News

TOI : PUNE: The city police have made elaborate security arrangements at the two places — FCI godowns, Shivajinagar, and Shiv Chattrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, — where counting of votes will take place on Thursday. The vote-counting process will begin at 8 am.

Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Rajendra Sonawane said tight security arrangements have been put in place at the counting centres. The security arrangement will be supervised by concerned zonal deputy commissioners of police. The additional commissioners of police, north and south regions, will be in charge of the security at the respective areas.

Sonawane said permission will have to be sought on the spot from the special branch to take out victory processions. The processions will be given protection, but the winning candidates have to ensure that the entourage is not too big so as to cause inconvenience to traffic on the roads. All such processions will have to end by 10 pm and no bursting of crackers will be allowed after 10 pm, the deadline set by the supreme court.

In order to avoid any untoward incident, security will be provided to winning as well as losing candidates, he added. Topics: Pune security More Stories from this section Alert triggers tight security at Jewish places in Pune Wadia college alumni scale Himalayan peak Tourists return to twin hill stations Mann Deshi Mahila, a case study at Harvard…More

TOI : PUNE: With the arrest of four men on Tuesday evening, the Pune rural police claim to have solved last week’s murder-cum-dacoity case at Kedgaon in Yevat.

The suspects had allegedly broken into the residence of Balasaheb Hingne and murdered 80-year-old Jijabai Raut and her nephew Rohit Hingne (20) before committing a dacoity, the police said on Wednesday.

According to the police, the four suspects are part of a gang involved in nine other cases, including a dacoity at the farmhouse of a retired police inspector at Patas in Yevat. They have been identified as Sunil Kale (30), Murlidhar Bhosale (40), Sharad Kale (32) and Shahaji Madne (27), all from Madha in Solapur district.

Superintendent of police (Pune rural) Pratap Dighavkar, four of the 12-member gang who were operating in Pune, Solapur, Osmanabad and Satara districts were arrested, following a tip-off.

The police have recovered ornaments, valuables and a pick-up jeep, totally worth Rs 9 lakh, and all related to four dacoity cases — two at Yevat and one each at Alandi and Malshiras in Solapur district.

According to Dighavkar, the modus operandi of the gang was to loot houses in remote areas by forcibly breaking open the door with stones and assaulting the victims with sharp weapons before they could resist.

Dighavkar said the police will invoke the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the four, as investigations reveal that the main suspect runs an organised crime syndicate for pecuniary benefits.

The police will also take action against the buyers or receivers of the booty, Dighavkar said, adding that a hunt is on for the remaining eight suspects.

Inspector Bhausaheb Andhalkar of the local crime branch (Pune rural) said that a police team had laid a trap at Chouphula village in Daund and taken the suspects into custody when they arrived at the village to meet a relative.

…More

TOI : PUNE: As many as 115 minors have been detained in various criminal cases in 2009 (till date) said deputy commissioner of police (zone IV) Jalindar Supekar on Wednesday.

Action against the minors has been taken by the various police stations.

According to Supekar, 31 minors were detained in housebreaking theft cases, seven in robberies, 53 in vehicle thefts, three in murders, three in attempted murders and 18 in causing injuries.

Most of the minors involved in crime reside in the slums which fall in the jurisdiction of the Wanowrie and Hadapsar police stations.

“We regularly interact with the parents of the minors. The police are making efforts to see that minors give up crime and become better citizens,” Supekar said.

“We will be soon conduct a survey to look into the reason why minors resort to crime. We will also make efforts to rehabilitate them. If the need arises, we will also seek the help of NGOs,” he added. Topics: Pune 115 minors More Stories from this section Alert triggers tight security at Jewish places in Pune Wadia college alumni scale Himalayan peak Tourists return to twin hill stations Mann Deshi Mahila, a case study at Harvard…More

TOI : PUNE: Even as every assembly candidate has his fingers crossed, a few sitting MLAs from Pune are praying not just for their personal victories, but sincerely hoping that their respective party wins comfortably and forms the next government. The reason? Simple. If their party wins, they stand a good chance to bag a ministerial berth in the new government.

Key contenders for a ministerial berth include Girish Bapat of the BJP, Vinayak Nimhan, Chandrakant Shivarkar and Ramesh Bagwe (all from Congress party). Interestingly, all the four have chosen to remain silent on the possibilities of becoming a minister.

