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TOI : PUNE: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday said his party will deliver “justice” to the “sons of the soil” by giving them 100 per cent reservation in jobs in the state.

Harping again on the “outsiders” theory, Thackeray alleged that they were taking job opportunities away from the local people. “I don’t want to separate Maharashtra from the country. I only want the local people to get jobs,” he said. He cited figures to show that major migration has taken place to big cities in the state, including Pune.

Thackeray was speaking at a campaign rally at Gokhalenagar for Ranjit Shirole, the MNS candidate from Shivajinagar.

“Our so-called rulers are taking the voters for granted. They make tall claims of development but don’t perform. I am surprised to see Sonia and Rahul Gandhi campaigning for people who have made false promises of development,” he said, adding that the people ruling the country were busy carving out political careers for their family members.

Thackeray alleged that educational institutes in Pune were taking huge donations and granting admissions to students from outside the state. “This is an injustice to local students,” he said, while claiming that one particular college had only 63 Maharashtrians among its 513 students. Topics: Raj Thackeray Maharashtra Navnirman Sena More Stories from this section 125 drug-resistant tuberculosis cases in Nagpur, Akola ‘Ration card can be used for voting’ Setback for anti-spitting drive as tenure of PMC squads ends PMC contractors will have to seek NOC from octroi dept With poll…More

TOI : PUNE: Businessman Chandmal Chunilal Agarwal (46), who is suspected to have committed suicide along with his wife and two children at their residence in Kothrud, was last seen at his cellphone shop Musica mobile shoppee’ at Sagar Arcade in Deccan Gymkhana, about 10 to 12 days ago.

When this reporter visited the shop on Thursday evening, he found that the shop was open and two workers attending some customers.

When he asked them about Agarwal, the employees panicked and refused to reveal their identities and said that they did not have any personal information about their owner and did not know why he may have ended his life.

“We came to know about the incident only after a police team came here and took one of our colleagues to the Kothrud police station for questioning. He used to manage the shop in Agarwal’s absence,” said one employee.

Refusing to take in any more questions, the workers closed down the shop, saying, “We have no knowledge about the incident. Don’t ask us anything as we don’t want to get involved in any controversy”.

Other shopkeepers in the complex said they were shocked when they came to know about Agarwal’s death. “Agarwal was a soft spoken person. He was operating from the place on rental basis since two years. He was a good neighbour and used to often interact with us,” said the owner of an adjacent shop.

“Agarwal didn’t interfere with anybody’s work. As I had not seen him for the last few days, I was under the impression that he might have gone to his native place in Rajasthan, but I was shocked when I came to know, through a news channel, that he had ended his life along with his family members,” he said.

“After the news of Agarwal’s death, with the mention of his shop at Sagar Arcade was flashed…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune rural police on Wednesday arrested four members of an inter-state gang involved in looting container vehicles on state and national highways near Shikrapur.

The police have identified the suspects as Laxman alias Ravi Baburao Gade (22) of Jalna, Hanuman alias Saudagar Dnyandeo Gaikwad (26) and Vinayak alias Vinod Dnyandeo Gaikwad (22), both residents of Osmanabad and Ahmed Allahbaksh Shaikh (40) of Kondhwa Khurd.

Superintendent of police Pratap Dighavkar (Pune rural) on Thursday said that the gang had looted a container carrying spare parts of Maruti cars while it was heading to Gurgaon in Haryana via Shikrapur on September 29.

According to Dighavkar, six suspects who were travelling on two motorcycles, chased the container driven by Maheshchandra Choturam Verma of Jaipur in Rajasthan and intercepted the vehicle near Shikrapur at about 5 am.

Dighavkar said, the suspects armed with sharp weapons barged into the container cabin from both the sides and threatened the driver Verma and cleaner. The suspects forced the duo to sit on their motorcycles and left them at Patoda village in Beed district.

A police team from local crime branch took the suspects into custody, following a tip off.

Dighavkar further said that the suspects during interrogation have admitted of committing 13 similar offences at Shikrapur, Manchar, Sangamner, Jalna and Aurangabad and others places.

One of the suspects identified as Dhula was arrested by the Gujarat police in a similar offence. Dhula has admitted before the Gujarat police of committing an offence along with Gade.

The modus operandi of suspects is that they travelled on two wheelers and intercept a container minutes after it leaves a toll naka on pretext that they are toll naka employees. The suspects charge the driver and cleaner for paying less toll and loot the vehicle along with the goods after threatening them with sharp weapons, he added. Shikrapur More Stories…More

TOI : PUNE: All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that progress of the common man is necessary for progress of the country. Gandhi was in the city to campaign for the October 13 assembly elections.

“If India has to progress, then it is essential that the common man progresses. The dalits, slum-dwellers and the poor in the country must progress for the country to move forward,” Gandhi said.

Pointing at the India Shining’ movement of the earlier BJP-led government, Gandhi said the movement was aimed only at the upper class people and the common man was left behind.

