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TOI : PUNE: Angered by the dismally low number of jobs secured through the employment exchange office, members of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, including corporator Muralidhar Mohol, locked the staff on Wednesday.

Later, all 17 members were arrested by the police. A case for interrupting government work and gathering as a mob has been lodged against them.

Justifying their act Mohol said, “Our agitation was against the lack of initiatives by the department. Only five per cent of people, who have approached the exchange, have managed to secure a job in the last seven years.” Mohol added that they were also agitating against the discontinuation of financial assistance to unemployed youth.

Officials at the exchange claimed that the department had not received any prior notice. Meanwhile, the court granted bail to all the accused. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI :

PUNE: A 19-year-old girl, Prajakta Mohan Kendre, was raped and stoned to death by a brick kiln worker at Balwadi village near Bhor on early Wednesday morning. The Pune police managed to detect the case and arrest the suspect, Bhaiyya Premjit Arun Khopde, within five hours of the incident.

Prajakta’s elder sister had recently qualified for recruitment in the police force and the victim too aspired for a career in the force. To pursue her dream, she was observing a steady fitness regime of going on a morning jog near Ambade ghat on the outskirts of the village.

As usual, she was on a jogging trip early on Wednesday morning and was passing by the brick kiln that falls in the way. Khopde had seen Prajakta jogging by the brick kiln and on her way back to the village, he accosted the girl to a nearby shed and sexually assaulted her, the police said. Out of fear that Prajakta would inform the police, Khopde went on to smash the victim’s head with a boulder and killed her, police said.

Senior police officials including Pune rural SP visited the site soon after being informed about the incident. During an inquiry at the brick kiln, SP Vishwas Nangre-Patil noticed scratch marks on the face of Khopde and checked with him about the same. Khopde resorted to evasive replies prompting the police to take him into custody for questioning. Khopde later admitted he raped and killed the girl, police said. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: A court has ordered the special screening of Mudrank - a film based on the stamp paper scam - at the Yerawada jail for the benefit of scam kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi, who is lodged there.

“Civil judge junior division A.M. Gondane has directed the jail authorities to make arrangements for the screening before April 22,” Telgi’s lawyer Vidyadhar Koshi told TOI. Koshi also said that he had moved an application in the court on April 13, demanding a total ban on the release of the film.

Koshi said the producer of the film, Bhavan Soungar, and the director, Shakir Shaikh, appeared in the court for the hearing on Wednesday. Their lawyers argued that the film was not based on Telgi’s life. “We argued that some matters related to the case were still pending in courts and that releasing the film could have an adverse impact on the case.”

Koshi said another movie, also based on the scam, was being made by Sana Movies which is owned by Telgi. The release of Mudrank might affect the prospects of this movie, he said. It was decided that Mudrank be screened so that lawyers from both sides could watch it. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The state’s second and the city’s first microbrewery is all set to come up at a plush mall in the Pune cantonment. According to state excise authorities, the microbrewery - which will serve fresh, high-quality malt beer at a pricey Rs 150 a mug - is likely to start in a couple of months.

The proposal for the microbrewery is being looked into by the commissioner for state excise in Mumbai, excise superintendent Vijay Chinchalkar told the media on Wednesday.

A microbrewery is a small-scale beer brewing facility, where the tipple has a limited shelf-life of not more
than 24 hours. The production at the microbrewery usually does not exceed 200 boxes per day.

Like draught beer, the idea of the microbrewery is to prepare high-quality malt for on-the-spot serving. The concept, which was popularised by the Germans, is now common in freeway motels and even in homes in many western countries.

According to Chinchalkar, the fresh beer sold at such microbreweries costs relatively more than the conventional beer in cans or bottles. “A 300 ml mug of beer may cost Rs 150 or more,” he said.

Chinchalkar said that Pune district was the first in the country to have a German technology-based microbrewery - Martin Jude Microbrewery - which opened at Junnar in November 2007. The firm, owned by Balasaheb Jadhav, has since started distribution of bottled fresh beer in select outlets across Maharashtra, he said.

The excise authorities have less to complain about the high cost of beer from the microbreweries considering that it stands to gain revenue that is almost half the selling price of the beer. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: An altercation over money between two youths on Wednesday helped the city police solve a case involving the robbing of an employee of Sai Service petrol station at Tathawade off the Katraj-Dehu road bypass over a year ago.

Four of the five suspects, including a former employee of the petrol pump, have been arrested and two motorcycles, which the suspects had purchased from the booty amounting to Rs 25.70 lakh, were recovered.

“We are in the process of ascertaining how the gang utilised the entire cash,” crime branch inspector Vijaysinh Gaikwad told TOI on Wednesday.

One of these suspects, Vilas Dattatreya Jadhav (21) of Chanderewadi in Mulshi taluka, was to marry on April 18 and was in need of money. He approached another member of the gang, Mahendra Vitthal Chandere (22) of Kanifnath society at Rambag colony near MIT College, for money. The ensuing interaction led to a heated altercation between the two. To their ‘misfortune’, a police informer was witness to the altercation and tipped off the crime branch officials. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More