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TOI : PUNE: Ex employees of Garware Nylons company in Pimpri, who had won a bid in a public auction in February to take over possession of nine acres of land belonging to the company’s closed unit in Ahmednagar, now have 15 days time to deposit the remaining Rs 4.5 crore amount as cost of the land. During the hearing of a special leave petition in the Supreme Court on Monday, the workers were told to deposit the amount within 15 days with the Bombay High Court.

Meanwhile, the workers demanded that they be compensated for the theft at the site in Ahmednagar. They claimed that property such as steel angles, old doors, light fittings, doors and windows has been stolen over the past six months since the land was auctioned. According to the workers, the liquidator appointed by the high court had refuted that there was a theft at the site.

The 210 workers of the company represented by civic activists group, Common People’s Front, made history when they participated in a high court-directed auction in February and placed a successful bid of Rs 6.01 crore for taking over the company land in Ahmednagar. The company, with its production facilities in Pimpri, Ahmednagar and Sarola, had closed down on August 28, 1996.

Dominic Lobo, president of the Common People’s Front, told TOI that the workers have withdrawn the special leave petition filed in the Supreme Court to challenge the liquidator’s report that there had been no theft at the site. Lobo said the workers would continue to pursue the case in the high court and demand compensation for the theft and other losses suffered during the last six months. The case would come up for hearing in the high court on Thursday.

According to Lobo, the workers have deposited an amount of Rs 1.5 crore as cost of the land. They have…More

TOI : PUNE: A total of 51 school-children from the district underwent heart operations at a cost of Rs 48 lakh under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the 2007-’08 academic year.

State public health minister Vimal Mundada revealed these figures during her visit to the city on Monday to felicitate the beneficiaries.

The operations were carried out using a Rs 70-lakh fund set up for the treatment of children with heart ailments under the NRHM. Of the 51 children who underwent the operations, 27 were girls.

A total of 80 children in the district were found to have heart problems during health check-ups conducted in the 2007-2008 academic year. The check-ups were a part of the school health programme run by the state public health department.

As many as 2,80,889 children from 3,698 schools in the district underwent the check-ups last year. The school health programme is run across the state in various Zilla Parishad, residential, aided and non-aided schools, as also schools for physically challenged children.

The programme will be carried out on a five-year basis. Each child will be given a health chart to record health-related details.

Mundada said that in the current academic year, till July-end, over five lakh children from 3,327 schools underwent the health check-ups.

A total of 180 children underwent operations of various kinds in the state at cost of Rs 2.66 crore in the year 2007-08 under the NRHM, she stated.

The Rs 25-crore funds allocated by the Union government for the project for the current year will be used for children who need to undergo operations of any kind on a priority basis, the minister further said. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), one of the oldest institutions offering courses and research in economics, has put up a proposal of Rs 25 crore grant with the University Grants Commission (UGC) for expansion under the 11th five-year plan.

Speaking to TOI, joint director of GIPE Rajas Parchure said expansions would be focused on two key areas. “We have a masters course in economics and doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D) courses, but we do not really offer specialisations. The masters programme was designed years ago and needs to change,” Parchure said.

Besides with rapid industrialisation, there is a demand for specialists in each area and this being a premiere institute for economics, the courses must match the demands, he added.

Initially, the Institute will introduce specialised courses in financial and agricultural economics, in the first two years. Later, it will also look at international economics and pure economics theory as specialisations.
These courses are directly required by the industry today and students opting for these will be greatly benefited as professionals.

In 1962, the UGC had recognised the institute as a centre of advanced study in agricultural economics. Later, in 1964, the institute was developed as a centre of advanced study in economics.
In 1993, keeping in view its professional standing and scope for further development, the Government of India declared GIPE as ‘Deemed to be a University’. The UGC team will visit the Gokhale institute campus in the first week of September.

Parchure added, “GIPE began as a research institute and, later, we added academic programmes. We cannot continue the same academic programme for years, especially since we are a deemed university. We should have several programmes because of this and that’s one reason why we want to expand.”

Besides the courses, the Institute will need infrastruture developments. Moreover, a new…More

TOI : PUNE: In a major relief for citizens, a significant breakthrough was achieved on Monday during a meeting held to discuss the future of load-shedding in Pune, when the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) agreed to allow Tata Power Trading Company Ltd (TPTCL) to buy additional power for Pune on ‘day ahead’ basis.

