The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 18/04/2015 by Golden Sparrow Publishing

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PUNE, APRIL 18, 2015 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

TGS LIFE

Let your pet keep it cool this summer

CITY

Sharad Pawar’s nephew suffers heart attack P4

All’s not well in AAP Maharashtra P3

House of chaos

`2,600 for sneaking in a phone, `500 for charging…

A year after a cellphone was recovered from an inmate in Yerawada jail, investigators have found that there was a price for almost everything to do with the gadget See p4

Why won’t this man open his shop? Aniruddha Rajandekar

Known for giving haircuts to freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, High Class Hairdresser has almost downed shutters, courtesy pesky monkeys

See p4

Aniruddha Rajandekar

Did you know the Election Commission of India has launched EPIC-Aadhaar Seeding programme to weed out bogus voters? If not, then you haven’t missed much. EC officials in Pune are anyway making a mockery out of it See Spotlight, p8-9

mUMBAI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

“I refuse to constantly assert my Maharashtrian identity and I know what it means to me and I don’t have to wear it on my sleeves to convince anybody” - Shobha De, Writer, columnist

Device converts diesel to domestic fuel P6

Hadapsar Society’s illegal sheds razed P4

Dog killer on the loose

CCTv cameras of a building in Bandra have captured a driver running over a dog and cops posted there not doing anything to nab him by Yogesh Sadhwani @yogeshsadhwani It would have been termed as yet another incident of a stray dog being run over by a vehicle. Like most cases, the animal’s body would have been disposed in a bin and eventually taken

Arbaaz Shaikh

Salim Charania

to dumping ground to rot. But thanks to an animal lover, even more alert animal activist and CCTv footage, a dog killer has been caught on camera. The killer in his Hyundai Verna car ran over dog sleeping outside the gate of Beach View building on Carter Road, Bandra. He halted for a brief moment and then drove away. Surprisingly, cops posted at the adjoining Chimbai police chowky witnessed the entire episode but did not care to nab the killer, note down his vehicle number, nor did they file an FIR. It was only a day later that 23-yearold Arbaaz Bashir Shaikh, a resident of the same building got to know about the incident, checked the CCTv footages and then contacted Salim Charania, an animal activist, who heads Peace for Animals Welfare Association. The footages shows a visitor getting out of flat no 602 and then heading towards his car parked in the compound at around 11.30 pm on Saturday (April 11). While driving out, he ran over the stray. Front right wheel of the car first ran over the dog. The stray was caught under the rear wheel when the driver

applied brakes. At this juncture, a cop from the police chowky approached the driver, gestured him to move ahead. The driver did as told and braked again. The dog got out, while the cop moved away. The driver halted for few more seconds and then left. The footage clearly shows that the cop did not care to nab the driver, when he had ample opportunity to do so, neither did he take down the vehicle’s registration number. Few seconds later, the stray circled around for a bit and collapsed. The cop approached the dog’s motionless body, kicked it to check if it was dead and moved away. It was only the next day when Shaikh, an animal lover, spotted the dog’s body outside his building that he asked around. He got dodgy answers and decided to check the CCTv footages. After seeing the footage he contacted Charania, who rushed to Bandra and took the dog’s body to Bombay SPCA veterinary hospital. Doctors at BSPCA conducted dog’s post mortem said that the animal died due to internal blood veins rupture, multiple fracture and shock caused by the car running over it. Next, Charania approached Bandra police station on Monday and registered an FIR under section 279 (rash and negligent driving), 429 (mischief by killing an animal) of Indian Penal Code and section 11A (cruelty to animals) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Police were yet to make any breakthrough in the case. “The most shocking part was that the crime took place in front of the cops. They witnessed the entire incident and yet did not do anything to get justice for the helpless animal. This insensitivity of Mumbai Police towards animals clearly gives a sad picture towards animals and animal’s laws in our city. I have also given a written complaint against the cop on duty at the chowky that night and demanded

(Clockwise from top left) The front gate of the residential complex in Bandra from where the culprit drove the car after visiting a family. The block of the complex that has the flat where the car driver visited. CCTv footage of the stray that got stuck under the rear wheel of the car and constable Shinde allowing the driver to go. The stray collapsed near the buildings gate after a few minutes. CCTv footage of the dog killer near the lift

that he be brought to book as well,” said Charania. While Bandra cops have made no headway in the case, Charania and Shaikh have circulated the image of the killer (captured from CCTv footage) among their friends and acquaintances

to get him arrested. The family that the killer was visiting is also tight-lipped about his identity. Constable Shinde, who refused to give out his full name, on his part claimed that he couldn’t have done much. Shinde was the one on duty at

Chimbai police chowky that night and witnessed the entire episode. “The dog was coming after me, it was going to bite me. Moreover the driver just sped away. What could I have done?” said Shinde. However, the footage clearly shows

that the dog never went near Shinde after being run over. Moreover, the driver also halted for few seconds, enough for Shinde to nab him or note down his vehicle number. yogesh.sadhwani @goldensparrow.com

This is how schools mint money Abandoned ‘sinking ship’ then and now want

to extort a pound of flesh: Dr Singhania

A committee headed by retired Justice found that school for mentally deficient children deployed every trick in the book to make a fast buck

by bapu deedwania

TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly Some educational institutes would go to any extent to mint money. A school for mentally deficient children in Panvel has been found guilty of adopting almost every trick in the book to make a fast buck. A committee headed by retired Justice RG Sindhakar has compiled a report on Bharatiya Manav Vikas Trust’s special school and workshop for mentally challenged children, New Panvel, stating that imparting education was the last thing on the minds of trustees and that they used the institution only to make money. The entire matter came to light after father of one of the students from the school approached Bombay High Court. GJ Karade’s son was thrown out of school along with two others. Karade filed a case in HC alleging that school misused funds from the government and did not focus on children’s education. The HC appointed a committee headed by retired Justice Sindhakar and sought a detailed report regarding the allegations. Karade had alleged in the petition that the school collected fees from disabled students when it received grant in aid from the government and that the scholarships meant for students never reached them. He also alleged that trustees shifted the school to a remote location and claimed rent from the government for another building. The school also allegedly did not have qualified teachers, but yet claimed their salaries from the government showing bogus names on their records. The Sindhakar committee bore out most of the allegations. In their report submitted to HC recently, the committee found that several qualified teachers were not part of the faculty and yet the school forged their signatures and even claimed their salaries from the state Social Welfare Department. “The social welfare department has not been paying attention to whether teachers mentioned on roles of the school are really working there or not… This is a fit case of how an institution claiming to be a pioneer in education is openly exploiting the

Students at Bharatiya Manav Vikas Trust with Trustee Nandkumar Jadhav

helpless,” stated the committee report. The committee also pointed out that when they sought papers from the trustees pertaining to appointment of teachers and other financial dealings, they were told that they had been destroyed in 2005 floods. “However some papers which would not have landed them in trouble dating back to 2002 surprisingly cropped up. Only the documents which would have exposed them were claimed to be destroyed in the 2005 floods. It is obvious that 2005 flood is being used as an excuse. A narco test should be conducted on the chief trustee, Nandkumar Jadhav, to get to the bottom of this mess,” the report stated. The committee recommended recovery of several lakhs of rupees from the school for the frauds committed. “Mere recovery of funds which were taken from the government is not enough. The school is guilty of several heinous crimes like committing financial frauds, creation of false papers, bogus appointment of teachers, misguiding this inquiry committee, among others. Criminal cases should be filed against the trustees of the school and state government officials responsible for the mess. This would send out a clear message to several others,” the report stated. The committee also pointed out that Bharatiya Manav Vikas Trust is far from serious about imparting education to the mentally and physically challenged. They have recommended that the management of the school be taken away from them and handed over to another trust. A division bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice AR Joshi has now asked state government to respond to findings of the Shindakar committee. The case will be heard on April 28. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Two months after his grandchildren from estranged son and daughter-in-law filed a suit in Bombay High Court, Dr Vijaypat Singhania told the court that the case has been filed with a motive to extract more monies and to malign his image in society at large. In January this year Ananya (29), Rasaalika (26), Tarini (20) and Raivathari (18), children of Madhupati Singhania and Anuradha filed a case against their parents, grandfather Dr Singhania, and Raymond Ltd. The siblings are challenging ‘Family Settlement’ that their parents and grandfather entered into on December 30, 1998. Back then, Madhupati moved out of his family home in Mumbai and settled down in Singapore with his wife Anuradha and four children. While parting ways, the couple signed an agreement with Singhania senior giving up their share in family wealth. Not stopping at that, the couple also gave up the share of their minor children. Seventeen years later, now that the children have grown up, they want their share in ancestral wealth and claim that their parents had no right to give up their stake as well. On Friday (April 17), Dr Singhania filed a reply in HC court room no 37 before Justice Gautam S Patel through his lawyers. Calling the case filed by the four children replete with malafide intentions and an afterthought Dr Singhania in his 46-page affidavit said that the suit has been filed with an ulterior motive. He has detailed out the various reasons on which the court must not continue hearing the suit and dismiss it at the outset. Filed at the instance and in connivance and collusion with parents “The suit is actually filed with the blessings and at the instance of Def 1 and Def 2 (Madhupati and Anuradha) to derive undue advantages arising out of increase in the market price of the assets transferred to me in the said Family Settlement (FS). The suit on this ground alone ought to be dismissed.

Singhania siblings with their parents

“I have duly performed, complied with the terms of the said FS including making payments of fair and proper consideration there under to D1 and D2 (Madhupati and Anuradha) and to the Ps (siblings) by virtue of which they were able to immediately upon the execution thereof, migrate to Singapore as desired by them and have been enjoying an independent life of their choice in high standards of living and a high quality life in Singapore.” affidavit stated. Dr Singhania stated that the siblings were aware that the relationship between him and their parents was less than cordial and for the necessity of preserving the harmony they decided to part ways. “For 17 years D1 and D2 (Madhupati and Anuradha) have not questioned the FS or their decision to separate and settle in Singapore,” he stated. Suppressed Facts, Misled court, Abuse of Process Dr Singhania said that since the Raymond Ltd is now flourishing, Madhupati and Anuradha have used their children to reopen and question the FS which should not be allowed by HC. “The Ps (siblings) have failed to disclose to court their grandeur lifestyle, quality education and world class facilities at their disposal by reason of the FS. To the best of my knowledge the Ps live with the Ds (Madhupati and Anuradha) who appear to be staying in

a palatial mansion situated in an elite locality in Singapore at 10, Ewart Park and own a yacht and expensive cars,” he said. Dr Singhania has further stated, “The Ps (siblings) are only fronts for Dr Vijaypat Singhania D1 D2 (Madhupati and Anuradha) to dishonestly extort a pound of flesh. I state and submit that the present proceedings are no more than an extortion bid and pressurising tactics by D1 D2.” He adds that a substantial part that was retained by D1 D2 under the FS and hence the Ps claiming ignorance of the existence of the FS is just false. They called my company a sinking ship back then Dr Singhania his affidavit stated that “in view of the increasing family tensions/discord , D1 D2 (Madhupati and Anuradha) decided and informed me that it was in their best interest to abandon (the company) what they then called the ‘sinking ship’ and severe all economic ties with me. I state and submit that the D1 D2 carefully appraised the financial troubles of the D4 (Raymond Ltd) and its group companies which were all at the relevant time in financial stress and were not inclined to share any obligation adverse impact resultant there from.” Connivance Dr. Singhania also mentions that he finds it hard to believe that children have appointed Devkumar Aggarwal, their maternal grandfather as their constituted attorney in a case against him and their own parents. He has stated that it is difficult to digest that Aggarwal “would act as a constituted attorney to file a case against his own daughter. This only goes to show the collusion between the Ps (siblings) and the Ds (Madhupati and Anuradha),” stated the affidavit.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

For Old Times’ Sake P5

PUNE

“The next civic elections are two years away and the party wants to ensure that all the credit for civic projects goes to the party.” - Dattatraya Dhankawade, Mayor

Single ATM card for multiple bank accounts An engineering college assistant professor’s innovation could change the way we use automated teller machines (ATMs). Assistant proffessor Ujjwal Shirode, 27, of Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering, Akurdi (PCCE) has developed an ‘all-in-one ATM card’ that will give user access to his or her different bank accounts with a single ATM card. Along with Ujjwal Shirode the students of electronics and telecommunication (ETC) department of the college who are working on the project, Shirode has fi led for a patent for the invention under the title of ‘Universal ATM Card (UAC)’. They state that their product will facilitate hassle-free handling of ATM cards and provide more security. Shirode, with his experience of fi lling patent applications during his college days,

has guided the three-student team in fi ling the patent for UAC. He said that the chief minister has also expressed willingness to implement the system. CONCEPT The idea to develop such an ATM fi rst came to Shirode when he was in college. Studies and research did not give him enough time to work on the product’s hardware. After completing MTech in 2013, he joined PCCE and suggested students to take up the project. “The idea is to add more than one bank account in an ATM card and avoid the hassle of carrying more cards and remembering passwords. Th rough this card that is embedded with details of bank accounts, the user having accounts in more than one bank can transact with a single swipe. Our product will save money as one will not be required to pay tax for using ATMs of different banks,” he said. CREATION According to Shirode, the invention will reduce the size of ATM by 50 per cent. Existing system is microcontroller based that can be easily hacked but UAC is more secure.

STUDENTSPEAK Saurabh Gandhe

“We started working on the project in 2014. Research and work on the invention involved many experiments and spending a lot of time on compiling observations. We used to work after college hours and vacations.” Avinash Dwivedi

“We worked hard and the project was not possible without the continued support and encouragement from our project guide Shirode Sir. We feel a sense of achievement after the successful implementation of the project.” Kimaya Gaikwad

Ujjwal Shirode with his team in the process of developing an ‘all-in-one ATM card’ that gives access to different bank accounts with a single ATM card

“We fi led a patent at the Mumbai office on February 12, 2015 and are getting positive response from many professionals. It is a userfriendly card that will show your data of all bank accounts on the screen. All you have to do is select the bank for transaction. User has to remember only one pin number for all bank accounts,” he said. He said that the upgraded system will benefit the income tax department

as all bank details will be available on a single card. TEAM Final year students Saurabh Gandhe, Avinash K Dwivedi and Kimaya Gaikwad along with assistant professor Dipti Khurge and software engineers Ajay Gadhe and Prabhakar Karale, both working in a software company, assisted Shirode in the project.

All’s not well in AAP Maharashtra

“Initially, the project seemed critical and diff icult. Teamwork under the able mentorship of Shirode Sir helped us taste success. It is a huge milestone for me.”

KEY FEATURES • User will be provided with a universal ATM card that will facilitate access to the panel showing options of different banks associated with the card holder • System is more secure because of use of VHDL (Very High Speed IC Hardware description Language) programming • Speed of transaction is increased • Banks need not to pay service tax as all banks uses one server only

• One can access multiple bank accounts using single card • No need to carry multiple bank ATM cards • If user creates an account to any bank that bank automatically connects with the card • It’s very easy for income tax department to trace users’ bank accounts and transaction history by using a single card of particular user archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

PUNE’S GREEN WARRIORS RAHUL RAUT

BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Ujjwal Shirode and his team have designed an ‘all-in-one ATM card’ which will revolutionise the way we bank

A senior member of the party in Maharashtra attended rebel faction’s Swaraj Samwad in Delhi causing chaos among the ranks; party wants him out to bring stability but he refuses to step down BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka A month after Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan sowed the seeds of dissension at the national level in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a state leader seems to be doing the same here. In Maharashtra, Maruti Bhapkar, a state executive committee (SEC) member has followed Yadav and Bhushan’s footsteps. On April 14, he attended a rebel meet held n Delhi and now refuses to budge from his post in the state. For AAP leaders in the state, Bhapkar has become a ‘menace’ they need to tackle urgently as he has reasonable clout over lot of party volunteers from Pune and neighbouring areas. Bhapkar, a member of the state executive, contested Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Though he just about managed to cross the 30,000 mark, while the winner from Shiv Sena bagged over 5 lakh votes, he is a big name within the party in Maharashtra. Founder of the party in Pune and

Senior citizens, who on their morning walk on the city hills, water the saplings preventing them from dying. Such scenes are common at Taljai, Vetal tekdi, Hanuman tekdi and other hills of city

national leaders earlier this that Bhapkar’s concerns would be month. We did as he suggested taken care of after the letter was because we believed that he would shot. “He made us write a stinking be pacified,” said a member of letter to senior leaders and despite state executive of that attended a AAP. rebel meet. Th is Last month, the is nothing short drama at national of back stabbing,” level wherein Yadav said another and Bhushan were member of the humiliated affected party. Bhapkar. Insiders The state revealed that leaders’ immediate during the SEC concern is that if meeting he brought Bhapkar remains up the issue and in the party, he demanded that would ‘continue to state leaders write poison the minds to national leaders of his supporters’. expressing their “We have sent - AAP MEMBER dismay. him an informal “We had request in the form initially drafted a letter of a text message to step down expressing our concern over what from the party post. For as long was happening in the party in as he remains within the party Delhi and how it was affecting he will continue to cause chaos the morale of volunteers. But and confusion in the minds of Bhapkar was far from happy supporters,” said a member. with the tone of the initial draft. Bhapkar, on his part claimed He insisted that we write a stern that he has been unhappy with letter. We agreed to do so,” the way senior AAP leaders have said another source in the state been conducting themselves. “It executive. Accordingly, a ‘stern’ is true that I was unhappy with letter was sent to the national the initial draft of the letter to leaders. be sent by state leaders to the Most SEC members thought national leaders. So I insisted on a

“He (Bhapkar) made us write a stinking letter to senior leaders.”

