. The city recorded a rainfall of 19.3 mm till 8.30 pm, as the light showers continued till late night. A low pressure area over south-east Arabian Sea is the reason for this sudden downpour in many parts of Maharashtra.

Along with other parts of the city, areas like Deccan Gymkhana, Sadashiv Peth, Hadapsar, Camp, Sinhagad road, Kothrud and Katraj experienced moderate and heavy showers late in the evening, with some parts witnessing rains early in the morning too.

The rain slowed down the evening traffic, with electricity failure being reported in many parts of the city. The second continuous day of rain has brought relief from the rising temperatures, though the cloudy conditions from Friday had already brought in some respite. Due to the cloudy conditions, the maximum temperature fell to 34.3 degrees on Saturday. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Shreyas Tarun Chaudhari of Hutchings high school and Chaitanya Tappu of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan emerged all-India toppers in class V and VI categories respectively, at the National Science Olympiad (NSO).

The results of the exam, conducted by the Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) primarily to test the academic and scholastic aptitude of students and encourage learning in science, were declared on Wednesday.

According to NSO Pune coordinator S.D. Taware, 600 students between class III and XII from the city appeared for the exam this year.

Similarly, six students from different classes figured in the top 50 national rankings, which was a repeat of last year’s showing, he added. “What is noteworthy is the 50th national rank notched by Rohan Khunte, a class XI student from DAV Public School,” he said.

Taware explained that students from class X to XII usually extend a lukewarm response to the NSO in terms of participation. This was mainly due to their focus on the board exams as well as the career-charting competitive exams ahead. “This is the first time in the city that a class XI student has figured in the top 50,” said Taware.

The exam assesses the student at the national level by doing away with the drawbacks and inadequacies of testing done at the school and the regional levels. Apart from the three boys, other city students to rank in top 50 were Ishan Bagul, (class V, P.B. Jog high school) stood 24th; Niranjan Rao, (class IV, Kalmadi Shamrao school) ranked 24th and Aniruddha Bapat, (class X, Jog high school) stood 49th. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has a disaster management centre at Talegaon, will now set up another disaster management training centre at Latur to undertake various disaster mitigation programmes.

Union home minister Shivraj Patil will lay the foundation stone of the institute on March 23. The institute will have an initial training capacity of 700 personnel at a time. The total expenditure for the infrastructure, coming up on 200 acres, will be Rs 92.99 crore.

The institute will focus on medical first responder (MFR) and collapsed structure search and rescue (CSSR) for calamities, flood rescue and relief operations for man-made accidents and special training for nuclear, biological and chemical disasters. Along with the 200 battalions of the CRPF, the training institute will also offer disaster management training to other organisations, including the state police.

The institute will come up within the next two years and will be developed as a centre for excellence. Training for paramedics will also be given, as they have an important role to play in disaster mitigation. The centre will also cater to trainees from SAARC an ASEAN countries. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is formulating a policy to mitigate losses from disasters.

The training institute will have a training block, technical building, administrative block, quarter guard and hospital. Apart from the hospital, there will be a section for paramedics. Training in flood, river and swimming pool rescue will be offered with the help of a breathing apparatus gallery on the institute premises. For high altitude search and rescue training, CRPF training will have a drill tower, industrial tower, control tower and water bodies, which will cover various calamities. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Their life began after they sensed death. And now after successfully running their own micro enterprises, about a hundred HIV-positive women are looking forward to forming their own self- help groups (SHG).

These women from slums across the city gathered at Ishwani Kendra in Wadgaonsheri on Thursday to take inspiration from those ‘affected’ women who are running their own SHGs successfully. They are wives of HIV-positive men and in some cases there is high probability that their children might also get infected.

The attempt was to help these women overcome the social stigma and discrimination which is a bigger killer than the deadly virus. The meet was aimed at those who run individual enterprises and want to form SHGs taking inspiration from the existing ones.

The members of Pragati Group narrated their success story of supplying tea powder to companies and locals in the area. “We started the business about four years ago with 10 members. Today we are generating sustainable income for our families and take good care of our children and their studies. Earlier, we earned a profit of Rs 35 per day per person, which has now gone up to Rs 100,” said Lalita Arnekar, president of Pragati Group.

Most of these women are either widows or are on the verge of becoming one. Despite all the sorrow, group meetings are cheerful. Their only worry is their children’s future. They fear their wards will not be accepted.

Kiran Mahamuni, an out-reach worker associated with the Family Saving Groups said, “We help build bridges between group members and their families. The group meetings are held on rotation basis at every member’s house, which helps them develop camaraderie.”

The meet, that was organised by an NGO – Sarva Seva Sangh (SSS), has been running micro enterprises for infected women in slums…More