The decision will pave the way for restoring the zero load-shedding model, which was first stopped on July 15 due to power crunch owing to the extended break in monsoon and later from August 20, after the MSEDCL refused to accept the additional power secured through the energy exchange on day ahead basis by the TPTCL.

Power will now be bought by the TPTCL through the Indian Energy Exchange, exclusively for Pune, Thane and Navi Mumbai, and not by ‘depriving’ any other region of their share of power from the state grid, as was being claimed by certain quarters in the state. It may be noted that Puneites are paying a reliability charge of 49 paise per unit to make the power purchase possible. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: In a major boost to the ambitious Pune metro rail project, the state government has agreed in principle to allow the use of additional floor space index (FSI) for the first phase of the metro route, to raise funds for the speedy implementation of the project.

The civic body has estimated that funds to the tune of Rs 2,600 crore could be raised through the additional FSI, while more funds could be raised through private players.

At a high-level meeting held in Mumbai on Monday, which was attended by chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, Pune’s guardian minister Ajit Pawar and top state officials, including Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioners and state urban development department officials, various issues relating to city’s traffic and transportation were discussed.

Speaking to TOI, T C Benjamin, principal secretary, state urban development department, said the government had agreed in principle to offer additional FSI in station areas for the project.

“In an effort to raise funds for the project, the civic body had suggested the option of additional FSI. The state government has now asked the Pune Municipal Corporation to submit a proposal for the same,” Benjamin said. To facilitate the land acquisition process for the ring-road project, the state has agreed to go for additional FSI as well, he added. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : Increasing incidents of suicides in the city is a cause for concern. But more worrying is the rise in the number of well-educated youngsters taking the extreme step. After two deaths on Friday, the number of suicides in the last two weeks stands at seven, including two software engineers.

According to the Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB), as many as 529 people committed suicide in the city last year. Comparatively, 582 and 506 cases were reported in 2006 and 2005 respectively.

The PCB annual survey for 2007 says that around 161 took the extreme step due to family problems, 116 due to prolonged illness, 33 due to mental disturbance, 25 due to drug addiction, 16 due to unemployment and 14 following failed love relationships. Meanwhile, reasons like sudden change in economic conditions, marital problems and children related problems too played a role in certain cases.

The incidents of suicides due to drug addiction and unemployment dropped in 2007 as compared to the previous year. In 2006, around 23 people committed suicide due to unemployment, which came down to 16 in 2007. Similarly, people committing suicide due to drug addiction went down from 33 in 2006 to 25 in 2007.

However, the present trend shows that even the educated are opting for the easy way out, police officials said. “In 1999, on our records, around 400 people had committed suicide. A large number of them came from lower income groups. Now, even educated youngsters are taking the last recourse,” the officials added.

The recent death of two software professionals is an indicator of the changing trend. Sandip Shelke, a techie with Persistent Systems, ended his life by jumping from the seventh floor of the office building on August 6, citing his inability to cope with work pressure.

What baffles the police is that the CCTV images before his…More

TOI : Smoking is one of the toughest addictions to break. For this reason, here’s a method for smoking cessation. This will allow you to free yourself from the types of mental distortions that fuel addiction to smoking, like:

Low self-esteem which can breed ambivalence about living Anxiety or depression resulting from too much sacrifice, stress, grief or abuse Excessive demands for work and chronic fatigue typical for the working parent Before you begin you will need to make three lists. In the first, list the things you think you are getting out of smoking. Is it compensating for underlying depression or anxiety? Do you use it to block stress or pain or keep yourself awake? In the second, list all the ways in which your life would be better if you didn’t smoke. In the third, list all your behaviour connected to smoking: do you smoke at certain times of the day, on breaks from work. To use this method, turn off the phone, sit back, close your eyes, and begin to monitor your breath. Count backwards from 10 to 1. Then, take 3 minutes to imagine a warm, relaxing feeling flowing in through the tips of your toes. Then meditate for 5 minutes. Now, recall the items in your first list and think about what it is you are blocking by smoking, then spend 5 minutes thinking about more constructive ways to deal with your needs. Next, spend 5 minutes imagining how your life would be better if you didn’t smoke . Next, think of all your behaviour that is connected to smoking and for each behaviour, think of something that isn’t harmful and that you can substitute for smoking. Lastly, spend several minutes just imagining how good you’re going to feel when you no longer smoke. Then count yourself up from 1 to 5 and open your eyes. Do this daily until you haven’t smoked for…More

TOI : If Mumbai has the Queen’s Necklace to brighten up the evening, our city too has its own glitter quotient, at Laxmi road. Forget special occasions like Diwali or Ganapati, this historic, regal and resplendent street in the middle of the old city invites shoppers from all parts of the city throughout the year.

