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TOI : PUNE: Maharashtra may have made considerable strides in providing healthcare facilities but a recent survey shows that just about 44 of the 293 community health centres (CHCs) have qualified gynaecologists to perform caesareans operations at childbirth. What’s more, only about 255 of the 830 primary health centres (PHCs) in the state have women medical officers.

These conclusions were made public by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, following a district-level household survey (DLHS)-3 conducted for Maharashtra by the International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai. The survey covered 37,678 households in 35 districts and 1,211 villages in the state.

The objective of the survey was to provide estimates on health indicators to assist policy-makers and programme administrators in decentralised planning, monitoring and evaluation. The present DLHS is the third in the series — the earlier two were done in 1998-99 and in 2002-2004.

“DLHS-3 has provided information on programmes under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). This is also the first time that a population-linked facility survey has been conducted,” said N J Rathod, additional director (family welfare).

Commenting on the measly number of community health centres offering Caesarean operations, state NRHM director Madhukar Chaudhari admitted that it was difficult to find qualified gynaecologists who could conduct Caesareans and who were willing to join a CHC for a salary far less than what they would get in a private set-up.
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TOI : PUNE: “Illustrations are the mainstay of a design-based culture that is related to art,” says veteran artist-illustrator Ravi Paranjape, who penned a book on illustrations and sketches for art students and novices.

The World of My Illustrations, a book on black and white rendering techniques, consists of the basics and types of illustrations. The book reflects Paranjape’s artistic work in the last 40 years. For instance, done in black waterproof ink and poster white paint, the half-tone productions show tonal qualities of white and black, while the line illustrations are emphasised by effective use of lines and strokes.

The book explains the basics of memory drawing and the different mediums that can used to do illustrations. “Good memory drawing and still life drawing are very important for an illustrator, who also has to be conversant with different mediums,” says Paranjape.

According to him, art education, especially on illustrations, is highly neglected in art schools. The book the first in a series of three based on illustrations is a way of giving opportunity to aspiring illustrators to hone their skills.

“Illustrations is a compulsory subject in applied arts. There are students who want to learn and specialise in illustrations, but there aren’t enough good teachers to show them the way. The subject is largely neglected as the teachers themselves are not well-trained,” observes Paranjape, who taught illustrations for three years as a visiting faculty at Mumbai’s JJ School of Arts.

The book is also Paranjape’s way of highlighting the importance of illustrations as art, and not as a pile of sketches often relegated to newspapers and magazines. This interpretation of illustrations reflects the attitude towards illustrators. “Fact is, illustrations are not considered serious or full-fledged art in our country. Often, illustrators are condemned and not taken seriously as artists,” says Paranjape.

He also feels that the standard of illustrations has deteriorated over the years….More

TOI : PUNE: The Std XI centralised admission process (CAP) faces a realistic possibility of more than 3,000 seats, reserved for the non-SSC board students under the state government’s controversial 90:10 quota policy, remaining vacant at the end of the admission process this year.

With the 90:10 quota itself being the subject matter of a spate of petitions in the Bombay high court, the CAP authorities are not quite sure what they would do about these excess non-SSC board quota seats, if the situation comes to that.

The overall stream-and medium-wise admission capacity for Std XI high schools and junior colleges in the city and Pimpri-Chinchwad is 57,640 seats. Going by the quota, 10 per cent of this capacity, which works out to 5,764 seats, is reserved for the non-SSC board admission-seekers.

According to deputy director (education) Gangadhar Mhamane, who heads the Std XI CAP committee, “Last year, 2,300-odd students from the CBSE/ICSE boards had applied for admissions to Std XI.”

“We are not expecting any substantial increase in the number of non-SSC board admission-seekers this year considering that there were few additions to the CBSE/ICSE secondary schools,” Mhamane said.

Even if the total number of non-SSC board admission-seekers is pegged at 2,500 for this year, the projected vacancy in the 10 per cent quota segment would be 3,246 seats.

Speaking to TOI, assistant deputy director (education) V M Gaikwad, conceded that this was a “very realistic situation” although, he added that the precise number of non-SSC board admission-seekers can be determined only at the end of the admissions.

