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TOI : PUNE: The domestic wranglings of a doctor couple took a tragic turn with the woman hanging herself to death after her husband attempted suicide by consuming sleeping pills at their Hadapsar residence here on Wednesday. The husband is recovering in hospital.

Senior inspector Pandharinath Mandhare of the Hadapsar police station told TOI that the couple had married two years back after falling in love. While the husband, Manish Paul (28), has a doctorate in medicine, the wife, Padmaja (27), is an MBBS. Manish works with a city-based hospital while Padmaja with a government hospital at Manchar. The couple lived at Varsha Apartments in Hadapsar.

According to Mandhare, relations between the two had broken down soon after their marriage. The couple had argued around midnight on Wednesday following which Manish, in a fit of rage, consumed sleeping pills. Padmaja rushed him to a nearby private hospital.

On returning home a little later, Padmaja called up her brother telling him about the incident. However, when the brother reached the flat, he found her hanging from the ceiling fan. He informed the police around 3 am about the suicide. No suicide note was found in the house. Topics: senior Inspector More Stories from this section 10-yr-old girl found raped, murdered Nearly 3,000 Tamiflu tablets sold in 24 days Spic Macay to launch series on cultural heritage Girl found dead in field IMA fetes…More

TOI : PUNE: A software engineer allegedly strangulated his wife, also a software engineer, at their flat at Rahatani in Pimpale-Saudagar here on Sunday night.

The Sangvi police on Tuesday arrested Deepak Satpute (34) for the murder of his wife Smita (32). Deepak’s father Vitthal (65) and mother Vimal (54) were also arrested for allegedly having ill-treated Smita.

All three were sent to police custody till October 18.

Smita was working with a software company at Hinjewadi for the past three years while Deepak ran a software firm at Thergaon. The Rahatani flat was purchased by Smita about four years back but the couple had moved in with Deepak’s parents only a year ago.
Senior police inspector Ratansingh Yadav said that their investigations have revealed that Deepak strangulated Smita with a rope. He said the couple had married about five years back.

“Though Smita was constantly harassed over trivial issues, she did not complain to the police because of the frequent intervention of her family and friends,” he added. Topics: Engineer Software More Stories from this section 10-yr-old girl found raped, murdered Nearly 3,000 Tamiflu tablets sold in 24 days Spic Macay to launch series on cultural heritage Girl found dead in field IMA fetes…More

TOI : PUNE: Around 3,000 capsules of Oseltamivir – popularly known as Tamiflu – have been sold within 24 days of its distribution across 12 private retail chemist shops in the city.

The city got its first stock of Tamiflu for private sale from Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Hetero Healthcare Ltd on September 20. The sale of the drug is strictly against prescription of a qualified doctor of allopathy.

“A total number of 2,770 capsules were sold within 24 days of its private distribution. The monthly update of the same will be submitted for scrutiny to the Pune division of Food and Drug Administration in the next few days,” said Mahendra Pitaliya, chief co-ordinator of Chemists’ Association of Pune District (CAPD).

Oseltamivir is the generic name of the drug. The brand name of Oseltamivir capsules produced by Rosche pharmaceuticals is Tamiflu. While Oseltamivir capsules produced by Hetero Healthcare Ltd is known as Fluvir, added Pitaliya. Generic maker Natco Pharma also launched Natflu its version of the oseltamivir (Tamiflu) drug in the Indian market.

Natflu is priced at Rs 475 for a bottle of 10 capsules and is available with all the schedule X licence holders in the city. “As compared with Fluvir, retail sale of Natflu is negligible in the city,” said Pitaliya. Fluvir is priced at Rs 449 for a strip of 10 capsules, he added.

Fluvir is available in doses of 35mg, 45 mg and 75 mg. But the present stock that the city has received contains fluvir capsules of 75 mg only. “That means only those patients who are above 12 years of age can take this capsule. The syrup form of the Oseltamivir is likely to come in the city in the next few days,” said Pitaliya.

