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TOI : PUNE: The travel time between Pune and Mumbai has been marginally reduced. Two intercity trains, the Pune-Mumbai Sinhagad Express and the Pune-Mumbai Deccan Queen take less time to travel between the cities, the former by 10 minutes and the latter by 5 minutes.

However, regular officer-goers who travel frequently, sometimes daily, say this will make no difference. For years, they have been demanding a reduction in travel time in the morning trains and that at least one intercity train should reach Mumbai by 9.30 am.

The Pune-Mumbai Sinhagad Express, which earlier reached Mumbai at 10.05 am, now reaches at 9.55 am. The departure time from Pune, 6.05 am, remains unchanged.

The Deccan Queen leaves Pune at 7.15 am as usual and reaches Mumbai at 10.25 am, instead of the earlier arrival time of 10.30 am. The revision in the train timings has been effected from November 1.

Speaking to TOI, Prakash Sankpal of the Pune Mumbai Railway Pravasi Sangh said the reduction in travel time of the two trains is just on paper. “This change in timings is a mere eyewash. The trains have never been able to reach on time because of the rush hour traffic in Mumbai,” he said.

According to Sankpal, there are over 7,000 commuters who travel between Pune and Mumbai. In the morning hours, from Pune, they travel by any of the three intercity trains, or other express trains. There are a large number of commuters, he said, who need to reach Mumbai by 9.30 am. “Just like the Indrayani Express leaves Mumbai at 5.30 am and reaches Pune at 9.25 am, there should be a train which leaves Pune at 5.30 am. However, the first train for Mumbai that leaves Pune, the Sinhagad Express, leaves at 6.05 am,” he said. The Sinhagad express, he added, has many halts which could be reduced.

Sankpal, who is also a…More

TOI : PUNE: The absence of full-time principals and qualified teachers at several of its affiliated colleges has forced the University of Pune (UoP) to put off its plan to delegate the conduct of first- and second-year degree course exams to the colleges, by at least a year’s time.

The move to hand over the exam responsibility to colleges was recommended by an expert committee under the then management council member Sarjerao Nimse, following the first-year B.Sc paper leak scam that rocked the UoP in March/April 2008.

It was then pointed out that the Mumbai University had already effected such a transfer of responsibility to ease the heavy workload on the university’s exam department.

In context of the UoP, there are 574 affiliated colleges and 300 recognised institutions and almost 40 pc of them are running without full-time principals or directors. The university exam department conducts 275 exams each in the March/April and October/November sessions.

A UoP committee of deans as well as the exams committee had approved the Nimse panel recommendation and had proposed that the hand over be effected from academic year (AY) 2010-11.

The issue figured prominently at UoP’s management council (MC) meeting held on November 6, but differences among members over how to effect the transfer when several colleges were running without proper designated authorities, forced a rethink.

A senior MC member told TOI, “The questions raised were: Who will set the question papers at the colleges without qualified prinicipals and teachers? Who will assess the answer sheets and who will be the signing authority for issuance of marksheets? We have to find apt safeguards before delegating the exam responsibility to colleges.”

The university has the option of waiting for some more time to ensure that all colleges have the designated authorities in place or else explore the possibility of transferring students to other colleges for the purpose of exam,…More

TOI : PUNE: Unidentified suspects broke into three shops located at Anand complex on Paud road and fled with goods worth Rs 1.87 lakh during the wee hours of Monday. A complaint in this regard has been lodged by Popat Magdum (40) of Mahatma society, Kothrud, with the Kothrud police station.

According to the police, Magdum owns a spare parts shop, Anup Motors. During the wee hours of Monday, the suspects broke the shutter of the shop and decamped with cash and spare parts worth Rs 97,775. The suspects also broke-into three other shops in the shopping complex. They fled with laptops and Rs 8,000 in cash from Rajendra Nilegaonkar’s shop and Rs 25,000 in cash from labour supplier office owned by Somnath Wagh.

This is second such incident in the last two days where suspects have managed to break into shops. During the early hours of Sunday, the suspects broke into seven shops in Vishal Residency in Kasarwadi and fled with cell phones and recharge vouchers totalling to Rs 2 lakh.

Speaking to TOI, sub-inspector Udaysinh Patil of the Kothrud police station said, “The modus operandi in both the incidents in Kothrud and Kasarwadi is similar. We are in touch with the Bhosari police.” He added that there was no security guard at Anand complex.

Dog squad was pressed into service to trace the trail of the suspects. “We are working on some clues,” Patil said.

More Stories from this section Deccan Queen’s run reduced by 5 mins Plan to let colleges hold 1st, 2nd year exams postponed With kids home alone, thieves steal Rs 6.20L booty Pune…More

TOI : PUNE: More than a year has passed since the Bombay high court directed the state government to frame rules for effective enforcement of the Maharashtra (urban areas) Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.

