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TOI : PUNE: The city police have, for the first time, invoked the provisions of the newly-passed Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (prevention of violence and damage or loss of property) ordinance 2009 against the relatives of a deceased cancer patient after they thrashed three doctors and a hospital staffer at the cancer unit of Ruby Hall Clinic here.

The hospital lodged a complaint at the Bund Garden police station against Ravindra Kawde, son of the deceased, and 10 to 12 unidentified persons. No arrests have been made yet.

Arrests under sections of the ordinance are non-bailable initially and punishable with up to three years in jail besides a fine of Rs 50,000.

Inspector Sudhakar Kate, who is supervising the investigations, said that the deceased, Subhash Kawde (53) of Kawde vasti in Mundhwa, was an employee of the Armament Research and Development Establishment at Khadki. An end-stage cancer patient, Kawde was admitted to the hospital on October 24. Topics: police Bund Garden More Stories from this section US varsity to hold admission session UGC mulls HRM techniques for Indian varsities Two rape case suspects sent to police custody IMA to spread awareness about medicare service ordinance Don’t impose reliabilit…More

TOI : PUNE: Vinaya alias Rohini Ravindra Bhave (34) of Sadashiv Peth, who on Saturday had set herself ablaze, along with her four-and-a-half-year-old son, died while undergoing treatment at the Sassoon general hospital on Sunday. Her son Kedar had died on Saturday due to severe burn injuries.

The Vishrambaug police have arrested the victim’s husband Ravindra Bhave (43) and his father Shrikant (71) on charges of subjecting Vinaya to severe cruelty and abetting suicide of the mother and the son.

The mother, along with her son, had committed suicide by pouring kerosene on their bodies and then setting themselves ablaze at her residence at Atharva apartment in Sadashiv Peth. The police said she was allegedly fed-up with the ill-treatment meted out to her by Ravindra.

According to the Vishrambaug police, Vinaya had locked herself in a room before setting herself on fire. She decided to take the drastic step as her husband would subject her to severe cruelty over trivial issues, said senior police inspector Motichand Rathod of the Vishrambaug police station.

Ravindra works as marketing personnel in a private firm in the city. He has been charged with committing an offence punishable under sections 498 (a) and 306 of the Indian Penal Code. More Stories from this section Vehicle registration in city down by 9 per cent Two policemen deployed at YCM hospital PMC may get WB funds for transport projects Change in train timings from today MN…More

TOI : PUNE: A 29-year-old youth from Katkewadi in Wagholi was the latest to succumb to the Influenza A H1N1 virus in the city on Sunday afternoon. With this death, the city’s toll has reached 97.

State health department officials identified the victim as Santosh Ramchandra Narute, who was initially admitted to a private hospital at Wagholi, about 15 km from here on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway, for flu symptoms.

Narute was moved to the Sassoon hospital on Friday after his condition deteriorated, said the officials. He succumbed to the ailment around 2 pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, six more H1N1 positive cases were reported in the city on Sunday while seven of the 21 patients under treatment at the intensive care unit were put on ventilator. Topics: Pune H1N1 More Stories from this section Vehicle registration in city down by 9 per cent Two policemen deployed at YCM hospital PMC may get WB funds for transport projects Change in train timings from today MN…More

TOI : PUNE: Domestic consumers with less than 200 units consumption per month should be excluded from the reliability charges in the proposed zero load-shedding model for the city, said the Sajag Nagrik Manch, a city-based social forum. The manch also stressed on the need to work out a long-term solution to resolve the load-shedding problem in the city.

These suggestions have been put forth on the backdrop of the scheduled hearing over the zero load-shedding Pune model’ before the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on November 5.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has proposed the new zero load-shedding model through a petition filed on July 27, whereby it sought to end load-shedding in all revenue division headquarters. The model was mooted to replace the existing zero load-shedding model in Pune.

A special discussion was organised here on Sunday by the forum to create public awareness about the issues relating to the proposed Pune model. Among others, president of the forum Vivek Velankar and Shantanu Dixit of Prayas’ (an energy sector NGO) participated in the discussion. The forum has taken up a signature campaign also till the hearing day to create awareness among the people.

