News

TOI : PUNE: Forgetting her debit card at an ATM centre cost Supriya Gadekar, who works at KEM hospital, Rs 74,690.

An unidentified person, who took the card from the ICICI bank ATM centre in Rasta Peth on August 16, went on a shopping spree. Two days later, Gadekar received a call from her bank saying that transactions worth Rs 74,690 have taken place on her card. When she checked her bank statements, she found that money has been spent at several shops and petrol pumps. Sub-inspector S D Ghanvat said “We are checking details of who entered the ATM centre after Gadekar left from there. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Unidentified thieves on Thursday morning stole a bag containing Rs. 7.74 lakh from a passenger in a Karnataka state transport bus at the Swargate ST stand.

A complaint in the matter has been lodged by Phulayya Rahmyya Fatur (49), an edible oil trader from Andhra Pradesh, at the Swargate police station.

According to sub-inspector S G Korde, Fatur supplies edible oil to merchants in the city and had come to Pune on Wednesday to recover dues. On Thursday, he boarded a Pune-Saundatti bus of the Karnataka state transport service at the Swargate ST stand. He kept a bag containing the recovered dues of Rs 7.74 lakh under the seat and got off the bus. When he returned five minutes later, the bag was missing, Korde said. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Local Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials on Friday said the city had become a centre for logistical support for Students of Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists. This was probably the reason why Pune was never targeted in any of the terror attacks, they added.

This was revealed after five people from the city, with alleged SIMI links, were arrested last week. The ATS has so far arrested Ayaz Khan, Nadeem Shaikh, Imtiyaz Babamiyan Shaikh and Feroz Pathan, while the Gujarat ATS detained a man teaching dentistry in a Pune college.

The ATS suspects that the group had been conducting meetings regularly.

Following the arrest of Feroz Pathan, the Pune ATS chief, inspector Peter Lobo, said they were trying to ascertain his role in the Ahemadabad blasts. “We have recovered around 40 books of Jehadi literature. Investigations are on to ascertain whether Pathan was providing such literature to ‘jehadis’ in the city,” Lobo said.

The ATS officials said that the SIMI groups in Pune suddenly came into focus for providing vital logistical support for terror activities in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. “Though Pune is an IT hub, it was never attacked because it was a strong SIMI logistics base,” the officials said.

The city’s strategic location and communication infrastructure has proven to be a boon for such activities. The
officials said that jihadi training has gained grounds in the city since 2005. They declined to comment further on the pattern of such training activities, but said that more and more educated youths are falling prey to this ideology. Officials further added that Bilal and Nadeem had taken rounds of city to ascertain the location of Information Technology centres in the city. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: In two separate mishaps in which the best and worst of human nature was exhibited, a truck driver fled after running over a labourer and another took the injured victim to hospital, who was declared dead on arrival, and chose to get arrested.

A senior citizen was hit by a truck near Dange chowk at Chinchwad on Thursday afternoon.

Truck driver Ram Kannam (30) from Karnataka quickly took the victim to a nearby hospital, the police said. The victim was, however, announced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Kannam was arrested and booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and rash driving against.

In the other incident, an unidentified truck hit three labourers who were cleaning the westerly bypass on Friday afternoon. According to the Warje police, the truck, apparently filled with sand, sped past the injured labourers after one of them came under its wheels and the other two lay injured.

The deceased was identified as Sunil Gole (32) from Purandar taluka. The injured, Kantilal Khomne (65) and Mohan Jadhav (30), both from the same taluka, were admitted to the Sassoon hospital, said sub-inspector K.M. Pujari. They were reportedly out of danger.

Pujari said, “The contractor had put indicators and signboards showing details of work. However, the truck driver did not pay heed to the indicators.” Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Disc jockey (DJ) Priya Diwanji (33) was killed and her friend Neha Arun Jugadar (23) seriously injured when their car hit the North Main Road divider in Koregaon Park late on Thursday night.

Diwanji, a resident of Woodland society in Kothrud, and Jugdar of Model Colony were proceeding home, when Jugadar lost control over the vehicle and hit the road divider in front of German Bakery at 12.40 am.

