The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 24/01/2015

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PUNE, JANUARY 24, 2015 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

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P 16

REPUBLIC DAY SPECIAL

India’s

Hopes & Aspirations rest on his shoulders

The hopes and aspirations of 1.2 billion people in the world’s largest democracy rest on the shoulders of 64-year-old Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi.

As India celebrates her 66th Republic Day on Monday in the presence of US President Barack Obama, Modi’s vision for the nation will take centre stage, once again. Concrete measures will follow in the Union Budget in February.

There is a widespread consensus among intellectuals that Modi is the right man, in the right place and at the right time for India. The challenges, however, are daunting. See Spotlight, P 8 & 9

PRASHANT SINHA

Giving altruism a Is rising congestion reducing whole new meaning deaths on Pune’s roads?

Before she died of cancer, Pune Municipal Corporation schoolteacher Pramila Barde systematically donated her property and assets worth `45 lakh to several NGOs and public trusts.

Ishani Bose and Ashok Bhat trace the inspiring story of her life

BY ISHANI BOSE & ASHOK BHAT @ishani_bose & @ashokbhat21

and saving accounts as movable assets. She gave her flat to Purandare and an equivalent amount to remaining relatives. Whatever else A teacher’s job is not merely to teach, that was remaining from her fi xed deposits but to awaken joy in creative expression were distributed to different NGOs and and knowledge among public trusts. students while influencing The responsibility of their formative years. the execution of her will Eighty-one-year-old was given to Maharashtra Pramila Barde who died Executive and Trust of cancer in August 2012 Company Private was one such teacher who Limited. According to the taught many the values of information given by the gratitude, righteousness company, Barde donated altruism, and generosity about 10 per cent of her by donating her property property to ‘Yaagynawalk to several NGOs and Ashram’ and ‘Geeta public trusts.

Dharma Mandal’, both PRAMILA BARDE Barde, who taught situated in Pune. Majority at various PMC schools, of the share, that is 40 per retired in 1989, after which cent, was given away each she dedicated her time to ‘Shri Samarth Seva travelling and attending Mandal’ of Sajjangad religious gatherings in and from Satara and ‘Mohan outside Pune.

Thuse Eye Hospital’ of In 2000, her husband Narayangaon. In total, succumbed to health the company on behalf complications that were of Barde has distributed caused due uncontrolled about `45 lakh to these diabetes and thereafter NGOs. Barde, who had no Born in 1931, Barde children, tried getting was brought up by her accustomed to living alone. uncle (mother’s brother) Every year, she travelled to in Narayangaon. She Sajjangad, near Satara, on completed her education the occasion of Ramdas till standard VII which in Swami’s birth anniversary, until she had a bad those days was called as vernacular final and fall in 2009 and was forced to discontinue her in 1949 married Balkrishna Dinkar Barde. annual pilgrimage.

Her mother-in-law was a headmistress in one In 2009, she was detected with breast of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) cancer and was undergoing treatment at schools.

Ruby Hall and in 2012, at the age of 81, after “Perhaps, that is why she motivated my battling cancer all alone she succumbed to sister (Pramila) to study further and become the disease. Her cousin and photographer a teacher in one of the PMC schools,” said Vilas Avachat and her brother Shantaram 75-year-old Shantaram Purandare, Barde’s Purandare remember her of being brave younger brother. throughout the period and unwilling to take She displayed immense courage and anyone’s support or help. good humour even while battling cancer in Barde made a will on July 31, 2005, in her last days and touched numerous lives with which she mentioned the distribution of her her example, say her relatives. fi xed and moveable assets after her death. ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com She owned a flat, fi xed deposit, mutual funds & ashokbhat21@gmail.com

She displayed immense courage and good humour even while battling cancer in her last days

Slow-moving traffic is one of the reasons for reduced fatalities on city roads, say Pune Police

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke Even as the number of vehicles in Pune has increased from 14.85 lakh in 2004 to 41 lakh in 2014, the number of people killed in road accidents in the city has reduced from 477 in 2008 to 398 in 2014.

The head of traffic under Pune Police, DCP Sarang Awad, has cited rising congestion on the city roads as one of the reasons for this decline.

In 2004, 364 people lost their lives on the city roads when there were only 14.85 lakh vehicles registered in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Regional Transport Offices (RTO).

The number of fatal accidents reached its peak in 2008, when 477 people lost their lives and vehicle population was 22.02 lakh.

In 2010, the city police registered 439 fatal accidents, and in the following year, the figure declined to 417. The city witnessed 407 fatal

The city’s vehicle population has risen from 14.85 lakh in 2004 to 41 lakh today

accidents in 2012, and 399 in 2013.

Last year (2014), the city witnessed 398 fatal accidents on the roads.

In the same period, from 2011 to 2014, the vehicle population increased to 41.04 lakh from 29.04 lakh.

DCP Sarang Awad said that the number of fatal accidents is decreasing in the city with the

number ofz casualties. “Though there is a difference of only one casualty when compared to that of 2013 but still police have managed to avoid a death,” he added.

Awad correlated the continuous precautionary actions undertaken by the city traffic police to regulate the vehicles which have resulted in the continuous decrease in the casualties.

The only concern before the city traffic police is the entire Katraj – Dehu road bypass and section of old Mumbai – Pune highway passing through Pimpri – Chinchwad. Both the roads are major contributors to fatal accidents. “Speed is the major issue on these two roads,” he added.

“We have written several letters to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to rectify the infrastructural issues pertaining to the Katraj – Dehu road bypass,” he added.

PMP Pravasi Manch convenor Jugal Rathi said, “It is ridiculous to compare congestion and death, like one evil brings out the better out of another. The slow moving traffic leads to rise in pollution and cause respiratory issues. To curb the congestion, these vehiclecentric roads must be turned into pedestrian-friendly roads and public transport must be optimised.” gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

PUNE

“If you decide to standup against such social evils, you have to be fully prepared-not just physically or mentally, but also spiritually.”

—Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel laureate and child rights activist

Delayed flyover work irks residents P4

Emberify’s mobile apps simplify life P7

Give happiness, receive happiness

Aundh Road resident Vishnu Vasudev Mujumdar is an inspiring, multi-faceted personality who was knighted by the French government with the National Order of Merit for his work at Alliance Française de Pune (AF)

BY ABHAY VAIDYA @vaidya_abhay

Late Meenakshi Apte

Highly pained by the sufferings of women due to domestic violence, noted social activists Meenakshi Apte and Mrinal Gore, started ‘Swadhar’ in Mumbai in the 1983, on the advice of the then Bombay Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro. The NGO was started as a counselling centre to guide and help

the affected women.

Apte, who was the head of Family and Child Welfare Department at the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) Mumbai, moved to Pune after her retirement. Here, she started Swadhar Pune in 1995, with two other social workers Sulabha Joshi and Suchitra Date. The Pune chapter began with the counselling centre to help women in distress.

“After working for women, Apte realised that development of women is incomplete without considering their children and thus, Swadhar Pune was renamed and registered as Swadhar Institute for Development of Women and Children (IDWC),” said secretary of the NGO. Swadhar’s vision is to help and empower women in distress and achieve healthy development of underprivileged children through education, guidance, training and counselling, to ensure a reasonable quality of life.

The NGO has dedicated and trained staff of 170 women and 70 volunteers, who head different projects. The programmes are run under the three main categories: A. Programmes for Empowerment of Women and Girls: This is a community-based programme wherein women and girls are taught about health and hygiene, importance of education and their rights. Tailoring, beauty courses and other

VV Mujumdar with wife Vijayalakshmi, who has stood by him over the years

Originally from Solapur, Mujumdar, who earned a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, spent six years in Switzerland in 1962 and secured advanced training in Machine Tool technology. On returning to India he worked at various establishments before turning to entrepreneurship.

Young in spirit, Mujumdar began learning French at age 50 when, after an interaction with some French scholars, he realised that his grammar was weak. Such was his diligence that he was invited on the board of trustees at AF. Over the last many years, Mujumdar has been fascinated with nanotechnology and has been undertaking experiments in the medicinal properties of nuts, and vegetables at nanoscale. He does not aspire to patent his work and would rather like someone to take it forward for the benefit of society.

Straightforward, transparent and ethical in his dealings, Mujumdar is deeply influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and says that his values have been shaped by the RSS with which he has been associated since his student days. Having undertaken the Naramada Parikrama pilgrimage on foot over four months, Mujumdar says the salutation ‘Narmade Har’ aptly describes the philosophy of his life: “Let us make each other happy”.

vocational training courses are also run for them to make them self-reliant.

Family counselling: Sessions are held in Pune and PCMC centres.

Awareness generation programme: To educate women on issues like domestic violence, women’s rights, health and hygiene and balanced diet.

Girls’ Education Support Programme: Needy girls are given financial/material support, career guidance and counselling.

Phulora: The project is targeted for underprivileged school-drop outs and adolescent girls. Training programmes are conducted on life skills, vocational courses and personality development.

B. Programmes for Children in Need of Protection and Survival: This programme is run for children suffering from HIV/AIDS and children of sex workers.

Mohor: Project Mohor is run in areas like Budhwar Peth, for children of commercial sex workers. It is a shelter home and educational centre that caters to their needs up to the age of 14.

Ray of Hope: Under this project, Swadhar caters to the need of HIV/AIDS- afflicted children.

Swadhar discourages children to straight way start on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART), because of its side-effects. Instead, it provides high-protein diet and nutritional supplement to postpone the ART requirement.

C. Programmes for the overall development of children: Akshardeep: Under this project, Swadhar runs pre-school for children between three & 14 years, support classes for school students; Setu classes for children of construction labourers; resource centre; reading class programme and community library.

SCOPE (Strengthen Communities for Preschool Education): The NGO has started a home-lending library for children. It also holds support classes for pre-school students.

In March 2014, Meenakshi Apte passed away.

However, the hard work and the support of several corporate houses, foundations as well as grants have created an institution capable of surviving its founders. This excellent work needs all the support it can get in the form of volunteers for programmes and financial help to grow and sustain operations. megha.choudhary@goldensparrrow.com (with inputs from moneylife.in) GET IN TOUCH: Swadhar IDWC C/o Nivara, 96, Navi Peth, Pune 411030 Tel: 020-24533452 E-Mail: swadhar@rediffmail.com www.swadharpune.org Under their Akshardeep project, Swadhar runs pre-school for children between three and 14 years

Pushing their limits to excel in life Vasant Thakar’s Savali Association provides succour to people with special needs

BY MEGHA V CHOUDHARY @meghaVchoudhary For 77-year-old Vasant Thakar, life is a mission. Being a father of a cerebral palsy and severely mentally challenged daughter, he understands the plight of parents of specially-abled children and hence, started a rehabilitation centre for such children.

Kothrud resident, Thakar struggled a lot to get admission for his daughter in any of the government recognised special schools. “I ran from pillar to post for my daughter’s admission, but could not succeed. I realised that there were other people facing the same problem. Hence, I decided to quit my job to take up the cause of mentally-challenged and cerebral palsy children,” said Thakar, who established Savali Association, a rehabilitation centre, in 1992, with an aim to help such children by making them self-reliant with proper training.

Savali Association provides day care facility, respite care, physiotherapy, school education, teachers training and vocational training to specially-abled and cerebral palsy individuals.

Initially, Thakar and his wife Prabha started working from their own house with 15 to 20 children without any external support. “There were parents, who were worried about their children’s future due to lack of educational facilities. Also, not many people were aware of the problems that these children faced. We gathered information about the requirement of these children, their educational needs, and how to bring about positive behavioural changes in them,” he said.

It was necessary to have all

God’s messenger

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

BY MEGHA V CHOUDHARY @meghaVchoudhary

individual capacity. I am least concerned whether someone else does it or not,” he says.

A recipient of three Parkhe Awards for industrial innovation, Mujumdar has a number of innovations to his credit. These include the Skid Rol lers, developed to shift heavy machinery; a flexible wheel design for bullock carts and ball screw for CNC machines. The flexible wheel also won the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s innovation award in 1983.

He also developed a number of farming implements and undertook multiple initiatives in Hydroponics.

abhay.vaidya@goldensparrow.com

A home for destitute women and children ‘Swadhar’, established by noted social activist late Meenakshi Apte, works for the development of underprivileged women and children

2014, the French government honoured Mujumdar with the National Order of Meritone of the two top civilian honours of France.

The honour was indeed well-deserved as Mujumdar inspires one not just by his work, but also by his approach to life.

Very consciously, Mujumdar provides employment to the physically and mentally challenged in his small scale unit, Institute of Applied Research, in Bhosari MIDC. Five of his 20 employees are physically and mentally handicapped. “I feel that they have a right to a decent life as much as we have. Each one of us is handicapped in some way or the other- so why do we look at the disabled differently,” he asks. They work diligently and “deliver 120 per cent,” he says.

Mujumdar’s philosophy is straightforward: “I feel that we should do whatever we can within our

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Steely determination, humility, ethical conduct and kindness and compassion are the attributes that come to mind when one tries to understand the life of 73-year-old Vishnu Vasudev alias Prabhakar Mujumdar.

A past president of Alliance Française de Pune (AF), Mujumdar demonstrated extraordinary commitment when faced with a crisis during his term.

Internal differences in the board of trustees had resulted in a court order freezing the bank account of AF, a public trust which seeks to establish bonds with local communities through the promotion of French language and culture.

Realising that this would disrupt the salary disbursement at AF, Mujumdar discussed this crisis with his wife Vijayalakshmi (Shyamala), and with her consent, unhesitatingly made a substantial withdrawal from his personal savings. The salaries were paid on time.

Deeply inspired by the principles of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ which originated in the French Revolution, Mujumdar felt a strong sense of responsibility towards the staff.

“I felt that the AF staff was mine as much as the workers in my SSI unit. I did not feel that I did something extraordinary by organising their salaries through my personal funds,” he said.

Mujumdar has been associated with the AF in a range of capacities, starting as a student of the French language. He was then invited

on the board of trustee and later served as vice-president and eventually president for two terms during 2005-07 and 2011-12.

He displayed the utmost sincerity and commitment during each of these phases. As the president of AF, Mujumdar improved the management, invited top French intellectuals for interactions with Pune audiences and during his second term as president, organised a national seminar on the 300th birth anniversary of the 18th century philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

One of the highlights of this conference at the SP College was the presence of the renowned scholar Michael O’Dea and the event was a big hit.

N o w o n d e r that in November

Vasant Thakar, founder of Savali Association for Mentally Retarded & Cerebral Palsy Children, with special children at their Kothrud centre

“We have successfully achieved our aim of helping parents.”

- Vasant Thakar

the needed facilities under one roof. Hence the Thakars decided to use their own land for the noble cause. But to start a rehabilitation centre, funds were required.

Unable to get any government help, they decided to take a bank loan in 1994-95. In a year’s time, the rehabilitation centre was ready with all the modern facilities and barrier-free access. Since then, ‘Savali’ has been taking care of specially-abled children and

For 28-year-old Prakash Bhandari, Thakar is no less than a God’s messenger. His elder sister Netra was 100 per cent dependent on her mother. She would never mingle with people of her age. But after their mother’s death, things became difficult to manage for Bhandari, a painter at construction sites and a migrant from Karnataka. “I heard about Savali and got my sister admitted here four years ago. My sister has completely changed. Earlier, she used to play with children who were half her age, but now she listens to me and understands whatever I speak. Whenever I come to meet her she welcomes me with a flash of smile,” says Bhandari with tears in his eyes.

helping them to stand on their own feet. With a dedicated staff of 35 individuals, the NGO is catering to the needs of over 100 cerebral palsy and specially-abled persons between the ages of five and 55. “We train them on living independently so that they can do their daily activities without anyone’s support,” says Thakar.

Working tirelessly for six years, the NGO realised that 70 per cent of the disabled population is in rural areas. “Back then, not many people were aware of the problem. Such children were neglected by their own parents and society. It was necessary to educate them. In 2000, with the financial help from Tata Trust, we started conducting awareness programmes in rural areas,” said Thakar, who works 365 days relentlessly for the cause.

Thakar has received many national and international awards in recognition of his work.

International Achievers Award

for Education Excellence from Indian Achiever Forum, in August 2009; Award from L T Marane Memorial Foundation in October 2010, and National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in December 2010, are some of them.

Many inmates, when admitted to the centre could not even walk, brush their teeth or dress-up by themselves. “We trained them patiently and are happy to see that, now they are well equipped with their daily chores,” says Thakar.

“We have also gained the trust of parents, who send their children to our centres without any second thought,” says Thakar, whom the inmates fondly call ‘Mama’, adding, “We have successfully achieved our aim of helping parents, spreading awareness and making the specially-abled individuals live their life with dignity.” megha.choudhary@ goldensparrow.com

GET IN TOUCH: Savali Association for Mentally Retarded & Cerebral Palsy Children Urban Project: Plot No. 13, S. No. 78, Left Bhusari Colony, Near Kothrud PMT Depot, Paud Road, Kothrud Contact: +91 20 25282379 +91 20 25280297 Rural Project: Plot No 154/4+5, Sutarwadi, Ambedwet, Tal. Mulshi, Contact: +91 20 20291150 Mail: savalimrcp@bsnl.in

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

Empathy is the key to any great innovation: Mileha Soneji P6

Lal Mahal, located at Kasba Peth, was built by Shivaji’s fatherShahaji Bhosale in 1644. It stands witness to Shivaji’s brave attack in which he severed three of Shaista Khan’s fingers. http://www.punecorporation.org/

Superstition taking toll on harmony in marriages

Making mockery of ‘Swachh Bharat’

The Pune Family Court and Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s Shankarrao Chavan Law College held a meet to make students aware of the evil of blind faith and superstition

The manager of Reliance Fresh store on Aundh Road has apologised for the filth all around

BY ISHANI BOSE @ishani_bose

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke The Reliance Fresh store on Aundh Road has turned into a veritable eyesore and a conspicuous example of lack of civic sense and concern for cleanliness and hygiene.

With garbage, plastic bags, broken glass, tube lights or bulbs and cardboard cases strewn about the surroundings of the store opposite Ganpati temple show an especially callous disregard of prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachch Bharat’ drive.

This ugly sight has been greeting area residents day in and day out, for months together without any remedial action from the managers of the store.

Residents in the area said this was rather disappointing given the high importance to cleanliness by the prime minister. Residents and visitors to the Reliance store have voiced their concern and disapproval about the state of affairs, but to no avail.

The Reliance store is located on the

ASWACHH

ground floor of a housing society and there are a number of eateries in the vicinity. The staff of these eateries are known to litter and throw their waste and garbage around.

Reliance store manager Dinesh Jagdale said, “The store authorities are extremely apologetic for the inconvenience caused to the customers.”

He said that his staff used to clean up the garbage and litter, but since articles like broken glass pose a threat, they now refuse to clean the stairways.

“Earlier, the store exit was at the rear, but owing to the mess, we have shut the exit. Now we operate through only one door,” he added.

A Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) team has surveyed the area.

The housing society members have also discussed the issue, and Jagdale said that the mess will be cleared up soon. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

TGS Quiz Contest

nswers to the following 10 questions are embedded in the stories featured in this edition. Send us the correct answers at contest. tgs@gmail.com and be one of the two lucky winners to receive gift coupons.

“Women are always blamed for being unable to conceive.”

Students display excellent entrepreneurship skills

IntelligencePlus InnoVenture Challenge saw participation by over 1,25,000 school students ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

A

No. 32

Reliance Fresh store, located opposite Ganpati temple on Aundh Road, presents an ugly picture of ‘Swachh Bharat’

escalated and worsened, by the family strong, that they never paid heed to the interference who blame it on the fact that, most of them were, so called, horoscope,” she said. ‘pregnant’ for over 12 months, sometimes Noted Marathi author and social Bal, who has been fighting for even 24 or 36.

However, one such ‘pregnant’ worker Vidya Bal cast the spotlight the rights of women all her life, noted women, decided to get a second on how blind faith and superstition that women fall prey to superstition opinion from a hospital in Yerawada. are still prevalent in society, and how the most. “Women are always blamed She was shocked when they told her quacks and charlatans duped unwary for being unable to conceive. They are that she wasn’t pregnant. and gullible people, by made to go to sadhus and saints to find It was so traumatic that promising them what they a solution to their infertility. No matter the poor woman went mad desired. She was speaking how educated, logic and reason are no literally, and eventually at a meeting organised by match for tradition and belief. That had to be admitted to the Marathwada Mitra she needs to go to a doctor and get Yerawada Mental Hospital.

Mandal’s Shankarrao herself checked, or that her husband The investigations that Chavan Law College and needs to be examined, is seldom taken followed, revealed that the the Pune Family Court, at into consideration,” she said. “Women woman, who claimed to the college premises. resort to hadtalika pooja or fasting in know the mantra to ensure Family Court the hope of landing a good husband. the birth of a male child, counsellor and author Where is the logic? Why don’t men do was actually in cahoots with Smita Joshi; Professor any poojas,” she questioned.

- Vidya Bal an institution that operated Shamsuddin Tamboli, Tamboli, who has been a crusader on women who gave birth executive president at the against superstition in his own to illegitimate children.

Muslim Satyashodhak community, said, “In the Muslim Speaking about the impact that Mandal; former Family Court judge VV community, if women even dream superstition has been having on Shahapurkar, advocate Ganesh Kawde, about ‘Talaak’ they believe it is meant marriages, Joshi said, “In the year 2014, and staff members and students of the to happen. Men can easily divorce a total of 45,800 divorce cases were college were present at the event. It was women, by saying ‘Talaak’ three times, registered, out of which 30 per cent were aimed at enlightening students about and if they later feel that what they did due to superstition. Trusting family, the ills of blind faith and superstition. was wrong, the woman has Bal narrated an incident about to marry another person friends and traditions is fine, but if it and get divorced in Shashi Prasiddhi Gruha, an institution turns to blind faith, it is not healthy.

