News

TOI : PUNE: The Vasundhara International Film Festival, held every year in the city, will now be taken to 14 cities to spread awareness about important environmental issues through national and international film.

Addressing a news conference on Friday, Virendra Chitrav, president of the Maharashtra chapter of the Federation of Film Societies of India and Vijay Varma, chairperson of the Vasundhara club, said that the festival will travel across three states Madhya Pradesh (Indore), Karnataka (Hospet) and Maharashtra (Kolhapur, Sangali, Miraj, Nashik, Nagpur, Amravati, Solapur, Aurangabad, Ratnagiri, Jalgaon, Thane and Mumbai).

Aside from film screenings, there will be allied activities like workshops, restrospectives, nature walks, panel discussions and a photography exhibition. Delegates will be asked to write slogans on the environment and the best five slogans will win prizes. The slogans will also be put up on a tree on each campus where the festival is being held and the tree will be called the commitment tree.

Chitrav said the festival was dedicated to exploring nature and analysing topical issues related to wildlife, water, air and energy with global warming as this year’s major concern. There will be 30 national and international films screened at the festival including Sir David Attenborough’s Are We Changing Planet Earth’ and Mike Pandey’s Shores of Silence’ and Vanishing Vultures’.

The festival will be held over four days in each of the cities, he added.

In a bid to reach out to school and college students, the festival will also be taken to schools and colleges in each of the cities. Games, slide shows, and various competitions will be a part of these sessions, said Varma.

Chitrav said that following the Vasundhara film festival, there was a demand that activities of the Vasundhara club be made regular. “We have decided that from July, club Vasundhara will be an ongoing activity. Consultants, advisors and think tank members of the club will…More

TOI : A plastic shop and two vehicles were gutted in a fire at 61, Bhavani Peth near Nevaskar petrol pump lane on Friday early morning. Fire brigade officials said the fire broke at Gurukrupa enterprises at about 3 am and enveloped two vehicles parked outside the stop. A woman, identified as Pushpa Kirandas Dhumal (45), sustained minor injuries on her hand when she tried to douse the fire. A fire tender, two water tanks and 15 firemen were pressed into service and the fire was extinguished within 35 minutes. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The special operations wing of the crime branch, Pune on Thursday arrested a maulana (Islamic scholar), Nazir Mohammed, for allegedly forging a marklist of the University of Pune and other documents.

According to the police, Nazir (35), a resident of Bhiwandi in Thane district, had prepared the fake documents for another maulana, Johar Alam Mohammed (38) of Yerawada. Johar was arrested on Tuesday for purportedly possessing the forged documents.

Nazir was on Friday remanded to police custody till June 15 by judicial magistrate first class R B Bhagwat.

Senior police inspector Rajendra Joshi, who is investigating the case, said Nazir was taken into custody after his complicity came to light during Johar’s interrogation.

According to Joshi, Nazir forged the documents for Johar sometime in 1997. Besides, he also made a fake birth certificate for himself which is yet to be recovered.

Joshi said Nazir claims to be a resident of Muzaffarpur in Uttar Pradesh. But the police suspect that he is not an Indian national and is verifying the information given by him in this regard.

Nazir and Johar became friends while studying in Muzaffarpur, Joshi stated. Nazir, although a religious scholar (alim) like Johar, helps his father-in-law in doing small-time jobs in Mumbai, he added.

Nazir has denied preparing the fake documents and has instead named another suspect who is yet to be arrested.

Johar, a Bangladeshi immigrant, prepared forged documents like a ration card, PAN card and a UoP marklist, showing him to be an Indian national, Joshi added. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: As much as 55 mm rainfall was recorded in an hour as pre-monsoon showers lashed the city on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the south-west monsoon is expected to advance and reach Maharashtra in a couple of days, the India Meteorological Department here said.

The showers started around 4 pm and continued heavily for around 45 minutes, before weakening into a drizzle for another half an hour. According to the IMD officials, the city recorded 55 mm rainfall till 5.30 pm.

The IMD said that the rain has taken place due to local convective conditions. “These are pre-monsoon showers. It has taken place due local conditions like heat and availability of moisture,” said A B Mazumdar, deputy director, general meteorology, IMD.

