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TOI : PUNE: Some 15 days after the state government decided to immediately install 30 ventilators at district and sub-district hospitals an urgent need after several H1N1 flu deaths were reported from rural areas the equipment is still to be acquired.

After the spate of H1N1 casualties in rural parts of the state, a decision to install 30 ventilators at district and sub-district hospitals was taken a fortnight ago. Doctors working there were even trained in treating critical patients on ventilator.

But the ventilators are yet to be installed. Critical patients from rural areas still have to travel long distances to get admitted to government-run medical college and hospitals in cities.

“The decision to install ventilators at district and sub-district hospitals is a good move. But there is a need to install the ventilators immediately as quite a large number of swine flu cases are being reported from rural areas. As the virus is getting entrenched there, a growing number of critical patients from the rural areas are being admitted to hospitals in cities,” Devendra Shirole, former president of the state unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said.

Echoing the view, Dilip Sarda, president of the IMA’s city unit, pointed out, “A total of 24 districts in the state have reported H1N1 cases. Of the 77 deaths in the state, 25 were reported from the countryside.”

When contacted, DS Dakhure, director of state health services, said, “A purchase order for the ventilators was issued over 10 days ago. We are in the process of procuring them and will definitely speed up the process. All the 30 ventilators will be installed in the next five days.”

State scenario

Infected districts: 24

Non-infected districts: 9

Deaths: 77

Deaths in cities: 52

In rural parts: 25

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TOI : PUNE: The Samarth police have booked one person on suspicion for stealing a bag containing Rs 7 lakh from a masjid at Somwar Peth during the wee hours of Friday.

A complaint was lodged by Shaikh Chotubhai Sunnubhai (34) of Aurangabad with the Samarth police station.

Sub-inspector B M Bhosale said the complainant is into the business of buying and selling old cars. He used to purchase old cars from Pune and sell them in Aurangabad. “On Thursday, Shaikh came to Pune for business. He had gone to Pimpri-Chinchwad and later came to stay in Somwar Peth,” Bhosale said.

During the wee hours of Friday, Shaikh went to offer namaz in a nearby masjid. He had kept the bag at a corner while he offered the namaz. When Shaikh opened his eyes, the bag was missing. When his search didn’t bear results, Shaikh lodged a complaint with the police.

During investigation, beggars outside the masjid said they saw a person with the bag as described by Shaikh. “The person came out of the masjid in a hurry and fled on a two-wheeler,” said Bhosale.

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TOI : PUNE: The annual SIIB Leadership Series 2009 – The Entrepreneurial Spirit, an event jointly organised by the Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) with The Economic Times, had focus on leadership and entrepreneurship this year.

With entrepreneurs and top managers in attendance, the message given during the event was apt tough times are good for learning.

It was also the first time that the Sarvashreshtha’ award has been instituted at the event. The first recipient of the award was Abhijit Ranade, associate director, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the global consultancy firm. Ranade is an alumnus of SIIB from its 1992 batch.

Insights on dealing with the current economic crisis and what such situations can teach tomorrow’s leaders were shared by speakers like Ravi Pandit, chairman and group CEO, KPIT Cummins, a software solutions company and Navin Suri, CEO, ING Investments.

The rags-to-riches story P P Chhabria, chairman of the Rs 4,000 crore Finolex group, served as an inspiration for students. Chhabria narrated his journey from selling on his bicycle to now flying around the world in his own aircraft.

David Wittenberg, CEO, Innovation Workgroup, elaborated steps on starting and growing a company. Student-organisers of the event said the annual event on leadership brings to them stories such as Chhabria’s, inspiring them and promoting leadership qualities among students.

During the second half of the event, based on learning and entertainment, Ravi Deshpande, chairman of Contract Advertising, narrated how he draws inspiration from every aspect of life.

Abhijit Ranade, winner of the Sarvashshreshtha award’, spoke about his vocation and the story of his personal growth. Ranade told the students to let their juniors grow as the process brings its own rewards.

The leadership promotion series was preceded by several other events attended by college students.

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TOI : PUNE: In two separate incidents, crime branch sleuths of the city police on Friday arrested two criminals on police records and seized two firearms and four cartridges from their possession.