Girish Bapat, who has represented Kasba Peth constituency three times in a row since 1995, is seeking a fourth term. Invariably, Bapat is a favourite from the city to get a ministerial berth if he is able to win from the constituency and if the BJP-Shiv Sena manages to get a majority. When contacted, Bapat replied in two words – “no comments”. However, when pressed for a comment, Bapat said that he was an organisational man and that he would obey whatever orders he gets from the party. This time, Bapat’s supremacy is challenged by Congress’ Rohit Tilak and Ravindra Dhangekar of the MNS.

With the Congress-NCP combine hoping to perform a hat-trick by forming the next government, the three sitting MLAs of Congress from the city have a bright chance to gain ministry. Foremost among them is Vinayak Nimhan, who is seeking a third term as MLA. Nimhan, who switched over to the Congress from the Shiv Sena, has an edge over his two other colleagues in the party because of his closeness to Congress leader Narayan Rane, who himself is in contention for becoming the next chief minister. Nimhan is contesting from Shivajinagar for the third time with the only difference that the profile of the constituency has changed after delimitation. His political opponents are Vikas…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) conducted an anti-encroachment drive to remove constructions which would be affected by road-widening in Kalewadi and Thergaon on Wednesday.

The PCMC is constructing a bus rapid transit system (BRTS) road under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme from Kalewadi phata on Aundh-Ravet road to Dehu-Alandi road. This road is to be widened to 45 metres.

The anti-encroachment drive was conducted along a 1.1 km-long stretch of road from Kalewadi phata to Sai Temple in Thergaon. Around 78 constructions, including shops, commercial galas and some permanent structures that were on the left side of the road were demolished. The drive was conducted peacefully due to the co-operation of the citizens.

The drive was conducted by the civic team led by MT Kamble, executive engineer, PCMC, under the guidance of city engineer Eknath Ugile. A hundred labourers and 50 policemen participated in the drive. Six JCBs, three excavators and 10 dumpers were used in the drive. Topics: Pune PCMC More Stories from this section Alert triggers tight security at Jewish places in Pune Wadia college alumni scale Himalayan peak Tourists return to twin hill stations Mann Deshi Mahila, a case study at Harvard…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has planned to introduce Ghanta Gadi project for garbage collection in the area.

The approval to implement the project was given on Wednsday at the general body meeting held at the PCB office at Golibar Maidan. President of the board Brig Rajbir Singh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) D K Malik, elected members and nominated members were present.

Special vehicles will go from house to house to collect garbage every day. “All elected members will have to submit a blueprint of their wards for this project. These prints will contain all information about the timings and routes for the project,” Malik said.

A deadline of October 30 has been set for submission of these blueprints. After submission, a decision on the number of vehicles to be employed will be taken.

Besides, subjects such as allocation of space for making of Ganesh idols, construction of sports complex and renovation of national war memorial were discussed.

The PCB has also given green signal to purchase three cars worth around 15 lakh. According to officials, the board has three 118 NE Fiat cars, which will be replaced as they have become economically unviable.

Though the sanction has been given to purchase the cars, the elected members raised their voice to know the details two 118 NE cars. “As per our knowledge, we (PCB) only use one 118 NE car. Where are the other two cars?” the elected members asked.

Officials said that out of the three cars, one is for PCB’s vice-president while one has been kept in workshop for emergency use. The third car has been given to a defence official. Topics: Pune Pune Cantonment Board More Stories from this section Alert triggers tight security at Jewish places in Pune Wadia college alumni scale Himalayan peak Tourists return to twin hill stations Mann Deshi Mahila, a case study at…More

TOI : PUNE: A standard II student of Bopkhel municipal corporation school in Pimpri was among the ten people who tested positive for the H1N1 influenza on Wednesday.

“He has been quarantined at the YCM hospital in Pimpri and other students of the school were screened as a preventive measure,” said Ashok Mehta, joint director of state health services. The total number of positive cases across the district is now 1,503, Mehta said.

Around 6,299 people were screened across the district, of which 320 suspected patients were administered Tamiflu tablets. Nearly 32,050 people have been given Tamiflu so far, Mehta added.

