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TOI : PUNE: Minister of state for home Ramesh Bagwe on Friday said that the state government has set up 38 quick response teams (QRT) comprising 56 commandos each to handle law and order and emergency situations in Maharashtra.

The government has also set up a cyber monitoring cell at Mumbai and plans to form 20 bomb detection and disposal squads in the state soon.

Speaking to TOI, Bagwe said that 26 QRTs will be stationed in Mumbai, two will be in Pune and the others at places like Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Gondia.

“The QRTs are well-equipped with modern weapons and vehicles and they will rush to any place within the shortest possible time to handle situations like riots and communal disturbances,” said Bagwe. “The QRTs are being trained to handle situations like a terrorist strike till the arrival of Force-One which has undergone rigorous training at the State Reserve Police Force in Pune,” he added.

According to Bagwe, “The government had sanctioned 322 posts for Force-One after the 26/11 terror strikes at Mumbai last year, but only 216 posts were filled. The process to fill the remaining posts will be expedited at the earliest. The government is keen on setting up a headquarters and a training centre for Force One on an 80 acre plot of land at Goregaon in Mumbai.” Force One has been set up along the lines of the National Security Group.

According to Bagwe, the government had spent Rs 99 crore out of Rs 126 crore funds meant for modernisation of the state police force for purchasing weapons, vehicles, modern boats to conduct patrolling in coastal areas and other equipment, the remaining money will be spend meticulously to meet the requirements of the force.

The state police is now well equipped with facilities and is in a position to counter any terrorist attack, Bagwe said.

“By November 25 I…More

TOI : PUNE: The University of Pune (UoP), after having established it’s presence in the west Asian emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK), has now been invited by the Bahrainian authorities to set up an offshore academic centre in Bahrain.

In a simultaneous development, the Ugandan government has turned down the university’s proposal for setting up an offshore campus in Uganda but has offered the UoP a coordinating role in the setting up of a multi-varsity academic complex in the country.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, UoP’s officiating vice-chancellor Arun Adsool said, “A delegation from the consulate of Bahrain and from a university controlled by Bahrainian kingdom met me and other top UoP officials to discuss the proposal last Monday.”

Adsool said, “Their (the delegation’s) prime interest is in getting the UoP set up an academic centre offering studies in engineering, management and biotechnology courses.”

He said, “We have requested the visiting Bahrainian authorities to put up a formal proposal in this regard along with the support services they are willing to extend to the UoP for such an offshore centre. The proposal will be considered by the university management.”

Adsool said that the proposed centre at Bahrain would be modelled on the lines of the RAK campus.

Former UoP vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav, who was instrumental in furthering the varsity’s offshore presence with the RAK campus, had set the ball rolling for a similar campus in the African country of Uganda, which has a huge population of Indian expats.

Director of UoP’s board of university and college development (BCUD) Pandit Vidyasagar, who is coordinating the varsity’s offshore initiatives, said, “The Ugandan government has expressed its inability to go ahead with the proposal. However, it has sought the UoP’s role in a coordinating capacity for the establishment of a multi-varsity complex which will have the offshore centres of not only the UoP but also other universities.”…More

TOI : PUNE: A satellite-controlled traffic signal synchronisation system is to be installed at all the main chowks on the Pune-Mumbai highway within PCMC limits.

Speaking to TOI on Friday, Ramdas Jadhav, executive engineer, electricity department said, “The traffic signals will be connected to each other through a satellite network. There will be no need to lay wires and dig up the road. Fewer traffic policemen will be required to monitor the traffic.”

He said that the PCMC standing committee has approved the proposal but has extended the scope of the work by approving a resolution to install close circuit television (CCTV) cameras at these chowks. “These cameras will transmit images to the control room where they will be monitored. The control room will be in Pimpri. We will have images of any vehicle that has violated any traffic rule and we can direct the traffic policemen at the next chowk to stop it,” said Jadhav.

The traffic signal synchronisation system will be installed at an expenditure of Rs 35 lakh. The work, likely to start soon, is expected to take two months to be completed.

According to Jadhav, commuters who use the service road of the Pune-Mumbai highway have to halt at the various chowks that have traffic signals. “As one proceeds from Bhakti Shakti chowk in Nigdi-Pradhikaran one has to cross the Tilak chowk in Nigdi, Khandoba Mal chowk in Akurdi, Shivaji and Mahavir chowk in Chinchwad and Ahilyabai Holkar chowk and Babasaheb Ambedkar chowk in Pimpri. “Ahead of Pimpri, one has to pass traffic signals at Nashik Phata in Kasarwadi, Phugewadi flyover signal chowk and Hutatma Rajguri chowk in Dapodi to reach Harris bridge that marks the end of the municipal limits,” he added.

Jadhav said that halts at the traffic signals consumed time and fuel which could be saved by synchronising all the traffic signals.

The move has been welcomed by…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML), which had received sanction from the Union ministry of urban development to purchase 650 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in February, is yet to decide the model by which the buses would be operated.

Uncertainty also looms large over whether the PMPML would be able to buy all 650 buses before December 31, the deadline set by the ministry.

The Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations were among the first to be selected under the ministry’s scheme for funding buses under the JNNURM. The total cost for the procurement of the buses is Rs 233 crore. Fifty per cent of the cost is to be borne by the ministry, while the remaining 30% and 20% is to be shared by the two municipal corporations and the state government respectively. While the Union ministry has released its 50% share, the state government is yet to release its funds, PMPML officials said.

Speaking to TOI, Satish Kulkarni, joint managing director of PMPML, said a final decision on whether to opt for a public-private partnership (PPP) model or the municipal corporations putting in their own funds to buy the buses is yet to be taken by the PMPML board of directors. Finer details of the PPP model too are yet to be decided. The board of directors has had preliminary discussions on the issue, he said. The matter would be taken up again at the board meeting later this month, Kulkarni added.

If the board decides to opt for the PPP model, private operators would provide 30% of the amount, which is about Rs 70 crore. If the municipal corporations decide to pay the amount themselves, then the model for operation of the buses and routes would be decided accordingly, he said.

According to Kulkarni, an advance for procuring 200 buses has been paid. The…More

TOI : PUNE: The Maharashtra police have learnt that Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Coleman Headley “had plans to target” places like the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla, Osho International Meditation Resort at Koregaon Park and the Pune railway station, minister of state for home Ramesh Bagwe told TOI on Friday. The Pune police have already confirmed that Headley had visited the Osho centre in March this year.

“We have received information about Headley’s LeT links. As a preventive measure, all police units in the state have been directed to remain on high alert. Investigations have revealed that Headley also had plans to target cities like Mumbai and New Delhi,” Bagwe said. The minister said the state government has requested the Union government to try to get Headley extradited to India in connection with the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai last year. “Investigations in the US have revealed Headley’s suspected involvement in the Mumbai attacks. If he is extradited, the state police can interrogate him and determine his role in the attacks,” he said.

Bagwe said the police were collecting details about Headley’s first visit to Pune on June 24, 2008. The Pune police has information about his second visit to the Osho centre and his stay at Surya Villa hotel at Koregaon Park on March 16 this year. Twitter Facebook Share Print Email Save Comment Text Size: | Related Articles Convicted felon in US, Gilani changed name to hide tracks Pak Army officer linked to Rana, Headley Times Now Exclusive: Rana keeps Headley’s money Rana and Headley have elite Pak antecedents Rana was duped by Headley, says lawyer More Stories from this section UoP invited to set up offshore centre at Bahrain PCMC to synchronise signals at main chowks 38 quick response teams set up in state Headley probe: SIMI members under scanner MSEDCL suffer…More