In reply to an RTI application made by a city-based activist, the state government has admitted that it has not framed the rules yet but will do so before the winter session of the assembly.

Tree activists have been demanding that the rules be properly framed since the Act only lays down broad guidelines for preserving trees and each municipal body in the state has framed its own rules at the local level.

In 2007, city-based environment activists Ajay Vaishampayan and Vinod Jain had filed a writ petition pointing out that there are no rules governing the Act, despite it being in force for more than three decades.

“There is rampant cutting of trees under the name of development of roads and other construction, without observation of any rules that are uniform for the entire state,” the petition had said. It also pointed out that the state government should form a state tree authority, which will have experts on the board. “This authority should also look into appeals so that the decisions taken by the Pune Tree Authority (PTA) can be challenged at a higher level. Right now, nobody questions the decisions taken by the PTA and that’s harmful for the city, especially with the kind of tree-cutting activities going on,” the petition had said.

In April 2008, the HC had directed the state government to frame the rules within six months.

The state did seek suggestions from different municipal bodies for the set of rules, but they have not been formulated till date.

Jain had then filed an RTI application to find out the status of the rules. In a reply to the application, the state information secretary has…More

TOI : PUNE: The results of the SSC (class X) and HSC (class XII) supplementary examinations held in September/October this year, will be declared at 11 am on November 14. The exams were conducted by the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.

An official release issued by the board’s secretary stated on Tuesday that the results would be simultaneously posted on the board’s website on the same day. The URLs of these websites will be released separately.

While the SSC exams were held between September 15 and 30, the HSC exams were held between September 15 and October 7.

The secondary and higher secondary schools will get their result booklets and marksheets from the designated distribution centres of the board, the release stated.

Similarly, students who may wish to apply for revaluation of marks have been directed by the board to furnish their pleas by November 24.

Topics: HSC, SSC exam results More Stories from this section Deccan Queen’s run reduced by 5 mins Plan to let colleges hold 1st, 2nd year exams postponed Goods worth Rs 1.87 lakh looted from three shops With kids home alone, thieves steal Rs 6.20L booty Pune…More

TOI : PUNE: Voices of dissent against the Bansal committee report on fixation of fees for unaided schools in the state are growing louder. Student unions are threatening to agitate, while parents’ organisations have sought greater transparency in the state government’s ongoing exercise of seeking public feedback on the report.

On Tuesday, the Forum Against Commercialisation of Education (FACE), the All India Federation of Parents Association (AIFPA), social body Yuvak Kranti Dal (Yukrand) and the D Y Patil Shikshak Palak Sangh called a press conference to declare that the panel’s recommendations were not acceptable to them.

Representatives of these organisations said a state-wide signature campaign was being launched to build public opinion against the report and a representation will be made to the director of higher and secondary education regarding this on November 18 or 19.

In a parallel development, the Students Federation of India (SFI) has threatened an agitation and says the panel’s recommendations are biased’ in favour of unaided schools.

The government had assigned a 21-member committee under former bureaucrat Kumud Bansal to suggest a transparent and just mode of fixation of fees for unaided schools and a mechanism to curb profiteering. The panel’s recommendations are to be made applicable from 2009-10 to all SSC and non-SSC board unaided schools.

In its report submitted to the government on October 15, the panel has upheld the unaided schools right to decide their fees but, has put a bar on generating surpluses in excess of 15 per cent of their total annual revenue and has recommended a greater role for the parent teacher association (PTA) in the fixation process. However, two of the parents representatives have recorded their strong objections to this report on the grounds that the recommendations favoured school managements more than the parents.

The government has since asked the director of higher and secondary education to conduct a public feedback on the…More

TOI : PUNE: The catchment areas surrounding Pune city also received a good amount of rain on Tuesday. According to the state irrigation department, Khadakwasla dam registered 42 mm rainfall till 8 pm on Tuesday.

The department on Tuesday stated that even though the amount of rain did not make a difference to the water levels in the dams on Tuesday, the level is expected to rise on Wednesday. “If rain continues for the next few days, water levels could well rise further,” said officials from the department.

All the dams registered rainfall in the region of 20 mm on Tuesday. Khadakwasla registered the highest amount of rainfall (42 mm), followed by Temghar (20 mm) Pavana (21 mm), Varasgaon (22 mm) and Panshet (19 mm).

Executive engineer of Khadakwasla irrigation division S N Bolbhat said that if the catchment areas receive around 50 mm of rain, the water levels of the dams will rise. Most of Tuesday’s rainwater was absorbed by the soil, he added.

Bolbhat said that the collective water level in the four dams that serve the city (Khadakwasla, Temghar, Varasgaon and Panshet) is much lower as compared to last year’s level in November. All four dams collectively hold 22.20 TMC (80%) of the total capacity. Last year, it was above 25 TMC (91%) on November 10.

At present, there is a 15% water cut in the daily water supply to the city.