“For the last five years, the central and the state governments have been promoting various schemes that would benefit the poor. He cited the President’s rozgar scheme’. The Right To Information bill was passed so that citizens can ask questions to the government,” Gandhi said.

The Congress leader added that, “The government has not only worked for villages but also for cities. As much as Rs 1,500 crore was released under the JNNURM to improve the infrastructure in Pune.” He said that Pune has made the country proud even as the city surges ahead in the automobile sector.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan, MP Suresh Kalmadi and marketing and co-operation minister Harshavardhan Patil were also present at the rally. Candidates of the Congress-NCP alliance, including Rohit Tilak, Ramesh Baghwe, Bapu Pathare and Balasaheb Shivarkar felicitated Gandhi. Topics: Congress Rahul Gandhi More Stories from this section ‘Bid to push in terrorists before snow begins’ Nanotech may have use in cancer hyperthermia Two arrested with Rs 30 lakh hawala money Inter-stat…More

TOI : PUNE: Sleuths of the crime branch, Pune rural police, have arrested two people allegedly involved in transferring as many as Rs 30 lakh through hawala network. The suspects have been arrested from a Mumbai-bound private luxury bus near Pune.

The police have identified the suspects as Kanubhai Pradhanji Thakur (37) and Rajesh Umeshbhai Patel (30), both residents of Ahmedabad, Gujarath. The duo was on their way to Mumbai from Kolhapur. Acting on a tip-off, the police team led by senior inspector Bhausaheb Andhalkar has arrested the suspects after intercepting the bus near Pune.

“The suspects had kept the cash inside their specially made jackets,” Pratap Dighavkar, superintendent of police (Pune rural), told the media.

“The preliminary investigations have revealed that the cash was being transferred through hawala racket. Some bundles of currency notes were stamped with letter H’ and some others were stamped S’ on them,” Dighavkar added.

Dighavkar said that the police were trying to find the source of the hawala money recovered from the operators.

The duo has been arrested under section of CrPC 41 (1) and investigations are on to ascertain as to where the cash was going, Dighavkar said. Topics: Pune hawala money More Stories from this section ‘Bid to push in terrorists before snow begins’ Nanotech may have use in cancer hyperthermia Rahul bats for common man Inter-stat…More

TOI : PUNE: An exciting development in nanotechnology in the biomedical field is the use of fungal extracts in nanoparticle synthesis, wherein large concentrations of gold and magnetite nanoparticles have been obtained. These nanoparticles have potential application in cancer hyperthermia and drug delivery, said Absar Ahmad, senior scientist at the biochemical sciences division of the National Chemical Laboratory, on Thursday.

Ahmad was speaking at the national conference Nanobiotechology: Applications and Prospects’ organised by the department of microbiology at Abeda Inamdar Senior College.

“Gold and magnetite nanoparticles have potential biomedical applicability. The conjugate nanoparticles are made for targeted drug delivery,”

In the laboratory, the use of micro-organisms such as fungi in the synthesis of nanomaterials is investigated over a range of chemical compositions, Ahmad said. The research work on nanoparticles was started in 2000. Now, companies have to take it up for commercialisation, he said.

Devipriya Rabin Mazumder, head of the department of microbiology, said that nanotechnology may have a huge impact on the medical industry. “There’s even speculation that nanorobots could slow or reverse the ageing process and life expectancy could increase significantly. The technology has the potential to have a positive effect on the environment also. For instance, scientists could programme airborne nanorobots to rebuild the thinning ozone layers,” she said.

Experts highlighted that smart nano-delivery systems are under various stages of development for sustained, targeted and triggered release of drugs and genes at the target cells, thus reducing side-effects, doses and frequency of administration of the drugs.

In the three-day conference, the focus is on the emerging branch of nanotechnology that derives its inspiration from biology. It provides a forum for researchers, teachers and students to learn about the developments in this rapidly developing field. Topics: cancer hyperthermia Nanotech More Stories from this section ‘Bid to push in terrorists before snow begins’ Two arrested with Rs 30 lakh hawala money Rahul bats for…More

TOI : PUNE: The enemy is trying its best to sneak in as many terrorists as possible from across the western border before it starts snowing, Lt Gen Pradeep Khanna, general officer commanding-in-chief, Southern Command, said here on Thursday.

Khanna was speaking at a ceremony organised to honour war heroes, disabled soldiers and war widows at The Bombay Engineering Group & Centre (BEG) on Thursday.

“However, the jawans and officers of the Indian army are ready to lay down their lives to thwart such infiltration,” Khanna said, adding that heightened terrorist activity was being seen at the border.

Speaking about the floods in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states, Khanna said about 1,500 army personnel have already been deployed for flood relief work. “Our personnel have saved several thousand lives,” he observed.

Khanna presented 45 scooters to disabled soldiers during the function. The scooters have been specially modified for the disabled personnel.

Lt Samrat Gaikwad of 2 Training Battalion 1 EME symbolically received the keys of the scooters on behalf of the 45 recipients. Gaikwad’s right foot was amputated in a mine blast on the border. Among the others who were given the scooters included personnel who had suffered severe injuries in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, jungle operations in Kupwara, landmine blasts in Nowshera, Uri and during Operation Parakram and shelling during Operation Vijay in Kargil.

