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TOI : PUNE: Cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 8.74 lakh were stolen from the bungalow of engineer Balasaheb Damodar Makre (40) of Sahayadri colony at Pimpale Nilakh in Sangvi on Wednesday.

According to senior police inspector Ratansingh Yadav of the Sangvi police station, Makre works as a branch engineer in the building department of the zilla parishad. He had gone to Shrigonda with his family on Tuesday and while they were away the burglars broke into the bungalow and stole Rs 6 lakh and 31 tolas of gold jewellery.

Makre returned home on Wednesday and discovered the theft.

In a statement given to police, Makre said his brother in-law Nitin Shelke had kept the money at his house because he wanted to buy a flat in Pune. Yadav said that the Sahayadri colony does not have a security guard.

Makre has registered a complaint against unknown persons under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. More Stories from this section Cultural feast on cards for expats in city City sewage to irrigate 25,000 hectare land Traffic Trouble: Training for officials to come up with new ideas Lessons in environment for teachers PIMR …More

TOI : PUNE: The badminton fraternity in the city have a reason to cheer the renovation of the Western India Enterprise (WIE) sports complex at Shivajinagar is nearing completion and the complex will be ready for use from December 1. Now, there will be six full courts and two single courts, besides a practice court.

A legal tussle between the Progressive Education Society (PES), which owns the premises, and the Poona District and Metropolitan Badminton Association (PDMBA) had stopped the renovation work for some time. The PES wanted the PDMBA to take necessary permissions before carrying out any work and sought the court’s intervention in the renovation and other works on the premises. However, both the parties made an out-of-court settlement.

Uday Sane, joint secretary, PDMBA, said: “Only the electrical work is remaining, rest of the renovation is complete. The entire renovation work should be done by November 20 and the courts will be open for practice by December 1, after a gap of eight months.”

A total of Rs 46 lakh has been spent on the renovation work of the complex, which has played host to several national tournaments.

“We have made optimum utilisation of the space and managed to accommodate two more courts. We also changed the layout of the courts to increase the space between courts,” Sane said.

The PDMBA has plans to invite badminton greats Prakash Padukone and P. Gopichand for the inauguration. Besides, the first tournament to be held here after renovation will be the Sushant Chipalkatti memorial all India ranking badminton tournament in January.

The WIE complex is also a Prakash Padukone badminton academy’s feeding centre and numerous players hone their skills at here. More Stories from this section Cultural feast on cards for expats in city City sewage to irrigate 25,000 hectare land Traffic Trouble: Training for officials to come up with new ideas Lessons in environment for…More

TOI : PUNE: Three hundred green fowl were seized in Amravati district during a raid conducted jointly by the Animal Welfare Board of India and Crime Detection Squad of Amravati police on Wednesday. the birds were being transported from Allahabad to Amravati to be sold to meat houses there.

The birds, that were being transported in a very small vehicle, were seized by Animal Welfare officer Manoj Oswal for violation of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and several other sections covered under the Transport of Animals Act 1978.

Lalji Ukhe, the owner of the poultry farm who was shifting the birds from the vehicle, was arrested in this regard. Around 50 birds each were kept in six baskets, three feet wide in diameter.

Oswal said that raids were being conducted to curb the flourishing trade of selling birds for their meat in this area.

“These birds were kept in a very bad condition, they were not given proper nutrition and were not even given water. The birds had some skin disease and were sent for medical inspection by the Kadgenagar police station at Amravati,” Oswal said.

Oswal said that though all indigenous birds are protected by the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972 which makes it illegal to catch, keep, kill, buy and sell birds or damage their nests over one lakh banned birds are annually killed for their meat in India. “The ban on their capturing and trade have not been very effective and the trade continues to flourish in Delhi, Mehboob Chowk in Hyderabad, Old Moor Market in Chennai and Bensen Town in Bangalore,” he said.

Captive birds when caged in a large number die when released. More Stories from this section Cultural feast on cards for expats in city City sewage to irrigate 25,000 hectare land Traffic Trouble: Training for officials to come up with new ideas Lessons in environment for…More

TOI : PUNE: It’s not been the most propitious of years for the city. First there were the effects of the economic recession followed by the outbreak of H1N1 flu. Taking this into account, organisers of Pulotsav, the festival dedicated to the late writer PL Deshpande, have opted for humour as this year’s theme.

In its seventh edition, the festival will begin on November 8 and go on till November 18 at various venues around the city. It is organised by Aashay Sanskrutik and Paranjpe Schemes.

To be inaugurated by actor Nana Patekar, Pulotsav will begin with a performance by finalists of a reality show. Three awards will be presented this year, including the Smruti sanman’ to be presented to vocalist Kishori Amonkar by theatre personality Vijaya Mehta on November 9 at the Tilak Smarak Mandir. “The other awards are the Krutagyata award’ to be presented to activist Girish Prabhune, known for his work for the Pardhi tribe and the Bahurupi sanman’ to be given to actor Dilip Prabhavalkar who will receive the award from literateur Ratnakar Matkari,” said festival director Virendra Chitrav on Wednesday.