Distribution of Oseltmivir was restricted through government health centres till September 15, as a measure to prevent random use of the drugs leading to developing…More

TOI : PUNE: The Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY) is introducing the first-ever Heritage Series’ in Pune in January 2010.

Aimed at showcasing India’s rich cultural heritage to students, especially foreigners, the series is organised in association with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). The series will kickstart in Pune keeping in mind the sheer number of foreign students studying here, said Kiran Seth, founder-chairman of SPIC MACAY.

The two-week-long event consists of modules on classical dance, music, folk theatre, fine arts and cinema. It will be inaugurated by Virendra Gupta, director general of ICCR at Poona Engineering College on January 15, 2010.

“The Heritage series in the first-of-its-kind started by SPIC MACAY and we plan to hold it in Pune till Republic Day. We hope to make it an annual feature depending upon the funding and response we get from the audience here,” said Seth, a professor of operational research at IIT, Delhi.

The inaugural concert will be by doyens of Indian classical dance and music, he said. “Workshops on these topics will form a major part of the series, because it’s about familiarisng foreign students with the real India. It will help Indian students, as well.”

Seth founded SPIC MACAY in 1977 to make people, especially the youth, aware of our culture by organising recitals and programmes on the various classical arts, philosophy, literature, yoga, etc. So far, it has organised over 2,000 programmes across the country. The Pune chapter was established in 1986 and it has organised cultural programmes at around 60 academic institutions.

“The traditional arts represent a philosophy of life that has come from our ancestors. Understanding them is important as these arts facilitate development of our inner domain. In fact, Indian culture is truly unique, but our knowledge of this culture and its heritage is very superficial. So, here, the attempt…More

TOI : PUNE: A 14-year-old girl was found dead near her residence in Mukhai village in Shirur Taluka, around 60 km from the city. The police suspect that the girl may have died due to strangulation.

Speaking to TOI, assistant inspector of police Satish Nikam of the Shikrapur police station said, “On Tuesday night, Sujata alias Solochana Ramrao Palande had left her home in search of her goats, but did not returned till late night, after which family members looked for her in the vicinity, but in vain.”

The next morning, she was found murdered in an orange field, about 700 feet from her residence.

Nikam said, “One of her relatives had seen Sujata near the river in the village on Tuesday evening. But, later no one had claimed to see her in the village.”

The police were immediately notified after the body was found. A dog squad was pressed into service, but without any success. “We suspect that the girl was killed with the help of a rope or a wire. Post-mortem reports have stated that the girl was not raped,” Nikam said.

Additional superintendent of police Meghshyam Malegaonkar, sub-divisional police officer (Daund) N M Mittewad, police inspector of local crime branch (LCB) Bhausaheb Andhalkar visited the spot.

It may be noted that 15-year-old Puja Jadhav of Gholapwadi near Indapur taluka in Pune district was murdered in a field near her residence on August 3. She was allegedly raped before she strangulated to death. After about a month, the Pune rural police managed to arrested a landlord from the area, Ganesh Gholap (22), for allegedly raping and killing Puja. Later, the police also Gholap’s relative Vijay Gholap in this regard.

Topics: girl Dead field More Stories from this section 10-yr-old girl found raped, murdered Nearly 3,000 Tamiflu tablets sold in 24 days Spic Macay to launch series on cultural heritage IMA fetes…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 10-yr-old girl found raped, murdered Nearly 3,000 Tamiflu tablets sold in 24 days Spic Macay to launch series on cultural…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 10-yr-old girl found raped, murdered Nearly 3,000 Tamiflu tablets sold in 24 days Spic Macay to launch series on cultural heritage Girl found dead…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 10-yr-old girl found raped, murdered Nearly 3,000 Tamiflu tablets sold in 24 days Spic Macay to launch series on cultural heritage Girl found dead in field IMA fetes…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 10-yr-old girl found raped, murdered Nearly 3,000 Tamiflu tablets sold in 24 days Spic Macay to launch series on cultural heritage Girl found dead in field IMA fetes…More