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TOI : PUNE: Private unaided polytechnics have been given the option of being part of the first-ever centralised admission process (CAP), which the director of technical education (DTE) has proposed for the 2009-10 admissions to diploma courses in engineering and technology, pharmacy, architecture and hotel management and catering technology.

The DTE has released the rules of admissions for post-SSC (standard X) and post-HSC (standard XII) diploma courses. The TOI (issue dated June 8, 2009) was the first to report about the CAP for diploma courses, starting 2009-10.

The move essentially covers government-run, aided and autonomous polytechnic institutes. Though, the rules for admissions, dated June 15, leave it for the private unaided institutions to decide on being part of the CAP or go with an admission procedure of their own.

There are 168 private unaided polytechnics in the state and together these account for a student intake of 47,720 seats. Organisations like the Teachers Association for Non-Aided Aided Polytechnics (TAFNAP) have been demanding that the CAP be extended to unaided polytechnics too.

The CAP is aimed at extending relief to scores of engineering diploma aspirants, who were otherwise required to approach individual institutions for securing admission. This was not only a costly and time-consuming affair but also tended to limit the choice of students vis-?-vis colleges of their choice.

According to information posted on the DTE’s official website, there are 36 government-run and 18 aided polytechnics in the state. Collectively, they account for 16,750 seats.

The admission process for polytechnics usually begins after the declaration of the secondary school certificate (SSC, standard X) examination results by the state education board. The SSC March 2009 exam results are due on June 25. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: In a major step, the state government has launched its maternity benefit scheme’ to ensure health care for every pregnant woman in the state, irrespective of social and economic status, as well as safe delivery of the newborn. The scheme also extends a cash incentive of Rs 400 and post-delivery medicine pack worth Rs 400.

The objective is to increase institutional deliveries (deliveries in health care establishments) to bring down cases of maternal and newborn deaths. The state government has sanctioned Rs 35 crore for the year 2009-10. Notably, such benefits were earlier meant only for women falling under the scheduled caste/scheduled tribes (SC/ST) and below poverty line categories.

Additional director (family welfare) N J Rathod said, “The maternity benefit scheme is for every pregnant women in the state. The only conditions are that such a woman should approach a government and semi-government hospital for the delivery. The facility is available for women with not more than two babies.” Further, the cash incentive of Rs 400 and post-delivery medicine pack worth Rs 400 is given to such a woman under the scheme, he added.

Rathod said, “Earlier only SC/ST and BPL women were given such benefits. Now, the state government has widened its scope by implementing the maternity benefit scheme throughout the state for all categories of women, irrespective of their economic status.”

Moreover, he said, the rate of maternal mortality gets automatically checked when pregnant mothers are encouraged to approach health care establishments to deliver the baby. “Usual delivery complications like post-partum haemorrhage, puerperal sepsis and severe anaemia are easily taken care of and effectively managed when a woman delivers a baby in a hospital set up. This eventually brings down cases of maternal deaths.”

The scheme is aimed at encouraging pregnant women to approach the nearest government and semi-government hospitals like primary health care centres (PHC), sub-centres, rural and district hospitals,…More

TOI : PUNE: Additional sessions judge A J Rohi on Sunday granted bail to former director of agriculture Prakash Wamanrao Mahindre (60) and his accomplice agriculture officer Dilip Shende (51) after Mahindre was found to have accrued unaccounted wealth worth Rs 3.02 crore.

The duo was arrested on Friday by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. The ACB had also arrested Mahindre’s wife, Priya (55), in this connection. However, she was released on bail on the same day. Mahindre and Shende were put in police custody till Sunday.

Mahindre was caught red handed on May 12, 2005, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000. Later, ACB investigations had revealed that assets worth Rs 3.02 crore out of Mahindre’s total assets worth Rs 4.97 crore were found to be disproportionate to his sources of income.

Investigations have also revealed that Shende was found to have invested huge amounts in various businesses allegedly helped by Mahindre. Mahindre and Shende was produced before the court on Sunday after which they were granted bail. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The railway administration has stated that the level-crossing gate (gate number 10) between Yevat-Kedgaon stations on Pune-Daund section will be closed for road traffic from June 25.

“Since the dues of Rs 19,16,886 towards maintenance charges for the gate has not been remitted by the chief executive officer of the Pune Zilla Parishad even after repeated reminders, the railway administration has decided to close the gate, a release from the Pune railway division stated.

The authorities had decided to close the gate last month, but had given the Zilla Parishad an extension of one month (from May 20 to June 20) to deposit the dues. However, the railway authorities have stated that no dues have been received so far.

The railway administration has cleared that the gate was initially opened on deposit-term basis after a formal agreement executed between the Zilla Parishad and Railways. As per the conditions given in the agreement, the Zilla Parishad is liable for remitting the annual maintenance charges of the gate.