A series of programmes including documentaries have been lined up, which explore humour in all its forms. “The documentary festival will be held at the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) theatre and will be inaugurated with the documentary When Comedy Was King’ on November 12 at 4 pm. Other films in the line-up include Pardon us’, Charles Correa’, Volume Zero’ as well as a documentary on the late actress Smita Patil and the late actor Chittaranjan Kolhatkar,” said Satish Jakatdar, festival director. The documentary, Bahinabai’ made by director-writer Atul Pethe, will be shown for the first time at the festival on November 15.

Other programmes to be held include Pathfinder Katta’ and a panel discussion Amrut Mahotsavi Maharashtra’ on November 16 at the Tilak Smarak Mandir. MPs Supriya Sule and Bhavana…More

TOI : AURANGABAD: The bodyguard of a top-level officer of Verroc Engineering Pvt Ltd was found murdered in the posh Akshay Estate apartment in the Dashmeshnagar area here in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Following differences with workers and subsequent violence on the factory premises in January this year, the Verroc management had provided bodyguards to its executives.

The slain bodyguard, Santosh Thavare (30), was deputed as bodyguard-cum-watchman for M Sundaram, the deputy general manager (operations), at his residence in Dashmeshnagar.

According to Osmanpara police station PI Sarjerao Gaikwad, the crime took place between 3.30 am and 5 am, but there is no clue of the assailants so far. The murder came to light when other watchmen and residents heard a loud noise. When they reached the spot, they saw the rear tyre of Sundaram’s Santro car flat as the attackers attempted to burn it. They looked around for Thavare, and alerted the police after failing to find him, he said.

“Meanwhile, they saw smoke emanating from the toilet situated near the parking lot of the four-storey building. On opening the door, they saw the charred body of Thavare and his mouth gagged. The police found a Maruti car parked nearby with a message written with a chalk on its bonnet: Sundaram Sir 8 No. mei rehte hain (Sundaram Sir lives in flat No 8).’ Incidentally, Sundaram lives in flat No 9,” said Gaikwad.

“It appears that while some assailants were beating Thavare, others turned their attention to flat no 8 and attempted to set it on fire after pouring kerosene. As a result, the front door of flat No 8 was partially burnt,” the PI said.

“Five four-wheelers and over a dozen two-wheelers were parked in the parking lot, but the attackers targeted only Sundaram’s four-wheeler. We are looking at all the angles. Sundaram had terminated the services of several workers for allegedly ransacking…More

TOI : PUNE: The city, which has had a low minimum temperature for the last week, is expected to get marginally warmer in the next couple of days.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), temperatures have been three to five degrees below the normal minimum temperature of 17 degrees C.

“An increase of moisture in the air will be the main reason for the rise in minimum temperatures,” said Medha Khole, director (weather forecasting), IMD.

According to Khole, easterly waves have become active. These waves will create cloudy conditions as well as moisture in southern parts of the country and Maharashtra. In the south, some showers are expected, she said.

Asked if warmer temperatures were any indication of how the winter would be, she said that it was not possible to predict how cold the winter would be. “The more the departure of the minimum temperature from the normal, the more severe the winter will be,” she said.

All-time lows in the city

Date Year Temp

January 17 1935 +1.7

December 27 1968 +3.3

February 1 1934 +3.9

November 27 1964 +4.6 More Stories from this section Cultural feast on cards for expats in city City sewage to irrigate 25,000 hectare land Traffic Trouble: Training for officials to come up with new ideas Lessons in environment for teachers PIMR …More

TOI : PUNE: A construction worker suffered minor injuries when an unauthorised, underconstruction three-storied building crashed in Alandi, about 30 km from here, on Wednesday.

Speaking to TOI, Alandi Municipal Council chief executive officer Pandit Anant Vanzare said there was no loss of life in the incident. The building, located on the Alandi-Dehu road and which was in the final stages of completion, came down crashing around 8.15 am. A major tragedy was averted as most of the construction workers come to work around 9 am.

Speaking to TOI, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation firemen said the building was owned by one Vijay Tapkir. The firemen removed labourer Pintu Sharma, who was trapped under the debris.

According to Vanzare, “The owner of the plot was constructing the building on his own without the help of an engineer or architect. Since no proper expertise was sought, the building had some design flaws.” “The building was not designed to bear load, but a water tank was put on top, resulting in the collapse,” he added

“The owner had not sought any permissions before starting the construction work,” said Vanzare. Six years ago too, he built a building in a similar way just with the help of masons. The earlier building stands next to the collapsed building.