Velankar said, “Pune has a zero load-shedding model in place for the last three years. Domestic consumers who use less than 300 units per month (around 70 per cent of the total number of consumers) were excluded from payment of reliability charges. However, in the current proposal there is no such exemption to domestic consumers except those in the BPL category (consumption of 30 units per month).”

“The extra-charge would come as a double burden for domestic consumers because any additional supply charge on commercial and industrial consumers is ultimately passed on to domestic consumers,” Velankar said.

Dixit said that there should be transparent procedure for the rural power supply and timely inspection and audit of power…More

TOI : PUNE: In the wake of four separate incidents of attack on doctors in the last one week, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Pune chapter, has decided to launch a drive to create awareness on the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss of Property) Ordinance, 2009 from Monday.

Dilip Sarda, president, IMA, Pune chapter, on Sunday said, “The ordinance came into force on March 30 this year. However, the police and hospitals are unaware of the new law and its provisions which provides protection to the doctors from the violators.”

Sarda added: “Four incidents of attacks on doctors and hospitals were reported at the Yashwantrao Chavan memorial hospital, Sardar Vallabhai Patel Cantonment general hospital, Ruby Hall Clinic and Suyog hospital. But we are yet to come across any instance where the police have invoked the provision of the ordinance in any of these cases due to lack of awareness.”

Sarda told TOI that the IMA will send letters and copies of the ordinance to city police chief Satya Pal Singh, all police stations and all hospitals in the city as a part of its drive to create awareness. The IMA will also demand implementation of provisions of the ordinance in such cases without causing any further delay.

The IMA feels that the implementation of the law will act as deterrence in the minds of the people creating trouble at hospitals because of the stringent provisions.

“Our demand is that the suspects involved in attacking doctors and hospital staff should be immediately arrested and tried under the new law which provides punishment upto three years and fine upto Rs 50,000,” Sarda added.

Bhomi Bhote, chief executive officer, Ruby Hall Clinic, said he will meet the police chief on Monday evening to take necessary measures as the doctors are afraid of filing complaints fearing that they might…More

TOI : PUNE: A magistrate court on Sunday sent Ashraf Mohammed Khan (21) of Wanowrie and Rupesh Tarachand Chavan (22) of Kondhwa to police custody till November 4. They were arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 17-year-old girl. Khan is a real estate agent and Chavan is working with a BPO unit.

Earlier, the police arrested their accomplice Avinash Lalwani (18) of Dhole-Patil road. A college student, Lalwani has been sent to police custody till Wednesday.

The trio were arrested for allegedly gang-raping the girl and threatening her with a revolver after the victim registered a complaint at the Kondhwa police station.

Assistant public prosecutor A.K. Pacharne pressed for custodial interrogation of Khan and Chavan to recover the revolver and the car used in the crime and for conducting their medical examination.

Senior inspector Rangnath Gaikar, in charge of the Kondhwa police station, said: “We have questioned Khan about the revolver but he has not given us any information.” Topics: suspects Two rape case More Stories from this section Vehicle registration in city down by 9 per cent Two policemen deployed at YCM hospital PMC may get WB funds for transport projects Change in train timings from today MN…More

TOI : PUNE: Universities across the country may soon go the corporate way by practising human resources management (HRM) techniques in their day-to-day functioning. The University Grants Commission (UGC), which is the apex regulatory body for higher education in India, has taken an initiative on this front by joining hands with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) to work out ways of introducing HRM at Indian universities.

The concept HRM relates to a strategic and coherent approach towards managing the employees of an organisation to the optimum effect in meeting the organisation’s goal. The idea is to employ people, develop their resources and compensate their services in tune with the job and organisational requirement.

It further involves a range of practises like workforce planning, recruitment, induction and orientation, skills management, training and development, personnel administration, time and travel management, personnel cost planning and performance appraisal, etc.

Speaking to TOI on Sunday, UGC deputy secretary Ashok Mahajan said, “The concept is not new for multinationals and corporates in India and abroad. Similarly, it is being followed to great effect by a large number of universities in the developed western countries. Unfortunately, for Indian universities, we can say, the concept is new.”

For instance, Mahajan pointed out, recruitments at several Indian universities are effected by people who are not expert in the field for which they are employing people.

The ACU will help out the UGC with sharing its experience on the HRM front, which will enable the UGC to launch these practices on a “trial basis” at certain universities in the country.