The railway administration has stated that the gate will be closed for the public from June 25. While the Pune Zilla Parishad is responsible for inconvenience to the public who use the gate, the railway administration has said that the inconvenience caused is deeply regretted. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: In a move that threatens to have a far-reaching impact on the admissions to first-year engineering degree courses for 2009-10 in the state, the director of technical education (DTE) has started issuing letters to some colleges asking them not to effect admissions this year due to their failure to appoint full-time principals.

The directorate’s move to issue letters is spurred by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court’s judgement of December 3, 2008, which had laid a time-bound programme for all colleges in the state to ensure they have a full-time principal in place by the extended deadline of May 31. The high court had directed the universities to act against the defaulting colleges by banning admissions to the first-year of their academic courses for 2009-10.

Some engineering colleges have already moved the Supreme Court (SC) against the high court judgement. The apex court had issued an interim order on May 28 staying the operation of the impugned judgement till further notice, although a debate continues on whether the SC’s interim order is applicable to all colleges or to only those colleges which approached it for relief.

Several unaided engineering colleges have resented the DTE’s letter and are planning to move the court for relief on the grounds that the letter amounts to contempt of the SC’s order. On Sunday, a group of engineering colleges in Satara held discussions with their lawyer for filing a petition against the DTE letter.

All this, after DTE’s joint director for Pune region G P Chaudhari held a meeting with representatives of various professional colleges at the Maharashtra Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology here on Saturday, to convey the directorate’s position of following the high court’s judgement on the issue of appointment of principals. The letters were issued to the colleges at this meeting, which was attended by some 80 representatives from the region, covering…More

TOI : PUNE: In order to cater to the requirements of the scientific community for their research work, the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has created a web portal specifically for them. The portal is called Computing Resource Management Engine (Chreme) and has been developed by the High Performance Computing Solutions (HPCS) group of C-DAC.

Weather departments across the country are likely to benefit from this portal, as much of their work is based on high performance computing. The portal will help derive accurate weather predictions through this tool.

Goldi Misra, group co-ordinator and head of HPCS told TOI: “Scientists in the field of basic sciences run a lot of super-computing-based applications. However, since they are not familiar with super-computing, they face problems in running their applications or finding solutions to the problems. They end up with numerous errors and at the same time they also lose a lot of time solving computer-related problems. This portal will definitely help them overcome these difficulties.”

According to Misra, the tool is highly user-friendly. One has to log on to the portal, choose a suitable option and just run the query. Kapil Mathur, member of the HPCS group explains, “Once this portal is deployed on the super-computer of say, the weather department, and a query on the weather prediction for the next 10 days is run on the portal, the resultant forecast will be very accurate.”

For this, however, the weather department will have to deploy a customised portal which will be provided by C-DAC as per their requirements.

The first full-fledged deployment of Chreme was done at one of the most prestigious organisations in the field of weather forecasting, the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Noida, on Tuesday.

Balakrishnan Athiyaman, head, computer division, NCMRWF said: “The portal has simplified our work in a way that now our scientists do not have to…More

TOI : PUNE: The southwest monsoon made a further advancement and finally reached Pune on Sunday, making it the longest wait for monsoon in the last two decades. It is expected to cover the whole state in the next 24 to 48 hours.

“Conditions are favourable for a further advancement. The monsoon is on the verge of entering Mumbai and is expected to proceed further during the next 24 to 48 hours, covering Mumbai and the remaining parts of the state during this period,” said A B Mazumdar, deputy director general meteorology (DDGM), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune. He said the monsoon has progressed in Solapur and has also reached Alibaug.

According to the IMD, the southwest monsoon has further advanced in some more parts of the central Arabian sea, some parts of north Konkan, madhya Maharashtra, most parts of Karnataka, remaining parts of Rayalaseema, some parts of Telangana and north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The northern limit of the monsoon passes through Alibaug, Pune, Solapur, Hyderabad, Kalingapatnam, Paradip, Balasore, Bankura and Gangtok.

The IMD update said that showers are likely to occur in different parts of the state due to various favourable conditions. An offshore trough at sea level from the Karnataka coast to the Lakshadweep area persists. At present, there is a cyclonic circulation over east central Arabian sea, off the Goa-Karnataka coast, and if this persists it will aid in rainfall.

It may be noted that this has been the longest wait for the monsoon in the city during the last two decades. Before this, the longest delay had been in 2005 when the monsoon had hit the city on June 19. So, as per the time schedule, this year the monsoon has arrived 14 days late. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Railway running rooms’ are not particularly known for their high standards but at the Pune railway division, the running rooms for on-duty locomotive pilots (drivers), motormen and guards have had a much-needed facelift.

