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TOI : PUNE: It sounds ‘fantastic’ now but it can become a reality in the days to come. If city-based scientist Dr Mahadev Sagare has his way, medicines won’t come with an expiry date.

Sagare was recently awarded Doctor of Science (D.Sc) for this research dissertation by the Open International University of Colombo (Sri Lanka).

“This theory is just an extension of my research work on lithium, cadmium ferrite, which I did in 1993,” says Sagare, who is presently joint secretary of Bharati Vidyapeeth.

Sagare uses the basic principle of milling and grinding to explain his concept. Ferrite is a basic compound used for manufacturing electronic components.

It is prepared through ceramic method, which includes milling and grinding. Explaining it further, he says, ayurvedic medicines, for the last so many years, are being prepared by milling and grinding.

No ayurvedic medicine ever has an expiry date, notes Sagare. With milling and grinding, the particles of the compound are turned into nano-particles.

Medicines, which are prepared in molecular stage (not in nano), are normally affected by higher atmospheric temperature and also by moisture in the air.

This causes binding of molecules and changes the properties of the molecules and hence there is an ‘expiry’ to such medicines, reasons Sagare.

But when some of the medicines in the form of tablets and powders were again crushed and ground mechanically upto nano-scale and used, it was observed there was no change in the properties of these medicines, he said.

“I concluded that nano technology can be applied in manufacturing allopathic medicines by converting them into nano-particles and preventing their expiry,” Sagare explained.

As part of the last stage of his research, Sagare wants to experiment with expired allopathic medicines to see how they react once broken to nano-scale.

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TOI : PUNE: Thirteen bodies were fished out from the Bhatgar reservoir at Bhor in a massive search operation launched by the district administration with the help of local villagers on Thursday.

A boat carrying 31 people capsized in the reservoir late on Wednesday. Nine people swam to safety, while others drowned.

The boat was overcrowded with passengers who were returning to Karandi Budruck to proceed on to Wakhambe village after attending a marriage ceremony at Rajgarh village in Bhor taluka.

The Bhor police utilised the services of fisherman staying in the villages near the reservoir for the search operation.

The district administration later pressed into service the National Disaster Responsible Force (NDRP) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) of Talegaon Dabhade,which rushed with two motor boats, life-jackets, ropes, tyres, anchors and search lights and launched a search operation on a war footing.

According to the police, two bodies were fished out with the help of villagers late on Wednesday. Nine bodies were fished out in the morning and two were retrieved on Thursday afternoon. The boat belonged to one Krishna Padwal.

Pune district collector Prabhakar Deshmukh told TOI that preliminary investigations have revealed that Padwal had packed the boat with twice its capacity of 15. He said the boat left in a hurry as it was getting dark and soon capsized.

However, the nine survivors on Thursday claimed that the boat had a capacity of 40 people, but it capsized after losing balance due to strong winds.

The villagers claimed that Padwal had warned the passengers not to overcrowd the boat, but nobody listened to him as it was the last trip of the day.

The villagers said it only take 30 minutes for the boat to travel between Rajgarh and Karandi Budruck.

A villager,…More

TOI : PUNE: Highlighting the increasing number of crimes against women in the city, two cases of rape were reported from Hinjewadi and Pune Cantonment on Wednesday.

One of the accused, Kiran Mahamane (29), has been arrested by the Hinjewadi police.

According to a complaint filed by a 32-year-old spinster from Rahatni, Mahamane met her in 1997 and they fell in love. Promising to marry her, Mahamane, who is a friend of her brother, involved in sexual relations with the woman. However, he kept on postponing the marriage and thereby, cheated the victim.

In another incident in Pune Cantonment, a 45-year-old woman filed a complaint saying that Vikas Dhandore (23) raped her on April 16 when she was sleeping at her home.

The accused, who also stays in the same area, had threatened to kill her son if she lodged any police complaint. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: A heat wave condition has been declared in Pune, Vidarbha and Marathwada by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), here on Thursday. Pune recorded the second-highest maximum temperature for the month of April since 1897 when the mercury soared to 42.1 degrees on Thursday.

Thursday’s temperature was lower by just 1.2 degrees as compared to 43.3 degree - the highest temperature ever for the month of April - recorded on April 30, 1897.

The April temperature has not gone above 41.4 degree in the city since 1990. During the last 18 years, the temperature has crossed the 41.3-degree mark and above only twice. On April 27, 2007, and April 24, 2001, Pune had witnessed 41.4 degrees temperature.

The city has been persistently witnessing an increase in temperature since Sunday and the temperature has not gone below 40 degrees since then.

The maximum temperature on Sunday was 40.1 degrees, which went up to 40.6 degrees on Monday. On Tuesday, it increased to 41.1 degrees Celsius, an increase of 0.2 was recorded the next day, Wednesday, with the maximum temperature at 41.3 degrees.

“The winds coming from northern region are active in state. They are keeping the temperature high in the state. A low pressure area is likely to come up in the next 48 hours. Due to that an increase in temperature is expected during this period,” A.B. Mujumdar, deputy director general, meteorology, said while speaking to TOI.

The departure (difference between maximum temperature and actual temperature) was five degrees and temperature was consistently above 40 degrees in Pune as a result of which heat wave condition has been declared, the IMD official said. Most of the districts in Marathwada and Vidrabha witnessed more than 40 degrees temperature. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Besides terrorist attacks, non-enemy action injuries are a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in the Indian armed forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the North East.

While 8.16 deaths per thousand (62.5 per cent) were attributed to terrorist-induced injuries and 0.63 per thousand (4.8 per cent) to injuries induced by enemy between 1999 and 2006, accidental deaths accounted for 3.02 per thousand (23.1 per cent) and environmental deaths for 1.14 per thousand (8.7 per cent) among army personnel.

Such incidents are responsible for injuries and deaths among 28.08 per year per 1,000 troops during the period.

An Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) study by Brigadier K.V.S. Rana, Colonel M.M. Arora and Lieutenant Colonel J.K. Bhatia, found that road accidents were the major killers accounting for 48.2 per cent followed by accidental discharge of weapon at 35.5 per cent. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Nineteen people returning from a marriage party drowned when a boat capsized in the Bhatghar reservoir near Pune, police said on Thursday.

Eleven bodies have been fished out after the tragedy that struck a group returning in a boat from village Welwand to Wakamba in Bhor taluka of this western Maharashtra district on Wednesday night, they said.

Nine persons out of 28 on the boat were rescued by the villagers who rushed to the spot on hearing the distress calls, police said.

According to information available, the boat tilted and lost balance in deep waters due to a strong current of wind.

Search was on for the missing bodies.
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