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TOI : PUNE: The schedule for the centralised admission process (CAP) for first-year engineering degree courses in the state, is to be announced by the state director of technical education (DTE) by July 3.
Speaking to TOI on Monday, a senior official at the state department of higher and technical education in Mumbai said, “We are awaiting the All-India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE) final approval to new engineering colleges in the state, besides approval to variation in student intake and introduction of new engineering branches at the existing colleges.”
The official said, “All this new information has to be integrated in the DTE’s admission brochure so that the engineering aspirants have a clear picture as to the institution they should give their preference for.” Usually, AICTE announces its final approval on June 30 every year. “This gives us two or three days’ time to integrate the information in the DTE brochure,” the official said, adding that the schedule would be out by July 3.
Post-declaration of the MHT-CET 2009 result on Sunday, all interest is centred around the impending CAP for the larger section of aided and unaided engineering colleges. Admissions to these colleges normally follows the admission process for the six autonomous engineering institutions, which is to commence from June 18.
The director of technical education (DTE) has declared 68,326 seats that are up for grabs at the 215 government-run, aided and unaided engineering colleges in the state. This includes the 2,565 seats at the six autonomous engineering institutions. According to sources, at least 12,000 more seats are expected to be added to the existing 68,326 seats by June 30.
Meanwhile, the official said that the DTE would soon post the admission rules for the CAP on its website. The rules are normally posted around the time when the MHT-CET result is declared. However, this has not been the case so far this year….More

TOI : PUNE: The special operations wing of the crime branch, Pune, on Sunday arrested Bangladeshi migrant Mustfizur Rehman Sayyed for allegedly supplying a fake University of Pune marklist and other forged documents to maulanas Johar Alam Mohammed and Nazir Mohammed. On Monday Sayyed was sent to police custody till June 27. The police custody of the two maulanas was also extended till June 17.
A police team picked up Sayyed in Mysore and brought him to Pune, after it was revealed that he had allegedly collected lakhs of rupees from some persons in Pune to build a madrasa in Mysore, said Anil Kumbhare, deputy commissioner of police (crime).
The police have recovered a fake Indian passport, some forged documents, a mobile phone and gold ornaments from Sayyed.
The two maulanas had allegedly revealed Sayyed’s name during interrogation.
Kumbhare said that investigations revealed that Sayyed had also duped real estate agent Amin Shaikh of Rs 5 lakh.
Shaikh has registered a case of criminal breach of trust and cheating against Sayyed with the Vishrantwadi police station under section 406 and 420 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The police had initially arrested Johar, one of the maulanas, for possessing a University of Pune marklist and a leaving certificate for a school in Dhanori which was not in existence on June 1. Johar’s arrest had led to the arrest of maulana Nazir Mohammed. Later, another suspect, Suresh Suryavanshi of Dhanori, was arrested for supplying them with forged documents.
The police have also registered a case of cheating and practising black magic against Johar with the Bund Garden police station under section 420 and 506 (1) of the IPC and 7 of Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954, Kumbhare added.
Investigations have revealed that the maulanas originally hail from Mayanmar.
Senior police inspector Rajendra Joshi of the special operations wing is investigating further. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: On your visit to New York City in the next three months, don’t be surprised if you hear a second generation Indian-American, especially from the state, greet you in chaste Marathi!
The Brihan Maharashtra Mandal (BMM) of North America has signed an MoU with the city-based Bharati Vidyapeeth to assess standardised Marathi learning centres, started by the BMM in 46 US cities. Covering 25,000 Marathi families in North America, the modified NCERT Marathi curriculum, jointly designed by Bharati Vidyapeeth and the Marathi enthusiasts from North America, will see around 2,500 children from the age of 4 and above appearing for their first semester in August this year.
“The objective is to promote Marathi language and culture through organised curriculum and guidance. For this, we have already started 46 Marathi learning centres in 46 cities in North America. The Bharati Vidyapeeth has designed the standardised curriculum. Moreover, assessing students and monitoring the effective implementation of the curriculum rests with Bharati Vidyapeeth,” Girish Thakar, president of BMM, North America. The BMM headquarters is based in the state of Illinois.
According to Thakar, children of many NRIs don’t understand the language, and their parents want to connect them not just with the language but also with Maharashtrian culture and tradition. “This course is aimed at fulfilling this requirement.”
“Earlier, we had designed the curriculum based on the needs of the students. Now, it has been validated as well as consolidated from the experts in the field,” said Leena Deodhare, BMM executive committee member, who is co-ordinating the course in the US cities.
The curriculum is designed to teach Marathi-speaking students or others in any age group. This is developed following the methodology of the International Language Learning Programme under Toronto and Peel district school board of Ontario, Canada, and Marathi classes in North America.
“The focus is to streamline teaching strategies with the use of…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation’s additional city engineer of Vivek Kharwadkar and retired assistant engineer Arun Joshi were arrested by the state anti-corruption bureau on Monday for their alleged involvement in illegally sanctioning excess transfer of development rights (TDR) for land that had been acquired by the Pune Municipal Corporation.