As many as 11 patients are presently being treated at isolation ICUs of various private and government-run hospitals in PMC and PCMC limits. Of them, nine patients are critical and have been put on ventilator, Mehta said. “Fifty-eight patients were discharged on Wednesday. Around 5.94 lakh people have been screened across the district so far,” Mehta said. Topics: Pimpri Bopkhel municipal corporation More Stories from this section Alert triggers tight security at Jewish places in Pune Wadia college alumni scale Himalayan peak Tourists return to twin hill stations Mann Deshi Mahila, a case study at Harvard…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will be allotting the contract of stray dog sterilisation to a private organisation which is expected to start sterilisation surgeries in November.

Speaking to TOI on Wednesday, medical officer R R Iyer said that Pashukalyan Mandal of Parbhani will be allotted the contract to perform sterilisation surgeries on stray dogs. The PCMC standing committee approved a resolution to this effect at its weekly meeting held on Tuesday.

The municipal corporation will use the one-day-release method for the sterilisation surgeries to control the population of stray dogs as per the state government’s resolution of December 2001. The private contractor will catch the dogs, perform surgeries, take care of their other ailments and take care of the cost of surgeries, medicines, equipments and other necessary charges.

Speaking to TOI, Satish Gore, veterinary officer, PCMC said, “It will take a month’s time to sign the contract with the private organisation. The organisation will conduct the surgeries at the civic hospital. They will catch the dogs using our equipment and two vans.”

“The sterilisation surgery is performed on the same day when the dog is caught. The very same day, the dog is released in the same place where he was caught. This is known as the one-day-release method. Here there is no need to hospitalise the dogs so the expenditure is less. This method is used in big cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and others,” said Gore. More Stories from this section Alert triggers tight security at Jewish places in Pune Wadia college alumni scale Himalayan peak Tourists return to twin hill stations Mann Deshi Mahila, a case study at Harvard…More

TOI : PUNE: India’s chief information commissioner (CIC), state’s CIC and the Pune division information officer will for the first time come together on one platform to discuss four years of completion of the right to information (RTI) act.

The event, to be held on Friday, is being organised by the Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT), Pune chapter, which works towards creating awareness about RTI among citizens. A panel discussion will also be held on the experiences of RTI activists so far.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Major Gen S Jathar, member of the advisory council, PCGT said, “the RTI act was introduces to endure transparency and contain corruption. However, more than 90 per cent of the requisitions under the RTI are either for personal or constitutional grievances and not for containing corruption. The discussion will aim at making suggestions so as to what manner RTI can be implemented for achieving its main objectives.” Top RTI activists in the city including Vivek Velankar, Vijay Kumbhar and Vihar Durve will participate in the panel discussion.

Dinesh Castellino, convenor of PCGT, said, “Our aim is to spread awareness among citizens about the benefits of the act. We have been successful in doing so which is evident from the responses we have got at the RTI clinics.”

Former cabinet secretary B G Deshmukh will also be present for this function. Topics: Four CIC RTI More Stories from this section Pvt firm to get dog sterilisation contract in PCMC Ten test positive for H1N1 on Wednesday Ghanta Gadi for garbage collection in PCB areas PCM…More

TOI : PUNE: On the day she was kidnapped and murdered, software engineer Nayana Phatak-Pujari had requested the administration department of her company to provide a car for her as she had missed the office vehicle. However, the administration turned down the request and, hence, Nayana walked out of the office looking for some public transport, which led to the tragedy on October 7, her husband Abhijit Pujari said on Wednesday.

At a press conference, Pujari alleged that Synechron, the company where Nayana was working as a team leader, is responsible for the negligence. If the company had taken precautions, my wife would have been alive today, he said.

Abhijit said the safety of the women employees is the responsibility of the company. “Nayana had telephone me and said that she would be coming home in a public transport because the administration department had refused to provide her with any assistance as there were only two vehicles at the company in Kharadi. The administration told Nayana that the vehicles stationed at the company were for emergency. This shows that there was negligence on the company’s part.

The company had employed a cab driver and security guard without verifying their antecedents, Pujari said. “But, after the incident came to light, they issued a statement saying that the arrested suspects arrested were not their employees.”

The incident showed that the company had not followed the police guidelines meant for the safety of women employees, Pujari alleged. “The company is not in touch with us after the suspects were arrested. We appeal to them to take preventive measures to avert similar incidents. We further appeal to the company to help us prove the guilt of the suspects and conduct the trial in a fast-track court. We want the suspects to be hanged as they had committed a gruesome crime,” Pujari added.

Meanwhile, Shelar Guruji, a representative of MLC Neelam…More