She further said, that most order for the earlier in Shaniwar Peth, Pune, which existed husband to marry cases being registered with the in the 1980s. Married women, who them again. This is family court was that of well wanted a son, went to this place for the called as Halala,” he educated people. “Most of these fulfillment of their desire. The woman said. people refer to horoscopes before who ran the place, would guarantee these ishani.bose@ marriages. If these horoscopes women that they would give birth to a goldensparrow.com show some anomaly, and son, if they trusted her and the treatment knowing this if the couple still go she gave them. One of her conditions was ahead with the marriage, then that the women should not consult any any problem or quarrel, other doctor or hospital. The faith that which occur these women had on her was so profound, after marriage, that they kept going back to her time and w h e t h e r again, without even consulting a doctor. small or big In reality, the woman in question would are further inject these women with a chemical that made them experience every symptom that a normal pregnant woman would feel. But their longing for a son and, subsequently Eminent Marathi author and social worker, Vidya Bal, speaking on impact of superstition on family life, at their faith in the a programme organised by the Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s Shankarrao Chavan Law College and the Pune woman was so Family Court, recently

1. Which French institution was Vishnu Mujumdar president before?

2. What is the English name of Sabita Goswami’s autobiography?

3. Where is the Reliance Fresh flanked with garbage located?

4. Should one expect progressive obesity when thyroid levels are normal?

5. What sum do the victims claim has been stuck at the Country Vacations?

6. What event management company does Tanvi Parekh work for?

7. Where does performance artist Samudra Kajal Saikia belong to?

8. What is the title of Symbiosis student Avni Vora’s book?

9. What is the name of the 23rd album launched by Soma Ghosh?

10. According to author Vidya Bal, how long has the society had a patriarchal system?

Contest # 31 winners Mulchand Nathpotani Sunil Melwani

Winners of IntelligencePlus InnoVenture pose with their trophies with company’s founder CEO Pranjal Jain-Gundesha and CEO of BMC Software India, Tarun Sharma in the centre

BY PRACHI BARI @prachibari Performing as a band with keyboard, violin and guitar accompaniment, Advika Dhar of St Mary’s School, Agastya Sharma of Pawar Public School, Diya Oswal of St Helena’s School and Arth Agrawal of Vibgyor High (NIBM), won first prize in the open category of the first IntelligencePlus InnoVenture, an Ideation and Entrepreneurship Platform for School Children.

The event, for children between the ages 8 and 13, was organised in collaboration with E-Cell, IIM-Calcutta

and Ed-cell, CoEP. The Innoventure event held over a course of a few months, featured 1,25,000 children from city schools taking part. “The children came up with out of the box ideas, illustrations and poems,” said Pranjal Jain-Gundesha, founder of IntelligencePlus.

The 350 students who got through to the finals, were trained in design thinking, idea generation, entrepreneurship, planning and execution of ideas, by Mukesh Malhotra, CEO of Weikfield Industries; Sachin Bhardwaj, CEO of tastykhana.com, Suhas Merchant, MD, Kalpataru Residency; Dr CA Vardhaman Jain, and

Mayur Ahuja, founder of Pune Model United Nations (PUN). The children were given real world challenges for which they came up with solutions, models and presentations.

The winning teams included students from Wisdom World School, City Pride School, Nigdi, City International School, Kothrud and GIIS, Chinchwad. City Pride School and Millennium School jointly bagged the award for ‘School Best Nurturing 21st Century Skills’, while Vikhe Patil Memorial School was given the award for the ‘Most Enterprising School’. prachibari@gmail.com

Unmarked speed breakers at UoP

...pose a threat to road users on the Pune University campus

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke The sprawling 400-acre Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) campus has an extensive network of roads. These roads also have a proliferation of unmarked and hard-to-spot speed breakers, that are a constant threat to unwary or unknowning vehicle users. What is urgently needed are signboards alerting road-users about the speed breakers, as well as the speed breakers to be made clearly visible by the painting of white stripes.

While only students and university staff are supposed to be using the roads officially, residents of Aundh and other areas in the vicinity of the university use these internal roads on a daily basis as an alternative to the traffic-strewn Aundh Road stretch, from University Circle to Bremen Chowk. The university roads have been resurfaced recently but the speed breakers have been ignored and left unmarked.

The road leading to the Jayakar

Library from the university’s main gate have many speed breakers, while all the speed breakers are located on the road leading to main building from the main gate via the English Department (from the open canteen).

Traffic being relatively sparse, road users have a tendency to speed up on these roads, and that is when the speed breakers pose a threat. While no serious accident has been reported, the university staff and regular road users have voiced concern over the unmarked speed breakers. Speed breaker signs are mandatory on the roads to alert road users, and specific guidelines have been issued in this regard by the Indian Road Congress (IRC). A senior university officer, while stressing that the university roads are not meant for use by outsiders who use them as thoroughfares, said that white stripes will be soon painted on the speed breakers and signboards will also be installed. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

RAHUL RAUT

Holiday club faces flak P5

PUNE

Hard-to-spot unmarked speed breakers on the roads of Pune University campus pose a threat to road users

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY PUNE

“Without proper segregation of dry and wet waste, any efforts for garbage management will go to waste.”

—Firdosh Roowalla, founder, The Green Thumb

Top MIT awards to Gulzar, four others The Maharashtra Academy of Engineering and Education Research (MAEER) has announced the recipients of its Bharat Asmita National Awards 2015, on Wednesday. The Bharat Asmita Acharya Sreshtha Award will be bestowed on Prof Trilochan Sastry, for being the best teacher in the management sphere, the Bharat Asmita Janpratinidhi Sreshtha Award on Member of Parliament Anant Kumar Hegde, Bharat Asmita Jana Jagaran Shreshtha Award on senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, Bharat Asmita Jana Jagaran Shreshtha Award on the poet/lyricist Padma Bhushan Gulzar, Bharat Asmita Vigyan Tantragyan Shreshtha Award on Prof K Radhakrishnan, and Bharat Asmita Life Time Achievement Award on Padma Shri Anu Aga. MIT School of Business director, Prof D P Apte, said that 5,000 nominations were received from across the country.

Passport mela on January 31 Regional Passport Office, Pune has organised a ‘passport mela’ at Passport Seva Kendra, Mundhwa, on January 31. The mela is organised for applicants in the regions of its jurisdiction namely, Pune, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Solapur.

The applicants need to register online by logging in at www.passport. gov.in. The applications will open on January 25 at 12:00 noon. Applicants must visit the centre with an Application Reference Number (ARN) and valid appointments with all the required documents. On hold, walk-in, tatkal and PCC applications will not be accepted on the day.

`1 Lakh to winners of Youth Fiesta District Rotract organisation in association with Rotary District 3131 will host the Youth Fiesta on January 24, 2015. The aim of the festival is to promote art and culture among the youngsters. The event will comprise fashion show, band and dance competitions. The winner will get prize of ` one lakh. Grand finale will be held at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on January 24, from 11 am to 5 pm. This finale will be followed by a live performance by the celebrated music band Agnee.

Free camp for cleft lips and palate Lions Club of Poona Sarasbaug and Lions Club of Pune Metro has organised a consultation camp for children with cleft lip and palette at Sant Gyandev Shala, Maharshinagar, Pune, on January 25, from 10 am. Swiss Cleft Centre and Brahmakumari’s Global Hospital and Research Centre’s Dr Richa Gala will be present at the consultation camp. People of all ages can avail the consultation.

TGS is interactive Our newspaper is interactive and you are welcome to write in to our various segments: • Letters to the Editor email: editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com; editor_tgs@gmail.com By post: The Editor, The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030, (Best letter gets a weekly prize) • For feedback: tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com • To get solution to your problems, mail your question at: wayforward@goldensparrow.com • Want to become an entrepreneur?

For mentoring advice, write to our associates: mentoring@pune.tie.org • Get weekly events listed: listings.tgslife@gmail.com

Smart guns save lives, so where are they?

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Standing up bravely as a woman One of India’s finest journalist from the Northeast, Sabita Goswami battled against a difficult family life to pursue her career as a journalist. He autobiography in Marathi was recently released by Rajhans Prakashan

BY YASH DAIV @yash009 Amidst a political turmoil laden with gore, separation and curfew, a journalist said she would say the truth no matter what. Sabita Goswami’s exemplary courage and professionalism define the universal journalistic zeal. She relentlessly chased stories which were carried for BBC Radio and other newspapers.

Her autobiography, Mon Goongar Teerot, translated in English by her daughter Triveni Mathur as Along the Red River and in Marathi by Savita Damle as Mana Gange cha Kathavar, and published by Rajhans Prakashan, Pune, documents her rise from a patriarchal milieu to a strong professional journalist.

In the book’s foreword, BBC’s Delhi correspondent Mark Tully declares Goswami as a person of “great integrity.” He says, “Sabita broke major stories like the massacre of Chaulhowa Chapori…she provided the BBC with an extensive coverage of the violent 1983 Assam state elections and of

the ULFA and Bodo insurgencies.”

A woman of this calibre however had a low beginning, in a patriarchal set-up where a woman’s dreams were considered to be inconsiderate.

Married at barely 17, Goswami entered a family with a conservative mindset. She was hustled into the domestic chore. Education took a backseat, although she completed it in time. Her two daughters were born over a couple of years and she travelled to some parts of India with her husband, where he took up jobs. She questioned the ideal wife within her, constantly feeling enclosed under her husband’s shadow. She recalls this phase as a period of emptiness, where she felt like a “girl lacking in aspiration.” However, she instinctively assumed the role of an ideal mother to her daughters.

She made sure that they were schooled properly no matter where in India they travelled.

They were her driving force.

She slogged for them even when her husband turned alcoholic. Steadily the flair of writing kindled within her, and it pushed her to start writing locally. From a girl, she thought had

File photo of Sabita Goswami at Baisakhi Army base at Indo-China Border in December 1984

no aspirations, she transformed into the straightforward journalist who embraced the political turmoil with her professionalism, winning her accolades and enemies with her strong reporting.

The Assam agitation opened up avenues of reporting, a little later in her life. She writes, “To be in the thick momentous events, to be able to record history as it happens was a heady feeling. Th is was something I had dreamt of doing ever since my youth.”

Th roughout her career, she observed the matters of religion, a shift in iden-

tities, material and mental schism, political instability and migrations.

Those days whether she broke the news through telegrams or teleSabita Goswami phones, the impact remained the same.

The reporting of the 1983 blood-

Delayed flyover work irks residents

stricken elections remains the highlight of her career. The revelation of the part where the state had completely ignored the “death dance” at Chaulhowa Chapori, is credited to her journalistic capacity. She travelled two hours in a dingy boat to shore. The place was vast, dry and sandy. She was received like a saviour. People took her to bed ridden kids and showed her lists of the dead.

The news was broadcasted on the eve of 1983 Commonwealth Prime Minister Conference, which met with adverse reactions.

International interests were involved and the reporting was cross verified. Goswami emerged triumphant.

Another milestone in her journalistic voyage was the genesis of The Northeast Times. She started the paper on her husband’s insistence and soon became a critically acclaimed venture. It gave her daughters the substantial experience they were looking forward too. Unfortunately the paper shut down due to financial problems.

Towards the end of her autobiography, Goswami provides an extempore on what journalism has done to her inner-self. It gave her a real outlook to the world, she feels she may or may not have impacted. But at the end of the day, quite literally, as she sat on the shore of the Arabian Sea with her eyes transfi xed on a little boat and the huge expanse of the sky, she feelt content and had no regrets. The metaphor of river comes live as the unstoppable force of determination, passion and rightfulness. yashdaiv@gmail.com

`1k cr deficit is a gaping hole in PMC draft budget

The incomplete flyover passes through the Empire Estate housing society in Pimpri Chinchwad

BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal Thousands of residents of Empire Estate Housing S o c i e t y , Chinchwad located on the old MumbaiPune Highway, are angry with the slow Rajesh Agarwal progress of the flyover work, which has been going on since four years. The flyover passes through the society.

Despite the residents’ pleas and complaints, and the intervention of the media and politicians, the flyover is still incomplete, and the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), that is in charge of the project, has extended the deadline for its completion to April 2015.

Empire Estate Housing Society, that occupies 27 acres of land, is one of biggest residential colonies in the

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Signposts

Just for today ...try this out, says Dr Patil

The under-construction flyover on Kalewadi Phata-Dehu Alandi Bus Rapid Transit system (BRTS) road, which passes through the Empire Estate society

twin township, with 1600 flats and 200 shops.

The flyover is being constructed on the 45-metre wide Kalewadi PhataDehu Alandi Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) road that passes through the society.

Commenting on the prolonged flyover issue, a resident of the society

and Shiv Sena leader Yogesh Babar told TGS, “Our opposition is mainly for the delayed work of flyover and proposed ramp. The problem will increase in the future if the civic body constructs a ramp in the colony.”

“The ramp should not be built on the under-construction flyover, as it will leave only a 5.5-metre space for

service roads on either side of the flyover. The traffic congestion will increase if vehicles coming from the Kalewadi area use the ramp,” Babar added.

President of Shopkeepers Association of Empire Estate, Rajesh Agarwal said, “The civic body took action against the developers who violated service road margin norms, and they are reducing the width of the road by constructing the ramp.”

Official spokesperson of the engineering department of the PuneChinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) Shirish Poredi, told TGS, “Only 50 per cent of the work has been completed. A financial crunch is the main reason for the slow progress of the work.”

The residents of Empire Estate have demanded that the civic body stop extending the deadline and complete the work as soon as possible.

The Empire Estate flyover is part of the 11.2 km Kalewadi to Dehu-Alandi BRTS corridor. The width of the stretch is 45 metres, while the length will be 1.9 metres. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

BY ASHOK BHAT @ashok_bhat Staring at an expected budgetary deficit of `1,000 crore in the current financial year, Pune municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar tabled a budget estimate of `3,997 crore for 2015-16 before the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) standing committee recently. With ambitious projects like Metro and smart city in the pipeline, the administration should come up with effective measures to narrow the fiscal gap.

The administration has failed to achieve the revenue target of `4,150 crore fi xed by the general body forthe fiscal year 2014-15. Kumar said, “Till December-end, we collected `2,303 crore as revenue. Still there will be a deficit of `1,000 crore by the end of this fiscal.” Kumar admitted that nearly `500 crore was lying with different departments, including `34 crore of local body tax (LBT) on document registration with the Pune collectorate.

He said that the revenue collection could touch around `3,100 crore. The civic administration has proposed a hike of 18 per cent in property tax and effective steps to increase LBT collection. ashok.bhat21@gmail.com

Religions have moved away from spirituality Your editorial in the January 17 issue of The Golden Sparrow on Saturday was excellent. True, religions have moved away from spirituality. It is also true that the West, because of its dominance, has created selfish ego-ridden wars and divisions. In this context, Sadhu Vaswani said nearly a hundred years ago, “Muslims are violent not by religion, but by history.” It is time we dissolved the narrow boundaries of religion and move towards the universal goal of all religions, namely adopt a spiritual way of life, which in layman’s terms would be “being a better human being and creating a more humane society”.

—Aruna Jethwani

Where to draw a line?

Granted, what happened at Charlie Hebdo in Paris was universally worthcondemning but when the euphoria of

anger dies down and sanity prevails, it’s time to introspect without taking any side or being prejudiced. Who’ll decide how much freedom is to be given to speech and expression that it doesn’t become objectionable and hurtful? If one of the main aspects of creativity is being thought-provoking, how can one be discerning enough to draw a line as not to be outright spiteful to a person, group of persons or an ideology, be it religious, political or social? If to provoke is the sole objective, a piece of art or creativity loses its cardinal purpose and becomes a tool of polemics. Creativity has its own set of responsibilities. It must follow a code of ethics and include universal sensibilities as to what to express and what not to.

Remember the dictum of Latin poet Ovid, ‘The best art is to conceal the art.’ Had the slain cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo understood the subtleties of art (cartoons, in this context) and nuances

of creativity, they’d have refrained from in-your-face candour in their not-socreative cartoons and would still have been living. Th is unfortunate incident is a lesson to all those, who stretch freedom of expression a tad too far.

—Sumit Paul

Apathy & empathy towards street kids A recent incident at McDonalds (Pune) made us look at the harsh reality and also served as a reality check. We are IANS

JANUARY 24, 2015

celebrating a Nobel Prize for child welfare and yet see a street child being insulted. Street children are pushed into the business to make a career out of alms. It is a personal choice and we cannot blame society. A lot of kids are happier being on the street rather than going to school. It is easy for us to feed a child or give an ice-cream, but what is the actual result of our actions?

Whether we need to have pity or apathy is a personal choice, but indirectly we are promoting the business of pity and alms. Begging has become a profession and is not just a sign of desperation.

Do we give the child an ice-cream or a notebook with stationery. Most of these kids will refuse the notebook and are comfortable with the concept of looking hungry. The Nobel Prize was given for a reason but society thinks otherwise. The truth is murky and dark. Th is incident may invite debate but street kids know what they want.

We give out of pity and feel we have done our good deed. What happens as a consequence remains insignificant and life goes on. Too much pity is actually feeding the flame.

—Sunil Melwani

Write to Us Letters to the Editor may be emailed to editor_tgs@goldensparrow. com or mailed to Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt Ltd, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030.

The Best Letter of the Week will receive a special gift from Venus Traders, Pune’s finest stationery departmental.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

Thaw in US-Cuba relations P 12

85 per cent of India’s software product companies’ R&D centre is headquartered in Pune, and the city employs 61 per cent of India’s R&D employee base for software product companies.

— Zinnov Management Consulting and SEAP

Rahul Jain’s local Internet search engine to make life easy for Puneites P6

Holiday club faces flak

‘Nest Fest’, a unique property expo

The ‘victim’ members of Country Vacations accuse the recreation club for not delivering on their promises RAHUL RAUT

The office of Country Vacations at Mangaldas Road

IN THE NEWS

Vinayak Naidu

savings,” he said.

The club has been accused of luring customers in a ‘planned manner’. Naidu said, “Firstly, lucky draw cards are distributed at petrol pumps and malls followed by declaration of winners through telephone. They are then requested to collect a special gift from the office located at Sangamwadi. On reaching the office, they are sold the membership schemes with promises of complimentary gifts like TVs, microwaves and digital cameras. The sellers lure the consumers with prizes, but the real purpose is to get them to sign up for an expensive membership in a holiday club.

If the customer agrees, a transaction of `1.5 – `3 lakh is debited from the account without delay.

How it works

The customers said that membership cards are never issued, making it difficult for them to avail of accommodation at the club’s resorts and annual vacations.

The promised complimentary gifts are never delivered. “They were supposed to come up with a new building at Undri.

It is not yet built,” said Naidu. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

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HE A R D .

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SPORTS

EDUCATION & CAREER

Fighting Parkinson’s with dance P2 ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

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PUNE’S PEOPLE WITH A PURPOSE

China connection P 16

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THE SAD STATE OF PUNE’S ‘ZERO STONE’

Help restore Pune’s Zero Stone

@TGSWeekly | PAGES: 16+16 (TGS LIFE) | PRICE: `5

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Given its significance, this valuable part of the city’s heritage ought to be restored, fenced and beautified ABHAY VAIDYA @vaidya_abhay

EDIT PAGE

Guide for Dummies: It’s easy to grab headlines in India P 12

City players put up a good show P 16

Born to be a fashionista P9

A 25-member Australian health and assisted living delegation shared their industry experience and partnership plans with its Indian counterpart in the city recently. The meet was part of the Australia Business Week aimed at identifying, strengthening and deepening relationships with India. The delegates discussed about healthcare and aged care for both Australian and Indian organisations in an attempt to identify market opportunities and areas of growth.

Trade commissioner (South Asia) and leader of health and assisted living delegation Patrick Kearins, Dean International for the Faculty of Health Science (Curtin University) Celia Cornwell and Belrose Care chief executive officer Jeff rey Markoff led

Pune’s archer Swapnil Dhamdhere has been selected to represent Maharashtra in the upcoming National Games to be held in Kerala from January 30.

Dhamdhere has been representing Maharashtra for the Swapnil Dhamdhere last four years.

In the recently held archer competition in New Delhi, Dhamdhere made the cut and was amongst top-32 in the country and top-8 in Maharashtra. He has won 24 national medals so far. Dhamdhere is currently in training and condition camp in Amravati.

WIKI COMMONS

Indo-Aussie meet on healthcare

Dhamdhere selected for National Games

USA

`2,200 cr project for water augmentation

The Zero Stone monument in Nagpur and other parts of the world

Rainfall in July has brought some reThe PMC’s Water Supply lief to the citizens of Pune and the civic Department has proposed a administration. However, to be able to `2,200 crore project to replace ensure regular water supply without the network of old, leaking and cuts in the coming weeks and months, and drainage Modiwater tweets the dams supplying water to Pune willPMdamaged

BY GITESH SHELKE lines. A Draft Project Report (DPR) need to build up an additional 10 TMCin Japanese @gitesh_shelke is scheduled to be placed before (thousand million cubic feet of water) the City Improvement Committee storage.

Primenext minister Narendra With 28-years-old Asif Shaikh as its week, BJP’s groupModi leaderon While the Khadakwasla dam hasThursday putGanesh out a series of told tweets in head, the Shri Shivram Tarun Mandal in PMC, Bidkar TGS. reached its storage capacity of 1.98Japanese and said that be as his friends Trust on MG Road is truly an inspiring project would financed TMC, the situation in the Panshet,from The Japan had him to talk to icon of communal harmony, as it through theasked Jawaharlal Nehru Varasgaon and Temghar dams wouldthe people of Urban JapanRenewal directly, Mission. he had prepares for Ganeshotsav with a range be crucial not just for Pune city butdoneNational so.

Modi is scheduled to visit Jaof charitable activities every year.

The project will drastically curtail also for smaller towns downstream likepan from 30 to September 3.

Describing their youth group as “a waterAugust wastage.

Daund and Indapur, which depend onIn a tweet in Japanese, he said he was truly cosmopolitan mandal”, Shaikh these dams for their water supply. Tovery “excited” about the visit that will and the mandal’s secretary Sheldon fulfi l this demand, a total of 20 TMCstrengthen the relationship between Fernandes spoke of water will be required, of which storagethe ministration tookIna another review oftweet the rain-what Ganeshotsav two countries. of 10 TMC has been achieved. fall andtowater storage status at thecelebrations mean addressed his Japanese counterThis was underlined by the officialspartKhadakwasla, Panshet, Shinzo Abe, Modi said Varasgaon he deeply andto them every year. of the Irrigation Department duringrespected Temghar dams which supply water to Abe’s leadership.

First and a meeting convened at the civic headthe city. foremost, the trust quarters by mayor Chanchala Kodre The Khadakwasla dam has waterinvolves everyone on Thursday. Those present at this storage to itsHerald full capacity of 1.98 TMC.from the locality in case: meeting included municipal commis-National The irrigation department thereforethe festivities. sioner Vilas Deshmukh, city engineerCourt hearing decideddefers to release some water from this The mandal Prashant Waghmare, water supply dam into the Mutha river. The PMCcollects vargani chief V. G. Kulkarni, standing comalso decided to withdraw the alternate( v o l u n t a r y on Thursday fixed December mittee chairman Bapusaheb Karne andA court day water supply plan and release water contribution) from 9 as the next date of hearing in a case top party representatives. once a day from this dam. the neighbourhood and During the meeting the civic ad-against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Contd on p 10but does not spend her son and party vice president Rahul it entirely on decorations and the Gandhi and others over acquisition of immersion procession. “Instead, we the National Herald newspaper. provide meals to the poor for 10 days Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati and also undertake other charitable Manocha deferred the hearing after it activities,” Shaikh said. was apprised that the Delhi High Court This includes the distribution

Signposts

the Australian forum.

