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TOI : PUNE: With motorists pressing the accelerator ever since the J M and F C roads were converted into one-ways, the demand for regulating the speed of vehicles has grown stronger.

Citizens’ group, Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, has urged the PMC and the traffic department of the police to initiate severe action against overspeeding vehicles. Convenor of the samiti Vijay Kumbhar said that there are very few signboards notifying speedlimits on various roads in the city. “Even if the boards are visible, none follows the speed restrictions because the traffic police hardly take punitive action. The PMPML bus drivers, in particular, drive rashly thinking they have the support of the law department of the PMPML. Moreover, buses which are taken on lease have to compulsorily cover certain number of kilometers during the day because of which the drivers drive at high speeds,” he said.

The fact that the average speed of vehicles has increased ever since the one-way traffic plan came into effect on August 21, has been acknowledged even by the traffic department. While the traffic department has said that the average speed of vehicles has more than doubled from the earlier 13 kms per hour to 28 kms per hour the authorities have been asserting that there is a need to restrict the average speed to 25 kmph. Since then, the PMC and the traffic department immediately took steps to put up speed breakers at various points on the four-lane busy roads.

While the absence of proper pedestrian crossings, stoplines and lane makings have made matters worse, the PMC authorities have maintained stoic silence on this issue. At a public discussion on the issue, all that the civic authorities could say was that the road infrastructure works were not being done because of rains. Also, while the traffic authorities have put up boards asking motorists to follow lane discipline, nobody seems to be following the law….More

TOI : PUNE: Principals of non-government colleges in the state continue to be in the dark over how the colleges should recover the lost academic days on account of the 44-day strike by senior college teachers in July/August on the issue of Sixth Pay Commission implementation.

According to Nandkumar Nikam, president of Maharashtra state principals’ federation of non-government colleges, “The state department for higher and technical education and the Maharashtra Federation of university and college teachers’ organisation (MFUCTO), which led the strike, have reached an understanding on recovery of the lost academic days. However, none of the colleges have so far received any directive from the state government regarding the same.”

Nikam said, the understanding is in the form of the minutes of the final meet that led to the resolution of the strike. “The minutes can not be binding and the government will have to issue specific orders,” he said. “Even if we have to exclude Sundays and public holidays, the issue still concerns some 36 lost academic days,” he added.

The teachers have agreed to work extra hours and on holidays but in absence of specific government directives, the colleges are in a bind as to how to calculate the recovery of days, he said.

Nikam said, “The federation members will meet the director of higher education Rambhau Kirdak on Monday to work out the modalities.” More Stories from this section J M Road one-way claims 6-yr-old’s life Two nabbed for murder ‘I could do nothing to save my son’ Vulture population declining alarmingly Puneites help…More

TOI : PUNE: The traffic branch of the city police have taken action against 35 people, including four PMPML bus drivers, for rash driving on FC and JM roads on Sunday.

The action follows the death of six-year-old Yash Waghmare, who was killed when the two-wheeler he was riding pillion was knocked down by a speeding PMPML bus while overtaking another bus on Saturday around 2 pm on JM road. Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Manoj Patil had announced on Saturday that action would be taken against rash driving, particularly on JM and FC roads.

The police have used two speed guns to identify the speeding motorists. Due to some technical fault one speed gun did not function properly in the morning, Patil said. “In the evening, we used another speed gun and took action against rash drivers,” he added.

Inspector Balkrishna Kutwal of traffic branch said: “During the day, we have taken action against 35 people, including four PMPML drivers, by using two speed guns.”

Patil said: “We have decided the speed limit for vehicles on both the roads. For the heavy vehicles, including buses, the limit on both JM and FC roads is 30 kmph. For other vehicles, including cars and two-wheelers, the speed limit is 35 kmph. We will be displaying the boards of speed limit on both the roads within two days.”

The traffic branch has also decided to restrict the PMPML buses only on the left lanes on both JM and FC roads, Patil said. “Unless and until necessary, the PMPML buses would not be allowed to overtake one another. We are going to write to the PMPML about it on Monday,” Patil said. More Stories from this section J M Road one-way claims 6-yr-old’s life Two nabbed for murder ‘I could do nothing to save my son’ Vulture population declining alarmingly Puneites help…More

TOI : PUNE: Five more people tested positive for swine flu in the district on Sunday, said Ashok Mehta, joint director of state health services.

Around 7,038 people were screened across the district, of which 217 are found suspected and given Tamiflu tablets, said Mehta.

Elaborating on the number of critical patients being treated at government and private hospitals within PMC and PCMC limits, Mehta said, “At present, there are 10 patients being treated at the isolation ICUs of various private and government hospitals, of which five are on ventilators and their condition is very critical,” said Mehta.

Of the five critical patients, three are being treated at the isolation ICU of the government-run Sassoon hospital while one each is being treated at Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital and KEM hospital respectively, added Mehta.

Meanwhile, the throat swab reports of two persons from Satara district, who died at the isolation ICU of Sassoon on Saturday, are still awaited, Mehta said.