Maruti Bhapkar

zonal convenor of party’s Mission Vistaar, Bhapkar attended ‘Swaraj Samwad’ organised in Delhi by Yadav and Bhushan. Sources in the party reveal that it was made clear that those attending the day long meet would be doing so at their own risk as it was nothing short of a rebel meet. Bhapkar still chose to attend it. “We are shocked by his behaviour. It was he who asked us to write a stern letter to our

stern letter that was sent on April 3. I demanded an apology from the national AAP leaders for all that had happened in the past few weeks in Delhi. But to my dismay, we neither received a reply to the letter, nor an apology was issued,” he said. He added that for now he will continue to be in AAP. “I will continue to be in AAP and at the same time associate with Swaraj Abhiyan. My focus will be on Swaraj Abhiyan’s work and will play a limited role in AAP.” When The Golden Sparrow contacted Abha Mulay, secretary of AAP Maharashtra, she said, “We tried to convince him, but there is only so much that we could do. He has been a Yogendra Yadav supporter from the beginning, it’s not something new. The decision of whether to initiate disciplinary action against him or not will be decided in future course. Bhapkar holds an important post in the party and just cannot get away by playing a limited role within the party.” For now, the Aam Aadmi Party in Maharashtra is in a state of flux. Volunteers and leaders continue to be gloomy. priyankka.deshpande@ goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

“We will be starting a mobile milk bank to reach out to working lactating mothers who can donate milk. These vans will go to various corporates and IT firms” - Dr Sharad Agarkhedkar, DY Patil Hospital

Mother nature packs her palette

Punjab says ‘eat more potatoes’

P10

P12

Sharad Pawar’s nephew suffers heart attack

Jayant Pawar was rushed to a private hospital in Pune. He is now said to be out of danger, doctors say he could have overexerted his body TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s nephew Jayant Pawar suffered a massive heart attack last Saturday and had to be rushed to Ruby Hall Clinic. By Monday, his health was said to be ‘progressing rapidly and showing positive signs of improvement’. His condition, however, shocked his friends. The 51-year-old, owner of Solaris chain of gyms and fitness centres across Pune, is said to be a fitness enthusiast and a teetotaller. Sources revealed that Jayant suffered the heart attack on Saturday while he was playing tennis. “Jayant has been a fitness freak for years now. He loves exercising and having a well built body but that day he may have stressed his body more than it could take,” said a person close to the family, requesting anonymity. Another person close to the family revealed that on Saturday evening while he was at the Solaris Club, Kothrud, Jayant collapsed and was rushed to a Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune.

The same night, doctors at the hospital performed angioplasty on him. “I have known him to be a fitness freak. I have always seen him eat on time stick to healthy food,” said another friend. Another personal friend said that Jayant is so conscious of his diet that even his gyms promote only healthy food. Jayant – married to Nicola, a German national, and has two children, son Jonas (19) and daughter Tabea (16) – is said to be a role model for many, who want a good physique. The fitness enthusiast would spend close to six hours a day working out in the gym, playing tennis and swimming. “When I used to go to Solaris to workout, I would get inspired by him. At his age, he has managed to stay fit and build an amazing body. Not many can keep it that way for too long,” said a fitness freak. After Jayant suffered the heart attack, several members of Pawar family rushed to the hospital to be by his side. Member of Parliament Supriya Sule was among those who was by his side throughout Sunday.

last year.

“Tough day. My brother Jayant Pawar had massive heart attack. Fighting for life. Jayant, tough Ironman, u have to fight & I am sure u wil make it…. God, Drs, well wishers r willing. Spent all day at Ruby Hall. Entire family together. Our family is our strength- a blessing. All will be well,” Sule tweeted on Sunday. On Monday, she sent out another tweet, “Good morning. It’s a miracle. My bro Jayant is rocking. Thanks to God, Drs at Ruby Hall Pune & all the well wishers. Indebted. Big thank u.” When contacted by The Golden Sparrow, Sule said, “He is doing better.” Doctors treating Jayant at Ruby Hall Clinic said that he was recuperating fast. Bomi Bhote, chief executive officer of Ruby Hall Clinic, informed TGS that the angioplasty was done on

April 11. “His health is progressing rapidly and there are positive signs of improvement,” Bhote said. Not the fi rst time Th is is not the fi rst time that a fitness freak has suffered a heart attack. In 2009, 42-year-old CEO and MD of SAP, Ranjan Das died of a heart attack. On returning from the gym, he suddenly collapsed at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai. Das too was a teetotaller and exercised regularly. Similarly, a 27-year-old marathoner died while on the last leg of a half marathon in Bengaluru, this year. Amit Kasat, a fitness enthusiast also collapsed after suffering a heart attack while participating in a marathon in Mumbai in 2013. An employee of Standard Chartered Bank, Kasat died

Jayant Pawar

Expert Speak Dr Vijay Surase, an interventional cardiologist from Mumbai, explained that his team sees several cases of fitness enthusiasts suffering heart attacks. “They suffer from coronary artery dissection. Most people tend to overstretch their workouts, which puts excessive load on blood vessels. By exercising and regular workouts in the gym, one can get toned muscles. But blood vessels remain the same. So if a person suddenly puts a lot of pressure on the body, by working out a lot or lifting more weights than he usually does, then the blood vessels cannot take it, which results in heart attack,” said Dr Surase. Ranjit Kotwal, a fitness trainer for over a decade explained that people starting out in the gym should not overexert. “Moderation is the key. One should not go to extremes and overdo any exercise. Most importantly, age also matters – what you can do at 30 cannot be done when you are 50 years old. The intensity of exercise must change as you grow older. Workouts need to be properly planned depending on your age, lifestyle and other parameters,” said Kotwal. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Hadapsar Society’s illegal sheds razed `2,600 for sneaking in a phone, `500 for charging… Around 10 parking sheds of Eisha Empire Society were levelled after serving notice a year ago BY RAJIL MENON @RajilMenon

The residents of high-profi le Eisha Empire Society on Handewadi road in Hadapsar area were in for a rude shock when Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) demolition squad landed on the residential campus at around 2.30 pm on April 15. The civic team levelled the illegal structures built inside the building’s ducts and used as parking sheds. Despite give notices one year back, Eisha Empire Society’s administrator and manager said that they were caught ‘unaware’ on that day. The society’s representatives were expecting a softer approach and time to get these illegal structures regularised. PMC demolition squad included one JCB machine, one gas cutter machine, 14 labourers and four policemen, including one Assistant Sub Inspector, and three engineers. According to PMC junior engineer Vijay Havaldar, around 3,400 sq ft of tin structures were demolished on Wednesday. He said that the drive was carried out as per Section 478 of Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act (BPMC), 1949. The housing society’s administrator NB Sasane said that they were ready to pay fine to regularise the structures and avoid demolition. Speaking to TGS, a civic official said, “As the builder has not left an inch of floor space index (FSI), one cannot construct anything at all.”

Contd from p1

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke

PMC demolition squad at Eisha Empire Society on Handewadi road in Hadapsar

Stating that they had repeatedly written to the civic administration to spare their parking sheds, Sasane said, “We do not know who is behind all this because PMC officials had told us that ‘we won’t act on this issue unless we get orders from higher-ups’. It seems someone had directly complained to the municipal commissioner and he gave the order.” Civic deputy engineer Ramkrishna Ware said, “The society was served a notice in May 2014. Another notice was sent in December 2014 and residents promised to demolish

TGS Quiz Contest

No. 44

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. 1. Where was Swaraj Samwad’ organised? 2. Jayant Pawar was admitted in hospital for what reason? 3. Who is the superintendent of Yerwada Central Prison? 4. How many watches have Shailesh and Ashitosh collected? 5. Who is the founder of Doggie Dabbas? 6. Who is Ajay Naik? 7. Name Laxmi Dhaul’s latest book? 8. Who is the founder of the open-air film screening space Lost The Plot (LTP)?

9. Name the organizer of Avayava dance festival? 10. Where does Chef Pensiri Pattanachaeng work?

Contest # 43 winner Rajiv Gupta

structures themselves within 15 days. Hence, we were left with no option but to raze the 10-odd structures.” A resident of the society who did not want to be named said that he feels cheated as the builder had sold him the parking lot for about Rs one lakh. “However, I cannot complain because I knew that the High Court is coming up with such a ruling. I should have properly checked the sanctioned plan of the society’s building before buying the illegal parking shed,” he said. rajilmenon@gmail.com

A detailed probe into the recovery of a cell phone from the Anda cell of Yerawada Central Jail, in May 2014, has exposed the lapses in the system. Cops investigating the case found that multiple inmates used the phone, paid for sneaking in the mobile, charging the device and even sending a message out to recharge the prepaid SIM. After the incident came to light in May 2014, Yerawada police station started investigating the case. They have finally concluded their investigations and sent a detailed report to the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Meeran Chaddha Borwankar. During the course of investigation, the Yerwada police questioned Munna Shaikh, who was lodged in the Anda cell where the phone was found. Shaikh is a member of Sharad Mohol gang. Shaikh told the investigators that the phone was sneaked into the prison after greasing some palms. He paid Rs 2,600 for bringing the phone in. Each time the phone got discharged, he shelled out Rs 500. Since there are no plug points inside cells, the phone would be charged by one of the guards for a fee. There were times when the prepaid card was out of balance and needed to be charged. Just for sending word to his sympathisers to recharge the balance, the guards charged him Rs 200.

Over 200 calls were made from this cell phone and it is suspected that apart from Shaikh, three other criminals used services of the cell phone from the prison. The confidential report, which has been perused by The Golden Sparrow, details out how guards worked in tandem to allow use of phones inside the jail. Incidentally, immediately after the incident came to light last year, three guards and an officer were suspended. When The Golden Sparrow team contacted officials at Yerawada police station, they refused to comment stating that Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) is conducting an enquiry in to the case and it that they have submitted a confidential report. When contacted Borwankar, she admitted that she has received the report. “I am yet to study the report. I will be able to initiate action only after going through it in detail,” said Borwankar. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

Why won’t this man open his shop? Contd from p1

PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka A few decades ago, High Class Hairdresser near Perugate police station was better known as the one where freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar would get his haircut. These days, the hair cutting saloon is in the limelight all over again – for the monkey menace. A group of monkeys visits the salon almost every day, ransack it and even assault the owner, Shrikant Mate (70). Unlike other shops in the area, which are wide open for customers, High Class Hairdresser seems closed from the outside. Th rough a tiny space, Mate peeps out, ever alert for the next monkey attack and for the potential customers. His regular customers have to come really close to the entrance and only then does he open the door, just about enough for the person to sneak in.

Shrikant Mate owner of High Class Hairdresser salon peeps out, ever alert for the next monkey attack

“Th is is weird. The monkeys only enter my shop. They never approach or attack other shopkeepers in the area. Few days back, monkeys entered my salon, broke the wall clock and snatched a trimmer from my hand,” informed Mate. After a series of attacks all of

last week, Mate finally decided to approach the cops in neighbouring Perugate police chowky. However, the cops shooed him away. They told him that their job was to maintain law and order and not chase animals. “I have never walked into a police chowky before in my life. Th is time, I was

forced to approach them for help. The monkeys have made my life miserable. There is another salon right next to mine, but they don’t ever go there. The cops, however, told me that they will not be able to help as their focus is on problems pertaining to humans and not animals. I don’t know whom to approach,” said a helpless Mate. While Mate is struggling to keep his business alive, other shopkeepers can’t help but laugh at his plight. “Monkeys visit only his shop and not ours. In fact, I deal in eatables and yet monkeys have never ventured near my shop. They seem to have taken fancy to Mate,” said Laxman Gire of Laxmi bhel and farsan mart shop. Another shopkeeper laughed at how the 70-year-old sits with the door almost shut through the day. “I know I have become a butt off all the jokes here. Instead of helping me, they are having fun at my expense,” said Mate. When The Golden Sparrow contacted Rajendra Sawant, senior

VIP TREATMENT FOR OTHERS Similar incidents were reported in plush colonies in Delhi, including the high security zone areas like the Parliament and the road to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Monkeys were harassing citizens, including top bureaucrats. To deal with the menace, 40 professional monkey catchers were deployed around government buildings to scare the monkeys away.

inspector of Vishrambaugwada Police Station, under whose jurisdiction Perugate chowky falls, he said, “I am aware of the problem. The victim had approached us for help and we have contacted forest officials. There is very little we can do to help him,” he said. priyankka.deshpande@ goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

“Since the work on BRT shelters is set to begin, PMC has deployed security guards in three shifts to protect the shelters from hooligans.” —Mayura Shindekar, Chief executive officer, BRT cell Aniruddha Rajandekar

For Old Times’ Sake Shailesh and Ashitosh have collected over 200 HMT watches for emotional and retro appeal BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal The winding up of venerable watchmaker HMT Watches Ltd in 2014 made two Pune engineers to become watch collectors. Shailesh Shinde, 40, and Ashitosh Teli, 34, have been collecting models that were made at the country’s first manufacturer of wrist watches. Considering it as a perfect engineering innovation of the country, the duo plans to preserve HMT (Hindustan Machine Tools) watches for future generation. They have collected around 200 rare HMT watch, including iconic Jawahar, Janata, Kanchan and Pilot. THE HISTORY A marker of social status for two generations of Indians, HMT watches started manufacturing watches in 1961 in collaboration with the Citizen Watch Co of Japan. With strong support from the Centre and profitable sales, the firm set up manufacturing units in Bengaluru, Srinagar, Tumkur and Ranibagh in three decades. The first collection of hand-woven wrist watches was released by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The company remained true to its tag line ‘Timekeepers to the Nation’ for a long time as its product, a collection of 400 models, was sought after by people from all walks of life. At the time of closure due to financial losses, HMT had over 1,015 employees.

THE MEMORY An HMT watch brings back memories of their first watch for the older generation, while the youth are curious to own a watch about which they have heard stories from their parents and grandparents. Shinde, who is the proprietor of ‘Precise Engineering Work’ located in Dapodi and a guitarist, said, “It was an emotional moment for me when I heard that HMT is going to close down as it had become a loss-making public sector company. My first employer gifted me my first HMT watch for good performance when I

Shailesh Shinde and Ashitosh Teli with their collection of HMT watches

THE JOURNEY The quest to collect a piece of history bought them together online in 2014 when they were searching for vintage models. Their common mission also bonded them as friends. The duo visited Satara, Sangli, Solapur and other states to meet the owners of HMT watches willing to sell it. They also bought many HMT watches online. Collecting these rare pieces was not an easy task. Shinde came to know from an online source that a dealer from Orissa had bulk stock of HMT watches. He even had to walk 14 kms to search the place only to find that it was a fake address. “All the watches that we have is in working condition. The high quality engineering component used in these watches required precise manufacturing task and we are proud about the Indian firm. It is very tedious and hard to manufacture a mechanical watch as it involves hundreds of moving parts. All the mechanical watches in our collection are ticking. HMT was successful in adopting modern precision manufacturing technology for mass production and assembly of micro-sized components,” he said. Teli said that HMT Watches has over 100 million satisfied customers and enjoys good brand equity. “We want to tell the success story of HMT to engineering and management students by documenting its watch models,” he said. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

The traffic cops cancel the order for fabricating barricades to Yerawada Central prison. The aim was to provide opportunity to inmates earn a decent living

Traffic cops in Pune are done being nice. They no longer want to bother being sympathetic and compassionate. Two years ago Pune traffic police department decided to be sympathetic and gave an order for fabricating barricades to Yerawada Central prison. The idea was to provide opportunity to inmates earn a decent living while in prison. Of the 1,000 odd barricades, jail has been able to fabricate mere 100 so far. The cops have run out of patience now and cancelled the order. Traffic cops had given a contract to the prison authorities in September 2013 to fabricate barricades worth Rs 37 lakh. However, so far, the city traffic police have received only 100 barricades. Sick and tired of waiting, the traffic cops cancelled the order last week. Speaking to The Golden Sparrow, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sarang Awad admitted that the orders placed with the Yerwada Prison have been cancelled. “I have communicated in this regard to the prison superintendent and to the other

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was a trainee. The value of that gift is priceless. It is hard to express in words about what I feel when I wear that that watch even now.” For Teli, a manager at Tata Motors Limited’s Engineering Research Centre, the company is an horological legend. “I remember my grandfather’s morning ritual of winding his HMT watch. It was a custom to gift an HMT watch to children who excelled in studies. I was also gifted such a watch. The tick-tick sound of wrist watch is much like a heart beating. A few decades ago, watches in India meant only HMT. I felt very sad when the company was shutting down its shutters,” said Teli, who resides in Kasarwadi. He said that an HMT watch used to be handed over by father to son at the latter’s wedding.