ALASKA

City dams need additional 10 TMC water to tide over crisis

BY ASHOK BHAT @ashok_bhat

life-support on Thursday, at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, marking a significant improvement in his condition. Laxman’s condition has been showing minor but steady improvement over the last three days, said the doctors. He has resumed involuntary breathing. But considering the kidney failure, his state of unconsciousness and his age, his condition continues to be critical but stable.

BUDAPEST

WIKI COMMONS

NAGPUR

WIKI COMMONS

Pune’s water situation improves

WIKI COMMONS

Students from 25 city schools participated in ‘Lions Enviro Expo 2015’ organised by Lions Service Forum at Sakhar Sankul. Their projects on environment were made of waste and recycled materials. The event was inaugurated by Union minister Prakash Javadekar

SPORTS

START-UP CITY

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Renowned cartoonist RK Laxman has been critical over the last week. The 9 3 -y e a r- o l d was taken off

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APSHINGE:

The great village of brave soldiers Two days from today, July 28, 2014, will mark the centenary of the First World War, also known as the Great War, that ushered in a new epoch in world politics. The history of that war is intertwined with a small, remote village in Satara district. TGS Special Report p13 This medallion was presented by the Queen of England after the First World War to the next of kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed in the war. Sepoy Khashaba Powar’s medallion has been placed by his family at their place of worship

Signposts India to have 4 new central universities NEW DELHI:: The government has decided to set up four new central universities in the country, parliament was told early this week.

“The ministry of human resource development (HRD) has decided to set up four new central universities, viz. one Central Tribal University each in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, one central university in Andhra Pradesh and Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Bihar,” HRD Minister Smriti Irani said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

At present, there are 40 central universities under the purview of the ministry.

Army chief pays tributes to Kargil War martyrs SRINAGAR: Indian Army chief after the wreath laying ceremony at the General Bikram Singh on Friday paid Kargil War Memorial in Drass town of tributes to the martyrs of 1999 Kargil Kargil district.

War in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh The chief of the Indian Army said region on the occasion of 15th Vijay ceasefire violations by Pakistan have Diwas. been taking place regularly on the He said the army is alert and Line of Control (LoC) in the state, but has been deployed effectively on the assured that the army has been effectively borders to defend the integrity and the responding to those violations. sovereignty of the country.

“They violate the ceasefire every “Let me assure you, the army is week and every month, but the army has deployed on the borders to defend the been taking effective steps to respond to PUNE, AUGUST 30, 2014 www.goldensparrow.com integrity and the sovereignty of the those,” he said. country,” General Singh told reporters Contd on p 10 I've always been a movie guy, movies have been my thing.

I love movies, all kinds of movies.

— Christopher Nolan

IANS

RK Laxman critical but stable

Akkalkot Swami’s diary published by Ram News Agency, Shaniwar Peth, was released recently. The book contains the Swami’s life and chants, besides pin codes, contacts of ministers, newspapers, electronic media offices and police stations. (L to R) Spiritual writer Ramchandra Dekhane, co-producer of the book Gopalkrushna Dahad, Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan president Sadanand More, Rangat Sangat Pratishthan’s head Pramod Adkar and devotee Sriram Dahad launched the book

Invitation Price

RAHUL RAUT

About 320 school students took part in the ‘Earth Matters Art Competition’ organised by India House Art Gallery at Sambhaji Park on January 18. The artworks submitted by the children were collected in three groups — Group A (standard I-IV), B (standard V-VII) and C (standard VIII-X). The three-hour event saw enthusiastic parents encouraging their children to do their best on topics that were given on the spot, thereby challenging them to be creative and thoughtful.

BOOK LAUNCH

• Bring the contract home • Do not pay right away and do not pay until the right of cancellation has expired • Never sign something you do not understand • Do not give the seller your credit card information

CSIR-NCL scientist gets fellowship

School students draw their ‘Earth’

accidental insurance for 5 years as a part of the package.

The price of flats starts from `30 lakh to `10 crore.”

The units will come prefitted with Sujay Kalele furniture and white goods.

The white goods are from popular brands and worth about `20 lakh.

‘Nest Fest’ has been organised at SSPMS Grounds from February 6-8 from 10 am to 8 pm. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

City-based real estate development company, Kolte Patil Developers Limited, will be organising ‘Nest Fest 2015’, a mega property expo, in the city.

The realty major’s CEO Sujay Kalele said, “Nest Fest offers homebuyers a wide range of options from our 13 top class projects. Those booking their homes during the exhibition will get many benefits, including a special home loan plan, besides discounts on over 20,000 different products from over 200 different brands. The buyers will get home insurance for 10 years and

Advice

Catch up with developments in Pune as the week comes to a close

BLV Prasad, a scientist from physical and materials chemistry of CSIR-National Chem ica l Laboratory (CSI R-NCL), Pune, has BLV Prasad been elected as a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc), Bengaluru. After two post-doctoral stints, one at Tokyo Institute of Technology and second at Kansas State University under a NASA sponsored project, he joined CSIRNCL in 2003. His research interests include the synthesis of materials in particular nanoparticles and nanoscale materials. He has supervised 9 doctoral theses. He has nearly 100 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and fi led 5 international patents (2 US patent granted) and several indian patents to his credit.

TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly

• The sellers typically use methods such as free scratch/lucky cards to lure the consumers to enter into contracts • The consumers are invited to the seller’s office, where they are presented with an offer for membership in a holiday club. According to the seller, as a member you receive gifts, discounts on travel and accommodation • It will all typically be promised verbally • When the consumers sign the agreement they must simultaneously pay a huge deposit • Consumers find that the offer was not as good as promised, and it proves impossible to terminate the contract and get the money back

$250,000 fine.

Shah was the president and CEO of SOHM and Costas, both based out of California. He was accused of paying kickbacks to an investment fund representative in exchange for buying stock in the two companies.

The fund representative was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent working on an investigation into fraud in the market for penny stocks, the report said. Penny stocks are less heavily regulated than stocks that trade on major exchanges such as the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.

students- to prepare for the winter.

The mandal also runs a small library for the neighbourhood residents and children, says Shaikh, explaining that a lot of money can be saved if spent prudently on just decorations, sound systems and other such expenses.

As a part of its activities, the mandal has rented out some space to a tea vendor and the rent is used for the Ganeshotsav celebrations.

Ni ne te enyears-old Sheldon, a BBA student, helping others and doing something constructive for society brings lot of joy to everyone involved in the celebrations.

Associated with this youth group since childhood, he says his fellow members hail from different castes, creed and religion.

The Ashok Chakra Mitra Mandal close to Shivaji Market, Camp, is celebrating its golden jubilee this year and has a number of Muslims as its members, said Faiyaz Khan, one of Headed by Raghuvir Vanal, this

(IIM)-Shillong to emerge as creative leaders to bring about the required change in the country.

“I want to see all of you as creative leaders to bring about the required change,” Kalam said, while delivering a lecture “Dimensions of National Development” at the prestigious B-school on Thursday.

The “missile man”, as Kalam is also known due to his background in aerospace engineering and his role in India’s

indigenous missile development, is one of the visiting faculty members in IIMShillong.

Kalam spoke about the challenges that India and the world were facing and emphasised the role of leadership to tackle these issues and develop possible solutions to ensure socio-economic development.

He said the key requirement for achieving a distinctive profi le for the nation was by creating sustainable enterprise-driven models at the rural level. Kalam urged the students to emulate a development model to bring

Pune brands go pan India

PUNE’S PEOPLE PURPOSE

BY PRIYANKA NEW DELHI: India not only has the dubious distinction of having one of the worst road accident records in the world, but these are taking more and more young lives, particularly of school children.

Road accidents have left nearly 70 children dead and many injured since the start of 2013, a NGO has said.

dents were killed and some 20 injured when their school bus was rammed by a speeding train at an unmanned rail-road crossing in Telangana Thursday. The dead included the school bus driver.

Although the number of school children is a minuscule part of the total number of Indians dying daily on the roads, activists say most accidents are avoidable.

I dislike about Will’s school?

Are my and my efforts in both on an excursion in these Maharashtra on Piyush Tewari, founder and presistandards really too high or are people crafts are unfolding.

December 7, 2013. dent of Save Life Foundation, said —Priyanka working in Chopra the education field really In an accident in Tamil Nadu’s holding an adult “accountable for safetyjust that ignorant.” The next morning, Pudukottai district in June 2013, a of children while on the move” andshe received a call asking her to meet mini van collided with a bus, killing having child safety laws would act as the principal when she dropped off seven school children. deterrents. her son at Sonshine Christian AcadAnother seven children died when Two accidents this year injured 12emy, a private religious school, in Flortheir bus fell into a gorge in Jammu and school students. The first took placeida. To her shock, the school decided Kashmir’s Anantnag district in April May 12 in Greater Noida in Uttarto expel her son.

2013. In July last year, 11 students were Pradesh, injuring two students. Ten killed and 20 injured when their bus hit students were injured in adjoining Noia truck in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh da April 29 when their school bus was district. hit by a state-run bus.

Contd on p 10 Three children died when their

‘Chayan’ promises to offer shelter, legal support and counselling to couples in case of outburst from families

BY YASH DAIV @yash009

RAHUL RAUT

&DESERTED

DEAD

“Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) is one such system which I suggest will help in providing opportunities through cooperative working of resource and social entrepreneur in the rural areas,” he said.

“PURA is the creation of physical, electronic, knowledge connectivities leading to electronic connectivity of rural regions. With this combined and planned intervention of infrastructure, digital technology, information and enterprise, we can select a cluster of about 20 to 50 villages, which share core

“We collect money and support poor patients in the hospitals.

Our members also support orphans in different orphanages in the city,”

from 20 last year and 23 the year Central minister with regards to this before, according to the list published project soon,” Bidkar said, adding that in the web edition of Forbes Asia. an announcement on the forthcoming China’s tech companies made a state assembly polls is expected in PUNE, OCTOBER 11, 2014 www.goldensparrow.com strong showing, with Tencent the most a week or two and the BJP is keen valuable, having a market cap of $155.6 to push the Pune Metro project to a billion, nearly twice that of runner-up decisive stage before the Model Code India’s Tata Consultancy Services. of Conduct comes into force,” he said.

Lenovo is the biggest in terms of annual revenue of $38.7 billion, Continued on p 10

Pune’s hottest start-up, 2014 get top prize today

Muslims and Christians and they are steadfast about the spirit of unity in diversity and respect for all religions that defines the nation, said Khan.

mouth

you take care of your supporting this event and includes the roster in 2005. family.

Association of Software and Other notable National companies from —Julia Roberts Service Companies (NASSCOM), India include HCL Technologies, Indus (Tie, Pune), which makes the listTh fore the fifthEntrepreneurs time, SoftwareIndustries, Technologies Parks of and Sun Pharmaceutical (STPI), Mahratta Chamber Of which appears on theIndia list for the third consecutive time. Commerce Industries & Agriculture (MCCIA), PuneTech, iSpirit, IIM Mahindra & Mahindra also rejoins Ahmedabad’s the list after a two-year absence. Centre for Innovation Incubation IANS and Entrepreneurship, SME Joinup, Hinjewadi Industries Association (HIA), IACC, and Pune Open Coffee Club.

The four finalists for the top prize are: Scandid- a shopping technology start-up that enables shoppers to compare prices by scanning the product barcodes with one’s mobile phones; Framebench- a cloud based online collaboration, communication and feedback platform; Ecozen Solutions, started in September 2009 to promote awareness against poor energy management practices and elevate the Indian industry to the standards and expectations of a developed nation, and The Green Raddiwala which focuses on providing door-to-door services in collecting raddi or recyclable waste such as plastic, newspapers and the like.

Founded by Sushil Chaudhari and Madhur Khandelwal in 2012, Scandid also helps consumers find latest online and offline deals. The company previously won the regional round of the Seedstars World- a global start-up competition.

3 ECOZEN SOLUTIONS Framebench, founded by Rohit Agarwal, is a cloud-based online collaboration, communication and feedback platform. Framebench is a central workplace where one can store and share one’s creative assets. The company can help remote teams and

THE GREEN RADDIWALA clients to review, mark changes required on the assets and even host discussions on them in real time, which automatically gets documented for viewing later. This visual communication workflow allows for crisp & quick feedback.

Ecozen Solutions run by Devendra

Gupta, Prateek Singhal and Vivek Pande was started in 2009 to promote awareness against poor energy management practices and elevate the Indian industry to the standards and expectations of a developed nation.

It is with this view that this designed a pioneering and innovative micro Cold Storage- a solar powered cold storage system, which was primarily designed for the rural segment to serve their needs ideally. This innovative product can be suitably adapted for local conditions Great across thethings world. can happen when have the The you fourth finalist, The Green courage to yourself.

Raddiwala hasbebeen established by Michael Sam Nikhil Pagare—and Saurav Pasalkar to provide door-to-door services in collecting raddi or recyclable waste such as plastic, newspapers and the like.

Green Raddiwala purchases the recyclable waste from households at market rates and sells it directly to recycling industries. This drastically reduces environmental pollution. ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com

(Left to right) MANS state secretary Milind Deshmukh, president Deepak Girme and Dhanak secretary Asif Iqbal at SM Joshi Hall in Navi Peth on November 4

After several brainstorming sessions that probed into legal, religious and humanitarian aspects of marriage, the group devised the concept of Chayan (choice). These organisations aspire to make Chayan a national movement.

The conference began with an “oath of humanity” to promote the principle of non-discrimination based on caste, religion, language or gender.

Madhav Bhavge, secretary, MANS said Chayan is the need of the hour. “It could be a national level movement which would give shape to the ideas and suggestions that we have

“People blindly follow the vedic rituals. A person should be able to justify all his or her activities rather than following a tradition. If we are able to instil this attitude in the masses we will be able to eradicate class politics and in turn the problems of mixed marriages,” he said. Subhash Bhave, secretary, SM Joshi Socialist Foundation emphasised on the need for mass awareness. “People have a tendency to hide their marriages until the legal documents are ready. This attitude must be changed,” he said.

It was suggested during the deliberations that there should be a group of five to ten people in every district who will promote and provide assistance if required, for inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. yashdaiv@gmail.com

City takes lead over Delhi, Mumbai in the journey of product start-ups TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeeKLY Pune has emerged as the nation’s second-fastest product start-up hub in the country. A close second to Bangalore, Pune has taken a lead over mega-metros like Delhi and Mumbai.

This has been stated in the latest report by iSPIRIT, (Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable), a company mainly focussed towards the product industry.

“Pune is significantly ahead of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad,” the report said while

noting the product start-ups activity in Bangalore at 33% of India, Pune (21 %), Delhi and Mumbai (about 1112% each) and Hyderabad at 9%.

“Pune is definitely No. 2, which is excellent,” said Amit Paranjape, co-founder of Pune-Tech, an online tech portal for the tech and startup community in Pune.

Addressing a recent press conference Paranjape spoke about Pune’s viable ecosystem, which has been developing tremendously to enable entrepreneurs to launch an enterprise.

Others who shared this thought were Gaurav Mehra, past president SEAP and managing director, Saba Softwares; Maneesh Bhandari, director, Pune Division, Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad; Ashutosh Parasnis, president of SEAP and managing director of Qlogic; Ramaswamy Narayanan, vice president, SEAP; Vishwas Mahajan, president of TIEPune chapter and Navin Kabra, cofounder of Pune Tech. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Children, send us your paintings, poems & essays on

CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA Mention your name, age, standard, school’s name and contact number in your entry.

Last Date for Receiving Entries: Saturday, 22nd November Prize Winning Entries will be announced in this newspaper Entries may be sent to: The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune - 411030. Tel: 020-24324332/33

For Details SMS/Contact: Prachi, Tel: 9822619858 or Yash: 9762884007

Vow Factor The

From the

Ever wondered where thoroughbreds go after retirement? Or why jockeys are weighed before and after a race? Barnalee Handique has the answers

the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which is complicated, different in every state and plagued with controversies. “A platform like Chayan can help modify such a law,” he said.

Iqbal suggested that under the national platform one can create a secure place for couples who have mixed marriages. “We can offer them shelter, legal procedures and counselling in case there is an outburst from the families,” he said.

Chayan would ensure the smooth functioning of the legal structure pertaining to marriage.

Deepak Girme, president, MANS said society’s mindset have deep religious roots. Having worked with the late anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabolkar for 25 years, he said any religious text should be questioned.

Asif Shaikh (left) and Sheldon Fernandes (right) of Shri Shivram Tarun Mandal Trust preparing the decorations for Ganeshotsav

mandal runs a social organisation called Anzuman Faizane Raza and the members celebrate other prominent festivals and occasions such as Eid, Independence Day and Republic Day with equal fervor.

competencies and empower those using local enterprise. This would enable our country to grow by shared efforts and overcome the challenges faced by the society,” he said.

Charting out a link between creative leadership and economic development, the former president emphasised the importance of the role that change in leadership would play for ensuring success.

He also accentuated on the role of integrity among leaders for sustained success and development of the society. (IANS)

Horse,s

Prominent social workers from different parts of the country who promote intercaste and inter-religious marriages have decided to establish a national movement called Chayan (Choice).

This was decided at a meeting in the city on November 4-5 during a conference on ‘Right to Choice of Partner in Inter-caste and Interreligious Marriages’.

Activists from the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), SM Joshi Socialist Foundation, Rashtriya Seva Dal and Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal along with the voluntary organisation, Dhanak from Delhi, were present at this meet.

Six out of eight subways in the city are in a sad state of neglect and are closed to the public. Some are used as convenient urinating spots or as gambling dens. They are dirty, poorly lit and unsafe. Why can’t city subways be restored and made user-friendly for pedestrians? Also related is the complete avoidance of foot over-bridges by pedestrians. Why waste public exchequer and construct them if they are so very unpopular with the public? See Spotlight on p8-9

THE FINALISTS ARE...

the BJP’s newly elected city MP Anil Shirole, was to closely follow-up on the mass transportation project. Shirole focused on updating himself on the project and seeking clarifications on the project as proposed by the Congress-NCP government.

Pune FC enter Durand Cup final P 16

Nat’l movement to promote marriages of choice gets going

2FRAMEBENCH

a bid to counter the ruling CongressNCP government in the forthcoming polls, the BJP is chalking out its strategy to gain maximum advantage by announcing critical steps on the Metro project.

Speaking to this newspaper, BJP’s leader in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Ganesh Bidkar said that one of the top priorities for

SPORTS

WITH A

Carrying the torch in the battle against cancer P2

City subways are

Emerge as creative leaders: Kalam to IIM students SHILLONG: Former president APJ Abdul Kalam has urged students of the Indian Institute of Management

TGS LIFE

Telangana school bus accident resulting in the death of 19 students is part of a larger tragedy that demands immediate attention

Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh paying homage to martyrs at the Infantry War Memorial during his farewell visit to the Infantry School, Mhow in Indore recently

Boston Globe reported.

country as special markings for a survey by the British. India’s Zero Stone stands proudly in Nagpur, denoting the centre of the country.

The oldest and most famous of such milestones is located in Rome, the Milliarium Aureum (“Golden Milestone”) of the Roman Empire. The maxim “all roads lead to Rome” is believed to have originated from this monument.

A number of prominent cities in the world have their own “zero stones” and are proud of it, including Washington DC, Tokyo, Berlin, Buenos Aires...

The citizens of Pune and publicspirited organisations such as the MCCIA’s Janwani, INTACH, Pune International Centre and the National Society for Clean Cities, to name a few, need to lobby with the Pune Municipal Corporation’s Heritage Cell to do what is needed.

The Golden Sparrow on Saturday pledges its fullest support to such an effort. Get in touch with us at: editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com www.goldensparrow.com or Tweet us: @TGSWeekly

Generosity & communal harmony define these mandals

What is going wrong with road safety in India?

convicted in stock scheme WASHINGTON

On Wednesday, when this newspaper took a review of Pune’s Zero Stone on the footpath outside the General Post Office (GPO), the sight was pathetic to say the least.

With white paint spilled over it, there was a sweeper’s broom lying next to it and rubbish all around. A tea vendor was stationed with his cart next to the stone.

In 2006, when this journalist fi rst reported on this small, yet valuable piece of Pune’s heritage, there was a watermelon seller sitting on the stone, using it as a convenient stool.

The Zero Stone is a very special milestone as it signifies the geographic location of a city and the point from where distances are established between towns and cities. As such, it ought to be restored, fenced and beautified so that the children of this city, other citizens and tourists can go back to the time when Pune was taking shape under the British, bit by bit.

There are just 80 of such special milestones that were installed in the

ILLUSTRATION BY GAURI BARVE KALE

A group of citizens has made serious allegations against the holiday club Country Vacations.

Vinayak Naidu, a member of the club, held a press conference at Patrakar Bhavan recently and said that the club 1.5 crore that is yet to return around `1.5 it took from the members. He said the consumer court has given its verdict in favour of the customers.

Vinayak Naidu, Mohsin Badiwala, Ketan Jain and Avinash Dighe started the agitation from the city with an aim to find victims throughout the country and include them in the campaign.

The club said that the accusers have pressed false charges against them.

“They are a bunch of goons who want to defame the club by framing charges,”

said Anuj Pandey, senior manager, Country Vacations.

The club’s higher authorities failed to respond to questions by this newspaper.

Naidu said that despite their opposition entering four months, the club still functions and it is a cause for worry.

“They target senior citizens, who end up losing their l i f e ’s

Kolte Patil Developers’ event will be held from Feb 6-8

RAHUL RAUT

TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly

PUNE

A Woman Of Substance

DEEPIKA PADUKONE

Talented, hard-working and a big league movie star, They are independent and opinionated and Deepika Padukone can also these 20-year-olds are going it solo when everyone around them is getting hitched. take a tough stand when Ishani Bose tells us more push comes to shove.

Anjali Shetty gauges public opinion See P10-11

PUNE’S FIRST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER

THE GOLDEN SPARROW TO SUBSCRIBE

ON SATURDAY

Contact your newspaper vendor today or The Golden Sparrow circulation executive for assistance Area TGS Executive Camp, Quarter Gate, Pune Station,Yerawada, Chandan Nagar ------------------- Ananda Hajare Kothrud, Karvenagar, Nalstop, Bhusari Colony, Warje ------------------------------ Prasad Lonkar Padmvati, Swargate, Sinhagad Road, Appa Balwant Chowk & Peth areas ------ Ananda Hajare PCMC, Kalewadi, Nigdi, Bhosari, Sangvi, Bopodi ---------------------------------- Yogesh Kolekar

Contact Number 7507169414 8421540282 7507169414 9011055077

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

PUNE

The first spam email was sent in 1978 over ARPNET by a guy named Gary Thuerk.

