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TOI : PUNE: The Chatushrungi police on Wednesday booked Congress corporator Dipak Mankar along with a watchman for allegedly encroaching upon a piece of land at Baner. The land in question belongs to a senior citizen and is currently being looked after by the Chatushrungi police.

A complaint in this regard was lodged by assistant inspector B A Kamble of Chatushrungi police station. Along with Mankar, the police have booked watchman Lakhan Bairilal Bhat, who hails from Assam.

Kamble told the TOI that since last few years Mankar is in a dispute with Ashok Gupta (60) of Bhosalenagar over the ownership of 4,000 square feet of land at survey number /52/4/1/3 at Baner. Gupta is working as a consultant with an automobile company in Pune. Both Mankar and Gupta were claiming ownership of the land.

Kamble said, “The then senior inspector of Chatushrungi police station had referred the case to the tehsildar under CrPC 145. In 2008, the court passed an order stating that the property at Baner belongs to Gupta. The order also said that to avoid any law and order situation, the property should remain in possession of the Chatushrungi police.”

Kamble further said, “There was a small hut on the land. However, we found that on or before June 6 Mankar had constructed a room on the land. We also found that he installed two boards saying that “This lands belongs to Dipak Mankar and he will take legal action if any one tried to encroach up on the land.” A watchman was also deployed at the place. We have booked Mankar and Bhat under sections 447 (punishment of criminal trespass) and 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code,” Kamble said.

Mankar was not available for comments. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Chief minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday assured the house that open dumping at the Phursungi-Urali landfill site will be stopped within seven months. He was replying to the short-notice question raised by Congress MLA Balasaheb Shivarkar.

Commenting on this, Shivarkar said, “The chief minister has promised that garbage processing units will be started in all four corners of the city. He assured the house that as promised by the district administration and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), open dumping at the twin landfill sites will be stopped within seven months.”

Shedding light on the villagers’ plight, Shivarkar said, “The life of residents living in and around the Phursungi-Urali landfill site has become a living hell because the landfill affects their social life.”

The groundwater in the twin villages has become contaminated. “The water here stinks and the air is highly polluted. Children here are becoming increasingly prone to asthma and other respiratory diseases, and women are getting skin allergies since most of their domestic work forces them to use this contaminated water. This place has also become a hub for vultures, crows, dogs and scavengers, which makes it risky for children to play in the open,” said Shivarkar.

“We hope that the chief minister will keep his promise. The chief minister has also asked the PMC to provide all health and sanitation facilities to villagers. We hope that the PMC will take this order seriously,” said Dnyaneshwar Adamane, sarpanch of Urali-Devachi. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: A magistrate court on Wednesday issued notice to the inspector of the Kothrud police station for failing to file a report in a alleged suicide abetment case.

Judicial magistrate first class G G Itkalkar issued the notice on an application filed by the complainant Pandurang Mahade’s lawyer N D Patil.

Patil said that he had prayed to issue notice to the concerned inspector, who is investigating the case, as he had failed to file a report even after three months.

The court on March 24 had directed the police to investigate a private criminal case under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure against six members of the Bhurte family after Mahade’s daughter Pratiksha Pravin Bhurte allegedly committed suicide on May 19, 2008.

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TOI : PUNE: An initiative by the office of Food and Distribution Officer (FDO) of Pune for distribution of ration cards at citizens fecilitation centres (CFCs) has almost come to a stand still.

The ration cards were being distributed at 11 CFCs run by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) across the city. Out of the 11 CFCs, only three are accepting applications and distributing cards at present. The disruption of services at other centres has created confusion and has left the citizens guessing.

The project was introduced six months back by the FDO’s office to simplify the process of obtaining a ration card. Also, the project was aiming at bringing down the waiting period and providing cards to citizens at their own localities. However, with the disruption of services at most CFCs, the citizens now have to approach the FDO’s zonal offices for getting ration cards.

“Initially, the project was launched at 11 CFCs at each of the ward offices of the PMC. However, only three CFCs are continuing the services,” said Pradeep Patil, the FDO of Pune.

He said the move was aimed at streamlining the ration card distribution process and to bring in transparency.

Admitting that there were some administrative gaps due to which the work at most CFCs has been stopped, Patil said, “We have asked the PMC to re-start the services at ward offices. A meeting in this regard was held recently at the PMC.”

