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TOI : PUNE: A 24-year-old IT professional has tested positive for H1N1 virus, becoming the first case of Swine flu in the city, official sources said on Tuesday.

The software techie had been travelling extensively since he left New Jersey on June 13. He arrived in Pune on June 18 and was hospitalised on June 20 following symptoms of flu, Dr D B Barhate of civic Naidu hospital, where the patient has been quarantined, said.

The patient has been put on anti-viral treatment prescribed for the ailment by the Central government after his throat swabs tested positive for H1N1 at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), he added.

Those who travelled with the patient in the plane too were being identified and traced for further preventive measures, Dr Barhate said. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The Vishrambaug police on Monday arrested three suspects for allegedly grabbing a property owned by a bank in Sadashiv Peth. They were later released on bail.

The police identified the suspects as Shantaram Vaidya (57) of Rajendranagar, Sambhaji Jadhav (56) of Ramwadi and Prakash Deokar (55) of Bibvewadi.

The trio was arrested after a complaint was lodged by a former director of the bank, Shekhar Bhambure of Narayan Peth, on June 19.

The suspects were produced before judicial magistrate first class B B Pantawane for obtaining their seven days’ police custody around 4 pm.

The prosecution urged that the suspects be remanded to police custody, pointing out that corporator Deepak Mankar was absconding after he was booked in a dacoity case by the Khadak police.

The court sent them to magisterial custody as they were arrested for bailable offences under sections 342, 294, 506 (2), 504 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The suspects were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 15,000 each. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The collective live water storage levels at four dams Temghar, Warasgaon, Panshet and Khadakwasla which supply drinking water to Pune, registered below 1 TMC (0.99 TMC) on Monday. This is the first time in a long time that the levels have fallen so low. Last year at this time, the dams collectively held 2.02 TMC live water storage, says the irrigation department. There is a decrease of almost 50 per cent as compared to last year’s level,” said Avinash Surve, superintending engineer of Pune circle of irrigation department.

“Following the delay in the arrival of the monsoon, the water levels dropped. Taking preventive measures, a 20 per cent water cut has been imposed on residents since June 21.

According to Surve, water discharge has been reduced from 700 cusec to 560 cusec. Surve also said that citizens have been asked not to waste drinking water.

“The Tenghar and Warasgaon dams hold no live water storage, while Panshet and Khadakwasla registered 0.60 TMC and 0.39 TMC respectively on Monday. At present, the dams have an average of 3.57 per cent water storage of the total storage capacity. The live water storage capacity of four dams is 27.72 TMC,” said Surve.

“The catchment areas of the dams have received, on an average, 42 mm rainfall since June 1. The rainfall is too low to make a difference to the water levels. The water cut will continue till the dams witness significant increase in water levels, he added. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune rural police on Monday arrested three men suspected of being involved in the murder of an elderly couple at their residence in Wadgaon Anand village near Alephata in Junnar taluka.

The deceased have been identified as retired primary teacher Bajirao Shankar Devkar (70), and his wife Sunanda (65). The duo was found murdered on Sunday morning.

The suspects have been identified as Chetan Ramdas Dumbre (30), Nilesh Dyaneshwar Vitekar (25) and Ratan alias Ratnakar Martand Shinde (23) all from Dumbremala, Otur, near Junnar.

Speaking to reporters, superintendent of police (rural) Ravindra Kadam said, “We managed to nab the suspects within 24 hours of the incident. The motive behind the double murder was robbery. We recovered stolen ornaments and two cell phones from the suspects.”

Acting on a tip-off, the Pune rural police team, led by inspector Bhausaheb Andhalkar of the local crime branch (LCB), laid a trap at Dumbarwadi and nabbed the main suspect late on Sunday, Kadam added.

The suspects allegedly smothered the couple and fled with 14 tolas of gold ornaments. The incident came into light on Sunday morning when the couple’s son, Sanjay Devkar, came home to meet his parents.

Kadam said that, during investigation the LCB team received a tip-off that Dumbre had visited the Devkars’ house two or three times before the incident. The police also learnt that Dumbre was an alcoholic. “Accordingly, we started looking for him and found him in a beer bar near Alephata on Sunday evening,” Kadam said.