He was selling computers.

—www.buzzfeed.com

The Delhi assembly polls are really about Arvind Kejriwal

Cyber crime court curb online frauds

P 10

P 14

Local Internet search engine to make life easy for Puneites Rahul Jalan has launched www.puneonline.in a new city-based website under the India Online Network

BY Anjali Shetty @shetty_anjali The idea to add convenience into the lives of users is what got Rahul Jalan to start puneonline. in. This is a new citybased website under the India Online Network (w w w.Indiaonline.in).

The website aims at changing the concept of local search and the use of Internet for daily needs and requirements.

“We at puneonline. in, aspire to add convenience into the lives of our users by enabling them to make their daily search on the internet more refined and effective.

We felt the need to add some unique services into our existing bouquet of facilities in order to help local citizens, residents and tourists understand the panorama of the city of Pune in a much better light. These services and new options are only a way to make the website more interesting and better connected with its end users,” says Rahul Jalan, director, www.

puneonline.in. www.puneonline.in helps users to get accurate information to make informed choices in their city. It is a helping guide for the residents of Pune that offers localised services and information to fulfill their daily online requirements, thereby making it a rare platform in every way possible.

There are six innovative new services which have been introduced on www. puneonline.in including - ‘Get Online’, ‘Local Search Engine’, ‘Raise your Voice’, ‘City Guide’, ‘Classified Ads’ and ‘Online Obituaries / Tributes’ besides other services like local and international news, citizen journalism, events, live weather updates, interesting viral content and videos. These services have been introduced keeping in mind the requirement of the users looking for accurate city centric information in their respective areas.

“These services make the website more interesting for end users”

anjali.shetty@goldensparrow.com

Highlights of the services: 1. Get Online: This is a hassle-free, self-service platform which not only helps small businesses across the city to create their own website, but also generate customer leads and enquiries by listing them in the local search engines.

2. Local Search Engine: A local search engine for the city covering more than 90 categories of products and services (B2B and B2C) like restaurants, hotels, professionals (doctors, lawyers and the like), dealers, wholesalers, and manufacturers.

3. Raise Your Voice: A social interactive platform to give voice to the common man of Pune to post and share their day-to-day problems and file complaint against it, whether related to their locality, city, state or their country.

4. City Guide: City Guide section is a treat

for everyone – residents or the tourists visiting the Pune city, can find every bit of information like important Govt. phone numbers to list of restaurants, best places to visit, shopping, cab services, banks and gyms.

5. Classified Ads: Under this section, readers can post free classified ads under different categories like real estate, entertainment, jobs, electronics, home and lifestyle, cars and bikes, community and matrimonial. Readers can use this platform to buy or sell anything in Pune.

6. Obituaries / Tributes: For the first time in India, www.puneonline.in brings a unique service which allows its users to post free online obituaries and create permanent tribute pages for their loved ones who have left for their heavenly abode.

This partnership will enable Idea subscribers to download or procure local and global paid contents on the Windows Store. Windows Store currently offers over 550,000 plus apps.

Carrier billing increases the sales of apps multiple times.

“This development eases a consumer’s access to premium apps on Windows Store through a convenient purchase process,” Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular, said. Idea has 34 million data users.

Microsoft offers 81 mobile operator billing connections in 46 markets with carriers representing 2.5 billion total subscribers.

Operator billing helps developers increase revenues and Microsoft has witnessed an increase of eight times per

month for total paid transactions in emerging markets and three times in developed markets.

“Microsoft is constantly working on expanding monetisation options for developers on our platforms and this partnership is another step in that direction,” Harish Vaidyanathan, director - Evangelism at Microsoft Corporation India said.

“Unlike other parts of the world, credit card penetration in India is very low and this in turn impedes the consumer purchase experience and limits app monetisation. With the introduction of operator billing, we have seen significant increase in consumer commerce across developed and emerging markets,” he added.

— IANS

TED is a global platform where people from different fields come together and speak for 18 minutes or less about their respective disciplines. It was started in 1984 by a non-profit organisation called Sapling Foundation, under the slogan — Ideas worth sharing. Initially it organised conferences where matters related to technology, design and entertainment merged, but today it includes varied topics such as business, photography, art, science and the like.

TGS News Service @TGSWeekly

“Empathy is the key to any great innovation,” said Mileha Soneji, winner of the jury and audience poll awards at the TEDxDelft Award, held on November 28, 2014. An industrial Design Engineering student at TU Delft, Soneji’s presentation, Small

Steps, Big Results, was about her staircase solution to empower those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.

Soneji said she came upon the idea while observing a relative with Parkinson’s disease who found it easier to navigate stairs than he did flat surfaces. “I had a course called Design For Special Needs, while studying product design in India.

That was the first time I realised how challenging it is to design for people with special needs. And while I was pursuing this course, an uncle who I was very close to, was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. I really wanted to do something to help him,” said Soneji.

Spending time with her uncle and observing the difficulties he faced in his daily tasks is what gradually led her to the idea. “At the end of it all, I truly believe that having empathy and being

able to put yourself in another person’s shoes is what makes a great design,” she added.

From Pune, Soneji moved to Delft to pursue her masters. Having worked as a product designer for a while, she felt she needed to learn more about the subject in terms of market forces and design. And that is what led her to pursue the Strategic Design Course at TU Delft, Netherlands.

An incubator for ideas emerging at TU Delft, the award is supported

by YES Delft as a way to promote innovation on campus. Eight students from TU Delft had been selected in the month of November to present their ideas at the TEDxDelft Award.

As the winner, Soneji will be one of the speakers at TEDxDelft 2015 on February 27, 2015. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

RAHUL RATU

“Empathy is the key to any great innovation” Pune girl and Industrial Design Engineering student at TU Delft, Netherlands, Mileha Soneji, who won the jury and audience poll awards at the TEDx Delft Awards in November last year

Driven by strong adoption of cheaper smartphones and affordable data plans, the number of mobile Internet users in India is likely to escalate to 213 mn by June this year, says a report. According to the ‘Mobile Internet in India 2014 by industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, the number of mobile Internet users stood at 173 mn at the end of December 2014. Rural India is expected to account for 49 mn by March 2015 and 53 mn users by June 2015, growing at a rate of 33 per cent from October 2014. Urban India, however, would continue to account for a large percentage of the mobile Internet users across the country accounting for 143 mn by March 2015 and 160 mn by June 2015, the report said.

Hike Messenger acquires US-based voice-calling firm

Microsoft, Idea Cellular simplify app purchase To simplify mobile phone applications purchase, Microsoft and Idea Cellular have joined hands to introduce operator billing on the Windows Store for Idea subscribers, said Nikhil Mathur, director, B2B and operator channels, Nokia India.

Nokia India is a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile Oy. “With smartphones becoming more affordable, adoption of mobile internet is witnessing an unprecedented growth and we are confident that this partnership will further accelerate growth for the app ecosystem with mobile internet users making a shift towards consuming premium apps and content on their devices,” Mathur said.

He mentioned that the company in future will also tie up with other telecom service providers.

India to have 213 million mobile Internet users by June: report

Home-grown chat application firm Hike Messenger has acquired USbased voice-calling company Zip Phone, it said in a statement here Thursday. The acquisition is aimed at expanding Hike’s product range in the internet-based communication space, the company said, declining to disclose the acquisition sum.“Zip Phone’s technology will allow us to bring free voice calling to the market much faster. Incidentally, this is one of the top requested features from our users as well,” Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder and chief executive officer, Hike Messenger said.

Zip Phone, a one-man start-up founded by Anuj Jain in the US, has developed a voice-calling app that works globally. Launched in December 2012, Hike has over 35 million users and has raised $86 million from Tiger Global and BSB till date.

Apple appoints Hewlett Packard veteran John Solomon Former Hewlett-Packard (HP) executive John Solomon, has been appointed by Apple, according to a new report from Recode. The 20-year HP veteran is likely to boost enterprise sales of Apple products. Solomon’s role and title is still not clear, but Recode quoted sources saying that Solomon will be “central to Apple’s push to boost sales to big companies and government agencies with large technology budgets.” Solomon’s appointment could be seen as a significant hire for Apple, as the company has never made a strong effort in enterprise sales. Apple’s big enterprise push only came in July last year, when it joined hands with IBM to sell iPhones and iPads with specialised software.

UK may ban WhatsApp, under new anti-terror laws Online messaging services like WhatsApp and Snapchat are likely to be banned in Britain as prime minister David Cameron has solemnly vowed to introduce a slew of legislations that would deny terrorists a “safe space” to communicate online. This move has been taken on the bacground of a of a series of terror attacks in France. The proposed legislation would give a new legal framework that will authorise British intelligence agencies to keep a tab on the communications of terror suspects if they come to know of an imminent attack.

Several messaging services like, Snapchat, Apple’s iMessage, WhatsApp and others, encrypt messages sent through their applications are likely to be banned, if the legislation comes into effect. However, that will be known only if Cameron is elected for a second term in Downing Street.

WhatsApp can now send messages from Web Browser WhatsApp, the popular mobile messaging application, acquired by Facebook last year for nearly US $22 bn, has come up with a new service for sending messages from a Web browser. WhatsApp, which apparently has over 500 mn users, said its Web service will be a “mirror” and would need an Internet-connected phone to work. Its web client is just an extension of its phone services: the Web browser mirrors conversations and messages from one’s mobile device, which means that one’s messages will be live on one’s phone,” WhatsApp said in a blog post. The new messaging service currently only works with Google’s Chrome browser and will not be available to iPhone users owing to Apple platform limitation language.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

“Confederation of Indian Industry did a survey where they found that the number of women in the engineering corporate sector is just 6 per cent. It’s very difficult to get women engineers. ” —Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson ,Thermax Ltd

With a view to project a very business-friendly image and get more start-ups on board, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to keep aside dedicated areas or warehouses for start-ups to grow under the guidance of NASSCOM. The first of such an area will get operational at Tidel Park in Chennai. As a major initiative to aid young entrepreneurs, from 2014 to 2015, the state government will make available, 10 per cent of the space exclusively for Information Technology Incubation Centres as ‘Warehouses for Start-ups’ in all information technology parks developed by the government.

Are you marketing in the 21st century?

START-UP MENTOR

Businesses have to take important decisions on matters such as where to put their dollars. With a major transition in commerce, 99 per cent of businesses often make the wrong decisions with their strategy, largely because they don’t understand the value of using marketing techniques that are geared for the 21st century.

To delve in that topic at length, The Indus Entrepreneurs, Pune Chapter, will be organising, an interactive breakfast session called, ‘Are you Marketing in the 21st Century?’ on January 27, Tuesday, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am, at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) on Senapat Bapat Road.

Vishwas Mahajan

Emberify’s mobile apps simplify life

Wanowrie-based final year CoEP student Shashwat Pradhan’s start-up is poised to revolutionise the mobile start-up space with user-friendly apps; amongst them one that helps cut down mobile phone usage!

Challenges that Pradhan faced

RITU GOYAL HARISH @ritugh You may wonder why a 21-year-old would invent a mobile application that will help reduce its usage based on daily usage information. But to think out of the box has been one of Shashwat Pradhan’s , fourth year student of Computer engineering at the College of Engineering, Pune’s major strengths.

Son of engineers from IIT Kanpur, Pradhan started developing mobile applications in the first year of his engineering. He co-founded three ventures Decoding, Hack Planet and ReFocus Labs, which were eventually taken over by his partners.In July 2014 he launched Emberify, a start-up working on consumer based analytic and utility apps. “We are using contextual information, cloud integration and analytic technologies to offer our users a better, relevant and enhanced mobile experience,” he said.

Reminder Now launched in September 2014 is an app based on contextual reminders has the ability to help you decide gifts for people based on the information you store about them on your phone. It made it to number 1 on top paid apps in BlackBerry World.

It costs USD 2 for a single download and Emberify registered over 5000 paid downloads in two and a half months of its launch.

According to Pradhan, the idea for Reminder Now came out of a personal need. “If there is an innovative use case for something people need, they won’t hesitate to use it.” he observed.

Emberify also launched Instant - a lifestyle app that automatically tracks daily usage of the phone by the user. It also tracks the number of times the smartphone has been unlocked. While the Blackberry version was launched in August 2014, the Android version launched early this year was featured on Product Hunt, a website

• To build a team, inspire them and sell the idea, to find people with similar passions • To create an impact in other’s lives

Start-Up success • Emberify has been accepted into a start-up mentoring programme by Facebook called FbStart • The company is a BlackBerry Enterprise Partner

that curates the best new products in mobile apps, websites and technology. “In five days of its launch we have about 4000 users” revealed an excited Pradhan. The app is free to download and helps discerning users who want to reduce their smartphone usage to track and make necessary changes.

To Pradhan, understanding the ‘business’ of apps didn’t happen overnight.

“I built 20-30 simple apps in my early college days and burnt my fingers as they didn’t do anything” he highlighted adding that amongst the two million odd apps in existence today, thousands of them are ‘zombies’ a term that is used to indicate that they remain unused.

Pradhan confessed that his short and successful journey would have been different had it not been for the mentorship he received from individuals in San Francisco and London. “They inspire and support and give me valuable advice. They don’t spoon feed and I don’t want to be spoon fed either,” he said.

Payback for him, is mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and app developers in India. He gave words of caution for them. “Plan A won’t necessarily work. A developer should have ability to pivot and move on, and not hold on to his idea.”

While he acknowledged that the mobile market in

“A developer should have the ability to pivot and move on”

Challenges in outcome-based pricing model

This feature is a collaboration between The Golden Sparrow on Saturday and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), the world’s largest non-profit network of entrepreneurs. For additional questions about your entrepreneurial challenges, write to mentoring@pune.tie.org

We are a small IT Services company and work with a customer in US developing software. We are on monthly payment mode, but they wish to change the billing to ‘outcome-based’. We don’t know the nuances of this. Can you guide?

-Anurag Mittal In last week’s column we discussed the nuances of ‘Outcome-based Pricing’ that your customer is asking you to transition to.

As we discussed last time, despite the many advantages seen by both customers and service providers who are parties to successful outcome-based contracting arrangements, this contracting model is still not standard practice. This is especially true in IT Services business that you are into. If you are a small company, you will need to be careful in negotiating an ‘outcome-based’ contract with your customers.

Below are some of the key challenges that organisations face – and need to understand — in successfully implementing an outcome-based strategy.

1. Defining the desired outcomes Unlike more conventional contracting models, outcome-based contracts do not set out detailed technical or operational specifications of the individual activities and tasks that a service provider is to perform, the resources used in those activities and the precise way in which the service will be delivered. It articulates requirements in the form of end goals — business outcomes — without specifying exactly how these are to be achieved.

In IT field, this is easier for Infrastructure Maintenance and Support (IMS) business that can identify the uptime SLAs. However, in software development type of activities, this is quite difficult. It is, by nature, an evolving process with shifting goal posts. Additionally, there is no one standard for this ‘creative’ process.

Equally, the transfer of risk to the service provider must be appropriate in the context of the services in question –a service provider will resist taking on the customer’s business risks, as these will be beyond its control.

2. Measuring performance Sound performance measures are critical to ensuring a successful outcome-based procurement arrangement. At its simplest, the contracted “outcomes” should be objective,

measurable, clear and realistic.

Both the level of required “outcome” and the related key metrics need to be considered and clearly set out. This is fundamental in an outcome-based contract. If you can’t measure the required “outcome”, you can’t manage performance, and you can’t properly remunerate on the basis of performance. A lack of relevant metrics or unenforceable metrics is often cited as one of the primary pitfalls of implementing a successful outcomebased contract, as per McKinsey report on this topic.

The process of establishing appropriate performance standards relies heavily on the data available. The more comprehensive, accurate and robust the data that the customer has — in particular, historical and supporting data about performance, costs, variable factors and barriers — the easier it will be for both parties to reach agreement on appropriate performance standards.

In software development, this is a big challenge.

3. Pricing One of the fundamental underlying features of an outcomebased procurement strategy is the direct relationship between performance and the payment of fees. This can be most thorny in case

of software projects.

Please note that moving to an outcome-based model entails, is the cultural shift in organisational thinking.

Going forward In the current economic climate, with organisations increasingly under pressure to extract more value from their service providers, deliver results and remain competitive through innovation, the adoption of outcome-based contracting is gathering pace. As familiarity with the model grows, and the advantages that organisations stand to gain over traditional contracting models are more publicised, this trend is set to continue.

As I said earlier, businesses must brace for this challenge because customers are driving this transition. If you don’t respond, be sure, a competitor will.

Vishwas Mahajan, president

India is huge and is growing quite steadily, monetising

by Indians is very low. “Indians don’t spend a lot on buying apps though they will spend on its usability, if they do”, he added. In the four years that he has spent creating apps, he has understood the need of Indian mobile users. “In my experience, people with high end devices probably buy more apps and small apps are widely downloaded because of their user friendliness.”

Emberify functions with a team of three developers, one designer, one support staff, and Pradhan who attends college and spends 8 hours a day at their Wanowrie office. Does all work and no play make Pradhan a dull boy? He replied in the negative adding that he ‘chills out’ with his older brothers, and plays chess and makes music.

To Pradhan the road ahead for Emberify l o o k s optimistic for growth. “We want to focus on innovative apps, and build a good product, with a g o o d use case, and good design.

We want to explore newer contextual technology to make life for mobile users easy”, he said.

RAHUL RAUT

TN to set incubator for startups

“With the ‘Innovate in India’ fund, Infosys will invest in great Indian startups, help amplify their engineering and operations, as well as help bring their innovations to market at scale.”

—Vishal Sikka, the CEO and MD ,Infosys

ritugoyalharish @gmail.com

Designing games to earn a living Neetu Saraogi has opened her own institute to teach gaming and design

BY BARNALEE HANDIQUE @barnalee For 14 years, Neet Saraogi, 42 worked at DSK Supinfocom, International School of Animation, Game and Design as a marketing professional. Her job entailed travelling around the country promoting gaming and design. She became so involved with her job that she soon mastered the intricacies of gaming and design.

Saraogi decided to make it her full time profession and train students in this particular area.

In 2013, she opened Ezetrix Gaming and Animation Institute on FC Road, behind Vaishali hotel.

The institute offers one year diploma programs in Game Art and Design, game Programming, Animation, Android Apps Development, and I-Phone Apps Development, Online Games and Comic Design. Saraogi has re-engineered the methodology of teaching and the curriculum to respond to the demands for employees in the gaming industry. She invested `50 lakh in the business.

RAHUL RAUT

Signposts

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Saraogi said, “Gaming as a career still has not been explored. People are still not aware of it. Others do not perceive it as a sound profession.” Initially, Saraogi faced many hiccups. The response was slow. To spread awareness about this niche area Saraogi held seminars and events at educational institutes across the city. Presently, there are 25 students pursuing the course at the academy.

According to Saraogi, if you can play games, you can design them too.

The course is open to all. The two and a half years diploma course is especially apt for engineering students who completed their course and do not want to pursue a routine job. The fees of the course is `2.50 lakh.

The course has been divided into designing and programming. After completing different programming courses, the students have to design games. “The student is first taught how to sketch characters. The characters have to be strikingly coloured. It depends on the versatility of the designer to make their characters stand out,” explained Saraogi. Later these characters become a

part of the games the students create. If the student is into designing and he/she has created a game, it cannot be perfected without the help of a programmer. These games are not for sale and are available on YouTube.

Saraogi and her two instructors provide hands on training. “If a student joins the course, in the middle of the session we teach them individually till he/she is able to grasp the subject.” The institute also provides comprehensive, hi-tech resources to educate students in the areas of self assessment, career exploration and career planning.

Saraogi personally looks after the placement of her students. Students who have passed out from the academy have been placed at Spiel Studio and Underdogs Studio in Mumbai and Reality-Premedia in Pune. Students who are still looking for jobs are encouraged to keep designing and programming games at the institute. The academy is open from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6pm. barnalee.handique@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

PUNE

JANUARY 24, 2015

Key initiatives since May 2014

India’s Hopes Aspirations rest on his shoulders

MODI ON THE RIGHT TRACK; NEEDS TO BE CAUTIOUS Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The hopes and aspirations of 1.2 billion people in the world’s largest democracy rest on the shoulders of 64-year-old Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi.

As India celebrates her 66th Republic Day on Monday in the presence of US President Barack Obama, Modi’s vision for the nation will take centre stage. Concrete measures will follow in the Union Budget in February.

There is a widespread consensus among intellectuals that Modi is the right man, in the right place and at the right time for India. The challenges, however, are daunting.

Modi’s array of initiatives include launching the national cleanliness drive and developing strong foreign relations by visiting many countries, including the US

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GST BILL, A PARLIAMENTARY LANDMARK The tabling of the long-awaited national Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill by the Modi government on Deecember 19 has been termed as a ‘parliamentary landmark’ by The Economist.

GST will replace a range of state taxes. A number of challenges, however, await the implementation of GST.

PRASHANT SINHA

Modi’s assessment by top intellectuals

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SWACCH BHARAT ABHIYAN: A major national initiative to usher in a culture of cleanliness in the country.

Campaign was launched on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2014 at Rajghat where prime minister

R Jagannathan, Editor-in-Chief, Network18

Arun Shourie

“I am sure sincere efforts are being made and they may yield results, but as Akbar Allahabadi said, ‘Plateon ke aane ki awaaz toh aa rahi hai, khaana nahin aa raha (The plates’ sound can be heard but the food is not coming)’,” said former Union minister, ex-editor and author Arun Shourie during an Ideas Exchange interaction at The Indian Express last month.

According to Shourie, the focus of the Modi government has been on announcing new schemes. Each announcement adds to the task of the government/state and ‘people in office think their marks will depend on the number of schemes they have announced’.

Real reforms would happen when the role of the State is reduced in our lives. “We continue to do the opposite.

That’s why things don’t happen.”

In Shourie’s view, while Modi is an agent of change, he has the humoungous task of reshaping ‘an ocean’.

Undertaking reforms would require change to occur at all levels - merely changing the top person won’t help.

Reforms need to be much deeper.

Swachhta is a wonderful idea. It involves both society and the State in cleaning public spaces. If the State succeeds in generating a movement, it would be very good.

Unlike a small state like Gujarat, “India is diverse and very large and in the words of a highly influential person, ‘It is not a municipality, it is the federal government of India;’ It cannot be run by small numbers.”

When asked whether the government was handling issues relating to the Muslims well, Shourie said he agreed ‘with Modi’s general approach, which is to provide facilities across the board, not on the basis of caste or religion’.

In his view, “development requires focus, and Modi has to ensure that focus, which means you must also control the fringe elements. You cannot talk development in Delhi and love jihad in Muzaffarnagar. It distracts. If love jihad was so dangerous, how did the phenomenon stop after voting?”