Local residents and the police took the women to a private hospital, where Priya was declared dead on arrival. Jugadar was admitted to the intensive care unit.

The Bund Garden police have booked Jugadar for rash and negligent driving and causing death.

Speaking to TOI, Dhananjay Diwanji said his wife Priya and Neha had gone to Kalyaninagar to attend a function with some friends on Thursday evening. The accident happened when the two were returning home. “According to local residents, Neha lost control over the vehicle when a speeding car came from the opposite direction,” he said.

Diwanji, who is a consultant with a software firm in Pune, said he moved to Pune with Priya four years ago. He claimed that Priya was Bangalore’s first-ever woman DJ. Currently, she was working as a DJ in the Aqua Lounge of the Jafran group of hotels at Panchasheel Towers on the Lohegaon airport road, he added.

Priya is survived by a son and a daughter. Neha works in the H2O beauty parlour in Koregaon Park, the police said. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: The Union government’s recent announcement on clearing the backlog of applications for domestic LPG connections provided a big relief for thousands of citizens. Over 24,000 applications for new LPG connections are pending in the district as the process has been halted for the past two months.

“With the non-availability of new cylinders and equipment for the past three-four months, we are unable to cater to the demand of new connections ,” officials of oil companies told TOI. However, “we are expecting a fast increase in cylinder supply in the near future with the announcement of the Union government on reducing the backlog of LPG connections in two months,” officials added.

Stating that the backlog has gone up by over 20,000 in the district in the last two months, J. Vedgiri of BPCL, said, “As the supply of cylinders and equipment has not been increased, we are not meeting the demand for new connections. The purchase orders for new cylinders have already been placed. We expect the increased quota in a couple of months.”

“However, since the decision to reduce the backlog has been taken only two days ago, we are yet to receive any formal communication regarding this from the company’s higher authorities. The decision would prove useful in bringing down the backlog,” Vedgiri said.

“The process for registering for new LPG connection is underway at the dealers. However, new allotments have been stopped. The company is receiving over 9,000 registrations per month,” the official said. “We distribute over 30,000 cylinders in the city to meet the regular demand,” he added.

Vedgiri said that the city was getting the normal supply of LPG cylinders for the existing connections city. “No pendency is registered at any of our dealers as the company is meeting the daily demand. The company has doubled the capacity of the refilling plant to 1.2…More

TOI : PUNE: Inspired by the lush green Mughal gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi and at Agra and Srinagar, Pune is set to have its very own Mughal garden at the PL Deshpande garden on Sinhagad road. This will be the first of its kind in Maharashtra.

The Mughal garden will be developed on a four-acre land in typical Mughal style complete with lawns, water bodies, fountains, terrace lawns and walk ways.

Speaking to TOI, garden department chief Yashwant Khaire said that the standing committee has approved the proposal to develop the garden and work will begin soon.

“The garden will be developed in four stages. There will space for water channels from the centre which will have fountains throughout. The pathways will be made of red Agra stone,” Khaire said.

He said that one completion, the garden is expected to be one of the major attractions for visitors in Pune city.

Shobha Bhopatkar, in-charge of landscaping and architecture said that garden will be based on such gardens in other parts of the country. She said out that a study was conducted to understand the kind of material used and the elevation levels in other gardens.

“Mughal gardens usually follow a typical pattern with water cascades and high level terraces. The style will be followed here too and will also have lawns on all sides. A sit out in the Mughal style with pavilions, columns, arches and domes will be developed,” Bhopatkar said.

The Mughal garden will be part of the 30-acre PL Deshpande garden, which also houses a Japanese garden on 10 acres. Rupees 2 crores have been set aside in the municipal budget towards this project.

The remaining land will later be developed into a heritage village and Shilpagram in stages.

Khaire said the PMC plans to develop gardens…More

TOI : PUNE: The Union government’s recent announcement on clearing the backlog of applications for domestic LPG connections provided a big relief for thousands of citizens. Over 24,000 applications for new LPG connections are pending in the district as the process has been halted for the past two months.

