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TOI : SATARA: With nearly 21.33 lakh voters expected to exercise their franchise in eight assembly constituencies in Satara district, the election machinery is gearing up for the October 13 election day. Satara includes the constituencies of Wai, Koregaon, Patan, Phaltan, Maan, and Karad south and Karad north.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, district collector Vikas Deshmukh said there will be 2,750 polling booths in the district, including 26 which are in extremely remote areas. “Electronic voting machines (EVMs) brought from Andhra Pradesh are being dispatched to all polling booths after being tested and sealed at the Chhatrapati Shahu sports complex,” he added.

Deshmukh said the election staff will have to travel on foot and climb hilly terrain to reach the 26 polling booths. Following delimitation, the Wai constituency has the maximum number of 19 polling booths in remote areas followed by four in Patan and three in Satara constituencies. “The polling booth at Chakradev in Wai is located atop hills and the election staff has to climb iron and bamboo ladders to reach it,” he said.

Deshmukh said the district administration has requisitioned six boats to reach polling booths located across water reservoirs in Wai, while three boats each have been reserved for Patan and Satara constituencies. “The election duty staff will be ready at designated polling booths on October 12 itself. Buses and trucks, among other vehicles, have been readied to transport them to the polling booths,” he added. The district administration has distributed 19,32,526 voter identity cards so far and the work is still going on, the collector said.

Topics: election Satara More Stories from this section Woman techie found murdered Third worst monsoon in over hundred years Rama Sene to oppose ‘lov…More

TOI : PUNE: To clear the extra rush during the festive season, the railways will run several special trains during Diwali. These include Pune-Howrah superfast special, Pune-Ahmedabad and a few trains passing through Pune, including the Dadar-Hyderabad bi-weekly special.

The railway authorities also stated that advance booking for the Pune-Delhi-Pune non-stop Duronto’ express has been made available.

The number 2264 Duronto will leave Hazrat Nizamuddin every Monday and Thursday at 11.00 am and will reach Pune at 7.20 am the next day. The number 2263 Duronto’ will leave Pune every Tuesday and Friday at 11.10 am and will reach Hazrat Nizamuddin at 7.10 am the next day.

A complete AC train, the Duronto has 18 first AC berths, 131 second AC, 246 third AC, and 377 third AC (Economy) berths. The fares are: first AC Rs 3,425, second AC Rs 1,985, third AC Rs 1,455, third AC (economy class) Rs 1,405.

The railway administration has also decided to attach two extra AC III-tier coaches for waiting list passengers in Pune-Nagpur Garib Rath express (2113/2114). The extra coaches will be added to Nagpur-Pune express (2114) leaving Nagpur from October 9 to 25, and Pune-Nagpur (2113) express leaving Pune from October 10 to 26.

Meanwhile, the ministry of railways has decided to carry relief material to flood affected districts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh States: free of charge. The same can be booked by government, semi government, NGO’s as well as volunteers.

The relief material will be transported on the condition that the consignment of the relief material is consigned to the Relief Commissioner/District Magistrate of the flood affected district of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and the relief material so transported will be distributed under the supervision of the authorities of the state government.

The districts to which relief material can be consigned under these instructions are Bijapur, Bagalkopt, Raichur and Bellary of Karnataka and Mahabubnagar,…More

TOI : PUNE: Data available with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows 2009 as the third worst monsoon year since 1901 with a rainfall deficiency of 23% across the country.

“The rainfall deficiency was 25% in 1918 and 24% in 1972,” IMD director (weather forecasting) Medha Khole told TOI on Friday. Asked about the reasons for the weak monsoon, she said that absence of some key favourable conditions was responsible for that. “There was a lack of cross equatorial flow,” she said, adding, “The rainfall deficiency was very high in June and it could not make up in the remaining months of the season.”

Deputy director general meteorology, IMD, A B Mazumdar, said the number of pro-rainfall systems was less. “Low pressure areas and depressions, which help in strengthening the monsoon, over the Bay of Bengal were less,” he said.

Citing another reason for the poor monsoon, he said the monsoon trough was not well organised, “The height of the trough was very shallow. Normally we see that the trough is placed around 5 to 6 km above surface level. This time it was placed around 1 to 2 km from the surface level.” Topics: Monsoon IMD More Stories from this section Woman techie found murdered Rama Sene to oppose ‘love jihad’ Special trains for Diwali Election …More

TOI : PUNE: A 28-year-old woman software engineer from the city, who had gone missing on Wednesday, was found brutally murdered at Rajgurunagar in Khed on Friday.

The woman, Naina Pujari, who worked with a software firm at Kharadi, lived at Katraj. According to the Yerawada police, she had called up her husband, Abhijit, after work on Wednesday evening saying that she would be back home around 10.30 pm. However, when she did not turn up till late at night, Abhijit enquired with her colleagues and relatives. On Thursday morning, he filed a complaint with the Yerawada police.

Inspector V Ghanvat of the Yerawada police said all police stations in the district were alerted. On Thursday evening, the Khed police found Naina’s body in the Zarewadi forest area, about 80 kms from Khed.

Ghanvat said Naina was strangulated with her own dupatta and her head was smashed with stones. The ornaments she was wearing were found missing. The body was identified by her family members. The police have filed a case of murder. Investigations were still on at the time of filing this report. Topics: woman techie More Stories from this section Third worst monsoon in over hundred years Rama Sene to oppose ‘love jihad’ Special trains for Diwali Election …More

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 Family of 4 found dead in Kothrud; suicide suspected Poor LS voting dampens awareness efforts Prayas demands public hearing on recovery of Rs 821 crore 25,000 names repeated in Chinchwad voter list: Sena Bariatric surgery…More

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 Family of 4 found dead in Kothrud; suicide suspected Poor LS voting dampens awareness efforts Prayas demands public hearing on recovery of Rs 821 crore 25,000 names repeated in Chinchwad voter list: Sena Bariatric surgery…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: 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: 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