“Regardless of what happens in the Delhi elections in February, for Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley 2015 should be a year for good economics, not indifferent politics,” said R Jagannathan, editor-in-chief, Network18 in his column on Firstpost.com (See The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, January 17) He pointed out that since global growth is slowing, India’s economic revival would depend on what is done on the domestic front, ‘and not on good luck from abroad’.

If reforms are not undertaken, it would lead to recession.

According to Jagannathan, February’s budget is the only window available for setting the year’s economic agenda. “After February, the NDA’s focus ought to be on getting key legislation — for which several ordinances have been issued — passed. This means, even politics must be focused on getting the legislative agenda through parliament, even if it means letting the BJP’s short-term political interests slide for a while.”

MODI IS NOT MOVING FAST ENOUGH Aruna Roy, social activist & Magsaysay awardee There was ‘more rhetoric but very little action’ from prime minister Narendra Modi said social activist Aruna Roy about two-and-half months ago while speaking at a session on ‘A New India: Free, Fair and Prosperous’ during India Economic Summit, organised by WEF and CII. Rather than tweeting constantly, Modi, as a representative of the people, needs to talk frequently to the people, she said.

“While Modi has been using social media to communicate with the people, the conversation has gone only in one direction. He is there as a representative of all of us. But he can’t just tweet to us. He can’t just have an email address. He has to talk to us,” said Roy, founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana and formerly a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council.

The government, according to her was ‘opaque’.

She was of the view that the poor people in the country were ‘unhappy and distressed by a whole spate of promises that have not been fulfilled’.

Her complaint was that ‘Modi is not moving fast enough’ and that there was ‘more rhetoric but very little action and, in some cases, they are going backwards’.

SHOW ECONOMIC IMAGINATION, INSTITUTIONAL REGENERATION Pratap Bhanu Mehta, policy analyst & columnist President of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, Pratap Bhanu Mehta wanted the Modi government to show ‘economic imagination, institutional regeneration and ideological assurance’.

He wanted the government to show greater maturity and restore institutional credibility by not resorting to the ordinance route to get its legislations cleared.

“The Opposition may have stalled Parliament. But the prime minister could have seized the political initiative with simple gestures like, ‘I will answer all questions in both Houses of Parliament for at least one hour a week,’ Mehta wrote in his column in The Indian Express.

The government needs to take steps to be able to make the transition from crony capitalism to wellregulated capitalism. Without this, it won’t be able to give a boost to the infrastructure sector with credibility.

Mehta also noted that a modern state has to be a welfare state. “Rather than ad hoc cuts here and there, the government will need to spell out its roadmap for a welfare state that is credible and effective. This is particularly so in a context where rural wages are likely to stagnate over the next year or so,” said Mehta. According to him, a good welfare state is both politically and economically prudent and a government that lets itself be ideologically confused about this will be in continued trouble soon.

Narendra Modi himself cleaned a road.

eign direct investment), job creation, self-reliance and greater indiginisation in the defence sector.

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5

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PRADHAN MANTRI JAN DHAN YOJANA PRIME MINISTER’S PEOPLE MONEY SCHEME: Th is massive programme was launched for comprehensive financial inclusion on August 28. On the inaugural day, 1.5 crore bank accounts were opened under this scheme. By January 10, 2015, 11.5 crore accounts were opened.

MAKE IN INDIA: Launched on September 25, 2014 to attract businesses from around the world to invest and manufacture in India. The goals of this campaign are FDI (for-

ORDINANCES ON LAND ACQUI SITION AND INSURANCE: Major initiative by the Modi government to eliminate barriers in a range of sectors like power, housing and defence to kick-start stalled projects.

The Ordinance on the Insurance Bill will pave the way for greater FDI in the insurance sector.

Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, Nassim Nicholas Taleb was supportive of Modi and wanted him to be cautious.

Among the prominent speakers at the ET Global Business Summit, Taleb said in an interview to Economic Times, “Modi means business, but he should not get carried away by the promise of plenty by the advocates of agricultural technologies since scientists are yet to prove such crops are harmless.”

He wanted Modi to be “more careful about agricultural technologies that are on test”; especially GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

Barring that note of caution, Taleb was highly supportive of the prime minister “If I were an Indian, I would have voted for him,” he said.

ACT EAST POLICY: Under this policy, the government will strengthen relations with East Asian nations and also pay greater attention to the needs of the Northeast.

There’s support for Modi but Pune wants ‘action’

FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON REFORMS

THERE IS NOISE IN THE KITCHEN, BUT WHERE IS THE FOOD?

PUNE

BY TEAM TGS @TGSWeekly A cross-section of Punekars ranging from vegetable vendors and autorickshaw drivers to homemakers, working professionals and senior citizens said they had heard enough through speeches and vision

government had started off on a good note and much depends on support and participation of the citizens in the various initiatives.

“The cleanliness drive is a great step towards the progress of the country. The most important aspect which I want the government to look into is communalism,” she said.

Amartya Sen, economist & Nobel Laureate

MODI IS GOD’S GIFT TO INDIA Jagdish Bhagwati

The well-known professor of economics and law at Columbia University recently described prime minister Modi as ‘God’s gift to India’.

In an interview to Economic Times on the sidelines of the ET Global Business Summit, Bhagwati said, “I’ve met a number of statesmen like Merkel, Cameron, and lots of presidents. I have met all PMs (in India).

But he (Modi) is quite unique. He is handson and not inhibited by any ideological conceptions.”

In Bhagwati’s view, Modi was not shaped by any particular ideology but by an experience. “To him in the end it is to get the policies together and see what you can do to push (growth),” he said.

Obama arrives Jan 25, talks to see ‘substantive outcomes’ Barack Obama accompanied by his wife Michelle Obama will touch down in the Indian capital on the morning of January 25 on a three-day state visit that, besides the symbolism of being the first time a US president would be chief guest at the Republic Day parade, is expected to see ‘substantive outcomes’ from talks in the fields of defence, energy, climate change and trade.

Obama, who is arriving on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would arrive on Air Force One at 10 am to a flurry of activities, which would culminate in a visit to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

Modi and Obama would interact on at least seven different occasions during the three-day visit.

On January 25, Obama would meet President Pranab Mukherjee. On January 26, Obama would attend the Republic Day parade at Rajpath as the chief guest. On the last day of the visit January 27, Obama would address a select audience at the Siri Fort auditorium on “India and America: The future we can build together”. IANS

NARENDRA MODI HAS BROUGHT HOPE THAT THINGS CAN HAPPEN

I want to see a ‘Bhrashtachar Mukt Bharat’ and greater protection for small vendors and hawkers

I’m expecting to get domestic gas cylinder at minimum price and regular water supply

‘Bhashan’ should turn to ‘shashan’ leading to ‘rashan’ for the common man

Kiran Wanve, vegetable vendor

Dilip Jadhav, rickshaw driver

Anantaraman Narayana, senior citizen, Talegaon

statements and now want to see the evidence of good governance from the Narendra Modi government.

Speaking to The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, Anantaraman Narayana, a retired professor, said,” As a ‘young man’ of 82, being fit and fine, I felt highly energised by the new dispensation of Modi.

However, in the last few months, what one sees is too much of ‘bhashan’ which should turn to ‘shashan’ leading to ‘rashan’ for the common man.”

He said that India can ill-afford the divisive attempts made by the Hindutva brigade which needed to be checked and controlled.

While Chinchwad-based homemaker Varsha Deshpande was eager to see good, corruption-free governance, better safety for women and lower prices of essential commodities, Prita, a 27-year old software professional and hockey player, wanted the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to be implemented more rigorously.

Mandar Karanjkar, a 25-year-old artist and corporate employee, felt that the prime minister should now focus on fulfi lling the promises that he made over the past seven months.

“I support the prime minister’s ‘clean India’ concept as it is a much-needed initiative,” said Rucha Ghanekar, 22, a psychology student.

Sharmishtha Roy, a homemaker from Aundh, was keen to see transparency and accountability in government functioning. She suggested that on the backdrop of the Swachh Bharat movement, school children should be taught about cleanliness far more intensely.

Arnavaz Damania, veteran sportsperson and managing trustee, Connecting NGO, said the new

Architect Iqbal Chaney felt that the new government should put in place effective checks to ensure that laws are not broken. “All departments must take steps towards good governance. The problems lie with bureaucrats. Why can’t they do what is needed to be done?” he asked. Chaney said that 90 per cent of the problems would be solved if the bureaucrats did their work diligently.

Ramesh Babulal Choudhary, a 73-yearold retired employee of Tata Motors, wanted the government to frame stronger policies for senior citizens. “At railway and bus stations there should be a special ticketing window for them. Similarly, there should be a special officer appointed for redressing grievances of senior citizens at police stations,” he said.

A high degree of scepticism continued to prevail with people wondering whether the Modi government would indeed deliver on its promises.

“All political parties give promises to win polls and forget them later. Modi has also promised to check inflation, weed out corruption and bring down prices of essential items. However, the new government has done little on any of these fronts.

We are expecting to get domestic gas cylinder at minimum price and sufficient, regular water supply,” said autorickshaw driver Dilip Jadhav.

Vegetable vendor Kiran Wanve wanted to see a ‘Bhrashtachar Mukt Bharat’ and greater protection for small vendors and hawkers.

(With inputs from Ishani Bose, Gitesh Shelke, Barnalee Handique, Ashok Bhat and Yash Daiv.) tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

On August 5, 2013, economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen had categorically said in an interview to India Today (August 5, 2013) that Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model of development which was being paraded as a success story was in fact a failure because of its poor record on education, healthcare, gender equality and other issues. Sena also wanted Modi to show greater commitment to secularism in the event of his becoming prime minister.

Last month, during an Express Adda interaction, Sen praised prime minister Modi “for providing a sense that things were once again moving in the economy, and for highlighting the need for toilets in the country.” Sen said that while he was critical of Modi, he had to accept that the prime minister “has given a sense of faith to people that things can happen. It may not be in exactly the same way that I would have liked to have happened… I think it is quite an achievement.”

At the same time, Sen said, “but our differences on secularism and other things don’t go away.”

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, MODI WON’T NEED ENEMIES Lord Meghnad Desai, economist & politician

British economist and politician Lord Meghnad Desai felt sorry for prime minister Narendra Modi, whose development agenda was being disrupted by the fringe Hindutva brigade from within the BJP and the Sangh Parivar.

In his column in Indian Express, Desai said these right wing disrupters ‘care not a whit about sabka vikas, let alone sabka saath. Likewise, Swachh Bharat was irrelevant to them and “Make in India” for them meant ‘making all minorities in India Hindu’.

Modi can maintain discipline in his Cabinet, but that’s not the same with his ‘backbenchers who pose problems’.

The BJP, thus, has a complex problem on its hand which it would have to deal with.

Delhi Polls

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

PUNE

“ The city of Delhi was the reason for my joining politics. Delhi has gone through a huge upheaval ever since this man’s (Kejriwal) entry (into politics). It stood still and it’s been only on an agitation mode which left a very bad taste in the mouth of Indians.”

— Kiran Bedi

RUN-up to Feb 7 polls ‘Money for vote comment aimed at cleansing politics’

Kiran Bedi will make better chief minister: Shanti Bhushan AAP founding member Shanti Bhushan on Thursday said that making Kiran Bedi the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in Delhi is a ‘master stroke’ and she will make a better chief minister than AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. “Kiran and Arvind were both part of the Anna movement, it is definitely a master stroke by the BJP because it is a success of the Anna movement. People want Shanti Bhushan somebody to be the chief minister who has an honest image...If a person who is a crusader against corruption becomes the chief minister, people will be happy,” said Bhushan. “Last year Kejriwal had offered the post of chief minister to her.

It means he felt she would make a better chief minister, but she did not join AAP. I think from the very beginning, she had some pro-BJP mind-set. I would have preferred if she was with AAP and had become the chief minister.” (IANS)

Maken ahead, Bedi and Kejriwal trail in assets race AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal owns assets worth about `2 crore, nearly `5 lakh less since his last declaration in 2014 for the Lok Sabha polls, while BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi declared assets worth `11.65 crore. Congress campaign panel chief Ajay Maken put his wealth at over `13 crore in the affidavit he filed along with his nomination papers on Ajay Maken Wednesday. In his affidavit to the Election Commission, Kejriwal said his movable and immovable assets were worth `94.26 lakh, while the assets of both these types of his wife was worth over `1.15 crore, including gold and silver of about `9 lakh. The former Delhi chief minister and his wife own properties in the National Capital Region worth over `1.85 crore. According to details provided by Bedi, she has movable and immovable assets worth `11.04 crore while her husband’s assets were worth `61.35 lakh.

Delhi will vote on February 7, while ballots will be counted on February 10. (IANS)

A total of 923 candidates filed nomination papers for the Delhi assembly elections. Of the total, 539 filed their papers on Wednesday, the last day for filing nominations, an official told IANS. The New Delhi constituency recorded the highest number of candidates - 23 - while the lowest number of candidature - six - was reported from Ambedkar Nagar constituency. The filing of nomination papers began January 14. A total of 1,404 nomination papers were filed till the last day. Scrutiny of papers will be done on January 24. (IANS)

Kiran will be the best CM Delhi ever had: estranged husband Kiran Bedi is a strong, intelligent and dynamic lady and will be the best chief minister the national capital ever had, claims her estranged husband Brij Bedi. But he says while his blessings are with her he will not take part in her electoral campaign because of other commitments. “Her decision to join politics was sudden and spontaneous; perhaps it was destined to be like this. She was inspired by the Prime Minister but I do not know what the BJP wants from her. (However) She has a proven track record. I am sure she will be the best CM Delhi ever had. She will serve the city honestly and change the political discourse of the country,” Brij told Firstpost over phone from Amritsar, where he runs a school for children of drug addicts. When asked if he was happy with her decision, he said, “Once she has joined a party and jumped into electoral politics, she should fight like a brave soldier. My blessings are with her.” (Firstpost)

Like May 2014, which was about Modi, February 2015 is about Kejriwal. Whoever wins, this is the real issue that will be tested

by R Jagannathan The only prediction that can be made with certainty about the Delhi Assembly Election scheduled for February 7 is that it will be unpredictable till the end. The reason, of course, is Arvind Kejriwal. The other prediction one is happy to make is this: defeat is not going to wipe out either the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or even the BJP. Both parties have it in them to revive themselves after a defeat for they are driven by emotional appeal, and not just normal politics.

But the central focus of this article is Kejriwal. He is the man who makes this election interesting, not Kiran Bedi or Narendra Modi or Ajay Maken. So it is worth expending a few minutes to decode the politics and appeal of Kejriwal, and how it has the potential to break the mould of Indian politics. However, he also has the potential to self-destruct, as he almost did last year with his 49-day tenure.

The big test in this election thus is not between AAP and BJP, or even between Kejriwal and Bedi/Modi, but between the Idea of Kejriwal and the Idea of AAP. The paradox of this election is that the Idea of AAP has taken second-place to the projection of the Idea of Kejriwal – as is evident from AAP’s slogan (Paanch Saal Kejriwal). This is no different from the Idea of Modi in 2014.

So let’s examine why Kejriwal is trumping AAP. He is the hero, AAP the cipher. AAP is now defined by who he is, and what he stands for, as against the original Idea of AAP (anticorruption, non-personality-based politics and ground-up empowerment). Not all of the original AAP is gone, but we will know only if Kejriwal wins this time.

The ANALYSIS Here is what is different about Kejriwal’s politics, and what is the same old politics clothed in new rhetoric.

What’s new: The main differentiator for Kejriwal’s version of AAP is that it talks the language of participatory politics. Unlike other parties (barring the BJP and the Left) its grassroots connect comes from middle class activism, driven by idealism and voluntarism.

What’s not new: Kejriwal does not have

AAP supporters participate in Arvind Kejriwal’s roadshow in New Delhi

a coherent ideology beyond the traditional freebie culture of the Congress, the regional parties or the Left. This is why in his 49day government, Kejriwal pushed his free water and electricity tariff cuts without even attempting to understand the economics of his gesture. If Kejriwal makes freebies his mantra, he will end up exactly where the Congress is today.

What’s new: Kejriwal has consciously sought to distance himself from the red beacon culture and opulent security.

He has tried to move directly among the people and thus eliminated the physical and emotional distance between leaders and the led.

What’s not new: Despite a veneer of humility and an attitude of listening to the people, Kejriwal actually believes he is a man of destiny. A personality cult has developed around him, and he seems to like it. While going through the motions of seeking people’s opinions on leading the government in December 2013, he did no such consultation

when it came to quitting in February after just 49 days. Clearly, like all leaders, he knows that every decision cannot be taken by popular vote.

What’s new: Kejriwal is a risk-taker, a gambler. This is why he took on Sheila Dikshit in December 2013, and Narendra Modi in Varanasi. He has also attacked big business by naming Ambani and Adani repeatedly.

His attack on Robert Vadra brought genuine scrutiny of his alleged misdeeds. What Arnab Goswami is to TV Kejriwal is to Delhi’s politics.

What’s not new: Intemperate attacks are not new in Indian politics. There is almost no party which has not attacked rival politicians or targeted businessmen in some way or the other. The late YS Rajasekhara Reddy targeted media that was close to Chandrababu Naidu, and also businessmen connected to those media.

The danger in this kind of targeting and mudslinging is that it can permanently alienate business in general, making the prospect of

The big test in this poll is between the Idea of Kejriwal and the Idea of AAP

The winner may be decided by which way Congress vote splits

by Sanjay Singh

The fight for Delhi’s vote is about personality, caste, religion, corruption and women’s safety

by R Jagannathan The battle for Delhi may seem like a popularity contest between Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Kiran Bedi, the BJP’s recent recruit and chief ministerial candidate, but the chances are this is going to be as close to a Left-Right fight as one can imagine.

In a sense, the fight for Delhi’s vote is as much a class war as it is about personality, caste, religion, corruption and women’s safety.

The injection of Bedi into the battle (with Narendra Modi acting as indirect support) is intended not so much to wean votes away from Kejriwal in the humbler, slummier pockets of Delhi as to ensure that the strong middle class following of Modi and the BJP in the capital remains with the party.

She already seems to be having an impact. The most recent ABP NewsNielsen poll shows Kejriwal’s lead for the CM’s chair is very narrow – just 47 per cent to 43.9 per cent. When the projected CM candidate was Harsh Vardhan in some earlier polls, the lead was huge – over 15 per cent.

However, the decisive tilt will come from what happens to the Congress vote. If we take Congress as a centrist party, but a bit to the left of the BJP, its dwindling vote share indicates that its base is splitting – the poor moving towards AAP, and the middle classes towards the BJP. In the India Today-Cicero poll of

BJP leader Kiran Bedi with party leader Vijay Goel, Union minister for science & technology and earth sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan and others proceed to file her nomination papers for Delhi assembly polls at Krishna Nagar in Delhi

early January, when Bedi’s candidature for the chief ministership was not on the horizon, the BJP’s vote share was said to be 40 per cent, AAP’s 36 per cent and the Congress’s around 16 per cent.

But the more recent ABP NewsNielsen poll shows the BJP and AAP almost level at 45-46 per cent, and Congress shrinking to just 8 per cent. Clearly, the larger chunk of the Congress vote may have shifted to AAP and BJP – but in a proportion we cannot know. While it may not be right to compare the results from two different pollsters, since their methodologies may have been different, the sharp drop in the Congress share is indicative of the fact that it is being squashed between the main contestants.

Three possible outcomes are possible

genuine entrepreneurship without cronyism difficult.

What’s new: Kejriwal has redefined street politics with doses of smart tactics and strategy. He has tried to use street power to attack the system. In his 49 days as CM, he exhorted ordinary people to do stings to check the corrupt, and, in one memorable midnight caper, his law minister tried to get the police to check alleged prostitution involving African women. That raid ended in ignominy, but the fact remains that Somnath Bharati tried to get the police to respond to the concerns of the community.

What’s not new: There is no Indian party that does not practice street politics. All real political issues are often settled on the street, and finally find expression through the ballot box. The problem for Kejriwal is that street politics ultimately leads to kangaroo courts and vigilantism - as Somnath Bharti found out to his cost. It is easy to agitate mobs, tough to rein them in.

What’s new: Kejriwal has by and large brought forth real issues, and largely eschewed sectarian politics. This is one reason why Muslims are looking at AAP as a potential alternative to failed ‘secular’ parties.

What’s not new: In the last election Kejriwal did dabble with minority politics by schmoozing with dubious clerics, but he did not carry it too far. But AAP is untested beyond Delhi, which is largely urbanised and hence less vulnerable to excessive sectarian appeal. One cannot be sure that Kejriwal will completely break away from the old politics of division practiced by all parties.

What’s new: Kejriwal has galvanised the middle classes, something that most political parties (barring the BJP) have ignored in the past.

What’s not new: Like every other party, Kejriwal has indeed accepted the need for divide and rule. He must have thought that taking on everybody would leave him without resources and friends.

Here’s the bottomline: Like May 2014, which was about Modi, February 2015 is about Kejriwal. Whoever wins, this is the real issue that will be tested.

By special arrangement with Firstpost.com

Kiran Bedi’s anointment as Delhi CM candidate is signature Modi politics

ians

Delhi polls: 923 candidates file nominations

The Delhi assembly polls are really about Arvind Kejriwal ians

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday, seeking to defend his comment asking Delhi voters to accept money from political parties but not to vote for them, said it would ultimately lead to cleansing politics. “The biggest problem is that these parties use black money to give bribe, distribute alcohol, and buy tickets. I am saying take money but don’t vote for them. This is not bribery,” KejriwArvind Kejriwal al told reporters here. “In a few days these parties will realise you don’t get votes by distributing money. This is how cleanliness will come in politics,” the former Delhi chief minister said.

“What is crime? Crime is if someone takes or gives bribe.

What is bribe? If I say take money from me and vote for me. If there is an exchange, it is bribe,” he said. (IANS)

Enterovirus outbreak and a paralysis mystery P 13

in this scenario.

If the bulk of the Congress vote splits half-half, we could have a hung house again.

If the poorer segments of the Congress vote shift to AAP, we could see Kejriwal in saddle again.

If the Congress manages to retain the bulk of its own vote (in December 2013, it got 24.65 per cent of the vote, but this time it will obviously be less), it is the BJP that could benefit, since it seems marginally ahead of AAP on the committed partisan vote.

For the BJP to benefit, the Congress vote should not fall too sharply this time. The key to a BJP victory lies with how well Modi and Bedi are able to get the uncommitted and Congress votes to Firstpost.com their side.

Naming Kiran Bedi, who has spent just 5 days as a member of the BJP and in the active politics, as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for Delhi is a big bold move by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. More so, when only two days are to go before nomination of candidates close and only 16 days are left when the campaigning would come to a halt.

