The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 30/01/2016

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TGS LIFE

Single at 40 & loving it

CITY

CITY

Mystery tremors cause panic in parts of Pune P4

Critical accident victim shunted out by Sahyadri Hosp P6

Meet India’s women in blue VISHAL KALE

Compared to the nonstop adulation and the incandescent magnificence of the material rewards that the men in blue are showered with every step of the way, the women representing India on the cricket oval are a largely ignored and far less celebrated lot. But the fact is that they play, work, strive and dream just as hard and as resolutely as their male counterparts

See Spotlight, p08 & 09

Mothers to get leaves for a surrogate child Cops intensify Ghar Wapsi operation for missing children Women receiving surrogacy children sanctioned six months maternity leave by the state government See p3

CBI files a mellowed down chargesheet in Valdaris custodial death case

Charges of murder, unnatural sex, kidnapping, falsifying evidence, among others under which 10 police officials from Wadala Railway police station were initially booked, have been dropped from the chargesheet

BY YOGESH SADHWANI @yogeshsadhwani Almost two years after 25-year-old Agnelo Valdaris died while in the custody of Wadala Railway police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a watered down chargesheet against 10 police officials who allegedly tortured him and were responsible for his death. In contrast to the FIR filed by the country’s premiere investigating agency in June 2014, which booked the officials for murder, unnatural sex, kidnapping, falsifying evidence, among others, the chargesheet filed with Esplanade Court in Mumbai recently has diluted charges. The cops have merely been charged with illegal confinement, framing incorrect records, negligence leading to escape from custody.

The charges under which the cops have been booked will attract maximum punishment of three years, in contrast to life sentence had they been charged with murder. Agnelo and three others, including a minor, were picked up by Wadala Railway Police on charges of robbery on April 15, 2014. For the next three days they were allegedly

stripped, tortured and even forced to have oral sex with each other. On April 18, Valdaris died in custody while the others were released on bail on April 22.

After his death, Wadala police claimed that Agnelo died while trying to escape from their custody and was run over by a train.

A month after being released Mohammed Irfan Hajam (19), Sufiyan Mohammed Khan (23) and a minor (15), who were arrested along with Agnelo, filed a complaint with railway police commissioner alleging torture and that their friend was murdered by the cops while he was in custody.

When nothing came off the complaint, Agnelo’s father Leonard Valdaris filed a petition in Bombay High Court on June 9, 2014. Within two days of moving HC, State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed an FIR against 10 police officials from Wadala railway police. However, Leonard’s lawyer Yug Mohit Chaudhry told the court on June 17 that CID was not investigating the case well. He pointed out several loopholes in the investigation being done by state CID. Post this, HC asked CBI to take over the investigation.

Contd on p 2

Phase 2 of Operation Muskan continues with the complicated business of reuniting missing children with their families TEJAS GAIKWAD

BY YOGESH WAGH & SUSHANT RANJAN @TGSWeekly Why did this happen to me? Is a question that probably flashes through every parent’s mind when his or her child goes missing. It is the nightmare that they all dread.

Most parents get frantic if there is delayed when their Which father or mother can eat, sleep or even breathe while their kid’s whereabouts are not known? All kinds of dark thought and conjectures may enter their mind, and until the child returns home safe and sound, this state of affairs will continue. That is also the time when the parent wonders if he or she did something wrong to cause the child to leave home.

They will keep running over the sequence of events before the child’s disappearance to draw some clues, and probably keep tormenting themselves with the thoughts of what they could have done to prevent the happening. The plight of the parent whose child is missing is indeed wretched. Every moment seems like an eternity until the time the child is found and returns home safe and sound.

The day could have been an ordinary one until the parent comes to know that his/her child is missing, and that is when the darkness and dread descend upon them. Minutes turn into hours, and as the day turns into night and their child has not still come home, the parent’s heart is likely to sink into doom and despair. The search for

the missing child is an interminable one, as the parent swings between hope and despair. Those who believe in the benevolence of the Almighty, will seek his intervention. Those who are gifted with a strong will and determination, will build up a wall of fortitude and keep believing that their child will return to the safety and security of their home. But hours later, when the hope grows dim, they start looking for alternatives to keep the flame of hope alive, hoping against hope for the well being of their child.

And the happy moment, when the missing child returns, is nothing short of a miracle. Lucky are the parents who experience such a moment. Operation Muskan is a nationwide programme that helps locate missing children and reuniting them with their parents.

It is also a much needed endeavour, as, according to the national records, one lakh children go missing in India every year on an average. The police conduct search operations jointly with non-governmental organisations, media services and social workers.

Their modus operandi is to conduct intensive search operations in public places such as railway stations, shelter houses, religious places such as temples, mosques, churches, traffic signals, ST bus stations, bazaars, hotels where the possibility of children being employed, and other places like children’s park. The second phase of Operation Muskan was undertaken in Pune, from of January 1 to 31, 2016.

Contd on p 5

MUMBAI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

PUNE

“This metro project is going to play a very important role in city’s public transport service. MMRC needs some land on permanent basis and some for temporary work.”

—Prakash Gangadhare, chairman of MMRC

Two new drugs to treat Hepatitis C P 11

Pune driver Takale returns to rallying at Tsumagoi, Japan P 16

CBI files a mellowed down chargesheet in Valdaris custodial death case

Contd from p1

On June 25, 2014, CBI filed an FIR against 10 police officials from Wadala Railway Police Station. They were booked under sections 119, 166, 166(a), 193, 199, 200, 201,202, 203, 217, 220, 295(a), 302, 324, 331, 342, 347, 348, 367, 377, 506, 107, 114, 120-B & 34 of the Indian Penal Code, sections 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and section 23 of the Juvenile Justice (Care) and Protection of Children Act, 2000 r/w. Sec.29 of Police Act. The charges ranged from murder, to kidnapping, falsifying evidence, illegal confinement, sexually abusing a minor, among others.

However, on January 2, this year when CBI filed the chargesheet in Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court, the charges were watered down. The officials have been booked only under sections 120(B), 218, 223, 323, 342 of the Indian Penal Code. A senior official in CBI said that during their investigation, most the charges under which the police officials were booked did not add up. The officer claimed that

they could not find any evidence that Agnelo was murdered while in custody.

The only charges they Agnelo Valdaris are confident of proving in court are of illegal confinement, framing incorrect records, negligence leading to escape from custody and conspiracy, against the cops attached to Wadala police station in April 2014. The case is slated to come up for hearing for the first time in Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court on February 15.

COMPLAINT FILED BY THREE WITNESSES In their complaint and statements to CBI, Mohammed Irfan Hajam (19), Sufiyan Mohammed Khan (23) and a minor (15), who were arrested along with Agnelo, had stated that on the night they were detained, all the four accused were stripped and tortured. Irfan in his

complaint stated, “Mane and Kamble (cops) stripped me naked and put me on a table. Mane assaulted me with a belt and Kamble with a danda (stick). They hit me so hard that I fell unconscious for some time. Then water was poured on me.” The complainant added that after he regained consciousness, the torture started yet again. This time he was forced to have oral sex with Agnelo and the minor. When he refused, he was threatened with beating. Left with no option he did as asked.

The three victims in their statements narrated that the sole intention of the cops was to get information about gold chain worth around Rs 60,000 that they had allegedly stolen from a senior citizen. On the first night of detention, Irfan alleged that he was hanged upside down and assaulted. “Mane beat me with a belt and Kamble with a wooden stick. I was naked during this time.

Then one officer Ganya tried inserting a stick in my anus but since it was thick it didn’t penetrate. At this Mane and Kamble said that we have to spray petrol into his anus using a pump, only then will he tell the truth and confess where

Marine Drive may get high-rises, if MCGM chief has his way

he had sold the stolen goods,” stated Irfan’s complaint.

He narrated how Agnelo too was ruthlessly tortured. When Agnelo complained of chest pain and fainted, cops allegedly did not provide him with any medical attention. The four were forced to eat leftovers after the cops had eaten. The brutality went on till April 17 when they were produced in court.

Agnelo, however was not produced along with others on April 17 as he was badly injured, Irfan claimed in his statement to CBI. On April 17, while Irfan and Sufiyan were remanded to custody for next two days, minor was sent to children’s home.

On April 18, they were told that Agnelo had tried escaping from police custody that morning and was hit by a train.

“The entire incident of assault and severe beating took place in front of me. It was not possible for Agnelo to run from custody since he was badly bruised. The police are trying to cover up the entire beating by making a false claim of this train accident,” Sufiyan stated in his complaint. yogesh.sadhwani@goldensparrow.com

HC PULLS UP STATE FOR CUSTODIAL DEATHS

The Bombay High Court, which is hearing petition filed by Leonard Valdaris and a public interest litigation on custodial deaths in Maharashtra, pulled up the state government on January 13.

Division bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite Dere remarked, “It is a matter of shame for all the citizens in this country that an accused who is presumed to be innocent till he is proved to be guilty, has to suffer at the hands of police and has to meet the death while he was in police custody and despite directions being given by this Court, the same are not seriously implemented.”

HC had last year instructed state Home department to install CCTv cameras in 25 police stations to begin with to prevent custodial deaths. A year later, state is yet to implement the order.

“We are informed that process of installation of CCTV Cameras in

police lock ups and other sensitive areas are not commenced since tender process has yet to be over.

We are surprised that though sufficient time was given to the police i.e. one and a half years, they have also not started the process of installing the CCTV Cameras in the sensitive police stations, which have been earmarked by the State Government itself,” the division bench noted in the order.

The HC was told that the number of custodial deaths have gone up over the years. The total number of custodial deaths in 2014 was 21, and in 2015, the number went up to 41. “We hope and trust that the State Government will not consider this case in an advisable manner and implement the directions given by us with right earnest. However, we find that on one pretext or the other, these directions are not being implemented,” the division bench remark

Constables walk away with houses meant for inspectors

BY SANTOSHEE MISHRA @santosheemishra

TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly The Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has suggested raising the height of the buildings on Marine Drive, upsetting the current skyline. In order to allow redevelopment of buildings on the Queen’s Necklace, Ajoy Mehta has submitted draft guidelines to the state government suggesting that the height of the buildings in the front row should be raised from the existing 24 meters to 32 meters and to 58 meters for buildings located further inside.

Marine Drive was notified as a heritage precinct in May last year and the height of buildings there was capped at 24 meters keeping in mind the art-deco structures in the front row and the over all skyline.

Mehta’s proposal comes at a time when a legal battle over construction of a multi-storey bungalow on Marine Drive is raging in the Supreme Court of India. The 14-storey bungalow, Vasant Sagar, is being built near Jai Hind College in the second row of the art-deco buildings. The structure is designed to be media baron Subhash Chandra Goel’s residence. The construction of the 58-meter tall structure was sanctioned by the then municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar in April 2012.

Residents of the area and several organisations came together to oppose the move. They filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, which in 2014 ordered a status quo on the construction and asked the civic chief to “prepare final general guidelines for the height of reconstructed buildings in excess of 24 metres in the precincts of Marine Drive area in consultation with the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC); and only thereafter consider the application of Vasant Sagar.”

Now, the current municipal chief has pulled out the HC order and submitted guidelines. Mehta has recommended that the height of structures behind the art-deco buildings be set at 58 meters, which is what Vasant Sagar is supposed to be.

As per the document, titled ‘Draft guidelines for granting special permission to redevelopment projects in the Marine Drive precinct’ Marine Drive has been bifurcated into three zones – Backbay subprecinct, Gymkhana sub-precinct and Chowpatty sub-precinct.

In the Backbay sub-precinct, where Vasant Sagar is being constructed, Mehta has pointed out that Natraj Building (Hotel Inter Continental), which stands at 36 meters, is the tallest in the front row facing the waterfront. “In order to maintain Marine Drive street-edge skyline and façade characteristic and at the same time make redevelopment feasible, a height of 32 meters upto the terrace level (basement + stilt + parking podium + 8 floors) shall be allowed for redevelopment of

ALL ABOUT VASANT SAGAR The then MCGM commissioner Subodh Kumar cleared construction of Vasant Sagar in April 2012. He allowed the structure to rise to 58 meters and 14 floors. Residents’ groups approached the HC against the decision. A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha cancelled the permissions granted by the civic body to the building.

The owners, Vasant Sagar Properties challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court, which in April 2014 ordered a “status quo to be maintained with regard to the height of the construction of the building.” the buildings in the front row of this sub-precinct facing the waterfront,” states his proposal.

As for the buildings behind the first row, the document suggests that they should be governed by a “fundamental line of vision to maintain skyline and to ensure that the rear development does not get obtrusive from the waterfront”. He has recommended “a height of 58 meters upto the terrace level (basement + stilt + two parking podiums + 15 floors)”.

Interestingly, the MHCC has been vehemently opposing allowing any addition to the height of the structures in the area. In a proposal submitted by them in 2013 and eventually accepted by the state, MHCC had suggested that the height of structures in the Backbay sub-precinct should not exceed 24 meters. In the other two Gymkhana and Chowpatty sub-precincts, MHCC had recommended height of 11-14 meters and 21 meters respectively. Mehta has now suggested that height of buildings in Gymkhana can go upto 24 meters, and 32 meters in Chowpatty.

Mehta prepared the draft guidelines in September 2015 and sent them to MHCC for suggestions. The committee, headed by Ramanath Jha, refused to offer any comments to Mehta’s draft guidelines. It wrote back to Mehta stating that they had met thrice on the issue and would like to stick to the old guidelines of restricting the height at 24 meters. With the MHCC not helping his cause, Mehta wrote to principal secretary of the state Urban Development Department Dr Nitin Kareer, on December 22, 2015 justifying his draft guidelines for redevelopment along Marine Drive. In his letter, he pointed out that MHCC’s cap on height of structures was submitted in 2013, while HC ruled in 2014 asking the commissioner to draft fresh guidelines. Mehta urged Kareer to consider his guidelines. The commissioner has also submitted his guidelines to the SC on January 11.

The SC is hearing a petition filed by the owners of Vasant Sagar.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Javed Ahmed’s recent decision to allot quarters planned for assistant police inspectors and senior police inspectors to constables and head constables has left the wives of senior police personnel in displeasure. The women have decided to approach the court if the police chief does not withdraw its order to give the 563 sq ft flats to constables. The wives of junior cops claim that they are residing in small flats meant for constabulary even as they pay housing allowances for bigger-size flats. They are the eligible claimants of the new flats, they said.

Ahmed visited the Worli Police Camp on January 22 and decided to shift the family of constables from their 215 sq ft (one room kitchen) flats that were in dilapidated state to 563 sq ft (one bedroom kitchen) flats in the newly constructed buildings in the neighbourhood. He allotted flats in the newly constructed four blocks as per lot system.

These four new buildings are ground plus seven storeys. The families of 100 constables residing in ‘C’ colony will be shifting to the newly constructed four buildings on February 1. Although these flats are yet to get occupational certificate and water facility, the families of constables are ready to move in.

“The ‘C’ colony having nine building with ground plus three storeys each are in a sorry state. We even vacated families living

The new houses at Worli that have been allotted to constables and head constables

in one building as it was too dangerous for accommodation,” claims constable Nitin Gadwe attached with the local arms division in Worli.

Kalpana Bhogle (name changed), the wife of police inspector attached with suburban police station said, “We were assured by the senior official of Housing and Planning department that we will be shifted to these newly constructed buildings having an area of about 563 sq ft. We are staying in a 215 sq ft flat for more than 18 years despite paying about Rs 5,500 and

COP WRITES LETTER TO TOP COP TERMING HIS DECISION AS ‘UNJUST’ A disgruntled assistant police inspector (API) from Central Mumbai Police Station has given a grievance letter to Police Commissioner Javed Ahmed on the issue of allotment of flats in Worli Police Camp to constables. A copy of the letter in possession with TGS addresses the cop as ‘head of the police family’.

The letter states that the assistant police inspector (name withheld) joined the Mumbai Police in 2007 and applied for police quarters as he had no relative or any other place to stay in the city. “To my utter dismay, I was allotted a 300 square foot quarter meant for constabulary which was in such utter disrepair that it was literally unfit for human dwelling. With no option I was constrained to accept the same and after spending a small fortune for the repairs of the quarter, I was able to able to shift my family. Ever since, every year I have to spend at least two months’ salary solely for the said repair of the allotted quarter,” the letter states.

The cop writes that construction of four new buildings ‘Parijat, Rajnigandha, Surajmukhi and Krishnakamal’ meant exclusively for officers of ranks between assistant police inspector (API) and police sub-inspector (PSI) had raised hopes of better accommodation for many officers. “A hope was ignited in my wife’s heart that no longer

would be the ceiling drip into our food when she was preparing food. A hope was ignited in my eight-year-old daughter’s heart that she would finally get space for the study table that she so desperately needs. A hope was ignited in my five-year-old son’s heart that he would no longer have to sleep on the floor. A hope was ignited in my 75-year-old father and 67-year-old ailing mother’s heart that they would be able to visit their grandchildren at home, a task currently impossible as they would have to climb four floors,” reads the letter.

According to the API, he has to arrange for hotel accommodation when his ailing parents visit the city for treatment at a city hospital. His father who has served the police department for 37 years cannot climb stairs as he suffers from knee problem. The cop writes to his ‘head of family’ Javed Ahmed that his one decision to give the new flats at Worli Police Camp to constables has shattered his hopes, dreams and aspirations.

“Such is the turmoil that I feel that the stars of my shoulder which I have so rightfully earned and so proudly wear have been ripped off and I have been condemned to a rank below that of a constable. I pray to you with my folded hands to kindly reconsider you decision,” reads the letter.

above as housing allowance meant for bigger flats. The house allowance of constables is Rs 4,000 per month. We are staying in the quarters opposite Hotel Hill Top that were originally planned for constables. As there were no available accommodation for cops whose ranks range from assistant police inspector to senior police inspectors, we were given these small flats. We plan to approach the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) if the higher authorities does not pay heed to us.”