“One is an 18-year-old girl, a resident of village Umbarde in Khatav taluka in Satara district, who was admitted to the isolation ICU of Sassoon at 8.30 pm on Sunday and died just within an hour at 9.20 pm. While the 14-year-old boy from village Bhosare in Khatav taluka in Satara district also died at 12.15 am on Sunday. Both of them were admitted in critical conditions,” said Mehta.

“At least 61 patients were discharged on Sunday,” said Mehta. Around 3.30 lakh people have been screened across the district so far, of which 15,521 were given Tamilfu,” Mehta said. The total number of positive patients in the district so far has reached 909.

Meanwhile, a student of standard 5th from Abhinav high school tested positive on Saturday. “She has been quarantined at the Naidu Hospital and is recovering,” said R R Pardeshi, deputy health officer of PMC. The student was at home and had not been…More

TOI : PUNE: City activists on Sunday asked all political parties to clarify their stand on the proposed public private partnership (PPP) plan of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) for running 650 buses funded by the central government under JNNURM.

While several organisations demanded that the PPP plan be scrapped altogether, PMC’s standing committee chairman Nilesh Nikam, who is also one of the PMPML directors, said that the PMPML will consider all suggestions before final approval.

The issue of PPP plan was discussed at a programme organised by the Sajag Nagrik Manch. The organisations that took part in the discussion included Pedestrians First, Parisar, and PMP Bachav Samiti. The PMPML’s plan to get 250 AC buses also drew flak. Under the PPP project, the PMPML has proposed to give monopoly to private operators to ply buses on the Mumbai-Pune highway stretch from Pune station to Nigdi.

“The project of PPP is not beneficial for the public at large,” said a member of the PMP Bachav Samiti, adding, “The operators of PPP would have to pay only 30 percent of the cost. Against that operator would enjoy the ownership of the buses. Apart from that even bus depots would be given to operators for parking the buses. This is not beneficial for public, so the project should be scraped.” The member also said that a large section of commuters travelling by bus consists of working class, so more number of ordinary buses should be taken instead of spending money on AC buses.

Toeing the same line, Vivek Velnakar and Jugal Rathi of Sajag Nagrik Manch demanded that political parties should clear their stand on the issue. “The elections are round the corner. Political parties should clear stand on PPP in their election manifesto. People would vote for those parties that have a public-friendly stand on this issue,” they said.

Prashant Inamdnar of Pedestrians First echoed…More

TOI : PUNE: US national Eric Nadel (61), who was attacked by robbers last month at Arangaon village near Ahmednagar, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital here on Sunday.

Nadel and his wife, Heather (60), followers of spiritual guru Avtar Meher Baba, own a bungalow at Arangaon. On August 25, robbers entered the bungalow by cutting the mesh of a window and attacked the couple with iron rods. The Nadels, who sustained severe head injuries, were shifted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Pune the next day.

According to doctors, Nadel suffered a brain injury and multiple fractures on the skull. He was in a coma from the day he was admitted to the hospital and had been kept on the ventilator.

Neurosurgeon Vaijanti Belle said that Nadel succumbed on Sunday around 11.30 am.

Heather, meanwhile, has been shifted from the ICU to another ward. “She had a fracture on her hand. She is doing fine and has even started talking with her relatives,” neurosurgeon Praveen Jain told TOI.

Ramesh Jangale, a trustee of the Avtar Meher Baba Trust of Meherabad near Ahmednagar, said Nadel’s body will be taken to Meherabad and kept in the Mandali Hall’ of the ashram for people to pay homage. The body will be cremated at 9 am on Monday.

Many followers of Avtar Meher Baba and some relatives of the Nadels had gathered at the hospital.

The Ahmednagar police have arrested two residents of arangaon, Amitabh Chavan (21) and Gafal Bhosale (22), in connection with the attack on the Nadels. “We will now book them for murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. We will inform the US consulate about the death,” said superintendent of the police Vijay Chavan of the Ahmednagar police.

Investigations have revealed that the Aurangabad police had arrested the suspects earlier in a robbery case….More

TOI : PUNE: A housemaid was arrested for allegedly stealing cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 1.25 lakh from the house of her employer at Golf Link society, Yerawada.

The police have identified the suspect as Rubina Feroz Khan (33) of Jayprakashnagar, Yerawada. Khan’s employer, Rohan Santosh Law (30) lodged a complaint in this regard with the Yerawada police station.

Khan, who had been working at the Law residence for two months, had duplicates a set of the house key that her employer has given to her for house work, the police said. The police said that Khan would often sneak into the Law residence in the family’s absence and would steal some cash or ornaments. Using this modus operandi, Khan managed to steal Rs 47,500 in cash and gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 1.25 lakh from their house, the police said.

Senior inspector Prasad Hasabnis of the Yerawada police station said that the incident came to light on September 1 when Rohan Law’s aunt Pratibha Law, who is also a resident of the same society entered his house using an extra pair of keys, in his absence. “While Pratibha was making a phone call, she heard some noise in the bathroom. When she opened the door she found Khan hiding there,” Hasabnis said.

