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TOI : PUNE: An 18-year-old girl from Manipur was detained and later let off with a reprimand after she registered a false case of rape and theft.

The girl, who was four months pregnant and was working as a maid servant at the residence of a software engineer in Fatima Nagar, was asked to go after she tendered an apology to the police.

The family had appointed the girl last month for taking care of their infant child. Inspector Vishwas Bendhbar of the Wanowrie police station said, “The girl telephoned the couple’s sister in-law to inform her that two people had raped her and had stolen two tolas of gold from the house while she was drying clothes in the balcony on May 26 at about 7.30 pm.”

The family members rushed home and took the girl to the police station for registering a case of rape and theft. However, the police suspected the girl was lying since she did not appear perturbed. Besides there were no apparent marks of rape which heightened their suspicion.

The police questioned the security guard and neighbours, but all of them denied seeing any unknown person entering the building premises on the given day and time.

“The girl was examined by a woman police constable in the presence of a woman family member, but no signs of rape were found,” Bendhbar said.

She was later referred to the Sassoon general hospital for medical examination, but the doctor’s report confirmed that the girl was not raped. However, they told the police that she was four months pregnant.

On questioning, the girl admitted her lie. She admitted of having an affair with a boy and said that she cooked up the story because she wanted to go back to Manipur with the boy and the stolen booty.

The police have recorded the girl’s statement and recovered the ornaments from…More

TOI : PUNE: As reports of yet another attack on Indian student Nardeep Singh (21) in Melbourne filtered in on Tuesday, many Indians living in Australia spoke to TOI over the phone and said that though the situation was a little tense, it was their parents fretting back home that had them worried.

Most of them say the attacks are restricted to certain suburbs in the Australian city of Melbourne, where Indians are known to live in large numbers.

Pune-based psychologist Aneesha S has just completed her masters in Melbourne and is planning to stay there and work for some time. She is concerned about the attacks, but isn’t worried. She is more tensed about her mother fretting back home.

“My mother has been calling me everyday after incidents of attacks have increased. I receive at least two to three calls from my parents every day and it is the same with my friends,” she says.

Says Aneesha’s mother, “From what can be seen, the situation in Australia looks bad. I have told my daughter to come back till the situation there improves.”

IT professional Malay K is of the opinion that overall the security system has failed yet again in Melbourne. “I believe Indians are considered soft targets, since they take everything lying down. There is a need to respond to racist comments and actions,” he says.

He talks of an incident when his brother was returning home from the university at night. “He was on a tram which was empty. An Australian man came and sat right next to him. Nothing happened, but the fear that something would, scared my brother. That pretty much shows the fear among Indians here,” he says.

But all the students TOI spoke to say that the attacks are not completely racial. “Indian students normally work late nights and they irrevocably live in one of the outer…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has turned to Sweden, a world leader in waste-to-energy’ projects, for ideas to utilise waste in the best possible manner and also in a financially viable way suitable for Indian conditions.

A group of Swedish government officials and business players shared their ideas with the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal officials during a day-long workshop organised by Swedish Energy Agency, an umbrella organisation, on Tuesday, explaining how Sweden was successfully running 230 biogas plants and using fuel generated from solid waste for running vehicles.

Swedish ambassador to India Lars-Olof Lindgren, who led the delegation, said that the aim of their visit was to create a mutual understanding and to provide an opportunity for the Swedish participants to share their knowledge, technology and competence with a select Indian audience.

“This will lead to identification of opportunities and promising avenues for long term sustainable waste-to-energy solutions. Sweden has emerged as one of the world leaders in bio-energy based systems and India today has an ever-increasing need to convert waste to energy,” Lindgren said.

Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale, who inaugurated the workshop, said the PMC would look for support from Sweden only after considering the financial viability of the projects. “Their technologies are good, but extremely expensive. We will certainly hold discussions with them to see if anything can be done in Pune, but what is most important for us is economic viability. How can we convince people if a project is way too expensive. Also, one must remember that their projects are running successfully only because 100 per cent waste is segregated at source which is not yet happening here,” Bhosale said.

