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TOI : PUNE: Beware! As many as 1,225 offenders, wanted in connection with various crimes committed in the city, continue to be on the prowl for prolonged periods. Some of them have been wanted by the police since as far back as 1973!

The city police have now woken up to this fact and have decided to focus their attention on bringing these ‘wanted’ elements to book through a special drive. Of the 1,225 offenders, 641 are proclaimed ‘absconders’ while the rest are listed as ‘wanted’. All of them have been involved in offences ranging from murder and dacoity to house break-ins and theft (HBT), cheating, petty theft, arms act crimes and so on.

An offender is described as a proclaimed absconder after he/she is declared so by a court of law to enable the police to initiate action like attachment of property et al against the offender.

In making the ‘wanted’ list, the modus operandi branch of the Pune police has considered the crime scene till March 2008. It contains information from the 19 police stations of Hinjewadi, Bharati Vidyapeeth, Shivajinagar, Duttawadi, Warje Malwadi, Sangvi, Chinchwad, Kondhwa and Airport police stations. Nine police stations are not included as they came up later.

Of the 641 absconding, 116 have been booked for economic offences. Other crimes are related to murder, burglaries and theft. In addition, 114 people are wanted for electricity theft in the jurisdiction of the Pimpri police station.

The oldest absconding case is that of Younus Pathan of Kalbhornagar, who was booked for murder in 1973, in a case registered at the Pimpri police station. The list also has Manaram Prajapati and Virammaram Prajapati from Hadapsar, booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

The Yerawada police station has the largest number of absconding criminals, while Wanowrie has the least. In the case of ‘wanted’…More

TOI : PUNE: The state government has finally given the green signal to increase the Floor Space Index (FSI) limit to execute the slum rehabilitation schemes in suburban and fringe areas of the city.

While the FSI limit for executing Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes in prime areas (zone A) and in central city areas (zone B) is 2.75, the limit in suburban areas (zone C) has been increased to 3 and in fringe areas (zone D) has been increased to 3.5.

The demand for increasing the FSI limit has been a long-pending and the state government has finally made the move in order to make the SRA schemes financially viable.

Circulating the copies of the modified SRA rules issued by the state urban development (UD) department, local MLA Chandrakant Chhajed told reporters on Monday that the move will now make it easier to implement the SRA schemes.

According to the state government circular, “For zone C, if rehabilitation component is 10 square meter, then additional 20 square meter will be permitted so that 20 square meter can be sold in open market and the rehab component subsidised”.

Similarly, “For zone D, if rehab component is 10 square meter, then additional 25 square meter will be permitted so that 25 square meter can be sold in open market and the rehab component subsidised”.

Chhajed said that since the FSI limit has been increased, developers will come forward to execute schemes as they are now permitted additional construction.

“Our other consistent demand that the tenement area be increased has also been met with.

The state government has modified the SRA rules and has agreed that the carpet area will be increased from 20.10 square meter to 25 square meter,” Chhajed said.

He added that the state government has relaxed the condition of implementing schemes…More

TOI : PUNE: If you thought ATM/debit card is a safer option to a credit card, think again! A non-resident Indian (NRI) was left poorer by Rs 11.40 lakh when a trickster forged his signatures, availed of an ATM card and withdrew the money.

Umesh Maini, the victim, residing in Finland, has an account in IDBI Bank, F.C. road branch. His father-in-law was operating the account on his behalf. On Thursday last, he checked the bank account and realised that Rs 11.40 lakh have been withdrawn using an ATM card, which he did not have.

The police said some unidentified person forged Maini’s signatures and opted for an ATM card and a cheque book. He withdrew the money from 15 ATMs located in different parts of the city from April 1 to June 26 this year.

A complaint in this regard was lodged by Dhananjay Prabharkar Lele (42), manager of IDBI bank, Fergusson Road branch with Shivajinagar police station.

Meanwhile on Monday, Maini’s father-in-law gave an application to the police complaining about the callous attitude of the IDBI bank while issuing an ATM card and cheque book without verification. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: If the country wants to exploit the full potential offered by the concept of special economic zones (SEZs), the scheme should be made more flexible in terms of its development and construction aspects, says a recent white paper circulated by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

According to the paper, the challenges in making SEZs a feasible idea go beyond the mere recognition of the zones. Though the broad norms defined for the SEZs are encouraging, the bottlenecks in movement of materials can hamper the construction schedule and, effectively, the implementation process of these zones, it adds.

The challenges go beyond the mere recognition of an SEZ, the paper says, pointing out that the regulatory control over material movement to an SEZ location has been a primary bottleneck for most construction schedule. The lack of permanent supervisory staff and other officials also leads to delays.

Highlighting the drawbacks in the procedure of procurement of goods into SEZs, the paper says the provision of procuring the entire material requirement within a 45-day time limit can prove restrictive if it is delayed for reasons beyond the developer’s control. Another issue is the uncertain presence and irregular availability of officials who monitor the movement of goods, which leads to longer time spent in keeping a rapport with them, the paper points out.

There is a need to simplify the procedure for moving the goods out of the SEZ for repairs or replacement, moving excess goods out for return and also for disposal of debris and scrap, the paper recommends.

“Emulating and replicating a model similar to international trends is not viable from the Indian socio-economic and political perspective. The scene in the international spectrum may be much different from the ground realities in India. Though SEZs operate with liberal policy regimes and as free trade zones, they have to abide by…More

TOI : PUNE: In a rare order, a court here has directed the Deccan Gymkhana police to return a seized Honda City car to a father-son duo named as suspects in a cheating case instead of to the actual owner.