Cops don’t want to do business with jail anymore BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke

Kidney notes: Learning to say no to dialysis

senior officers,” he said. The city traffic Awad said that police currently have the city traffic control 1,300 barricades which branch was in need of are needed to divert barricades and after traffic in emergency raising funds from situations and also District Planning and during protest marches Development Council and rallies. (DPDC), a contract Other than delaying was given to the prison. the order, jail officials “However, despite apparently hiked the several requests and cost of each barricade. reminders, the traffic Awad said that the - SARANG AWAD police did not receive cost of barricades was barricades on time and escalated by the prison when they were needed the most,” authorities. “It became unreasonable he added. During festivals and for spend more time and money,” processions traffic police desperately he said. needs barricades to control traffic. Deputy Inspector General of He said that the city traffic police Police (Prisons) Rajendra Dhamne have paid money for the 100 barricades said that the jail inmates are working that were handed over to the police hard to complete the orders. “We have while remaining barricades will not be already given them 100 barricades, procured from the prison. 150 are ready. We will complete their The city traffic police gave order to (police’s) order while maintaining the Yerwada Prison in September 2013, standards of production and quality of with a thought that it will provide an the products,” he said. opportunity to the jail inmates to He added that he will request work and earn. Generally, the work traffic police authorities not to cancel is allotted to the private fabricators to the work orders. manufacture the steel barricades. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

“Despite reminders, the traffic police did not receive barricades on time.”

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Will the black money law work? P14

RARE MODELS Jawahar: It is one of the rare HMT watches of 60s. The mechanical watch (HMT used 17 jewels - the term used for mechanical watch) with shockproof. The elegant HMT watch is wrist size with Indices diamond cutting. Its first collection was released by the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru. It became popular because it was named after the first PM. Janata: The most popular mechanical hand wound watch of 70s, it was known as the ‘aam aadmi’s watch’. Available in black and white, Janata was the first watch available in Devnagari, half Devnagari and English cursive script. India’s first woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used to wear it. Kanchan: This automatic and mechanical model with 21 jewels earned the nickname ‘dowry watch’ because weddings were delayed to accommodate its delivery or sometimes broke due to unavailability of watches. Even if you were an HMT employee, you couldn’t walk away with a Kanchan on your wrist. Recommendation letters from cabinet minister or his or her secretary were needed to shorten the booking period. Kanchan meant gold. The vibrant, high quality, heavy in weight and elegant model was available in golden plated dial and belt. The popularity of Kanchan prompted HMT to launch Rajat (silver) and Kajal (black) models in the same series. Pilot: The sturdy watch was a favourite of military personnel. It had a Florence dial that helped a soldier to know the time even in darkness. The brand was launched to cater to the need of Air Force pilots.

Jubilee: The limited edition watch was launched by HMT on its first silver jubilee anniversary. Silver dial with Roman numbers is an impressive feature of this model. Sona: It was one of the most economical and first low thickness models launched by HMT. Available in pair form with golden dial, it was a slimmest watch famous for wedding gift for couple. Watches were also named after Indian mythological women and Bollywood heroines. Rekha: The elegant model was available in copper sand dial with cursive letters and named after popular Bollywood actor.

Nutan: One of the smallest and lightweight watches for women, the dial of this model was just 1.8 cm. It was famous among teenagers and schoolgirls. Nutan means new.

rahul raut

tECH

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

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Alaska is the only state that can be typed on one row keys on a qwerty keyboard. — http://www.thechive.com

Healing act! Titanic hero buys island, builds eco-resort

Looking at the brighter side

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Device converts diesel to domestic fuel

APP WORLD

Apps around the office

Called ‘Lanstove’, the diesel-powered gadget simultaneously provides light, equivalent to that from a 200 watt electric bulb, and enable the cooking for a family of five

Microsoft Office Lens

BY KS JAYARAMAN Diesel, which is normally used in automobiles, buses, trucks and even railway engines and is considered ‘dirty’, has been turned into a clean fuel for cooking and lighting in rural areas, courtesy a device developed at the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), an NGO in Phaltan, Maharashtra. Called ‘Lanstove’, Anil Rajvanshi the diesel-powered gadget is claimed to simultaneously provide light (equivalent to that from a 200 watt electric bulb) and enable the cooking of a complete meal for a family of five. Besides it can purify 10 litres of water for drinking. “It is ideal for rural households that do not have electricity,” Anil Rajvanshi, an Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur alumnus and NARI director, told IANS. The Lanstove has been tested for the last two months in five rural huts in western Maharashtra. “It has shown excellent results without producing smoke or smell and provides better light than a hurricane lantern,” Rajvanshi added. The carbon monoxide (CO) level from the Lanstove - a measure of combustion

Ex-employee sues TCS for favouring South Asians in US

Lanstove that will cost less than `3,000 ($48) when mass-produced has been so designed that the diesel is stored in a slightly pressurised seven-litre cylinder from where it flows into the combustor and burns very cleanly

efficiency - is less than three parts per million (ppm) compared to 250-400 ppm emitted by regular coal or woodfired “chulhas” (traditional stoves). “Thus Lanstove is an extremely clean device, equivalent to an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) stove for cooking,” he said. NARI had earlier developed a Lanstove running on kerosene but unavailability of the fuel for the rural poor hampered its growth. “Hence we thought it prudent to use diesel which is available everywhere and accordingly modified the kerosene Lanstove,” Rajvanshi said. “Every fuel is dirty and it is the way it is burnt that makes it clean or unclean,”

Rajvanshi said. “Lanstove’s combustion technology allows diesel to burn very cleanly in this device,” he said. Lanstove that will cost less than `3,000 ($48) when mass-produced has been so designed that the diesel is stored in a slightly pressurised seven-litre cylinder from where it flows into the combustor and burns very cleanly. This detachable cylinder can be refilled in diesel pump stations somewhat like getting an LPG cylinder changed. However, for the Lanstove to spread on a large scale in rural areas, an enlightened government policy is needed to make diesel available at a subsidised rate of `30 per litre to poor people through the Aadhar card,

Rajvanshi said. “With this diesel subsidy, the Lanstove’s running cost will be equal to that of subsidised LPG for cooking and subsidized electricity for lighting.” NARI estimates that at `30 per litre the total diesel subsidy bill for 35,000 Indian villages that are not electrified, will come to about `126 billion - less than one-third of the subsidy given at present for LPG. “With diesel subsidy given to rural poor, around 21 million rural households will immediately benefit with excellent light and clean cooking technology,” Rajvanshi said. IANS

Apps for encounters of the local kind

Visitors to NYC can party with locals, ask specific questions and even date them through easy-to-use facility

Washington: A former employee of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has accused India’s leading IT services company of discriminating against American workers and favouring ‘South Asians’ in hiring and promotion. In a complaint filed Tuesday in San Francisco federal court, Steven Heldt claimed that 95 per cent of the 14,000 people TCS employs in the US are South Asian or mostly Indian. This practice has created a ‘grossly disproportionate workforce’, it says. TCS achieves its ‘discriminatory goals’ by hiring large numbers of H-1B workers and locally hiring ‘disproportionately South Asian’ workers, the complaint alleged, according to Computerworld. For the ‘relatively few non-South Asians workers that Tata hires,’ it disfavours them in placement, promotion and termination decisions, it alleged. From 2011 to 2013, TCS sponsored nearly 21,000 new H-1B visas, all primarily Indian workers, the lawsuit claimed. Heldt ‘one of the few non-South Asians to gain employment with Tata’ describes a ‘miserable experience during his 20-month employment period’ handling jobs that ‘often involved only menial responsibilities’ and experienced ‘substantial anti-American sentiment’ along the way. The lawsuit contended that one top Tata HR manager instructed recruiters to focus on hiring Indians, and that this official ‘has expressed his dislike for American workers,’ and ‘believes Indians were smarter and better qualified than Americans.’ TCS spokesman Benjamin Trounson said the company ‘is confident that Mr Heldt’s allegations are baseless, and plans to vigorously defend itself against his claims.’ “TCS is an equal opportunity employer, and as such, bases its employment decisions - including recruiting, hiring, promotions, retention, and discipline - on legitimate non-discriminatory business reasons without regards to race, national origin,” and other protected characteristics, he said. Trounson said last year alone TCS recruited more than 2,600 US hires. IANS

When Toni Finnimore, a 30-year-old from Brighton, a seaside city two hours south of London, came to New York City in midNovember, she wanted to hang out with locals. She had made the same trip seven years earlier and “found myself visiting every tourist attraction the city had to offer,” she said. “The bright lights of Times Square, while dazzling, were not enough,” she continued. “I wanted to experience the real NYC.” So she downloaded Feastly, an app that connects tourists to residents who want to host them for dinner. A few days later she was in the Upper East Side studio apartment of two New Yorkers, Dalila Ercolani and Marco Maestoso, eating grilled skirt steak and macaroni and cheese for dinner, and laughing with three other locals (a marketing professional from Etsy, an IT programmer and a photographer) and two travelers from Chicago. She ate a “divine” meal, made what she says will be long-lasting friends and secured tips for the rest of her trip. “Who needs a guidebook when you have real-life New Yorkers?” she said. Over the past year or so, an increasing number of tools has emerged to help them. Airbnb and Homestay may have been the first to cater to this desire, offering real homes for tourists to use, but others have quickly followed suit. Now visitors can eat or party with locals, ask specific questions and even date them - all through free, easy-to-use apps. “You have to get off the beaten path and do what the locals do,” said Marybeth Bond, the founder of the travel website the Gutsy Traveler. “You have to be open to chance encounters, and you have to be a little gutsy.” Here is a look at some of those apps - and which one might be right for you.

QuickHoney/The New York Times

BY Alyson Krueger

New apps like ‘Feastly’, ‘Cookening’ and ‘Party with a Local’ let travellers connect with locals at parties and over dinner tables

million users within three years. (All users fill out a profile, but there is no specific system for vetting locals beyond that.) Masha, a 27-year-old New York native who declined to give her last name because she wanted to keep her privacy, started using the app when she studied abroad in Amsterdam. “It just seemed like a nice and easy way to break the ice,” she said. Now that she is back in Manhattan, she still uses it regularly to meet up with foreign travelers at Jacob’s Pickles and to see live cover bands at Prohibition, both on the Upper West Side, and to skate at Rockefeller Center.

Over the past year, the number of online tools to help foreigners has risen

For the Partyer The purpose of the app Party With a Local is exactly what it sounds like: to connect users with locals for a night out, based on your location. (Think Tinder, but with a fun evening as the goal, not a date or hookup.) Users post ideas - “let’s go for a drink at this wine bar” or “come to this birthday party at this club” - and tourists can chat with them through the app and arrange to meet up. The app has 20,000 users in 160 countries (and even in Antarctica) and expects to have 16

For the Foodie Cookening is one of a growing number of apps (Feastly, PlateCulture.com) that use home-cooked meals as a point of connection. The setup is not entirely altruistic - most of the locals hosting dinners make money by charging for the meal (Cookening currently offers meals in New York City that cost between $27 and $67). In fact, Ercolani and Maestoso, who host three to four meals a week through Feastly, are considering making

it their full-time job. They even refurnished their entire studio apartment to make it more comfortable for group dinners. For the Knowledge Seeker Other apps are more like potential replacements for concierges. UrbanBuddy, for example, connects travelers to hand-selected locals who answer questions in real time through a live chat on their phones. For the Dater Traveller Chic debuted in August with the goal of pairing single tourists with single locals. A romantic connection may or may not happen, but travelers can at least count on a one-on-one tour from an informed local. Users connect over the website and often build relationships over Skype and email before meeting up. Then they meet and do something fun - tour Rome or have a meal in a family home - and see if they connect. Ellie Abramo, the chief executive and founder, notes that even mishaps can be rewarding. “When you’re traveling, crazy things do happen, and it’s how you roll with it that makes the trip,” she said. “Love the unexpected and embrace the chaos because that is what you will remember and - hopefully - laugh about years from now.” © 2015 New York Times News Service

iOS/Android, Free With so many cloud services available for free these days, there’s rarely a need for paper. You can write in the cloud, edit images in the cloud and store files in the cloud. However, when up against a bureaucracy, you’re back to using paper. People send each other bills and documents via email and WhatsApp all the time, which is where Office Lens can help. If you need to quickly ‘scan’ a document, the easiest way is to take a photograph. Office Lens makes things a bit easier by detecting the edges of the document or whiteboard you’re trying to photograph, and corrects perspective errors as well. The result is a perfectly level photograph with improved contrast that’s often indistinguishable from a proper scanned document. Super-useful for those rushed visa applications where you need to send identification documents ASAP. Being a Microsoft product, Office Lens focuses on sharing the resulting document within other Microsoft products. On iOS, you can export to OneNote, OneDrive, Word, Powerpoint as well as simply email or save as an image. There’s a huge number of ‘scanner’ apps available for various platforms, but Office Lens is one that produces very serviceable end-results.

Readdle Documents 5 iOS, Free iOS has always been more restrictive in terms of what apps running on the device can and cannot do, and where they can read and share data to/from. Android users have had no such problems, and it’s usually easier to execute common tasks like sharing files in Android. Documents bridges the gap somewhat, but serving as a virtual ‘scratch space’ for your iPhone or iPad. You can store documents, pictures and media within the app, view and share them onward from it. Particularly useful is Documents’ ability to connect to various cloud services like DropBox, Box, OneDrive and Google Drive. It allows you to browse files within those services and exchange data between them by way of your device. Again, very useful when you urgently need to email a document that happens to be stored in one of your accounts online, but you’re in transit somewhere.

Microsoft Office Mobile iOS/Android/Windows Phone, Free If you’ve ever used a computer, there’s a chance you’ve used either Word, Excel or Powerpoint, and likely all three. Now you can do the same on the go, with Office Mobile. Microsoft claims that the mobile apps allow viewing and editing with all the formatting direlity of the desktop counterpart apps. It’s true for the most part, and certainly useful if you need to view documents on the go and even make small changes. While the apps are more useful on larger devices like tablets, they’re surprisingly useful even on tiny screens below 5 inches in size. If you’re on iOS, these are the best apps to view and edit office documents, period. When they launched last year, they required a paid Office 365 account to edit documents. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case and for personal use, they’re free. The only downside to Office Mobile is that the apps are quite large in size, so if your phone is down on storage space, you might have to look elsewhere.

Trello iOS/Android, Free Trello is a project management app that allows you to organise processes and tasks in a simple, open-ended way. You divide your process into stages or “lists” and each task is a “card” which lives inside a list. The card itself can be flipped over and behaves a little bit like your Facebook news feed, with actions, attachments and comments listed in reverse-chronological format. Cards can be assigned to team members and can include attached files and checklists. Once you’re ready to move a task forward in the process, you simply drag and drop it into another list. This gives you an at-a-glance view of where the project is and how it’s progressing simply by eyeballing the number of tasks in each list. It works for larger, more complex projects too – you can filter the cards you see by keyword, member or colour code. Similar to Toyota’s famous ‘Kanban’ management technique, there’s very little that can’t be organised by Trello. It’s fluid enough to adapt to your needs and while it doesn’t have the sheer number of features of other apps and products, it makes up for it with it’s simplicity and gentle learning curve. Combined with it’s web-based interface, it’s unbeatable.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

“We will be reaching out to potential customers across all the major metros and aim to capture 10 per cent market share by 2017” — Kazutada Kobayashi, CEO, Canon

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“It is a matter of great pride that over 50 million Indians have trusted us with their money, and 1/3rd of them transact on Paytm on any given month” —Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, Paytm

Pick a dabba for your doggie

If you thought only pizzas or cabs were a phone call away, think again. Now, you can order your pet’s meal over phone too BY ZAINAB KANTAWALA @kantawalazainab

Small town business dreams just got bigger

There are stories of people hailing from the country’s hinterland who made it big in cities and even abroad

With so many culinary choices available in our lives, why should our four-legged friends eat the same old food every day? Doggie dabbas’ Rachee Kuchroo’s venture Doggie Dabba is working towards changing the routine for your pets as well. Everything we eat from cupcakes to ice creams is recreated for your pooch with signature twists. Of course, the chef make sure the food is canine-friendly and avoids use of artificial colours, fl avours, sugar, or any sort of preservatives. Doggie Dabbas provides fresh, home-cooked food, according to the nutrition, health and growth requirements of a particular dog. Pet chef Rashee (25) recently started the gourmet food service for dogs in the city. The aim is to ensure that none of the nutrients are lost in the cooking plans for dogs. “We cater to a large process and the meals are balanced. number of dogs depending on “After completing my Masters in their health requirements, such as Marketing Communications from obesity, skin condition, London, I returned arthritis, liver and home only to fi nd that kidney issues, heart or my Labrador was not gastro problems, etc.,” as healthy as I had left she adds. Rashee has him. He had put on a come up with a range lot of weight and was of treats that can satisfy often falling sick. Th is even the toughest pets. prompted me to take Delectable treats like interest in his diet and Chicken Jerky, Chicken I studied dog and cat Liver Fudge and Apple nutrition to understand Twist are sure make why,” says Rashee. any pooches’ mouth Equipped with water with joy. She the right knowledge, - RACHEE KUCHROO help regulate the diet of Rashee began whipping dogs, and ensure they up customised meal

BY GAJAL GUPTA

Rachee Kuchroo (centre) with her team at Doggie Dabbas

get their required dose of nutrition. They are vacuum-sealed in imported packaging material. “The dabbas are made keeping in mind owners, who are too busy to cook themselves. The food is protein rich and is vacuum packed so it doesn’t lose its nutrients by the time it reaches you.” zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com

“The food is vacuum packed so it doesn’t lose its nutrients.”