“On being questioned why was she hiding, Khan said that Rohan’s wife had given her a set of keys to come for work. However, Pratibha got suspicious and immediately called Rohan. When they checked the house, they found that some cash and gold ornaments were missing,” Hasabnis added.

Hasabnis said that Khan later admitted to stealing cash from Law’s house and returned Rs 42,500.

As Khan was also working at the residence of one at Shivani Vivek Saksena, who lives in the same building, Law contacted them and told them about the entire incident. On hearing this, the Saksenas said…More

TOI : PUNE: A multi-member task force, to be appointed by the Planning Commission soon, will finalise the structure and scope of the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) that aims to bring different regulatory bodies including the University Grants Commission (UGC) under one umbrella organisation.

President Pratibha Patil, during her speech in Parliament on June 4, had announced the decision to establish the NCHER on the basis of recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) and the Prof Yash Pal committee on higher education.

While both, the NKC and the Yash Pal committee, reports have outlined the need for an overarching regulatory body in higher education, there are still several contentious issues as there is “no unanimity” in the reports on what should be the structure and scope of such a body, said Narendra Jadhav, a member of the Planning Commission while speaking to reporters on Sunday.

The NKC recommended an Independent Regulatory Authority in Higher Education (IRAHE) to serve as an apex regulatory body and called for dissolution of all the existing regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE, MCI, NCTE, Bar Council, Architecture Council etc. It further recommended that the UGC cannot be a grant-giving and regulatory body at the same time and the UGC’s role be restricted only to grant-giving, said Jadhav.

On the other hand, Jadhav said, the Yash Pal committee recommended that all the existing regulatory councils be “subsumed” under the proposed NCHER. “The committee report does not elaborate on what it means by the term subsumed and how the same should be effected,” said Jadhav.

A third angle to the issue is the President’s announcement in Parliament that there will be two apex regulatory bodiesone for health science courses (medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing etc.) and one for the non-medical courses i.e. the proposed NCHER, said Jadhav. A third regulatory body may have to be considered as agriculture is…More

TOI : PUNE: For over a decade, NGO Green Hills Group has been actively working at improving the green cover on hills in the city especially the Hanuman tekdi and the Chaturshrungi hill. This year the group has already planted about 1,500 saplings on the Chaturshrunghi Tekdi taking the total of plantation on the hill to over 3,000 so far.

Now with an aim to get the younger generation more actively involved in caring for the environment, the group has decided to hand out environmental scholarships’ to 13 students studying in municipal schools. “These kids live in the slum areas located at the base of the Chatuhshrunghi hill. We want them to actively participate in the upkeep of these plants here and so decided to introduce the scholarships,” said Ravindra Marathe, a member of the group.

Under the initiative, students who have planted 10 saplings last week will now nurture them for the next two years. “They will also keep a progress book on the trees keeping track of the growth of the tree and other related information. The ideas is to get them actively involved and teach them the importance of environment,” said Marathe.

Speaking of another motive behind starting the scholarships, Marathe says that a lot of trees on the Parvati hills are being cut by slum-dwellers for firewood. “Though nothing of that kind happens on Chaturshrunghi or Hanuman tekdis we want to avoid any such incidents and the only way to make sure this does not happen is to get people living in these slums involved in the greening process,” he said.

Another member of the group, Sanjay Athavale said that it is these slum-dwellers who will face the adverse effects of global warming immediately. “For people sitting in air-conditioned offices, the effect will be felt later. So they need to understand how they can contribute to the environment,” said Athavale.

The group…More

TOI : PUNE: The Ayurveda Foundation of South Africa (TAFSA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Shree Niramay Ayurveda Kendra (SNAK) and Beyond Horizons Health And Social circle (BHHAS), both based in Pune and International Ayurveda Association (India chapter) for promotion, learning, development and practice of ayurveda medicine with special reference to traditional healing systems of South Africa.

According to Atul Rakshe, convenor of IAA, India chapter and president of BHHAS said, “The MoU was signed on August 13 in the presence of Liaqat Azam, chairman of TAFSA. The aim is to provide quality ayurvedic treatment to people, develop and establish accredited training programmes, lectures, coaching and outreach programmes through this collaboration.”

As per the MoU, student training programmes will be conducted according to the criteria, standards and knowledge of ayurveda and traditional healing systems of South Africa. “Soon, the duration of such training programmes, other courses, exhibitions and seminars will be designed for the awareness of healing systems in South Africa and India. Also, certificates to students undergoing this training programmes will be given by TAFSA, BHAAS and IAA,” Rakshe informed.

A one-day conference as part of this MoU was organised in South Africa on Friday and the theme of this workshop was Ayurveda serving for holistic health in Africa’. The three associations in India will also be sending doctors, therapists, herbs, books and undertake research projects in the field of ayurveda.

“After signing of the MoU with South Africa, we are trying to reach out to the communities of both nations,” Rakshe said. More Stories from this section J M Road one-way claims 6-yr-old’s life Two nabbed for murder ‘I could do nothing to save my son’ Vulture population declining alarmingly Puneites help…More