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TOI : PUNE: A group of engineers from a city-based IT company have come up with a unique initiative known as Akshar Bharati to help in the development of under privileged children by setting up libraries in areas that lack this basic educational facility.

The community libraries are meant for children in the age groups of five to 13 years and, so far, 35 libraries have been set up, with plans to initiate around 100 more.

The enterprise is in collaboration with different non-governmental organisations (NGO) working towards the growth of the under-privileged sections of the society.

A single set-up has around 500 to 1,000 books spread over an area of 3,000 square ft. Started
in small areas with bare minimum infrastructure, these units are also known as single shelf libraries.

Representative of Akshar Bharati Anurag Agarwal said, “We want the libraries to act as catalysts in the development of under privileged children. We intend to achieve this by giving a good reading experience to them. The books provided here are in English and Marathi, and include story books, activity books, biographies, science books etc. The NGOs involved help in running the libraries on a daily basis. ”

Agarwal added, “The NGO, Seva Sahayog, has been instrumental in providing the back-office support to Akshar Bharati, in terms of networking with other such organisations. The Akshar Bharati initiative will complete a year on April 26.” Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Puneites continued to suffer from sweltering heat as the city continued to witnessed high temperature with the mercury reaching 41.3 degrees on Wednesday.

Heat wave conditions are prevailing in Vidarbha, the meteorological department said. “The winds that are coming from the northern region are keeping the temperature in the state high,” Medha Khole, director (Weather Central) India Meteorological Department (IMD) told TOI adding that due to high temperatures a heat wave condition has been declared in Vidharbha.

The highest ever temperature in Pune in the month of April was recorded at 43.3 degrees on April 30, 1897. During the last 18 years, the temperature has crossed the 41.3-mark and above only twice. The city had witnessed 41.4 degree temperature on April 27, 2007 and April 24, 2001. The April temperature has not gone above 41.4 degree in the city since 1990.

The city recorded a temperature above 41 degrees for the second day on Wednesday, Tuesday’s temperature being 41.1 degrees Celsius.

According to figures available at the meteorology department, the city has seen above 40 degrees C temperature since Sunday. Tuesday’s temperature was four degrees higher as compared to normal temperatures for this period during summer.

Cities in Vidarbha like Nagpur (44.6) and Akola (45.3) recorded highest temperature in the state on Wednesday. The cities that recorded more than 40 degrees temperature include Parbhani (43.3), Nashik (40.1), Solapur (43.6), Sangli 40.8, Satara 40.8, Malegaon (43.9) and Aurangabad (42.0). Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The falling of a box containing weather measuring units attached to a balloon sent by the India Meteorological Department on Wednesday created a scare among the people in Bijlinagar, Chinchwad, who thought some bomb had been dropped from the air.

It all started around 5 pm, when a citizen informed the police control room that he had seen a box falling at Bijlinagar.

He claimed that the box could have been dumped from a helicopter, which he saw flying by at the same time. Soon, the news about the ‘bomb’ spread like wildfire in the area.

The police immediately sent the bomb disposal and detection squad (BDDS) to the site. Simultaneously, the police contacted the Indian Air Force at Lohegaon.

The airforce authorities told the police that no activity like firing from the air had taken place.

Meanwhile, the BDDS team inspected the box and confirmed that there were no bombs or explosives in them. The box contained batteries and a measuring instrument.

In the meantime, the police contacted the IMD officials and informed them about the incident.

The IMD officials confirmed that they had sent a balloon for regular weather studies and that the box belonged to the IMD. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : When the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) invited city band Talaash to perform in Afghanistan, their first reaction was panic - what with Afghanistan’s recent string of kidnappings and suicide bombings.

“Is this revenge for some past mistake?” band leader Rittesh Sahai asked the ICCR official.

“No, we want you to represent India at the Navroze festival in Mazaar-e-Sharif because your music is so rooted in the Indian soil,” was the reply.

Now, a struggling band expects to have such dialogues with the musical establishment, but what ensued was only expecting the unexpected.

“The stereotypes and apprehensions just melted away from the moment we arrived in Kabul,” says Rittesh, who returned to Pune earlier this month after the two-week Afghan tour.

“The average Afghan’s love for India and things Indian is incredible. I dare say it’s a tad more than that for Pakistan. And the country is as beautiful as Switzerland and easily has the economic potential of Singapore,” adds Rittesh.

“The Afghans are religious but not overtly so. They certainly do not hold it against people of other religions. Of course, there are fundamentalists there, like there are in every society across the world,” says Rittesh.

“We were worried about the reception to our music because Taliban had declared it blasphemous and banned it for years together,” says Rahul Shrivastav, band guitarist and co-founder.

“However, Afghan enjoyment of music and their zest for life has to be seen to be believed. During the ban, people would hide under blankets to enjoy music on TV or radio, we were told. Although under threat from the Taliban, the Mazhar festival was a grand affair with musicians from all neighbouring countries performing, and thousands of people attending.”

“It’s a different matter altogether that the demand for Bollywood hits…More

TOI : PUNE: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has issued notices to 267 general medical practitioners in the city for not availing the mandatory incineration services to treat the bio-medical waste (BMW) generated at their units over the last one-and-half year.

On April 15, TOI had reported these doctors’ indifference towards human health and environment. Soon after, the MPCB initiated action against them.

“We issued the notices on April 17 and asked the erring doctors to resume availing the essential incineration services for the BMW generated at their units,” said V.P. Shirure, sub-regional officer of MPCB. Those who fail to comply with the norms will have to face action, he added.

There are around 8,000 general medical practitioners (GMPs) in the city. Out of which, only 637 had registered for essential disposal and incineration services for the BMW generated at their units, informed Suneel Singhania, managing director of Sun Enviro Management Pvt Ltd - an agency that works as a central BMW treatment and disposal facility centre of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) since December 2005.

The agency charges Rs 100 a month for the services - which includes collecting the BMW bags from around 250 collection points in the city and scientifically incinerating them.

Most of the GMPs had discontinued availing the service saying that the charges were too high.

Among other reasons, some of the doctors were also insisting that the BMW be collected from their doorsteps, Singhania said.

Under the provision of the Bio-Medical Waste (management and handling) Rules, 1998, issued by the Union ministry of environment and forests, GMPs who receive more than 1,000 patients per month should register themselves with the MPCB. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More