“With the non-availability of new cylinders and equipment for the past three-four months, we are unable to cater to the demand of new connections ,” officials of oil companies told TOI. However, “we are expecting a fast increase in cylinder supply in the near future with the announcement of the Union government on reducing the backlog of LPG connections in two months,” officials added.

Stating that the backlog has gone up by over 20,000 in the district in the last two months, J. Vedgiri of BPCL, said, “As the supply of cylinders and equipment has not been increased, we are not meeting the demand for new connections. The purchase orders for new cylinders have already been placed. We expect the increased quota in a couple of months.”

“However, since the decision to reduce the backlog has been taken only two days ago, we are yet to receive any formal communication regarding this from the company’s higher authorities. The decision would prove useful in bringing down the backlog,” Vedgiri said.

“The process for registering for new LPG connection is underway at the dealers. However, new allotments have been stopped. The company is receiving over 9,000 registrations per month,” the official said. “We distribute over 30,000 cylinders in the city to meet the regular demand,” he added.

Vedgiri said that the city was getting the normal supply of LPG cylinders for the existing connections city. “No pendency is registered at any of our dealers as the company is meeting the daily demand. The company has doubled the capacity of the refilling plant to 1.2…More

TOI : PUNE: Inspired by the lush green Mughal gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi and at Agra and Srinagar, Pune is set to have its very own Mughal garden at the PL Deshpande garden on Sinhagad road. This will be the first of its kind in Maharashtra.

The Mughal garden will be developed on a four-acre land in typical Mughal style complete with lawns, water bodies, fountains, terrace lawns and walk ways.

Speaking to TOI, garden department chief Yashwant Khaire said that the standing committee has approved the proposal to develop the garden and work will begin soon.

“The garden will be developed in four stages. There will space for water channels from the centre which will have fountains throughout. The pathways will be made of red Agra stone,” Khaire said.

He said that one completion, the garden is expected to be one of the major attractions for visitors in Pune city.

Shobha Bhopatkar, in-charge of landscaping and architecture said that garden will be based on such gardens in other parts of the country. She said out that a study was conducted to understand the kind of material used and the elevation levels in other gardens.

“Mughal gardens usually follow a typical pattern with water cascades and high level terraces. The style will be followed here too and will also have lawns on all sides. A sit out in the Mughal style with pavilions, columns, arches and domes will be developed,” Bhopatkar said.

The Mughal garden will be part of the 30-acre PL Deshpande garden, which also houses a Japanese garden on 10 acres. Rupees 2 crores have been set aside in the municipal budget towards this project.

The remaining land will later be developed into a heritage village and Shilpagram in stages.

Khaire said the PMC plans to develop gardens…More

TOI : PUNE: The Union government’s recent announcement on clearing the backlog of applications for domestic LPG connections provided a big relief for thousands of citizens. Over 24,000 applications for new LPG connections are pending in the district as the process has been halted for the past two months.

“With the non-availability of new cylinders and equipment for the past three-four months, we are unable to cater to the demand of new connections ,” officials of oil companies told TOI. However, “we are expecting a fast increase in cylinder supply in the near future with the announcement of the Union government on reducing the backlog of LPG connections in two months,” officials added.

Stating that the backlog has gone up by over 20,000 in the district in the last two months, J. Vedgiri of BPCL, said, “As the supply of cylinders and equipment has not been increased, we are not meeting the demand for new connections. The purchase orders for new cylinders have already been placed. We expect the increased quota in a couple of months.”

“However, since the decision to reduce the backlog has been taken only two days ago, we are yet to receive any formal communication regarding this from the company’s higher authorities. The decision would prove useful in bringing down the backlog,” Vedgiri said.

“The process for registering for new LPG connection is underway at the dealers. However, new allotments have been stopped. The company is receiving over 9,000 registrations per month,” the official said. “We distribute over 30,000 cylinders in the city to meet the regular demand,” he added.

Vedgiri said that the city was getting the normal supply of LPG cylinders for the existing connections city. “No pendency is registered at any of our dealers as the company is meeting the daily demand. The company has doubled the capacity of the refilling plant to 1.2…More