As per the development control rules, only four per cent TDR could’ve been sanctioned to the land which was in the green belt. However, the officials allegedly sanctioned 200 per cent TDR, equivalent to double the area of the plot.
Along with Kharwadkar and Joshi, the ACB has also arrested builder Shekhar Savkar (45) of Ashwini society, Shivajinagar. A complaint in this regard had been lodged by corporator Nitin Jagtap with the Deccan Gymkhana police station in 2005.
Superintendent of police (ACB) Vishwas Pandhare told TOI: “We have arrested Kharwadkar, Joshi and Savkar on Monday evening. We have sent three teams to search the suspects’ houses. We will produce them in the ACB court on Tuesday to seek their police custody.”
In his complaint, Jagtap had stated that, “Kharwadkar, who was the city deputy engineer (development plan), and Joshi the then assistant engineer, had illegally sanctioned TDR for 859 square metre land at Kasba Peth. The land near the Mutha river comes under the green belt. It had been acquired by the PMC for a drainage plant and a 100-foot wide road.”
The case was being investigated by the Deccan Gymkhana police, Pandhare said. Later, as per the directions of the state government, the case had been transferred to the ACB on January 1, 2006, he added.
“Inspector Sanjay Bhamre had studied the entire case and came to the conclusion that Kharwadkar and Joshi were involved in the case,” Pandhare said.
According to Bhamre, the land originally belonged to Chandrakant Dhole. The PMC acquired it for constructing a drainage plant and a…More

TOI : PUNE: The Dattawadi police on Monday arrested Sanjay Tanaji Suryavanshi (30) of Katraj for allegedly committing the murder of Dhananjay Jadhav of Parvati Darshan in 2008.
Suryavanshi was booked in the case after the magistrate’s court on February 21 referred the private case, filed by the victim’s wife Sharda, to the police for investigation.
Sharda had moved the court after the police failed to take action on her complaints that Suryavanshi had murdered Jadhav.
In her complaint, Sharda has alleged that Suryavanshi had taken Jadhav to Kerala in a truck and had murdered him on March 1, 2008.
The Kerala police had registered a case of accidental death after Jadhav’s body was recovered on March 23. Sharda, who was initially unaware of Jadhav’s death, had registered a missing persons complaint with the Dattawadi police on March 30. On July 26 she learned about her husband’s death and that his funeral had been performed by the Kerala police.
Sharda then rushed to Kerala and collected details about her husband’s death. She suspected the involvement of Suryavanshi in her husband’s death.
On May 21, she submitted a written complaint to the police commissioner, asking that the circumstances behind Jadhav’s death be investigated and that action against Suryavanshi be taken.
When no action was taken, her lawyer, Bilal Shaikh, filed a private criminal case against Suryavanshi before the court, under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
When the case came up for hearing, Shaikh told the court that the Dattawadi and Bhartiya Vidyapeeth police stations had recorded Suryavanshi’s statements and had also taken preventive action against him under section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code.
However, instead of arresting him, the police allowed him to go, Shaikh argued, and asked the court to direct the police to conduct a proper investigation in the case.
The magistrate upheld the lawyer’s…More

TOI : PUNE: The 8,000-odd employees of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation are in for a windfall as the civic body has decided to implement the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission for them. While the salaries of the employees will go up by nearly 21 per cent, it will put a financial burden of Rs 28.32 crore on the corporation every year.
The employees will get the benefits with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006, from when the state government has implemented the recommendations of the pay panel. The difference in salaries will be paid in five instalments over the next five years.
The decision to implement the sixth pay commission recommendations was taken at the civic standing committee. Earlier, the salary restructuring committee of the PCMC had held meetings to discuss the issue.
The committee also decided to pay Rs 15 lakh as consultancy fee to an independent agency for preparing the tender to buy 650 buses under a public-private partnership (PPP).
Meanwhile, various civic organisations opposed to the PPP model have decided to hold an agitation on Tuesday at the office of the divisional commissioner Dilip Band. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Over 250 members of the Pune University Teachers’ Association (Puta) and Pune University and College Teachers Organisation (Pucto) staged a protest in front of the joint director’s (education) office in Camp on Monday, demanding implementation of the 6th Pay Commission.
The protest formed part of the Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation’s (MFUCTO) programme to pursue a five-point charter of demands, which includes implementation of the 6th Pay Commission salaries for teachers.
Puta president Atul Bagul said, “The Union government has already acted on the recommendation of the University Grants Commission’s Chaddha committee report, by implementing the 6th Pay Commission for teachers at central universities and its affiliated colleges.”
He said the Union government had also committed grants to the tune of 80 per cent of the total burden on the states towards implementing the revised pay scales and had asked the state governments to secure these grants by March 31. However, the state government remained indifferent to the move.
According to Puta general secretary Ram Ashtekar, the state government had already announced implementation of 6th Pay Commission recommendations for its 15 lakh employees. However, the department of higher and technical education never forwarded a proposal to the state department of finance seeking revised pay scales for teachers, he said.