In his press conference, the BJP chief, who eloquently dwelt on Bedi’s academic, administrative and social credentials, sent out a clear massage to all concerned within party, Parivar and outside that they should treat Bedi with due respect.

In Maharastra, Haryana and Jharkhand, the Modi-Shah duo discarded conventional political wisdom by choosing chief ministers outside of the numerically or socially dominant caste or community of the state concerned. That’s a gamble whose consequences will be known only five years from now.

All three – Devendra Fadnavis, Manohar lal Khattar and Rahgubar Das – had risen from the ranks in the party and had strong RSS rootings, and as the BJP sources point out, their personal integrity was the single most guiding factor in their nomination for the top post.

A ‘Kiran versus Kejriwal’ battle has placed BJP on an even keel with the AAP. Talking to the voters in various parts of Delhi, Firstpost got a sense that apart from the middle class — which in these elections have gone over to the BJP — sections of people who were otherwise considered to be mainstay of AAP are also revising their opinion. Also in the last elections AAP got a great deal of support from women voters. Her credentials as a non-nonsense police officer could potentially help BJP in convincing a number of women voters that the party is serious about handling issue of women safety in Capital.

The BJP is still banking on Modi’s charisma to win the Delhi elections, but unlike other states, Delhi voters are conscious of the fact that Modi, the PM can’t be CM. And it is here that Kejriwal is scoring over the BJP. By pitching Bedi in leadership position, the BJP has blunted that edge.

Bedi couldn’t be on the dais when she was formally anointed to be the chief minister in waiting. It’s a life time moment for any leader. She and her party bosses would be hoping that a bigger moment may await her when voting concludes in three weeks.

Firstpost.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

“India has made great strides over the last decade to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in endemic states and we are now on the verge of reaching elimination targets nationally. ” —CK Mishra, additional secretary and mission director, National Health Mission

“The women who are overweight but who do not have metabolic abnormalities are not at increased risk of breast cancer compared to [normal-weight] women.”

—Dr Marc Gunter, faculty of medicine, School of Public Health,

Women are more prone to thyroid disorders

The Way Forward With Compassion & Hope

Gratitude is the healthiest of all emotions

Untreated hypothyroidism during pregnancy can lead to an increased risk of miscarriages, stillbirth and premature birth

BY BARNALEE HANDIQUE @barnalee

Depression, sleepiness fatigue

My friend Decreased Geeta M, 42, metabolic has not been activity herself for the last couple of months.

She complains of feeling Decreased tired all the mental time, suffers processess Dr Uday Phadke from extreme mood swings, and she has put on a lot of weight. She thought that all this was the result of entering the Weak menopausal stage. That’s when she heart decided to consult a gynaecologist.

After listening to her problems, the gynaecologist suggested her to get thyroid tests done.

Thyroid is a small, butterfly shaped gland in the neck region, below or beside the Adam’s apple (lump or Loose protrusion in the human neck) that skin has significant implications for a underactive, person’s health. Proper functioning the patient may of the thyroid is essential for the have weight gain; person’s well being. Every aspect of the menstrual cycle metabolism, from heart rate to how Dry skin may change, and may fast one burns calories, depends on the & hair have dry skin. She may also thyroid gland. have swelling in the body and be Dr Uday Phadke, endocrinologist prone to depression. It all depends and diabetologist says, “The thyroid on the disturbance of thyroid levels. gland makes and secretes two These symptoms are common to other major iodine containing hormones, illnesses,” said Dr. Phadke T3 and T4, which act on target Phadke said there is a lot of hype cells and different organs of the body in the community about thyroid and and are carried in the bloodstream. Too people relate everything to it. Most much or too little of thyroid hormones common misconception about thyroid affect one’s health, the immune system is weight gain, which happens if the in particular, thereby making one thyroid is underactive. Phadke says more vulnerable to diseases. Several that one can lose weight with proper factors may throw thyroid off balance.” treatment. One should not expect There are different types of progressive obesity when the thyroid thyroids with a variety of symptoms. levels are normal.

“Sometimes thyroid is underactive, Around eight per cent of the adult overactive or normal. If the thyroid is

Infertility

THYROID RELATED SYMPTOMS

Cholesterol problem population suffers from thyroid problem.

Women are however, more prone than men to thyroid disorders. They can start during puberty and last a life time. Most people with thyroid problems have underactive and overactive hormones. Hypothyroidism occurs when the gland doesn’t produce enough thyroxine (hormone). It lowers the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is basically the number of calories your body burns at rest to maintain normal body functions. However, the extent to which BMR causes

Just for today...try this out

Earn your living honestly and diligently and have an attitude of gratitude towards “all living and non-living existences” in your life, says Dr Anil Patil

BY ANURADHA MURALIDHAR Dr Anil Patil, who offers multiple treatments under one roof, has a valuable piece of advice for today’s generation. He says, “Just for today do not get angry; just for today, do not worry excessively. Just for today, respect your elders, teachers and parents. Earn your living honestly and diligently and have an attitude of gratitude to all living and nonliving existences in your life.

These are the basic principles to be followed while mastering Reiki. As a Reiki Grandmaster, nothing more or less is needed to become a happy and worthy human being, says Dr Patil, who regularly attends to patients in the city, although he is Mumbaibased.

Founder, chairman and managing director of Vedicure Group Of Companies, Dr Patil has worked hard to get recognition for the integrated

medical system to cure myriad of disorders and diseases, without any side effects.

His knowledge of Indian and Oriental medical systems and years of experimentation and continuous innovations, has led him on the path to safe and efficient treatment procedures for a variety of chronic ailments.

Apart from being a MD physician, Dr Patil has established credentials in Music

“As a Reiki Grandmaster, nothing more or less is needed to become a happy and worthy human being.”

- DR PATIL

Therapy, Acupuncture, Naturopathy, Ayurveda and is a Reiki Grandmaster.

He is the innovator of the holistic healing technique called “Sanyukt Upchaar Paddhati” (Integrated Therapeutic Approach) and has been felicitated with the Indira Gandhi Sadbhavna Award 2007, Pride of Nation - Pratibha Sanman Award 2007, National Health Care Excellence Awards 2007 and the International Gold Star Millennium Award.

The “Sanyukt Upchaar Paddhati” combines the wisdom of ancient medical sciences and modern technology, to address a wide spectrum of ailments. It involves a combination of the best of all medical treatments.

His advice to one and all is to yearn for simplicity, irrespective of your material achievements. Th is, according to him, is the only medicine to enjoy a long and trouble free life. Live in the present (keeping the core values in mind) as if there were no tomorrow, taking one day at a time. Th is will reduce your expectations and anticipation which is the major cause of illnesses and unhappiness. tgs.feedback@ goldensparrow.com

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weight gain depends on the severity of hypothyroidism.

On the other hand, the over production of the hormones will lead to hyperthyroidism. It occurs when the thyroid gland releases too much thyroxine, causing metabolism and other organ functions to accelerate. Untreated Even hy perthy roidism weight may lead to gain heart failure and osteoporosis.

Hashimoto’s thyroditis, an auto immune condition, is the primary cause of hypothyroidism, the most comDecreased mon thyroid libido disability. In this disease, antibodies gradually destroy the thyroid hormones, causing a slowdown in the body’s system.

Most women dismiss symptoms of fatigue and depression as signs of ageing and Cold internally pre-menopause. However, failure to treat an under-active thyroid can cause anaemia, high cholesterol and heart disease.

A person who has achieved a normal thyroid status on treatment has the same propensity to lose or gain weight as a normal person. It is extremely important to incorporate caloric restriction and exercise in lifestyle if weight loss is to be achieved.

Undetected, untreated hypothyroidism during pregnancy can lead to an increased risk of miscarriages, stillbirth and premature birth. It is also detrimental to the infant’s neurological development.

Therefore, it is important to identify and treat Hyperthyroidism (excessive) and Hypothyroidism (less) at the earliest. barnalee.handique@goldensparrow.com

BY C RAVINDRANATH

I

f there’s one feeling that never fails to overwhelm me, it is gratitude. Aesop has said that gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

I can’t claim to be a noble soul but I do feel a strong sense of gratitude to all those who in some way or the other, havecontributed to what I am today. But for them and the experiences I had, I would have been a different person – perhaps better, perhaps worse, but for what I am, I’m grateful.

Christians offer their thanks to their Lord during all significant events and before every meal. As a non-believer, I offer my silent thanks to the poor farmer who has toiled in knee-deep mud to grow the rice I eat and to the plant that has sacrificed its seeds to assuage my hunger.

I quite agree with GK Chesterton when he says, “The critical thing in life is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

Zig Ziglar puts it differently: “Gratitude is the healthiest of all emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” Cicero says “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” Truly, what are feelings like patriotism, loyalty, humility and thankfulness but offshoots of gratitude?

We may extol gratitude as a virtue but do we really practise it?

How often do we thank the waiter who brings our food at a restaurant?

Do we realise that he has to serve others even if he is hungry? Are we grateful to our mothers or wives

for the food they cook or do we take them for granted? How often do we thank them with words or gestures of appreciation and acknowledgement? How would we feel if our acts of kindness went unrecognised? “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it,” said William Ward.

Another mistake most people make is expressing gratitude only to those who have been kind to them or have done them a favour.

I am grateful to my critics too for they have been honest and frank enough to show me what I was and how I could be better. I am grateful even to those who put me into embarrassing or difficult situations for I have emerged a stronger, more confident person after such experiences.

In fact, I am grateful for everything that has happened in my life, both good and bad. The only way I would prefer to look at my past is with gratitude for it is the past that has made my present. I am grateful to the present too for this will shape my future. I am also grateful to the future, simply because it exists.

Without a future there can be nothing called hope.

In my case at least, my sense of gratitude has also spawned contentment, for I am happy and grateful for what I have. But for this feeling, I would have been cribbing about what I did not have.

Therefore, I consider gratitude as something positive and enriching.

How would you consider it?

(The writer is a multi-faceted personality who believes in responding with compassion and hope to the difficult situations in life.)

Is a problem bothering you endlessly? Write in to us at wayforward@goldensparrow.com for advice and suggestions from C Ravindranath

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

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TH E EDIT PAGE

Editor’s pick

Modi has a track record of a doer. What he has done for Gujarat is there to see.

— Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons

Aswachha Bharat in our midst Prime minister Narendra Modi’s highpitched campaign on the Swachha Bharat Abhiyan has won the hearts of the people across the nation. From schoolchildren to eminent people and celebrities, everyone is supportive of this campaign and wishes to be a part of it. Politicians and socialites are often in the forefront of symbolically picking up the broom and posing for photo-opps. A substantial amount, running into a few hundred crore rupees, has been spent on promoting the campaign and a national task force has been established under the leadership of scientist RA Mashelkar, a Punekar we are proud of.

Why then are our streets and public places, public toilet blocks and those in official complexes still dirty and fi lthy? For months together the mangers of a Reliance Fresh store on Aundh Road have remained immune to the ugly sight of fi lth and garbage on their premises. While the megastore is fully functional and does good business from the neighbourhood community, one entire fl ank of the storefront which was always shuttered, became a place for accumulated garbage. A variety of refuse ranging from discarded polythene carry bags - which are most hazardous to the environment - to broken bottles and cardboard boxes remained scattered on this premises.

The volume would keep rising by the day as no one took responsibility for clearing this refuse.

The Pune Municipal Corporation’s sweepers do a good job in a area every morning; but clearly, the storefront in question falls under private property.

It was the duty of the managers to keep the storefront clean and presentable.

A manager from the store tendered an apology when this lapse was pointed out by this newspaper.

We, the people of India, have become used to dumping the smallest of responsibilities on the government and the civic body. When it comes to matters of cleanliness, we are content with keeping our homes spic and span and dumping rubbish on the streets. We set a bad example before our children by spitting on the roads and thoughtlessly adding to the litter on the streets by throwing plastic wrappers of foot items, plastic bottles, unwanted paper and just about anything that has no value to us. Why blame the illiterates when we ourselves behave in a worse possible manner.

Since the Swachha Bharat movement is being driven by no less than the prime minister, the government will do what it feels is necessary to make the campaign a success.

It is however, high time, that the campaign now turned inwards. Each one of us needs to act in a responsible manner when it comes to littering public places. We also need to go a step forward by counselling those amongst us who are contributing to Aswachha Bharat. It is in this spirit that this newspaper has highlighted the case of the Reliance Fresh store at Aundh Road. Readers are welcome to write to us, send pictures and participate in this drive. @TGSWeekly editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com

Give Modi a fair chance It is now eight months since Narendra Modi became the 15th prime minister of India. He has in a sense, hit the ground running. Having been the chief minister of Gujarat for almost a decade and a half, doubts were raised by a section of intellectuals on whether Modi would be able to perform satisfactorily as prime minister. It was pointed out that India and her complexities could not be compared to a small state like Gujarat where Modi performed well, At least now, those doubts should be put to rest the manner in which the 64-year-old leader has been conducting the affairs of the government.

Acknowledged as a workaholic and a taskmaster, he began by disciplining his team of ministers and the bureaucrats around him. He undertook a tour of neighbouring countries, established a friendly rapport with the US and China and struck a chord with the diaspora.

An orator par excellence, Modi came forth with new ideas and a new vision which he articulated well. The Planning Commission which had become a white elephant was swiftly replaced by the NITI Aayog - National Institute for Transforming India, which would function as a think tank for the Centre and the states.

A drive was launched to expand the scope of the Aadhar scheme and get the masses to open bank accounts. The

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched on a massive scale, the vision behind the ‘Make in India’ approach explained and in view of parliamentary opposition, important policy measures were initiated through the passing of the ordinances on land acquisition and raising the FDI limit in the insurance sector among other decisions.

The prime minister has also promised to completely overhaul and modernise the railways, establish Railway Universities in the four corners of India, and pay greater attention to the Northeast through the Look East policy.

There has been a combination of outlining his vision before the people and taking steps towards the realisation of that vision. This in itself is a considerable body of work over the last eight months, with the track record being marred by the Ghar Wapasi campaign by the Hindutva brigade and objectionable statements made by leaders of the RSS and other Hindutva organisations.

Prime minister Modi is clearly on the right track. It is far too early to criticise him on lack of speed, He has the people’s mandate to transform India and he deserves more time on hand before conclusions can be drawn on his performance. @TGSWeekly editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com

Vol-1* lssue No.: 32 Printed and Published by: PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 Printed at Diligent Media Corporation Ltd., Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai.

Published at Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411 030, Tel: 020-2432 4332/33.

Editor: Abhay Vaidya (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867)

Cartoon by: Keshav; Courtesy: The Hindu

Thaw in US-Cuba relations

The move, possibly the boldest initiative of 2014 and brokered by Pope Francis, is a tectonic shift in international ties

BY AMIT DASGUPTA Crafted in extreme secrecy and brokered by Pope Francis, the thaw in US-Cuba relations is a tectonic shift in international relations and quite possibly the boldest initiative of 2014. So stunning and unexpected was the announcement that its implications are yet to be fully fathomed. In India, not surprisingly, the self-absorbed media all but neglected to report the historic event.

The details of the thaw were being negotiated, even as President Vladimir Putin visited Cuba in July 2014 and entered into a series of new agreements to further bolster Moscow-Havana links. These included the reopening of the former Soviet base in Lourdes that had been mothballed in 2001, and could be used as a listening post for US maritime activity across the Straits. Cuba apparently agreed to also allow Moscow to establish a GPS on the island, as part of a space cooperation programme.

All seemed to be going well on the Moscow-Havana front.

When the news of the historic rapprochement broke, a stunned Moscow reacted as best as it could, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov welcoming the announcement. For cashstrapped Moscow, there appeared little else it could do.

There is increasing speculation that the development could see the erosion of Moscow’s influence on Havana. Castro, however, made it clear to Washington that the thaw would not result in a change in either the regime in Havana or in the political or economic system. Nor indeed are their any credible indications that Washington wishes to pursue such an objective. President Barack Obama appears content in forging closer economic and trade ties across the Florida Straits and recognises that this per se will dramatically dilute Moscow’s influence.

Congressional approval is now required to lift the economic, trade and financial embargo against Cuba. Th is is not going to be easy with dissident lawmakers from the Cuban American fraternity

protesting Obama’s unilateral decision to change ‘the Cuba policy’. In Cuba itself, dissident groups have lamented that Obama did not wait for a gesture from Havana on human rights. Some have even dubbed Obama’s step as ‘treason’.

The Japan Times reported that the restoration of diplomatic ties was cautiously welcomed by Cubans because it ‘unleashed expectations of even more momentous changes’ and, simultaneously, the ‘yearning was tempered with anxiety’. There was fear of a cultural onslaught or that crime and drugs would become an inevitable byproduct of closer relations with the US and the influx of American tourists.

In Latin America, the development received wide endorsement and laudatory references even from countries that were long perceived as being

hostile to Washington. There are hopeful signs that the agreement could see closer rapport between the US and its Latin American neighbours. Indeed, the White House announced that a Washington visit by President Raul Castro is not out of the question.

While Beijing has welcomed the development and expressed hope that the embargo would be lifted, a stronger US influence in Latin America is bad news for Beijing, which has been aggressively wooing the region and whose growing presence would have been a cause for natural anxiety in Washington.

Today, the thaw dramatically alters the game by virtue of the US’ physical proximity to Latin America. Th is could well be the beginning of a new foreign and security architecture in the region and one that will undoubtedly leave Beijing and Moscow

out of the equation.

To appreciate the enormity of the development, it helps to recall what led to US sanctions in the fi rst place and the progressive deterioration in USCuba relations. Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 by overthrowing General Batista, with partial US support. Th ree months later, Castro visited Washington and has been photographed admiring monuments. He also met Richard Nixon, then the vice president.

Soon after, Castro imposed a series of restrictions on imports from the US. American analysts attributed this to Castro’s communist leanings.

The Eisenhower administration imposed trade restrictions; Castro called it ‘Yankee imperialism’ and expanded trade with the Soviet Union.

By early 1960s, the CIA was given carte blanche authorisation to assassinate Castro. Many attempts were made. Castro’s popularity in Cuba soared. Even the CIA’s Bay of Pigs operation to train Cuban exiles for a ground attack failed. President John F Kennedy approved a permanent embargo in February 1962, after ordering 1,200 Cuban cigars for himself.

In October 1962, American spy planes produced photographic evidence of the Soviet Union building missile sites in Cuba, evidently aimed at the US. Many refer to the Cuban Missile Crisis as the pivotal moment in the Cold War. Kennedy and Nikita Krushchev, after a tense 13-day period, managed to resolve the crisis, which had the world on tenterhooks about the breakout of a war between the superpowers. Over the years that followed, US embargo and sanctions have increasingly been strengthened. All of this looks set to be finally dismantled.

Ernst Hemingway, who lived in Havana for 22 years, and where he wrote his classic book ‘Old Man and the Sea’, would be pleased. It is time that I put my feet up and read the book again. But hang on, let me fi rst get myself a cigar. Cuban, of course.

(Amit Dasgupta is a former Indian diplomat. He may be reached at amit.dasgupta2013@yahoo.com. The views expressed are personal.)

Chaos theory & nature of free will

BY ANIL RAJVANSHI

fashion all over inside the utensil.

However, after a certain time a band of Most people’s belief falls into one of convection currents develop in which two categories. Some believe in fate and the heated water molecules rise up and say that everything is ordained by God are replaced by cold water molecules. and we can hardly change anything.

This band is like a tube or a structure There are others who talk of free will through which the water flows. Thus the ie whatever we are is because of our seemingly chaotic behaviour of water actions or Karma. I think the reality is molecules is converted into an orderly somewhere between these two structure. If the heat is removed, beliefs. this structure collapses.

Shri Ramakrishna, the great In the same way life which is saint of Bengal, used to give a very an ordered structure evolves from insightful answer to the question seemingly chaotic molecules of fate. He gave an example of inhabiting our planet earth. This a cow tethered to a pole with a analogy can also be applied to long rope attached to her neck. humankind where each one of us He said that the cow feels she is lead our own separate lives which free to roam anywhere but the THINK ‘darts’ randomly depending on perimeter of the area in which the forces acting upon us and she can move is fi xed. Ramakrishna yet collectively we go forward in a band said that similarly every human being which is called human evolution. Thus has a free will but the length of rope is we have our free will, but are tethered to governed by God. This example has a this band of evolution similar to the cow great parallel in the modern science of in Ramakrishna’s example. chaos theory.

Does this mean that whatever we Chaos theory shows how life evolves do is meaningless since we will always from a seemingly chaotic situation. A have to act within this band of evolution classical example is the development which will occur regardless? The answer of convection currents in water when is no and again the example of water it is heated in a utensil. Heat provides convection will help. energy to each water molecule, which The convection currents are darts around at random and in chaotic dependent on both the quantity of heat

and the speed at which it is transferred to the water. Thus the evolution of mankind will also take place anyway.

However by our proper actions we can speed it up. That is the advantage and value of free will.

What is human evolution? I think the goal of all human beings should be to live a long, healthy and emotionally fulfilling life. This type of life can be achieved if we make this planet a very sustainable place to live in. This earth is the only world we know and have. This is our hell and heaven. Unless we master the technology to leave this planet’s gravitational field on a large scale, this will be the home for majority of people for many generations to come. The life and evolution on the planet earth (just like convection currents in water) is governed by energy. All our energies either in past, present or future have and will come from the sun. We get about 16,000 times more energy from the sun than what the mankind presently uses.

This energy therefore sets the limit on our evolution.

The ultimate evolution of mankind will therefore be based on using solar energy. Thus the faster we get on the direct solar economy, the faster will be our evolution. © Anil K Rajvanshi anilrajvanshi@gmail.com

Limericks of the week

BY C RAVINDRANATH

The clever AAP tribe So used to diatribe Has chosen to bend And recommend That voters accept bribe!

Maybe we better abort What’s become a sport For to many BRT Is Belated Road Transport!

The news channel lout Who wields some clout Says his intend To corruption end By his unending shout!

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

With selections from The New York Times

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“We continue to be hopeful of implementing the civil nuclear agreement to fulfil the PM’s (Narendra Modi’s) goal of providing electricity to all Indians by 2020.”

