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TOI : PUNE: Mujib Sayyed, a 20-year-old youth, ran away from home when he was but a child. He did little jobs here and there in the city. Later, he joined a technical institute and then moved to St Vincent’s night school. But, he ran away from there too and made Pune railway station his home. He now does seasonal business at the station and earns a fair amount of money. The sole aim behind his endeavours is to marry off his younger sister, and such was his determination that, within two years, Mujib has saved Rs 42,000 in the ‘Bal Bank’, a unique initiative undertaken by city-based NGO Sarva Seva Sangh (SSS).

According to Father Mathew Nirppel, director of SSS, “Our primary aim is to inculcate a sense of saving money among street children, who, otherwise, end up wasting whatever little they earn on gambling or drugs.”

“The project, which began only a couple of months ago during a rehabilitation camp, has evoked a positive response. Within two months, 50-odd children have been able to save Rs 12,000 with the bank,” Sunita Minj, a senior social worker, said.

“These youngsters spend their hard-earned money on frivolous activities. Our bank, on the other hand, keeps the money safe for their future. There is a purpose and cause behind our effort, which also promotes a sense of responsibility. We help the youngsters focus on a goal, an aim for which they can save money — which could be anything, from starting a business to buying a small house,” Minj said. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: In a bid to avoid the repeat of stamp paper scam, the state government is planning to introduce an ‘e-stamping’ system for registration of property documents at the sub-register offices across the state.

In a statement issued to press on Saturday, the state inspector general of registration and controller of stamps, Ramrao Shingare, announced that a pilot project for introducing e-stamping will be initiated in the city in the next 15 days, and it will be rolled out in a phased manner in rest of Maharashtra.

Shingare said the state has initiated a series of measures to improve the system for sale of stamps since last four years following the infamous fake stamp paper scam that rocked the country.

One of them was introduction of franking machines in 2004. In 2006, the state decided to opt for computerised stamp duty administration system and appointed Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited as the central record keeping agency. An agreement was recently (April 3) executed between Shingare and company for undertaking the project.

The e-stamping system is in line with the e-governance policy of the state, Shingare said. Though the project details are yet to be announced, Shingare said the move will enable the citizens to download stamp paper at the click of the mouse.

It will also reduce the cost of the stamp paper printing, fright and safe custody. Also, as the system will provide greater control over the sale of stamps, chances of fake stamps getting circulated will get eliminated, he said.

In addition, the department will launch a new website which will enable the citizens to carry out valuation of their property on-line and they will be able to calculate the stamp duty required, Shingare said. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: In view of a large number of followers visiting Ambedkar Bhavan and Camp to mark Ambedkar jayanti, the traffic branch of Pune police has planned diversions to ease congestion and facilitate smooth flow of vehicles on Monday.

The stretch from Ambedkar road to Maldhakka chowk and Bolhai chowk, Narpatgiri chowk to Bolhai chowk via Station road, Kirad chowk on Church road to State Bank junction, GPO chowk to district colslectorate and social welfare directorate to Photozinko press will be closed for vehicles.

The road from Maldhakka chowk to Narpatgir chowk will be a two-way instead of one-way on Monday. Similarly, Pune station to Maldhakka chowk will be open for two-way traffic. People visiting Ambedkar Bhavanare requested to park their vehicles at SSPMS ground near RTO and on the stretch between Shahir Amar Shaikh to Kumbharves chowk and Gadgil statue. The road stretch from Bolhai chowk to Station, Bolhai chowk to Sadhu Vaswani chowk, Bolhai chowk to GPO and Bolhai chowk to Narpatgir chowk will be no parking zones. Similarly, vehicular traffic on stretches of Dorabjee chowk to Aurora towers; Hotel grand on Tarapore road to Aurora tower and Teen Tofa chowk, Silver Jubilee Motors and East street junction towards Aurora towers will be banned.

The visitors are requested to park vehicles at Tarapore rd and East street. Also, road between Dorabjee chowk to Aurora tower and Teen Tofa chowk, Arurao tower to Tarapore chowk will be declared ‘no vehicle’ zones. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Nearly 400 women participated in an agitation to protest liquor shops organised by the Yuvak Kranti Dal (YKD) recently at Shikrapur on the Pune-Ahmednagar road.

The protestors demanded that the state government ban the production and sale of liquor across the state.

The YKD has been holding statewide agitations since January 7 demanding the enactment of a liquor prohibition act with stringent punishment for violators.

Convenor of Sampurn Darubandi Andolan Vikas Lavande condemned the government for refusing to take a stand on the issue.

“Liquor worth Rs 20,000 crore is sold in the state every year and nearly 50,000 criminal cases linked to liquor consumption are reported daily. Women are suffering because of this,” Lavande said. He pointed out that the quantum of loss for the state due to the sale of liquor far exceeds the revenue generated from it.

The protestors appealed to citizens to participate in the agitations, claiming that liquor prohibition will bring peace and improve the law and order situation. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Judicial magistrate first class S.S. Budruck on Friday sentenced sales tax department peon Asha Jawa to two years rigorous imprisonment for forging her payslip to obtain a bank loan.

The court, however, acquitted the department’s clerk Jyoti Khinolkar and stenographer Fakira Parmar due to lack of evidence.

The prosecution alleged that Jawa, in connivance with the other suspects, had forged a payslip in order to obtain a loan from the Janseva co-operative bank, Ramwadi branch, in August 2001.

Jawa allegedly forged the signature and used the seal of the department’s deputy commissioner on the bogus payslip and handed it over to the bank as a genuine document.

The bank sent the document to the department for verification, after which the fraud came to light. The department’s assistant sales tax officer Sanju Ramchandra Pawar subsequently lodged a complaint against the trio at the Yerawada police station. The assistant public prosecutor examined eight witnesses, including the deputy commissioner, Hirawati Mulgaonkar, a handwriting expert and other staff of the department. The court held Jawa guilty, but acquitted the two other women of all charges. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More