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TOI : PUNE: The amount of water discharged from the dams in the district was reduced on Tuesday, following a decrease in the rainfall in catchment areas. About 6,225 cusecs of water was released from the Khadakwasla dam on Tuesday, while 15,000 cusecs was discharged from the Mulshi dam.

Residents staying along the banks of the Pavana, Mutha and Mula rivers sensed relief on Tuesday as all the rivers were flowing below the danger mark.

The Khadakwasla and Warasgaon dams were 86% full, while the Panshet dam was 81% full. The Temghar dam had reached its optimum capacity of 2.27 TMC. The Mulshi and Pavana dams have 92% and 85% of water storage respectively.

Rainfall in the catchment areas decreased on Tuesday, with Mulshi recording 59 mm, Khadakwasla, 31mm and Panshet, 60 mm. Velha taluka recorded the highest rainfall of 115 mm.

“The Ujjani dam recorded a storage of up to 20%, with the release of water in the Mula-Mutha in the last couple of days. The water level in Ujjani dam was at a ‘minus’ reading prior to this week,” an official from the irrigation department said.

Three people, cattle rescued
Three people and cattle were rescued in Sambhave village in Mulshi taluka on Monday night. The rescue operation was conducted by local administration with the help of villagers and a boat. “The administration jumped into action immediately, considering the increasing water levels,” Chintamani Joshi, resident district collector, said. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Completion of safety guidelines to get a licence from the police department has become a tough task for the cyber cafe owners of Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) area due to legal complexities in the cantonment laws, claim the owners. The PCB now plans to initiate steps to find an amicable solution to the problem.

“We have been asked to get two clearances from the cantonment board — One is related to health safety and other about building completion certificate—both are difficult to get under the present set of rules,” said Carl Pareira, a cyber cafe owner. Besides they have to complete these formalities in a one month’s time, which makes the problem even more complex. “If we fail to complete documentation work during the said period, technically our business will be illegal,” said Pareira.

According to Rohan Pokale, president of Pune Central cyber cafe association, there are around 800 cafes in the city, out of which 50 are in PCB limits. Each cafe has to produce 13 documents, which means that they have taken care of fire, electrical and other safety measures.

“We are not selling any food items. So we face problem while getting health clearance certificate from the PCB. We want a solution to this legal clause,” said Sameer Phutane.

Vice-president of the PCB Prasad Kedari said, “there is no direct provision in the law for giving health clearance to establishments like cyber cafes, which apparently do not serve food. We will consult the legal department.”

Chief Executive Officer of PCB S.K. Sardana assured that the issue will be taken up in the next general
body meeting.
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TOI : PUNE: A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her relative at Ghorpadi on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident came to light when the victim’s mother found her daughter in a traumatic condition near the house. She then spotted suspect Narendra Prasad (38), of Balajinagar at B.T. Kawade road, trying to flee. She immediately sensed what had happened and raised an alarm. Hearing her cries, the nearby residents caught Prasad and amply thrashed him, before taking him to the Ghorpadi Bazaar chowky. The residents then handed him over to the police, said ACP Ramesh Biwal.

Biwal said the news spread quickly and a large number of people gathered outside the chowky. They demanded that the police hand over the suspect to them. A striking force had to be called to control the mob. Meanwhile, the girl was rushed to a city hospital for medical examination. The victim’s mother has filed a complaint with Hadapsar police station. The suspect, a hawker, is related to the victim.
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TOI : PUNE: Here’s a classic case of why research initiatives at the university and college levels take a backseat when it comes to disbursal of funds for the projects.

Three M.Phil (economics) students from the Ramkrishna More arts, commerce and science college at Akurdi had to endure almost three years of a painstaking followup for securing funds totalling Rs 13.5 lakh, which they were awarded under the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Rajiv Gandhi fellowship for research.

The gap between the award of fellowship and disbursal of funds had nothing to do with availability of money but everything to do with the procedural technicalities involving the UGC and the University of Pune (UoP).

Instead of the college, the UGC ended up forwarding the funds to the UoP and the trio’s struggle to secure the money started then. It took a man-to-man communication between UoP vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav and UGC chief Sukhdev Thorat to get the matter finally resolved, a week ago.

The Rajiv Gandhi fellowship is awarded to scheduled caste (SC) students as a measure to encourage them to pursue research in various subjects.

The three students — Vishal Gaikwad, Sangram Rokade and Ravikiran Marathe — had applied for the fellowship in 2004-05 and their proposals were cleared by the UGC. They even got the sanction letters for the research they had proposed to undertake.

According to their M.Phil professor and guide, Nilesh Dangat, the topics included ‘The leopard menace and its impact on the economy of Junnar taluka’ and ‘Life insurance pattern in Daund taluka’, both in Pune district. Despite the sanction, the trio was not getting the money as the UGC had forwarded it to the UoP. Each time since then, they were given excuses by indifferent babus at the university, who said they will have to consult the UGC on the mode of releasing funds.
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TOI : PUNE: Could there be just 1,200 senior citizens in a city of over 50 lakh? The quintessential question was asked by police chief Satyapal Singh while addressing a senior citizens’ meeting at Shivajinagar police headquarters on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Pune police had initiated a programme where senior citizens staying alone were asked to register themselves with the local police stations. “The city’s population is over 50 lakh. It is not possible that only 1,200 old people live here,’’ Singh said.

Singh informed that these 1,200 names have been forwarded to the International Longitivity Centre (ILC). “The ILC authorities will conduct a survey amongst these 1,200 people and try to understand their problems,’’ he said.

The police had organised a meeting of senior citizens on Tuesday to understand their issues. On one hand, the seniors requested the commissioner to train traffic wardens while on the other hand a group volunteered to streamline traffic during peak hours. Some of them also promised to arrange 500-800 old men who will pitch in to help the staff-crunched police.

“We are overwhelmed by the helping hand extended by the senior citizens, but they should be capable enough to stand at chowks for at least two hours,’’ Singh said. Some people also alleged that policemen guarding chowks and not doing their job with devotion. To this Singh accepted there were certain shortcomings in the police force and they are working to overcome it.

Singh also attacked the Regional Transport Office (RTO) for allegedly ‘selling licences’. “They are not handing over motor licences but giving away ‘licences to kill’,’’ he alleged. Meanwhile, Singh has promised senior citizens that the number of meetings will be increased and organise one at Pimpri-Chinchwad to facilitate senior citizens staying there.
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