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TOI : PUNE: The first share-a-rickshaw’ route in Pimpri-Chinchwad township was inaugurated by regional transport authority (RTA) member Baba Shinde on Wednesday. The route is from Pimpri chowk to Kalewadi chowk.

The public transport system within the PCMC limits is not sufficient enough to meet the growing needs of the people and the autorickshaws were charging exorbitant rates. This forced the people to demand strict implementation of the meter fare system in the township. Following the demand, the traffic police and the regional transport authority launched the meter fare system recently.

The rickshaw unions, however, opposed the system and have been demanding permission to run share-a-rickshaw scheme in the township. After a survey, the traffic police, rickshaw operators and officials from the regional transport office (RTO) recently finalised a list of 14 major roads for the share-a-rickshaw scheme and the RTA approved the list.

The system came into force on Pimpri chowk to Kalewadi chowk route on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Baba Kamble, president, Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchayat, told TOI on Wednesday that the drive against autorickshaws not charging fare by meter has been suspended till next Tuesday. A meeting of the traffic police, RTO officials and rickshaw unions will be held before Tuesday to solve the problem, he added.

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TOI : PUNE: The report Accidental deaths and suicides in India in 2007′ released recently by the National Crime Records Bureau reveals a two per cent decrease in the number of suicides in the state in 2007 (15,184) as compared to 2006 (15,494). Pune, however, has shown a 10.2 per cent increase in the figure in the same period, from 529 in 2006 to 583 last year.

It is against this backdrop that city-based NGO Connecting has decided to restart its support group for survivors of suicide (viz the family and friends of the deceased). “We first started the group in January this year. But later, we diverted our attention to our helpline that was launched earlier this year and the group just stopped functioning. In the recent past, we have had plenty of people coming to us to ask us to revive the group. Hence, the decision to do so,” says Adithy, a counselling psychologist and volunteer with Connecting.

Connecting has received a number of calls ever since the helpline (9922001122) kicked off in June this year. “Apart from calls, we also get emails, besides people walking into our office to talk. So far, around 100 people have approached us. While the people belong to various age groups, young male adults between 18 to 35 years of age form the bulk,” says Sandy Dias Andrade, a psychologist and a member of the NGO.

The reasons that make people consider suicide vary and anything can act as a trigger, say experts. But the basic reason is a feeling of hopelessness, helplessness and worthlessness. “There is a noticeable loss of interest in the happenings around them. They also stop enjoying things that they would have otherwise liked. The family and friends of the individual have to watch out for these signs,” Adithy explains.

The support group that Connecting plans to start from December 19 will be of two…More

TOI : PUNE: Security was beefed up at Kasewadi on Wednesday after the murder of a 20-year-old youth Akram Mujeeb Shaikh on Wednesday sparked off tension in the area.

Akram was allegedly assaulted to death by seven persons at Kasewadi in Bhavani Peth following old enmity on Tuesday midnight. After the news spread, irate residents of Kasewadi slums gathered in large numbers and refused to take Akram’s body for burial. They demanded arrest of suspects even as senior police officials including assistant commissioner of police Suresh Pote appealed to maintain peace and assured action. The police also pressed into service a striking force as a preventive measure.

The Khadak police later arrested three suspects identified as Sayyed Ali Sayyed, Abbas Ali Sayyed and Ayub Papamiya Khan, all of Kasewadi slums, on Wednesday. The four other suspects booked include Tarbez Bhiku Mankar, Magdum Kasam Sayyed, Ram Jogdand, Muya alias Munir Gaus Shaikh, all from Kasewadi.

Senior police inspector Sudhakar Ohol, in-charge of the Khadak police station, said Akram used to sell CDs in Camp area and had estranged relations with the suspects. He tried to sort out differences with the suspects on his part following intervention of the Muslim community members before Bakri Id, but the suspects still had a grudge against Akram and allegedly hatched a plan to get rid of him.

The suspects attacked Akram on head, face and various parts of the body with sickles while he was on his way home at about 12.15 am. Akram died on the spot. They also assaulted Akram’s brother Mohammed Mujeeb Shaikh (20) after he tried to intervene, Ohol added.

Akram’s friend Feroz Chand Shaikh (24) of Kondhwa has registered a case against the suspects. The other suspects went missing after the incident. Inspector Chandrakant Sangle (crime) is investigating further. Akram’s body was buried on Wednesday evening.

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TOI : PUNE: To understand the rich biodiversity of the Western Ghats a Bangalore-based organisation, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), has been given the responsibility to profile the area under a five-year conservation project by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), an international organisation based in the United States of America.