During sustained interrogation, Dumbre admitted his involvement in the crime and also revealed the names of Vitekar and Shinde.

According to additional superintendent of police (Pune rural) Ashok Morale, Dumbre revealed that he had hatched the robbery plan a month in advance. He knew that the old couple was staying alone in the house. “On the day of the incident Dumbre,…More

TOI : PUNE: The Kerala government is planning to revive the scholarships which were earlier given to students from Kerala studying at the city-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

The move follows Academy award winner Resul Pookutty’s conversation with Kerala state education minister M A Baby, urging him to restart the scholarships, which were stopped a few years ago.

For Pookutty, it is simply about giving back to the society. Speaking to TOI, he said, “It was with the help of this scholarship that I was able to complete my education at the institute in 1995. Today, the financial structure of the course at the FTII is higher than what it was at my time. This, I think, is quite a burden for the students.” He also recalled his days at the institute when the fee was just about Rs 600 a semester going up to Rs 2,000 when he graduated. At present, the fee is Rs 30,000 per year for the three-year course.

It was when Pookutty met the minister in Kerala last month that he broached the topic of the scholarship and was gratified to receive a positive response. “I get to meet a lot of important people nowadays. That is how I get the opportunity to do something like this. The minister has only asked for a letter and some information about the scholarships from me, which I will give to him in a few days,” he said.

On his part, Baby said he is only waiting for information regarding the scholarship, after which the proposal will be signed. Speaking to TOI on Monday, he said, “We just need to sit down and discuss the particulars with some well-known filmmakers, including Adoor Gopalakrishnan.” He also said that he sees no reason why the scholarships would not be granted. “It is about education after all,” he adds.

Pookutty, though, would like the…More

TOI : PUNE: Realising the wastage of valuable manpower, the Pune police have withdrawn security provided to about 10 people as there was no perceivable threat to their lifes any more. Some of them, mostly businessmen, had armed guards standing for them for as long as 14 years.

“A review of the security arrangements showed that some did not require protection any more and hence a decision to withdraw the same was taken with immediate effect,” said joint commissioner of police (law and order) Rajendra Sonawane, on Monday. However, Sonawane did not reveal the names of people whose security has been withdrawn, for obvious reasons.

The special branch, Pune, which is responsible for providing security, had recommended that security provided to the individuals must be withdrawn immediately as it amounts to wastage of manpower. The higher ups discontinued the service after intimating the individuals. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The war of words between leaders of the city units of the Congress party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) continued on Sunday over the issues of breaking the Pune Pattern’ in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and an alliance between the two parties for the forthcoming assembly elections.

Incidentally, the war of words is also a fallout of the continuing cold war between district guardian minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar and city Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi. While Pawar had not campaigned for the MP during the Lok Sabha elections gone by, Kalmadi had not missed the opportunity to make a dig at Pawar after his victory. Kalmadi had then said that since the NCP had faced defeat in constituencies where the district guardian had campaigned actively, Pawar’s behaviour had stood him in good stead. The Congress MP had also said that irrespective of the possible alliance between the Congress and the NCP at the state level for the assembly elections, the Congress will contest the seats in Pune independently.

Pawar, who had chosen to remain silent over Kalmadi’s remarks for nearly a month, on Friday questioned whether the Congress MP had been given any powers by his party to decide about the alliance for the elections in Pune. Pawar also clarified why and how the Pune pattern where the NCP is in alliance with the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the PMC came into existence and why he had not campaigned for Kalmadi.

Meanwhile, city Congress unit chief Abhay Chhajed had countered Pawar’s comments and said that Kalmadi had already requested that the party should not ally with the NCP in Pune for the assembly elections. On Sunday, NCP spokesperson and former mayor Ankush Kakade said that the final decision regarding the alliance will be taken by All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi and NCP president Sharad Pawar. Print…More

TOI : PUNE: Though timely treatment may help reduce diabetes-related amputations of leg and foot, diabetic patients should be careful of Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD), a progressive atherosclerotic disease carrying a high risk of limb loss, stroke and premature death, said cardiologist Shirish (M S) Hiremath, director, Ruby Hall clinic while briefing the media recently

In fact, experts warn that people with coexisting diabetes and PVD, which is a widely prevalent, are more likely to undergo amputation of the limb.