The nine buildings with 180 flats in Police Camp behind anti-corruption head office at Worli were built for constables in 1996.

However, the Public Works Department (PWD) declared these flats ‘dangerous for living’ in 2013. Families living in one building were even vacated and shifted to other police colonies in Mahim and Ghatkopar.

PWD constructs and repairs buildings and residential premises of Mumbai Police.

“Some portion of ceiling fell on my daughter Purvi in October 8, 2015. She needed six stitches on her head. Families of constables and head constables started shifting from these flats and now only 100 families reside here. We had approached the Mumbai Police Commissioner and he took the decision after inspecting these brokendown houses,” said Harshala Rajendra Dalvi, the wife of a constable.

Constable Gadwe claims that junior cops are making it a prestigious issue and putting the lives of 100 constables and their families in danger.

“When we daily join duty, our mind is concerned about the security and safety of our families in these buildings,” he said.

Director General of Police Pravin Dixit said, “Junior cops should have been allotted the flats as they are living in smaller flats and paying more housing allowance. CP Javed Ahmed should have come up with some other option.”

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police Commissioner Javed Ahmed remained unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

Ready for nuclear or radiological crisis P12

PUNE

“Flyovers and big roads are not a solution to the traffic problems in the city as they will attract more private transport and will add to the problem. We need to look for sustainable solutions and public transport is the answer to the city's traffic woes.”

— Kunal Kumar, Municipal Commissioner

Mothers to get leaves for a surrogate child Women receiving surrogacy children sanctioned six months maternity leave by the state government

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 The Government of Maharashtra has approved six months or 180 days of paid maternity leave for women in government service who beget children through surrogacy. They include teaching and non teaching staff of primary, secondary and higher secondary schools including agricultural and non agricultural universities. The affiliated colleges are eligible too.

The Finance department issued a Government Resolution (GR) on January 20 in this regard, stating that these are ‘special leaves’ entitled to the mothers availing male or female child through surrogacy. These mothers in government service have to furnish all details like the bond and

medical certificates to the concerned department authority. The medical certificates like surrogacy bond, test done by government or private hospital doctors/medical officers are needed. The certificates approved by gynaecologists who follows the rule of ‘Indian Council of Medical Research’ (ICMR), should be furnished by the mother. This resolution has brought relief to women in the state.

A woman who is not able to conceive prefers to have a child through surrogacy. A surrogate is implanted with an embryo created by In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), using the intended mother’s egg and donor sperm. The resulting child is genetically related to the intended mother and genetically unrelated to the surrogate. Then the child is given to the intended mother for its upbringing. The entire process can cost about seven lakh rupees in Pune. Then the child is brought up by the obtaining mother as her own child.

There are women in government jobs who are not able to conceive and want to have their own child. They have

Dr Pooja Jignesh Doshi filed writ petition in December 2014 in Bombay High Court when her request for maternity leave for baby Rutvi

options like adopting a child through surrogacy. The mother who adopts the child gets 90 days paid maternity leave, but surrogacy mothers were barred from getting any maternity paid leave. But now these women are eligible for 180 days leave.

State health director Dr Satish Pawar said that though surrogacy mothers are not biological mothers, they need leave to bring up their children taken as surrogacy. “Surrogacy mother also has the responsibility to take care of her child even if she is not his/her mother biologically. Taking into consideration the issue, government has approved paid leave for all mothers. It will help them to give affection to the baby,” Pawar said. “To avail of the benefit, women must collect all concerned documents and certificates and submit them to the medical attendant of health department,” he said.

Normally, according to leave policy, all mothers in government service are entitled to maternity benefit period of 180 days. But surrogacy mother’s period of leave is applicable from the birth of

the child and further up to 180 days.

This leave will be applicable only once in entire service. The mother who does not have any child and has not adopted one also will be eligible for the leave.

The leave is applicable from January 20.

Savitribai Phule Pune University, Department of Chemistry Assistant Professor Dr Pooja Jignesh Doshi filed writ petition in December 2014 in Bombay High Court when her request for maternity leave for baby Rutvi through surrogacy was not responded to by the higher education department nor the ministry. Her salary was deducted and all her important leave got consumed.

Her husband Dr Jignesh Doshi, who is a scientist at Pune based Serum Institute, expressed satisfaction over the new GR but is unhappy as their writ petition remains unanswered by the government.

“We are happy as government has approved maternity benefit for mother through surrogacy. We wish at least in future implementation of new rules will be quick and benefit other such mothers,” he said. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

PICS BY TEJAS GAIKWAD

Corporators prefer to sign on musters Bye bye letters, money than use biometric machines orders, hello parcels

Corporators turn their backs on biometric machines at GB hall entrance to mark their attendance

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has installed two biometric machines at the entrance of General Body meeting hall in May 2014, to mark the attendance of corporators.

The meeting are held twice a month. One biometric machine is for males and the other for women. It has cost six lakh rupees to install these machines. However, over one and a half years later, the machines are doing no more than gathering dust, as not a single corporator has marked his or her attendance on the biometric machines despite instructions from the administration to do so. They still mark their attendance by signing a register.

The PMC is also paying maintenance charges to a private contractor, all of which is tax payers’ money down the drain.

Municipal secretary Sunil Parkhi said, “The corporators were told to register thumb impressions with the contractor. But despite constant reminders, only 95 of the 157 corporators have registered their thumb impressions. Until the rest do so, we have no option but to use the attendance register. Both machines are functional and we start them half an hour before every GB.” PMC electrical department executive engineer Srinivas Kandul said, “There are other biometric machines worth Rs 70-80 lakh for class I to IV employees, which all are operational and used regularly. We can do nothing about the corporators not using the machines meant for them.”

A municipal secretariat official, on condition of anonymity, said, “Some corporators feel that marking their attendance on biometric machines is encroaching on their rights.

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka

Fifty per cent of corporators remain at some meetings, and come to our office to manually update their attendance by signing the register.

Section 12 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (BPMC) Act of 1949 stipulates that the membership of a corporator who fails to attend civic body meetings for two continuous months, is liable to be cancelled. So corporators fear that their membership will be cancelled if their attendance is not marked on the biometric machines.”

Deputy Mayor Aba alias Ulhas Bagul said, “The administration cannot make it compulsory to mark attendance on the biometric system. We are not PMC employees but answerable to the people who have elected us. The administration should remove the biometric machines from the GB hall entrance and install them elsewhere.”

Standing committee chairman Ashwini Kadam said, “The administration has enforced this decision on us without the state government permission. There is no issue of wasting tax payers’ money, as the administration can use these biometric machines for employees’ attendance.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

Gone are the days when you wrote letters to your loved ones in distant lands. Sealing envelopes, affixing stamps, and walking to a scarlet post box to drop in a letter are passé, and have been so for quite some time. The smartphone, email, Skype and other advances have made letter writing obsolete. But postal services have not ceased to exist. Thanks to online shopping, instead of letters, parcels are being delivered.

The Pune region, which includes Pune, Solapur, Ahmednagar and Satara, has seen a significant drop in letters over the past couple of years, but the number of parcels has risen just as significantly.

Pune region Post Master General Ganesh Sawaleshwarkar defined the sea changes in postal affairs in this tech-centric age. “Though advances in technology have reduced the demand for postal services like unregistered letters and money orders, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of parcels. The goods may be ordered online, but the parcels are dispatched through postal services. The number of parcels in 2014-15 has gone up to 37,588 from 34,562 in 2013-14,” said Sawaleshwarkar.

People are under the impression that some

postal services have been discontinued. “No postal service except telegram, which was not exactly a postal service but a telephone service, has been discontinued. The postal services’ pace may be slow, but lots of people still use them. For example, the number of unregistered letters have decreased but registered letters have increased from 4.18 lakh in 2013-14 to 4.44 lakh in 201415,” said Sawaleshwarkar. Aadhar card, voter id card, registration card of all vehicles and passports come under the registered category.

Money orders have dropped radically.

But there is a big increase in money orders to trustees of temples and shrines. “We receive a thousand money orders per day of around Rs 1.05 lakh from across India to the temple in Shirdi, Shani Shingnapur and Pandharpur. There are 9000 money orders from individuals on an average a month,” said Sawaleshwarkar. The PMG office of Pune region received 1.13 lakh money orders in AprilDecember 2014, which dropped to 1.07 lakh in April-December 2015.

Speed post is doing exceptionally well.

“It is reliable and quicker than private courier services. We received 2.74 lakh speed posts in 2014-15, while it was just 2.48 lakh in 2013-14,” Sawaleshwarkar said. priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

PICS BY TEJAS GAIKWAD

Corporator Mukta Tilak signing the register before attending a General Body meeting; One of the biometric machines installed in PMC headquarters

How are postal services faring in this age of smartphones, email, Skype and momentous technological advances?

Ex-servicmen to replace ‘corrupt’ encroachment removal staff Old squad disbanded after hawkers alleged that they would not return all the confiscated goods

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) is re-establishing the newly formed anti-encroachment drive squad of exservicemen in the wake of complaints from vendors to PCB Vice President Dr Kiran Mantri.

PCB Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Kumar said that he had received complaints from vendors about

squad personnel only returning part of the goods confiscated during antiencroachment drives. Following this, Kumar had disbanded the squad and entrusted the health section of PCB with the responsibility of anti-encroachment drives.

Mantri had written to the administration in December, requesting recreation of the squad to curb encroachments within PCB limits.

“The hawkers’ threat has increased and so has the need for a separate nuisance prevention squad. PCB officials were handed the responsibility to deal with the vendors, but would the PCB personnel be able to handle this situation? Considering this, it is better to re-establish the squad,” Mantri said.

TEJAS GAIKWAD

Following Mantri’s request, the board is re-establishing the squad in a week.

Explaining how they would prevent corruption after the squad is formed; Kumar said that new personnel are being hired. “We are hiring totally new persons to prevent corruption. We are going to hire regular personnel as well as exservicemen for the smooth functioning of the squad,” he said.

The squad will be responsible for conducting anti-encroachment drives to make PCB limits hawker-free as well as impound stray cattle that hang around the streets.

The cantonment board had earlier approved the contract of private security from May 1, 2009, to March 31, 2010.

In 2010, the PCB members had decided

to continue with the private security provided by Maji Sainik Security Services.

It was decided by the cantonment board even as some members were of the view that it should revert to the old system of removing encroachments on its own.

A senior officer of the board, who was handling the nuisance squad wing of the cantonment board, said antiencroachment drives are in offing in the Fashion Street and other busy junctions of the cantonment area.

A vendor of MG Road, Arif Ismail said that some anti-encroachment officers gave them freedom to run our stalls.

“They took all our belongings and after we paid the fine, they return only part of the stock,” he said. sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

PUNE

You can’t have over 200 ‘real’ Facebook friends: Study

“Pune was suffering from infrastructure and planning deficit and the civic body had not been able to manage the current population and its requirements.”

— Aneeta Benninger-Gokhale, Activist and Urban Planner

Bose’s daughter wants DNA test of ashes in Tokyo temple

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Fewer cops led to attack on demolition squad

The civic body has only 83 police personnel instead of 158 required

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) anti-encroachment department head Madhav Jagtap has rued the attack on his squad by an eatery owner and his staff, during the demolition drive at Yerawada on January 12. Jagtap suffered a hairline fracture in his left shoulder.

The attack could have been prevented had there been adequate police protection. Despite an official figure of 158, police personnel strength is limited to 83. This is adversely affecting action against illegal constructions and encroachments, and increasing the work load of the existing police staff.

A senior police officer associated with the anti encroachment department, on condition of anonymity, said, “A separate police station has been set up at PMC to assist PMC’s anti encroachment department on its demolition drives.

The PMC demand for 158 police

PICS BY VISHAL KALE

personnel in 2014, includes one ACP rank officer, three police inspectors, ten police sub inspectors and 144 police constables. But currently we have Madhav Jagtap only 83 personnel i n c l u d i n g officers. Our ACP is actually posted at Shivajinagar police headquarters.

He does not come to the PMC police station because of his huge work load at headquarters. One of our constables goes there daily for signatures of the ACP on leave applications and official documents. We have two PIs, four PSIs and 76 police constables. Of them, 5-6 have weekly offs, 3-4 are on various leaves, so in fact we have 70 staff only. The anti encroachment department undertakes 7-8 drives daily and at least ten police personnel are needed. It is difficult to fulfil this requirement. In sensitive ward offices like Vishrantwadi, encroachments on public properties are routine, so we have to deploy five police personnel there daily. PMC has given us only two rooms on the second floor of its main building, which are not

Madhav Jagtap, head of PMC’s anti-encroachment was assaulted on Janauary 12

sufficient. Our constables are forced to sit in PMC premises, and women staffers are inconvenienced most.

Our leaves are cancelled due to low manpower.”

Jagtap said, “The home ministry had passed an order to establish separate police station at PMC to

Mystery tremors cause panic in parts of Pune Mysterious explosions, tremors set off panic among residents of western belt of Pune

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka Residents of the western area of Pune were left in a panic node owing to unexplained explosions and subsequent tremors on Thursday noon. This was experienced in Kothrud, Wakad, Hinjawadi, Pimple Saudagar and Rahatani areas. However, the panic was diffused when the district authorities and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) asserted that there had been no earthquake.

The District Disaster Management Cell office was swamped by calls regarding the sounds and tremors, and even social networking sites were choca-bloc with posts on the mysterious phenomenon.

Warje resident Aparna Joshi was panic-stricken when

the window panes of her home began to rattle. “Along with the sound of explosions, I started imagining all kinds of disasters, so I quickly exited my house with my child,” said Joshi.

Pimple Saudagar resident Sheetal Patankar started calling her friends and relatives frantically asking for some explanation. Kaspate Basti, Wakad resident Snehal Chandak tweeted, “We experienced some shaky doors and windows 4 to 5 times in Kaspate Basti. Was that an earthquake?” While twitterati @prajakt tweeted, “Pune felt tremors in Hinjawadi with big blasts. Was it an earthquake?

District Disaster Management officer Vitthal Banote denied the occurrence of an earthquake. “IMD officials confirmed that it was not an earthquake.

Probably Aundh Military Station was engaged in operational training for their staff which would explain the explosions,” Banote said. But Aundh Military Station said that they did not have any such training. priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

assist anti encroachment department on demolition drives. It also approved our demand to provide 158 police personnel to the PMC but yet the police commissioner has not fulfilled our manpower requirement.

Earlier we had to give in writing to CP office for police security on

demolition drives and register cases against encroachers. Therefore PMC passed the resolution for a separate police station at PMC. The police station is in the PMC main building but the manpower provided is very scanty. It is not possible to cater to 7-8 demolition drives everyday

because of sp few police personnel.

After the attack, police said that PMC has to inform them in advance about demolition drives to provide manpower. What are police officers doing at PMC? They are just giving false reason like PMC did not write to them about the drive in advance.”

Mayor Dattatraya Dhankawade said, “Attack on anti encroachment head Madhav Jagtap is totally attributed to police department’s failure. They have to provide adequate manpower for PMC demolition drives.

They have given us a separate police station but how can they expect our officials to inform them in advance before every drive?”

Joint Police commissioner Sunil Ramanand said, “Even our police stations is facing a manpower problem.

We are trying our best to provide sufficient manpower everywhere.

PMC officials did not inform CP office about the Yerawada demolition drive. We would have diverted some manpower to them on that day. CP has reviewed the Yerwada incident, and it has been decided to divert some manpower at PMC. Today one police inspector was posted at PMC and we will give them additional manpower in the coming days.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

Anti-social elements make hay on a plot reserved for ST depot

Five-acre plot of land in old Sangvi has become illegal parking lot for private buses, and a dumping ground VISHAL KALE

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) plans to set up a ST bus depot on a five-acre plot of land near ST colony, old Sangvi have come to nought. The depot was to be the starting point for bus services to Mumbai and other destinations in Maharashtra. As it stands, private bus owner are parking their buses on this plot.

MSRTC Pune Division Controller Shailesh Chavan said, “The plan to put up an ST bus depot has been delayed due to some formalities. We wanted buses to ply from here in December 2015, but the basic infrastructure needs to be in place before that.” Since there is no wall or fencing, the plot is also frequented by anti-social elements, much to the annoyance of the residents of the area. The MSRTC office is openly used as a drinking adda.

“The office was built when we started plying buses a few months ago, but since then we have stopped the bus services. Residents of the area complained about anti-social elements and we informed the local police,

Five acre plot reserved for ST depot in old Sangvi has been taken over by private bus operators

who evicted them,” said Chavan.

The plot has also become a dumping ground. A shed has been damaged by miscreants. MSRTC sources said that the increase in value has sparked friction between

the owners and MSRTC. Chavan said, “The land belongs to us and we will start work soon. We are also demolishing all unauthorised constructions.” sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

Residents of several residential colonies on NIBM Road do not get potable water

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma

What do several housing societies near the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) don’t have?

Water supplied by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

And despite paying water tax regularly, they haven’t got a drop Sandra D’Souza of water from PMC in years, ever since they moved in. Locked in a tussle between developers and PMC’s water department, the residents of several housing societies are devoid of municipal water, although they are paying tax for the past eight years.

Off NIBM, on the road leading to Undri, in the area known as

Mohammadwadi, there are a cluster of housing societies. Splendidly done, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, these societies are short of nothing, except water. One of these societies, Runwal Daffodils, stands tall and closest to the main road, and even the water supply pipeline, that provides water to the societies located on the opposite side of the main road. One of its residents, Mohan Sinha, 52, has been living in the society for the past eight years.

“We shifted soon after the society was built. I have been paying water fee every year since I moved in. I have also paid nearly ten times of that amount every month to private water tankers owners,” he said. The entire society has availed of service of around three to four water tankers that come at different times of the day to supply water. “The tanker bills run into nearly a lakh, every month, for the entire society,” said the society secretary Sandra D’Souza.