Baba Kalyani, CMD, Bharat Forge, who was present at the workshop, said waste management should be dealt in a manner of business proposition and should be done in an intelligent way keeping the future in mind. “The problem we face…More

TOI : PUNE: A record 350 young scientists (three times the intake of last batch) have opted for a defence research training programme at the prestigious Defence Institute of Advance Technology (DIAT).

The Post Induction Training School course, popularly known as POINTS, started in 2003. The previous batch had only 113 admissions.

“A lot of talent is hidden is rural areas. Our institute has made efforts to reach up to this talent through the campus selection process. This has helped in bringing more youngsters in the field of defence research,” said G C Pant, Dean (Academics), DIAT. “There are many lucrative options available for students with science background, still many are opting for defence research, which is a welcome sign. Still more efforts are required though,” he added.

When asked if recession has had any impact on increased number of admissions this year, Pant opined that lack of job security is definitely making youngsters think of safer options.

“The objective of POINTS is to inspire scientists to join defence forces. We are happy that our initiative has succeeded,” said N M Raju, a senior scientist with the DIAT.

The DIAT is a deemed university (DU), and a premier DRDO establishment, which awards M Tech, doctorate and master in science degrees, besides short-term courses. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The PMT Kamgar Sangh, a workers’ union of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), has planned a week-long agitation starting Thursday.

The main demands of the workers include filling up of vacancies, permanent job status for those working for last 15 years, promotions and early payment of retirement benefits.

Sangh president Rajendra Kharade and general secretary A N Anpur said that their demands have not been considered despite repeated pleas. As the demands have not been considered, there is widespread resentment among workers, they said. The Sangh has planned to hold protest meetings and relay hunger strike to press for their demands. Print Emai…More

TOI : AURANGABAD: The Kranti Chowk police on Tuesday evening arrested Sachin Tayede, the main accused in the murder of a senior accounts officer at the RTO here on Saturday.

“Sachin, a resident of Nandanvan colony, was in the Sant Dnyaneswar Garden at Paithan, about 50 km from here, when the police arrested him,” said M B Tambade, the deputy commissioner of police (DCP).

The police had on Monday arrested his accomplice, Sachin Suresh Pawar (24), a resident of Bajrang Chowk, Cidco. Pawar had helped Sachin escape from the RTO office premises on his bike, after the murder was committed.

Sachin (25) son of suspended junior clerk R B Tayede had barged into regional transport officer Ashok Giri’s office on Saturday, where after some discussion he shot the accounts officer, D S Kondawar, in the chest and walked away before shocked officials could react.

The police tracked down Sachin with the help of a mobile service provider. “After locating him in Paithan we sent teams to nab him,” Tambade told TOI. The police have not yet recovered the murder weapon, he added.

When Sachin walked into Giri’s office he had questioned Giri as to when his father would be reinstated. According to the police, Sachin’s father, R B Tayede, had been suspended eight months ago from the Ambejogai office, following his involvement in fraud to the tune of Rs 12.5 lakh.

Tayede was also found to be involved in another case of misappropriation of government funds of Rs 39 lakh. Incidentally, Kondawar, the treasury officer who had been posted at the RTO on deputation as a senior accounts officer, about one-and-a-half years ago, was one of the officials who investigated the fraud. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The south-west monsoon is not expected to hit the state at least for the next three days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast.

“The conditions are not favourable for the progress of the monsoon in the state at least for the next three to four days,” Medha Khole, director (weather forecasting ), IMD, told TOI.

Elaborating on the absence of favourable conditions, Khole said the wind flow pattern was not ideal, even the availability of moisture was not enough. “Apart from all this, a good rainfall has to take place for the monsoon to progress. Right now, there is no such rainfall too. So, because of all these factors, the progress of the monsoon is not expected now,” Khole said.

Meanwhile, the south-west monsoon reached coastal Andhra Pradesh on Monday. But there was no progress on Tuesday. An update by the IMD on Monday said: The south-west monsoon had further advanced into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema and south coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of west central Bay of Bengal. It further added that the progress had taken place in view of strong south-westerly winds along the west coast and forming of an offshore trough. The trough extended from Karnataka to Kerala coasts. A fairly widespread rainfall activity has taken place in the region during the last of couple days. The above factors also helped the monsoon in progressing in Karnataka, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: While the controversy over the purchase of 650 new buses by the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) rages on, the transport body has initiated a study on rationalisation of its routes so that the existing fleet of buses may be used to the full potential.

