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TOI : PUNE: Four-year-old Rama Subhash Kusale drowned, while 12-year-old boy Sanjay Ramlal Pawar (12) also feared dead after they fell in a pond near a garbage depot at Moshi on Monday afternoon. The fire brigade fished out the body of Rama from the pond. Rama and Sanjay, both are from Adarshnagar, Moshi.

According to the police, the parents of Rama and Sanjay work at a stone quarry at Moshi. They hail from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. The kids used to go the garbage depot everyday for playing and collecting garbage.

The police said, on Monday afternoon the duo were searching for pebbles near the pond. Accidentally, both of them fell in the pond. Some other children who were around informed the police and they called the Pimpri-Chinchwad fire brigade.

Fire brigade officer Arwind Jagtap told TOI: “We have fished out the body of Rama. We are searching for the boy. But we have to stop the operation as it is getting dark. We will start the search from the morning.”

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TOI : PUNE: Politics is all about power and nothing is more admirable about party workers than their short memory. So, when Vilasrao Deshmukh visited Pune on Sunday, for the first time after stepping down as the state’s chief minister, he found himself rather lonely as no Congress workers turned up to welcome him, neither did the local leaders, who otherwise waited for hours.

Deshmukh was in the city to confer the awards constituted by the Ga Di Ma Pratisthan. Except MLA Balasaheb Shivarkar and MLCs Ulhas Pawar and Mohan Joshi, no other Congressman turned up to see the former chief minister.

Abhay Chhajed, city Congress unit chief, dismissed the matter saying, “I was not aware of the function, otherwise I would have gone to see him.”

“I had accepted the invitation when I was the chief minister, and I am attending the function after I have stepped down. But, I came here for my friend who has always stood by my side through thick and thin,” said Deshmukh, referring to Ulhas Pawar. Along with Pawar, author S N Navare was conferred with the Ga Di Ma award.

“I am also here to find solace. The recent terror attacks on Mumbai and the political developments that followed have been quite disturbing. Functions like the Ga Di Ma give me a hope to start afresh,” Deshmukh said.

However, the shrewd politician in Deshmukh could not ignore the fact that numerous faces which once flanked him on his chief ministerial visits to Pune were missing. “There are friends who were happy to see me grow and they are still with me,” he said.

Deshmukh refused to make any statement on former revenue minister Narayan Rane’s allegations of “exposing his money-making deals”. Rane had alleged of a nexus’ between Deshmukh and Dow’s research and development centre, which is currently waiting for the state government’s approval to resume its…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has begun construction of two foot over bridges (FOBs) at Vallabhnagar and Kharalwadi on the old Pune-Mumbai highway.

City engineer Eknath Ugile said “the PCMC plans to open the FOBs at Kharalwadi and Vallabhnagar in a month.”

The old highway is one of the busiest roads within the PCMC limits. Two years ago, the 13-km-long stretch from Nigdi to Dapodi was been widened to 61 metres. The stretch from Nigdi to Phugewadi too has been widened to 61 meters. The highway has four concretised lanes in the centre and two asphalted service lanes.

While the widening of the highway has reduced the travel time for motorists, it has created problems for the pedestrians, the major one being the difficulty to cross the 61-metre wide road.

The PCMC constructed two pedestrian bridges at Pimpri and Chinchwad over the grade separators on the highway, but the pedestrians still have to make their way through the traffic on the service lanes to reach the other side of the highway.

The new pedestrian FOBs at Vallabhnagar and Kharalwadi will enable pedestrians to cross the entire width of 61 meters of the highway.

Local resident Nita Raut told TOI: “It has become difficult to cross the Kharalwadi chowk after the widening of the highway. Vehicles come from both directions at high speed on the concrete lanes. Some vehicles go from the concrete lanes to the service lanes and vice-versa. So one cannot cross the highway easily.”

Another resident Ganesh Bhalerao said, “the PCMC should have constructed the foot over bridge or a subway at Kharalwadi first, before widening the highway. It should complete the construction of the FOB as soon as possible.”

Sonal Kshirsagar from Dapodi said: “Pedestrians have to cross the concrete lanes evading the speeding vehicles to reach the Vallabhnagar state transport bus-stand. The authorities should have made…More

TOI : PUNE: The University of Pune (UoP) is eyeing a major share in the Rs 60-crore fund committed by the Erasmus Mundus, an international cooperation and mobility programme in higher education, to enable students from eight Indian institutions pursue research and advanced studies in the 15 member countries of the European Union (EU).

The Lund University in Sweden is coordinating work on the distribution of this fund on behalf of the Erasmus Mundus. The latter is mandated with globally promoting institutes of higher education in the EU. “We are trying for a Rs 20-crore share in the overall committed amount and have sent proposals for this,” UoP vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav told TOI on Monday.