Police constable Rajendra Marne of Unit 1 of the crime branch on Friday received a tip-off that someone was preparing to sell an illegal firearm near the overbridge at Warje Malwadi. Acting on the tip-off, the police team led by inspector Ram Pathare laid a trap near the overbridge and nabbed the suspect. The police have also recovered a country-made revolver and four cartridges from the suspect. The police have identified the suspect as Tukaram Ankush Bhagat (23) of Ramnagar, Warje Malwadi. “Bhagat has previous crime records,” Pathare said.

In another incident, the sleuth from Unit 2 arrested Ajay alias Raju Nana Dhende (19) of Dighi and seized a country-made pistol from his possession. Dhende was nabbed near Pune railway station. Acting on a tip-off, the police team led by inspector Suresh Kekane laid a trap near a restaurant and nabbed him. Police constable Dhulaji Kolape is investigating further.

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TOI : PUNE: District collector Chandrakant Dalvi on Saturday said that of the 40 deaths reported in the district due to H1N1 influenza, 27 (67.5%) had risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, central nervous system (CNS) disorders and heart diseases. Five of them had a history of hypertension. He also said that delayed diagnosis and treatment were the key factors in some of the deaths.

Dalvi appealed people who have either hypertension, diabetes, CNS disorders or heart diseases to take due care and approach screening centres in case of symptoms like coughing, sneezing and cold. “Four people who died had history of diabetes melitus and central nervous system (CNS) disorders while three others had history of heart diseases and obesity. Three patients were very old while two cases were of liver disorders,” said Dalvi.

Elaborating on delayed diagnosis and treatment, Dalvi said that if the patient does not show any signs of recovery even after 48 hours of showing flu-like symptoms, it is advisable to visit the screening centre for a second opinion. Dalvi said that all general practitioners will again be given instructions to refer H1N1 symptomatic cases to designated centres immediately. He informed that the state health department has conducted a training camp for general practitioners at each tehsil in the district.

Dispelling fears of rapid spread of the virus in schools, Dalvi said there is no panic at the school level in the city as well as rural areas. All the schools and colleges in the rural areas have now been asked to screen students on a daily basis. The screening will be conducted by class teachers at the beginning of the class.

He said, “No private laboratory in the city has been given permission to conduct tests for H1N1 influenza. According to instructions issued by the central government, the private laboratories in the city cannot conduct swab tests.”

Total deaths – 40

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TOI : PUNE: The collector has further reduced curfew timings by two hours in Sangli and by one hour in Ichalkaranji.

In Miraj and Sangli, curfew will be enforced from 9 pm to 6 am on Sunday, while it will be enforced from 7 pm to 8 am in Ichalkaranji on Sunday.

Life returned to normal in Miraj and Sangli on Friday and people are now demanding that the curfew be withdrawn completely. Curfew was relaxed from 6 am to 7 pm on Friday in the two towns.

As a result, the people went about their daily routine as usual. Banks, post offices, government and semi-government offices functioned normally and vehicular traffic was also normal when curfew was relaxed.

Meanwhile, inspector Balasaheb Reddy of the Miraj city police said seven more accomplices of Imran Nadaf, who was arrested on Friday for inciting riots at Miraj on September 2, have been arrested. They have been remanded to police custody till September 15.

Nadaf had fled to his in-laws home in Wathar in Kolhapur district, where he was arrested by a special police team. Nadaf was planning to escape to Gujarat, the police said.

Reddy said Nadaf’s seven associates were taken to specific spots where rioting had taken place and information was obtained from them. The police has learnt that a resident of Brahmanpuri in Miraj had told Nadaf about the welcome arch with a painting depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj killing Afzal Khan, triggering off the riots. The police are now looking for the person.

The Miraj Bar Association, meanwhile, has passed a resolution barring its members from representing Nadaf as counsel. The resolution also says that the district collectors, the police superintendent and other police officials “responsible for the riots” be suspended and an enquiry be conducted against them.

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TOI : PUNE: Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma has announced that a review of the water supply to the entire municipal limits will be undertaken on September 15.

Sharma told TOI on Friday: “We will evaluate the situation on September 15 and decide about various demands made by citizens on the issue. Many residents have demanded that the morning water supply should be restored to normal and are not against a cut in the evening supply.”

Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor Aparna Doke too told TOI that several citizens had called on her demanding adequate water supply during the morning. “Mostly women have voiced this demand. They said that they need water in the morning for various daily chores.”

Doke said the women from Chinchwad had complained that earlier the PCMC was supplying water in the morning but ever since the water cut has been introduced, they are receiving water during the evening only. “The PCMC should revert back to the old timing and supply water in the morning,” Doke said.

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TOI : PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has asked all the 13 private hospitals treating swine flu patients in the city to furnish patients’ progress reports on a day-to-day basis.

“We need the information on a daily basis to check the spread of the virus, as we trace all the people who came in contact with the patient. Though some hospitals have been sending us the report, we have informed all the 13 private hospitals to do so,” said the deputy medical officer of health, D D Chandakkar.

They will send the reports in the format specified by us, he added.

A meeting of private hospitals was held at the PMC to discuss the issue of communication of information to the civic body about Swine flu patients, on Saturday.

Chandakkar said that the hospitals have agreed to furnish the information to the PMC about positive patients in isolation wards.

He said that the other issues discussed were whether the hospitals have been receiving stocks of Tamiflu tablets and if they have any other grievances.

“None of the hospitals are facing any problem in treating the H1N1-infected patients. Representatives from all hospitals were present for the meeting today,” Chandakkar said.

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TOI : PUNE: The residents of Sangvi have raised their voice against the lack of basic facilities at the crematorium in Sangvi.

Speaking to TOI on Monday, Raju Savale, resident and member of Common People’s Front (CPF) said, “Sangvi became a part of PCMC limits in 1985. Even after 25 years, there are no basic facilities available at the crematorium in Sangvi. There are no toilets due to which the people urinate in the open. The board bearing the name of the crematorium has been covered by trees making it difficult for people to locate it.”

In a letter sent to municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma and Zone D’ officer Vishwas Bhosekar, the activists of the CPF have complained that the roof of the crematorium has rusted and was leaking. The steps inside are covered with moss making them slippery. A chimney has not been installed at the crematorium to let out the smoke, the letter said.

“The health department only issues cremation passes. It is the work of the engineering department to provide facilities like toilets and repairing the roof. The engineering department should consult us while creating the facilities,” medical officer of health Nagkumar Kunchagi, told TOI.

“I have yet to see the letter and will comment on it after reading it,” city engineer Eknath Ugile said when contacted.

Speaking to TOI, Vishwas Bhosekar, Zone D officer, PCMC said, “I received the letter today and have asked the civic officials and departments concerned to take action.”

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TOI : PUNE: Almost 5 months after a youth was beaten to death on Satara road on April 19, the Dattawadi police on Friday arrested a suspect Sachin Suresh Walam (20) of Dhankawadi.

The police earlier chargesheeted main suspect Ulhas Hanumant Talekar (20) of Pokhale vasthi in Bibwewadi, wanted for murdering collegian Mahesh Chandrakant Patil (25) of Bibvewadi.

According to police, Patil was murdered because he had an eye on Talekar’s sister and used to trouble her. Around 4 pm on April 19, Patil was proceeding home on a motorcycle after attending tutions at City Pride chowk when his bike hit a car. A quarrel ensued as the trio pushed Patil in their car and took him to Ambegaon Budruck. There they thrashed him severely and escaped.

The victim’s father, Mathura Chandrakant Patil of Sambhajinagar colony in Dhankawadi, initially registered a case of voluntarily causing grievous injuries against three unknown suspects with the Dattawadi police station. The police later invoked murder charges against the suspects as Patil succumbed at a private hospital the next day.

Patil’s post-mortem report said he died due to severe injuries on the body.

Investigations revealed that it was not a street fight and Talekar had decided to get rid of Patil since he was allegedly teasing his sister.

Talekar had sought the help of his friends Umesh Kokate, Rishi Bhosale and Sachin Walam, who forcibly took Patil to Ambegaon Budruck and beat him up.

Meanwhile, a magistrate court on Saturday sent Walam to police custody till September 15 as his custodial interrogation was required to trace his other two associates and recover the vehicle used in the crime, said assistant public prosecutor Rajeshree Kadam.

Senior police inspector Dilip Chougle, in-charge of the Dattawadi police station, is investigating the case.

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