The new building was supposed to be given on rent to an educational institution. “Had the building been occupied, there could have been a major tragedy,”

Assistant commissioner of police Rambhau Thorat and policemen from the Vishrantwadi police station rushed to the spot soon after the collapse. The fire engines from PCMC fire brigade, too, were rushed to the spot to help in rescue operation.

AMC starts drive against illegal constructions

Pune: Following the building collapse on Wednesday, the Alandi Municipal Council has now begun a drive to identify unauthorised as well as dilapidated buildings in the town.

Speaking to…More

TOI : The Pimpri court granted bail to security guard Niranjan Adagale (34) of Yerawada in the ATM theft case on Tuesday evening.

Adagale was released on a personal bond of Rs 15,000 and was directed to give attendance at the Bhosari police station till further order.

The prosecution had prayed to extend Adagale’s custody for seven days to recover the ATM and trace his accomplices.

Adagale’s lawyers Sagar Kothari and Narayan Pandit submitted that the custodial interrogation of their client was not required as the police have not made any progress in investigations. The lawyers argued that Adagale can, at most, be held responsible for negligence as he did not report for work on the day of the incident.

Judicial magistrate first class Sangitrao Jadhav send Adagale to magisterial custody and later released him on bail.

Rape suspect sent to magisterial custody

Judicial magistrate first class B B Pantawane on Wednesday sent Mohiniraj Kulkarni (79) of Narayan Peth, the main suspect in the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl, to magisterial custody for 15 days.

Kulkarni was produced before the court following the expiry of his police custody. He was arrested on October 24.

Kulkarni’s lawyer Suhas Jadhav argued that since no progress was made in the investigations and nothing was recovered from his client, he pleaded that his client be sent to magisterial custody, as the court had given sufficient time to the police to investigate into the matter.

The court upheld the lawyer’s plea and sent Kulkarni to magisterial custody.

During the last hearing, the court also sent the victim’s mother Rekha Randive to magisterial custody.

PIMR director gets anticipatory bail

Additional sessions judge B A Shaikh granted anticipatory bail to Vivek Kumar Harishankar Tripathi (25) of Ambegaon for assisting two students in securing admission to a management course at Phoenix Institute of Management and…More

TOI : PUNE: For this 25-year-old software professional, the idea of living in a joint family was the only concern when she got married recently. The woman, who holds a well-paying job, wanted to live in a separate house “to avoid complications later”.

“But unfortunately, my husband does not look at it that way. He is also the only son, so I cannot force him. Having been brought up in a nuclear family, living in a joint one was not something I envisaged. But we both have good jobs here and so we do no want to move to another city too,” she says.

The young techie’s opinion perhaps reflects a growing trend among city women. A survey carried out by a popular matrimonial portal claims to reveal changing attitudes among city youth towards various aspects of marriage. And in some matters, it appears, the fairer sex may be more open to change. According to the survey, for instance, almost 72% of Pune women prefer to live in a nuclear family, as opposed to just 50% men who favour the idea.

“This is something that I too have observed when couples come to me for pre-marital counselling,” says counsellor and psychologist Niloufer Ebrahim. “While the girl wants to live separately, it is the boy who sticks to the I want to live with my parents’ norm.”

Ebrahim points out that society itself has helped brought this about. “We teach our girls to grow up to be strong and independent, so they want some kind of freedom when it comes to home and hearth,” she observes.

Rohit Gera, vice-president of real estate body Credai’s Pune chapter,

says that that couples under the age of 30 make up around 20 per cent of the industry’s buyer base. “For instance, child-centric’ homes meant for nuclear families are a hit among this younger segment,” Gera says.

The survey…More

TOI : PUNE: If the traffic police department and the Pune Municipal Corporation have their way, some of the busy city roads passing through the central Peth areas could soon have a “congestion charge”, which would help in reducing vehicular traffic in these areas.

Besides the proposed congestion charge, the traffic department has also expressed the need for a ban on entry of four-wheelers and two-wheelers on some of the busy roads and bylanes, so that some of them can be turned into walking plazas. Similarly, parking charges on the roads would be much higher than charges at the existing parking lots in the area.

The proposals for these changes have come from the traffic department, which has come out with a report on the traffic problems affecting the Peth areas. It has urged the municipal corporation to implement them. Last week, deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Manoj Patil discussed the fine points of the report with municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade.

Elaborating on the traffic problems, Patil pointed out that the Peth areas Budhwar, Shukrawar, Shaniwar, Narayan and Sadashiv are market places where commercial activity has been centralised. The roads, lanes and bylanes in these areas had been planned more than 300 years ago as per the then prevailing needs and modes of transport. The same roads are more or less being used for the city which has now a population of 50 lakh and has 25 lakh vehicles. This has resulted in two basic and severe problems inadequate parking space and traffic passing through these roads.

The report points out that although revisions were made in development control rules by the PMC from time to time, the rules did not help in changing the situation as the maximum development potential of the area had already been achieved. The parking spaces in the area proved to be woefully inadequate, resulting in a situation where the roads were…More