What once were dingy rooms with no basic amenities or even a proper toilet, have now transformed into spaces with proper bedding and a mosquito net, toilets, subsidised meals, a recreation room, even a separate room for yoga and meditation!

A budget of Rs 70 lakh has been sanctioned for the work and as many as 39 running rooms (restrooms) at four railway stations Ghorpadi (Pune), Miraj, Kolhapur and Satara have been upgraded. Other facilities like newspapers, magazines, a small kitchen and TV are also provided. And, if railway officials are to be believed, the restrooms may soon even become air-conditioned!

“Work on making the rooms better has been under way for the better part of a year. The rooms are used by the loco pilots, assistant loco pilots of mail, express and goods trains and guards. Around 40 loco pilots and guards make use of the facilities at each of the stations on a daily basis,” said Y. K. Singh, public relation officer of the Pune railway division.

“This is the first time we have initiated an upgradation project of this sort. Locomotive pilots and guards play a significant role in ensuring a safe and smooth rail journey and we felt that proper facilities should be given to them,” Singh added.

Though the railways have no plans to hold yoga or meditation training, officials were thinking about getting trainers as per the demand,” he said. “As the restrooms are open round-the-clock, the staff can practice yoga and meditation as per their convenience.”

Fifteen rooms at Ghorpadi, 15 rooms at Miraj, 5 rooms at Kolhapur and 4 rooms at Satara have been upgraded. “In the second phase of upgradation,…More

TOI : PUNE: As many as five labourers were crushed to death and 10 sustained severe injuries after a dumper in which they were travelling fell in a trench near Bhuini village in Mulshi taluka on Saturday morning.

The deceased have been identified as Dyaneshwar Mahate (30), Sunil Mahate (30), Mangal Singh (27), Satyanarayan Krishnasingh (29) and Mohan (21, full name not known). The injured have been identified as Ashok Jadhav (25), Nepal Vishwakarma (29), Mukesh Yadav (27), Jeetendra Prajapati (30), Dadu Mangal Kumar (25), Nakul Mahate (25), Nitin Mahate (25), Anil Chaudhary (23), Ramzan Shaikh (24), Jayshri Purty (23) and Ranjeet (24). All the injured have been admitted to a private hospital for treatment.

According to inspector Shahaji Jadhav of Paud police station, all the deceased and injured labourers were from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. They were hired by a contractor for construction work in Mulshi and were staying in a labour camp near Bhuini village, he added.

Speaking to TOI, Amar Bhavarlal Ghanchi (28), an engineer at the site, said, “On Saturday morning, a dumper carrying 18 labourers was heading towards the bricks plant near Bhuini village. As it had been raining here for the last two days, the roads had become slippery. The driver, Satyanarayan, may have lost control over the vehicle because of the bad roads resulting in the accident,” Ghanchi said.

“As the mishap took place near the labour camp, labourers and villagers rescued the injured and rushed them to a nearby hospital,” Ghanchi added.

He said that the exact reason behind the mishap was not known as the driver also died in the mishap. Of eighteen men, five died on the spot, 10 sustained severe injuries, while three escaped with minor injuries. “Initially, we had admitted them to a hospital close by, but later shifted them to a private hospital at Paud,” he said.

“We have…More

TOI : PUNE: “The ideologues associated with the Republican Party of India (RPI) are echoing sentiments that of the party workers leave the company of Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),” said Ramdas Athavale, president of RPI.

Athavale was speaking with reporters on Sunday following a meeting with writers and thinkers associated with the Republican Party of India (RPI). Prominent writers like Gangadhar Pantawne, Vaman Ovhal and others were present.

“All the workers and people associated with RPI are hurt by my defeat. They feel that defeating me was a planned attempt to demolish the Republican party movement,” Athavale said, adding, “otherwise how could I have lost Shirdi, which is a strong hold of the Congress.”

He said that his party has kept all options open for a tie up in the upcoming assembly elections. Athavale is eyeing a new front without the NCP, Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena. He mentioned smaller political groups like Jana Surajya Shakti, Swabhimani Sanghatana, Shetkari Kamgar Paksha, who do not exist on the political map of the state.

On when will the RPI will take a final decision on fighting independently, Athavale said the decision is expected in the last week of August. “Some people are even advocating a tie up with the BJP and Shiv Sena, but right now chances of such an alliance are zero. If the other Republican parties unite, then RPI (A) may join them.”

When asked if he is still hopeful of getting a Rajya Sabha seat, Athavale said that chances are very less. “There are only three seats left for Rajya Sabha. One each would go to Congress and NCP while third will go either to BJP or Sena. Out of that one seat would go to Vilasrao Deshmukh and I think NCP would also not give me a seat.”

Writers and thinkers stressed the need for restructuring the RPI. Print Emai…More