Last week, Jadhav was in Stockholm for delivering a keynote speech at the Public Service Summit, an international event that coincided with the Nobel week celebrations and the Nobel Peace Prize celebration dinner held in Norway.

At Stockholm, Jadhav also held a meeting with the officials of the Lund University to discuss the funds for the UoP. “The grant would facilitate research and advanced studies by the UoP students at universities in the European Union countries,” he added.

Jadhav said, a slew of research proposals involving the subjects identified by the Erasmus Mundus, have been forwarded through the individual UoP departments. “They (EU) are inviting people for higher studies in the European countries and we would like to see that the fund benefits those students who are academically talented but need resources for accessing research and advanced studies,” said Jadhav. “Some of these funds will also go to undergraduate students,” he added.

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the Pravara Institute of Medical Science and the Delhi University are among the other seven Indian institutions vying for a share in this global fund.

According to Jadhav, a clearer picture vis-?-vis distribution of funds would emerge in a month’s time. The…More

TOI : PUNE: Of the one lakh boys who write the exam for a seat in the coveted National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla, only 456 get selected and it’s a proud moment for the city as four of its young men proved their mettle by featuring in the academy’s merit-list for the session beginning in January, 2009.

Kalpesh Shinde of Aundh, Saurabh Divekar of Padmavati, Ganesh Murkewar of Kothrud and Chirag Anand of Kundannagar have been selected to be a part of the 121th batch of the NDA. These students appeared for the written exam in April 2008 and cleared the SSB interview in the month of October this year.

Besides, 17-year-old Siddhant Wankhade of Nagpur has bagged the 12th position in the overall merit list, coming tops in the state merit list.

Kalpesh, who ranked 100th in the merit list, is the son a lecturer in the College of Engineering Pune (COEP). Kalpesh is a first year student of civil engineering and was inspired to join the armed forces after he attended the NDA passing-out-parade as a school boy.

Saurabh, a former student of the New English School, stood 102th in the list and is currently pursuing metallurgical engineering. Ganesh, who stood 119th in the overall merit list is not only a volleyball player, but is also the captain of his college team. He is in the first year of mechanical engineering.

Chirag, the fourth boy from the city who got through the exam stands 125th in the all-India list. “My childhood dream was to fly aeroplanes. I am very happy that I have finally got a chance to realise it,” Chirag said, adding, “It is the moral responsibility of every citizen to serve his nation. My selection at the NDA has given me the opportunity to serve our country.”

Chirag, who finished his schooling from the Satara Sainik School, is presently a student…More

TOI : PUNE: As a young student of architecture at Istanbul’s Academy of Fine Arts, Cengiz Bektas made no secret of his displeasure at a chalk-line drawn on the floor of the main hall to demarcate areas for students of arts and architecture. “It was the ultimate disgrace then for those studying architecture to mix with the other art students,” he says. To Bektas, the line signified architecture’s self-limiting isolation. This blinkered approach to architectural education so disturbed Bektas that he moved to Munich Technical University for further studies.

More than half a century later, inter-disciplinary thought continues to define the guiding philosophy of Bektas, who has since grown into a man of many parts architect, poet and researcher of international repute. He is the brain behind an array of critically acclaimed design and restoration projects, has published more verses than many of his country’s renowned poets and has more research to his credit than most leading lights of architecture.

Based in Istanbul, Turkey, the septuagenarian who was honoured with the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2001 for his design of Olbia Social Centre at Antalya, and winner of over two dozen design competitions and numerous poetry, film and research honours will be in Pune on December 16. He will deliver a lecture organised by city-based Forum for Exchange and Excellence in Design at the Vishwa Bhavan auditorium of Symbiosis Society at 5.00 pm.

A passionate academician, Bektas is a proponent of open-mindedness towards creative stimuli. But architectural education, according to him, continues to be haunted by the chalk-line he escaped as a teenager. While working with a university in Macedonia a few years ago, on a sudden impulse, Bektas brought together architecture students and elementary school children. He drew a line in the middle of a wall, assigned a part each to the two groups and asked them to paint their part without peeking over…More

TOI : PUNE: The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Pune has made bio-cryptic registration cards mandatory for all the auto drivers owners in the city. The card will contain the detailed information of the autorickshaw and the driver/owner. The RTA gave 60 days time to rickshaw drivers and owners for obtaining the cards.

The RTA’s initiative aims at ensuring safety and keeping the updated records of autorickshaws and drivers. The RTA said that the bio-cryptic card would help keep track of autorickshaws and avoid chances of misuse and misbehaviour.

“It was noticed in Mumbai that public vehicles like taxis were used in terror attacks. The bio-cryptic cards would provide the information about the vehicle and its driver in such cases,” said RTA member Baba Shinde.