While the whopping costs are an open wound for the society’s residents, there’s more to it. “We have to pay water bill to PMC, even though we have never gotten water from the civic body ever,” she said.

The water woes began right after residents settled in their houses. “The

PICS BY VISHAL KALE

Housing societies sans PMC water despite paying tax for years

Residents of Runwal Daffodils have to spend over a lakh every month to get water through tankers; Neighbouring society has put up a signage declaring water shortage

realtor-developer Subhash Runwal promised that he’d hand over the completion certificate and sale deeds as soon as the society was completely furbished and after that, PMC was to start a water supply line. However, in between the completion process, he was enmeshed in a law suit,” Sinha said. He further adds, “Since we had no way out, we went to PMC water department.”

However, it wasn’t of much help.

“Authorities told us to submit documents to get water facility. Some officials, even told us offhandedly, that

even if we submitted the documents not much would come out of it,” Sinha said. Upon inquiry, they realised that the pipeline that runs across their society to supply water to nearby areas was positioned around NIBM. “People from societies like Palace Orchard Cooperative Housing Society told us that since the pipeline climbs steep incline, not enough water comes through due to less force,” he said, adding, “Clearly, not a well thought-out plan from PMC.” However, the society dwellers decided that some water was better than

none. Thus, they filed a case against the builders. “Not only did we file the case, we won and he was to return our money along with giving us the certificates and deeds,” D’Souza said. However, none of it actually happened.

Clearly, PMC was nonplussed with this development. Sinha said, “Even when some of our society members tried to explain the situation to the officials in water department, they flatly refused to supply water. They even told us that we’d be penalised if we didn’t pay the water bills since we didn’t get any water.”

It’s not just residents of Runwal

Daffodils that are suffering. Even societies like Dorabjees and Clovers in the area face the same issue. Almost all societies depend heavily on private water tankers. “The situation worsens in dry seasons. We have to shell out more and more money every time. Imagine the money spend by residents of these societies on water tankers over the years,” said D’Souza. “It’s just bad that local corporators fight for water for slum dwellers and even for illegal occupants.

But law-abiding and honest taxpayers like us are conveniently ignored,” Sinha said.

PMC Water Department remains unmoved. According to superintending engineer of PMC Water Supply Department Vijay Kulkarni, the problem has very little to do with incomplete certificate submission. “It was decided while giving permits to housing societies that water will be provided by the developer and PMC shall have no role in it. They have to pay water bill as it is part of property tax and compulsory,” he said.

Even as a possible solution to this water problem does not seem to be likely in the near future, hapless residents have to wait for tankers to meet their daily household water requirements. gargi.vema@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

Start-ups: Consolidation and customer experience to be key factors in 2016

“Water conservation, environment conservation are among the practices that Shivaji practised. Students should know about them and try and implement them. So we have decided to add 8 pages dedicated to Shivaji Maharaj.”

— Vinod Tawde, state education minister

Anwar Hussain with his father

Anwar Hussain of Dabka, Assam had got mixed up with bad company.

His friend told him that they could travel together to Mumbai and Pune and explore the cities. Anwar sold his mobile to finance the trip. In October 2015, he left his village and came to Guwahati with his friend and they left for Mumbai and Pune. They explored the cities and soon the money ran out. Once Anwar’s money was gone, his friend left, leaving Anwar on his own in Pune. He used to roam around Pune. One day while he was roaming around, he was found by the railway police who took him to the Children’s Protection Centre.

Abdul Rauff, Anwar’s father, is a farmer. He said, “Anwar left home in October 2015, saying that he was going to the market, but he did not return. We were panic-stricken and searched for him everywhere, especially in the nearby villages. But we did not find him, and my wife and I were so depressed that we could not even eat food. On January 19, 2016, we registered a missing person complaint at Dabka police station.”

Pune Social Security Cell constable Ramesh Lohakre said, “When Operation Muskan started, we interrogated Anwar during which Anwar gave us his neighbour’s number. We called the neighbour and the Dabka police and told them that Anwar was with us in Pune.”

Rauff said, “My neighbour called me with the news of Anwar being found in Pune. I was ecstatic but had no

PMC building is a showcase for how to waste water

GOING HUNGRY AT CHILD CARE HOME Sunil Kisan Shinde and Santosh Ramesh Singh escaped from Sharada Sadan, a child care home in Latur on January 24, 2016. Sunil belongs to Latur and Santosh is from Thane.

They reached Pune on the same day.

Women police constables D D Rokade and Kalpana Khire found them near platform number one of the Pune Railway station. They admitted that they had escaped from the Latur child care home.

Head constable Devendra Gosavi said that they had called the Children Welfare Committee, Pune and then the Latur police station and shared the information with the hostel authorities.

On Tuesday, the boys’ parents and hostel officials were given the custody of the two children.

Sunil’s father Kisan is a daily wage labourer and his mother Vanita is a housewife. Sunil said, “I was not happy at the hostel. The caretaker used to beat us every day. I decided that I did not want to stay at the hostel. I wanted to live with my parents.”

Vanita said, ‘My husband does not earn enough to educate our children.

PUNE,

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is urging citizens to avoid water wastage with slogans like ‘Water is precious’ and ‘Save water, save nation’. In the recent budget, municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar suggested a 22 per cent or a six paise per litre hike in water tariff.

However, the PMC premises itself are a deplorable example of profl igate water wastage, what with leaking and rusted taps and pipelines, resulting in thousands of litres of water going down the drain every day. There are 36 rusted taps or taps with broken sensors in PMC washrooms, The toilets are smelly and dirty as well.

Owing to scanty rainfall last monsoon, PMC has resorted to alternate day water supply, but its own premises area picture of negligence and brazen wastage.

The Khadakwasla dam which is the main source of water for Pune city, is only fi lled to 24.5 per cent of its capacity. Kumar has proposed an ‘Urban Water Fund’ (UWF) scheme, wherein the extra income from the water tariff hike will be deposited. Funds will also be raised with help from state and

central governments and NGOs, and will be used to make Pune water shortage free by 2047, and ensure 24 x 7 metered water supply.

The PMC has assured to replace old pipelines and leaking taps to save water. They have closed down all swimming pools in the city and flying squads are keeping watch on washing centres and builders regarding use of water. But these promises seem to have been forgotten.

PMC water works superintendent engineer V G Kulkarni said, “A month ago the water department ordered new taps to replace rusted and faulty taps in the PMC main building. We will remove broken sensors and replace nozzles of rusted taps.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

STA

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar

Sunil Kisan Shinde with his mother

w.com

JANU

With this issue

There are 36 rusted and faulty, leaking taps in the PMC building

people who speak the language and take their help to facilitate communication.

Adding to this is the challenge of memory loss. The fact that the children have been away from home for a long time, in many cases leads to erasure of some memories of their family. In such situations it is very difficult to track their home town and identity.

Pune Social Security Cell Senior Police Inspector Rajkumar Waghchaure said that children go missing for a wide range of reasons.

Some run away, trying to escape violence, or in anger, others are kidnapped, some are tricked and some just lose their way. “A major challenge we face in dealing with the missing children is illiteracy due to which the children are unable to specify their address and locality, which would help in efficient detection of their family.

Language is another major challenge.

Operation Muskan is a crucial programme, as on one hand it reunites missing children with their families.

Working in such programmes gives us professional as well as ethical and moral satisfaction,” he said.

Operation Muskan is a ray of hope for people in despair over their missing children. It brings back smiles to their faces and also brings a sense of closure.

It is sure living up to its name… yogesh.wagh@goldensparrow.com

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Santosh Ramesh Singh with his mother

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Quirk up your wedding invitation

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Tayab Hadi, who is mentally challenged, went missing from his home at Noori Nagar, Hyderabad, when he was 14 years of age on January 31, 2014. He had gone to offer namaz.

He had gone missing twice before but was traced and brought back home.

His father Mohammad said that the day he went missing again was a dark day. Tayab had gone to a mosque to offer namaz but did not return.

“We were devastated. We searched everywhere; every railway station of Hyderabad, Secunderabad and nearby places. We put in advertisements in newspapers and on television channels.

After days of futile search, I registered an FIR at the Chandrayangupta Police station on March 24, 2014. I prayed to Allah everyday, hoping that someone would bring Tayab back home. I

ON THE WRONG PATH WITH BAD COMPANY

money to travel to Pune. I mortgaged my land for a year for Rs 4500 and used that to travel to Pune to bring Anwar back home. It does not matter if I lose my land. I will take care of my family by driving an autorickshaw. I am overjoyed that my son is back home.”

FE A T

Tayab Hadi with his family in Hydrabad

2016, and we handed over the boy.”

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GONE TO NAMAZ BUT DID NOT RETURN

went to Maharashtra, to Parbhani and Aurangabad in search of Tayab.

Every day I hoped that I would find my child, but by evening my hope would turn to despair. Days rolled into weeks and months into years, but in our hopelessness, we never stopped believing in the power of Allah. We had faith that one day Allah would bring back our child safely. Our prayers were answered on January 24, 2016, where we received a call from the Pune police that our child was found. Our joy knew no bounds, no words can express our emotions,” said Mohammad.

Aneesa Sultana, Tayab’s mother, said, ‘When Tayab’s father informed me about the call from the Pune Police, my joy knew no bounds. I had complete faith in Allah, and believed that one day I would get back my child safe and sound. I was extremely worried as Tayab is mentally challenged and does not know the ways of the world.

We had not lost hope and had utmost confidence that one day we would be reunited with him. Our prayers were answered, and on January 27, 2016, we visited Children’s Protection Centre, Pune where I saw Tayab after two years. I hugged him and there were tears of joy streaming from my eyes.

To hear him call me “Ammi” was the sweetest sound I had ever heard,” said Aneesa.

Pune Social Security Cell Police Sub-Inspector Deepak Sapre said, “Tayab was found roaming around at Pune railway station. He was then taken by the railway police to the child observation house on January 21, 2015.

Talking to him, we realised that he was mentally challenged. As Tayab could not understand who he was and where has had come from, the police found it tough to gather information from him about his home and other details, which would help them to locate his family. Sometimes Tayab would say that he was from Mumbai, and so we also conducted a search at Mumbai.

As many children in the observation home were sent home, Tayab started getting restless. He could not also remember his home phone number but permutations and combinations of one number he gave, and were able to speak with his father Mohammad. Tayab’s family came to Pune on January 2,

We wanted Sunil to go to school and get a good education. At times we do not have enough to eat, so we both thought that Sunil would be better off in a hostel, where he would get not only good education but food. When I heard that Sunil had escaped from the hostel, my heart almost stopped beating. But what is important is that he has been found. But I have no idea what will happen in future.”

Santosh is a shy, introverted boy.

He said that he escaped from the hostel as he wanted to visit Pune. But on questioning, Santosh said that they were not getting food on time at the hostel. Santosh’s mother Rekha is a sweeper. She said that she would not send him back to the hostel as it was not safe. “I may be poor but I will not send my son to a place that does not provide regular food,” she said.

Pune Social Security Cell API Neeta Misal said that finding missing children and sending them back home is an extremely challenging job. A major challenge is communicating with the children. If the child is from Maharashtra, then he/she can communicate in Marathi, but if the child is from other states, it is difficult to get information from them. “In such cases we initially try to find out the language spoken by the child and then find

RAHUL

Under Operation Muskan, these missing children, including Tayab Hadi, 16, Anwar Hussain, 16, Sunil Kisan Shinde, 8, and Santosh Ramesh Singh, 11, were reunited with their parents. It is near impossible to put into words the agonies and anguish that the parents endured before their children were returned home, and even more difficult to describe the feeling of joy and relief as having their children back safe and sound. Hearing their stories brings not only smiles but also tears of happiness and wonder. Their parents are speechless, fi lled with happiness and fear of losing them again and thus try to keep them near their heart.

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Did US deport him due to skin colour?

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Cops intensify Ghar Wapsi operation for missing children

PUNE

S ES

‘Fitness gives you time for yourself’

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

PUNE

“Areas like Katraj have remained underdeveloped. Especially, we have not been able to develop the road network. One of the reasons for this is that we don’t have the majority in the House.

We have to depend on other parties for support.”

— Ajit Pawar, Former Deputy Chief Minister

Critical accident victim shunted out by Sahyadri

No paramedic accompanied the accident victim in the ambulance while being taken to Sassoon Hospital

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 Multispecialty Sahyadri Hospital on Karve Road failed to provide adequate treatment during the crucial golden hour and shifted a 45-year-old accident victim to Sassoon General Hospital in an ambulance without an accompanying doctor or nurse on January 22. Even as the victim is recuperating at Sassoon hospital, doctors at Sahyadri Hospital claim to have followed the requisite procedures.

An unidentified autorickshaw driver left an unconscious road accident victim Manohar Oval in front of Sahyadri Hospital casualty ward on January 22 noon and left.

Oval had sustained head injury and doctors at Sahyadri admitted him to casualty ward and administered saline and monitored his blood pressure.

He was soon shifted to Sassoon General Hospital in the hospital ambulance without any doctor, nurse or paramedical staff accompanying the patient. Sahyadri doctors wrote a note to Sassoon hospital doctor stating that “Need urgent CT scan and urgent Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission” despite the former hospital having all facilities.

According to Supreme Court order, hospitals must provide primary care and need to stabilise an accident victim before shifting him to another hospital only if it doesn’t have required treatment facility. “The patient

was brought to the hospital by the ambulance driver. As Oval’s condition was serious I admitted him in ICU ward within nine minutes of arrival before informing police to carry out Medico Legal Case (MLC) registration,” said on duty Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ajinath Dahiphale of Sassoon General Hospital, raising concern that a serious patient like Oval would have died during transportation.

“We don’t know who is responsible for his accident. If Sahyadri Hospital would have alerted the police then the autorickshaw driver would have been traced,” Dr Dahiphale said. The recuperating patient Oval admitted to Sassoon Hospital’s ward number 12 is unable to reveal his residential address and other details.

Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar said, “Even though what Sahyadri Hospital

Only two educational institutions make it to the Times Higher Education’s (THE) ‘World’s Best Small Universities Ranking 2016

BY ADITI KHANNA London, Jan 25 (PTI) Indian universities have secured two spots in the top 20 places in Times Higher Education’s (THE) ‘World’s Best Small Universities Ranking 2016’, which was published today.

Indian Institute of TechnologyGuwahati ranked 14th globally, followed by Savitribai Phule Pune University in 16th place make their mark in the debut list released here.

The best small university in the overall rankings is the California Institute of Technology.

“India’s institutions are well represented in the World’s Best Small Universities Ranking 2016. Alongside Caltech, they demonstrate the worldclass offering available at smaller institutions, no matter their location,” said Phil Baty, ‘THE’ rankings editor.

Small universities are defined by ‘THE’ as having fewer than 5,000 students and that teach and research across more than four disciplines.

Only 20 small universities in the world are considered world-class.

“When it comes to universities,

size matters. For some students big is best, but for others, a small university is the right option.

“Small universities can potentially offer students a more intimate environment, with more support and attention from lecturers, and more of a chance for students to spend time with the star professors who in bigger universities may simply be too busy. The smaller university can also offer a greater sense of collegiality and community, where students are less likely to get lost in the crowd,” Baty said.

Although the US has the highest number of universities in the list (five), Europe has eight and Asia has seven.

Of the eight European countries represented in the ranking, the UK does not feature despite being second only to the US for overall world-class universities, with 78 in the top 800 and 34 institutions in the top 200.

‘THE’ ranking draws upon 20 universities in the central ‘THE’ World University Rankings with fewer than 5,000 students and teaching and researching across four or more disciplines across 13 performance indicators.

Sagar Lokhande said that they have followed all legal procedure. “We had informed the Deccan police and treated the patient for free. We didn’t sent any paramedical staff with ambulance because his blood pressure and other organs were functioning well.” When asked why the hospital suggested urgent ICU admission when the patient’s health condition was normal, Dr Lokhande said that he was suffering from head injury.

Dr Lokhande’s allegation that Sassoon Hospital delayed in admitting the patient was vehemently denied by Sahyadri hospital ambulance driver, dean of BJ Medical College and Sassoon Hospital Dr Ajay Chandanwale and medical superintendent Dr Ajay Taware. dnyaneshwar.bhonde @goldensparrow.com

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More than 2,000 patients screened for swine flu daily

BY TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly

of 4,188 patients were sent and 1,126 were found positive. Out of them, 968 were treated successfully and 153 lost the lives, said PMC health chief Dr ST Pardeshi.

Pune district recorded 182 swine flu deaths in 2015, including Pune city (69), Pune rural (75) and Pimpri Chinchwad (38). The state figure of 2015 stood at 905 against 43 in 2014.

The 2016 swine flu deaths took place in PMC (two) and one within Pune rural limits. The recuperating patients (one in PMC and second in PCMC) are under ventilator support. The patient at Chinchwad is admitted in a private hospital.

Swine flu is a respiratory illness in pigs caused by infection with swine influenza A virus (SIV). tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Swine flu scare has woken up the administration to screen more than 2,000 patients at municipal, government and private hospital in Pune city every day. In Pune city only as many as 52,123 patients have been screened and 890 patients have been given Tamiflu drug since January 1. Swab samples were taken of 45 patients and five turned positive.

Three succumbed to the ailment and remaining two are undergoing treatment in hospitals.

On an average, around 2,000 people are screened at city hospitals for swine flu every day. In 2015, 4,06,884 people were screened and 3,65,000 were given Tamiflu. Swab samples

City gets mere Rs 500 cr for smart city plan, its civic budget stands at Rs 5,199 cr Elected public representatives sham the allocated fund

TEJAS GAIKWAD

Pune university among world’s top 20 small varsities

did is condemnable, they did not follow the law. SC order directs hospitals to provide primary care to accident victim before carting him off to other hospitals. The definition of primary care differs from hospital to hospital.