Meanwhile, the monsoon, which has not been making any progress for the last few days, is expected to advance further in a couple of days. “The conditions are becoming favourable,” Mazumdar said, adding that “the advance of monsoon is expected over some more parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa in the next one or two days.”

meanwhile, the IMD weather bulletin forecast rain or thundershowers at a few places in south Konkan and Goa. Showers are also expected in parts of Maharashtra, including western Maharashtra, Madhya Maharashtra and Vidharbha. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The heavy rain on Friday evening took its toll on the city’s power supply with many areas in Rasta Peth, Nana Peth, Bhavani Peth, St Mary sub-station, Golibar Maidan, Solapur road, Khadki cantonment, Shivajinagar, Karve road, Kothrud, Aundh and Pune-Mumbai highway reporting power failure.

A tree fell down on 132 KV Mundhwa extra high voltage feeder disrupting power supply from the Mundhwa sub-station. Another tree fell on 22 KV Bhairoba feeder, which affected the power supply in most areas coming under Rasta Peth, St Mary and Bhairoba sub-stations. “Fire brigade was called to remove the trees,” said Chandrakant Gurav, deputy chief public relations officer of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL).

An 11 KV feeder from the 22 KV Sharada sub-station off Karve road developed a fault due to heavy rains. Power supply to Kothrud, Aundh, Khadki, Garware college, Shivajinagar, Prabhat road, Karve road and Pune-Mumbai highway was disrupted. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will be handing over 480 flats in Sector 22 at Nigdi to slum-dwellers to be rehabilitated under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme before the end of June. Speaking to TOI on Friday, Ashish Sharma, municipal commissioner, said the eligible slum-dwellers will be shifted to the Q and U clusters in Sector 22.

“There are 80 flats in each of the six buildings. A housing society of each of the 80 members will be formed. Around 480 families will be shifted to the new flats. As a result, an area for constructing 12 buildings will be freed.”

The PCMC has undertaken rehabilitation of slums to make Pimpri-Chinchwad township slum free by 2011. The six slums Ajanthanagar, Udyognagar, Vetalnagar, Milindnagar and Vitthalnagar are being rehabilitated under the Union government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The PCMC has received approval for these projects to be implemented under JNNURM.

The civic body will construct around 18,000 tenements for slum-dwellers for rehabilitation under its Basic services for urban poor’ (BSUP) scheme. It will construct 1,680 tenements at Ajanthanagar and Udyognagar, 1,568 tenements at Vetalnagar, 1,456 tenements at Milindnagar, 1,568 tenements at Vitthalnagar and 11,760 tenements at Sector 22. The total cost of the project is Rs 591 crore.

Speaking to TOI, assistant commissioner Sudhir Joshi said, “Each eligible slum-dweller will be provided a flat with an area of 270 sq.ft. Slum-dwellers belonging to backward classes will have to pay only 10 per cent of the cost of the flat while those from open category will have to pay 12 per cent of the cost of the flat. The flat will be provided on a 99 year lease.”

He added that a housing society of each building will be formed which will look after the maintenance of the building. The society will collect maintenance charges from beneficiaries.

Commissioner Sharma said,…More

TOI : PUNE: The BJP-Shiv Sena combine on Thursday blamed the state government for the financial crisis at the Pune Municipal Corporation.

Speaking to reporters, Sena leader Sham Deshpande countered the claims made by the Congress party, which had blamed Pune Pattern for the financial crisis. “The state government is responsible for the ongoing problem. In the last few months, the PMC utilised most of its funds for development works under the JNNURM, expecting that the state and the Centre will contribute their share of funds. The PMC has to get Rs 347 crore under the JNNURM from the state and the Centre. The central government has forwarded its share to the state government, which, in turn, has to add its share and send it to the PMC,” Deshpande said. Instead of blocking the funds, the state should forward the same to the PMC immediately.

BJP corporator Ujwal Keskar said that since the state government is being led by the Congress party, its leaders in the PMC should tell the chief minister to release the funds immediately. “The state has no right to sit over the funds. If the PMC gets the funds in time, there is no need to stop development works as suggested by municipal commissioner,” Keskar said.

Keskar said it was the Congress party which had pushed for completion of JNNURM works before the Commonwealth Youth Games last year. “The Congress insisted that all development works for the CYG be completed. The PMC exhausted its funds and now the Congress is blaming Pune Pattern for mishandling of finances,” Keskar said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress had alleged that the functioning of the Pune Pattern (an alliance of the NCP, BJP and the Shiv Sena) was responsible for the financial condition of the PMC. The Congress has once again appealed to the NCP to break its ties with the saffron alliance and join hands with…More

TOI : PUNE: Elamaram Kareem, the industries minister of Kerala, said here on Thursday that Kerala is emerging as an attractive investment destination among the south Indian states, with focus on investments in services and manufacturing sectors. He said an extensive campaign is being undertaken across the country to bring about a change in the old perspective that Kerala is a difficult destination for investment.