As a first step, representatives from leading universities in Australia and United Kingdom will be in New Delhi on November 3 and 4 to interact with the representatives of 175 specially invited Indian universities.

“Of the 450 universities in the country, we have invited 175 universities that represent a mix of organisations, i.e….More

TOI : PUNE: The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), United States, will organise an information and admission session for high school and college students, teachers and parents in the city on Tuesday.

The event will be held at the Abasaheb Garware college hall between 5 pm and 8 pm.

Incidentally, Pune and Fairbanks signed a sister city agreement in 2005. This has enabled the UAF to draw students from the city and offer them fees applicable to Alaska residents.

Located in the interior of Alaska, the UAF is internationally known for its research in arctic phenomena, including the impact of global climate change on the region.

It offers 28 certificates and 167 degrees in 122 disciplines ranging from bachelor’s degrees to PhDs. Over 9,828 students from the US and 45 foreign countries are currently studying there.

Since 2005, 21 students from the city have made it to the UAF at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Currently, city students are studying in fields ranging from wildlife biology and natural resources management to engineering. Topics: session US varsity More Stories from this section UGC mulls HRM techniques for Indian varsities Two rape case suspects sent to police custody IMA to spread awareness about medicare service ordinance Don’t impose reliabilit…More

TOI : PUNE: Meant to create awareness among masses about environmental issues through film screenings, debates, open forums and seminars, the Club Vasundhara was launched on Sunday by the organisers of the Vasundhara International Film Festival.

The programme held at the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) theatre was attended by a number of eminent personalities including environmentalist, social activist and president of Vanarai, Mohan Dharia, former union minister Suresh Prabhu, district collector Chandrakant Dalvi, state election commissioner of Maharashtra Neela Satyanarayan, director of social forestry, Prakash Thosre, actress Mrunal Kulkarni and naturalist S D Mahajan among others. Satyanarayan’s book, Ek Divas Jeevanatla’ was also published on the occasion. Also present were Virendra Chitrav, the festival director of the Vasundhara International Film Festival and Vijay Jadhav, the director of NFAI.

Addressing the audience, Dharia spoke of how it was essential for life and environment to be thought of in the same breath which would only highlight the importance of the latter. “Conservation of forests is one of the most important things that needs to be looked at by everyone as a joint effort. It is like Mahatma Gandhi had said once, Nature has enough of essence to meet your needs but not enough to provide for your greed’. We need to stop exploiting the environment needlessly,” he said. Dharia also lauded Club Vasundhara’s efforts to bring together nature lovers on a common platform that would help move towards this very goal. “I also feel that if we as a country cultivate even 50 per cent of our land properly and harvest every drop of rainwater, we would never face any shortage of food or water,” he added.

Echoing Dharia’s views, Prabhu said that people’s involvement is what is required to protect the environment from any further damage. “Pune has something special in the form of its people who support every such cause that is meant to help. People…More

TOI : PUNE: The Bund Garden police have booked a retired administrative officer of the Pune police on Saturday on charges of cheating the government by providing a fake caste certificate to procure a clerical job.

Bhalchandra Thakur of Jalgaon was booked on a case registered by assistant commissioner of police (administration) Jaywant Deshmukh.

According to Deshmukh, Thakur had joined the government service as junior clerk in 1970 in the category of schedule tribes’ and was promoted as senior clerk in 1979, as chief clerk in 1987, as office superintendent in 1988 and as administrative officer in 1997.

The complaint said Thakur had procured a caste certificate from the district magistrate’s office in Dhule and had enjoyed the benefits of government employment, though he doesn’t belong to the scheduled tribes.

The incident came to light 2006 after M.P. Sangle, an aggrieved employee who was deprived of promotion, made a complaint against several employees, including Thakur, to the state director general of police.

When the state police chief ordered an inquiry against Thakur and his pension was stopped, he filed a petition in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court against the stoppage of pension. The court referred the matter to the caste verification committee which ruled in May 2009 that his certificate was illegal.

Thakur was booked under sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. Topics: police former More Stories from this section US varsity to hold admission session UGC mulls HRM techniques for Indian varsities Two rape case suspects sent to police custody IMA to spread awareness about medicare service ordinance Don’t impose reliabilit…More