—Richard Verma, US Ambassador to India

For India’s revival, MS Dhoni needs to go beyond his paintball theory P 15

By NICHOLAS KRISTOF

of age can possibly discharge it,” Smith & Wesson boasted at the time, and BOULDER, Colorado: Just it sold half-a-million of these guns, after Christmas, Veronica Rutledge but, today, it no longer offers that of Blackfoot, Idaho, took her 2-yearchildproof option. old son to a Wal-Mart store to spend Doesn’t it seem odd that cellphones holiday gift cards. As they strolled can be set up to require a PIN or a by the electronics section, according fingerprint, but there’s no such option to news reports, the toddler reached for a gun? into his mom’s purse and pulled out a Which brings us to Kai Kloepfer, handgun that she legally carried. He a lanky 17-year-old high school senior pulled the trigger once and killed her. in Boulder, Colorado. After the cinema The previous month, a 3-yearshooting in nearby Aurora, Kloepfer old boy in Washington state was shot decided that for a science fair project he in the face by a 4-year-old. Earlier, a would engineer a “smart gun” that could 2-year-old boy in Pennsylvania shot be fired only by an authorized user. and killed his 11-year“I started with iris old sister. recognition, and that About 20 children seemed a good idea and teenagers are shot until you realise that daily in the United many people firing States, according to a guns wear sunglasses,” study by the journal Kloepfer recalls.

Pediatrics.

“So I moved on to Indeed, guns kill fingerprints.” more preschool-age Kloepfer designed children (about 80 a a smart handgun year) than police officers that fires only when a (about 50), according to finger it recognises is the FBI and the federal on the grip. More than Centers for Disease 1,000 fingerprints can Control and Prevention. be authorised per gun, This toll is utterly and Kloepfer says the unnecessary, for the sensor is 99.999 per technology to make cent accurate. childproof guns goes A child can’t fire - David Hemenway back more than a the gun. Neither can century. Beginning in a thief - important the 1880s, Smith & Wesson (whose here in a country in which more than gun was used in the Wal-Mart killing) 150,000 guns are stolen annually. actually sold childproof handguns that Kloepfer’s design won a grand required a lever to be depressed as the prize in the Intel International Science trigger was pulled. and Engineering Fair. Then he won a “No ordinary child under 8 years $50,000 grant from the Smart Tech

“The way forward is for police departments or the military to buy smart guns, creating a market and proving they work.”

Kai Kloepfer, 17, holds a smart handgun he designed to fire only when it recognises the fingerprint of a person holding it

Challenges Foundation to refine the technology. By the time he enters college in the fall (he applied early to Stanford and has been deferred), he hopes to be ready to license the technology to a manufacturer.

There are other approaches to smart guns. The best known, the Armatix iP1, made by a German company and available in the United States through a complicated online procedure, can be fired only if the shooter is wearing a

A revolt goes wrong, and a camera watches it happen

The film illuminates the personal calamities that ensued for those who staked their lives on revolt

By ANNE BARNARD

disunity. The film confronts those divides counts himself among those who failed, but with painful honesty and illuminates the sees his film and Saleh’s writings as gestures BEIRUT - In the early scenes of the Syrian personal calamities that ensued for those who of hope and perseverance. documentary ‘Our Terrible Country’, the staked their lives on revolt. It is one of several “Our Terrible Country” pairs honesty leftist writer Yassin al-Haj Saleh explores documentary films made by Syrians about with empathy, zooming in ever closer and the ruins of a rebellious Damascus suburb, their country’s civil war that have made the more intimately on Saleh, a well-known his clean-shaven face, Lenin-style cap and film festival circuit in the past several years. dissident writer who tried to build bridges pristine clothes marking him as a recent The film shows Saleh, between his generation of arrival from the mostly intact governmentnewly in Douma, organising activists and the younger controlled downtown. a street cleaning day and Syrians who later rebelled. It The camera and the man behind it, a coming across somewhat like a turns him from a lofty emblem young photographer and sometime insurgent patronizing gentrifier. He and into a fallible human being calling himself Ziad al-Homsi, approach his wife sweep, visibly irritated vulnerable, ambiguous and, Saleh with reverence. It is mid-2013, two with the locals who just smoke perhaps, easier to identify years into Syria’s revolt. Hopes for easy victory and stare. A bearded resident, with. This is accomplished over President Bashar Assad are long gone, yet speaking to the camera, said through a shift in perspective, Saleh still has far more skin in the game than he asked Khalil to cover her as al-Homsi, 24, evolves from his peers, the old-school, prewar dissidents hair like most women in the cameraman to character and who mainly squabble in exile as younger religiously conservative area, co-director. He and Saleh Syrians like al-Homsi run the risks. “so that they look like they embark on a road trip that binds At 53, Saleh, who spent 16 years of his come from here.” “Do you them in friendship, forces each youth in prison, suffering torture, has just like them?” al-Homsi asks, to confront his generation’s moved with his wife, Samira Khalil, to the referring to the newcomers. struggle to turn idealism into working-class suburb, Douma. Staying “God grants love,” the man results and ultimately leaves - Saleh in Syria, alongside those enduring daily answers. “God protect them, both marooned in Turkey. government bombardments, is the “obvious” that’s all.”

Saleh decides to travel to choice, he said. But almost immediately, The camera unflinchingly - indeed, his hometown, Raqqa, in northern Syria, the scenes unfold that complicate his heroic mercilessly - keeps rolling through such only provincial capital ruled by insurgents, stance, and foreshadow the gaps between rich awkward moments in long, sometimes and where foreign Islamist extremists are and poor, between secular and pious Syrians, excruciating, takes. The film’s creator, asserting control. The roundabout journey to that have helped to doom the uprising to Mohammad Ali Atassi, a Sorbonne graduate, avoid government checkpoints takes 19 days, instead of one. Close-ups show Saleh panting, a purple towel on his head, under a tarp in the blazing sun, waiting for the next lift.

“The journey no longer made sense,” Saleh intones in a voice-over, reading from an essay he wrote later. “However, I had no choice but to continue.” The film suggests Syria’s revolt is itself on a parallel journey: diverted by extremists in the wrong direction, yet unable, or unwilling, to turn back.

In December 2013, before the film was finished, Khalil was in fact abducted in Douma, along with their friend Razan Zeitouneh, a human rights lawyer. Friends blame the Islamic Army, a local faction they tangled with. Here, Atassi’s steadfast gaze blinks. He leaves Saleh’s reaction - “deeply private,” Atassi said in the interview - on the Syrian filmmaker Mohammad Ali Atassi at his offices in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood of Beirut cutting-room floor.

© 2015 New York Times News Service

“The journey no longer made sense However, I had no choice but to continue.”

companion wristwatch.

The National Rifle Association seems set against smart guns, apparently fearing that they might become mandatory. One problem has been an unfortunate 2002 New Jersey

law stipulating that three years after smart guns are available anywhere in the United States, only smart guns can be sold in the state. The attorney general’s office there ruled recently that the Armatix smart gun would not trigger the law, but the provision has still led gun enthusiasts to bully dealers to keep smart guns off the market everywhere in the US. Opponents of smart guns say that they aren’t fully reliable. Some, including Kloepfer’s, will need batteries to be recharged once a year or so. Still, if Veronica Rutledge had had one in her purse in that Idaho WalMart, her son wouldn’t have been able to shoot and kill her.

“Smart guns are going to save lives,” says Stephen Teret, a gun expert at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “They’re not going to save all lives, but why wouldn’t we want to make guns as safe a consumer product as possible?”

David Hemenway, a public health expert at Harvard, says that the way forward is for police departments or the military to buy smart guns, creating a market and proving they work.

An interfaith group of religious leaders is also appealing to gun industry leaders, ahead of the huge annual trade show in Las Vegas with 65,000 attendees, to drop opposition to smart guns. Smart guns aren’t a panacea. But when even a 17-year-old kid can come up with a safer gun, why should the gun lobby be so hostile to the option of purchasing one?

Something is amiss when children are protected from toys that they might swallow, but not from firearms.

So Veronica Rutledge is dead, and her son will grow up with the knowledge that he killed her - and everyone bears some responsibility. © 2015 New York Times News Service

Enterovirus outbreak and a paralysis mystery For many families in US, the onset of persistent limb paralysis has been a bewildering experience

By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS

Bryan Denton/The New York Times

An outbreak of a respiratory virus across the United States last fall sent droves of children to emergency departments. The infections have now subsided, as researchers knew they would, but they have left behind a frightening mystery.

Since August, 103 children in 34 states have had an unexplained, poliolike paralysis of an arm or leg. Each week, roughly three new cases of socalled acute flaccid myelitis are still reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Is the virus, called enterovirus 68, really the culprit? Experts aren’t certain: Unexplained cases of paralysis in children happen every year, but they are usually scattered and unrelated. After unusual clusters of AFM appeared this fall, enterovirus 68 became the leading suspect, and now teams of researchers are racing to figure out how it could have led to such damage.

“It’s unsatisfying to have an illness and not know what caused it,” said Dr Samuel Dominguez, an epidemiologist and an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, which has had the largest cluster of patients. For many families, the onset of persistent limb paralysis has been a bewildering experience. In August, Jack Wernick, a first-grader in Kingsport, Tennessee, developed a “crummy little cold,” said his father, Dan Wernick, who works for a paper company. It seemed ordinary, until Jack complained that his right arm was heavy, his face began drooping and

Billy Weeks/The New York Times

According to a study, about 20 children and teenagers are shot daily in the United States

Daniel Borris/The New York Times

Smart guns save lives, so where are they?

Jack Wernick, who cannot lift his right arm since he developed what was thought to be a cold in August, plays with a model in house in Kingsport

pain started shooting down his right leg. On August 29, his parents rushed him to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.

“By then, he couldn’t lift his arm,” Wernick said. The doctors were perplexed, as his paralysis didn’t quite fit any neurological condition they had seen. Then Dr Christopher Miller, a consulting neurologist, read a new CDC advisory describing limb paralysis in children. “The alarm bells went off,” he said.

Today, Jack still cannot lift his right arm; he had not lost use of the affected leg. He is adapting well, but his mother, Nicole Wernick, says she worries that he will never be able to tie his shoes again or drive when he is older. I’ve run out of tears,” she said. Parents like her are desperate for scientists to identify the cause, and they are already pursuing a number of theories. But the research will be slow and painstaking.

And while enterovirus 68 is the prime suspect, the CDC has not ruled out another infectious

cause, said Mark A Pallansch, the director of viral diseases.

Jack Wernick and many other affected children have never tested positive for infection with enterovirus 68.

Last week, researchers said they could find no enteroviruses or other pathogens in the spinal fluid of 71 children with limb paralysis. “In cases of polio, we routinely find virus in the spinal fluid or the stool,” said Dr Mary Anne Jackson, the director of infectious diseases at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. She suggested the spine’s gray matter may be damaged not by the virus, but by an immune response to the infection. If researchers cannot find a virus itself in partly paralysed children, they can look for its footprint: antibodies to enterovirus 68 in the blood.

But first, the CDC had to create an antibody test and make sure it was reliable. “That’s the hard part,” Pallansch said. © 2015 New York Times News Service

MONEY MATT ER S

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

PUNE

“Crude prices are expected to remain low over the year. Weak demand conditions have also moderated inflation, excluding food and fuel, especially in the reading for December.”

-Raghuram Rajan, governer, RBI

Signpost Sensex, Nifty scale new peaks A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Friday scaled a new peak and was trading at 346.31 points or 1.19 per cent up. All the sectors were trading in green. The rally was led by the banking, auto, capital goods, health care and metal sectors.The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 29,189.45 points, was trading at 29,352.33 points (at 09.24 a.m.) in the early session, up 346.31 points or 1.19 percent from the previous day’s close at 29,006.02 points. The Sensex touched a high of 29,386.04 points and a low of 29,189.33 points in the trade so far.

India’s GDP improves According to the industry chamber’s president Alok B Shriram, the real gross domestic product (GDP) of the country has improved to 5.5 per cent in the first half of 2014-15 as compared to five percent in the corresponding period of 2013-14. It has emerged as a major investment destination which is visible from the recent Vibrant Gujarat Summit which signed a whopping 21,000 Letters of Intent (LoI) worth `25 lakh crore. RBI slashed the repo rate by 25 bps.

Jaipur promotes financial literacy A training centre to promote financial literacy, banking, insurance skills and entrepreneurship would soon be set up in Rajasthan. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for this purpose was signed on January 17 between the state government and BSE Institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE Ltd. RSLDC is a government of Rajasthan enterprise. A satellite centre of the institute would also be established in Kota, the state government said in a statement.

“Paying cash subsidy to actual users of cooking gas will help trim the LPG payout by about 15 per cent. Last fiscal, LPG subsidy was around of `46,458 crore.”

-Dharmendra Pradhan, the minister of state for petroleum

Vanishing firms put investors in trouble

More than 3,000 listed companies have disappeared over the years, putting investors in a lurch VIRENDRA JAIN Over the last two decades, hundreds of companies that have vanished after picking up hundreds of crores of rupees from investors. And despite, direction from High Court some 15 years back, none of the investors have received a single penny. Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), the Allahabad High Court had also directed the central government to set up a joint coordination and monitoring committee (CMC) to identify companies, which had disappeared after raising money from public issues and recover money from them.

Later, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) also took up this issue and in its report to the Parliament in 2002, recommended: “What the Committee are seriously concerned is about how the investors may get their money back from the vanishing companies. The Committee urge that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the (then) Department of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Company Law Board (CLB) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should work seriously towards achieving this objective and take all necessary steps.”

Seven task forces, comprising of regional director/ registrars of Companies (ROC), SEBI and stock exchange officials, would assist the CMC and identify companies which have disappeared or which have misutilised the funds mobilised from the public and suggest appropriate action in terms of the Companies Act and SEBI Act after necessary investigations.

Formed in 1999, the CMC identified 238 vanishing companies: 229 by March 2001 and another nine in 2007. All 238 companies’ initial public offerings (IPOs) were issued during 1992 to 1999.

The JPC’s attention was drawn on vanishing companies by Midas Touch during its deposition. In its report submitted to the Parliament in 2002, JPC stated: “In the years immediately after

liberalization, 1.5 crore new investors, small investors as we call them, came into the market between 1992 and 1996 through IPOs. They were duped. At that time `86,000 crore were raised in four years through public issues and right issues by four thousand odd companies.

Most of these 1.5 crore investors who came in for the fi rst time in the stock market were duped……

Till date 229 companies (only) have been identified by the Government appointed mon itor i n g c om m it t e e , as having made public issues and disappeared.

No one has been arrested and no money has been recovered.”

JPC report further stated: “The Committee note that the action by SEBI and DCA has enabled the tracing of 160 out of 229 companies which were earlier treated as vanished.

There are still 69 companies, which remain untraced.”

Since then, the issue of vanishing companies has been raised during the Question Hour of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over 150 times.

The latest written replies to unstarred question (no.415) in Lok Sabha on 11 July 2014 by Nirmala Sitharaman, the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs and to un-starred question (no.1741) in Rajya Sabha on December 9, 2014 by Arun Jaitley, Minister of Corporate

Affairs were identical. As per practice of last 12 years, the data of vanishing companies given to Parliament is same:

C o m p a n i e s Identified initially: 229 & 238 (since 2007) & Vanishing: 69 and 78(since 2007). The replies were: (a) A total of 238 companies which had raised funds through public issues were initially identified as ‘vanishing companies’ as they had stopped fi ling documents/ balance sheets with the regulators and were untraceable. Out of these, 128 companies were removed from this category and placed under a ‘watch list’, as these companies had started fi ling their documents/ balance sheets. In addition, 32 companies are presently under liquidation. Thus, as on date, there are 78 companies, which remain in the list of ‘vanishing companies’.

Further, Midas Touch had submitted three lists totalling 913

companies for inclusion in vanishing companies list after examination: 161 companies in 2012, 604 and 148 companies in earlier lists, which the CMC in its minutes of meetings, held in 2006 and 2007, stated that over 50 companies have been identified for inclusion and rest are under examination. However, we never got any response and none of the company added subsequently in the list. We estimate that over three thousand listed companies have disappeared.

Then why, at the end of the day, after such a massive exercise and expenses, by the executive, parliament and High Court’s order does CMC have so little to show? In terms of (a) number of vanishing companies identified and (b) recovery of money siphoned off and return to its shareholders?

Firstly, CMC and Task Forces constitutes, with few

exceptions, of those whose failure - to monitor listed companies and enforce law- enabled predatory promoters’ companies to vanish. Supreme Court has followed different principle-entrusting the probe to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and or Special Investigation Team (SIT)- in recent scams and it has yielded results e.g.

In Saradha scam, arrests of those suspected of aiding, abetting and sharing the booty with scamsters and recovery of money looted has begun.

Second, in a democracy, it is the Parliament’s, and not Judiciaries’, prerogative and constitutional

obligation to keep an oversight over the executive.

Oversight of the executive is one of the important function entrusted to Parliament under the Indian Constitution.

Th is enables the Parliament to hold government accountable and prevent unconstitutional policies and action on part of the government.

To carry out this task effectively, Parliament has two crucial instruments at its disposal namely (a) “Questions” and “Debates in the Parliament” and (b) “Parliamentary Committees” which can scrutinise government policies and action.

However, answers given, in the question hour, and, discussions on Parliamentary Committees, on vanishing companies spread over last twelve years has exposed the fundamental shortcomings of system and processes adopted for parliamentary oversight of the executive. Resultantly, it has made Parliament largely dysfunctional on this score.

Wide-ranging reforms are required for an effective parliamentary oversight.

These include, but the suggestions are not limited to: • Reforming Question Hour processes: Apprising the concerned MP, in advance, of the background of the issue raised and answers given, if any, in last two years of the question raised.

• Parliamentary Committee meetings: Be open to public; Institutional mechanism be evolved for public and NGOs participation along with concerned officials/executive.

• Introducing oversight on Regulators: Presently, regulators are not directly accountable to the parliament. Mechanism for transparent oversight of regulators should be prescribed for institutionalising all stakeholders’ participation.

(Virendra Jain is Founder & President of Midas Touch Investors Association and had filed a litigation on the `1 lakh crore loss to investors on account of suspended companies and has also intervened in the PIL against SEBI’s consent orders which let off law breakers with a small fine) moneylife.in

Cyber crime court curbs online frauds Banks can become Under the IT Act, state IT secretary is the adjudicating officer, to adjudicate matters in respect of contraventions, like online frauds and order compensation of up to `1 crore to the complainant

Chapter IX (43) defines, online frauds and compensation as: “If any person without permission of the owner or any other person who is in-charge of a computer, computer system or computer network, charges the services availed of by a person to the account of another person by tampering with or manipulating any computer, computer system, or computer network, he shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation not exceeding `1 crore to the person so affected.”

MONEYLIFE DIGITAL TEAM Maharashtra’s principal secretary for Information Technology (IT) department, Rakesh Aggarwal, in a recent case, directed six banks, one mobile operator and a card company to pay `1.06 crore compensation to victims of online frauds who have been duped over past two years.

According to a report in The Times of India, the order for compensation was issued by the state government’s equivalent of a Cyber Crime Court, which is presided over by the principal secretary in charge of information technology. “The principle secretary, Rakesh Aggarwal, functions as adjudication officer under Section 45 of the IT Act 2000.

The banks that have been ordered to pay compensation include Central Bank of India, Royal Bank of Scotland, Punjab National Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank and State Bank of India. Other institutions who have been directed to pay are Vodafone and SBI Cards,” the report says.

Customers duped in online frauds often find that there is no easy remedy available. Th is is despite, the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) making it clear that in electronic fraud, the onus of proving that the customer participated in the fraud or compromised the user ID and password will shift to the bank.

Here is how the fee is calculated based on compensation sought…

I.

Damages by way of compensation

Fee

a.

Up to `10,000

10 per cent ad valorem rounded to the nearest next hundred

b.

From `10,001 to 50,000

`1,000 plus 5 per cent of the amount exceeding `10,000 rounded to the nearest next hundred

c.

From `50,001 to 1,00,000

`3,000 plus 4 per cent of the amount exceeding `50,000 rounded to the nearest next hundred

d.

More than `1,00,000

`5,000 plus 2 per cent of the amount exceeding `1,00,000 rounded to the nearest next hundred

II.

Fee for every application

`50

Even the Damodaran Committee on Customer Services in Bank, in 2011, had recommended the same changes.

With the historic ruling of the Cyber Crime Court, it now becomes important for everyone who is duped in online fraud to know about the Court and its jurisdiction.

What is the Cyber Crime Court?

The Information Technology Act, 2000, specifies the acts, which are punishable under the Act. Under the Act, the State IT Secretary is the adjudicating officer, to adjudicate matters in respect of contraventions to the Chapter IX of the IT Act and

the matter or matters or places or area/areas in the State in which claim for injury or damage does not exceed `5 crore.

The adjudicating officer has the powers of Civil Court, which are conferred on the Cyber Appellate Tribunal under sub-section(2) of the section 58. In addition, all proceedings before the Adjudicating Officer are deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and to be a civil court for the purposes of sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr PC), 1973.

How to fi le a complaint for adjudication under IT Act There is a specified format for fi ling complaint before the Adjudicating Officer under the IT Act. In addition, the complainant has to pay application fee of `50 and applicable fee based on amount of compensation.

Here is the proforma for complaint The fee towards damages claimed by way of compensation from the contraveners, needs to be paid by a bank draft drawn in favour of “Adjudicating Officer Information Technology Act”.

Since the IT Act is a central Act, all states do have similar kind of arrangement and complainant can fi le a complaint before the adjudicating officer or the Cyber Crime Court in her respective state. moneylife.in WHERE TO SUBMIT THE COMPLAINT? For Maharashtra, the complainant has to submit his complaint to...

Adjudicating Officer, c/o Directorate of Information Technology, 7th Floor, Mantralaya, Madam Cama Road, Hutatma Rajguru Chowk, Nariman Point, Mumbai – 400021

insurance brokers.

Are they interested?

MONEYLIFE DIGITAL TEAM

It is utopian to expect banks to become insurance brokers, given that banks have neither expertise nor interest to sell insurance correctly Seeking to increase “insurance penetration” in the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to act as brokers for insurers, set up their own subsidiaries and also undertake referral services for multiple companies. Banks have also been allowed to set up subsidiaries and joint venture companies for undertaking insurance business with risk participation, the central bank added.

Currently, a bank is allowed to sell the products of only one life and nonlife insurance company as a corporate agent. The new guidelines allow banks to act as brokers permitting them to sell insurance policies.

While an agent represents the insurer, a broker represents the customer. As such, banks utilise their own customer base and hence they represent the customer. With broking license, they would be mandated to give the best deal and product to the customer. With broking license, banks will have a fiduciary responsibility to customers and can be made accountable for mis-selling.

Bankers and insurance companies have gone into this in details over the years. In a report on bancassurance published in 2011, Deepak Satwalekar, former managing director and chief executive of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co Ltd, had

said it was rather unfair that banks expect insurance companies to assume the risk arising out of their deficient sales process.

If banks want to act as insurance brokers, then they will have to train their work force fi rst. At present, several of bank employees are unware of the bank’s own product and charges or fees. So, turning them into responsible insurance broker, with added responsibility and liability would be a mammoth task.