As Sahyadri did administer the victim with saline and other medication, we cannot squarely blame the hospital.”

Delhi-based NGO ‘Save Life foundation’ founder Piyush Tewari said, “Even though Sahyadri hospital had administered medication to the accident victim, they should have sent at least a paramedic with him to the other hospital. Clearly he was in a critical state and who would have taken the blame if he had passed away in the ambulance? This is really inhuman and irresponsible on the part of the hospital.”

Sahyadri Hospitals CMO Dr

FSSAI is looking to create a self regulating culture

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR AND EKTA KATTI @TGSWeekly

After much hoopla, Pune was finally included in the Smart City project on Thursday. Pune earned second spot with a score of 77.42 points behind Bhubaneswar (78.83) as the Centre announced the names of 20 cities coming under the Smart City plan.

Over months of hard work in 2015, the Pune Municipal Commissioner Kunal Kumar had prepared an elaborate plan for smart city with a budget between Rs 3,600-Rs 3,900 crore. However, the Centre will provide only Rs 500 crore spread over four years. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will get Rs 200 crore in the financial year 2015-16 and Rs 100 crore each in the next three years under the Smart City Mission. The civic administration has to raise the remaining fund from other stakeholders and agencies.

BEHIND THE SCENES A docket containing the smart city plan was handed over to corporators on December 8, 2015. During the General Body (GB) meetings, several corporators had opposed the proposed plan stating that they needed more time to study it. The public representatives’ main concern was formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of the smart city plan.

After a heated 11-hour discussion during the GB on December 14, 2015, the corporators accepted the revised plan proposed by the municipal commissioner.

The estimated cost of the modified plan was reduced from Rs 3,800 crore to Rs 2,900 crore and submitted to Arvind Shinde the Centre on

Proposed plan with Budget Mobility – Rs 500 crore • Increase number of buses • Installing GPS • Provide schedule for buses • 42km bicycle track • 8km BRTS

Water Supply Rs 420-450 crore

December 15, 2015.

IS THE FUND ENOUGH? On January 25, PMC proposed an annual civic budget of Rs 5,199 crore. And the civic body will be receiving mere Rs 500 crore from the Centre over Aba Bagul four years under the smart city plan.

Kumar said, “The funds are welcome. Look at the positive side. We are trying to see the larger picture. We are going to spent around Rs 3,000 crore on city development.”

Congress corporator and the Leader of Opposition at PMC Arvind Shinde questions how a mere Rs 500 crore will turn Pune into a smart city. “We are yet to get a Ganesh Bidkar clear roadmap

of smart city. The funds provided are less as PMC undertakes plans worth thousand crores every year. Smart city plans are nothing but misguiding people by launching such attractive yet non-effective schemes,” Ashok Harnawal he said.

D eput y Pune Mayor Aba Bagul said, “The provided amount is not enough to even clean the drainage lines of the city. I think the Smart City scheme is another fake plan of Modi government.”

Shiv Sena’s leader in PMC Ashok Harnawal raised his concerns about the fund. “It is understood that Rs 500 crore cannot turn Pune into a smart city.

Babu Wagaskar We had voiced

• 24 hour water supply • GIS monitoring will ensure that there is no wastage of water • Smart bulk metering and complaint box • Mobile app and grievance portal will reduce the water shortage in the city.

Waste Management Rs 60-70 crore • 100 per cent segregation of waste • Will provide 357 smart garbage bins

Safety, development and security – Rs 200 crore • CCTv cameras and surveillance centres • Open spaces will be created at 13 locations.

• 3.5 km of riverside will be developed. the autonomy of local bodies at GB meetings but PMC commissioner did not address our concerns. We have decided to oppose the central’s smart city mission.” MNS corporators and party leader at PMC Babu Wagaskar was of the opinion that something is better than nothing.

BJP party leader in PMC Ganesh Bidkar feels that a lot can be done with the provided amount. “I don’t think that the amount is less. The actual plan has not yet being revealed by the Union Government. These funds might certainly increase in the future,” Bidkar said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

“ Why are they targeting only Hindu religion and its beliefs? Those targeting Shani Shinganapur temple and traditions associated with it are doing so for the sake of publicity.”

— Sarangi Mahajan, widow of late Praveen Mahajan

“Indian culture and Hindu religion gives women the right to pray. Discrimination in praying is not in our culture. The temple authorities should resolve the issue through a dialogue.”

— Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra

Getting rid of social stigmas After being treated for vitiligo through childhood, Maya not only found a way to fight back but also help build others confidence

organization for the former residents of Vidarbha who are currently living in Pune among many other accolades to add to her name.

BY SALONEE MISTRY @SaloneeMistry What you go through is what you understand. Spending most of her childhood being treated for vitiligo Dr Maya Tulpule is an example of how you can turn something that society holds against you, into the one thing that drives Dr Maya Tulpule you to your success. Vitiligo is a condition that causes wherein the pigment from your skin is lost resulting in white patches. In India two percent of the population suffers from this which is double in comparison to the rest of the world.

Belonging in this group she has had a childhood full of missing school days, hospital and regular doctor visits and unending medication.

Then it was the pain of the medication and today of the differentiation that the society bestows on those that suffer from Vitiligo. When in the United States for her treatment, Maya saw the change in behaviour that people had towards her. There with her whitish fairer skin she was just like anyone else. “It was only in India that the social stigma attached with the white spots is so high. It’s become a reason

In India two per cent of the population suffers from Vitiligo which is double in comparison to the rest of the world

for the society to shun you away especially when it is in India only that the numbers are high,” said the 62 year old. With support from her caring family be it taking her to the doctor, suggesting home remedies or even her cousins who fasted to make her feel comfortable in her diet have all been her pillars of strength. It was during this phase when she was still in school that she went into depression and got irritable and cranky. It was indeed a tough time for her as not only was her vitiligo causing problems but the sideeffects were making her weaker. It was with the help of one homeopathic doctor that it all came under control.

“Over the years I overcome the

anxiety of having a different colour skin. After completing my medical graduation I started practicing as a General Surgeon and got associated with many social organizations which gave me the push I needed to start Shweta, she told us. It was actually when she was in the United States that the idea initially triggered, she added.

Today, Maya is the Founder President, ‘Shweta Association’, a Vitiligo Self Help Support Group, Founder, Sahawas Hospital, Karvenagar, President, ‘Setu’ Organization, a Self help Support Group, and Doctor’s Cell Head, Vidarbhawasi Pune Niwasi, a

He is an inspiration for tribals Anand Bhagaji Bhavari popularises reading groups, holds awareness campaigns and lectures against malnutrition and liquor addiction in Ambedara village

Bhavari, who belongs to Mahadev Koli tribe, had started a library in his village after his late father’s name

BY SHEKHAR PAIGUDE @TGSWeekly

At a time when the Internet of Things has connected many people in the virtual world, the habit of reading and enjoying the written word is fading. A tribal youth from Ambedara of Ambegaon taluka in Pune district is adding an interesting chapter in the book of developing reading habits. While preparing for civil services, Antarinath Damse started reading books and fell in love with the village library. Aiming to clear the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam, Damse used to immerse himself in books.

His inspiration is Anand Bhagaji Bhavari, the library attendant at Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s College of Commerce (MMCC) Pune.

Bhavari, who belongs to Mahadev Koli tribe, had started a library in his village after his late father’s name. “An initiative could change the life of many people. Though my father was illiterate he took the initiative in starting a primary school in my village. It was my moral responsibility to take the good work forward,” said Bhavari.

Mahadev Koli tribe lives in the hilly regions of Maharashtra and their means of livelihood are collecting natural herbals, honey and other medical plants found in the forests. They hardly pay attention on education. Bhavari said, “Reading has the potential and power to change lives. I always wanted a reading culture to take roots in my region. That was the main force behind starting the library.”

Started in 2009, the library has

around 2,000 books ranging from fiction to biographies. The government approved the library in 2011. Books on Chhatrapati Shivaji, Gandhi, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar are inspirational personalities for the young generation.

It is generally being understood that tribals are deep rooted in superstition.

But the books of late Dr Narendra Dabholkar is acting as a guide for villagers.

“In rural parts, newspapers are available in talukas. But you can find leading newspapers in our shelf. Though cell phones have change the society, still there is no alternative to reading,” said Bhavari. Anand travels around 100 km every weekend to his village. He has even started the ‘chala vyaspithakade’ a new concept for stage performance.

Through this programme, he tries to bring forest people on the public stage.

“World has been changing, globalisation is a dominant factor. In the present scenario, the tribal youth should shine with confidence. My little effort is just to support them in an institutional way. Liquor addiction is a severe problem among tribals. They spent most of their money on drinking and end up leading a life of poverty and indulging in malpractices. Our social programmes on environmental issues, campaign against malnutrition, liquor addiction helps in generating awareness,” Bhavari said, adding that the regular awareness campaigns and lectures against malnutrition and liquor addiction organised by him is attracting the young from his tribal village.

“The habit of reading and enjoying the written word is fading. It’s the only thing in the world that allows one to come and live inside the brain and see what it sees, feel what it feels. Experts say that the written word, and the ability for people to read the written word is the reason for the progress of civilization. Without the ability to feel and see each other’s thoughts, the world would have been a dull place.

Tribals are living in a closed world and reading and gathering knowledge will help them enter the present world with a smile,” Bhavari said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

PUNE

BECOMING A SHOULDER FOR OTHERS TO LEAN ON “Living life with two colours and two identities was not so easy but I have learned to live happily with it,” tells us Maya. Her organization Shweta helps innumerable others like her stand on their own feet and becoming Gauri Damle confident and happy in who they are. “Shweta gave me the confidence that I needed to stand on my own feet. It helped me embrace life and become who I wanted to be,” says Gauri Damle, 38, who is a designer by profession and a beneficiary of Shweta association.

Just like her Mandar Oak too who is a chief supervisor at Hotel Raviraj feels that Shweta Association has played a huge role in his life.

Through the free marriage bureau services that they offer he found his partner and life has been happy ever since. “I got a partner for life.

They were able to find someone for me who not only understands me but accepts me for who I am,” said the 42 year old.

Shweta Association has till date successfully organized close to 950 marriages. Other than this they offer counselling services, cosmetic camouf lage and run an employment bureau too. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

Man with green hands reaps success The school dropout works hard to set up Rs 100 crore industry TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly He has sold lakhs of saplings and crores of seeds to National Defence Academy, Yerawada Central Prison, State Reserve Police Force, Forest Department’s nursery, Pune Zilla Parishad and many educational institutions spread across 10 districts in western Maharashtra and Konkan. Solapur University nominated him to the senate for planting 1.5 lakh saplings and three crore seeds of a variety of plants on its campus. And he dropped out of school after standard IV. Mahendra Ghagare, the 51-yearold millionaire and proprietor of Punebased Ghagare Farms, is an inspirational figure that underscores the reality that practical knowledge is very important than bookish knowledge.

The childhood of this successful entrepreneur who runs a nursery-based business empire worth Rs 100 crore was spent in the family of a marginal farmer in Daund, near Pune. “I cannot write and my Marathi is very poor but I am a hardworking and determined person.

My father was a vegetable vendor. While traveling in a bus with a bundle of teak saplings for a relative in 1989, a copassenger asked me if I was selling them.

And I ended up selling the produce to him and became a merchant. I started Ghagare Farms on Karve Road in 1990,” he said.

The nursery of Ghagare deals in forest and medicinal seeds, jungle seeds, plants and fertilisers. With his business running

successfully and hugely rewarding him both personally and financially, Ghagare decided to do his bit for society and environment.

And what better way than trees and seeds that made him the prosperous man he is now. With time, his knowledge of the greens became Mahendra Ghagare sharp. He feeds the tree’s fruits to cattle and then collects the cow dung, dries it and stores it for use. Ghahare is a successful seed supplier and agricultural input fertilizers.

Over the last 25 years, Ghagare has distributed seeds and samplings worth over Rs 50 lakh for free. He is also the founder of city-based environmental organisation ‘Harit Mitra Pariwar’ that plants over two crore saplings with the help of students from the zilla parishad schools and villagers from all the talukas of Pune district. Ghagare provides seeds for this campaign for free. His target is to plant more than 100 crore saplings across the state over the next few years.

“When senior government officials and highly educated personalities seek my advice and use my methods in tree plantation drives, I feel humbled and blessed because I consider myself unlettered. I have reached that stage of contentment in my life where I value satisfaction, service and gratitude more than money,” he said. His popularity as a dedicated and self-motivated tree activist has attracted even the corporate sector.

Mahindra has sought his assistance to develop the green cover of Urse village. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

MANJU NADGAUDA

M

anju Nadgauda still remembers the thrill of donning the blazer she acquired in 1995, when she was inducted into the Indian women’s cricket squad.

Now 39, wearing the team blazer, the colours and cap meant the world to Manju as a teenager.

“Words cannot describe the feeling, the larger-than-life aura of representing one’s country on the sports field. It was a dream come true, a moment I had looked forward to for all my life. Being selected as a member of the Indian

women’s cricket team is a moment etched forever in my memory,” said Manju. Soon after, Manju left on a tour of England, featuring five Tests and five ODIs. Manju was obsessed with cricket when her hands were too small to grasp and her arms too frail to wield a true-to-life cricket willow.

But the childhood years of playing with her neighbourhood mates in the lanes around her house paid off. “My parents always encouraged me and my father went along wherever I used to

play. A lot of credit for my success I owe to my parents,” she said.

By the time she was 11 years old, others could see that Manju had a real, striking gift for the game, and she was urged to enrol in a cricket camp at Engineering College.

One thing led to another and before she knew it, the 12-year-old found herself in the Maharashtra team. Her prowess was also instrumental in fetching her just rewards, in the form of being named the vice-captain of the Under-13 Maharashtra team.

The years rolled by and her star continued to rise on the cricket pitch. Her striking performances in the Under-19 as well as the senior teams of Maharashtra, paved the way for Manju’s selection for the Indian team.

Her idol was captain Pramila Bhat, and the impressionable Manju made the most of the opportunity of playing alongside her skipper.

“Pramila was an unending source of inspiration. She was a tough sort, and she instilled her never-say-die attitude in all of us who played alongside her. Besides this mental fortitude, she was also an immensely gifted cricketer, with a great gift of athleticism and physical resources.

She also had the ability to take her juniors under her wing, and instill in them the desire and ambition to excel,” said Manju.

She was among the probables for the World Cup 1998 but had to sit it out owing to an injury.

After representing India, Manju was part of the Air India team. In a sparkling decade, she scored around 4000 runs, took 150 catches, scoring 21 half centuries and 12 tons.

Now retired, Manju believes that times have changed much for the better as far as sports are concerned, and that today’s athletes are far better off. “There were no proper grounds and we had no luxuries such as physios,” she said.

She also thinks that, except for the strength aspect, women sportspersons are just as skilled as men. “There is no doubt that men are much stronger than women. But strength has nothing to do with skills, and women are just as capable as men on that front,” she said.

Manju is all too aware of all that the game of cricket has endowed her with. It has literally made her the person she is today. “Being a sportsperson, one acquires the ability to deal with winning and losing. Sports also give a person a sense of fair play and justice. As a cricketer I had to put in my share of fitness training and exercise, the benefits of which I am reaping even today. As a working woman, I have to deal with the stresses of modern urban life, and I feel that being a sportsperson has given me a little edge in coping with the demands of everyday life,” said Manju.

Bowling them over with style and guile SONIYA DABIR

S

oniya Dabir came to cricket quite by accident, but discovered that she had a real flair for the game, not to mention other attributes like an ideal physique and quick reflexes.

The badminton racquet she had been wielding from the age of eight was replaced by a willow soon after she saw the children in her colony

playing cricket. It turned out to be a long-term affair instead of just a temporary fling.

Women’s cricket was gathering steam at the time and little Soniya was soon under the spell, as luminaries such as Shubhangi Kulkarni, Ujwala Nikam and Nilima Joglekar were inspiring a new generation of India women to

pick up the bat and the ball. Soniya was no exception, and she joined a cricket coaching class at Nehru Stadium in 1995. The grooming had the desired effect, and Soniya’s talent blossomed, and evolved to such a degree in quick time, that before she knew it, she was picked for Tem India. Dabbu, as she was known to her team-mates, she

featured in four ODIs and 13 T20s in the India colours. As a strike bowler, Soniya claimed 25 wickets in first class matches. Her stand-out performance was against Pakistan in the 2013 T20 World Cup, when she claimed three key wickets.

“Nothing comes close to the joy and honour I felt at playing for India. I was fortunate to be married to someone who encouraged me to carry on playing. I love the game so much that I was able to make the sacrifices and manage my time so that I could manage my chores at home without a ruffle,” she said.

Now 35, Soniya has continued to maintain her links to cricket though she is no longer active on the cricket pitch. As a much in demand coach, she is continuously interacting with youngsters of the city. “It is so different now. Girls are encouraged to take up sports professionally by their parents. I am amazed at all the talent there is here in the city. Pune is known as a base where women’s cricket in India really flourished and blossomed.

Though there are no players from the city in the current Indian squad, I am sure that this is just a momentary lapse, and that pretty soon there will be eligible women cricketers from the city knocking on team India’s doors,” she said.

Soniya is happy that the BCCI has taken over the reins of women’s cricket. “Things are only going to keep getting better, and the new generation of players who are being groomed, have all that they need and more to be shaped into world class cricketers,” she said.