Eight war widows were also given financial assistance on the occasion by Sunita Khanna, president, Regional Welfare Organisation. Among the recipients were Christine D’Souza of Chikmagalur in Karnataka, Kamal Lahane of Nashik and Indumati More of Gadhinglaj in Kolhapur. Topics: Pune More Stories from this section Nanotech may have use in cancer hyperthermia Two arrested with Rs 30 lakh hawala money Rahul bats for common man Inter-stat…More

TOI : PUNE: A first year student of Symbiosis law college was among the seven people who tested positive for the H1N1 influenza on Thursday. “He was immediately home-quarantined and other students of the college were screened as a preventive measure,” Ashok Mehta, joint director of state health services, said.

The total number of positive cases across the district has now reached the 1,388-mark, Mehta said. Around 5,617 people were screened across the district, of which 566 suspected patients were administered Tamiflu tablets. Nearly 27,572 people have been given Tamiflu so far, Mehta added.

As many as 22 patients are presently being treated at isolation ICUs of various private and government-run hospitals in PMC and PCMC limits. Of them, seven patients are critical and have been put on ventilator, Mehta said. “Fifty-three patients were discharged on Thursday,” he added.

A total of 3,930 patients were discharged after treatment so far. Of them, 829 were positive cases, while 3,101 were suspected cases. Around 5.30 lakh people have been screened across the district so far, Mehta said. Topics: Pune Swine flu More Stories from this section ‘Bid to push in terrorists before snow begins’ Nanotech may have use in cancer hyperthermia Two arrested with Rs 30 lakh hawala money Rahul bats for common man Inter-stat…More

TOI : PUNE: Coming down heavily on the Shiv Sena-BJP government’s decision of scrapping the Enron power project, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the combine was responsible for the power deficiency and the resultant load-shedding in the state. The state had to face a major setback in foreign investment inflow and lost its credibility in the international market due to the decision, he added.

In the last three years, the Democratic Front (DF) government has initiated several power generation projects and has plans to make the state free of power crisis in the next few years, he said. Pawar was speaking at an election rally in the Parvati assembly constituency.

Pawar said the state used to produce surplus power till 1995, when the Congress was the ruling party in Maharashtra. “The Sena-BJP ruled the state from 1995 to 1999. They scrapped the Enron power project, which projected the state negatively in the international market. This hampered foreign investment at large. Moreover, the state did not receive any significant investments during the saffron alliance’s tenure,” he said.

Pawar stressed that the DF will ensure the state’s overall development and Pune’s too, with the strong backing of the Congress-led government at the Centre. He said that the Union government was framing a policy to provide foodgrain to BPL families at Rs 3 per kg. “Every BPL family will get 25 kg of foodgrain under the scheme,” he added. Topics: Sharad Pawar More Stories from this section ‘Bid to push in terrorists before snow begins’ Nanotech may have use in cancer hyperthermia Two arrested with Rs 30 lakh hawala money Rahul bats for common man Inter-stat…More

TOI : PUNE: Political parties always look at film stars when it comes to adding glamour to their election campaigns. And what’s more, sensing an opportunity to make extra bucks during this assembly election, prominent Marathi film and television actors have been quoting anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 75,000 to lend their time.

Marathi actors and TV stars like Bharat Jadhav, Ankush Choudhary, Vinay Yedekar, Atul Parchure, Nishigandha Wad, Alka Kubal, Varsha Usgaonkar, Bhagyashree, Rahul Solapurkar, Vijay Kadam and Sonali Kulkarni are busy doing road shows to promote candidates of different parties. Some like TV star Adesh Bandekar are themselves in the election fray. Bandekar is contesting on a Shiv Sena ticket from the Mahim assembly constituency in Mumbai.

Actress Nishigandha Wad campaigned for NCP rebel Vilas Lande, who is contesting from the Bhosari constituency, in remote areas on Thursday. The news of Nishigandha’s arrival created a flutter among villagers, mostly women, leading to a near-stampede at the venue. “Vote for the right candidate. Go for the candidate, not the party,” Nishigandha said while addressing the rally. She also said she would visit again after the elections to celebrate Lande’s victory.

While Alka Kubal is campaigning for NCP rebel Laxman Jagtap in Chinchwad, TV actress Sonali Kulkarni has been campaigning for Sulbha Ubale, Sena candidate from Bhosari.

Bharat Jadhav is the brand ambassador’ of the MNS and has been campaigning for party candidate Ranjeet Shirole, who is contesting from the Shivajinagar constituency.

On Monday, Bollywood actress Bhagyashree participated in a rally held for independent candidate Vilas Nandgude. Nandgude is contesting from the Chinchwad assembly constituency.

Rahul Solapurkar, who has lent his voice to several audio campaigns of political parties, said though stars bring glamour to political rallies, they should not campaign just for the sake of money. “They should stick to a single political party,” he added.

Speaking about stars at election rallies,…More