GET IN TOUCH Phone: +91-8600510991 doggiedabbas@gmail.com

New Delhi: With changing times, these dreams have got even bigger with a handful of newage entrepreneurs proving that inspiration, passion and hard work can translate into great success stories. Take, for instance, Smartprix.com, which was co-founded in 2011 by 20-year-old Abhinav Chaudhary from the dusty Uchain town in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district. Today, it is considered one of the best online websites for comparison shopping. “Starting with a few users, we are now dealing with over six million users a month. When they tell us that we are the best online site in India for comparison shopping, we feel proud of the fact that it was sheer hard work which brought us the accolades,” Chaudhary said. Or, take the case of PepperTap. com co-founder Navneet Singh, who hails from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. “I always wanted to be an entrepreneur but the comfort zone of being in a secure job stopped me from taking the plunge. I mulled over the decision for seven years before I started out on my own,” Navneet Singh said. Residents of the Gurgaon IT hub on the national capital’s outskirts can order groceries, fruit, vegetables and other items from PepperTap.com via an app. Then, there is Diwakar Chittora who, though he is from Jaipur faced

immense infrastructure issues, in spite of being in the Rajasthan capital, in launching Intellipaat an e-learning website that trains candidates to excel in IT-based programmes. “Launching Intellipaat is aimed at training people to acquire skill sets that match the requirements of the growing IT industry,” Chittora said. As with Rome, their dreams were also not built in a day. Starting off their own businesses was not easy, particularly because of no fi nancial back-up and lack of initial infrastructure. “There are several start-ups that fail horribly. So you have got to be prepared to do a lot of hard work. Prepare a detailed plan, chart out your revenue model and work on it honestly to become successful,” Chaudhary advised when asked about the risks involved in starting your own fi rm. Before launching Smartprix, in which online giant Snapdeal has a stake, Chaudhary fi rst took his family and relatives into confidence. But they never lost hope. They took inspiration from other’s success stories and remained fi xed on their path to success. “I read about how companies like Flipkart and SnapDeal became leading Indian online e-retailers. The idea that anyone with undivided dedication and determination can be successful motivated me the most,” Navneet Singh emphasised. IANS

Indian-American entrepreneur invests in the future of India BY ARUN KUMAR Washington: He was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, shifted to the US when he was just 15 and now lives in a 40,000-square-foot mansion that has a five-bedroom guest house and a backyard tea house along with reflecting pools on nine acres in Potomac, Maryland, a house that took six years to build. After realising the American dream, Frank Islam, an India-born

entrepreneur and investor who is said to be worth $300 million, is now ‘investing’ in the education sector in both the land of his birth and his adopted home. “The investment is in the future of America and the American dream and in India as well,” said Frank Islam, who set up the QSS Group, an information technology firm, in 1-994, and sold it in 2007. His contributions in India include a $2 million donation to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to build

the Frank and Debbie Islam School of Management with an endowed chair and building a technical college for girls in Azamgarh in memory of his mother Qumran Nisan. “While education is important in America, the needs are even greater in India and that is why I am supporting initiatives in my native land,” Islam said. The new school of management at AMU will focuss on innovation, and ethical business leadership. IANS

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Toppr acquires Jodhpur-based EasyPrep Toppr, an online test preparation platform has acquired EasyPrep – an online platform to help students prepare for entrance exams. Founded by Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goteti, Toppr focuses on IIT-JEE and Pre medical exams. Th is acquisition is aimed at making education more accessible and affordable for all. Over the years Toppr has grown to a team of over 100 members and serving more than lakh students across the nation. Founded by IIT alumni Vivek Sharma and Ankit Saraswat EasyPrep is a customised exam creation platform for schools, coaching institutes and an exam preparation platform for students. The company has raised INR 12 crores from SAIF Partners and Helion Ventures and has promising early traction.

Brocade invest $300 million in India for tech innovations

KEC International to sell telecom assets to ATC Infrastructure company KEC International Limited has entered into an agreement to sell its telecom assets in three states to ATC Telecom Tower, a fi ling by the fi rm in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). “KEC International Ltd. has informed BSE that the company has entered into a binding agreement for sale of its telecom assets in the states of Chhattisgarh, Meghalya and Mizoram consisting of 381 telecom sites to ATC Telecom Tower Corporation Private Limited,” the fi ling said. KEC is an infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) major, with presence across power systems, telecom and water space.

US-based networking products’ major Brocade Communications Systems announced an additional investment of $300 million (Rs.1,870 crore) in India over the next five years for innovations in the technology hub. “We will invest $300 million in India over the next five years for new IP-based (intellectual property) innovations in networking space from our new development centre here,” Brocade CEO Lloyd Carney said. The networking solutions of the $2.23-billion Silicon Valley fi rm help global telecos and enterprises provide communication services worldwide.

We have more hooning and sliding action on our YouTube channel. Subscribe and comment.

Four cylinders, four doors, all-wheel drive. The CLA 45 AMG and Evo X misbehaving around the hills.

Wet conditions and the Jaguar V8 R Coupe addup to an impossibly fun afternoon spent mostly sideways.

We went to the top of the world in an insane rally Thar and a Suzuki V-Strom 1000. We came back too.

Look our for the alive logo in the magazine to watch the action unfold

Going back to when Toyota’s were cool, we drive a custom Supra with a big turbo and come away scared, and maybe a bit wistful.

w w w. a l iv e a r. c o m

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

PICS BY ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

House of

CHAOS BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka

When elections are round the corner, the Election Commission of India (ECI) goes all out urging voters to cast their ballot. But one wonders if they really do want you to come out and vote, at least not their counterparts in Pune. Th is is obvious from the way they are running the EPIC-Aadhaar seeding programme, an initiative launched nationwide to link Aadhaar cards to genuine voter cards and thereby identify bogus voters. No attempt has been made to reach out to people at large to inform them about the programme. Nor are they offering any concrete solutions to the problems that majority of citizens are facing while linking their Aadhaar cards with voter ids. It all started in March this year when the ECI announced card seeding or linking of Aadhaar card with voter id

card of individuals under the National Electoral Roll’s Purification and Authentication Programme. Andhra Pradesh took the cue and started the programme with much jest. Authorities in Pune too flagged off the programme on March 3. One would expect a huge crowd and endless queues at the office where the exercise is being carried out. After all, it is an exercise to weed out bogus voters. But a trip to the fi rst floor of the old Zilla Parishad building, and the only people you see are Election Commission officials. Once in a while citizens walk in and leave as quickly as well. Not because their work gets done in a jiff y but almost everyone walks in with a problem, and officials direct them either to their local Aadhaar centre or voter id centre. For an office which is so relaxed and laid back, one can’t begin to imagine how they will meet deadline of linking cards for all the citizens in Pune district by

August 21, the nationwide deadline set by ECI. So far they have merely covered three per cent of the entire population. The EC officials in Pune are quick to blame the citizens. They claim that citizens ought to come forward and participate in the exercise. The officials in the District Election Department (DED) are busy blaming the citizens for the poor response, while citizens are terming the entire exercise as a farce due to its hasty planning. Majority of citizens are unaware of such an exercise. Those who do know, are equally puzzled as either their voter id has a problem or the Aadhaar card has mistakes. There are those who have errors in both the cards. And till such time that both the cards have the same address, name spelt in the same manner and other identical details, they cannot be linked. Most importantly, it is an exercise to weed out bogus voters but the district

officials are clueless as to what would they do with people who do not link or seed their cards. All they do know is that it is a voluntary exercise in which citizens have to come forward and fi ll up the forms for the linkage either in the office of Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) or use the online facility available on the website of ECI. Ask them about creating awareness, and they wear a blank look. With the numbers growing at a very slow pace, desperate election officials in Pune are trying every stunt. Realising that the response is far from adequate, they have now started their own to come forward with their cards. When Team TGS visited the DED office and asked about the progress of the programme, the deputy district election officer Samiksha Chandrakar started barking orders at her staff, “Didn’t I tell you to get your voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards for seeding?” The staff woke up from their slumber

Samiksha Chandrakar,

Deputy District Election Officer

and poured out their cards from purses and wallets. They had hoped to link the cards online, but to their disappointment their computers do not have Internet.

You heard it right - the hub of electoral process does not have a working Internet connection. The next best thing was to order dongles from shops outside and link

their cards. The district statistics after all the chaos and shouting went up by 10 citizens. Meanwhile, there is a large population

out there completely clueless about the exercise or feeling helpless as their cards are not in order. priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

Vijay and Shweta Puranik

he couple staying in Bibvewadi is aware about the seeding process. They are however confused as to which voter ID cards should they use to link with their Aadhaar cards. Vijay Puranik has three voters ID cards each with a different number, while his wife Shweta has two voter ID cards. “I received my first voter ID card in 1994 with a wrong address mentioned on it. I applied for the new one in 2010, which came in 2011, again with a wrong address in addition to another mistake,” said 58-year-old Vijay. In his second voter ID card, his birth date was omitted. Vijay’s third voter ID card came in 2014, yet again with a wrong address on it. Similar mistakes were repeated in his wife’s cards. Their problems are far from over here. Their son and daughter-inlaw have just from the United States of America permanently. Neither of them have voter ids or Aadhaar cards. The younger Puraniks are now running from pillar to post to get their cards in order for the linkage exercise. “I hope my wife and I get our cards in time so that we are able to get them linked and get treated as bonafide voters,” said Devendra Puranik.

Anagha Purohit Getting a voter id

GS Team went to Parvati voters’ registration office to find out about the process for new voter id. Posing as citizens who wanted new id cards, we approached the employees there. They asked us if our names were registered in other cities. “If you have your names in other cities, tell us now,” said one of the employees. Another employee brought a form number 6 and told us to attach documents pertaining to age and residential proof along with a photograph. When we asked how long will it take for us to get our cards, we were told that they would arrive only by November. On being told that their boss Samiksha Chandrakar, deputy district election officer, had promised that cards would not take more than a month, the staff here dismissed her claims. “Not before November,” an employee said. He quickly added that we won’t be able to seed our cards by the deadline as they do not have required infrastructure to make new voter id cards.

Getting an Aadhaar card

he situation at Aadhaar centres was even grimmer. We went to Tilak Road ward office where the cards are made, only to find it shut. Two security guards at the gate told us that the centre has been shut for the past 15 days as the official who looks after entire process is on leave. Situation isn’t very different at other centres

wo years ago when the Supreme Court of India ruled that Aadhaar cards are not mandatory, Anagha gave up the idea of ever applying for one. “I have been skeptical about Aadhaar cards from the very fi rst day. It seemed nothing but yet another government scheme launched by the previous government. From passport office to SIM card dealers, nobody ever accepted Aadhaar as a proof of identity,” said Anagha. She added that the SC order only helped her resolve that there was no point in wasting her time in getting one done. But now she regrets not getting an Aadhaar card. The seeding programme has her wondering if her decision was even right. “Suddenly this new programme came up which now needs Aadhaar card. I really doubt whether such linkage would be useful as it would not be a foolproof mechanism to identify bogus voters,” Anagha said. Her voter id card too has mistakes. “My name is spelt wrongly and the residential address is also not correct,” she said.

Ameya Deshpande

hile there are those who have multiple voter id cards, Ameya Deshpande does not have even one. Although he is a registered voter, he is yet to get his card. Ameya, 25-year-old IT professional, voted for the fi rst time in 2014 general elections and then for the state assembly elections. “After registering my name in the voters’ list in a special drive held by the district election department in 2014, I applied separately for the voter id. However, a year has passed and I am still waiting for it,” said Ameya. Few days back, this Sahakar Nagar resident heard about the voter id and Aadhaar card linkage. “Considering the chaos around the Lok Sabha elections due to deletion of voters from the list, I found the linkage programme useful as it is an effort to check bogus voters. I therefore was very keen to take part in the linkage programme and approached the nearest ERO office last week to inquire about the status of my voter id,” he said. He, however, could not get a straight answer from the officials. He is unclear as to when he will get the card. His Aadhaar card though is in place. “I wish I get my voter id before August 21, so that I could link it with my Aadhaar card,” said Ameya.

OFFICIAL SPEAK

Nikhil Mahabaleshwar

he 33-year-old Sinhagad Road resident has been enthusiastically participating in the electoral process since the age of 18. It was like winning a battle when he received his voter id card a decade ago, that too without a single error on it. Few months back he applied for the Aadhaar card and to his surprise he was handed a receipt with the unique enrollment number. With just the enrollment number he can go for seeding. It’s an ideal case. But if only Nikhil knew about the link seeding exercise. He didn’t know it till The Golden Sparrow on Saturday team told him about it. “I haven’t come across any information about this exercise. When it comes to adding names in the voters’ list, not only district administration but the political parties approach us. It’s amazing how the authorities expect me to know about a programme linking voter id to Aadhaar and also turn up at their office for it,” asked Nikhil.

Sangita Bali

ohegaon resident Sangita and her husband Malindra tried to link their voter id cards and Aadhaar cards on April 15. While Malindra succeeded in linking his cards, his wife’s attempt of seeding the cards seems to have failed. “My husband received a text message stating that his linkage was successful. I am yet to get any confi rmation though. I doubt whether my linkage was successful,” said Sangita. Sangita’s parents are facing another situation all together. They do not have Aadhaar cards. Each time they have gone to get their cards done, they have been asked to come back later. Their hands have been found to be coarse because of which the biometric machine does not detect their fingerprints. “Just because they cannot detect fingerprints, my parents won’t get their Aadhaar cards. There should be some other parameter included for those who fail in biometric tests,” said Sangita. Needless to say that her parents will not be able to get their cards linked anytime soon.