For proverbial shoppers, this is the one-stop destination where you can bargain for anything, from clothes and footwear to jewellery. Most shops here have a brand-new swanky look, blame it to the rising ‘mall culture’. But frankly, the shops here need not worry about the ‘mall mechanics’, they have their base of loyal customers from across classes who wouldn’t shop anywhere but on Laxmi road.

“It’s a nostalgic feeling. This is one place we have been visiting since our childhood. It not only makes up for a great shopping experience, but it’s also a way to relive old memories,” says homemaker Janaki Dave.

The market or rather the row of shops on either sides of the road, is said to be more than 70 years old. According to the book, ‘Pune Itihaas Darshan’ , during the time of the Peshwas, the market was located on Kasba Peth. It was later moved to Budhwar Peth and then to Laxmi road in 1940.

But historian Mandar Lavate bags to differ. So does Fatehchand Ranka, president of the Pune Saraf Association and a jeweller. “Laxmi road was conceptualised and planned by a prominent citizen, Diwan Bahadur Godbole, in 1912, which was finally completed in 1952. This happens to be the same road that we use today. As for the shops, some were located there even before the road was named Laxmi road. More shops began to appear in the later years, whereas some shops are quite recent constructions,” says Lavate. The road was named after the goddess of wealth, as the…More

TOI : PUNE: Team Kotak Mahindra Bank, comprising Ashit Sharma and Samrat Mukherjee, emerged champions at the fifth edition of Tata Crucible 2008 Business Quiz, held in Pune. The quiz was held at the Taj Blue Diamond hotel on Sunday.

Kotak Mahindra beat six finalists — Infosys, ZS Associates, IBM India, Cognizant Technology Solutions — to win a cash prize a cash prize of Rs 75,000. Team BMC Software, comprising B.V. Harish Kumar and Shubhadeep Mukherjee emerged runner up and walked away with a cash prize of Rs 35,000.

The quiz was conducted by ace quizmaster Giri Balasubramaniam aka Pickbrain. The winning team will now compete with the regional winners from 15 other cities at the national final to be held by the end of September.

The quiz that was conducted in five rounds saw a sizeable turnout from city-based corporates. By the end of fourth round Kotak was leading comfortably with 50 points. It was a close fight between Infosys and BMC for the second spot.

Winning the regional round, Sharma said, “We had heard that the Tata Crucible Quiz is the toughest and the most exciting business quiz. Today, winning the regional round of the quiz is a proud moment for us. We are looking forward to the national finals.”

The Tata Crucible Quiz was presented in a new avtar this year. The concept of ‘nano quizzing’ was introduced for the first time which pertained to a new round called ‘Nano Words’ that provided the team with a couple of clues to arrive at the final answer.
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TOI : PUNE: It was two years ago that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) constructed a vegetable market at Dahanukar colony, but till date no vendor has been moved to the market. They continue to do business on road-sides.

Another vegetable market constructed by the PMC opposite Gandhi lawns in Kothrud remains underutilised and there is only one vegetable vendor occupying it. The market which can cater to 25 vendors wears an empty look even as vendors are seen selling vegetables and fruits on footpaths. While on one hand the PMC is undertaking anti-encroachment drives to shift hawkers from footpaths assuring that they would be relocated to markets, on the other hand the markets that are ready for use remain empty.

“It would be great if the vegetable vendors are shifted here as we could shop for everything under one roof. Moreover, the nuisance caused by hand-carts and vendors on the roads can also be done away with. But it seems the PMC is not serious about relocating them,” Manasi Dixit, a resident of Dahanukar colony, said.

Speaking to TOI, Warje-Karvenagar ward officer Sunil Gaikwad said that although the market is ready, the PMC is still in the process of completing the civil works.

“We were to provide facilities like lighting and water supply which have now been completed. Currently, we are identifying licensed vegetable vendors operating in the area who will be shifted to the new market soon,” Gaikwad said.
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