The Western Ghats are spread across the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The ranges in the state comprise the major portion of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspots’, which is one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots identified by conservation international. Almost nine per cent of the Ghats are protected’, including various national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

“Under this project, ATREE will invite individuals and organisations to start researches and surveys funded and coordinated by the organisation. So, while ATREE will not have a direct role to play in the ground-level working, it will act as an umbrella under which the projects will proceed,” said Bhaskar Acharya, project coordinator.

The conservation project will range from research and surveys of specific species to creating links between various stakeholders such as the local population, activists, forest department etc., Acharya said. “We will try to pay special attention to non-prioritised areas also, like areas adjoining national parks and sanctuaries,” he added.

ATREE officially launched the conservation project on December 1 by inviting organisations and individuals to work in the Ghats. After a detailed evaluation of each proposal, the ATREE committee will finalise a list of those who will work in the region. “This will be an ongoing project. We may give out another instalment of grants after eight months. However, the grants given later may be more focused and will invite people to work in specific parts of the Ghats that have not been taken up by then,” Acharya explained.

According to an ATREE analysis, the Ghats reveal the…More

TOI : PUNE: A suspected thief was severely injured after jumping from a fourth floor balcony in a housing society on Pashan road on Tuesday afternoon. The suspect had been trapped inside a flat by residents during an attempted burglary.

The burglar, who was later nabbed by the society’s security guard and handed over to the Chatushrungi police, was identified as Bhikaji Ghunake (21) of Kolhapur. Ghunake, who received severe injuries to his legs, is undergoing treatment at Sassoon hospital under police protection.

Sub-inspector Shaukat Ali Sayyed said that Anrupa Ghosh, a resident of flat number A/402 of Mont Vert Grande, had gone shopping around 11.30 am when Ghunake broke into her house.

When Ghosh returned around 1.15 pm, she found her flat door open and spotted the suspect inside. Ghosh closed the door from outside and raised an alarm. Neighbours rushed to the spot on hearing her.

Sayyed said that Ghunake, who stole Rs 1,000 and gold ornaments worth Rs 1,27,700 from Ghosh’s flat, jumped from the balcony after he found himself trapped inside.

The police recovered the booty and a crow bar from Ghunake. He will be arrested after he is discharged from the hospital, Sayyed added.

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TOI : PUNE: The season of cheer is back, with a slight nip in the air accompanying the Christmas spirit. And there could be no better time than now to shop and also get rewarded for it.

The Times of India brings a shopping festival with a difference, the Times Big Reward’ extravaganza, to Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad from December 18 to January 4, 2009. There will be lots of prizes to be won and plenty of opportunities to make your mobile number the lucky one. Times Big Reward will be presented by The Mobile Store.

To win your big reward, walk into a participating Times Big Reward outlet, make a minimum purchase of Rs 300 and SMS us by typing TBRPshop numberbill number and send it to 58888.

More than 250 outlets in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad offering numerous brands will participate in the event. The participating outlets include textile, jewellery, furniture and electronic stores, health clubs, beauty parlours and restaurants.

The excitement and buzz generated around the event and the big rewards on offer will ensure that consumers truly make the spirit of the festive season come alive.

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TOI :

cleared by arun

Construction worker survives freak mishap

Umesh Isalkar | tnn

Pune: The thought of a six-foot-long iron rod falling from the sky and piercing through your stomach is the stuff nightmares are made of. And this is exactly what 21-year-old construction worker Santosh Kumar survived on December 1.

An unskilled worker from Gopalganj, Bihar, Kumar had come to Pune a month ago seeking employment and was working at a construction site in Aundh annexe.

On the morning of December 1, when Kumar walked out of an under-construction building, he was hit by a six-foot-long iron rod that had slipped from a pulley ferrying the rods to the seventh floor.

“The rod penetrated through his right shoulder to come out from the right arm, further pierced through the right side of his abdomen and traversed diagonally to come out of his left groin and went into the thigh,” said senior gastro-intestinal surgeon Gajanan Wagholikar who operated on Kumar.

Wagholikar was assisted by senior orthopaedic surgeons J C Purohit and Deepali Gonjari, in the five-and-a-half-hour-long surgery.

Kumar was grounded by the impact and lay immobilised in an odd position, writhing in agony. “Shifting the victim, in itself, was an ordeal. He had to be carried in the same position,” Wagholikar added.

“Medical protocol is that the impaling object has to be removed only in the operation theatre, after ascertaining the damage it has done,” said Wagholikar.

The rod had penetrated Kumar’s intestines in multiple locations and had made 16 holes. “Two segments of the intestine were badly damaged. While they had to be sacrificed and healthy intestine reconnected, the other holes were closed. After the operation, the patient registered a slow and steady recovery,” said Wagholikar.

