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TOI : PUNE: Principal district and sessions judge A.I.S Cheema on Tuesday sentenced one Santosh Bhausaheb Pawar (25) of Shirur to seven years rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 53,000 for raping a 16-year-old girl on April 2, 2007.

Additional public prosecutor Hira Bari said that the accused lured the girl after she walked out from a temple and took her on a motorcycle to Chaskaman dam. Pawar raped the girl and hid her in a sugarcane field and threatened to kill her parents if she came out of there. The girl, who stayed in the fields for three days, finally fled and narrated the incident to her parents. A case was registered with the Shirur police leading to Santosh’s arrest. The prosecution examined eight witnesses to convict Santosh. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The second year final semester students of the Master of Personnel Management (MPM) course, run by the University of Pune (UoP), were in for a surprise when they were handed out an 80-mark theory question paper, instead of a 70-mark paper, for the labour law subject exam held on Tuesday afternoon.

The goof up had several students worried about just evaluation of their answer sheets. Some even complained of a few questions being out of syllabus. Close to 2,000 students study the MPM course at 25-plus institutes across the city.

Dean of UoP management faculty C.M. Chitale told TOI that students won’t suffer on account of the mistake, as the university’s exam department official had taken note of the goof up much before the paper commenced at 3 pm on Tuesday.

Students said, the compulsory question 1 of the labour law paper carried a total weightage of 35 marks (three sub-questions of 15, 10 and 10 marks) while the remaining three questions carried 15 marks weightage each - taking the total to 80 marks.

When the matter was brought to Chitale’s notice by TOI, he spoke to assistant registrar (exam) Umesh Deshpande about the same. “I am told that the weightage of question no 1 has been rectified and now stands revised at 25 marks, i.e., three sub-questions of 5, 10 and 10 marks,” Chitale said. “Instructions to this effect were given to authorities at all the exam centres,” he added.

Similarly, Chitale said the officials entrusted with the task of marks evaluation would be informed in advance about the revised weightage for question 1 of the labour law paper. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The corridors of the University of Pune’s (UoP) Centre for Performing Arts (CPA), where budding artists in music, dance and theatre could receive training, have become somewhat inaccessible.

Aspiring artists coming to the university for pursuing graduate and post-graduate courses in performing arts are being compelled to opt for other universities due to the newly hiked fee structure, which they say is unaffordable.

“I have come to take admission for the post-graduate programme in Indian instrument Sanai. But the newly fee structure has shattered my hopes,” said Sachin Raut, who has come all the way from Barshi taluka in Solapur district to enrol for PG at CPA.

Notably, Sachin belongs to the family of renowned Sanai players in Solapur. He is the fourth generation of Sanai player in the family who started learning the wind instrument at an early age.

“I have been nurturing the desire to learn the nuances of presentation at the CPA.

It is the only centre that offers a programme in Sanai. But the fees have razed all my aspirations,” lamented Sachin, who has done his graduation in music from the Shivaji University. He has also appeared for Visharad in music from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Miraj.

Pritam Wadekar, another aspiring musician who has done his graduation in music (tabla) and has come to Pune to pursue PG in music at the CPA, is in a similar situation. “I belong to a family of tabla players. I wished to complete my PG from the UoP centre, but I have changed my plans because of the high fees,” he said. “The duration of PG programme in music is three years. The fees for each year is Rs 32,000. Considering the total expenses of lodging, boarding, etc, the course would cost me around Rs 3 lakh, which is unaffordable for me.”

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TOI : PUNE: Displaying much the same sentiment that triggered vandalism in Mumbai over use of the city’s name, the Pune chapter of the Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena, a students’ arm of the Shiv Sena, has warned all establishments using Poona rather than Pune to change this within a week.

Health and commercial establishments like Poona Hospital, Poona Bakery, Poona Drugs, Poona Sweets and Poona Medical are among those which are being targeted.

The organisation has also objected to the use of acronyms and abbreviations like ABC for Appa Balwant Chowk and JM for Jangli Maharaj road. The agitation will be intensified in the future in the event of non-compliance, threatened Ajay Shinde, city president of the BVG. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Regular commuters on the Pune-Mumbai expressway can now pay the toll through pre-paid swipe cards. This facility will help them save time waiting in queues at toll booths.

Those having the card can directly enter the VIP lane, swipe and proceed. The cards, introduced a week back, are presently available for a maximum of ten journeys (to and fro).

Speaking to TOI, chairman and managing director of Ideal Road Builders, D P Mhaiskar, said the cards are available at the main toll posts for all vehicles. They can also be exchanged with friends or used for different vehicles owned by an individual. In addition to the VIP lane, another lane would soon be opened for card holders, he said.

“Currently, we are not offering any discount, but some freebies could be expected in the days to come,” Mhaiskar said. For state transport buses, depots will provide the cards. Trucks and other heavy vehicles can also avail the benefit. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More