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TOI : PUNE: The city unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday felicitated Pune-based clinical sexologist Shashank Samak, whose long-running stage presentation has helped promote sex education in society.

The presentation, dubbed Chalishi Nantarche Kamjeevan (Sex life after forty)’ which recently notched up 300 shows is aimed at dispelling myths and misconceptions pertaining to sexuality.

“Samak’s presentation is the first of its kind in the world. It is an eye-opener for people who still treat sex as taboo and also for those who rush to courts for a divorce instead of opting for sex therapy and counselling to save their marriages,” Dilip Sarda, president of the IMA’s city unit, said at the felicitation programme.

Pathologist Ajit Golwilkar, director of Golwilkar Metropolis, said Samak’s programme has benefited society at large as well as medical professionals.

Sanjeev Khurd, president of the Gynaecologists’ and Obstetricians’ Society, remarked that the Guinness Book of World Records will surely take note of Samak’s long-running programme.

The sexologist will soon launch an English version of the presentation, titled Adam and Eve’ .

Topics: Doctor EVENT IMA More Stories from this section Software engineer found murdered, husband arrested Doctor ends life after husband attempts suicide Low turnout leaves candidates worried Sena candidate escapes unhurt in fi…More

TOI : PUNE: The city unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday felicitated Pune-based clinical sexologist Shashank Samak, whose long-running stage presentation has helped promote sex education in society.

The presentation, dubbed Chalishi Nantarche Kamjeevan (Sex life after forty)’ which recently notched up 300 shows is aimed at dispelling myths and misconceptions pertaining to sexuality.

“Samak’s presentation is the first of its kind in the world. It is an eye-opener for people who still treat sex as taboo and also for those who rush to courts for a divorce instead of opting for sex therapy and counselling to save their marriages,” Dilip Sarda, president of the IMA’s city unit, said at the felicitation programme.

Pathologist Ajit Golwilkar, director of Golwilkar Metropolis, said Samak’s programme has benefited society at large as well as medical professionals.

Sanjeev Khurd, president of the Gynaecologists’ and Obstetricians’ Society, remarked that the Guinness Book of World Records will surely take note of Samak’s long-running programme.

The sexologist will soon launch an English version of the presentation, titled Adam and Eve’ .

Topics: Doctor EVENT IMA More Stories from this section Software engineer found murdered, husband arrested Doctor ends life after husband attempts suicide Low turnout leaves candidates worried Sena candidate escapes unhurt in fi…More

TOI : PUNE: “I do not how it has happened as there is no access to the terrace from any other part of the bungalow,” said Rekha Randive, mother of the 10-year-old girl who was found raped and murdered on the terrace of a bungalow in Narayan Peth on Thursday.

When TOI visited her residence at Dattawadi, Rekha said: “I do not know who is behind this. I don’t have any enemies. I am staying with my two daughters in Ambil Odha slums, where I had shifted just eight days ago,” Rekha said.

“I am working with Mohiniraj Kulkarni for the past two-and-a-half years. I take care of his bed-ridden wife and also do household works. They pay me Rs 2,000 per month. The Kulkarni family was treating me like their daughter.”

Rekha said, “My working hours are from 8.30 am to 7.30 pm. They have another maid during the night. On October 13, I took my daughter Rohini along with me as she was having Diwali holidays. Kulkarni asked us to stay overnight because the night duty maid took a day off.”

Rekha added, “Next morning, I asked Rohini to play outside the house as she was disturbing me during the work. Around 12.30 pm, while I was going out to bring lunch for Kulkarni, Rohini was playing in the bungalow. But, when I returned after 10 minutes, she was missing. After searching the entire premises, I found her lying on the terrace.”

“I brought Rohini in the room on the second floor and tried to give her water, but she was not responding,” Rekha said, adding that then she called Kulkarni and rushed the girl to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead.

Rohini was studying in std IV in a PMC-run school at Dattawadi. She is survived by father, mother elder sister and a brother. Her father Anil, who is an…More

TOI : PUNE: Post offices in city and Pune region are up for modernisation. Around 175 post offices have already upgraded and another 50 will be equipped with latest technology and modules by December end.

All the postal operations–the front office as well as the back office–are being computerised. With this, major works pertaining to money orders, registration, money transfer and parcel, which till date were done manually, will be handled by computers.

“The latest technology and modules have brought about a transformation in the day-to-day working of the department. Following the implementation of the programme, the post offices will be able to improve quality of services and manage additional workload, which in turn will increase productivity and reduce paper work,” said an official from the Department of Post.