Another issue is even though the RBI has relented and allowed banks to become insurance brokers, how many lenders, which promote own insurance company products, would be happy with it?

Top private insurance companies are backed by banks, which will fi nd a confl ict of interest in the broking idea.

While banks are well suited to distribute insurance products because of their wide network, several issues have risen regarding their conduct in the process, pertaining to misselling and certain restrictive/ unfair practices (such as linking provision of locker facilities to purchase of insurance products, selling of unsuitable and/or multiple policies etc). There are about 87 commercial banks in the country with 1.2 lakh branches across the country. There are 52 insurance companies operating in India; of which 24 are in the life insurance business and 28 are in general insurance business. moneylife.in

SPORTS “The effect of reverse swing is reduced when you have two new balls, but I don’t think it would be a huge impact in Australia because, the fast bowlers will get that level of assistance up front.”

— former captain Rahul Dravid

New Delhi: A series of warm-up matches starting February 8 will provide insight into the form of some of the teams taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, and also give a chance to fans, to see some of the stars in action. A total of 14 warm-up matches will be played from Feb 8 to 13 in Adelaide, Christchurch, Melbourne and Sydney. The venues include Adelaide Oval, Hagley Oval in Christchurch, the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Top seed stutter at Australian Open Melbourne: Top seeds continued the trend of comeback wins as Serena Williams, men’s defending champion Stan Wawrinka and Asia’s top ranked male, Kei Nishikori, showed vulnerability in the second round of the Australian Open. A day after Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova were all forced to fight back from a set down, Kei was far from his best against Croatia’s Ivan Dodig, who narrowly missed the second.

Srinivasan cannot contest election: SC New Delhi: In a jolt to sidelined BCCI president N Srinivasan, the Supreme Court said he cannot contest election for the Indian cricket board’s governing body presidency as long as he is involved in a “conflict of interest” situation as an owner of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. The apex court said this while striking down an amendment to the BCCI rules which permitted the office bearers to have commercial interests in IPL.

PUNE

“The problem I think is that Indian bowlers have learnt nothing from their overseas experiences over the years in limited-overs cricket. So that is a worry.”

— Former captain Sunil Gavaskar

For India’s revival, MS Dhoni needs to go beyond his paintball theory IANS

WC warm-up matches from Feb 8

JANUARY 24, 2015

Can the new, unshackled Dhoni inspire a team to great heights ahead of World Cup?

by Ashish Magotra Just before the start of the fourth Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his way to the Spartan tent and learnt the art of crafting a bat.

A match was going to be played and he simply didn’t need to pay attention – he didn’t need to strategise or watch videos or offer advice. It was the kind of carefree act that Dhoni had not managed in the last decade. In a certain sense, he was finally free.

He didn’t attend practices in the lead-up to the Test then he helped the team during practice on the morning of the Test – because he wanted to, not because he had to. In between, he met John Abraham and before he knew it – the ODI tri-series was upon us. Time flies when you are doing things you really want to. It feels just like yesterday that Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket and already, it is time to get back to the grind… still, the effects of this break; of this unloading of responsibility should be felt now. Mentally, he should be refreshed and ready to go again – knowing that he is going to have time for himself; for his bikes; for family; for his many business interests and for a format that he truly enjoys.

For all the criticism that Dhoni has received for his captaincy/batting/tactics in Test cricket, there are few international cricketers who understand the vagaries of the shorter format better than the Indian skipper. He knows when he needs to begin the final push or when to wait it out – but perhaps most importantly he knows how to win even when the going

player’s corner

gets tough. Twenty wickets are not the key in ODI cricket – even ten wickets aren’t. It is all about runs and when you can narrow it down like that... Dhoni generally becomes lethal. But for the next three months – India will be playing Down Under, in conditions that don’t exactly cater to India’s strongest bowling suit – namely spinners.

In a career spanning 252 ODIs,

Indian team needs Dhoni to show that India’s best skipper goes beyond just winning and losing Dhoni has only played 12 ODIs in Australia with 7 losses, 4 wins and 1 NR. And is that sort of experience enough to win in Australia – more importantly does it cover for the inexperience of his teammates?

To his credit, Dhoni has won a oneday series there – in 2008 and that is one of only two times that India have won a tri-series Down Under. The other win came in 1985. India have never won a bilateral series in Australia. This year, though, the pitches have been far flatter than anything we have seen in the past.

The conditions have been described as ‘un-Australian’ and even ‘Indian’ by

Akanksha Hagawane

By Ashish Phadnis @phadnis_ashish PUNE: In real life, Akanksha Hagawane is a shy and soft-spoken. However, this city-based chess player is transformed when she is facing an opponent, exuding supreme confidence and exhibiting a ruthless killer instinct.

The Deccan Education Society student recently bagged a double crown in the Marathe Jewellers Sunday Rapid Chess tournament. Akanksha emerged winner in the women’s and open categories. She was in sparkling form and displayed an admirable levelheadedness and grit to overcome her opponents, and remained unbeaten to claim outright wins, without the need of a tie.

The top four players from each group will represent Pune District at the upcoming State Junior Championship to be held at Nagpur later this week.

“The tournament was challenging, as it was the first time I was playing in the boys’ category. The organisers had adjusted the timings to enable me to play a round in girls’ category and then move to boys’ segment. Switching between the two was really tough, because the boys play much more aggressively than the girls,” said Akanksha.

About her preparations, she said, “I hardly had any time to prepare, as I was busy with my school exams.”

Born on August 22, 2000, Akanksha was motivated to take up chess by her elder brothers Gaurav and Harshad, at the early age of seven.

She has won every age group district-level chess championship since 2007. In 2003, she accomplished the feat of winning the under-13, under-15 and under-17 titles in a calendar year.

Akanksha participated in the national

Akanksha with her parents Shrinath and Vaishali

some. But still the fast bowlers have had a greater say in the proceedings and that hits India hard. It also means that Dhoni needs to find a way to somehow make his batting even better.

Ravi Shastri, India’s team director, believes Dhoni will play even better cricket now.

“He retired from Tests because he didn’t feel he was doing justice to himself or the team. This will allow him to focus on what he enjoys. I see him playing even better in limited-overs cricket,” said Shastri.

So far, we haven’t seen the better Dhoni emerge. He is one of the best finishers in the game, he averages 52.85, his tactics are tried and test (albeit in different conditions) and he has nerves of steel. Honestly, the only thing Dhoni can better in ODIs is captaincy.

Can the new, unshackled Dhoni inspire a team to great heights... to their first victory (India are now winless in eight matches on their four month-plus tour of Australia with the World Cup still to come) That is a question that he will need to answer.

Stephen Fleming’s great strength as skipper was that even when he lacked players, he found ways to get best out of his team. Mike Brearley figured ways to transform mediocre players into good ones and good ones into great ones.

It’s often said a captain is only as good as his team but somehow Dhoni needs to find a way to make his team as good as him in ODIs at least. It won’t be easy but it is India’s only chance and one doubts the paintball theory will help in that regard.

(By Special arrangement with Firstpost)

The sad story of paralympians

Sports persons ask why this disparity? Why are their achievements ignored?

IANS

Signposts

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

by Sarakshi Rai

tournament for the first time in 2009, and was placed sixth in the under-9 category. Three years later, in 2012, she won an individual gold medal at the School National Games. She was also ranked second in the national sub-junior category, the first Pune girl to do so.

Her debut international success was in 2014, when Akanksha won a bronze medal at the Asian Youth Chess Championship, in New Delhi.

In the under-14 age group, Akanksha garnered 6.5 points to finish third behind R Vaishali and Riya Sawant. With this performance, Akanksha also earned the Women Candidate Master title.

Brimming with confidence, Akanksha put in a good performance at the World Junior Chess Championship in South Africa, and at the World Youth Chess Championship at Pune, in December.

“I have learnt a lot from these tournaments. I realised that foreign players don’t go by the textbook but that they develop their own strategies, which makes it difficult to play them. I have also realised that I need to put in a lot of work into my end games and opening preparations,” said Akanksha.

The standard IX student has been training with Jayant Gokhale for several years. She is supported by sports NGO Lakshya and Sujnil Chemicals.

Akanksha has set her sights on winning a medal at the World Youth Chess Championship at Greece in October, and at the Asian Games as well.

ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com

Records were shattered, lifetime dreams achieved, but they came home to a disappointing, eerie silence. Three golds, 14 silvers and 16 bronzes - that was India’s medal haul from the recent Paralympic Asian games held in Incheon, South Korea last October.

But could you name even five of the medalists?

There are areas in life where the majority of Indians think it’s fair to discriminate.

Most of those matters involve caste and creed, but the most special treatment is reserved for the disabled.

Train stations typically do not have wheelchair access. In Mumbai, we have sidewalks that are uneven and usually occupied by roadside shops. Buses are inaccessible without ramps.

It is this state of affairs that the Deepa Maliks and Sharad Kumars of the Paralympic world must contend with.

Deepa Malik is an Arjuna Awardee. She has won 12 international medals and was the first Indian woman to win a medal the Para Asian games in Guangzhou, China in 2010.

She has lived with a congenital spinal condition since she was six and survived three spinal cord surgeries. Most recently, she was the only Indian woman athlete to win a silver medal in Athletics at the Para Asian Games at Incheon last October. She is 44 years old. A late bloomer, Malik started her career at 36. She didn’t just survive her disability but rose above it. And she is angry at the lack of attention the media gives Paralympians.

“I wish the media covered para sports in more detail,” she said. “We win so many medals and yet there is hardly a mention.”

The limited media attention means limited access to funds. Paralympians have to worry about the cost of training, getting to practices, travel, lodging, entry fees, coaches and equipment. They are also more prone to injuries and infections because of their disabilities and the tough training they go through.

A file photo of physically challenged people with HN Girish, silver medalist of London Paralympics 2013 protesting against Sports Minister in Bangalore

Malik had an advantage. She comes from well-to-do background and is the wife of an army Colonel. But even she supplements her income by working as a motivational speaker.

“Even with my husband in the army it’s not easy. I moved to Delhi to help my training and its hard being away from my family for so long. On top of that I have to take care of my rent, a full time attendant and travel expenses are high since I cannot take the public transport.”

Sharad Kumar, who was left with a disability after taking spurious polio medicine from the local eradication drive, recently made a comeback after a two-year ban for taking a banned substance. In order to train, he had to call in favours from his village kinsman Umashankar, who is an auto rickshaw driver in Delhi.

“Training just for a month is very expensive,” Kumar said. “If it wasn’t for Umashankar, I would spend Rs 600 just as my travel costs everyday.”

Kumar impressively rebooted his career with a gold at the Asian Para Games.

Opening up about his ban, he maintains he was innocent of the crime. “I was a fool, and too trusting. But we athletes do not have any medical education. There are so many medicines that we cannot take due to banned substances but we are not aware of this.

“I was training for the London 2012 Olympics. During the training session I left my supplement bag unattended in my belief that no athlete would deliberately sabotage me. I even told my coach that it had started tasting funny but there was no evidence to prove it was sabotage”, he adds.

Sharad, now 22, competes in Athletics, has his eyes set on a gold medal the 2015 Athletic World Championships in Qatar.

With a burning desire to prove his detractors wrong he emphatically says ”the Asian gold is just the beginning.”

According to Rajesh Tomar, the head of the Paralympic Committee of India, even getting coaches is an issue. The Paralympic Committee of India needs a slew of coaches that are passionate about their job and go out to the grassroots level to identify new talent.

However, there is a dearth of qualified people willing to put in their time, energy and resources.

Most coaches if they do agree to take the job have to pay for their own ticket and accommodation when they do go talent hunting.

“We need to get to the grassroots levels.

We need more school programmes at the lower levels and in schools so we can spot talent better,” Tomar said.

By Special arrangement with Firstpost

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

PUNE

“Srinivasan knew all along that Rule 6.2.4 is unsustainable and illegal. IPL verdict now ensures a new BCCI chief in next six weeks. This is time for clean up.”

—Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi

Signposts Arantxa clinches national billiards title City cueist Arantxa Sanchis clinched the women’s billiards title, edging past her more experienced opponent and state-mate Meenal Thakur at the National Billiards and Snooker Championship at the Bengal Rowing Club. The 24-year-old played a patient game and kept her composure intact even when Thakur snatched the third frame 2775, and then proceeded to play some fine shots in the fourth and final frame to leave Thakur second-best with the score reading 77-19. The match-end tally read 4-1 in Sanchis’s favour with the scoreline at 75-74, 75-45, 27-75, 77-19. Sanchis had earlier demolished Vidya Pillai 2-0 in the quarters and Chitra M. of Karnataka 2-0 in the semis.

Meenal came into the finals after winning a see-saw battle 2-1 against Karnataka’s R Umadevi.

Loyola win U-13 basketball tourney Loyola School defeated Kamal Nayan Bajaj (KNB) school 49-31 in the final of U-13 Chintan Group Inter-School Basketball Championship concluded recently at Modern High School. Loyola boys were leading 17-14 in the half time and maintained the lead till the end. Akshay Gowardhan was the highest scorer for winning team with 13 points. Bhargavi Srinivasan (St Mary’s) and Akshay Gowardhan (Loyala) were adjudged as the player of the tournament in girls and boys’ categories.

Maharashtra women beat Madhya Pradesh Smriti Mandhana’s unbeaten 59 helped Maharashtra to script a 8-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh in the Senior Women’s T-20 super league held at Holkar stadium, Indore recently. Madhya Pradesh posted 105 while losing five wickets. Varsha Choudhary was the highest contributor with 47 runs.

Maharashtra women attained the required target in 18.2 overs. Maharashtra’s Priyanka Garkhede (13) and Anuja Patil (22) provided support to Smriti.

“The only time I spoke to BJP leadership, was for the Swachh Bharat. I am taking it seriously because it’s a fabulous work.

But I have got nothing to say about joining them.”

— Former India captain Sourav Ganguly

New kid on the block

Tamil Nadu’s teenage shooter B Mithilesh is aiming for a top-8 spot before the Youth Olympics 2018

TGS News Service @TGSWeekly

By Ashish Phadnis @phadnis_ashish PUNE: International-level shooters like Anu Raj Singh, Ayonika Paul and Fulchand Bangar were the star attractions at the recently concluded Gun For Glory shooting competition at the Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex, Balewadi. However, it was B Mithilesh of Tamil Nadu who managed to steal the limelight. The 14-year-old won a silver medal in the 10m air rifle event, and also gave Ayonika Paul a run for the money in the Challenger Cup. The vastly experienced Ayonika had raced to a 10-1 lead, but Mithilesh remained cool to stage an impressive comeback.

Though Mithilesh eventually lost the tie, the audience gave him a rousing applause for his grit and determination.

“Actually, I was in a strong position and was really close in the end. But it was too late by then. However, I am satisfied with my overall performance in this tournament. I will say this is my happy hunting ground, as in the last edition of the Gun For Glory competition, I had scored 593 out of 600 here in 2014, which was my personal best. I kept improving on my performance in the other tournaments over the year,” said Mithilesh.

Born into a family of sportspersons, Mithilesh could have taken up football, in the footsteps of his grandfather Palnisham, who had represented India, and his father Babu, who had represented Tamil Nadu. Mithilesh, however, was more drawn by the polished weapons of shooting than the muddy grounds

Sheoran, Vibhute win gold in GFG

B Mithilesh with the Gun For Glory coach Yuniarti Ilyas

and the rough and tumble tactics of football, since an early age of seven.

Within six months, he won an interdistrict title, proving that he was born to be a shooter.

“People don’t believe that I won my first medal at the age of seven.

But it was my father’s insistence.

He took me to the shooting club and handed me the smallest air gun. Initially, I was doing it just for fun. However, after winning the medal, I started taking more interest. Then there was no turning back, I love this sport and am aiming for a bright career,” he said.

Teen Mithilesh has already won more than 20 medals at the national level and he has been a part of Indian

Mithilesh has been a part of Indian youth squad for the last three years and won more than 20 national medals

youth squad for the last three years.

“I haven’t played any international tournament yet. Actually, I had qualified for the tournaments, but being underage, I was not allowed to compete abroad. I plan to participate in as many international tournaments as I can in the next two years,” Mithilesh said.

About preparing for a tournament he said, “The mental aspect is vital in shooting. I have not done any mental training yet. I just keep to myself before my event and concentrate on my gun. I know I have a lot of work to do, on my body, my stability and breath control.”

Mithilesh’s success is even more creditable since he does not have a coach or mentor. He trains at the Madurai Rifle Club.

“I do get tips from our chief coach Deepali (Deshpande) madam at the junior national camps. I also work hard accordingly during the off season. I am also being helped by Gun For Glory coach Yuniarti Ilyas,” said Mithilesh.

Bharat FC to battle Dempo SC in first ever I-League encounter

Former international shooter Ilyas said, “I met Mithilesh two months ago and we decided to work together. I have realised that I don’t need to change his game or interfere with his style. I just give him some tips for confidence and mental training. Though he is just a kid, he has been shooting for a long time. He has his own strategy which is working fine for him. His performance at the Gun For Glory competition will stand him in good stead before the National Games to be held in Kerala.”

The Indonesian has set targets for Mithilesh to achieve but is not pushing him too hard, considering his young age.

Mithilesh however has his sights set really high, and he is aiming for a medal at the Olympics, no less.

“I have set targets for myself. I want to be in the top 8 before the 2018 Youth Olympics, and my goal is to win a medal there,” he said. ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com

PUNE: Akhil Sheoran (UP) won gold medal in the 10m air rifle while Jitendra Vibhute finished first in the 10m air pistol category in the Gun For Glory (GFG) shooting competition at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi.

20-year-old Sheoran scored 208.3 points to finish ahead of youngster B Mithilesh of Tamil Nadu. The 14-year-old Mithilesh was the youngest among all the eight shooters in the final, but easily scored 205.7 to grab the silver medal. The Bronze medal went to Pune’s Fulchand Bangar, who scored 162.5.

Later in the 10m pistol event, Vibhute who represented Railways clinched the gold medal with a score of 198.6. He was followed by Amit Pilaniya (MP) who won silver medal with a score of 197.6 and bronze medal was achieved by Manjit (Army) who scored 175.5.

Ayonika dominates World Cup player Ayonika Paul without any doubt has managed to win gold in the 10m rifle category.

Ayonika, 22, scored 206.8 beating Pooja Ghatkar with a difference of 1.3. Pooja, a student of Gun For Glory Academy scored 205.5 and grabbed silver medal. The Bronze medal went to Railway’s Priya Agarwal who scored 183.5.

Meanwhile, Annu Raj Singh won gold in the 10m pistol category.

The Air India player maintained the top score since first set clinched the gold medal with a score of 199.2. Annu was followed by Pune’s Amita Gawate who won silver medal with a score of 191.6 and the bronze medal was achieved by Priyanka Survirkar (Railway) who scored 171.2. editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com

Pune FC share points in opener

Stuart Watkiss coached side had a short pre-season, spending just three weeks in a rigorous pre-season camp and have played four friendlies TGS News Service @TGSWeekly

PUNE: Bharat FC will take on Goan heavyweights, Dempo SC, in the newly-launched club’s inaugural match of the 2014-15 Hero I-League season at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi on Saturday. The match, which will kick-off at 7 pm will begin with National Award winning musical duo, Ajay-Atul, performing Bharat FC’s club anthem live before kick-off.

Bharat FC, owned by the Pune-based Kalyani Group, was conceptualised in August 2014, with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) awarding it direct entry into the I-League at the end of August.

The team was officially christened Bharat FC on November 23. Since then, the club has rapidly acquired its entire coaching staff along with a robust player roster. Interestingly, Bharat FC is the first franchise from Pune to be completely owned by Punekars.

The Stuart Watkiss coached side has had a rather short pre-season, spending just three weeks in a rigorous preseason camp and have played four friendlies. The fledgling side has recorded three victories and one draw in its preseason friendly encounters. Bharat FC has its full squad for selection with only Adil Khan missing out due to a knee injury.

The club is also waiting on the international clearance of their marquee signing, Romuald Boco, with the Benin international’s participation in the I-League opener hanging in the balance. Kris Bright and Bobby Hassell, the other two foreigners in the squad are eligible for selection.

Pune FC midfielder Dhanpal Ganesh (Red) in action against Salgaocar FC

Bharat FC players during their practice session ahead of their first I-league match on Saturday

The club has managed to acquire an impressive array of Indian talent led by the experienced Gouramangi Singh, the Indian player with most international caps currently playing in the I-League.

Joining the central defender are Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Steven Dias, Dharmaraj Ravana, Arindam Bhattacharya, Adil Khan, Lester Fernandez, Subash Singh, Manjit Singh and Surojit Bose, all of whom are full internationals for the country. The club also has a vibrant bunch of young players with a number of India under-19 and under-22 players like Bikramjit Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Rajinder Kumar and Shahbas Saleel among others.

Bharat FC’s head coach, Stuart Watkiss, said that January the 24th will be a historic day for everyone

at the club. “It’s a massive occasion for everyone associated with this wonderful club. Dempo SC is a great side; they have an inspirational coach and a fantastic bunch of players. It will be a very interesting encounter and we hope to come away with a positive result,” he said.

The 48-year-old Watkiss also said that he wanted his team to make a statement in their very first match.

“We want to play attractive football but at the same time we want to marry it to an effective style of play.

We have players who are very talented and creative but we want it to be effective. We want to play a hightempo game and I will be a happy man if I see my team doing that,” he said. editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com

TGS News Service @TGSWeekly PUNE: Pune FC rued missed chances and ended up being held to a 1-1 draw

by Salgaocar FC in their I-League opener at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa recently.

In a game dominated majorly

by Pune FC it was winger Anthony D’Souza (45th minute) who put them a goal up in the first half before substitute Gilbert Oliveira (80th) pulled Salgaocar level.

The game had a few close moments where Pune FC were denied a goal in the opening five minutes despite putting the ball into the back of the net. And the penalty kick that followed had Ryuji Sueoka fluff the attempt from the spot which proved decisive. Having split the points, Pune FC (1 pt) share the top spot in the league table with Salgaocar FC (1 pt).

Playing their third game against

Salgaocar this season, Pune FC took to the field with just two foreigners, Ryuji Sueoka and Luciano Sabrosa.

Despite that, Pune FC began the game in dominating fashion attacking the rival goal from the word go.

The constant pressure paid off as Pune FC had a great chance in the sixth minute. After Sueoka was fouled on the right flank, Anthony floated in a freekick into the box. The melee resulted in striker Thongkhosiem Haokip putting the ball into the net but the referee whistled for a penalty kick as Gurjinder Kumar handled the ball during the move. Sueoka who stepped up to take the spot kick had his low attempt come of the vertical.

Thereafter Pune FC continued to dominate proceedings and created more chances. However, some poor finishing in the final third let them down. editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com