Deputy District Election Officer Samiksha Chandrakar said that since March 3 the number of citizens whose cards have been linked is below the five per cent mark. “We cannot send our Booth Level Officers (BLO) door to door to spread awareness. Normally teachers double up as BLOs, but they cannot be sent on such duties anymore,” said Chandrakar. She quickly adds that she was planning on putting up banners across the district and release ads in cinemas. But the plans are yet to take shape. “This is just an exercise that we are conducting to identify bogus voters. We are inspired by Andhra Pradesh government which is successfully implementing this programme. However, we are yet to receive any directions from the Centre as to what is to be done with citizens who do not seed their cards within the deadline,” said Chandrakar. She explained that if there are mistakes in voter id cards, citizens can fill form no 7 and get them rectified. “We will give them a new voter id card within a month, so that they can take part in the linkage programme,” said Chandrakar. “There are 70 machines only across 18 different ERO offices in Pune to make Aadhaar cards. Once both the cards are in place, all voters have to do is approach their nearest ERO office and fill up Annexure A form to link their cards. There is also an option of doing the same online on EPIC-Aadhaar seeding portal,” informed Chandrakar.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

“Untouchability has been abolished to a large extent but there is a lot to be done to remove it completely from the country. Not all are able to understand the fact that all humans are equal and accept it.” — Rajnath Singh, Home Minister

Your pet could be diabetic Do not be surprised if your pet suffers from the common lifestyle ailment diabetes. Sharing the modern style of living with humans has increased the number of cases in pets, especially dogs and cats. It is one of the biggest health issues facing pet owners today. And the causes are similar to humans — poor diets, Dr Shrikant Dhokrikar lack of variety in the diet, missing nutrients and absence of raw component (meat etc) on a daily basis. Veterinary surgeon and physician Dr Pradnya Dhokrikar said, “The number of pets diagnosed with diabetes has increased in the past five years. I handle four such cases in a month. Diabetes is common among female dogs and occurs when they enter midlife. The ailment is rarely seen in male dogs.” According to Dr Dhokrikar, diabetes is a disease of the body’s metabolism and the way animals use food for growth and energy. Most of the food eaten is broken down into glucose (sugar) in the blood, the main source of energy/fuel for the animal’s body. Insulin, the hormone produced by pancreas, is needed for glucose to get into cells. “Eating right food helps pancreas to automatically produce the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into our cells. And diabetes happens when glucose cannot be transferred through the bloodstream into the cells. Sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle is the main cause,” she said. Pet owners should take their animals to vet if they find a noticeable increase in water intake (drinking) and subsequent increased urination, which is a medical condition known as ‘polyuria (excessive urination) polydipsia

Behind that steaming cup of tea

Before your favourite concoction of tea reaches your kitchen, it goes through a rigorous qualification process. Read on, to find out how your cha acquires the right flavours TGS NEWS NETWORK @TGSWeekly

Veterinary surgeon and physician Dr Pradnya Dhokrikar (right) says that cases of diabetes have increased in pets in the past five years

(excessive drinking)ie PU/PD. The other symptoms are change in skin texture, renal failure, weight gain, improper eating habit and gait changes. “One should address these issues immediately to save the pet from further complications. Early diagnosis is the key to prevention of permanent damages. In the case of cats, it is detected in middle-aged and older animals and neutered males. This medical problem is rarely seen in male dogs,” said Dr Dhokrikar. TIMELY JAB AND CHECK Owners play an important role in monitoring diabetes in their pets. Regular visits to clinic are a must. Dr Pradnya and her husband Dr Shrikant Dhokrikar have been running ‘Pets

Clinic’ at Sahakar Nagar for 25 years. “After a pet is detected with diabetes, the animal is kept under 24-hour observation at the clinic to monitor sugar levels. Tests are conducted to determine glucose levels. Body weight, age and severity of the ailment determine the insulin intake. If the case is severe, then different doses of insulin need to be administered in a day,” Dr Pradnya said. THE CURE According to Dr Pradnya, insulin injections and proper diet keeps diabetes in animals in check. No oral drugs are available for pets suffering from the ailment. Intravenous (IV) fluids and insulin are administered in the case of cats. Feline creatures recover within a week, but dogs will carry

A home we left behind 25 years ago, for good By Shilpa Raina I have always found it tedious to answer the question: “Which is your hometown?” Not because I am a daughter of an army officer or belong to a family of travellers, but because “I was born in Srinagar and was brought up in Jammu”. I have been using this statement since the early 1990s to introduce myself, deliberately avoiding the word ‘Kashmiri Migrant’. The feeling of being a migrant or displaced in your own country brings in a sense of irreparable loss as it evokes blurred memories of childhood and reinforces the turmoil the community of Kashmiri Pandits faced when mass exodus took place in early 1990s uprooting over 1,00,000 Hindu Pandits from their homes due to an Islamist insurgency that still festers. So the answer to that very basic ‘hometown’ question invites mixed reactions, majorly sympathy. Sympathy is the last thing Kashmiri Pandits want, but unfortunately this is what has always been the offering. It is, I feel, because many fail to understand the sense of homelessness that has stayed with us ever since, and refuses to fade away even today. And it is this permanent restlessness that a bleak thought of going back to our ‘home’ brightens up our soul, even though temporarily. But this soul was shattered the day it was known that the government plans to build ‘composite clusters’ to rehabilitate displaced Pandits so that we could relive those lost years and stop lamenting about homecoming. We have always longed for home, but this home, ironically, doesn’t belong to the world we reside in now. It is their home now and 25 years is a long time for memories to fade away. These two decades

have also alienated the young Kashmiri generation from the struggle because they understand the importance of the word ‘Kashmir’ only when they apply for ‘Kashmiri quota’ for higher education. It is only then this tag comes really handy. Please don’t judge me for the rude statement, but when I look around I feel those who started their life in exile at a young age, adjusted to the newly-found environs, and those who were born outside the Valley never really had the umbilical chord attached to their roots. Whereas the older generation still romances nostalgia and laments about the life and times they had in Kashmir during their growing up years. It would be apt to say that many of us have moved on, settled down and alienated ourselves from the idea of Kashmir. A subtle proof of this statement is that we are building a generation that can’t speak the Kashmiri language. In many houses, parents speak to their children in Hindi so that they are not laughed at for the ‘funny accent’ - something this displaced community was initially made fun of. It has become a language we understand, but barely speak any more. We have compromised and adjusted to the rules of the new world. Why does the soul feel wretched at the thought of these ‘clusters’ that invite mirth and disbelief at the same time? This proposal has already generated another controversy related to rehabilitation of Pandits and questioned the vision of the government that aims to bring us home with ‘dignity’. The journey to home is arduous and long. But it is a choice we have to make. As the heart proposes, the mind opposes... leaving little room for conversation that could lead to meaningful discussion. IANS

“Being displaced in your own country brings in a sense of irreparable loss”

it throughout their lifetime. Many diabetic dogs in the city are leading a healthy life after their owners took the ailment seriously and regularly check their pets’ glucose levels. “In case of diabetic encephalopathy or uncontrolled diabetes, the dog may become unconscious, lose eyesight or develop cataracts. This problem is usually seen in Labradors,” she said. Dr Dhokrikar said that just as humans need to lead an active life involving physical exercises and proper diet to stay healthy, pets also should be made to run around on a daily basis apart from regular walks. One must play with them, spend time with them and give them good food. barnalee.handique @goldensparrow.com

You love your cup of tea and prefer a certain blend because of its sight, aroma and taste. You are so used to the refreshing cuppa that you wouldn’t want to switch your brand of tea for anything. This, perhaps, is because of professionals who assess the quality of the tea before it hits the market. TGS speaks to Atanoo Baroowa, tea taster and auctioneer, who was in the city recently. The tea tasting process includes judging its sense of taste, sight, smell and touch. In other words, four of the five senses are used in the evaluation of tea. Usually, tea is assessed on the basis of the following factors — appearance of the tea (dry leaf), the colour of the infused leaf (infusions), colour of the liquor and characteristics of the cup (liquors). While tasting particular tea leaves, the tea taster gets indication of what to expect from the liquors of a particular tea. “Normally, if the tea is light, it indicates a poor plucking standard. The colour of the leaf is also important. Dull teas are indicative of poor quality. This could be for a variety of reasons such as, insufficient firing, over handling and, of course, a poor green leaf standard. Tea leaves, that are blackish or brownish and have good sheen, are considered good. Size and uniformity of the grade are also very important aspects. The tea taster has to take both factors into account when making a qualitative commercial investment,” informed Baroowa. The quality of the liquor is judged first by its appearance, and then its taste. The colour of the liquors of good teas, when hot, should be bright and clear with a distinct yellow tinge. As the cup cools, a creaming down should be noticeable. The faster and thicker the creaming down, the better the quality of tea, says Baroowa. Tea tasters have been highlighting the finer points of tea for many years, especially in China and Japan where green tea is a popular beverage. In fact,

Atanoo Baroowa

the elaborate Japanese tea ceremony could not have taken place without someone on hand to ascertain the quality of tea that was being offered. Baroowa, who has been in this profession for more than 40 years, said, “When it comes to the profession of a tea taster, the historical origins are linked with the advent of the auction systems in London and in India. The professionals had a job cut out for them and their primary role was to determine the quality attributes of tea so that they could be assessed for their intrinsic value and marketability in the auctions.” The evaluation of quality must be learned over time and that can only come with a good teacher. On a given day, Baroowa sips around 500 cups of tea in search of the qualitative attributes of the given tea. These cups are placed in a row and Baroowa tastes them one by one. As he sips the tea, it hits the upper palate first and then Baroowa rolls it in his tongue before spitting it out. One need not gulp the tea. Speaking about the tea scène in the city, Baroowa said, “In the city, tea is sourced from Assam, Coorg, Darjeeling and other tea growing areas. Well-known brands in Maharashtra are Girnar and Society Tea.” When in Pune, Baroowa prefers chai at a tapri, which, according to him, is too sweet but filled with Puneites love nonetheless. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Mother nature packs her palette

Mugdha Godse’s love for countryside and art brings out the best works from her brush TGS NEWS NETWORK @TGSWeekly Mugdha Godse loves nature and captures it on canvas. The 24-year-old’s acrylic compositions displayed at the exhibition organised at Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Kala Dalan at Sahakar Nagar was the vibrant reflection of a free-spirited woman. The versatile artist depicts nature and its unlimited vastness. The theme that she chose for her first show as a professional was women and nature. Two distinguishing factors make her work stand out — vibrant colours and vivid expressions. Her works in natural colours of women becoming one with nature are the most appealing. Her naturescapes have been inspired from the place near MIT College in Kothrud where Godse lives. She enjoys what nature has to offer and often visits her favourite places on the outskirts of the city. Here she learned her passion for painting nature. During art classes in school she experimented with different mediums — watercolour, acrylic, oil. She eventually took up acrylic because of the rich colour it produces and nature as the object for its unexplored beauty. “Nature is like a canvas. Trees, birds, insects and flowers in different colours add to its beauty. I observe the bright colours of butterflies, the violet that grows under the grass, the golden-red orb of sunshine kissing the treetops, blossoming trees under the sun

Her works in natural colours of women are most appealing

Aniruddha Rajandekar

BY BARNALEE HANDIQUE @barnalee

Rahul Raut

Sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise are resulting in pets suffering from diseases common among human

A one-rupee mystery at National Insurance Company P14

Mugdha Godse uses brushes, palette knives, colours and textures to express ideas, moods and feelings

and attractive colours of the sun in morning, forenoon, noon, afternoon and evening. These different moods of nature excite me and prompt me to pick up the brush.” Godse said. Godse does not follow a set style. She uses colours and textures to express ideas, moods and feelings. “Like nature, women are beautiful, fragile, delicate, powerful and creative. There are many similarities between nature and women. I have tried to portray it in my paintings,” she said, adding that the time taken to finish her paintings is one week to 1 ½ months depending on the size of the canvas. As a child she always wanted to make

a living as an artist. After completing her boards, she pursued visual arts course from SNDT College in the city. She said, “I got good grades and could choose any stream but listened to my heart’s desire and took up arts.” Godse is inspired by Bharti Tembe, her art teacher. Besides acrylic paintings, she works on fabric and pot. Godse is already preparing for her forthcoming exhibition and the subject is nature. She will be holding her show at Darpan Art gallery next week and has received invitation from Mumbai, Aurangabad, Ahmedabad and Kolhapur. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

ENVIRONMENT “Most of the stem cell therapies like the ones which can successfully treat Parkinson’s disease and methods of ortho-reconstruction are in experimental stages.” —Jyotsna Dhawan, noted cellular biologist

Bookmark it!

BY ZAINAB KANTAWALA @kantawalazainab Superheroes, minions, bunnies, owls, monkeys, even Pikachu jostle for space on Abhishree Mehta’s soft board. These will soon latch on to books to help you remember the last page you were reading before bedtime. Made from recycled paper, the bookmarks and other recycled paper goodies are part of Abhishree’s effort to make a difference to the environment and disadvantaged children. A love of reading and a nudge from a friend got Abhishree initiated. “I have always been interested in crafts and made things out of waste whenever I had the time. I love reading too, and I would make creative bookmarks. I would punch heart and teddy bear shapes out of colourful

paper and glue them to used paper to make bookmarks. Following my friend’s advice I came up with a slightly more sophisticated take on the craft. I decided to start The Crafts Palate, which also gave me a platform to do something good for the society,” says the 19-year-old medical student. Her eco-friendly, recycled presents are guilt free accessories since Abhishree uses old newspapers, calendars or brochures as a base. They’re also a great way to splash some colour onto your latest page-turner. “The bookmarks are made from stiff sheets that hold the corners of page gently and if you want a special character or your favourite quote, we customise them too” she adds. But what makes them special is that proceeds from the sales go towards doing something for under-privileged

children. “We save the money received from the sale. When a substantial amount is collected, we buy something for underprivileged kids, take them for a movie screening, or help them pay their school fee, etc. We are now looking for NGOs and initiatives that would benefit from our help,” says Abhishree. Besides bookmarks, she also makes fancy envelopes using recycled, handmade paper. To order a bookmark or other stationery, email: thecraftpalate@gmail.com zainab.kantawala@ goldensparrow.com

Environmental pollution and India’s competitiveness

The environment in India most often appears as a classic case of ‘tragedy of the commons’

In the capital city Delhi, the river Yamuna is reduced to nothing more than a dumping ground from retail as well as industrial polluters

BY AMIT KAPOOR AND SANKALP SHARMA Walking down most streets in any major city in India, one notices pollution in one form or another. The air most times causes a burning sensation, or if that is missing, one can at least see empty cold drinks’ bottles, wrappers and the like thrown across the streets. It appears all-pervasive. The environment in India most often appears as a classic case of ‘tragedy of the commons’. In the capital city Delhi, the river Yamuna is reduced to nothing more than a dumping ground from retail as well as industrial polluters. Six recent developments merit attention with respect to the environmental situation in India. First, even with the things that we can avoid, like wrappers, plastic bottles, cold drinks nd the like, we tend to throw them outside. Most places we visit as tourists or even for a casual outdoor walk, we tend to throw our stuff outside. It is as if the business model of consumption-oriented companies is wired for this sort of behaviour. A soft drink bottle or a wrapper of our favourite chips is easily accessible and easily disposable. Part of the problem is also that we do not have bins at as many places as we have consumable items. So that, in a way,

culminates into a divine right to pollute the places we live in. Second, the government is actively taking part in a major debate that is happening about the ongoing environmental issues in India. The present government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, as well as Clean Ganga Mission are aimed at this. However, so long as there is no social consensus on the issues, much will remain unaccomplished. Th ird, recent reports suggest that India has extremely high levels of environmental pollution especially air pollution. A recent report by World Health Organisation (WHO) points to the fact that India is home to 13 of the top 20 cities for air pollution. It is because India’s air has a lot of PM (particulate matter) 2.5 that is instrumental in a large number of lung ailments. The health risks of living in such a toxic environment cannot be overstated. These include the onset of asthma and cancer as well as triggers to heart attack and stroke. Most of the diseases reduce life expectancy and cause losses in the productive capability of a nation. The

collective impact of pollution is thus detrimental and not just limited to quality of life today but for the future as well. Fourth, much can be done at this stage to reduce pollution. It does not necessarily mean blocking projects that are critical to national development but bringing in stringent guidelines for automobile manufacturers to comply with stricter pollution standards. It also means bettering public transport systems, especially MRTS (Mass Rapid Transport Systems), for people to migrate to them. These would help reduce the toxic levels that we see today in our urban centers. The scrapping of the diesel subsidy is a step in the right direction as it makes it costlier to consume the fuel. Fifth, acknowledgement of the problem is a must for being in a position to solve it. In this regard, the recent National Air Quality Index (AQI) is also a step in the right direction. The index has uniform six categories - good, satisfactory, moderately polluted, poor, very poor, and severe. The AQI also considers eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which short-term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality standards are prescribed. It makes the AQI robust. Hopefully in the coming years, the Index helps policy makers and citizens decide which road to take for development. All this reflects the need is to look at the environment in a holistic manner. The path taken by other countries, particularly America, for personal fulfi llment and growth over the past few centuries may not be appropriate for India at this juncture with the kind of resources that we have. A sense of civic duty towards our surroundings will contribute to making the country clean. IANS

“The river Yamuna is reduced to nothing more than a dumping ground”

APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

“As we increase our energy consumption from one trillion units to 2 trillion units, we will be looking at a saving of 200 billion units by bringing down transmission losses.” — Piyush Goyal, Power Minister

Teenager creates innovative bookmarks and stationery from recycled paper to help save the environment and better the lives of underprivileged kids

Creative bookmarks and other recycled and handmade paper goodies made by Abhishree Mehta (right)

H EALTH

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

Kidney notes: Learning to say no to dialysis

People over age 75 are the fastest-growing segment of patients on dialysis, and the treatment’s benefits and drawbacks add up differently for them than for younger patients A growing number of nephrologists and researchers are pushing for more educated and deliberative decision making when seniors contemplate dialysis. It is a choice, they say, not an imperative. “Patients are not adequately informed about the burdens. All they’re told is, ‘You have to go on dialysis or you’ll die,” said Dr. Alvin H. Moss, a nephrologist at West Virginia University School of Medicine. Dialysis involves fi ltering impurities from the blood when a patient’s faltering kidneys can no longer do so. Originally a temporary stopgap for those awaiting transplants, it has become the standard treatment for advanced kidney failure. Fewer than 10 percent of patients opt for peritoneal dialysis, which can be done at home. Most undergo hemodialysis at a centre where machines clean the blood and correct chemical imbalances. Unquestionably, dialysis has helped save lives. The mortality rate for patients with chronic kidney disease decreased 42 percent from 1995 to 2012, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Renal Data System. The picture for older patients, in particular, is less rosy. About 40 percent of patients over age 75 with end-stage renal disease, or advanced kidney failure, die within a year, and only 19 percent survive beyond four years, the renal data system has reported. A primary reason is that older patients generally suffer from other chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and lung disease. “It doesn’t treat the other problems an older person may have. It may even make them

Some older adults with advanced kidney failure are resisting the usual answer by deciding the sacrifices required by treatment aren’t worth it

more challenging to deal with”, said Dr. Ann O’Hare, a nephrologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Most older adults on dialysis die not from kidney disease, but from one of their other illnesses. But dialysis profoundly affects the way those patients spend their remaining months or years. Dialysis patients are frequently hospitalised. If they live in nursing homes, their independence - as measured by the ability to eat, dress, use a toilet and perform other daily activities declines sharply. In this ailing population, one study found, 58 percent died within a year of beginning dialysis. IANS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