Post master general S C Jarodia said, “The computerisation programme is being implemented in a phased manner. The postal services have become more customer-friendly now. The waiting period has decreased considerably. The transactions of instant money order, e-payment, RTI have extended to more customers.” Jarodia said that around 248 post offices in the region are being equipped with the latest technologies.

Elaborating the other services, Jarodia said that as many as five post offices in the region will soon start core banking services. He said that other services like selling of gold, collection of stamp duty have received significant response from customers.

Put PIN code on letter

According to the post department, of the daily mails exchanged in city, around 50 per cent are found without proper PIN code. Proper mention of the PIN code helps in fast delivery. The department has appealed citizens to put PIN code on the letter.

Topics: Pune post offices More Stories from this section Software engineer found murdered, husband arrested Doctor ends life after husband attempts suicide Low turnout leaves candidates worried Sena candidate escapes unhurt in fi…More

TOI : PUNE: A second standard student at the Sterling English medium school in Bhosari and a fourth standard student at the Priyadarshini English medium school in Pimpri were among the seven people who tested positive for the H1N1 influenza on Thursday.

“Both the students have been quarantined at the YCM hospital and their condition is improving,” Ashok Mehta, joint director of state health services, said.

Around 6,509 people were screened across the district on Thursday, of which 397 suspected patients were administered Tamiflu tablets. Nearly 30,484 people have been given Tamiflu so far, Mehta added.

As many as 15 patients are presently being treated at the isolation ICUs of various private and government-run hospitals in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Of them, eight are critical and have been put on ventilator, Mehta said. He added that, “37 patients were discharged on Thursday.”

A total of 4,330 patients were discharged after treatment so far. Of them, 904 were positive cases, while the rest were suspected ones. Around 5.71 lakh people have been screened across the district so far, Mehta said.

Topics: Pune students Swine flu More Stories from this section Software engineer found murdered, husband arrested Doctor ends life after husband attempts suicide Low turnout leaves candidates worried Sena candidate escapes unhurt in fi…More

TOI : PUNE: The widening of the two-km stretch of the Pune-Mumbai highway in Dapodi has picked up momentum in the last recent few months. The remaining part of the total 13-km stretch of the highway within Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation limits has already been widened.

“The defence authorities have given no objection’ certificate to the widening of the highway, municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma told TOI on Thursday.

“The PCMC has built a new wall for the College of Military Engineering (CME) from Phugewadi octroi post to the CME main gate. Soon, the PCMC will resurface the entire highway stretch in Dapodi. The highway traffic will be diverted through the new road between the old and new walls of the CME,” Sharma added.

The four-lane highway stretch has been widened to 61 metres with eight lanes from Nigdi to Phugewadi. The work was completed in a span of more than three years. The civic body had to conduct a massive anti-encroachment drive for taking over possession of the land required for widening.

Between Phugewadi and Nigdi, the highway has a concretised central portion of four lanes. It helps in fast movement of vehicles between Phugewadi and Nigdi, with just one traffic signal at Nashik phata. Three grade separators have been built on the highway to reduce traffic congestion at Pimpri, Chinchwad and Akurdi.

Subways for light commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers to cross the concretised portion have also been made near Bajaj Auto in Akurdi, Kalbhornagar, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited in Pimpri, Vallabhnagar, Kasarwadi and Phugewadi. A pedestrian subway has been built near Big Cinema multiplex in Chinchwad, besides Foot overbridges at Kharalwadi and Vallabhnagar.

Topics: Highway Dapodi More Stories from this section Software engineer found murdered, husband arrested Doctor ends life after husband attempts suicide Low turnout leaves candidates worried Sena candidate escapes unhurt in fi…More

TOI : PUNE: “I do not how it has happened as there is no access to the terrace from any other part of the bungalow,” said Rekha Randive, mother of the 10-year-old girl who was found raped and murdered on the terrace of a bungalow in Narayan Peth on Thursday.

When TOI visited her residence at Dattawadi, Rekha said: “I do not know who is behind this. I don’t have any enemies. I am staying with my two daughters in Ambil Odha slums, where I had shifted just eight days ago,” Rekha said.

“I am working with Mohiniraj Kulkarni for the past two-and-a-half years. I take care of his bed-ridden wife and also do household works. They pay me Rs 2,000 per month. The Kulkarni family was treating me like their daughter.”

Rekha said, “My working hours are from 8.30 am to 7.30 pm. They have another maid during the night. On October 13, I took my daughter Rohini along with me as she was having Diwali holidays. Kulkarni asked us to stay overnight because the night duty maid took a day off.”