According to Bolbhat, the irrigation department took a review of the dam levels on October 15. It was found that of the four dams, none were 100% full. Panshet and Temghar dams failed to reach their maximum capacities during the entire monsoon season.

Dams Rainfall Existing storage Max storage

Khadakwasla 26 mm 0.75 TMC 1.97 TMC

Panshet 15 mm 9.22 TMC 10.65 TMC

Varasgaon 16 mm 11.11 TMC 12.82 TMC Temghar 18 mm 1.11 TMC 2.27…More

TOI : PUNE: It rained throughout the day on Tuesday. As the day progressed the intensity of the rain increased and by 8.30 pm the city had recorded 44.1 mm rain.

In the evening, heavy showers threw life out of gear, with many areas getting water-logged and drenched commuters finding themselves stranded on their way back home. Areas that filled with water included Pulachiwadi, Sinhagad Road, Karve Road, Paud Road, Satara Road and Katraj.

According to the fire brigade there were no reports of trees being uprooted till 9 pm, but short circuits were reported from two areas in Ganesh Peth and Yerawada.

As a result of the cloudy conditions, the minimum temperature in the city has gone up. On Tuesday, the minimum temperature was 21.7 degrees, 8 degrees more than normal for this period.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the state, which has been witnessing showers for the last couple of days, is likely to receive more rainfall in the next 24 hours.

“A well-marked low pressure area over Lakshadweep and the neighbourhood concentrated into a depression on Monday afternoon. It has centred over the southeast and adjoining east central Arabian Sea.” said Medha Khole, director (weather forecasting), IMD. “It moved in a northwesterly direction, intensified into a deep depression and now lies over the Arabian Sea, near Goa.”

Khole pointed that this situation was instrumental in causing rainfall in southern parts of the country. Even the rainfall in Maharash-tra is a result of this.

“The system is likely to intensify further and move in a northerly direction. It will further increase the rainfall in the state.” she said.

Khole observed that Konkan and Central Maharashtra will witness heavy showers during this period.

Many parts of the state, including Nashik, Sangli, Satara and Solapur have received rain since Sunday. In Satara, areas such as Radhika Road, Rajwada and Davi…More

TOI : PUNE: Indian classical music needs to be learnt from a guru and knowledge obtained in any other way is incomplete, feels eminent vocalist Kishori Amonkar.

In the city to receive the Pu La Sanman’, which will be given to her by theatre personality Vijaya Mehta at the Tilak Smarak Mandir on November 11, Amonkar was interacting with the media on Tuesday.

“I am honoured to receive the award especially because it is named after P L Deshpandea great writer, lover of music and musician himself. He loved my singing and I’m here because I respect him,” said Amonkar. On being asked what she felt about websites that teach music, Amonkar said that complete knowledge of classical music can only be gained from an experienced guru- one who sings and teaches. “How can a computer teach you? Your education in music will remain incomplete unless a guru teaches you, nothing can replace that. Take for example the Bhoop’ raag that has to be sung in the evening. How will a person without experience know when to sing the raag in the evening?” she questioned.

This same guru should also be able to teach you that music is beyond popularity and money. “My guru (mother and eminent vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar) was able to teach me this at the young age of 17. I remember once I told her about how I had received eight programmes in a month and the only thing she asked me was “Will you have enough time to practice?”. “Even today, I ensure I do not do even four programmes a month,” she said.

On the young breed of singers, Amonkar says that just because a person could sing Sa re ga ma pa’, it does not mean that he has learnt everything. “It is essential for the young generation to learn from an experienced guru. I do not feel that the teaching…More

TOI : PUNE: The standing committee of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Tuesday approved the modified proposal of the civic administration to take a loan of Rs 210 crore from the World Bank.

Municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said, “The general body of PCMC has given permission to the administration to take a loan of Rs 400 crore for developmental projects. But the PCMC needs a loan of Rs 210 crore only. So we sent a new proposal to the standing committee.”

Sharma said, “The loan will be used to implement the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) projects and to construct flyovers. We will also create an intelligent transport system for the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Global positioning system (GPS) will be installed on all PMPML buses so that we will be able to know the location of any bus and inform the commuters when it will reach a particular spot.”

Sharma said the World Bank would give Rs 10 crore out of the Rs 210 crore as grant. “The repayment period of the loan is 30 years. There is a moratorium on repayment for first five years. We need the funds to complete all projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission by 2012. We will be able to repay the loan before 2015 as the JNNURM projects will be completed by then.”

Sharma added that a consultant would be appointed for the project to remove electricity cables and towers on the Aundh-Ravet road to facilitate widening of the road.

The PCMC will pay Rs 5 lakh to the Indian Institute of Urban Transport to organise an annual exhibition-cum-conference in Delhi on JNNURM, Sharma said.

Meanwhile, standing committee chairman Dnyaneshwar Bhalerao said that the committee has approved a proposal for appointing a consultant for the Aundh-Ravet road work.

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