He said that the entire work, including accepting of forms and distribution of cards, was being undertaken by a private firm at the CFCs. We have contacted the firm also and the services are likely to resume soon.

Patil said that though the project received a set back in Pune city, a similar scheme in Pimpri-Chinchwad was running successfully. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The Bundgarden police on Thursday confirmed that 25-year-old engineer from Gaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), who had allegedly shot himself in the chest at a lodge on Sassoon road on Wednesday, was in love with a girl who is presently staying in Pune. However, the girl has stated that she never harboured any feelings for the victim, Prateek Vatsa, a B.Tech student.

Senior police inspector Suhas Nadgouda, in-charge of the Bundgarden police station, said the girl also hails from Uttar Pradesh and is working in a private firm here.

In a statement given to the police, the girl said that she does not have any affection for Vatsa and that he had been harassing her for the past two years.

Inspector Ram Pathare of crime branch, Pune, unit-II, added that sometime back, Vatsa had cut his wrist with a blade when he had gone to meet the girl at her residence in Kothrud.

“Doctors have removed the bullet from Vatsa’s chest and his condition is now stable, but the police have not been able to record his statement as yet,” Nadgouda stated.

Inspector Pathare said that the police will conduct an inquiry into how Vatsa got a revolver and if he had smuggled any weapons to Pune.

The police are also trying to find out if Vatsa was running any admission racket in the city, since several pamphlets for admissions in various colleges were recovered from his bag. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The landline, mobile and broadband customers of BSNL can now pay their monthly bills at a place close to their house or shop.

The public sector telecom company has launched BSNL bill payment service (BBP) based on franchisee model which works round-the-clock. Also, customers will not have to stand in queues at customer service centers (CSC) as they can pay their bills through these franchisees. Pune is the first city in the country to float the service which will be introduced in other cities soon.

“The unique service is based on electronic payment method. It will ease out the process of BBP for customers in urban, rural as well as semi-urban areas. The customers now have an easy alternative for the monthly bill payment system,” said Chandra Prakash, chief general manager of BSNL’s Maharashtra circle, at the launch of the service.

Prakash added that the BBP is easy to access and also totally secured and reliable. He said, “A customer on receiving monthly bill can approach the franchisee nearest to his/her home or office and demand for BBP voucher’ equal to or higher than the bill amount. The voucher can be purchased in cash or through cheque/DD payable in favour of the franchisee. For the payment of bill, a customer has to send an SMS to 53330 or call toll free number. The customer will get instant receipt of the transaction.”

Chandra Prakash said, “The franchisee from the customer’s locality can also offer the service at their door step. This will be the hassle-free BBP service for a customer without any extra cost burden to customer. The BSNL has appointed Pune-based company DigiTech Telematics private limited (DTPL) to collect bills in western part comprising Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Around 800 franchisees have already been appointed in the state which will grow to 5,000 in near future. In Pune, around 800 franchisees…More

TOI : PUNE: Monsoon may still be elusive, but the airline companies are raining goodies.

If quick to decide the destination, one can strike a deal which will save him 40 to 50 per cent of the regular air fare this July-September. A Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai trip, for instance, comes for an attractive Rs 2,600, just about Rs 900 more than the bus fare.

The no-frills airline Spicejet, for example, is offering a flight from Pune to Chennai for Rs 1,380, Pune-Delhi for Rs 1,730 and Pune-Bengaluru for just Rs 1,230! Similarly, GoAir is offering flights that would cost approximately Rs 1,350 and Jet Airways has a menu card of fares ranging from Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,100.

IndiGo, on the other hand, has a simple formula which says you pay Rs 1,300 if you are flying a distance of less than 750 km, Rs 1,600 for distances of 750-1000 km and Rs 1,900 for distances more than 1000 km. Interestingly all these fares are all-inclusive’ (taxes included).

A spokesperson for Jet Airways told TOI, “These offers are designed to stimulate demand, given the current market environment. This in turn translates into market growth in the form of higher loads and revenues for airlines in the short to medium term.”

According to him, the months of July, August and September traditionally are lean periods for airline companies. The time for which the bookings are kept open is kept short to prompt the market to take quick advantage of the offer, the spokesperson said, adding that the response to previous such offers have resulted in encouraging increase in loads.

Professionals concerned with the travel and tourism trade said the promotional offers are in fact attempts to shore up the bottom line during the lean period of monsoon, generally spread over the months of July to September.