JANUARY 30, 2016

PUNE

MEET INDIA’S WOMEN IN BLUE Compared to the non-stop adulation and the incandescent magnificence of the material rewards that the men in blue are showered with every step of the way, the women representing India on the cricket oval are a largely ignored and far less celebrated lot. But the fact is that they play, work, strive and dream just as hard and as resolutely as their male counterparts

BY EKTA KATTI @Ektaak

T

he greatly hyped men in blue have had a torrid time down under, having been soundly beaten in the One Day Internationals by mighty hosts Australia. But it is the rather unheralded Indian women who have made cricket history by defeating the Aussie women at Adelaide, and getting ahead 1-0 in the threematch T20 series. The Indian eves sparkled as they completed a record 140-run chase, beat their hosts by five wickets.

As it happens, Pune has had a lot to do with the emergence of Indian women cricketers. One must rewind to 1972, when Madhu Tapikar and Suresh Dhumke saw the Maharashtra women’s baseball team playing cricket with the baseball bat at Kalyan, Mumbai. So impressed were they with what they saw, that they thought it would be worth their while to give women’s cricket a big and professional boost in India.

So it came about that the first women’s national cricket championship was held at Nehru Stadium, Pune in April 1973.

There were three teams in the fray, including Bombay, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, but the last named unit was so below standard, that Nilima Joglekar of Pune was made part of the UP team to give it some substance.

The national championship was named the Rani Jhansi Trophy to symbolise women’s power. The second national championship was held at Varanasi in November 1973, and featured 14 teams.

PICS BY VISHAL KALE AND RAHUL RAUT

Wearing team India colours was a dream come true

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

PUNE

The inter-zonal tournaments came about to fill in the void and lack of competitive games, and as

expected team Pune was a dominant force.

This initial foray led to a

genuine interest and enthusiasm for women’s cricket and it also catalysed the formation of the first

Indian women’s cricket team in 1976. It also put the city of Pune in the spotlight as the national ream featured four Puneites, including Ujwala Nikam, Kalpana Paropkari, Shubhangi Kulkarni and Nilima Joglekar.

Women’s cricket had taken off the world over, and women cricketers from Australia, West Indies, England and New Zealand toured India in 1976, giving much needed impetus to the nascent endeavour.

The big news was the Indian eves’ victory in first ever Test match against the West Indies at Patna in 1976, to the resounding cheers of the 60,000 enthusiasts who had filled the stadium. The Indian women went on to win the sixmatch series against the islanders.

India hosted the first ever Women’s World Cup in 1979 won by England, which featured just four nations. Nothing much happened in the next three years, but the second World Cup was held at New Zealand in 1982, which the hosts won handily. The Indian team again featured the same quartet of Puneites.

The governing body, Women’s Cricket Association (WCA), was formed in 1973. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took over the WCA in 2007.

Pune has maintained its status as a fertile breeding ground for women cricketers, and more than 100 Pune women have represented India on the cricket pitch.

The women cricketers are rather an ignored and forgotten lot, but they do deserve to be seen and heard.

Over to Pune’s women cricketers who have made a difference. ekta.katti@goldensparrow.com

Love (of cricket) has kept them together

M

adhu Tapikar, 66, and Kalpana Paropkari, 60, share a love for cricket that keeps going, just as their marriage has endured.

Ranji player Madhu was promoting cricket in the 70s, especially among the fair sex, urging them to take up the game professionally. Kalpana Paropkari was at the forefront of women’s cricket in India, being part of the first national team.

“It was a different world, a different age but I feel proud that I was a member of the first women’s cricket team representing India,” said Kalpana, who featured in five Tests and five ODIs. Madhu remembers when there were no takers for women’s cricket, and it was a big challenge to organise and host such a tournament. It was a battle against the odds, but the efforts of the pioneers brought about the desired change, and women cricketers became a part of the sporting scenario in India. “There were helpful people who did what was needed to give women’s cricket a boost in India, starting from the basics such as grounds. How the world has changed since that time, and now women cricketers not only have access to the same kind of facilities that the men have, but women’s cricket matches are staged at the same venues,” said Madhu.

Kalpana feels that the craze for cricket is on the wane. “There used to be girls from small towns obsessed with cricket in my times.

In comparison, today there are very few girls interested in cricket professionally. It is sad because it

MADHU TAPIKAR/KALPANA PAROPKARI

was a real struggle to get women’s cricket going in India. I hope that the new generation of youngsters show some affinity and love for the game of cricket and continue with the tradition. It would be a tragedy if women’s cricket continues its downslide. I believe that women

have a lot to offer the sport of cricket and that they possess all the attributes and skills to give cricket enthusiasts a spectacle worth watching,” said Kalpana.

“There is no substitute for hard work and no short cuts to greatness in any sport, including cricket. It

is necessary to possess a certain zeal, a love for the game that will enable one to overcome obstacles.

The rewards are sure to follow, but they are not what sport is all about.

It is the desire to rise above, to raise the ordinary to the realm of magic,” said Madhu.

The view from behind the wickets NILIMA JOGLEKAR

The future of women’s cricket in India DEVIKA VAIDYA

S

he was only 13 when she represented Maharashtra in an Under-19 side.

A leg spinner and top order batswoman, she made her India debut in a T20 international against South Africa in 2014.

She was the unanimous choice to captain the Under-19 India side in the Challenger Series.

No surprise, she was named the best junior cricketer at the BCCI Annual Awards 2014-15, as she scored 900 runs, claimed 26 wickets and pulled off 20 catches.

“The BCCI award is certainly an unforgettable episode,” she said.

Meet Devika Vaidya, born August 1997, the teenager who represents the future of women’s cricket in India.

At a diminutive 5’ 3”, she is currently devoted to her college education, aspiring to acquire a degree in arts.

“My love affair with cricket began at the age of five, and I am overjoyed that it just keeps on growing. As an adolescent, I knew that I wanted to play cricket professionally. Fortunately for me, the breaks came my way and I had the opportunity to be a part of the district and state teams. Of course, the cherry on the icing was being selected for the India team,” she said. She remembers feeling both nervous and excited on the South Africa tour.

S

Devika regards her parents as the foundation for her success on the cricket field. “They are the ones who know just how to keep me going when I have doubts,” she said.

“My idol is Mithali Raj, the women’s team captain. “I have a lot to learn from Mithali as regards technique, not to mention her cool and calm demeanour under pressure. I

have big aspirations but I also know that I have to keep working and improving before I make my mark on the sporting world,” she said.

“I love cricket and I know

I have both the desire and the ability. But we live in an extremely competitive world, and it is even more so on a cricket pitch. What’s life without challenges, though?” she said.

he still looks trim and fit, and it’s easy to presume or believe that she used to be involved in some sport. Nilima Joglekar must be counted as a pioneer of women’s cricket in India, having taken to the sport when there were few if any women involved. Now 52, she has featured in 11 Tests and 20 ODIs in the colours of India.

Nilima had her share of obstacles and hurdles to cross when she took to the cricket pitch in the early 70s. She was fortunate though to have a father who played tennis and a mother who was swimming coach. “My parents always supported an encouraged my talent and enthusiasm where cricket was concerned. It was a very different world and age back then, and people would look askance at women taking to the cricket field,” she said.

It started with playing with the neighbourhood children in the lanes near her house. But Nilima

was gifted with a little more than just a timepass interest in cricket.

The thought of taking up cricket as a profession however, had not entered the little girl’s mind then.

“But I knew even then that I had a little something that most of the children I used to play with did not,” she said.

There were others who had noticed Nilima’s talent. “My brother and his friends knew how much I loved the game, and they were well aware that I also had a natural talent for cricket, They urged me to take part in the team selection trials and even my mother was all excited about it,” she said. “I did take part in the team selection and the amazing result was that, at the age of 12, I was selected as wicketkeeper for a local team for a match at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana,” she said.

Nilima was also responsible for a change in people’s attitude towards women sportspersons. The

PYC Hindu Gymkhana was out of bounds for women cricketers in the 70s. But as luck would have it, none other than the revered Professor D B Deodhar happened to be among those watching the match at the ground. “So impressed was the great man with my performance in the match, that he immediately urged the Gymkhana authorities to alter their policy and allow entry on the grounds for women cricketers,” she said.

Nilima was groomed in the niceties of keeping wickets by her coach Suresh Dhumke. “I had a natural affinity for the task and relished my position behind the wickets. Thankfully, I was also able to perform rather well,” she said. She remembers being the centre of attention when she put in a striking show against the touring Australians in a Test match in 1976.

Nilima still has a strong connection with cricket. She is an umpire and has officiated in both

domestic and international cricket matches.

She has swapped the cricket bat for a golf club, and golf is a game that she is just as enthusiastic about.

She still has a great interest in all things cricket and is aware of the current affairs. She is greatly impressed with the teenager Devika Vaidya, who she thinks has what it takes to make it into the limelight in the cricket arena.

Nilima is also impressed with how the game of cricket has involved along with the training and infrastructure.

“Today cricketers have access to facilities which we could not even dream of back in our time. Naturally, today’s players are better groomed and evolve to a higher level sooner than we used to,” she said.

Happily married to Mukund Joglekar for over three decades, Nilima can look back at her stint as a cricketer and revel in the countless moments of joy and achievement.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

PUNE

TECH/START-UP

“The social media website Myspace has about 110 million registered users. If the social media site had been considered a country it would be the 10th largest; right after Mexico.”

— http://geekofreak.com

‘US not asking India, others to take sides’ P 13

You can’t have over 200 ‘real’ Facebook friends: Study Our brain’s ability to process multiple relationships creates a natural group size for humans of 100-200 people

People can not have more than 200 ‘genuine’ friends on Facebook as the constraints that limit the number of friends we have offline also apply online, a new Oxford study suggests.

Offl ine, research has given rise to the ‘Social Brain Hypothesis’ which says that our brain’s ability to process multiple relationships creates a natural group size for humans of 100-200 people.

Th is size is also constrained by the time required to maintain relationships - we only have so much time to devote to meeting or talking to people, researchers said.

It has been suggested that social media might overcome the constraints because posts, tweets and pictures allow us to talk to many more people at the same time even if the interaction is not direct.

Researchers carried out two surveys of more than 3,300 people to see whether using the internet really means we can have more friends.

They found that even among regular social media users, the average number of friends they had on Facebook was 155 in the fi rst survey and 183 in the second, right in the

‘Stay connected to your roots’ Lauding talented Indian youths who are contributing in progress of many countries with their knowledge and skills, mathematician and Super 30 founder Anand Kumar asked them to stay connected to their roots.

“There is a lot of talent in India and that gets refl ected everywhere in the world. Indians contribute to the progress of many countries with their knowledge and skills, besides doing good to themselves. But it is good to see you all linked to your roots,” Kumar, 43, said while addressing a function.

Kumar was the Chief Guest at the gala celebration of Kuwait-based Maurya Kala Parisar, an organisation of people from Bihar and Jharkhand formed in 1995.

He said that a society that gives us something also expects us to return something.

Citing the example of Super 30, which has so far helped 390 underprivileged students reach India’s premiere higher education institutions Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), Kumar said it was all about opportunities to make the country and the society a better place.

He exhorted the students living in Kuwait to maintain their roots and contribute to its progress in whatever way they can.

PTI

bracket predicted by the Social Brain Hypothesis.

Women had more friends than men (In the fi rst sample, women averaged 166 and men just 145 friends; in the second, it was 196 vs 157), while older generations had fewer friends than younger ones.

The fi rst survey group, made up of regular social media users, considered only 28 per cent of their Facebook friends to be ‘genuine’ (close) friends. When asked specifically how many people they would turn to for support in a crisis and how many they would turn to for sympathy, on average those groups were just 4 and 14 friends respectively, matching the offl ine findings of the Social Brain Hypothesis.

While a few people did have much larger groups of online ‘friends’ on Facebook, they had similar sized support and sympathy groups to others.

Th is suggests that when social media allows someone to have more friends, it is because looser acquaintances were being included in the ‘friend’ category, partly because social media sites tend not to differentiate between close and more distant relationships - even though we clearly distinguish between friends and acquaintances in the offl ine world.

“Social media certainly help to slow down the natural rate of decay in relationship quality that would set in once we cannot readily meet friends face-to-face,” said Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford.

“But no amount of social media will prevent a friend eventually becoming ‘just another acquaintance’ if you do not meet face-to-face from time to time. There is something paramount about face-to-face interactions that is crucial for maintaining friendships,” he added.

PTI

Now an app to detox you from your smartphone addiction Lock n’ LoL (Lock Your Smartphone and Laugh Out Loud), can help people lock their smartphones altogether

Are you addicted to your smartphone? A new application developed by scientists in Korea can help restrain you from using the device during meetings, conferences or social gatherings.

As smartphones penetrate every facet of our daily lives, a growing number of people have expressed concern about distractions or even the addictions they suffer from overusing smartphones, researchers said.

The app, Lock n’ LoL (Lock Your Smartphone and Laugh Out Loud), can help people lock their smartphones altogether and keep them from using the device while engaged in social activities such as meetings, conferences and discussions.

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) noted that the overuse of smartphones often results from users’ habitual checking of messages, emails, or other online contentssuch as status updates in social networking service (SNS).

External stimuli, for example, notification alarms, add to smartphone distractions and interruptions in group

Researchers from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has developed the app

interactions.

The Lock n’ LoL allows users to create a new room or join an existing room. The users then invite meeting participants or friends to the room and share its ID with them to enact the Group Limit (lock) mode.

When phones are in the lock mode, all alarms and notifications are automatically muted, and users must ask permission to unlock their phones.

However, in an emergency, users can access

their phones for accumulative five minutes in a temporary unlimit mode. In addition, the app’s Co-location Reminder detects and lists nearby users to encourage app users to limit their phone use.

The Lock n’ LoL also displays important statistics to monitor users’ behaviour such as the current week’s total limit time, the weekly average usage time, top friends ranked by time spent together, and top activities in which the users participated.

“We conducted the Lock n’ LoL campaign throughout the campus for one month this year with 1,000 students participating,” Professor Uichin Lee from KAIST said.

“As a result, we discovered that students accumulated more than 10,000 free hours from using the app on their smartphones,” he said.

“In an age of the Internet of Th ings, we expect that the adverse effects of mobile distractions and addictions will emerge as a social concern, and our Lock n’ LoL is a key effort to address this issue,” said Lee. “Th is app will certainly help family members to interact more with each other during the holiday season,” he added.

App also displays important statistics to monitor users’ behaviour

Start-ups: Consolidation and customer experience to be key factors in 2016 Start-ups with strong planning and execution strategy will survive and lead to bring in structured growth

BY STUTI ROY Consolidation and customer experience are expected to be the buzzwords for start-ups this year as entrepreneurs focus on bringing in innovation across sectors like education, healthcare and financial inclusion.

Consolidation is a natural progression, but one can expect more big scale Rajat Tandon consolidation in 2016, according to industry players.

Shopclues founder Sandeep Aggarwal says e-commerce and food technology will see noticeable consolidation.

“Consolidation activities will be the next big trend in the landscape and will help the startup ecosystem to strengthen itself, building strong foundation for growth and leveraging strengths of each other,” adds Rajat Tandon Vice President of NASSCOM 10,000 start-ups.

Tandon says start-ups with a strong and intensive planning and execution strategy will survive and lead to bring in structured growth.

The year 2015 saw two big bang M&A deals with Snapdeal acquiring online recharge platform FreeCharge (estimated to be about USD 400 million) and Ola buying TaxiForSure in a USD 200-million deal.

According

to Rajnish Wahi, Snapdeal’s SVP Corporate Affairs and Communications, both multi-million dollar and smaller investments would continue as companies look to efficiently use funds to create value Padmaja Ruparel for their investors.

Padmaja Ruparel, President of Indian Angel Network says there will be a lot more seed or early stage investing happening this year though growth stage monies could get a little harder to raise and this could impede companies.

However, there are challenges ahead for the industry as well, be it concerns around correction in valuations or bubble around ecommerce bursting.

Prateek Srivastava CEO of Basil Advisors says investors

want to invest in businesses that will drive the next level of innovation in consumer life behaviour.

Some of the existing business are focussing on reworking their growth model to make themselves break even at operationlevel, he adds.

“Monetisation will also undergo innovation as companies using discounting and offers (while burning cash) were able to bring consumers to adopt to the product, the products which have been able to drive change for a consumer will get monetised and will help them grow towards an evolved financial independence,” Srivastava says.

While 2015 saw intrinsic use of new technologies like digital payments, Internet of Th ings (IoT) and smart data storage, this is poised to pick up pace as other technologies in renewable energy, advanced robotics and autonomous vehicles catches the fancy of clean-tech, ed-tech and fintech companies.

“Niche categories such as Agri-tech, Clean-tech & Health-tech will see a lot of entrants as well as focus from the investors,” Tandon says.

PTI

APP WORLD

Tips and tricks for better English English Grammar Test

IOS/Android: Free This grammar test is the best way to improve your English grammar knowledge. Stunning minimalist design and clear user interface make it easy to test your English language skills. This English Grammar Test app is perfect for Intermediate and UpperIntermediate levels. The test is divided into two levels. Each one contains 30 tests with 20 exercises.

They have managed to put 20 English grammar units in each test in a way that each question is a part of a certain unit. When you complete your English test you see which aspects of English grammar you are good at and which of them require more practice. When you make a mistake the app explains you why your answer was not correct. Simple explanations will help you revise information about grammar details. Try not to do all 1200 English exercises at once. Use this app to get information about your good and bad sides. Take a grammar test once or twice a week during your curriculum and analyze your results. Focus not on mistakes but on the explanations given.

Oxford Grammar and Punctuation

IOS/Android: Free Giving examples of realworld usage, the Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation provides information about grammar and punctuation that people need on a dayto-day basis. Arranged alphabetically, this dictionary contains entries for standard grammatical terms as well as dealing with related questions of usage. Readers of all levels will find this guide essential. In addition to explaining basic terms such as ‘split infinitive’, ‘participle’, and ‘adverb’, entries also discuss whether to use ‘may’ or ‘might’, ‘that’ or ‘which’, and ‘it’s’ or ‘its’. The Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation gives the reader quick and easy access to the answers to these, and many other, questions of grammar completed with clear and coherent explanations, and illustrations across a broad range of topics.

