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TOI : PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has got the green signal to take a loan of Rs 76 crore from the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) for completing important projects, including roads, that have come to a standstill due to lack of funds.

The standing committee on Tuesday unanimously approved the municipal commissioner’s proposal seeking permission for the loan at the rate of 10 per cent.

Commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi said the general body (GB) was neither approving a proposal to cut allocation for some works by 17 per cent nor reducing the number of additional projects.

“The expenditure has crossed Rs 1,000 crore. There is a provision for development works but there are no funds. We have found that major ongoing works like sewage treatment plants (STP), water treatment plants and roads will take two-three years for completion as per the current budgetary provision. Hence, additional money is needed so that these projects are completed within three-four months,” he said.

“I am forwarding this (loan) proposal in hurry as the rates of cement and steel have come down, and according to engineering department officials, pending works should be completed soon”.

Speaking to reporters later, the civic chief said major works like Mundhwa road, North Main, NDA-Bavdhan, Sinhagad and Paud road need to be completed soon. Besides, the work on Holkar and Pune Cantonment water works is pending due to shortage of funds. Work on the Vitthalwadi STP and Naidu STP has also not been completed, he added.

Pardeshi said that of the about 700 MLD sewage water, only 305 MLD is treated, which is posing a threat to rivers. “We need about Rs 100 crore for immediate completion of these works. We’ll take a loan of Rs 76 crore and make internal provision of Rs 25 crore for completion of these projects. We will make a bigger provision…More

TOI : PUNE: The global economic crisis is making its impact felt in every sphere with the tourism sector being the latest victim. Tour operators in the city reported a 20 to 30 per cent drop in number of tours this year. Besides slowdown, reasons like postponement of examinations to after Diwali have also had its effect on the business this year.

Sunil Dhus of Prasanna Tours said, “There has been a marked decrease in people travelling this season. The economic slowdown is the biggest culprit as more and more customers are opting for domestic tours as compared to international packages.” Another reason, Dhus says, was delay in examinations. “Diwali being a major season for us. This postponement had families either cancelling their holiday plans or making them shorter,” he added.

Manager of Kesari Tours Sandeep Joshi echoed similar views citing at least 20 per cent drop in business. “Dollar price has gone up and that is the reason why people do not have places like Europe and the US on their itinerary. Places close by like Thailand or Malaysia are preferred now,” he said. As for India, it is hill stations like Manali, Darjeeling, Ooty and places like Goa that are topping the list which is the case every year.

Pranav Chaudhary involved in the business of exporting goods, spoke about some grand plans he had made of visiting the US and especially Disneyland this year. His six year old daughter was all charged up for the same. “This was not our first trip to the US. We have been there a couple of times earlier, but this year was special because our daughter is old enough to enjoy Disneyland. Though we can well afford to go there, we feel that we would be able to spend more money and less time there when compared to another country in Asia where we might spend…More

TOI : PUNE: Special Judge R Y Shaikh on Tuesday sentenced sub-engineer Ramker Shatraghan Sehgal (54) of the Talegaon sub-division of the state power utility to one year rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 for demanding a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a man for installing electricity supply at his bungalow at Khunenama village in Lonavla in 2004.

Additional public prosecutor Vijay Hole said that Shamrao Prabhavalkar of Mumbai had applied for electricity connection at his newly-constructed bungalow on November 4, 2004. Even though Prabhavalkar complied with all the requirements for obtaining a connection and made repeated rounds of the electricity office, Sehgal did not forward his application to the superiors. He demanded a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Prabhavalkar for doing the needful.

Prabhavalkar lodged a complaint under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The officials of the anti-corruption bureau, Pune, laid a trap and caught Sehgal while accepting the bribe.

Hole, who examined four witnesses, argued that the accused had accepted the bribe and the documents seized by the bureau reveals that he did forward the application to his superiors for obtaining sanction. The prosecutor termed the act of the accused — demanding bribe — as intentional. B…More

TOI : PUNE: The Hadapsar police have booked five unidentified dacoits for allegedly robbing gold ornaments worth Rs 9.59 lakh from a courier man near Hadapsar in the wee hours of Tuesday. A complaint in this regard has been filed by Champalal Chunilal Jain (45), a resident of Dongri in Mumbai.

Sub-inspector M M Sanadi of Hadapsar police station, said, “Jain delivers gold ornaments manufactured in Mumbai to jewellers in Latur and Udgir. He was carrying the gold ornaments, which were to be delivered to jewellers in Latur and Udgir.

He boarded an ST bus from Mumbai Central for Panvel on Monday night, from where he came to Pune in a jeep. The jeep driver dropped him at Hadapsar around 2.30 am on Tuesday. As he was waiting at the spot to catch another vehicle for Latur, an Indica car with five people approached him offering a lift till Udgir. But instead of taking him to Udgir, the occupants in the car took Jain to a secluded spot in Hadapsar Malwadi where they forcibly took the ornaments from him and fled.

The police suspect that the robbers were in the know of the gold being carried and may have followed Jain from Mumbai. Deputy commissioner of police Jalindar Supekar and assistant commissioner of police Ramesh Biwal visited the spot.

The Hadapsar police have registered a case of dacoity under sections 395 and 506-1 of the Indian Penal Code against the five unknown accused. The crime branch of Pune is also investigating the case. B…More

TOI : PUNE: A 19-year-old college student is suspected to have died of drug overdose at an apartment on Mula road in Khadki on Sunday.

The deceased, Ankit Sharma (19), was a resident of Vimannagar and hailed from Delhi. The Khadki police have recovered two syringes and burnt silver foil from the spot. Senior PI Ashok Shejal said, “Ankit was a third year BBA student at the Wadia college and was staying with his friend Hrishabh Sachdeo.”

Ankit’s exams concluded on November 7. On Saturday, Ankit and Hrishabh went to their friend Mohit Grover’s flat in Khadki. They were joined by another friend Harsh Verma. They had liquor and smoked cigarettes. All of them except Hrishabh consumed drugs. Later, they had dinner and slept at the same place.

“On Saturday all of them except Ankit woke up at 12.30 in the afternoon. They tried to wake him up but he did not respond. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival,” Shejal said. Vimannagar police recorded statements of his friends and the case was handed over to Khadki police. “Our team recorded the statements of the all the three who were present at the flat on Saturday,” Shejal said.

“We found that Harsh had brought the contrabands from Koregaon Park for Rs 100. He had contacted the drug-peddler on a number which he got from his friend in Delhi. Harsh also revealed that Ankit had taken large quantity of drugs in the party,” he said. “We searched the flat where the party was organised and found two syringes and burnt silver foil which were used for making the drugs. We tried to contact the peddler on his mobile and laid a trap at Koregaon Park, but couldn’t succeed.”

The exact reason of the death of Ankit is not known as the viscera is kept with…More