“It is estimated that only about 30 per cent of PVD patients are diagnosed, mainly due to the asymptomatic nature of the disease. Even leg pain is present only in about 10 per cent patients, reducing the diagnosis rate. However, ABI (Arterial Brachial Index) is a test, which helps detect the disease and aids in correct diagnosis,” said Hiremath.

Given that PVD in diabetes is largely asymptomatic, patient education plays a key role in preventing major complications later. While 82,000 people have diabetes-related leg and foot amputations each year in India, timely treatment can significantly reduce this number, said Hiremath.

PVD occurs when the arteries (blood vessels) that supply blood to various parts of the body become narrow because of the build-up of fatty deposits (atherosclerosis) sometimes called plaque or lesion on the inside walls (linings) of the blood vessels. When the arteries that carry blood to the legs become too narrow because of deposit build-up, blood flow is reduced and the leg muscles do not get enough oxygen to support physical activity.

“However, foot care programmes that include regular examinations and patient education may prevent up to 85 per cent of these amputations. Newer technology, like long ballooning, has an 80 per cent success rate and helps in salvaging limbs of a patient,” said Hiremath. Print Emai…More

TOI : Nature may have denied him the benefit of sight from birth, but that did not stop 21-year-old Shivaji Londhe from topping the recently-held elementary (level II) German exams, conducted by the Max Mueller Bhavan, with 90 per cent marks.

Londhe, who is simultaneously pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in English, is clear that he wants to be a linguist. “I have a natural flair for languages. I would like to utilise this skill to teach as well as translate documents and literature in the days to come,” he says.

And though there were challenges in the classroom, Londhe says, it wasn’t difficult to overcome them. “Both my teachers and classmates were very helpful. Though I couldn’t read the blackboard, the language teaching entailed a lot of verbal components such as conversation and audio-tapes. I’d particularly like to mention a senior student, Sangeeta Karmarkar, who helped me considerably. On the day of the exam, my class teacher Atul Keskar acted as a writer for me,” he said.

Modest about his achievement, Londhe says he has a long way to go yet. “These are only the elementary-II exams. But I intend clearing each and every level,” he says. “I was first introduced to the joys of this language by my tuition teacher Anjali Deshmukh, who taught us German at the junior college level.”

He says it’s possible for a visually-challenged student to keep up with the pace in a regular classroom. “It takes effort but it can be done. And these days, technology has made things far simpler. Not only do you have the option of recording lectures, but the JAWS software that reads out the matter on a computer screen as well as the Braille Mitra reader,” he says.

The son of a sugar factory worker, Shivaji spent his formative years at the Poona School & Home For Blind, Koregaon Park.

Presently a…More

TOI : PUNE: The state government has finally considered the city police’s long-pending demand of starting two new police stations at Koregaon park and Mundhwa.

In fact, the state home department issued a notification last week approving the proposal sent by the Pune police commissionerate. With this, the total number of police stations in the city will go up to 30.

Speaking to TOI on Monday, deputy commissioner of police (headquarters), Kiran Shelar said, “The police commissionerate has requested the Pune Municipal Corporation to provide a suitable land for building a police station in Koregaon park. The construction work of the police station in Mundhwa has already begun.”

He said, “Policemen attached to the police headquarters in Shivajinagar will be sent to the new police stations, once they become functional on a temporary basis. Newly recruited policemen will be posted there after completion of their nine-month training.”

Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Rajendra Sonawane said, “The Koregaon park and Mundhwa police stations will come under the jurisdiction of the deputy commissioners of police zone II and IV respectively.

Regarding the shortage of police personnel in the city in general, Sonawane said, “Each police station should have a staff of 300 policemen, but, as of now, we are making do with only 50 per cent of the requisite number.”

“Once the required infrastructure is made available, the two new police stations will become functional and thereafter we will take a decision on starting new police chowkeys,” he added. Print Emai…More