“One can not rule out the possibility of non-SSC board students from cities like Mumbai, trying out their luck at leading junior colleges here considering the stiff competition they have to face in the state capital,” said Gaikwad, who is also the member secretary of the Std XI CAP committee

Gaikwad added, “We will…More

TOI : AURANGABAD: The decision of Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) to issue show-cause notices to colleges operating without principals has not gone down well with the college managements, who have now blamed the university for non-availability of qualified staff.

Shaikh Ramzan, secretary of the Association of Maharashtra Unaided B Ed College Managements, said that the association members and other un-aided professional college managements were ready to appoint principals according to the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms. But no one is willing to join the private institutions even if they are being paid according to norms because by doing so they will lose on their pension benefit, he said.

“There are over two dozen senior college teachers in government and aided B Ed colleges, but they are not willing to join their own colleges as principals owing to a state government rule which deprives them of pension and other benefits they are enjoying now,” he said. The state of affairs is so abject that even the government BEd colleges in Ambejogai were not getting regular principals due to the prevailing norms, said Ramzan.

He also pointed out that it was the Bamu rule of not allowing a teacher to guide Ph D students, after the teacher attains age of 60 which has badly affected the research work in the region. A teacher could concentrate on guiding research student actively after his retirement, but Bamu authorities did not realise this fact. He said other universities allow teachers to guide others up to the age of 70.

The private college association secretary also criticised the state government and Bamu for not following the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), UGC and even human resource development (HRD) ministry norms which allow retired teachers to work up to the age of 70. If the NCTE norms are followed, the colleges in Maharashtra could appoint retired teachers, who are presently allowed to…More

TOI : PUNE: A three-member team sent by the Union government to check the performance of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in implementing the reforms under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has appreciated the civic administration’s e-suvidha initiative.

The central government team visited the PCMC on Wednesday and made this observation, municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma told TOI.

Sharma said, “The e-suvidha initiative was launched by scientist Vijay Bhatkar a few days ago. The PCMC has prepared a number of softwares under this project for e-tendering, paying property tax and water tax through the internet, SMS complaint system and others.”

Later, PCMC’s computer officer Neelkanth Poman said that “The central team met heads of various civic departments at Growthlab in Bhosari. They will prepare a report and later submit it to the Union government.”

Poman added: “The team was impressed with the work of the PCMC. They said the PCMC has performed better than the Pune Municipal Corporation.”

The central government team consisted of Omprakash Mathur, head, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and Nilesh Rajadhyaksha and Chandana De, also from NIPFP. They met additional commissioner Subhash Dumbre, assistant commissioners Sudhakar Deshmukh, Sahebrao Gaikwad and Sudhir Joshi, chief accounts officer Neelkanth Londhe and others. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: A group of students from Colorado College, USA, have sent a petition to the Government of Maharashtra to protest the current state of schools and teachers in the Melghat region. The move comes in the backdrop of these students’ recent visit to the region this January under the 2009 International Service Programme, and their work with the Pune-based NGO, Maitri.

Their partnership with Melghat Maitri (Maitri’s programme in Melghat) allowed them to work with the Melghat-based Korku tribals on sustainable development plants to empower villagers. The students helped in the implementation of agricultural projects in the village of Chitali over a period of ten days. This included digging compost pits, building bathing platforms, planting a community nursery, distributing banana trees and water tanks.

In the petition, the American students state that they saw the government teacher visit Chitali only once. “The teacher was aggressive and was barely present during the lessons, and the children were visibly afraid. Although these children were excited to learn, they are not provided with a safe place or support through appropriate programmes,” the petition states.

Sent to Purushottam Bhapkar, collector of Amravati camp; Ashok Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra; Johny Joseph, chief secretary, Government of Maharashtra; and other prominent government officials, the petition is supported by signatures of 264 students from Colorado College, requesting a stronger and more accountable education system for rural regions of India. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will be developing parking lots near Kamla Crossroads and Big Bazaar along the Pune-Mumbai highway in order to provide more parking space in these busy shopping areas.

Speaking to TOI, Ashish Sharma, municipal commissioner said, “We are moving back the footpath located along the highway at the two spots to create space for parking. People will be able to park their vehicles free of cost at these places.”