Rekha added, “Next morning, I asked Rohini to play outside the house as she was disturbing me during the work. Around 12.30 pm, while I was going out to bring lunch for Kulkarni, Rohini was playing in the bungalow. But, when I returned after 10 minutes, she was missing. After searching the entire premises, I found her lying on the terrace.”

“I brought Rohini in the room on the second floor and tried to give her water, but she was not responding,” Rekha said, adding that then she called Kulkarni and rushed the girl to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead.

Rohini was studying in std IV in a PMC-run school at Dattawadi. She is survived by father, mother elder sister and a brother. Her father Anil, who is an…More

TOI : PUNE: Post offices in city and Pune region are up for modernisation. Around 175 post offices have already upgraded and another 50 will be equipped with latest technology and modules by December end.

All the postal operations–the front office as well as the back office–are being computerised. With this, major works pertaining to money orders, registration, money transfer and parcel, which till date were done manually, will be handled by computers.

“The latest technology and modules have brought about a transformation in the day-to-day working of the department. Following the implementation of the programme, the post offices will be able to improve quality of services and manage additional workload, which in turn will increase productivity and reduce paper work,” said an official from the Department of Post.

Post master general S C Jarodia said, “The computerisation programme is being implemented in a phased manner. The postal services have become more customer-friendly now. The waiting period has decreased considerably. The transactions of instant money order, e-payment, RTI have extended to more customers.” Jarodia said that around 248 post offices in the region are being equipped with the latest technologies.

Elaborating the other services, Jarodia said that as many as five post offices in the region will soon start core banking services. He said that other services like selling of gold, collection of stamp duty have received significant response from customers.

Put PIN code on letter

According to the post department, of the daily mails exchanged in city, around 50 per cent are found without proper PIN code. Proper mention of the PIN code helps in fast delivery. The department has appealed citizens to put PIN code on the letter.

Topics: Pune post offices More Stories from this section Software engineer found murdered, husband arrested Doctor ends life after husband attempts suicide Low turnout leaves candidates worried Sena candidate escapes unhurt in fi…More

TOI : PUNE: A second standard student at the Sterling English medium school in Bhosari and a fourth standard student at the Priyadarshini English medium school in Pimpri were among the seven people who tested positive for the H1N1 influenza on Thursday.

“Both the students have been quarantined at the YCM hospital and their condition is improving,” Ashok Mehta, joint director of state health services, said.

Around 6,509 people were screened across the district on Thursday, of which 397 suspected patients were administered Tamiflu tablets. Nearly 30,484 people have been given Tamiflu so far, Mehta added.

As many as 15 patients are presently being treated at the isolation ICUs of various private and government-run hospitals in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Of them, eight are critical and have been put on ventilator, Mehta said. He added that, “37 patients were discharged on Thursday.”

A total of 4,330 patients were discharged after treatment so far. Of them, 904 were positive cases, while the rest were suspected ones. Around 5.71 lakh people have been screened across the district so far, Mehta said.

Topics: Pune students Swine flu More Stories from this section Software engineer found murdered, husband arrested Doctor ends life after husband attempts suicide Low turnout leaves candidates worried Sena candidate escapes unhurt in fi…More

TOI : PUNE: When started about 15 years ago, the programme was meant to bring together people and make Diwali a community festival. Today, the Diwali Pahat’ does that and a lot more, including offering music aficionados in the city a taste of what they love the most traditional classical music performed by the best of the best.

“Diwali used to be celebrated in a very family-centric manner earlier. So we came up with the idea of a programme that would bring together the entire community. We then thought on the lines of a musical programme since Marathi-speaking people have a strong connection to music,” says Satish Desai of Tridal. Desai, considered to be a pioneer of the concept Diwali Pahat’, organised the first programme which saw noted singer Suresh Wadkar performing. “It had very poor response, but it grew since then and today, thousands of people attend the almost 25 Diwali Pahat’ programme organised every year,” says Desai. Interestingly, a number of other cities have taken inspiration from the concept to organise similar programmes during Diwali.

Pahat’ means early morning hours, and a Diwali Pahat’ events is essentially organised in the morning hours. This year, the programme organised by Tridal will see renowned vocalist Pt Jasraj performing. The event, to be held at the Balgandharva Rangmandir on October 17 at 5.30 am, will also include a felicitation ceremony to honour some prominent Punekars. “We started felicitating prominent Punekars in an attempt to make the programme different from others,” says Desai.

Another programme organised on October 17 will be held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha at 6 am. “The programme is titled Ghar majhya manatla’ and will include different programmes revolving around the theme including music, dance and drama. Subodh Bhave, Sharvari Jamenis and Ashwini Ekbote, among others, will be part of the programme,” says Sunil Mahajan, who has organised a number of similar pahat’ programmes in the…More