Sandeep Joshi, director, Guardian Holidays, pointed out that the corporate sector…More

TOI : PUNE: Marathi film Gabhricha Paus’ (The Damned Rain) that was screened at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) earlier this year, has earned the distinction of being the first Indian film to be selected for distribution grant of the Hubert Bals Fund at the International Film Festival, Rotterdam.

The film, directed by debutante Satish Manwar, narrates the plight of drought-stricken farmers in Vidarbha. Starring actors Girish Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni, Aman Attar and Jyoti Subhash, the film tells the story of a farmer Kisna, played by Girish Kulkarni and attempts to show his trials and tribulations while trying to support his family.

“While making the film you always wish that it does well and is received well from all quarters. I’m happy that our hard work has paid off and the film is getting its due recognition,” says Manwar.

The Hubert Bals Fund is designed to help film makers complete their projects and distribute them, as is the case with Gabhricha Paus’. Till now, the fund has supported almost 750 projects across the world. Other than the distribution grant, the fund also hands out grants for post-production, digital production and script and project development.

“I had no money left once we had completed the film and so we started showcasing it at different festivals in the hope that someone will come forward to help us distribute it. But when nothing happened for a while I thought of returning to work and earning some money, but that would have taken too long,” says Prashant Pethe, the film’s producer, who is also a merchant navy officer.

The news of the film being selected for the fund came as a ray of hope for both Pethe and Manwar, who say that though the grant of 15,000 Euros would not be enough to distribute the film all over the state, it is nonetheless a start.

“It is unfortunate…More

TOI : PUNE: Delay in sanction of funds and hurdles in land acquisition, have affected the progress of projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

While the central government has sanctioned 22 projects for the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and the first deadline for finishing any one of these projects is barely six months away, the civic body has received only a fourth of the money required to finish these projects.

However, civic officials say that the inclusion of Pimpri-Chinchwad in the list of mission cities under JNNURM was delayed and hence the deadlines for completing its projects are due only in the year 2010.

According to civic officials, the cost of these 22 projects is Rs 2,500 crore. However, the corporation has received only Rs 618 crore from the central and state governments so far.

The authorities confirmed that there has been a shortage of funds because of which the progress of some of these projects has been affected. The authorities pointed out that the corporation is struggling to meet the deadlines and is just about managing to continue with the works because it is financially better off than most other municipal corporations in the state.

Besides the delay in availability of funds, the projects are getting affected because of difficulty in acquisition of land, a case in point is the sewage treatment plant in Sangvi.

The 22 projects sanctioned by the government pertain to solid waste management, storm water drainage, bus rapid transit system, water supply and slum improvement. The deadlines for completing the solid waste management project and sewage treatment plants are January 2010 and March 2010 respectively.

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TOI : PUNE: Standing committee members of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) raised doubts about the functioning and utility of the nuisance detection squad (NDS) during the standing committee meeting on Tuesday.

Bhausaheb Supekar, standing committee member said that the nuisance detection squad itself was a nuisance. Another member Ganesh Bhondwe demanded that the propriety of the manner in which the NDS collects fine should be checked. Some members complained that the squad members gave receipts of smaller amounts to citizens but charges more, and acted to check only those offences that carry high penalty charges.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator Jitendra Nanaware pointed out that the squad had fined only 256 people for spitting in the entire year. “One can find at least 200 to 300 people spitting daily in public places and the nuisance detection squad’s figures show that the squad was not taking action even on one person per day,” Nanaware said.

After discussions, speaking to reporters, Dnyaneshwarrao Bhalerao, chairman of the standing committee, said that the PCMC has appointed retired armymen for working in the 10-member NDS. They will be paid an honorarium of 15 per cent of the total fine collected by the squad. The NDS had earned a revenue of Rs 1.58 crore in 2008-09.

The nuisance detection squad of PCMC takes action against people found throwing garbage, dumping debris, spitting or defectating in the open. It collects administrative charges from people who commit such offences.

Meanwhile, a proposal to permit a theatre group Vajira Ganesh Nirmiti’ of Mumbai to stage 10 shows of a play on female foeticide in Pimpri-Chinchwad township on a per show fee of Rs 35,000 was kept pending as members felt that the amount to be paid for the shows was very high.

The standing committee approved development projects worth Rs 1 crore. Print Emai…More