“There are over 45,000 registered auto drivers in Pune. All the drivers have been asked to obtain the cards in the next two months. The RTA is thinking of taking strict action against those who do not obtain the cards,” he added.

The city police are also involved in the process of issuing of cards. The RTO has sent lists of registered drivers to police stations. The police will collect and re-check the facts about the drivers and issue a no objection certificate to the driver, which he has to submit to RTO for obtaining the card.

Shinde said the bio-cryptic card will contain the vehicle number, permit details, fitness details and the information relating to tax and insurance of the vehicle. It will also have the address and licence details of the driver along with photo. This would curb ill-pratices and help in detecting the drivers involved in such cases.

The RTA has sanctioned 28 card readers which will be made available at the RTO and with the police.

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TOI : PUNE: In order to nourish and nurture creativity, the Muktangan Exploratory and Science Centre (MESC) will now teach children above the age of 12 how to make solar cookers at a workshop to be held between December 29 and 31.

The children will be provided with the material required and will be taught the basic science and functioning of the solar cooker. At the end of this workshop, they will be actually cook rice in their own solar cookers.

“The exploratory seeks to train students to observe keenly and closely, to provoke them to ask penetrating questions, and to communicate to them a sense of excitement in doing science,” said Ramesh Joshi, director, MESC.

The workshop will have participants measure temperature and calculate the minimum and maximum temperature while carrying out the experiments.

The exploratory also plans various other science-related programmes during the Christmas vacation. A workshop on mathematics through Origami will be conducted on December 23 and 24 by Origami expert Ravindra Keskar. A typical Mathematics through Origami’ workshop has cubes, cylinders, cones and other hard-to-define shapes in various colours but not a single glue stick of pair of scissors in sight!

“Teaching math through Origami helps children understand concepts, for instance, they realise why the volume of a cylinder is calculated the way it is. And, Origami works beyond just math. It induces creativity and enhances flexibility in the fingers,” Joshi explained.

The exploratory will also conduct a lecture by Arvind Gupta who will speak on innovative science experiments on December 17.

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TOI : PUNE: The controversy over the proposed renaming of the National War Memorial has been put to rest with defence authorities agreeing to keep its original name, and just add Southern Command’ below it.

It had been proposed that the war memorial at Morwada junction in Pune Cantonment be renamed the Southern Command Memorial on Tuesday on the occasion of Vijay Diwas. However, several former members of the dissolved war memorial committee strongly objected to this as the war memorial had been erected on the initiative of civilians.

According to Maj Gen S C N Jatar (retd), activist Shashikant Mehendale and other citizens met Chief of Staff, Southern Command, Lt Gen R K Chhabra, on Monday. The defence authorities agreed to the citizens’ demand that the original name be retained.

According to Jatar and Mehendele the memorial has always been a national war memorial since it was conceptualised. It has the names of martyrs from Maharashtra inscribed on marble plaques. The names of others were not put on marble plaques at that time because there was not enough funds or place. Hence a special roll of honour was made with the names of martyrs of the rest of India, with a future plan that all the names would be inscribed on marble plaques. The edifice, they said, is a unique example in South Asia wherein civilian citizens contributed to building a memorial dedicated to martyrs of all three wings of the Indian Defence Forces.

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TOI : PUNE: City-based Sajag Nagrik Manch on Monday urged chief minister Ashok Chavan to urgently look into the problems plaguing the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL/Dabhol) to ensure that the plant starts generating more power before the onset of summer.

In a letter sent to Chavan, Vivek Velankar, founder SNM, said that Maharashtra was going through a serious power shortage, resulting in unbearable load-shedding throughout the state. “Every megawatt of power is very important and from that angle, RGPPL or Dabhol power plant, needs your urgent attention,” he wrote.

As per the information available in the daily system report on the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd’s (MSEDCL) website, Dabhol has been generating 320 MW power per day as against its installed capacity of 2100 MW.

Velankar stated that Dabhol plant has three blocks, each with installed capacity of 700 MW. Each block has three turbines two gas turbines and one steam turbine. “As per information available with SNM, in block 1, gas turbine 1 A is not working and has been under repair for the last two years. Recently all the required parts have reached Dabhol. It needs to get started as quickly as possible,” the letter said.

Gas turbine 1B is working and generating 200 MW power. The steam turbine is based on both gas turbines and as one of the gas turbines is not working, the steam turbine’s output is at 100 MW, Velankar stated.

He said that in Block 2, gas turbine 2A was not working and has been under repair for the last six months. It may not be in working condition for a couple of more months. Gas turbine 2B has been under maintenance for the last 15 days and was supposed to be back in operation by the end of this month, according to a statement released by MSEDCL just before the maintenance work started.

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