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TOI : PUNE: With the advent of websites like www.friendstosupport.org and www.maha-sbtc.com , finding blood donors and checking out the availability of a particular blood group will not be so difficult. Now, thousands of voluntary donors in your city are just a click away.

The website www.mahasbtc.com is the official website of Maharashtra State Blood Transfusion Council (MSBTC). Here, a person can check the availability of blood at registered blood banks in any desired city in the state, though its ambit is confined to the state.

“A person can look for a particular blood group at blood banks in the city by browsing through this website. Voluntary donors can register themselves on this website as well,” said Dr Dileep Wani, member of the MSBTC. However, only blood banks registered with the council can contact donors and the facility cannot be accessed by individuals, added Wani.

In case of www.friendstosupport.org, people can register themselves as donors and individuals can directly contact a registered blood donor by browsing through the list of volunteers in the city. Besides, one can also post a request of requirement on the website. Designed by five young Hyderabad-based IT professionals, the website includes almost all states and cities in the country.

“A move towards a complete voluntary blood donor service is the need of the hour. Websites like these can create awareness about voluntary blood donation among the masses and, in turn, help curb rising commercialisation of blood donations,” said Dr Avinash Bhondwe, president of the city chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

In case of donors, who take money in return for blood, the truth regarding their history of past ailments can be concealed due to the lure of money. But websites where a large database of voluntary blood donors as well as blood banks is available, can help prevent such malpractices, he added.

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TOI : PUNE: Though the concept of bio-villages is fast gaining popularity in the state, farmers in Pune district are still not keen on it. Continuous efforts of city-based Maharashtra Organic Farming Federation (MOFF), led by Vikram Boke, to run the bio-village project in Pune has received a cold response.

For the last two years, MOFF has campaigned extensively for bio-villages, which are essentially dedicated to organic agriculture. The federation has held personal meetings with gram panchayats, resorted to advertisements, showcased model bio-villages run by MOFF in the state, etc. “Our efforts have been in vain, as we have received no response from farmers in the district. We even contacted agriculturists who are involved in organic farming, but to no avail,” Boke said.

However, due to MOFF’s efforts, three bio-village projects are already underway in Buldhana, Amravati and Nanded. The gram panchayats of all the three villages have submitted a written resolution to the federation promising to co-operate and participate personally in these projects.

“Farmers feel that a good yield is impossible without chemical fertilisers and pesticides. We just want to show that this is not the case, and it is possible for a farmer to get a good yield through organic techniques. We have informed them that MOFF will not give them any money, only guidance on organic methods of farming,” said Boke. “Ours is a five-year project, to be completed in phases. In the end, we have promised to help convert all these villages (Buldhana, Amravati and Nanded) into a complete self sustaining bio-village.

“There are many villages in Pune district that have the potential to take to organic farming. We are planning to push our campaigns and meetings to reach out to more people and make bio-village a reality in this area,” said Dilip Deshmukh Baradkar, vice-chairman, MOFF, adding, ” One of the biggest advantage of this concept is that…More

TOI : PUNE: Poultry farmers have been forced to cut corners on production of the best square meal in the world — the egg. Increase in prices of maize and soyameal, essential ingredients of poultry feed, has adversely affected egg and chicken production.

Needless to say, the poultry industry is going through its worst crisis in three decades.

The National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) has asked the Government of India to undertake immediate measures to stop this slide. As a solution, it has recommended urgent ban on forward trading in maize and soya meal, channelising export of these commodities through a designated government agency and also put a ceiling on volume of exports.

The NECC has further requested the government to extend bank loan subsidy of 8 per cent to poultry farmers so that they can tide over the crisis. The measures will ensure constant availability of poultry feed to farmers at an affordable price and the availability of eggs and chicken to the consumers at a reasonable price, NECC says.

In the last two years, maize prices have seen an almost 100 per cent increase while soya meal prices have gone up by about 150 per cent. The NECC has attributed this unprecedented increase to forward trading, exports by poultry giants like Cargil and speculations by traders.

Poultry farmers have been incurring heavy losses due to the price increase for the last three years. It is feared that 40-50 per cent of the industry might be forced to close down unless measures suggested by NECC are implemented urgently.

Recurring incidences of Bird Flu in backyard farms have already hit the industry badly. This price increase may prove to be the last nail in the coffin.

Poultry industry alone contributes Rs 40,000 crore to the GNP and provides employment to 3.2 million people. Nearly two crore maize…More

TOI :
PUNE: Couples visiting the Taljai and Parvati hills have reason to smile as they will no more be mugged by hoodlums, the Dattawadi police said on Saturday.

The cops on Friday night busted a gang of robbers and nabbed five suspects, including four minor boys. The main accused was identified as Nilesh Ashok Salvi (21) of Janata Vasahat. He has been arrested and the minors detained.

The police recovered four mobile phones, a gold bangle and two gold chains totally worth Rs 75,000 from the suspects. A sword, sickle and a knife were also seized.

As many as three incidents of couples being robbed on these hills — one on the Taljai hill and two on Parvati hill — in April had terrorised lovers. Many incidents also went unreported as most couples obviously don’t want their identities revealed and did not approach the police, senior police inspector Uttam More told TOI.

However, the police swung into action and formed a special team to investigate the cases. More said that cops disguised as couples were sent to the hills, especially in the evenings, regularly. “It was found that the five suspects, armed with knives, threatened their victims and looted them before escaping into the forest.”

According to More, the police brought crime to almost zero level in the Janata Vasahat area by increasing patrolling and nabbing suspects. Hence, the five accused found soft targets in couples on the hills, he said.

The accused even spent the whole day under the trees on the hills waiting for their ‘preys’, More said, adding that they used to pounce on their victims at the first opportunity.

Three incidents of robbing couples, including two on Parvati hill, were reported on April 7, 26 and 27. The gang
had just started its operation last month and used to spend…More

TOI : PUNE: Lease rentals for commercial space in Pune remained high in the first quarter of the year even as some major markets in the country witnessed a stabilising trend. Interestingly, the micro-markets in the Pune region (pockets of commercial activity as against main business areas) showed a significant growth in rentals, in comparison with its counterparts elsewhere.

This is observed in a report released by real estate management and research consultancy, Cushman and Wakefield, on Thursday. The absorption of space in the first quarter, however, recorded a growth of 67 per cent over the absorption in same period last year, reiterating the fundamentally strong market dynamics which continue to drive demand, the report said.

The demand for office space remained upbeat across major cities and stood approximately at 14 million sq ft in the first quarter of the year, and included absorption of 8.2 million sq ft and pre-commitments of approximately 5.5 million sq ft, according to the report. The first quarter of 2008 witnessed a total office supply of 15.54 million sq ft nationally, which constitutes approximately 19 per cent of the total expected supply for the year 2008, estimated to be 82.8 million sq ft.

The report said Pune recorded a growth of 7 to 24 per cent in rental values across various micro markets as compared to Q4, 2007. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More