The owner of the car, Satish Agarwal of Erandawane, had lodged a case of cheating against Arun Bhalerao and his son Amol for allegedly taking away his car on March 21 this year on the pretext of showing it to some other person. Following Agarwal’s complaint, the police seized the car.

Agarwal then moved the court to secure possession of the car on the grounds that he was the legal owner. The police and the prosecution too said they had no objection to the car being returned to Agarwal.

However, the Bhaleraos claimed custody of the car and told the court that Agarwal had sold it to them for Rs 2.76 lakh. They said they had made a part payment of Rs 1.76 lakh and that Agarwal had even handed them the vehicle documents. They said Agarwal had also promised to transfer the vehicle in their name after the final payment was made.

The Bhaleraos brought on record that they had issued a notice to Agarwal stating that they were ready to make the full payment and had requested him to transfer the vehicle in their name. They alleged that Agarwal, instead of settling the dispute, had registered a case against them on April 29 — nine days after receiving the notice.

Relying on a Bombay high court ruling, the lawyers for the Bhaleraos — N.D. Patil, Pandit Dhumal and Vijaysinh Thombre — told the court that it was not always necessary that the vehicle in such a case be handed over to the registered owner. They said it was for the court to decide which party had a better right…More

TOI : PUNE: No clear picture has emerged as yet on the applicability and impact of the state government’s latest resolution that calls for ‘normalisation’ of marks to bring the state board students on par with other boards like CBSE and ICSE, for admissions to first year junior college (FYJC, Class XI).

The government resolution (GR), issued on Friday, is spurred by the growing feeling that national boards such as the CBSE and ICSE are more liberal with marks than the state education.

In Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, a total of 50,215 FYJC seats are up for grabs in science, commerce and arts streams and students from the state board are competing with their CBSE and ICSE counterparts. The high scoring pattern this year has only raised the competition bar.

By late Monday evening, as many as 50,623 FYJC forms were sold and more are expected to be sold in the next two days from SP College and the 11 sub-centres for the Centralised Admission Process (CAP).

The state’s GR has added to the curiosity as to how the situation pans out for students from different boards in the city.

According to the scheme detailed by the GR, the percentile score of each student from a particular board would be computed by using a specific formula. So, while the topper at the state board may score less than the ICSE one, the new formula will put both of them on the same platform.

The formula provides that the average of the top 10 scores for a particular board (A) will have to be calculated first. Then the marks scored by a student (M) will be divided by A and then multiplied by 100 to calculate the normalised percentage.

For example: If the average of the top 10 scores for a particular board work out to 95% and a…More

TOI : NASHIK: Three persons were killed near Nashik-Vani road when a speeding car coming from the opposite direction hit them, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sunday night when the victims, Rakesh Khairnar(27), Amol Shinde(32) and Rajendra Gangurde(25), took a halt on the road to fill petrol in the bike in which they were travelling, police said.

Two were killed on the spot by the speeding car whereas the other one died on his way to hospital, they said.

An offence against the car driver has been registered on Sunday night, police added. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: One Nivrutti Dinkar Bhoite (43), a clerk at a school in Kothale village near Jejuri, recently committed suicide by consuming poison. In a suicide note, Bhoite allegedly cited harassment by the school principal as the reason for taking his own life.
The Jejuri police have booked Hoshiram Dhondiba Darekar, principal of Vidya Mahamandal Prashala, for abetting suicide. Darekar is still at large.
According to the police, Bhoite told his wife that he was going to their farm for some work. Bhoite’s relatives later found him lying unconscious in the farm.
He was immediately rushed to a hospital in Jejuri and later shifted to a hospital in Saswad, where he died on Friday.
According to assistant inspector Balasaheb Kondubhairi, a letter found in Bhoite’s pocket cites harassment by Darekar as the reason for committing suicide. “We have booked Darekar for abetting suciide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. He is untraceable,” said Kondubhairi. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has suspended two of its depot managers for alleged dereliction of duty.

The managers facing action are Kailas Gawde of Kothrud depot, and Vijaysinh Pardeshi of Hadapsar depot. The duo has been charged with not running buses as per schedule and failing to deploy drivers and conductors as per their duty timings.
While the action was initiated last Friday, both Gawde and Pardeshi when contacted by TOI had denied that they had been suspended. “An enquiry is on,” is all what Gawde had to say. Pardeshi, when contacted, said that no action has been initiated against him.

But the PMPML managing director Subrao Patil confirmed that the two officers have been suspended. “They were earlier warned to mend their ways but they failed to do so and hence the action,” Patil told TOI.

Asked if showcause notices have been issued to them, Patil said they were directly suspended. “An enquiry would be initiated against them now,” he added. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Baramati Agro Limited announced on Wednesday the launch of its eggs brand N’Rich. The company expects to supply up to 4,000 of these branded eggs every day in various parts of Maharashtra, Rohit Pawar, deputy general manager said.

The company has tied up with DSM Nutritional to supply additional nutritional values through feed to its product, which provides more vitamins than the regular eggs, Pawar said. The company has tied up with retail chains for selling N’Rich eggs, he added.
Pawar indicated the company will soon introduce its branded chicken products as well. “Baramati Agro is already into bulk supply of chicken, having a huge set up in Baramati. At present, the company has only institutional buyers such as hotels and canteens for its chicken business. Now, the company will tap the individual customers through packaged products. The company will also check how ready the market is for vitamin enriched chicken,” Pawar said.

Along with its own set up, Baramati Agro has tied up with many individual poultry owners, who supply eggs to the company. “We have adopted contract farming to generate employment in the rural area. The company will provide the nutrition-rich feed to its suppliers to get the branded eggs, which have at least four per more vitamin content than other eggs,” he said. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More