The study of rationalisation of routes is being conducted by the Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT). While an interim draft report has already been made, a final report will be submitted soon. At present, the PMPML has more than 1,200 buses on the roads on a given day. The number of routes has reached 300 due to the addition of a couple of new routes over the past few months.

Speaking to TOI, joint managing director of the PMPML Ajiz Karche said the study of routes is being done for the entire Pune metropolitan region. The study will help determine the demand of buses on various routes, and whether the routes need to be extended further. Similarly, the study will also project the travel demand analysis, he said.

The study will note the number of passengers boarding at the originating point of a bus and alighting at various intermediate places. This will help revise frequency of buses so that running of empty vehicles is avoided.

According to Karche, the report will be circulated among depot managers and other key transport planners. After analysing their suggestions, a final action plan will be made.

Incidentally, the Union urban development (UD)department has approved the proposal of the study of the existing route structure of the PMPML. The UD department has also approved the proposal of preparation of the financial plan for the next ten years. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Crossing railway tracks at unmarked places, apart from being dangerous is also illegal. Though people often prefer to take the short cut’ route to save time, they can be booked under section 147 the Indian Railways Act, 1989, for trespassing on railway property.

“If caught, a person can be fined Rs 1,000 and imprisoned for a maximum period of six months,” railway authorities said.

Y K Singh, PRO, Pune railway division, said, “People should use foot-over-bridges (FOBs) or manned crossing-gates. However, it has been noticed that people do not always prefer these, which results in deaths on tracks.” The Railway Protection Force has been conducting drives from time to time to prevent such mishaps, he added.

“We notice trespassing incidents at all stations between Pune and Lonavla, which is the busiest section in the division. There are 16 stations on the stretch and all have FOBs, but commuters avoid using them. At some places, walls along the tracks have been breached to cross the tracks.”

Singh said, “There are as many as 188 crossing gates in Pune division. The Pune-Lonavla section has 16, while the Pune-Daund section has 15 crossing gates. All gates are manned and have security guards in place. There are also some unmanned crossing places in both the sections, but appropriate boards like Wait, watch and go’ have been put up at each of the crossings to alert commuters.

The administration has also displayed boards at sensitive points, appealing people to avoid trespassing on railway property, warning them about the risk involved.

A T Tayade, assistant divisional commissioner of security (RPF), said, “We conduct drives against trespassers at all stations in the division. More than 730 people have been booked for crossing railway tracks in the last five months. All of them were fined after being produced in the court.” Though we punish violators and also impose fine, it…More

TOI : PUNE: The state government has sanctioned a development plan for Dehu-Alandi as well as Pandharpur and allocated Rs 132 crore for development of Dehu and Bhandara hill, where noted saint-poet Tukaram used to go for meditation and attained spiritual enlightenment, said divisional commissioner Dilip Band.

District collector Chandrakant Dalvi, Zilla Parishad chief executive officer Sanjeev Kumar, trustee of Bhandara hill Balasaheb Kashid, former MLA Krushnarao Bhegade, sarpanch Shubhangi More, deputy sarpanch Prakash Hagawane and Karale Patil another trustee of the Bhandara hill who recently donated five acre of land for its development, inspected the site before making the announcement.

“Dehu, the land of Sant Tukaram, has seen little or no development over the last two decades. The new project will change the face of the town,” said Band. About 2,000 devotees visit Dehu every day and the number goes up to two lakh on auspicious days.

Speaking to TOI, More said that Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had initiated the earlier development plan for Dehu in 1992. This time, the planning commission has approved Rs 132 crore for the overall development.

Dalvi said that widening of roads in Dehugoan, improving parking facilities at the Ambedkar chowk, providing residential facilities for devotees and construction of a new bridge in Dehu have been included in the new plan. These facilities are required not just for giving the town a makeover but also for generating revenue for its future maintenance, he said.

At present, Dehu has a population of more than 25,000, Dalvi said. However, there is a lack of public toilets, bypass roads, street lights and safe drinking water sources. Only 20 per cent of the sewage flows in to the drainage and there is no regulation on vehicles plying on pathways used by pilgrims. Also, pollution in the Indrayani river is increasing and encroachments in the river bed are also leading to problems, he added….More