LearnEnglish Grammar

IOS/Android: Free LearnEnglish Grammar is a top interactive grammar practice app designed to help improve English grammar accuracy. The app offers 1000s of questions to help practice and reinforce your English grammar skills. The app is suitable for learners of all levels and offers grammar activities at Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced (CEFR level C2). Start at your level, and as your grammar accuracy improves, progress to the next. Each level contains over 600 grammar activities, split into about 25 grammar topics such as Simple past, Question tags and Prepositions. The grammar questions use 10 unique activity types such as fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice and matching. Purchase and download more questions as your grammar accuracy improves!

Grammar Checker Academic

IOS/Android: Free Are you trying to write that perfect essay for school? Do you need to have your memos at work sound more professional? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have an easy reference guide in your pocket to help you when you aren’t sure which word to use or which verb tense? Well now you can! That’s what grammar checker is here for. It is basically an grammar dictionary that will check your work for you! And you get the convenience of being able to carry it with you all the time.

Don’t turn in that paper to your instructor until you’ve run grammar checker and fixed any little errors. Use it on your emails, so that your boss is impressed with your writing ability. You can even use it if English is your second language, and you just want to study up a little because you desire to sound more like a native speaker.

ENVIRONMENT

Low levels of vitamin D have long been identified as an unwanted hallmark of weight loss surgery

Seasonal sun exposure - a key factor in the body’s natural ability to make vitamin D - may play a substantial role in how well people do after a weight loss surgery, a new study has claimed.

Low levels of vitamin D have long been identified as an unwanted hallmark of weight loss surgery, researchers said.

The study at the Johns Hopkins University in US on more than 930,000 patient records shows interplay among vitamin D status, seasons, geography and surgery outcomes.

Specifically, the researchers found that patients undergoing bariatric surgery in the US during winter - January to March, the time of lowest vitamin D levels - fared worse than patients who had procedures in the summer.

Similarly, patients having surgery in the north seemed to have more complications than those in the south.

“Sun exposure is critical in the synthesis of vitamin D, so the notion that people living in less sunny northern states may suffer from vitamin D deficiency is not surprising,” said Leigh Peterson, a nutritionist and postdoctoral research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Bariatric Surgery.

“What is remarkable is how closely

The study found more than twice as many patients experienced delayed woundhealing complications in the winter than in summer

sun exposure, vitamin D and surgical outcomes were linked,” said Peterson, who led the research.

Researchers reviewed records of over 930,000 bariatric operations performed in the US between 2001 and 2010. Overall, they report, postprocedural complications were rare, with fewer than 1 per cent of patients developing infections.

A more common outcome was spending a few extra days in the hospital, and this showed the strongest relationship with both season and geography. The researchers found a disproportionate number of those who fared worse hailed from areas north of latitude 37 degree than areas south of it. For example, areas north of latitude 37 degrees yielded almost 150,000 more patients with an extended length of stay - more than three days in the hospital - after surgery than areas

south of that latitude.

Considering that more than 300,000 of the operations, or over onethird of the total in the study, led to extended hospitalisation, 71 per cent of these surgical complications occurred north of 37 degrees.

The researchers noticed, adverse outcomes, such as non-healing wounds, wound infections, wound separation and delayed wound healing, clustered in colder seasons marked by less sunshine.

For example, more than twice as many patients experienced delayed wound-healing complications in the winter - 349 patients, or 0.16 per cent of operations reviewed - than in he summer - 172 patients, or 0.07 percent of operations reviewed. The study was published in the journal Obesity Science and Practice.

PTI

The government has added 106 drugs including that for Cancer, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C to the list of essential medicines, taking the total number of °items to 376.

In a revision of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011 by the core committee constituted by the Health Ministry, 106 medicines were added while 70 were deleted after a series of meetings and consultations across the country.

“There were 348 medicines listed in NLEM, 2011. A total of 106 medicines have been added and 70 medicines have been deleted to prepare NLEM, 2015 which now contains a total of 376 medicines,” a notice by the Ministry said.

“The NLEM, 2015 has been prepared adhering to the basic principles of efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, consideration of diseases as public health problems in India,” it said.

Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population and are listed with reference to the levels of healthcare, namely primary, secondary and tertiary. They are based on the country’s disease burden, priority health concerns, affordability concerns etc.

The committee recommended that the list, which comes into effect immediately, be revised every three years.

PTI

Dylan-citing article appeared in 1970 in the Journal of Practical Nursing, eight years after his debut

NATION

CITY

Get your voice heard on NetaG P6

No damaged goods please P3

GRANDCHILDREN SUE THE COMPLETE MAN

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Dr Vijaypat Singhania’s grandchildren from his estranged son Madhupati have moved Bombay High Court seeking their share in ancestral property. They have filed a suit against their grandfather, father, mother and Raymond Limited. Detailed story on p7 TGS LIFE

When hunger strikes past midnight

NATION

CITY

Bakery worker’s daughter gets her wings P 12

Why are traffic cops taking selfies these days?

P3

DITCH THE

AUTO,

HAIL A

CAB

GAUTAM SINGHANIA

or long distances (depending on their mood), overcharge or ask for obnoxious fares, often refuse to ply by meter – the list is endless.

TGS Team members decided to give the ‘victimised’ autorickshaw drivers a chance.

Five members of the team tried hiring rickshaws for distances ranging between 1.5 and 20 kms. All the members came back irked and disgruntled. The

Intentions of Dr Singhania were ‘malafide and illegal’ with a motive to grab the share of Madhupati and Anuradha as well as grandchildren and to achieve the same he directed that his son and daughter-inlaw move to another country ‘instead of Collectively Pune Municipal continuing to stay in India with the family.

DEHU

6

Corporation, PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation and Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited have spent `1,816 crores on constructing dedicated corridors and flyovers along major routes, erecting bus shelters, and buying buses.

Despite this not a single route is operational or has succeeded in years. Citizens residing in twin cities continue to cry foul over pathetic public transport system. And from the looks of it nothing is going to change in near future.

See Spotlight on p8&9

ALANDI

AKURDI

CHINCHWAD

RAVET

BHOSARI

4 THERGAON HINJEWADI VILLAGE

KALEWADI FATA

WAKAD

DIGHI

NASHIK PHATA

5

LOHEGAON

DAPODI 50

PIMPLE GURAV

WAGHOLI

3 4 BANER

VISHRANT VIMAN WADI NAGAR YERWADA

AUNDH

2

SANGAMWADI PASHAN

AH47

WADGAON SHERI

MUNDHWA

SHIVAJI NAGAR

GHORPADI

9

BAVDHAN

CAMP

HADAPSAR

KOTHRUD

SWARGATE PARVATI

WANOWRIE

1

NANDED AMBEGAON BUDRUK

KONDHWA

UNDRI

KATRAJ

4

Sab golmal hai...

Had it not been for a Pune-based activist everybody had forgotten about a film on Lokmanya Tilak commissioned in 2001 by Central Government at the cost of 2.5 crores. Three years after Vishnu Kamalapurkar raised questions about the film,

said director of the school, who

fi led the FIR and kept in touch with “We are feeling the investigating officer and public prosecutor The director is let down by the PUNE, MARCH 14, 2015throughout. | www.thegoldensparrow.com yet to get a copy of the order. prosecution The case dates back to February 2013 when some of the students and the system. studying in class five walked up to their class teacher and alleged that It is upsetting their creative writing sir had touched because we do them inappropriately. The class teacher in turn informed the principal and not how to face management.

School authorities spoke to several other and the parents and found that 22 girls in allstudents had levelled similar allegations. Director of the students who school approached Chaturshrungi came forward police station and lodged an FIR under the Protection of Children from to give their Sexual Offences Act (POCSOA).

The investigation was carried out by statements.”

DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL

CHIKHALI

KIWALENIGDI

~ Suit filed by the siblings

The creative writing teacher from a reputed school in Baner was booked and arrested in February 2013. A special court acquitted him on the grounds that police bungled up in collecting evidence

RITU GOYAL HARISH

Parents teach them more than exams do P 10

`1,816 1,816 crores spent on BRTS,

Precious man hours are lost every day at Hinjewadi just because planners forgot to make more entry and exit points. Over a decade after Hinjewadi was planned to house country’s best IT firms and saying is true. But what they are not telling us or willing to talent, planners have finally woken up to the plight of citizens. concede is that their enemy lies within. Their enemy number one They have now planned five alternative roads. But the authorities is not private cabs but members of their own ilk – many of whom are in no hurry to complete them. See spotlight on p8 & 9 are rude, refuse to ply short

The case created ripples across the city. A teacher was accused of sexually abusing 22 students all from fi fth standard of a reputed school in Baner.

In February 2013, Chaturshrungi police registered a case of sexual abuse against the creative writing teacher and arrested him immediately. Two years after the cops went all out to claim that they had a watertight case, the teacher has been acquitted by a Special Court. The court ruled that the prosecution made out a weak case. The management of the school and parents of students are not only disappointed but also irked with the outcome.

“We are feeling let down by the prosecution and the system. It is upsetting because we do not how to face the parents and students who came forward to give their statements.

We believe we were on the right,”

Truly, a tree lady P4

~ Suit filed by the siblings

What a mess!

Teacher booked for sexually abusing 22 students acquitted

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

CITY

TGS LIFE

Hum Saath Saath Hain

And yet no respite for commuters

DR VIJAYPAT SINGHANIA

Madhupati Singhania (57) and his wife Anuradha (54) with their children Ananya (29), Rasaalika (26), Tarini (20) and Raivathari (18)

Rickshaw unions across the city want us to believe that private cab service providers or radio cab operators, as they are popularly known as, are villains.

Around 12,000 radio cabs have made their lives miserable for 50,000-odd autorickshaw drivers in twin cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The auto drivers want us to believe that corporate houses with deep pockets behind the cab services are eating into their share. Essentially poor rickshaw drivers are getting poorer because of stiff competition from private cab operators.

While Gautam Singhania ‘in a span of 14 years as CMD of Raymond Limited has built a personal net worth of `1.4 billion, Madhupati belonging to the same family was struggling to settle down in a new country, educate his children and make a new life.’ Gautam and his family led a luxurious life ‘with fancy cars, private jets, yachts and expensive holidays.’

PICS ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Bob Dylan is a source of inspiration for many medical scientists, suggests a new study that found the number of articles citing the popular American singer in biomedical literature has increased exponentially since 1990. Scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden studied how the lyrics of Dylan are cited in the titles of published biomedical papers.

A search of all his song and album titles was conducted in May this year. A selection of the most popular Dylan songs were also searched to fi nd modified titles.

In all, 213 of 727 references were classified as unequivocally citing Dylan and were included in the subsequent analysis.

According to the search, the fi rst

album was released.

Interestingly, the researchers note that, after a handful of citations during Dylan’s heyday in the fi rst half of the 1970s, very few articles in the biomedical sciences cited him until 1990.

However, since then, the number of articles has increased exponentially.

The two most cited Dylan songs are The Times They Are A-Changin’ (135 articles) and Blowin’ In The Wind (36 articles).

The search also showed the use of other popular titles such as All Along The Watchtower, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, and Like A Rolling Stone.

Some journals have a greater preponderance of Dylan-citing research articles than others; for instance, no less than six articles citing Dylan songs were found in the journal Nature.

However, citing Dylan in a research paper does not appear to generate more attention in the research community, the researchers said.

PTI

TGS LIFE

Run for... yourself

RAHUL RAUT

The number of articles citing the American singer in biomedical literature has increased exponentially since 1990

During the conference, two new drugs were launched for treatment of Hepatitis C disease at affordable price.

“Hepatitis C virus is a silent killer as people get to know about the disease suddenly after 20 or 25 years.

“With the launch of these two new drugs, India can cure all types of Hepatitis C that too at an affordable rate as these drugs are up to 300 per cent cheaper as compared to foreign countries,” Dr Sarin said.

The doctors claimed that the two drugs have almost negligible side effects and high cure rate of 90 per cent. The two new drugs, along with oral antiviral drug, have brought fresh hope to Hepatitis C infected patients whose treatment heavily depends upon weekly injections with “notorious side effects”, doctors said.

PTI

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ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Bob Dylan lyrics inspiring medical scientists: study

Two new drugs were launched for fighting Hepatitis C at an affordable price as experts from across the globe gathered to discuss progress in finding treatment to the drweaded Hepatitis B and C liver diseases.

D u r i n g a three-day Dr Shiv Sarin conference organised by Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and Asia Pacific Association for Study of Liver (APASL), the experts resolved to find treatment for Hepatitis-B, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed as a “major global health problem”.

According to WHO, an estimated 240 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B and more than 7,80,000 people die every year due to complications of Hepatitis B which includes cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Dr Shiv Sarin, noted liver specialist, noted that ILBS alone has over 7,500 patients registered with either of these diseases on regular follow up.

The institute has observed a sharp increase in the number of patients reporting with Hepatocellular carcinoma, a cancer of the liver which is strongly correlated with Hepatitis C. Although both Hepatitis B and C are susceptible to control with access to right treatment, “more needs to be done to ensure increase in public awareness regarding them”.

THANK GOD IT’S S AT U R D AY

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

changes in their moods as the study went on, including higher tension, anger, fatigue, confusion, depression and increased feelings and symptoms of stress. The high carbohydrate regime reduced some, but not all, of the effects of hard training.

The moderate-carb athletes recorded more sleep time, but this may demonstrate higher levels of fatigue and a greater need for recovery when following that diet.

“The cycle of successful training must involve overload to a state of acute fatigue, followed by a period of rest. If overloaded training is not followed by sufficient rest, overreaching may occur,” the researchers said.

PTI

Two new drugs to treat Hepatitis C

Cancer, HIV drugs put on essential list

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

even as little as nine days of intense training can cause ‘significant and progressive decline in sleep quality’.

They also noticed that the athletes’ moods and capacity for exercise both worsened over the period of observation. The data collected also indicated that the cyclists spent more time in bed during the intense training - suggesting that they were indeed tired. But the extra time under the covers did not result in any more actual sleep. “Sleep efficiency was significantly reduced during the intensified training period,” the researchers observed, and the number of times the athletes woke throughout the night significantly increased.

In addition, the cyclists reported

PUNE

“Plastics were more or less unknown to our grandparents, when they were children. But now, they are indispensable to our lives.”

— Jan Zalasiewicz, Professor, Leicester’s Department of Geology

Intensive exercise leads to fatigue, mood swings and depression Intensive bouts of exercise may cause significant and progressive decline in sleep quality and worsen your mood and capacity for exercise, a new study in athletes suggests. Scientists from Loughborough University in the UK studied the effects of two nine day periods of heavy training on 13 highly trained cyclists.

The researchers monitored the athletes’ moods, sleep patterns and performance before, during and after exercise. To determine whether diets could counter the effects of any sleep deprivation, the athletes were also given high or moderate amounts of carbohydrate throughout the study, though none of them knew which.

The researchers discovered that

JANUARY 30, 2016

Supriya Bhoite from Chaturshrungi police station.

Contd on p4

advance, and second instalment was to be released after completion of certain formalities. The very next year second instalment was also disbursed.

Cut to October 2012 – Kamalapurkar fi led an RTI with chief public information officer (CPIO) of Ministry of Culture seeking information about the fi lm on Tilak.

The CPIO was clueless about the project and sought information from his colleagues in other department in the same ministry. But none of them knew about the existence of

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Sun exposure, key for weight loss patients

H EALTH

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

“On one hand you have the worry of global warming and saving the environment, on the other hand to need to fulfil the needs of mankind but without energy, development is impossible.”

— Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

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Hum

Pune-based activist, sought details of the project in 2012 from the Central Government only to be told that they had no records left, the concerned ministry had been wound up, and that fi lm-maker could not be traced.

Essentially, the government acceded that it had been duped of `2.5 crores, the sum that was transferred to the fi lm-maker.

It has taken Kamalapurkar three years since he sought details about the fi lm under Right to Information Act to get the government to launch a fullfledged investigation. Dhumale has

finally been traced by the government with the help of police and claims that the fi lm will be released in “next two to four months”. He still hasn’t answered several questions raised by the government about the script and the star cast.

It all started in December 2001, when Commemoration Bureau under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture commissioned a fi lm on Lokmanya Tilak. A sum of Rs 1.25 crores was paid to Dhumale immediately as an

Saath Saath

When

HUNGER STRIKES past midnight

A family that prays together stays together. Pune’s joint families on why they agree to disagree

TGS takes a night trail around the city to look for places that will silence a grumbling tummy in the dark of night

The Kamdars

Run for…

yourself

Puneites are running to fight depression, lethargy, even physical disadvantage. Marathoners are taking over the street and making the city fitter than it has ever been

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PUNE

“Two engineers were killed, two police officers were killed, there was firing on a doctor’s clinic which was captured on the CCTV, one goldsmith was killed. ‘Jungle raj’ is back in Bihar, there is no doubt about that.”

— RK Singh, BJP MP

Bose’s daughter wants DNA test of ashes in Tokyo temple Pfaff believes that the 1945 air crash in Taipei was the “most likely cause” of his death

Netaji cremation records released

BY SUDIPTO CHOWDHURY NEW DELHI: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s daughter Dr Anita Bose Pfaff wants a DNA test to be conducted to establish whether the ashes kept in a Japanese temple are her father’s, but believes that the 1945 air crash in Taipei was the “most likely cause” of his death.

“I believe that the plane crash is the most likely cause of his death,” Pfaff said when asked whether she believes in the theory that her father died in an air crash near the Taihoku aerodrome in Taipei on August 18, 1945.

However, she said she wants a DNA test of the ashes kept in an urn at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo to ascertain whether the remains belong to the freedom fighter.