As a consequence the state budget this year does not reflect any provision for the revised pay scales for teachers. Ashtekar said the then minister for higher and technical education had promised in December last year that an apt proposal for revised pay scales would be forwarded.
Apart from the pay issue, MFUCTO is agitating for NET/SET exemption for teachers, removal of policy to promote unaided institutions, cancellation of privatisation of the pension scheme and implementation of the leave package announced by the UGC.
Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Passers-by alerted forest officers after they noticed two sacks containing rabbits near the Taljai hillock on Monday morning. Vaibhav Bhalerao, rain forest officer of Bhamburda area, said, “The two sacks contained 46 rabbits, out of which 24 were found dead, while the other 22 were sick. The rabbits seemed to be from a rabbit farm and it looks like they were abandoned because they were sick.”
The dead rabbits were sent to the Regional disease diagnostic laboratory in Aundh to ascertain the cause of their death. The 22 sick rabbits are being treated by the zoo officials at the animal orphanage of the Rajiv Gandhi Zoo. Sources at the zoo confirmed that the rabbits had been brought to the orphanage, but refused to reveal any details.
Lately, rabbit farming has emerged as a new business in the city. Rabbits are supplied to hotels which serve rabbit meat.
Speaking to TOI, Govind Lokhande, assistant commissioner, animal husbandry, said, “Prima facie, the rabbits belong to the Russian Giant and the New Zealand white varieties, but will have to be confirmed. A sample of four rabbits have been sent to the laboratory in Aundh and the final report will be received within 78 hours.” Rabbits being pet animals, a strict action cannot be taken against the owners, if found, he added.
As residents in the area expressed fear that some sick rabbits might have escaped into the nearby jungle; Bhalerao said, “Since they are pet animals, they cannot run fast and for too long. Forest officers surveyed the surrounding areas and did not find any rabbits.” As the place where the rabbits were found falls under the corporation’s jurisdiction, civic officials should take further action.”
When contacted, Bhanudas Mane, deputy commissioner, Garden, said, “We have not received any official communication from the forest department. If the sacks were found in the PMC’s jurisdiction, we will look…More

TOI : PUNE: Pro vice-chancellor (Pro V-C) Arun Adsool took charge as the officiating V-C of the University of Pune (UoP) here on Monday. He replaces noted economist Narendra Jadhav, who has been appointed member of the reconstituted Planning Commission of India.
Adsool (56), who was principal of Vidya Pratishthan’s arts science and commerce college at Baramati before being appointed the Pro V-C, is expected to hold the officiating post till the process for appointment of a new full-time V-C is completed. Normally, it takes more than four months for the process to finish after the chancellor appoints a search panel to finalise the new V-C.
Speaking to TOI, Adsool said, “Continuity will be key to my approach towards leading the UoP affairs over the next few months. Whatever initiatives and processes that have been set on roll by the outgoing V-C will be taken forward.”
Regarding key appointments like the director of board of college and university development (BCUD) and the controller of examinations (CoE), Adsool said, “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to effect any changes during the course of an officiating term. Appointments to these post is usually the prerogative of the new full-time V-C and I have no plan to intervene in this process.”
Adsool holds a doctorate in physics (microscopy) and masters degree in philosophy as well as education and a law degree all from the UoP as well as a masters degree in science from the Shivaji University, Kolhapur. He has been a senior member of the UoP’s academic council and has held several key academic and administrative posts, including that of the university registrar in 1998. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Even in the absence of rains, motorists and residents of Law college road encountered water-logging on Monday, thanks to the Pune Municipal Corporation, which has undertaken water pipeline repair work in the area.
People staying in the lanes off Law college road were surprised to see water gushing down from the law college hill like a waterfall around 9 O’clock in the morning.
Ajit Sangle, a local resident, told TOI that the residents informed the PMC about the flowing water in the morning itself, but nothing was done to reduce the flow of water till 3 pm.
“Water was flowing through all the by-lanes and the main road was also flooded. Some housing societies had water on their premises till late in the evening. Apart from the inconvenience, there’s no account of how much water must have been wasted,” Sagle said.
Water entered into housing societies like Sugandh and Aboli and also some bungalows. “Senior citizens staying in the bungalows were put to major inconvenience,” Sagle added.
Abhijit Shitole, who daily commutes through the Law college road, said that the motorists were caught unawares with ankle-deep water flowing through the road. “It hadn’t even rained and the road was flooded. We were travelling to work and the situation was messy. How can the civic officials let so much water go waste. And looking at the water-logging that took place, one can imagine what will happen when the monsoon sets in,” Shitole said.
When contacted, water department head Pramod Nirbhavne said water from the pipeline had to be drained to carry out routine repair works. Denying that there was any flood-like situation, Nirbhavne said, “No, there was no flooding on the road. We had provided proper channels for the water to flow”. When pointed out that water had entered housing societies, Nirbhavne said he had received no such complaints. Print Emai…More