“Trinamool activists including women pelted stones and hurled abuses at us. Had police been not there we wouldn’t have been alive. My driver was also assaulted and the windscreen of her car smashed by the attackers. This reflects the sorry state of West Bengal” — Roopa Ganguly, Actor-turned-BJP leader

Manpower shortage hits Jaipur’s jewellery business Manpower shortage is one of the rising concerns of the traditional jewellery business in Rajasthan By Anil Sharma The almost 250-year-old gems and jewellery industry in Rajasthan may lose some of its shine if the critical shortage of skilled manpower continues. The industry in Jaipur, the largest in the country, annually records exports of Rs.2,200-2,400 crore ($352284 million). The number of skilled workers, though, has fallen drastically to between 125,000 and 150,000 now from around 250,000 to 300,000 a few years ago, industry stakeholders say. “It all started when the industry was passing through a recession, especially between 2009 and 2010. Some of the manpower had to be laid off as the industry was not getting the required orders. However, after recovery, these workers have not come back as they have been absorbed by other industries,” Jitendra Singh Hada, a local jeweller, said. Echoing this, Pramod Shah, another jeweller, said, “It is really becoming a headache to find skilled manpower. It really is affecting our business.” The institutes engaged in training manpower say that the gems and jewellery industry here is traditional and family operated. “With the growth in the economy, these youths now have various career options so they do not want to enter into a traditional business where they think their career growth is limited,” Ikram, a father of three and a skilled worker in a gemstone unit, said. “On an average, a skilled worker like me makes Rs 12,000-15,000 per

Despite social stigma women discard ‘thaali’ Chennai: Terming the ‘thali’ or ‘mangalsutra’, traditionally worn around the neck by married Hindu women as long as their spouses are alive, a symbol of slavery or oppression, 21 married women discarded it at a function organised by Tamil outfit DK. In a statement issued here DK said 21 married women removed their ‘thali’ on the 124th birth anniversary of B.R.Ambedkar, the father of the Indian constitution. According to DK, the event got over even before a division bench of the Madras High Court issued a stay order on the function. The DK announced the ‘thali’ removal programme after protests by Hindu Munnani against television channel Puthiya Thalaimurai over its proposed programme on women wearing ‘thali’. The Tamil TV channel later cancelled the programme but two tiffin box bombs of low intensity were thrown at the channel’s office. Several Hindu organisations had opposed the DK’s ‘thali’ removal programme. Tying a ‘thali’ or “mangalsutra” by the groom around the brides neck is a major custom in Hindu weddings. A woman removes the ‘thali’ only on the death of her husband. IANS

Jaipur, an important manufacturer of precious and semi-precious stones now faced shortage of labour

month which is not much for me to make my ends meet. So obviously, I am encouraging my children to join other streams that pay more,” he added. To counter the shortage, the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery (IIGJJ) here signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC) to promote skill development and entrepreneurship across the state. The IIGJ, a pioneer in the gems and

jewellery sector with a strong focus on design, technology and management, has been promoted by the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council. The RSLDC is a Rajasthan government enterprise. “The programme, to be known as Employment Linked Skill Training Programme (ELSTP) has a target of providing skills to over 3,600 trainees in 2015-16 (that began April 1),” IIGJJ honorary secretary Vijay Chordia said. Jaipur has for centuries been

known for its fine gem-cutting and polishing and jewellery craftsmanship. Owing to this special emphasis, from as early as the 18th century, the city gained fame for its gems industry, being an important manufacturer of precious and semi-precious stones. Today, Jaipur is not only the main centre in India for processing coloured gems but also a global centre as most of the world’s supply of cut and polished emeralds flows from here. IANS

Poor roads lead to endless traffic chaos P 15

India’s social progress ranking is below all neighbours India fares worse than Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka in new social progress rankings India has a low rank of 101 among the 133 countries measured for their social progress, even below some immediate neighbours such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, indicating the level of meeting basic human needs and well-being, among other factors. Conducted by Social Progress Imperative, a US-based non-profit organisation set up in 2012, the index is seen as a measure of relationship between income inequality and social progress by using the commonly deployed Gini coefficient on income inequality. “If the world were a country, it would score 64.39 out of 100 on the Social Progress Index based on a simple average of countries and 61.00 on a population-weighted basis,” the organisation said in the latest report. India’s score of 53.06 is even below that. The countries are rated on indicators of well-being such as health, water and sanitation, personal safety, access to opportunity, tolerance, inclusion, personal freedom and choice. Norway has taken the first rank, while the US is at the 16th place. On the parameter of “Tolerance and

On health and wellness, India is at the 120th place where US ranks 68th

Punjab says ‘eat more potatoes’

Over the next few weeks, people in Punjab and even neighbouring areas could well be on a potato diet

Chandigarh: Forced by a glut of potato crop, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has directed officers to increase the use of potatoes in the cooked meals supplied under various government programmes. The use of potatoes in the middaymeal scheme for school students, covering 1.6 million pupils, would be encouraged following this fiat, a senior Punjab government officer said. Even as a majority of the farmers in Punjab are staring at lower output of wheat and other crops due to the damage done by unseasonal rains, potato growers in Punjab are facing a problem of plenty. Punjab has produced about 2.26 million tonnes of potatoes in the current season. With a good potato crop in other parts of the country, Punjab farmers are facing the pinch. Punjab’s Doaba belt, the fertile land between the Sutlej and Beas rivers, has had a bumper potato crop this year. With other states in the country too seeing a good output, potato growers in Punjab are facing a glut. This has led to the biggest ever crash in wholesale potato prices in the region. From nearly Rs.1,000 a quintal last year, the wholesale price of potato this time in Punjab is around Rs. 200

Punjab’s Doaba belt, the fertile land between the Sutlej and Beas rivers, has had a bumper potato crop this year.

per quintal. The rate of potato seed has also dropped by 50-60 percent. Taking stock of the situation faced by potato growers, the Punjab government has directed its agencies, Markfed and Punjab Mandi Board, to take steps to assist farmers in marketing their bumper crop. Badal has asked Markfed to procure potatoes from farmers and help them to supply these to other

states. Exports to nearby countries are also being explored. “Freight subsidy of Rs.200 per quintal would be paid through Markfed for export of potatoes to other countries and Rs.50 per quintal for selling and sending potatoes to other states,” Badal has announced. The government has also agreed to slash the market fee and rural development fee from two percent to

inclusion”, which according to the American NGO is the most difficult parameter, India fares even worse with a rank of 128. On “health and wellness”, India is at the 120th place, where the US ranks 68th. The SPI was launched in 2013 and is based on 52 indicators of countries’ social and environmental performance. The creators of this index draw attention to the overarching fact that social progress is imperative for a country’s development. When it came to opportunities for its citizens, India’s performance varied significantly. Despite the widely-reported struggles of women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in India’s conservative society, the Index found that India chalked up its best individual performance in personal rights, ranking 70. It statistics include no economic indicators and measures outcomes, in line with SPI’s philosophy that focusing solely on GDP implies measuring progress in purely monetary terms and failing to consider the wider picture the things that impact people. IANS

0.25 percent till April 30 to facilitate potato buying from the state. Farmers say they are in a bind. They cannot decide whether they should sell their potato produce at the crashed prices and suffer a loss or they should put the produce in cold storage and sell when prices stabilize. “The potato stocks are piling up. Farmers are in a fix whether to sell now or later. Storing the produce would mean additional burden of rent for cold storage. There is no guarantee that the potato prices will stabilize in the near future,” Baljit Singh, a farmer near Nakodar town said. Even cold storage owners are wary of storing potatoes. “In the past, we had a situation where farmers did not return to pick up their potato stocks as the prices remained low and they had already suffered losses. Our (storage) space gets blocked in such a scenario and we suffer a loss,” said Parminder Singh, a cold storage owner near the town of Phagwara. Potato growers have in the past strewn their produce on the roads to express their disgust against the government’s failure to bail them out when earlier bumper crops led to similar situations. IANS

Rajasthan passes bill against witch-hunting Jaipur: The Rajasthan assembly on Thursday passed a bill that aims to provide for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch-hunting and witchcraft. The Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-hunting Bill, 2015 entails a responsibility on the law and order machinery to take preventive measures against both the evils. Presenting the bill in the assembly, Minister’s of State for Women and Child Development Anita Bhadel said, “At present, there is no penal provision in the state’s law to prohibit or punish the accused of witch-hunting and other similar practices.” “The proposed legislation aims at prohibition and prevention of witchhunting and other similar practices. Thus, the bill will help in tackling the evil consequences and curbing crimes related or resulting from the practice of witch-hunting.” The penal provisions of the proposed legislation provides that every offence under it shall be cognizable and non-bailable. The bill outlines that whoever indulges in witch-hunting shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to five years or with fine which shall not be less than Rs.50,000 or both. IANS

Man held for stealing undergarments

Daniel Martin, a driver who was accused by his employer of stealing her lingerie and assaulting her, has been arrested Vol-1* lssue No.: 44 Editor: Yogesh Sadhwani (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867) Printed and Published by: Shrikant Honnavarkar on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 and printed at PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 at Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai. Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411 030, Tel: 020-2432 4332/33.

New Delhi: An obsession to collect undergarments of his woman employer and her daughter landed a 36-year-old driver behind bars as he carried on his activity despite being caught once and admonished, police said. Daniel Martin was also booked on charges of outraging the modesty of her employer when she caught him for stealing the undergarments. It was also alleged that the man had used abusive language towards her, police said. The incident was reported from

south Delhi’s Greater Kailash part-I where the woman resides. The woman informed police that her driver had been stealing undergarments of her and her 11-year-old daughter since last one year. She had caught Martin some six months with more than 300 undergarments filled in three separate bags.”At that time he was admonished and the articles stolen by him were destroyed,” a police official said, as per the complaint of the woman. Police said that the woman again

caught her driver on Sunday with 35 undergarments. “When she objected to it, the driver became violent and tried to grab her by holding her hand and outrage her modesty. He also used abusive language,” said the official. The 35-year-old woman, the official said, then made a call to the police control room (PCR). The driver was arrested and the undergarments were recovered from a sack kept inside his servant quarters. Police said a case under section 354 (assault or criminal

force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at Greater Kailash police station. The woman, who runs a business along with her husband, informed police that the accused has been employed as her driver for the last 14 years and live in a servant quarter inside the premises of her house. IANS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

“To the countries in the region, I say, lets adopt the spirit of brotherhood, lets respect each other. A nation does not give in through bombings.” —Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s President

Namdhari XI win national hockey P 16

A pilgrimage to the birthplace of the bomb

Planes without pilots

Autopiloting may save money. Will passengers ever get on a plane piloted by robots, or humans thousands of kms from cockpit?

Advances in sensor technology, computing and artificial intelligence are making human pilots less necessary than ever in the cockpit

military arsenal. But drones are almost always remotely piloted, rather than autonomous. Indeed, more than 150 humans are involved in the average combat mission flown by a drone. This summer, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon research organisation, will take the next step in plane automation with the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System, or ALIAS. Sometime this year, the agency will begin flight testing a robot that can be quickly installed in the right seat of military aircraft to act as the co-pilot. The portable onboard robot will be able to speak, listen, manipulate flight controls and read instruments. The machine will have many of the skills of a human pilot, including the ability to land the plane and to take off. It will assist the human pilot on routine flights and be able to take over the flight in emergency situations. A number of aerospace companies and universities, in three competing teams, are working with DARPA to

develop the robot. The agency plans for the robot co-pilot to be “visually aware” in the cockpit and to be able to control the aircraft by manipulating equipment built for human hands, such as the pilot’s yoke and pedals, as well as the various knobs, toggles and buttons. Ideally, the robots will rely on voice recognition technologies and speech synthesis to communicate with human pilots and flight controllers. “This is really about how we can foster a new kind of automation structured around augmenting the human,” said Daniel Patt, a programme manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. NASA is exploring a related possibility: moving the co-pilot out of the cockpit on commercial flights, and instead using a single remote operator to serve as co-pilot for multiple aircraft. In this scenario, a ground controller might operate as a dispatcher managing a dozen or more flights simultaneously. It would be possible for the ground

NASA is exploring possibility of using a single remote operator to serve as co-pilot for multiple aircraft

controller to “beam” into individual planes when needed and to land a plane remotely in the event that the pilot became incapacitated - or worse. What the Germanwings crash “has done has elevated the question of should there or not be ways to externally control commercial aircraft,” said Mary Cummings, the director of the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory at Duke University and a former Navy F-18 pilot, who is a researcher on the DARPA project. “Could we have a single-pilot aircraft with the ability to remotely control the aircraft from the ground that is safer than today’s systems? The answer is yes.” The potential savings from the move to more autonomous aircraft and air traffic control systems is enormous. In 2007, a research report for NASA estimated that the labour costs related to the co-pilot position alone in the world’s passenger aircraft amounted to billions of dollars annually. Automating that job may save money. But will passengers ever get on a plane piloted by robots, or humans thousands of kilometers from the cockpit? “You need humans where you have humans,” Cummings said. “If you have a bunch of humans on an aircraft, you’re going to need a Captain Kirk on the plane. I don’t ever see commercial transportation going over to drones.” In written testimony submitted to the Senate in March, the Air Line Pilots Association warned, “It is vitally important that the pressure to capitalise on the technology not lead to an incomplete safety analysis of the aircraft and operations.” The association defended the unique skills of a human pilot: “A pilot on board an aircraft can see, feel, smell or hear many indications of an impending problem and begin to formulate a course of action before even sophisticated sensors and indicators provide positive indications of trouble.” Even at NASA’s recent symposium, experts worried over the deployment of increasingly autonomous systems. Not all of the scientists and engineers who attended believe that increasingly sophisticated planes will always be safer planes. “Technology can have costs of its own,” said Amy Pritchett, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “If you put more technology in the cockpit, you have more technology that can fail.” © 2015 New York Times News Service

Appeal of Trinity Site is linked to its history as the birthplace of nuclear weapons and debate generated by technology By RICK ROJAS New Mexico: The stretch of New Mexico desert would seem endless if not for the mountain range looming high in the distance. Yet on the morning of April 4, the two-lane road winding toward the White Sands Missile Range was clogged with minivans, cars and motorcycles, a snake of vehicles stretching for kilometres, slowly making its way through a checkpoint. Decades ago, the remoteness of this area in south-central New Mexico attracted scientists looking to test the most destructive weapon mankind had ever created, sending up a radioactive cloud that blistered the sky. Trinity Site, as it became known, was where the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945, just weeks before two atomic bombs were unleashed on Japan, effectively ending World War II. These days, the rehearsal stage for calamity has become a tourist attraction. April 4 was one of the rare days, typically twice a year, when the public is allowed onto the 22,260-hectare site. The events can draw thousands; the most recent set a record with 5,534 visitors, including Boy Scout troops, classes on field trips and families. Admission came with rules: Visitors were allowed to explore and photograph only in cordoned areas. Beware of rattlesnakes, the rules also warned, but

not so much the radiation, which had fallen to levels low enough to no longer be a cause of concern. Still, a line formed to take selfies with a sign posted on a fence: “Caution Radioactive Materials.” As the 70th anniversary of the test approaches in July, interest in Trinity Site has surged, bringing more visitors to places - test sites, bunkers, museums connected to the weapons. Trinity Site, declared a national historic landmark in 1975, has essentially become a monument. A black obelisk made of lava rock marks where the bomb was detonated. An old ranch house, a little over 3 kilometers away, is where scientists assembled the weapon. (The name Trinity Site is believed to be derived from a John Donne poem, delivered by J Robert Oppenheimer, a leader of the Manhattan Project and a father of the atomic bomb.) The nuclear hysteria of the Cold War and even the recent agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme can be traced to Trinity Site. Lon Burnam, 61, an activist and former state legislator in Texas, has taken part in demonstrations at the Nevada test site, at a nuclear plant in Kansas and in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the home of a national laboratory. “You wonder how many people are out here out of curiosity and how many will internalise the fact we have the capability to destroy our species.” © 2015 New York Times News Service