Injuries with a penetrating object lodged in the body are known as impalement injuries and are extremely rare in surgical trauma…More

TOI : PUNE: It’s the second half of December but the city has hardly witnessed the winter chill that usually prompts citizens to pull out their woollens and pullovers.

The city’s normal minimum temperature for the month of December is 11 degree Celsius. This year, however, in the past fortnight, the minimum temperatures have hovered at three to five degrees above the normal minimum.

It’s not just the winter that failed to be predictable. The monsoon this year was full of inconsistent elements. Against an average monsoon rainfall of 548 mm, the city received 677.4 mm, or 129.4 mm in excess. There was, however, no steady pattern to the rains. The season began with a consistent spell of showers initially, followed by a prolonged dry spell. It was only towards the end of the monsoon that showers staged a strong comeback and made up for the initial deficiency.

A key aspect of summer this year was the record-breaking rains in March! In all, 25.8 mm of rainfall was recorded in that month, which is seven times more than the rainfall usually recorded in March.

Officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) say there is no particular explanation for such behavioural inconsistencies in the weather. Though there was an element of surprise in the way the three seasons unfolded this year, it was “not unusual”. Most surprising were the rains in March and December 6.6 mm rainfall was recorded in an hour in the evening of December 1.

Much of the inconsistencies, according to IMD officials, can be attributed to the dynamic weather systems that prevail at a given time, and trigger events like untimely rains or unexpected highs and lows in temperature.

For instance, as IMD director for weather forecasting P C S Rao said, “The cold conditions during winter in Pune are largely dependent on the flow of the northerly winds.” A fall in…More

TOI : PUNE: An 18-year-old student of S P College was attacked with sharp weapons by around 10 youths on the college campus on Tuesday evening in what the police said was the fallout of rivalry between two groups.

The Vishrambaug police said the youth, Ritesh More, suffered severe head injuries and is undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of Poona Hospital. His condition is said to be critical.

The police have arrested two suspects, Akash Payla (18) of the Dandekar bridge slums and Rohit Uthada (21) of Dattawadi, on charges of attempted murder. The suspects are not students of the college, the police added.

Judicial magistrate first class Sanjay Yadav on Wednesday remanded the suspects to police custody till December 20.

Sub-inspector A N Narute said More was attacked with weapons like sickles and swords near the women’s parking lot in the college.

“The college authorities do not check on outsiders visiting the campus,” senior police inspector Chandrakant Jadhav of the Vishrambaug police said. He appealed to students to complain to the police about such outsiders.

The victim’s brother, Rupesh, a resident of Shukrawar Peth, has lodged a complaint. A case has been registered under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.

When contacted by TOI, officiating principal Madhav Pendse said instructions have been issued to the authorities to check the identity cards of students at the three main entrances to the college. He said he would hold a meeting with the security agency hired by the college to revamp security arrangements on the campus.

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TOI : PUNE: The Faraskhana police on late Tuesday night arrested two of its staff for allegedly robbing a student of the Bharati Vidyapeeth of Rs 3,000.

The accused naiks, Ramdas Nivrutti Gadre (40) of Sadesatranali and Anand Krishnaji Ayachit (43) of Shukrawar Peth were remanded to police custody till December 19.

Inspector Manohar Chikale (crime) of the Faraskhana police station said that Abhishek Chauhan and his friend Avinash Kumar, both from Jharkhand, were on their way back home to Katraj on a motorcycle on Tuesday morning when the incident happened.

The policemen travelling in an autorickshaw intercepted them between Dagdusheth Ganpati temple and Pysa Hotel on Shivaji road at about 7.15 am on suspicion. When the students sought reasons for intercepting them, the cops accused them of having visited a lane which is dominated by commercial sex workers and threatened to register a case against them.

The police frisked out four ATM cards including one belonging to Chauhan. The two were taken to a nearby ATM of the ICICI bank and forced to spell out the pin code. They found that Chauhan had only Rs 12 in the account while Kumar had a balance of over Rs 20,000.

The policemen allegedly withdrew Rs 3,000 from Kumar’s account using force and later dropped them at the same place at about 8.20 am.

The Faraskhana police which took immediate cognisance of Chauhan’s complaint showed them the photographs of policemen who were on duty on the day of incident. Chauhan is a second year student of electronics and Kumar is in fourth year computer science at Bharti Vidyapeeth.

Chauhan shortlised four photographs and zeroed in on police naiks Gadre and Ayachit when they were produced before him in the presence of senior police officials.

The policemen were placed under arrest and were charged for robbery, extortion and wrongful confinement under sections of the IPC.

…More