“A DNA test could provide proof, provided that the bones are not too badly charred for extracting DNA,” Pfaff, the only child of Subhash Bose and Emilie Schenkl, told PTI in an interview from her home in Stadtbergen, Germany.

Bose family sources said the 73year old German economist, who is likely to visit India next month, may urge the government here to talk to Japan for conducting DNA test of the remains kept in the Renkoji temple in Tokyo.

On whether the recently declassified documents sufficiently

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s family members poses for a group photo at the National Archives of India where he released the digital copies of 100 declassified files related to Bose on his 119th birth anniversary

proved Netaji’s death in the aircrash, Pfaff said “while I have only looked at a few files, I get the impression that a death certificate is not contained.”

Asked about her opinion that Bose was not treated with as much respect as were leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Pfaff said: “That certainly seems to be the case for the official treatment.

“But the general public, the socalled man in the street, however, seem to have kept his memory alive in a very touching way. It was a shame how the Indian government treated the INA veterans for decades.”

To a question about Nehru’s approach towards Bose, she merely

said, “Since their relationship lasted over many years, it was multi-faceted, I imagine. In many aspects they held similar views, in others their views differed.” Asked about her reaction to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s recent remark that Netaji’s death has been used for “petty politics”, Pfaff said, “However, many of his relatives such as my uncles and my mother very genuinely wished that he might have survived the crash or not been in it.

Their love for him made the acceptance of his death too hard to bear.”

Reacting to the declassification of Netaji files by the Centre and West Bengal government and whether these documents would help solve the

India to be lit up by LEDs by 2018 end

BY GV JOSHI According to Union Power Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, the entire country would be lit by LED bulbs by the end of 2018. As a result the government would be saving 100 billion units of electricity. “A unit saved is equal to generation of 1.3 units, considering the transmission losses.”

A lamp is a device for producing illumination, consisting originally of a vessel containing a wick soaked in combustible material like oil or fat, and subsequently such other lightproducing instruments such as gas and electric lamps.

The history of the first incandescent lamp using tungsten filament is known to all. Incandescent lamps consume a lot of electricity and they are being phased out in almost all the countries.

The fluorescent tube light was introduced in the 1930s. Compact

Power Minister Piyush Goyal (L) with former power secretary and Chairman, ICC National Expert Committee on Energy Anil Razdan

LONDON: A UK website set up to catalogue the last days of Subhas Chandra Bose has released the evidence given by a Taiwanese official who claimed to have prepared Netaji’s body for cremation after his death in a plane crash in 1945.

The testimony dating back to 1956, is among the last few documents to be released by www.bosefiles.info.

fluorescent lamps (CFL) were introduced in the last decade of the 20th century.

Tube lights and CFLs contain toxic mercury that makes them hazardous to discard in the garbage.

The first report of electrically generated light by emission from a diode (a solid-state device) – Electroluminescence in science jargon, came from a scientist H.J. Round working at Marconi Electronics, USA in 1907 At low voltages yellow light was observed, but more colours were emitted at higher voltages.

Electroluminescence was also studied by a Russian physicist named O Losev. His research was distributed in Russian, German and British scientific journals, but no practical use was made of the discovery for several decades. Nick Holonyak of the General Electric Laboratories at Syracuse, New York, invented the first light emitting diode (LED) in 1962. He is seen as the “father of the light-emitting diode”.

It was a device that emitted visible light when an electric current was passed through it. The first LEDs glowed red. M George Craford, a former graduate student of Holonyak, invented the first yellow LED and improved the brightness of red and red-orange LEDs by a factor of ten in 1972.Until 1968, visible LEDs were extremely costly, around $200 per unit, and so had little practical use.

PTI

Vol-II* lssue No.: 33 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.

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mystery behind the legendary freedom fighter’s “disappearance”, she said was “indeed happy”.

“It was high time. Most likely we shall find out that for 90 per cent of the files there has been no reason whatsoever not to declassify them decades ago. I rather doubt that the declassified files will reveal anything very spectacular about my father’s death,” she said.

Anita, a former Professor of Economics at the University of Augsburg, is married to Prof Martin Pfaff, who was a member of German Parliament Bundestag, representing the SPD or the Social Democratic Party. They have three children - Peter Arun, Thomas Krishna and Maya Carina.

PTI

Kothrud residents in dark P 15

India improves on corruption front BERLIN: India has climbed nine points to rank 76th in this year’s global corruption index launched recently topped by Denmark, with watchdog Transparency International calling graft a global “blight”.

According to Transparency International’s International Corruption Perceptions Index 2015, India is placed at 76th position along with Thailand, Brazil, Tunisia, Zambia and Burkina Faso out of 168 countries.

India has improved its past year’s position of 85 and has a grade index score of 38 out of a possible 100 which indicates the least corrupt.

The index was prepared by using data from institutions including the World Bank, the African Development Bank.

According to Berlin-based Transparency International, 68 per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem and half of the G20 are among them.

“Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free,” the report said.

“The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight around the world. But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to protest corruption.

People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power: it is time to tackle grand corruption,” said Jose Ugaz, Chair, Transparency International, global watchdog on graft and abuses of power.

Denmark tops of the index for the second consecutive year as the country perceived as least corrupt. It scored 91 points, while North Korea and Somalia

PRETTY AS A PICTURE

Garo tribal girls in their traditional dresses take a selfie during ‘Chhaygayan Loka Utsav’ at Chaygaon in Kamrup district of Assam

remained at the bottom with unchanged scores of 8.

The US rose one spot this year to 16th place with a score of 76, tying with Austria. The UK rose three spots to place 10th, with a score of 81 that tied it with Germany and Luxembourg.

The second to ninth spots were occupied by Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore and Canada.

PTI

Pastor caught accepting bribe in cheque VADODARA: A local pastor was arrested by Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 7 lakh for facilitating appointment of a youth as a teacher in a Godhra-based school run by the management of his church.

Simon Brainerd, a pastor attached to Centenary Methodist Church in Fatehgunj area here, was caught on the church premises when he was allegedly accepting a bearer’s cheque of Rs 7 lakh from the complainant, Ishwarbhai Pateliya.

Brainerd had allegedly sought the illegal gratification to facilitate appointment of Pateliya’s son Gerson as a teacher in the church-run high school. “Brainerd is also a trustee and member of the selection committee of McCabe Memorial High School in Godhra, which is a government granted school and run by the church.

Gerson gave interview for the post of teacher last December,” said ACB Assistant Director PR Gehlot.

PTI

Ready for nuclear or radiological crisis Nuclear and radiological emergencies can have trans-boundary effects

BY DR KS PARTHASARATHY The International Atomic Energy Agency has recently published its latest Safety Standards titled ‘Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency’.

Thirteen agencies sponsored it jointly. These included the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Labour Organisation, International Maritime Organisation, Interpol, PAN American Health Organisation, Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation, United Nations Environment Programme, World Health Organisation and World Meteorological Organisation) among others. The effort to generate such a

universally acceptable document is humongous. Its importance is obvious as nuclear and radiological emergencies can have trans-boundary effects.

Indian scientists and engineers have been serving the agency as consultants, advisors and members of the drafting committees right from its inception. It is a matter of history that PN Krishnamoorthy, a radiation protection specialist from India coauthored the Health Physics Addendum

(July 1960), the first Addendum to the Manual on Safe Handling of Radioisotopes, the first operational safety standard of the IAEA. In November 2002, the agency issued the Safety Requirements publication called, Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency (IAEA Safety Standards Series number GS-R-2), with joint sponsorship by seven international organisations.

Indian scientists and engineers have been serving IAEA as consultants, advisors and members of the drafting committees right from its inception

In 2011, the agencies associated with the drafting of GS-R-2 began a review of this document based on lessons identified in exercises and from the response to emergencies since its publication in 2002 (including the response to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in March 2011).

These safety requirements are binding on the IAEA Secretariat in relation to its own operations and on Member States in relation to operations assisted by the IAEA. They are recommended for use by Member States and by national authorities in relation to their own activities.

The Sponsoring Organisations are committed to continuously improving emergency preparedness and to coordinating their response to a nuclear or radiological emergency in line with these safety requirements, their respective mandates and, as appropriate, the Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan of the International Organisations.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

Puneri Paltan are title contenders: Coach P 16

Review sought of clean chit to Malaysian PM KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s anti-graft agency said it will appeal against the attorney-general’s decision of giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Najib Razak of any criminal wrongdoing in a financial scandal involving nearly USD 700 million.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will seek a review of the decision with an independent government panel, it said in a statement but did not specify if it recommended charges against 62-year-old Najib.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali cleared Razak of any criminal wrongdoing in the nearly USD 700 million donation from Saudi Arabia’s royal family channelled into his private accounts, in a major relief for the beleaguered premier who has been under intense pressure to resign over the financial scandal.

The graft case has been the biggest political crisis in Razak’s seven-year premiership.

The Attorney-General said in a press conference that the probe by the anti-corruption agency found no evidence to show that the USD 681 million donation was “an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do anything in relation to his capacity as Prime Minister”.

Earlier, the MACC’s special operations director Bahri Mohd Zin said it is “most likely” that the Commission would consider appealing to the Attorney-General to reconsider his decision in the “straightforward case”. Bahri was one of the MACC directors that was transferred to the Prime Minister’s Department on August 7, 2015. He was later reinstated to his original post three days later.

Apandi had said that documents showed that USD 681 million were transferred to Najib’s personal accounts between March 22 and April 10, 2013 from the Saudi royal family.

PTI

“India and Myanmar have old historical relations ever since the colonial period. Over the past 5-10 years, there have been greater reforms by president Thein Sein’s Government. There have been greater openings for Myanmar and Indian relations and other countries.”

— Gautam Mukhopadhaya, Indian Ambassador to Myanmar

‘US not asking India, others to take sides’

‘Putin approved KGB spy murder’

British inquiry culminates in a damning report, triggering a diplomatic row with Moscow

Steps Beijing is taking in the disputed South China Sea are “self-isolating” and driving countries towards America, says US Defense Secretary

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter attributes the rise of China to the peace and stability in Asia Pacific region, which was ensured by the US

BY BARUN JHA DAVOS: The US is not asking countries like India and Vietnam to take sides in the Asia Pacific region, but steps Beijing is taking in the disputed South China Sea are “selfisolating” and driving countries towards America, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said.

“I’ve been to India, Vietnam recently. We want to have good relations with them and we are not asking people to take sides,” Carter said in a panel discussion in Davos on World Economic Forum meeting yesterday.

“I think their position is basically right, which is we want everybody to keep being able to do what they are doing. We don’t want to have to pick sides. America doesn’t want to have sides either,” said the Defense Secretary.

Carter, however, acknowledged that countries in the region are increasingly coming to the US. “We do know that people are coming to us increasingly. Why is that? It is because China is taking some steps that I think are selfisolating, driving people towards a result that none of us wants,” he said, in reference to Chinese measures in the South China Sea. “I’m not one of those people who believes confl ict between the United States and China is inevitable, it’s certainly not desirable, I don’t think it’s likely,” he said.

He attributed the rise of China to the peace and stability in the region, which was ensured by the US. “China’s rise is, by the way, not the only rise going on in Asia. India is a rising military power. Japan, if you have noticed, is a rising military power, and there are others who are

doing things. Vietnam, Philippines, and so forth,” Carter said in response to a question.

“The US point of view is the same one we’ve had long- standing, which is we welcome that. We’ve tried to create an environment there, and we were the pivotal factor in making this so, in which over seven decades essentially everybody could follow their own destiny towards prosperity,” he said.

And that includes China, he added.

“We never tried to obstruct China’s economic rise and the lifting of hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

We’ve welcomed that. Nor any of these other states we talked about,” the Defense Secretary said.

At the same time, he argued, the US does not want to ruin a good thing, which is a system of peace and stability there.

“We are not dividing the region, we don’t seek to ask people to take sides,” he said.

China is not the only one that’s making claims that the US does not agree with, and they are not the only ones that are military outposts. “We oppose all of that. And for our part, we have said everybody, not just China but everybody who is doing that should stop and not militarize,” he said.

The US, he asserted, will keep on doing what it has always done - fly, sail and operate everywhere international law permits in the South China Sea. He said the US is helping other countries that are all coming to US for assistance in maritime security.

PTI

Did US deport him due to skin colour?

BY ADITI KHANNA LONDON: A UK-based Indianorigin man who had travelled to the US from London on a business trip has alleged that he was held for 13 hours by the immigration offi cials and was deported because of his skin colour.

Amreet Surana, who works for a UK security company, was held in Detroit while trying to catch a connecting fl ight to the fi rm’s branch in Arizona.

The 24-year-old said that he had the

relevant Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) form, which allows citizens of 38 countries, including most of Europe, to travel to the US without a visa.

“I believe I was profi led because of my appearance,” Surana told the BBC. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has not specified the reason for Surana’s deportation but say that the ESTA did not guarantee a traveller would pass US border checks.

Surana, from Leicestershire in the

Surana had ESTA form which allows citizens to travel to US without a visa

PUNE

Midlands region of England, said “I was threatened with fraud, that he was stopped when he landed I was threatened with banishment at Detroit Airport from Heathrow from the US and imprisonment. on January 17 and then sent to You feel dehumanised to the extent be interviewed by immigration that you feel like a piece of dirt officials. on the floor,” he said. He was He told them he worked then allegedly held for 13 as an international business hours, during which time his manager for Nottinghamphotograph and fi ngerprints based Octavian and was were taken, and his belongings visiting its US branch in searched.

He was given little food Phoenix.

“In the space of 20 minor water, he claimed. “The utes they concluded that whole experience I was an illegal imwas traumatic, migrant workfrightening, ing in Ameriembarrassing, stressing and ca, denying a haunting for me US citizen a job,” Surana and my family.”

Amreet Surana, works for UK security company claimed.

PTI

Sindh minority students to study ethics instead of Islam

While Alexander Litvinenko lay dying in a London hospital bed, he had pointedly told Scotland Yard that the Russian President had given the orders for his killing

BY ADITI KHANNA LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably approved” the killing of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko who died in a hospital here in 2006 from radioactive poisoning, a British inquiry concluded in a damning report, triggering a diplomatic row with Moscow.

Litvinenko, 43, a former agent in the Russian federal security service (FSB) or secret police, died days after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 which he is believed to have drunk in a cup of tea.

The finding by Robert Owen, a retired High Court judge, in a 328page report represented by far the most damning official link between Litvinenko’s death and the highest levels of the Kremlin.

While he lay dying in a London hospital bed, Litvinenko had pointedly told Scotland Yard that the Russian President had given the orders for his killing.

There is a “strong probability” they were acting on behalf of the Russian FSB secret service, the inquiry found.

Two Russian men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, have been accused of his murder. They deny killing him.

Owen said that taken as a whole the open evidence that had been heard in court amounted to a “strong circumstantial case” that the Russian state was behind the assassination.

But when he took into account all the evidence available to him, including a “considerable quantity” of secret intelligence that was not aired in open court, he found “that the FSB operation to kill Litvinenko was probably approved by [Nikolai] Patrushev [head of the security service in 2006] and also

by President Putin”.

At the time of his death, Litvinenko was working for the British intelligence service MI6 and also for Spanish intelligence, passing on information on Russian organised crime networks and their links to the Kremlin. Litvinenko was due shortly to become a star witness in a number of trials.

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokeswoman said Downing Street was taking the findings “extremely seriously” and that the Prime Minister found them “extremely disturbing”.

The spokeswoman said: “The conclusion that the murder was authorised at the highest levels of the Russian state is extremely disturbing. It is not the way for any state, let alone a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to behave.

“Regrettably, these findings confirm what we and previous governments already believed.”

The spokeswoman said measures taken against Russia in 2007 remained in place, adding: “In the light of the inquiry’s findings, we are considering what further action we should take.”

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “We regret that a purely criminal case was politicised and darkened the general atmosphere of bilateral relations.”

“We had no reason to expect that the final findings of the politically motivated and extremely non-transparent process, which has been skewed to achieve

Home Secretary presented the UK govt report to House of Commons

the predetermined, ‘needed’ result, would suddenly become objective and unbiased,” she said.

Home Secretary Theresa May presented the UK government’s response to the findings in a statement to the House of Commons, describing it as a “blatant and unacceptable” breach of international law. “The conclusion that the Russian state was probably involved in the murder of Mr Litvinenko is deeply disturbing,” she said.

PTI

SUPER SNOW STORM

Minority students in Pakistan could follow a book on ethics that includes the teachings of religions like Hinduism and Sikhism KARACHI: Minority students in Pakistan’s Sindh province will not be required to study Islamic studies in future and can instead follow a book on ethics that includes the teachings of religions like Hinduism and Sikhism, authorities said.

“Students belonging to minority communities in government schools will study the curriculum according to their own religion,” Sindh Text Book Board (STBB) chairman Syed Zakir Ali Shah said.

“The book which has been named Ikhlaqiat (ethics) will be included in the curriculum of all public schools across Sindh from April 1 of the current year from Grade 7 classes,” he added.

The content of the book has been

prepared to include teachings from different religions.

“The book has been prepared to include the teachings of different religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and mystic poetry,” Shah said.

Last year, Sindh government has announced to include a speech made on August 11, 1947, by the founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in the syllabus to promote religious tolerance.

Jinnah has talked about giving equal rights and freedom to all religious minorities in the speech.

Pakistani school textbooks have often been criticised for fostering prejudice and intolerance of Hindus and other religious minorities in

the country. A study by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2014 has found systematic negative portrayals of minorities, especially Hindus and to a lesser extent of Christians, in the Pakistani school textbooks.

“Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful,” the report has said.

Hindus make up a little more than one per cent of Pakistan’s over 199 million population.

However, over two million Hindus live in Sindh and over half a million of them live in Karachi city alone.