Ivan Pierre Aguirre/The New York Times

Harry Campbell/The New York Times

BY JOHN MARKOFF California: Mounting evidence that the co-pilot crashed a Germanwings plane into a French mountain in March has prompted a global debate about how to better screen crew members for mental illness and how to ensure that no one is left alone in the cockpit. But among many aviation experts, the discussion has taken a different turn. How many human pilots, some wonder, are really necessary aboard commercial planes? One? None? Advances in sensor technology, computing and artificial intelligence are making human pilots less necessary than ever in the cockpit. Already, government agencies are experimenting with replacing the co-pilot, perhaps even both pilots on cargo planes, with robots or remote operators. “The industry is starting to come out and say we are willing to put our R&D money into that,” said Parimal Kopardekar, manager of the safe autonomous system operations project at NASA’s Ames Research Center. In 2014, airlines carried 838.4 million passengers on more than 8.5 million flights. Commercial aviation is already heavily automated. Modern aircraft are generally flown by a computer autopilot that tracks its position using motion sensors and dead reckoning, corrected as necessary by GPS. Software systems are also used to land commercial aircraft. In a recent survey of airline pilots, those operating Boeing 777s reported that they spent just seven minutes manually piloting their planes in a typical flight. Pilots operating Airbus planes spent half that time. And commercial planes are becoming smarter all the time. “An Airbus airliner knows enough not to fly into a mountain,” said David Mindell, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology aeronautics and astronautics professor. “It has a warning system that tells a pilot. But it doesn’t take over.” Such a system could take over, if permitted. Already, the Pentagon has deployed automated piloting software in F-16 fighter jets. The Auto Collision Ground Avoidance System reportedly saved a plane and pilot in November during a combat mission against Islamic State forces. The Pentagon has invested heavily in robot aircraft. As of 2013, there were more than 11,000 drones in the

PUNE

Larry Denson, with son Gage, takes photos of other family members in front of a Fat Man atomic bomb casing at the Trinity Site nuclear proving grounds, where the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945. Thousands of tourists flock to the desert on the rare days, typically twice a year, when the public is allowed onto the 55,000-acre site

Healing act! Titanic hero buys island, builds eco-resort BY JULIE SATOW In what may be his highest-impact leading role yet, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the Oscar-nominated ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, is planning to heal an island. A well-known environmental activist and ‘Titanic’ star, DiCaprio bought Blackadore Caye, 42 hectares of wild, unpopulated land off the coast of Belize, with a partner soon after he set foot in the country a decade ago. “It was like heaven on Earth,” he said, speaking by telephone from Los Angeles. “And almost immediately, I found this opportunity to purchase an island there.” Now DiCaprio has joined with Paul Scialla, the chief executive of Delos, a New York City-based developer, to create an eco-conscious resort there. When it opens to guests in 2018, “Blackadore Caye, a Restorative Island” will feature the trappings of many luxury resorts, with sprawling villas, infinity pools and stunning sunset views. But the “Restorative” in the title refers not just to the impact the island might have on visitors, but to the island itself. Blackadore Caye has suffered from overfishing, an eroding coastline

and the deforestation of its mangrove trees, and the partners mean to put it back to rights. Blackadore Caye is a 45-minute boat ride from Philip SW Goldson International Airport in Belize City and a 15-minute boat ride from San Pedro, the nearest big town. The island has been used for hundreds of years, according to Juan Rovalo, a biologist who leads a team of scientists studying the caye. It was a popular spot for fishermen, who would stop on their way to markets in Mexico and cut mangrove, using the wood for fires to smoke their catch and the conch that they took from the reef, littering the island with thousands of

empty shells. More recently, he said, the island’s once plentiful palm trees have been uprooted and used to landscape the grounds of hotels in San Pedro. A nursery on the island will grow indigenous marine grass to support a manatee conservation area, and mangrove trees will be replanted, replacing invasive species. A team of designers, scientists, engineers and landscape architects, some of whom have spent more than 18 months studying Blackadore Caye, will monitor the resort’s impact on its surroundings. “The main focus is to do something that will change the world,” DiCaprio said. “I couldn’t have gone to Belize and built on an island and done something like this, if it

weren’t for the idea that it could be groundbreaking in the environmental movement.” An avid scuba diver, DiCaprio first visited Belize in 2005 to swim its barrier reef. “As soon as I got there, I fell in love,” DiCaprio said. “Belize is truly unique. It has the second largest coral reef system in the world, and it has some of the most biodiverse marine life, like the manatee population and almost every species of fish you can imagine. Then there are the Mayan temples and the culture.” He soon purchased Blackadore Caye for $1.75 million with Jeff Gram, the owner of Cayo Espanto Island Resort, a luxury vacation spot on another private island in Belize, where prices in April for two guests ranged from about $1,695 to $2,295 a night, according to its website. Gram said he would bring his experience in owning and operating island resorts to the new venture. “As for Blackadore,” he said, “I believe that it will be an incredible private island that will set the mark for all future island developments.” Belize, which has just 341,000 people, according to the CIA’s World Factbook, is highly dependent on ecotourism. “I think Belize, in the past, it hasn’t been as stringent and we have seen an adverse impact, especially near the coast,” said Nadia Bood, who is the head of the World Wildlife Fund’s Belize office. As for the guests, guidelines will dictate what they can take with them to the resort. Plastic water bottles, for example, will not be allowed on

the island. Once there, guests will go through an ecology orientation program. “The goal was to create something that wasn’t contrived - a tiki hut or some image of a Hawaiian getaway but rather the history of the place, the

Mayan culture, with a more modern approach. We want to change the outlook of people who visit, on both the environment writ large and also their personal well-being,” McLennan said. © 2015 New York Times News Service

pic by Benedict Kim/The New York Times

Leonardo DiCaprio to rehabilitate the area, which has been over-fished and suffers from sand erosion

(Above) Blackadore Caye, a 104-acre island off the coast of Belize recently purchased by Leonardo DiCaprio (left). (Above, left) Fishing traps in the water outside a caretaker’s cottage on Blackadore Caye, an island off the coast of Belize. DiCaprio aims to open an eco-conscious resort here while also setting right the erosion, deforestation and overfishing the island has endured

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

MONEY MATT ER S

“We have always led on product initiatives and have continuously expanded the Pulsar range to cater to the various consumer preferences in the sports segment.” —Eric Vas, president, motorcycles business, Bajaj Auto

Signpost

Thanks to recent policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment, and lower oil prices, overtaking China, India’s growth is expected to strengthen from 7.2 per cent in 2014 to 7.5 per cent in 2015, according to IMF. While India’s growth is forecast to remain steady at 7.5 per cent in 2016 too, China’s growth is likely to fall from 7.4 per cent in 2014 to 6.8 per cent in 2015 and 6.3 percent in 2016, said the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO). Lower oil prices will raise real disposable incomes in India, particularly among poorer households, and help drive down inflation keeping it close to target in 2015, said the world economy’s health report released on Tuesday. “In India, the postelection recovery of confidence and lower oil prices offer an opportunity to pursue such structural reforms,” the WEO said.

Jayant Sinha calls for full rupee convertibility Full capital account convertibility of the rupee is essential if India wants to become a top global economy, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Wednesday. “There are many policy measures and many things that we have to do over a period of time, if indeed India has to become a leading global economy. We have to make it possible for our capital markets to be broader, deeper and for that to happen, capital account convertibility also becomes important,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here on the New Pension System. “Definitely, we have to play our rightful, responsible role in the global economy, we have to move in that direction,” he said.

Will the black money law work? If the generation of black money is not curbed, the new law will be just another amnesty scheme and tool for tax terrorism

For representation purpose only

Overtaking China, India to grow at 7.5 per cent: IMF

BY SUCHETA DALAL @suchetadalal The Narendra Modi government swept into power on the promise that it would provide minimum government, maximum governance and help bring back the vast hoards of India’s wealth that is ostensibly stashed around the world. For almost a year, the government did very little. The prime minister has had to face barbs and offer an explanation to parliament. Soon after, the government introduced The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill in Lok Sabha. There is a strong feeling that no political party would want to appear to be against the return of black money stashed abroad. So, the law may come into force quickly. But, will it succeed in getting people to bring back unaccounted overseas money when all other efforts have failed in the past? To give the government its due, it certainly seems more serious about intent and implementation. The proposed legislation seems simple and comprehensive and has adopted a carrot-and-stick approach. It provides a limited, one-time compliance opportunity to come clean on payment of a gross tax of 30 per cent and an equal penalty. Moreover, those who have omitted to disclose foreign accounts with ‘minor’ balances of up to `5 lakh will be exempted from penalty and prosecution. Failure to disclose and being discovered later will not only attract tax of 30 per cent but also three times the tax as penalty. Wilful tax evasion on foreign income or assets will attract prosecution and is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from three to 10 years. The law covers benami ownership

HSBC was caught helping Americans of Indian origin to evade US taxes by opening bank accounts in India

and also those who induce or abet another person (probably employees) to file false returns. This covers banks and financial institutions which are notorious for helping people open overseas accounts and to hide the trail through a chain of investment companies and false documents. International private bankers openly canvass such business in India and help conceal income by setting up a chain of numbered accounts and dummy companies. HSBC was caught helping Americans of Indian origin to evade US taxes by opening bank accounts in India; its Geneva branch has a number of Indian accounts which are being investigated. HSBC is certainly not the only one; it is just the one that got caught. Even the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have hit upon on several trails of unaccounted overseas accounts but allowed them to be buried through consent orders or compounding. Many wealthy Indians, as well

Chinese-based firm eBaoTech Corporation’s core insurance solution software implemented at the public sector company accepts policyholders’ premium with an additional rupee By V Jagannathan

person named Anand, claiming to be an employee of the Chinese company in India, had called to check out the reasons for the questionnaire. However, the questions remain unanswered by eBaoTech Corporation. “We are not able to see the premium worksheet to know why this is happening. The premium worksheet facility is not working,” an official said. According to a company staffer, their office books premium as calculated by their old software called Genisys and the excess amount is adjusted at appropriate column. The Re 1 conundrum would take a serious turn if a policyholder sends the renewal premium cheque by post/ courier. In such cases, there is a risk of break-in insurance coverage as the premium would not be booked till the difference is made good. The break-in insurance coverage will be risky in the case of vehicle and health insurance. “Taking into account the interest of our clients I pay the difference out of my pocket. At an average I pay out around

as their key money-managers and cohorts, have become citizens of tax haven countries such as Macedonia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Romania by investing anywhere between 4,00,000 to a million Euros. The family of Subrata Roy (of the Sahara group) is among those who are Macedonian citizens with known wealth and businesses there. Will the new legislation, with its stringent provisions, induce all these people to bring back their undisclosed foreign wealth? It depends on two factors. The government’s seriousness about the Bill will be established only if the generation of new black money is stopped. A large amount of black money is generated for political funding and to route money to political parties/politicians. Unless that ends, businessmen will always be confident that any attempt to unearth their concealed stash can be stymied. The on-going purge after the 2G scam and the cancellation of coal blocks certainly indicates that big-

Discussions on black money ought to happen in the public domain

A one-rupee mystery at National Insurance Company Chennai: Policyholders and agents of government owned National Insurance Company Ltd are facing what they call as the ‘one-rupee mystery’, or ‘Re 1 conundrum’, say agents and company officials. “A difference of Re 1 pops up between the premium mentioned in the company’s renewal notice and the one that appears on the cashier’s screen after feeding the policy data,” an employee on the condition of anonymity told IANS. “I always ask my clients to add up Re 1 to the premium stated in the renewal notice while they write out the cheque,” an agent said. The problem is faced by policyholders/agents in most of the branches where the company has installed the core insurance solution (CIS) developed by a Chinese company called eBaoTech Corporation and being implemented by HCL Technologies since 2011. “The top management, though aware of the issue, is not taking any corrective action. The core insurance solution was first implemented in one office in Chennai in 2011. Now it is 2015, still the solution has not been rolled out across the company,” an agent said preferring anonymity. In 2009, HCL Technologies Ltd announced that it had signed a `393 crore, seven-year end-to-end information technology (IT) services engagement with National Insurance. A detailed list of questions e-mailed to HCL Technologies’ corporate communication officials several days ago remains unacknowledged till date. In response to the list of questions sent to eBaoTech Corporation, a

“The reduction in our interest rates is in line with market and we hope that this would improve sentiments of people buying homes and consequently improve the demand for financing homes.” — Srinivas Acharya, MD, Sundaram BNP Paribas

`10 like this and who will compensate me the loss,” the agent said. At the time of announcing the multi-crore deal, the HCL Technologies said during the seven-year engagement it will be responsible for setting up and managing a new enterprise wide IT landscape for National Insurance. This will cover services spanning over 1,034 branches and 10,000 endusers across the country, the HCL Technologies then said. According to National Insurance officials, the roll out is not even complete in the southern states. If one goes by the statement issued by HCL Technologies in 2009, the seven-year deal ends next year. It would be interesting to see how the government decides on the matter. Meanwhile, ‘system down, come tomorrow’ is one common refrain that policy-holders continue to hear from the insurer’s officials. Top officials of the insurer declined to comment on the matter. IANS

Govt removes remaining 20 items from MSME’s exclusive ambit MONEYLIFE DIGITAL TEAM Now even big corporates can manufacture pickles and chutneys, wooden furniture, exercise books and registers, wax candles, agarbatties and glass bangles that were monopoly of the MSME segment The union government has removed remaining 20 items like fireworks, safety matches, bread, wood and steel furniture and agarbatties, from the exclusive reserved category for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This move will allow big players to manufacture these items. The 20 items include pickles & chutneys, mustard oil (except solvent extracted), groundnut oil (except solvent extracted), wooden fixtures, exercise books and registers, wax candles, laundry soap, glass bangles, steel almirah, rolling shutters, steel chairs and tables, padlocks, stainless steel and aluminium utensils. In a statement, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, said, “The policy initiatives have been taken to encourage greater investment, including the existing MSME units, to incorporate better technologies, standard and branch building to enhance competition in Indian and global markets for these products.” The last 20 items are from the original list of over 800 items reserved for exclusive production by the MSME sector. This brings to an end a policy regime being followed since the 1960s to promote and facilitate the small sector, considered a big employment generator. The Ministry said an Advisory Committee constituted under Section 29B(2C) of the Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951 on de-reservation periodically evaluates products/items reserved for exclusive production by micro and small enterprises. @Moneylife.in

ticket corruption of the UPA2 variety has ended. But this is mainly because of Supreme Court-directed actions, following public interest litigation based on the Comptroller & Auditor General’s reports. All of them pertain to actions and decisions of the UPA period. Real estate sector is the other large block of monumental corruption, or even in the bribes and speed money that ordinary Indians are forced to pay to netas and babus for routine work or to avoid harassment. On the other hand, we have worrying examples of whistleblowers and diligent officials like Dr Ashok Khemka being transferred for doing their job right. Then there is the ‘one-time tax compliance on payment of a penalty’ offered by the black money Bill. Former union secretary, EAS Sarma, has written to the government to say, “I will not hesitate to seek judicial intervention in this matter if the government decides to go ahead with such a dubious amnesty clause (this was before the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha).” On the other hand, countries like Australia and the US have successfully used such amnesties to force their citizens to disclose substantial sums of money stashed in international tax havens. It worked in those countries for

two reasons. The threat of criminal prosecution and penalties for nondisclosure was serious and one-time compliance was made easy and workable. Like the Indian Bill, the US too offered only a ‘partial amnesty’, meaning that tax had to be paid with interest and penalty. The Indian law has only proposed flat tax of 30 per cent with an equal penalty. But the key here is whether the amnesty will offer quick closure, or whether there will be a permanent threat that accounts can be opened going back decades. A leading tax lawyer says that, although the black money Bill provides for due process, issue of notices and appeals, none of it really works in practice and people are at the mercy of assessment officers and their capricious orders, justified on the grounds of meeting ‘tax targets’ set out by the finance ministry. The Income-Tax Act already allowed assessment of those with overseas income to be opened going back 16 years; the black money Bill prescribes no such limit; this means that tax officials can take their scrutiny back for decades. This could be a huge deterrent to disclosure; in fact, some lawyers say that requests for help to become nonresident Indians have resumed for, the first time, after the BJP came to power in May 2014. Unfortunately, there has been very little public discussion on the black money Bill, although tax lawyers have been quietly flagging their concerns to the government. The key would be the operation of the ‘one-time compliance’ facility and whether it will lead to effective closure after a process of disclosure, hearing and declaration and payment. I believe that the government has to do a lot more to create public confidence that it is serious about eliminating corruption and black money. Otherwise, the black money Bill will only be a tool of tax terrorism, which is selectively used to fix political rivals or dissent. (Padma Shri Sucheta Dalal is the managing editor of Moneylife. She can be reached at sucheta@moneylife.in)