Kareem said that the government has come up with major projects for the development of the tourism sector. This sector contributes to a major section of activities in the state. Some of these projects include a campaign called responsible tourism and exploration of new destinations and developing Kerala as an international tourist hub. This will attract more number of foreign tourists, Kareem said. “Things have changed in the last decade. With the significant development in infrastructure and education, and with the reforms in labour policies, Kerala is no more a difficult state for investment. The state has registered a significant growth in GDP, which is even more than the country’s growth.”

Reacting to the criticism that industry in Kerala often face problems due to strong labour unions, Kareem said the government has brought considerable reforms in the labour sector. The number of man-days lost in Kerala due to strikes nowadays are much lower than the national average. It was brought almost to nil last year, Kareem said.

The minister was in the city to address a programme, Investment opportunities in Kerala,’ organised by the World Malayalee Council, Pune province, in association with the Kerala government. “Similar events will be undertaken in different cities across the country. These programmes will help establish a communication network between the Kerala government and investors keen on investing in Kerala, Kareem said.

Earlier, T Balakrishnan, principal secretary for industries and commerce, Kerala, said that the Kerala government is focusing on cluster formation for IT and SMB sectors….More

TOI : PUNE: The Phaltan-based Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) on Thursday won the prestigious Global Sustainability research award in Stockholm. The institute was nominated for developing a lantern-cum-stove which runs on locally produced fuel. It was chosen from a strong field of nominations, including three from Sweden and one from Paris.

The award was presented to Anil Rajvanshi, director, NARI by HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, at a ceremony in the Winter Garden of the Grand Hotel in Stockholm.

The goal of the Globe Sustainability Research Award is to discover and encourage researchers and research institutes prominent in sustainability research. The jury for the award was chaired by Mohan Munasinghe, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2007.

“We are delighted to receive this prestigious international award. The award recognises and confirms NARI’s philosophy that high-tech solutions based on local resources can be developed by a rural organisation and are appropriate to solve the basic problems of rural areas,” Rajvanshi said after receiving the award.

A total of four jury groups, each with highly experienced and internationally recognised experts, ensured that the most innovative and visionary innovators, scientists, cities and companies were highlighted.

“The award was judged on several criteria, including originality, practicality, and contributions to humanity through economic gains, social development and environmental protection. The NARI project, on the development of a low-grade ethanol-filled cylinder, which provides energy to produce high quality light output in a lantern, as well as clean fuel for cooking systems, was an outstanding example of sustainability research, based on these criteria,” Munasinghe remarked.

Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The anti-extortion cell of crime branch, Pune, arrested seven suspects belonging to the dreaded Balu Nair gang and foiled their attempt to loot a petrol pump in Thergaon late on Thursday night.

Those arrested include: Vinod Bansode (22), Nandkumar Kshirsagar (31), Dattatreya Pawar (31) and Nilesh Baswant (21) of Bibwewadi; Amol Gawli (24) of Pashan road; Riyaz Shaikh (35) of Budhwar Peth and Hanumant Bamgude (30) of Upper Indiranagar.

Sustained interrogation of the suspects revealed that another suspect Balu Pasalkar of Wadgaon Dhayari was also involved and is absconding.

All the suspects have a criminal record in police registers.

Inspector Kishore Jadhav, in-charge of the anti-extortion cell, said constable Pradeep Jambale had received a tip off that Baswant and others, armed with sharp weapons and revolvers, would be coming in two cars for looting the Pandit petrol pump in Thergaon on Thursday night.

Acting on the information, a police team headed by assistant police inspector Krantikumar Patil laid a trap and took the suspects into custody after they came from Dange chowk and stopped near the pump at about 5.15 am.

The police have impounded the two cars and recovered Rs 13,250 in cash, 10 mobile phones, a country-made revolver, four cartridges, two sickles, an iron pipe, a nylon rope and a packet of chilli powder, together worth Rs 4,61,435, from the suspects.

A case of planning dacoity and possessing weapons was registered against the suspects under sections 399 of the Indian Penal Code and 3,4(25) of the Arms Act and 37(1) read with 135 of the Bombay Police Act for violating the prohibitory order with the Hinjewadi police station.

Assistant police inspector Krantikumar Patil is investigating the case. Print Emai…More