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TOI : PUNE: Little Aurmaan holds up his hands even as Barney the friendly dinosaur shows him how to count. While the video plays, mummy Abhradita Nahvi is at the computer doing her own maths – namely an estimate of how much it will take to ensure him a decent sum when he completes his std XII. Aurmaan is all of two.

With higher education getting more and more expensive, planning for the children’s education is no longer an easy task. And the earlier you start, the smarter it is.

The Nahvis, for instance, have availed of a child-centric scheme that assures Aurmaan a sum of Rs 5 lakh apart from other benefits, depending upon the market. “I would estimate another Rs 8 to 10 lakh as bonus,” says Abhradita. “Whatever other investment targets we meet or don’t, Aurmaan’s nest egg is non-negotiable,” she says, adding “Obviously, we don’t know what profession he’s going to take up, but he must have various options available when he finishes his HSC.”

Banking professional Rohit Naik says that of the 25-odd customers who come to him for financial advice every month, 75 per cent are in the 25-35 years age group. “Almost everyone wants advice on how to plan for their kids. Some start even before the kids are born,” says he.

Here’s why: Unlike their parents’ generation, today’s working couple is confronted with a whopping inflation rate. “Earlier, inflation grew at a rate of 3 to 4 per cent per annum. This year, inflation crossed the 11 per cent mark. And the average for the last five years is 8.5 per cent,” says he.

Chiradeep Bhattacharya, senior business manager with a leading insurance player, says that their child-centric schemes account for about 8 per cent of their total business. “But it is growing every day. And the simple rule of thumb is that…More

TOI : PUNE: Even as the city reeled under seven hours of load-shedding on Sunday, there will be no respite from the long power cuts on Monday as well as in the near future.

Residents in Kalyaninagar and Vimannagar were the worst-hit on Sunday as a major breakdown in feeder lines resulted in a blackout right from 9.30 am till well after 8 pm. These areas were scheduled to have power cuts for 7.15 hours.

The situation looks grim even for Monday as Tata Power Trading Company Ltd will not supply even an iota of additional power to the city.

State energy minister Dilip Walse-Patil and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) managing director Ajay Bhushan Pandey told reporters on Sunday that power was available at the Indian Energy Exchange only at the rate of Rs 10 per unit. “Since the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Merc) has fixed Rs 8.54 per unit as the rate for buying additional power for the city, we cannot buy additional power to prevent load-shedding,” Walse-Patil said.

The minister said that if Puneites were willing to buy additional power at the inflated rate of Rs 10 per unit, the MSEDCL, in consultation with the Confederation of Indian Industry and NGO Prayas, were willing to submit a revised proposal to Merc so that load-shedding can be prevented.

Walse-Patil also cited shortage of coal as the reason for the city’s power woes. “Due to the shortage of coal, the thermal power generation of the Maharashtra generation company has reduced by 20 per cent. We have written to Union energy minister Sushilkumar Shinde requesting him to supply coal to the government-run generation units on priority,” the minister said. He alleged that private power companies have bought coal in bulk and were using it to generate costly power.

MSEDCL officials in Mumbai told TOI that after the…More

TOI : PUNE: The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has decided to revive its system of a prepaid auto rickshaw services at Shivajinangar, Swargate and Pune Station ST stands. The RTA has also decided to have rickshaw stands at most chowks on Laxmi road.

The decision was announced at a meeting by the Pune internal transport committee on Thursday. The meeting was presided over by Manoj Patil, deputy commissioner of police (transport). Representatives of various transport organisations were present at the meeting.

Baba Shinde, member of the RTA said, “The prepaid booth service will be managed by ex-servicemen organisations and NGOs and it will be monitored by the traffic police. Tenders for this have been called. A service charge of Rs 1 for every auto rickshaw will be given to the managing organisation. In the first phase of the revival, the service will be implemented at Shivajinagar, Swargate and Pune Station.”

Stating that at present there were hardly any prepaid services, Shinde said, “The decision to revive the service has been taken considering its benefits to commuters”.

“Many places used to have prepaid services. However, they failed, largely due to mismanagement of the service,” Shinde said. “Now with separate organisations managing the services and being monitored by the traffic police, we hope things will improve,” he added.

The RTA has also decided upon places for rickshaw stands on Laxmi road, where auto rickshaws can halt. This will reduce the private traffic on the road. Of late, the road has been overburdened with private vehicles. Each chowk will have 3 to 5 stands.

Shinde said rickshaw drivers in the city would soon undergo awareness sessions. The sessions will be conducted by the traffic police and the RTO. The drive has been initiated considering the rising number of complaints against rickshaw drivers. B…More

TOI : PUNE: Two techies, including a woman, lost their lives after their speeding car rammed into a car and then collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction on Saturday afternoon.

The incident occurred around 12.30 pm on the Mumbai-Bangalore highway near Patilnagar on Saturday.
The deceased were identified as Babasaheb Bhosale (26), a resident of Nath society, Balajinagar in Dhankawdi. Bhosale, the son of a retired police officer, was working in a software company.

His friend Manjusha Patekar (26) of Kumar Prangan in Kothrud was working in a Hadapsar-based company.

Police sub-inspector Sandip Patil, of the Hinjewadi police station, said that Bhosale and Patekar were on their way to Balajinagar. When they were near Patilnagar the car’s rear tyre burst and Bhosale, who was driving, lost control over the vehicle. It hit another car hit the divider, skidded to the opposite side of the highway and collided head-on with a truck which was going towards Hinjewadi, Patil said.

He added that the duo died on the spot. It took the police an hour to remove the bodies from the mangled remains of the car. The traffic was thrown out of gear for a few hours after the
accident, he said. B…More

TOI : PUNE: As many as 15 employees, including officers, of Greaves Cotton Limited and the Premium Energy Transmission Unit at Akurdi, were hospitalised after suspected food poisoning on Friday. The employees reportedly consumed ‘poha’ (puffed rice) provided at the office canteen.

The employees suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea. Doctors at the Lokmanya hospital in Nigdi said on Sunday that the patients are out of danger. “The employees started getting ill after eating the breakfast in the canteen. They were first treated by the doctors at the company. When they did not improve, they were moved here,” said Parag Modak of the Lokmanya hospital. He added that more than 50 people are likely to have consumed the breakfast on Friday.

Dinesh Shaligram, personnel manager of Greaves Cotton Limited and the Premium Energy Transmission Unit said, “Everyone in the company, including me had the ‘poha’ on Friday. But, I am fine. Thus, this may not be a case of food poisoning. We are trying to find out
exactly what happened.” B…More