An official in the engineering department said, “The parking space along the highway near Kamla Crossroads will have space for 50 cars and 50 two-wheelers. The plot near Big Bazaar will have space for 40 cars and 50 two-wheelers.”

Speaking to TOI, Chandan Vankar, a resident of Pimpri said, “Many shopping and commercial complexes have come up along the Pune-Mumbai highway in Pimpri-Chinchwad township in recent years. There are no adequate parking facilities at these places. As a result, visitors have to park their vehicles on the footpaths of the highway and pay fines if caught by the traffic police. The problem is acutely felt near Kamla Crossroads in Pimpri and Big Bazaar complex in Chinchwad.”

Nitin Jadhav, a resident of Chinchwad said, “The PCMC should develop parking lots along the Pune-Mumbai highway. This will enable shoppers to park their vehicles without the fear that they might be towed away by the traffic police.” Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma on Wednesday ordered transfer of 40 plumbers following complaints about illegal water connections.

“The mass transfer has been effected to exercise control over the plumbers and instil a sense of discipline in them. The plumbers have not been transferred for many years,” Sharma told TOI. “We are also trying to improve the services of the water supply department.”

A large number of illegal water connections exist in various parts of the municipality.

Meanwhile, independent corporator and social activist Maruti Bhapkar said that, “The plumbers, who have not been transferred for 10-15 years, need to be transferred. The civic employees should be regularly transferred so that they do not indulge in unfair practices. The PCMC should conduct a survey of illegal water connections in the entire municipality and regularise them after collecting fine.” Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Engineers of the armed forces will have to play the dual roles of good engineers as well as good soldiers, said Lt. Gen. Gautam Dutt, (engineer-in-chief) of the armed forces.

Dutt was speaking at the scroll presentation ceremony of the 98th engineer officers degree engineering (eode) course and the 11th technical entry scheme (tes) course at the College of Military Engineering (CME) on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. U.S.P. Sinha, commandant, Cme, and Major General Rajeev Datt, dean and deputy commandant, cme, shared the dais.

The B.Tech degree was awarded to 72 students, including six foreigners. The gold medals for the eode course were awarded to Major Varun Dikshit (civil engineering) and major Saleem Aijaz (electrical engineering). The gold medal for the tes course was awarded to Lt. Rahul Yadav.

Addressing the student-officers, Dutt said: “You face the formidable task of providing the armed forces with the necessary technical know how and skills… The need of hour is use of cutting edge technologies… In the present day knowledge-based society, only those who cultivate the habit of constantly updating their skill shall emerge successful.” Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Everybody in the Pune Municipal Corporation General Body (GB) meeting was left stunned after Shiv Sena corporator Sachin Bhagat took off his shirt to protest water scarcity in Kharadi-Wadgaon Sheri area.

Shocked with the action, Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale burst into tears and left the house followed by all women corporators. Bhagat is now likely to face suspension for indecent behaviour in the house.

When the GB was discussing the issue of dumping debris in river, corporators from Chandannagar, Kharadi, Wadgaon Sheri led by NCP’s Bapu Pathare and Shiv Sena’s Sachin Bhagat demanded discussion on water problem in their area. With other corporators they rushed into the well of house shouting slogans.

When the mayor asked them to get back to their seats, Bhagat took off his shirt to display slogans painted on his body. Offended with Bhagat’s action, Bhosale asked her party corporators to take him away. However, commotion prevailed till the mayor left the house saying, “This is obscene. I denounce this action by a corporator which has offended all women present here.”

All women corporators followed the mayor in her office. Following orders from Shiv Sena top brass, Bhagat tendered an apology to the mayor and other women corporators. However, all women corporators have demanded strict action against Bhagat.

“Considering feelings of all women corporators we have decided to suspend Sachin Bhagat. I have asked for the rules regarding suspension after which action will be taken,” said Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale talking to reporters.

“We don’t come in general body meetings to see all these things. Our men will not allow us to attend meetings after such incidents. Had Bhagat done this out of the house we would have blackened his face.” said former mayor Rajani Tribhuvan. Shiv Sena leader in the house Sham Deshpande apologised to the mayor and the house for Bhagat’s action. Print Emai…More