Troubled banks, bleeding customers

How banks are picking our pockets with unreasonable charges to cover up for their inefficiencies in business lending MONEYLIFE DIGITAL TEAM It required a sharp prod by the governor Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Raghuram Rajan for Indian banks to cut their base lending rates by a token 15 to 25 basis points on April 8. But things are rather grim at public sector banks (PSBs) and it remains to be seen how many borrowers will really get a lower rate. The government will have to pump in a massive `2.4 lakh crore of taxpayers’ money into recapitalising PSBs to ensure that they meet the Basel-III norms by 2018. Of this, provision for only `7,900 crore has been made in the Union Budget and the finance minister has said that PSBs may also be allowed to divest government holding down to 52 per cent. Can this happen when some of the biggest PSBs have remained headless for nearly a year after the BJP-led government took charge? There is silent anger and great demoralisation among senior bankers over recent changes in the eligibility criteria and flexi-pay packages that are being offered to direct recruits the government is planning to induct at the top. The need for such hiring, too, has come about because of a governmentcreated crisis with a ban on recruitment imposed in 1987. Does this affect ordinary consumers? Yes; in multiple ways. First, most of us, as taxpayers, bear the brunt of repeated recapitalisation of banks by the exchequer. Secondly, banks have discovered that it is extremely easy to

pick the pockets of depositors and make them pay for a variety of basic services, because they are too disorganised to pose a challenge. Consider this. Even after the recent reduction, the base lending rate remains above 9.9 per cent, while savings bank interest in most banks (barring two) is 4 per cent. This spread of 5 per cent is probably the highest in the world. Yet, the cartel of banks, led by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) will have us believe that they have no option but to charge consumers for a variety of services that will be more than amply covered by this huge spread that banks earn on our savings accounts. We have now become accustomed to paying for mobile alerts which were originally introduced as a free security measure. Banks are eliminating the convenience of their massive investment in core banking solutions (which promised anytime, anywhere banking) by dreaming up new charges. If this is part of RBI’s avowed policy to discourage cash transactions, surely it must explain why it is silent about ‘convenience charges’ claimed from consumers on online purchase of movie tickets, airline tickets, etc? Our surmise is that the government and RBI are fully aware that customers are being fleeced; but, since they consider the 350 million Indians who own a bank account as part of a ‘creamy layer’ (a central bankers’ term) of society, their complaints are irrelevant when faulty government policies have landed bankers in a far bigger mess. @Moneylife.in

Govt and RBI are fully aware that customers are being fleeced

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

“To track the movement of our tankers, the water supply department must install GPS. Better planning of routes and fuel is possible once the frequency of trips is known.” — Vivek Velankar, founder, Sajag Nagarik Manch

PUNE

“MCA officials had informed us that they spotted an unidentified object resembling a drone at the south end of the stadium. We have taken a serious note.” — Manoj Lohiya, SP, Pune rural police

Poor roads lead to endless traffic chaos

For the last 20 years, I have been residing at Hingne Khurd area of the city. Since it’s in the outskirts, the area was thinly populated, green and had not lost its old city charm. The roads too were narrow, but traffic was never a problem during those days. As years passed by, many new societies sprung up and the population in the area also started growing. Th is led to increase in vehicular traffic and the roads here are always stacked with vehicles and pedestrians. During the peak hours of the evening, the roads are congested and one has to squeeze their way through the immovable traffic. After lot of appeals to the authorities, the road widening was implemented under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). But the authorities failed acquire more land at the sides of Dandekar Bridge. The footpath from the Parvati pumping station leading up to Manikbaug has been constructed. But this has not put an end

Arun Phadnis

to the tribulations faced by the residents. On this particular stretch, a lot of food stalls and an illegal vegetable market in Vithalwadi area have come up. Due to the lack of maintenance, and overcrowding the footpaths have been damaged. To add to our woes, hawkers have encroached these footpaths and they

CITIZEN JOURNALIST

ply their trade throughout the day. The cycling tracks too have been vandalised. The PMPML bus stop also poses a problem for the pedestrians. Same is the story in the Manikbaug area. The authorities have failed to acquire the land for road widening. As a result the pedestrians are forced to walk on the road, hampering the moving traffic. The only alternative is to take the riverside road from Shivane to Kharadi. The proposed plan was to build 23 kms road with six lanes. The expansion of road was supposed to be completed in three phases. The work on two phases between Shivane and Mhatre Bridge, and between Mhatre Bridge and Sangamwadi Road has already begun. But work was put on hold by the authorities as it was affecting the eco system in that area. Due to the road widening process, many trees had to be cut down. The only solution to this problem is to mark a designated area for the hawkers. It will leave the footpaths free for the pedestrians and vehicular traffic can also flow easily.

A mosaic of different cultures

Pune’s relaxed, laid-back attitude and old-world charm appeal the most in interior designing. I have so made so many friends. They have made my stay in the city more meaningful and beautiful. It is their warm hearted and friendly nature that really touches me. Presently, I am freelancing as an interior designer and also working in my father’s furniture store at MG Road. Pune has the charm of an old city with a laid back attitude. The city is coming up as the centre of employment in India. And not just in IT sector, Pune has a lot of fields to offer jobs. The city has become the melting pot of different cultures. It is quite amazing to see people of different cultures and traditions living here in peace. Thousands of expats move to Pune for their work and studies every year. Th is has added to the beauty of

the city. The climate here is another attraction. Being a foodie, I have visited almost all the joints of the city. The varieties of cuisines on offer are mind boggling. My favourite haunt is ‘Vaishali’ at F C road as I love South Indian delicacies. I loved the way they serve the idlis and vadas soaked in thick sambar. The coconut chutney tempered with mustard seeds and ‘curry patta’ is simply out of this world. Add itiona l ly Puneites enjoy parties and music events every weekend. The night life in Pune is a par with other metros of the country. Every week, there are many international and national artists that come to play in concerts. All these different elements put together make my city complete.

NON-NATIVE

Sam Yaveri, Interior Designer

PAROLE

Born and brought up in Iran, I came to Pune to pursue higher education. After completing my board exams, I decided to move here for two reasons- the city has a host of educational institutes and secondly all my relatives reside here. The city has been home to me for ten years. I graduated from St Mira’s College for Girls and then did a course

Looking at the brighter side

Hinjewadi is shaping into a self sufficient place. It caters to the residents’ needs with many supermarkets and malls being constructed

My husband was offered a job in one of the IT companies in the city. He didn’t think twice before grabbing the opportunity. He had been to Pune before and he knew the city well. Initially, I was skeptical as I had very little information about the city. And shifting here from the United States

FROM FOREIGN

SHORES

was a different matter altogether. We landed in the city in the month of June, which was the peak of monsoon season. The water clogged roads and pot holes fi lled with water disheartened me. It was impossible to walk on the muddy slippery roads. On the days when the sun shone brightly, the whole city was bathed in the golden glow. From where we reside at Hinjewadi, you can see the blue green mountains in the distance. No doubt, my husband was all praises about this beautiful city. In the last couple of years the area has flourished immensely. Many new offices have sprung up and the real estate has developed. Many new residential projects have also come up in this area. To cater to the residents needs many supermarkets and malls

Glenda David

have also been constructed. The area is self sufficient and there is no need for one to travel all the way into the main city to procure the essentials. But on weekends, I do like to visit

the city especially the camp area. There is almost a different feel to it. The road side footstalls offer amazing variety of snacks. Outside the Archie’s store is a vendor who sells amazing chaat. What make the chaat special are the slices of green mango and farsan. If he is in a good mood, he obliges me with an extra sprinkling of farsan. Also I love hopping into Marz-orin, popularly known for its pasta, sandwiches, pastries and cookies. Besides food stalls, I also visit the stores selling traditional art and crafts. All said and done, I hope the traffic situation in the city improves soon. On a week day, it takes more than an hour to reach the city, and it worsens during the weekends. If the issue is taken care of, I can visit my favourite part of the city as often as I wish.

Movies vs Mythology: Crossing paths

LETTERS TO THE

EDITOR dEkAR

Apathy of Paralympic players continue

RAjAN ANIRUddhA

The article on ‘Why Simran is the new age Sita’ was an interesting read. It put to light how the modern day flicks are adapted from our very own mythology ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’. Baldev Das Prabhuji has stated very intriguing comparison between the very popular movies like Chennai Express, PK, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge etc. It never occurred to me that the scripts could be picked up or inspired by these epics. It was very fascinating to read about The Dark Knight, on how the superheroes are inspired the Gods. The shots like lifting mountains and killing the demon clearly reminds us of Krishna, Ram and Hanuman. And I don’t consider it wrong to find similarities between movies and our

RAHUL RAUT

A narrow road facilitates the flow of large number of cars and two-wheelers that travel towards the Hingne Khurd area, leading to traffic congestion

The story on Pooja Gaikwad, a 14 year old Paralympic player, brought to light the lack of support these sportsmen receive from the authorities. They feel pride in representing their country, but their satisfaction is tempered by the knowledge that their management is not

ldensparrow.com | www.thego , APRIL 11, 2015

PUNE

even taking interest in providing them with coaches. A player that has been consistently been performing remarkably is not even been offered help, states that the government bodies have again failed in their duties. Unlike the ablebodied athletes, who get better facilities, para-athletes; don’t even have access to something as basic as a coach. — Anuradha Takalkar

Install CCTv cameras in schools Why Simran ge is the new-a

what Ever wondered ters of inspires scriptwri CON blockbusters? ISK it given members have they some thought and numerous believe plots of rtainment scripts in the ente tations adap are stry indu Ramayana of epics such as . TGS and Mahabharata e about mor Life finds out the comparison

Sita?

epics, as Lord Krishna aimed to spread the message of ‘Good triumphs over the evil’. — Vivek Kala

The article on ‘Only one of 52 schools for disabled has CCTvs’ highlights a very grim issue. School is a place where hundreds of children of all age groups come for education on a daily basis. During their stay on the school premises, the safety and security of these children should be the first and foremost responsibility of the heads of school and staff. Every school should have CCTv cameras in place in order to deal effectively in case of any emergency

situation. Even after so many so many incidences of rape taking place, these schools act responsibly. I really appreciate the efforts by Kamayani Institute, it shows that safety of kids is their priority. — Manisha Bhagwat

A failed attempt

In story on how the plan on segregation of waste by PCMC has gone down the drain, was an eye opener. The city doesn’t even have a proper door-to-door trash pick-up system. The emerging scenario is both worrisome and scary. Even at the household level, waste segregation is clearly a failed initiative. Even the residents are at equal fault as they using the bins given by the municipality for their own personal uses. The authorities should distribute pamphlets, display notices and have even organise street plays in the societies to spread awareness. — Surendra Joshi

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

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2015

PUNE

“What is killing the fast bowlers is the amount of cricket that is being played. It is difficult to maintain your fitness, speed and skill in such a hectic schedule.” — West Indian legend Michael Holding

Signposts Bharat FC organises Bharathon run

PYC Gymkhana enter Mandke Shield final Hosts PYC Hindu Gymkhana scored a 32-run win over Amanora Stars to enter the finals of the 54th edition of the Goldfield Mandke Shield cricket tournament. In the second innings, PYC posted 195-6 wickets setting Amanora stars a target of 200 runs. Amanora stars could manage 186 runs. In the other semifinal, Deccan Gymkhana defeated Cricket Masters to book their place in the final.

Tulpule wins it for Yardi Software Gautam Tulpule bowled an eventful Super over in which he took two wickets, to give Yardi Software a memorable win against Stymie Clearpoint-3ps in the league match of the 3rd White Copper Cup T20 Inter IT Championship at Shinde High School ground recently. The teams were tied on 133 runs after the regulatory 20 overs.

Veterans all set for world championship Pune’s 11 senior badminton players to participate in World championship in Sweden TGS News Network @TGSWeekly

One of the most popular sports badminton has its roots well laid in our own city Pune. The city has produced several nationallevel shuttlers over the years, and now the city veterans are also making their presence felt at the international level. For the third time in a row, Pune veterans have qualified for the BWF World Veteran Badminton Championship. The shuttlers gave an exceptional performance in the recently concluded 39th Masters Veterans National Badminton Championship in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. Now they have been selected for the BWF World Veterans Championships to be held in Helsingborg, Sweden from September 20. “The world championship is held after every two years. From 2011, our veteran players are have managed to get a stronghold over the opposing teams. In fact every year the number of the players getting qualified is increasing. Last time in 2013, eight players from Pune were selected for the World championship while this time 11 players will represent the country. This is a remarkable progress,” said Uday Sane, Pune District Metropolitan Badminton Association (PDMBA) secretary. Amongst the players, Manjusha Sahastrabuddhe is the most experienced,

as this will be her fifth world championship. “First time I got qualified for the World championship was in Malaysia in 2005. I won silver medal in singles and bronze in mixed doubles (40+ age group) category. I couldn’t participate in the next championship because my doubles partner pulled out of the tournament the last moment. But after that I have been participating in every championship,” said Manjusha while talking to TGS. In 2009, Manjusha went on to win another bronze in singles category, but was knocked out in quarterfinals in Canada (2011) and Turkey (2013). “I follow a strict fitness regimen. But we Indians somehow lack the strength and power compared to the European players. This time I have already started preparing and working hard on strength training. But at this age you can’t push yourself beyond a limit,” said Manjusha. It seems age has no bar for these veterans as city’s Anjali Lagu will be participating in the 65 plus age group while Shaila Sardesai will take part in above 70 years category. The squad: Women (Singles 35+) Prerna Joshi; doubles (35+) Prerna Joshi/ Anika Lele; doubles (45+) Rajshree Bhave/Deepali Joshi; singles (50+) Manjusha Sahastrabuddhe, Pratibha Nair; doubles (50+) Anjali Kunte/ Pratibha Nair; womens singles (60+) Sunita D’souza; doubles (60+) Shaila Sardesai/Sunita D’souza; singles (65+) Anjali Lagu; singles (70+) Shaila Sardesai; mixed doubles (50+) Manjusha Sahasrabuddhe; mixed doubles (40+) Deepak Patwardhan/Deepali Joshi. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

“The number of city shuttlers qualifying for the world championship is increasing every time.”

Rahul RAut

Bharat FC, will conduct a unique 5-km run titled the ‘Bharathon’ at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi on Sunday (April 18). There will be four categories for the run - open men and women, 45+ men and women. Participants will receive T-shirt, medal, ticket to Bharat FC’s home game . Registration details are available on https://in.explara. com/e/bharatfc5k.

“It has been a great experience to play with legends of the game such as Viru (Sehwag) and I was lucky enough to play alongside Sachin previously.” — Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell

- Uday Sane, secretary PDMBA

Namdhari XI win national hockey Gagandeep Singh leads Namdhari XI to a 5-1 win over Hockey Patiala in the final of the 5th edition of the Senior Men’s National Championship TGS News Network @TGSWeekly Namdhari XI played like veritable champions at the 5th Hockey India Senior Men’s National Hockey championship. They qualified for the National ‘A’ division after successfully beating Patiala 5-1 in the finals for ‘B’ Division at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi. Gagandeep Singh continued his winning streak; as Namdharis fired four goals to take-over the in-form Patiala and went on to win the national ‘B’ title. Namdhari had let their intentions known very early in the match when Harpreet Singh sneaked in beating three defenders before taking a shot at the goal. Gagandeep fought back in the sixth minute when Patiala let their defence spilt for a while. Patiala was back in the game when captain Anil Kumar scored in the 12th minute leading them towards a 2-1 lead. Namdhari’s striker

Victorious Namdhari XI team pose for shutterbugs after their title win

Avtar Singh made it 3-1 before the halftime. The half-back scored two more goals, in the 48th and 52nd minutes, to leave Patiala gasping for breath. Chandigarh grabs bronze Interestingly, it was another Gagandeep Singh in the Chandigarh team who pumped in four goals as they

made easy work of Himachal to take the bronze position. Chandigarh unleashed penalty corner expert Gagandeep Singh soon after they earned the short corner on the counterattack. Gagandeep’s drag flick rocketed into the wooden boards resulting in an equaliser Chandigarh was looking for.

Pune teams gear up for new challenge Pune FC and Bharat FC campaigning for I-League will try to overcome their defeat this week TGS News Network @TGSWeekly It was a disappointing week for Pune’s football enthusiasts, as both citybased teams – Pune FC and Bharat FC suffered defeat to their respective opponents in the I-League Round 16. Pune FC, playing a home match, fought hard but went down fighting 2-3 to East Bengal FC at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi, while Bharat FC succumbed to two goals in the second half of the match. They lost 2-0 against table-toppers Mohun Bagan AC in Kolkata. It was their first loss at the home ground this season for Pune FC, as their seven match unbeaten home run came to an

end. Having dropped points, Pune FC stayed in the fourth position with 20 points. But more disheartening was their failure to break the jinx against East Bengal. The home team has been winless against East Bengal in the last seven games. Bharat FC suffered their second successive defeat and slipped down to 10th spot with just 11 points from 12 games. “The two defeats have definitely been a setback for us. Against East Bengal we fought back very well in the second half but the penalty killed us,” said Bharat FC coach Stuart Watkiss, while talking to TGS. About second match, he said, “Mohun Bagan was a little different.

We scored in the first half, and managed to defend well. We should have gone into the half-time break with a couple of goals to our credit, but, they upped their game in the second half.” Now both teams are gearing up for the next challenge. Pune FC team has back-to-back encounters next week. On Saturday (April 18), they will take on seventh placed Dempo Sports Club at Fatorda stadium, Goa and then will host Bengaluru FC at Balewadi on April 21. On the other hand, Bharat FC will play two home games this week. They will face Shillong Lajong FC on Sunday (April 19), followed by another home game against Bengaluru FC on April 24. “We will need to regroup and hit back. We are facing Shillong Lajong FC who is playing good. My team has the quality to get a positive result out of the game and we are going to focus on doing just that,” said Watkiss. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

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