PTI

Bella Fraker, 10, of Atlanta, stands high on a snow pile as she poses for a family photo in New York’s Times Square, as a large winter storm rolls up the East Coast. Fraker was in New York for auditions

MONEY MATT ER S

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

PUNE

“This is another strong endorsement of the Ford brand in India. Mustang fans have been ready for it for a long time.”

— Nigel Harris, President, Ford India

Signposts Indian asset backed securities stabilised Indian asset backed securities (ABS) performed better in 2015 than the previous year, which is representative of the economy’s resilience, ratings agency Fitch said. “The buildup in delinquencies for Indian ABS transactions that closed in 2015 was slower than that in 2014, a sign that overall delinquencies have stabilised,” it said in a note.

IMF implements quota reforms Marking a ‘historic’ change at IMF, India, China and other emerging economies will now have more voting rights at the multilateral funding agency with the implementation of long pending quota reforms. For the first time, India China, Brazil and Russia, would be among the 10 largest members of the International Monetary Fund.

“Chinese Internet companies have recognized the big potential in India’s digital start-ups where there are similarities in learning curves and experiences.”

— Frank Hancock, Managing Director, Barclays

‘India less prone to external shocks’ Indian economy is driven by household consumption and government spending, and not dependent on hot money

Indian economy is less vulnerable to external shocks as it is mainly driven by household consumption and government spending, and not dependent on hot money which can move out quickly, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Rating Services said.

The US-based rating agency expects the current account deficit (CAD), which is the difference between inf low and outf low of foreign exchange, to remain at a modest level of 1.4 per cent at the end of current fiscal and would

S&P Rating Services India Sovereign Analyst Kyran Curry said India’s capital markets are diversified and deep enough for companies to raise funding

continue at similar level till 2018.

“We see India as having limited

vulnerability to external economic or financial shocks. This is because

growth in the economy is mainly driven by domestic factors, such as household consumption and government spending.

“At the same time this is a country that has low reliance on external savings to fund its growth. In other words, the banks are mainly deposit funded and don’t rely on wholesale funding to grow their loan books,” S&P Rating Services India Sovereign Analyst Kyran Curry told PTI. He said India’s capital markets are diversified and deep enough for companies to raise funding.

“Another favourable aspect of India external settings is that it is generally not subject to hot money inf lows that can turn into outf lows with shifts in investor sentiment.

As such we see the external risks

Marginal cost of funds and interest rates The new methodology will ensure fair interest rates to borrowers as well as to banks

BY DIPANKAR KUMAR To improve transparency and ensure speedier monetary policy transmission, RBI said that all banks will have to follow a new uniform methodology from the next fiscal for calculation of base rate on the basis of the marginal cost of funds. The new Raghuram Rajan methodology will ensure fair interest rates to borrowers as well as to banks.

As per the final guidelines, banks will fi x their lending rates as per their marginal cost of funding every month, which will be based on the rate offered on new deposits.

Under the current system, banks fi x their lending rates based on the average rate of outstanding deposits.

The RBI said all banks will follow a uniform methodology for calculation of base rate or minimum leadening rate on the basis of the marginal cost of funds from April 1, 2016.

“The guidelines are also expected to ensure availability of bank credit at interest rates which are fair to the borrowers as well as the banks.

“Further, marginal cost pricing of loans will help the banks become more competitive and enhance their long run value and contribution to economic growth,” the

RBI said.

Welcoming the final guidelines, SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya said this will be valid on new loans taken thereafter as well as loans getting renewed after that date.

“While these guidelines will benefit the new customers, existing customers will also have an option to shift to the new regime with some conditions,” she said.

“With marginal cost of funds including tenor premium, we have moved closer to international manner of benchmark rates,” she added.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has on many occasions

Banks will fix lending rates as per marginal cost of funding every month

expressed his resentment over inordinate delays by banks in passing on interest rate cuts.

Since the rate reduction cycle that commenced in January, less Arundhati than half of the Bhattacharya cumulative policy repo rate reduction of 125 basis points has been transmitted by banks. The median base lending rate has declined only by 60 basis points.

“All rupee loans sanctioned and credit limits renewed wef April 1, 2016 will be priced with reference to the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) which will be the internal benchmark for such purposes.”

PTI

‘Job generation potential must for all FIPB proposals’

Now an easier way to file I-T returns

All proposals seeking approval of appraisal bodies like Foreign Investment Promotion Board and Core Group on Disinvestment need to mandatorily mention ‘employment generation potential’, the Cabinet Secretariat has said.

The decision is aimed at ensuring jobs for more people in the country and its socio-economic development.

All the notes submitted for the consideration of appraisal bodies such as Expenditure Finance Committee, Public Investment Board, Core Group on Disinvestment, Expanded Board of Railways, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Public Private Partnership Appraisal

The CBDT has developed a new easy to use software after taxpayers complained of problems in fi ling I-T returns with digital signatures.

Taxpayers had recently reported that they faced issues in using the Digital Signature Certificate at the time of uploading their Income Tax Returns.

“Th is is because the latest browser versions have started disabling the standard way in which they support plug-in functions to address security,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.

Hence, the Java applet that was used by the e-fi ling website “would not work” in the latest versions of Google

Committee, Telecom Commission (TC), High Powered Committee for Road Projects under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East should henceforth clearly indicate the employment generation potential of each proposal, it said.

“All appraisal bodies must make it a criterion for appraisal of the proposal before it, and appraise this aspect carefully while considering the

proposal. “The minutes of the meeting of such appraisal bodies should also separately and clearly reflect the employment generation potential of each proposal,” the Cabinet Secretariat said in a recent directive issued to all secretaries of central government d e p a r t m e n t s .

A handbook on preparation of notes for the Cabinet and Cabinet committees has also been modified accordingly.

PTI

The move aims to ensure jobs for more people in the country

Chrome, Mozilla or Internet Explorer.

“In order to address this issue and to simplify the procedure for uploading Income Tax return (ITR) with Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), an easy to use software utility has been developed which would have to be downloaded in taxpayer’s computer and used for signing using Digital Signature Certificate,” the CBDT said.

India is among the select band of nations that has a digital signature legislation in place. Th is act grants digital signatures that have been issued by a licensed certifying authority the same status as physical signatures.

PTI

for India to be relatively contained,” Curry said.

He said while export growth may be disappointing, the current account deficit likely to be a modest 1.4 per cent in 2015, with similar levels through 2018.

“Our forecasts are partly informed by our view of increased monetary credibility, which dampens the demand for monetary gold imports. In addition, we expect India to fund this deficit mostly with non-debt, creating inf lows,” Curry added. The CAD in the first half of current fiscal stood at 1.4 per cent of GDP, lower than 1.8 per cent in the same period last fiscal. For full 2014-15 fiscal, the CAD stood at 1.3 per cent of GDP. PTI

Manufacturing activity falls to one year low in Jan: SBI Index Manufacturing activity in the country dipped to a one-year low in January, suggesting moderation in growth, says a report by State Bank of India (SBI).

The yearly SBI Composite Index fell below the 50 mark to 47.3 in January -- its lowest level in the past one year, indicating “moderation in economic activity going forward”.

According to SBI, construction, steel and textile “are some of the sectors that are clear headwinds and thus need to be addressed head-on”.

Observing that 42 per cent of the tenders f loated during the last 12 months are yet to be awarded, SBI has called for “a concerted and faster execution going forward in the construction sector”.

As per the report, construction activity in real estate segment was low in January, with players focused on stabilising their finances and adjusting to the new market situation.

“In the infrastructure segment, the government supported projects are keeping demand up, but the significant delays in implementation remained concern,” it added.

Regarding the textile sector, the report said the government should think afresh to skew its existing TUF (Technology Upgradation Fund) allocation in favour of technical textiles to promote exports and bolster the Make in India campaign.

Noting that about 150 units at Mandi Gobindgarh in Punjab, the centre for production of secondary steel, have faced closure in the last two years, the report said the steel sector “is not looking good as of now”.

“One of the several steps the government can take is to push for ‘Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor’ to alleviate some macro issues relating to nearness to markets and ports for exports,” it added.

PTI

FSSAI is looking to create a self regulating culture

Food safety regulator is framing new regulations after the earlier procedures had to be scrapped

BY JATIN TAKKAR

Without compromising on the food quality standards, the food safety regulator FSSAI is on the way to create culture of self regulation and at same time taking industry on the board.

A move which could create winwin situation for both food companies and consumers.

To streamline its product approval process, FSSAI is working on framing a new set of regulations after the earlier procedures had to be scrapped following court orders, including in the Maggi noodles case.

In these new set of regulations if the products has all the approved

ingredients in it then it might not need to take approval. The regulator has already came out with a similar more than 280 page notification mentioning the list of ingredients for various food items.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will also seek assistance from the law firms and lawyers for framing of the new regulations, while opinion would be sought from the Law Ministry as well.

And it had already invited legal firms and lawyers.

The regulator which came into lime light in June last year after the maggi ban was again recently in enws due to issues related to Patanajali noodles.

FSSAI has been issuing advisories for food products wherein the quality standards for their ingredients were not mentioned in Section 22 of the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006.

The regulator also saw severe criticism not only from the industry

FSSAI move could create win-win situation for both food companies and consumers

but from the Government also. Union Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal had said that the regulator is creating fear psychosis in the industry.

Besides this as many as 11 industry bodies related to food and pharma

sectors had alleged that the food regulator FSSAI has become “den of corruption” and demanded a CBI inquiry into the functioning of the authority.

These 11 associations, which

have formed a National Joint Action Committee, also said that the food industry is being affected due to autocratic approach of the regulator.

After facing so much critcism, now the government is mulling a Rs 1,750-crore proposal to strengthen central food regulator as well as state bodies.

The Health Ministry had moved a proposal for granting Rs 1,750 crore, which includes about over Rs 800 crore for the FSSAI and the remaining amount for the state food regulators.

There are about 160 labs for testing of food in the country, out of which 72 are in the government sector and 80 odds are private accredited labs.

Health Secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma the government is working on strengthening the state FDAs through capacity building that includes setting up of new testing laboratories and upgrading the existing ones, he said, adding that the focus is also

on increasing awareness about the importance of food safety.

Allaying apprehensions, the authority had already said that it will consider industry views while framing regulations for product approvals.

Food Processing Secretary Ranglal Jamuda had also said that the FSSAI is in the process of having the right kind of regulations to set the house in orde.

In another couple of months, whatever difficulty we have in getting product approvals or diversifying products or coming out with new products to fulfi ll demand in the market, possibly that kind of situation will substantially change. Food regulator FSSAI, which comes under ambit of Health Ministry, lays down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

The show will be opened by a young passionate Pune-based musician, Harsh Meswani, who plays the keyboard. After the opening act, Rahul Sharma will take over the stage and entertain the audience with his world-renowned santoor skills.

This is a unique event, since experiencing a live performance by a maestro like Rahul Sharma in an open air amphitheater with water falling slowly from the side walls of the amphitheatre is not something that happens very frequently. It is going to be mystic. It is going to be surreal. It is definitely not an event to miss out, at any cost.

When: February 6 Where: Ishanya Mall, Yerwada

BENGAL PAINTINGS WORKSHOP

LOLLAPALOOZA

JAHNERATION

I

REWIRE

India’s pathbreaking electronic producers Dualist Inquiry, Nicholson and Sid Vashi - are going to make sure that you groove to their beats at High Spirits. The poster boy of electronic music, Sahej Bakshi aka Dualist Inquiry brings you his signature rock-influenced electronica.

Composer, singer-songwriter and keyboardist Nicholson promises to woo you with his stellar experimental sounds. The young and charged making waves on the music scene, Sid Vashi introduces you to his style of hip-hop tinged electronica.

When: February 5 Where: High Spirits, Koregaon Park

CIRCULATION

Blud was founded in 1990 by Rahul Agarwal-guitars, along with Rajesh Bhatiadrums, with influences of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. The band began to

FUNNILY ENOUGH

When you have five comedy acts on one night, and those comedians are Aadar Malik, Neville Shah, SnG Comedy presents Gandu Nights, Azeem Banatwalla and Kunal Rao you know you’re in for a no holds barred stand-up and incredible improv comedy night. The lineup includes Azeem Banatwalla, Aadar Malik, Neville Shah, SnG Comedy and Kunal Rao. When: January 31 Where: Classic Rock Coffee Co., Koregaon Park

RAHUL RAUT

WEEK THAT WAS GRP CONSTABLES THREATEN, LOOT PASSENGER OF CASH

Four Government Railway Police (GRP) constables of Pune have been accused of robbing a passenger of Rs 16,000 aboard a train recently. The railway police had initiated an internal inquiry after the passenger called up the railway helpline and found the constables guilty of criminal misconduct. Constables Balu Nivrutti Patole, 48, Deepak Vittal Dhiwar, 43 and Amar Gopichand Pokale, 42, of Khadki Police Headquarters, have been arrested, while Sunil Dattatray Vhatkar is absconding. Dinesh Kumar Patel of Chamraj Peth, Bangalore was travelling in the S-1 bogey of Mysore-Ajmer Express when GRP cops demanded Rs 1 lakh as he was seen eating paan masala, an offence punishable with a jail sentence.

PIC THE

EDITOR

FOUR WHEEL PARKING VIOLATION! A vegetable vendor makes use of parking lot meant for two wheelers at Kamla Nehru Park on Prabhat Road to place his handcart

Do you really care about these underprivileged children?

The feature about underage children who are forced to earn a living at an age when they should be in school shows up the dark side of urban life, where the unprivileged are left to their own devices and there is really no one who cares how they get by. For all its election promises, the government and civic bodies really have nothing in their plans to reach out a helping hand to people in the lowest strata of society. Neither are there that many philanthropic or caring people who will go around finding ways to help those who need help the most. In the rat race that passes for life these days, it’s everybody for their own selves and even those who read this feature, and say some sympathetic words, do not really have the time or means to do much about improving the lives of the less fortunate. Who is to blame? Is there an answer?

—Vikram Sabu

Where there’s a will…

The story of the chaiwala who passed the Chartered Accountancy exam is inspiring. There is so much we can learn from the man’s example. He dared to dream big and walk on the path to success while not ignoring his responsibility toward his family. His story is a perfect example of how hard work will bring its rewards to those who are sincere. It is easy to be cowed down by adversity but it is also possible to face it head-on and use one’s mind and brain to overcome obstacles.

—Chirag Viral

live in Kothrud. The area where I live has now become very unsafe in the nights due to the absence of proper lighting on the streets.

Our pleas to civic officials for the maintainance of the street lights installed have fallen on deaf ears. The state of darkness is now a major concern for people who live here, as going out after dark has become an ordeal. The people who used to go out for their evening strolls, have stopped doing so. There is always the danger of chain snatching and such crimes. Senior citizens are always at risk Yash Ashwin of stumbling in the dark and injuring themselves.

The other day at around 11:30 in the night while I was returning home, Paud road was in total darkness. The only light on the road was coming from the headlights of the motorists. There are several other areas in the city like the highway near Chandni Chowk which in a similar state. Added to the darkness, the state of the road surface leaves a lot to be desired, with the potholes and such. People who move about in the night owing to their work schedules are also finding it difficult and women are wary of their safety and security. It’s high time the officials did something about this.

Write to Us

Letters to the Editor may be emailed to editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com, yogesh.sadhwani@goldensparrow.com or mail it to The Editor, Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt Ltd, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030.

COL MAHADIK AWARDED SHAURYA CHAKRA

Colonel Santosh Mahadik, Commanding Officer of the 41 Rashtriya Rifles made the supreme sacrifice for the nation while conducting a counter-infiltration operation in Manigah Forest of Kupwara district on November 17, 2015. Mahadik has been posthumously awarded the ‘Shaurya Chakra’. The 38-year-old Majadik of the elite 21 Para-Special Forces unit, had led many operations against militants in Jammu and Kashmir and in the northeast for over a decade. He is survived by his wife Swati, an 11-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. Mahadaik was awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry during Operation Rhino in the northeast in 2003.

CHAIN SNATCHER NABBED AFTER THREEMONTH CRIME SPREE

Pune Police Crime Branch Unit 3 has arrested Sachin Prakash Jadhav, 31, who had been on a three-month chain snatching spree in the city.

Nitesh Shelar and Ashok Shelar who were on patrolling duty in the Market Yard area arrested Jadhav. Shelar said, “We recognised Jadhav from the CCTV footage we had studied. He was on an Activa scooter.” The Market Yard police station has charged Jadhav under section 392 (Punishment for robbery) of the Indian Penal Code. Jadhav has confessed to 15 chain snatchings at Deccan Gymkhana, Shivajinagar, Vishrambaug, Bibvewadi , Sahakarnagar, Alankar, Market Yard and Swargate. An Activa scooter, two mobiles, and 170 grams of gold chains have been seized from Jadhav.

OF

E WE K

Kothrud residents in dark

SIKH FEELM FESTIVAL

Enjoy the culture of Sikhs via films and other performances at the Sikh Feelm Festival, which is onto its 8th year. The 1-day event will contain short films, amateur videos but and a a lot of exciting stage performances like Gatka and many more.

When: January 31, 5 pm to 8 pm Where: Bal Gandharv Rang Mandir, J.M. Road

with insane mixtures of popular tracks from different genres, thus offering an assorted platter that caters to every kind of audience.

When: February 5 to 7 Where: Lollapalooza, Near Kunal Icon, Pimple Saudagar

BACK IN WITH BLUD

LETTERS TO THE

Our voices need to be heard

Get ready for a smashing start to the weekend with Jahneration at High Spirits. Jahneration is a the outfit of the singing duo, Theo and Ogach and they play crossover reggae music that combines Reggae and Hip-Hop. Dynamic and creative, these two MC affect a large audience who answers the call of the stage. Now with a 4 musicians live band, each concert is an energetic and powerful show.

When: Till February 1 Where: High Spirits, Koregaon Park

Suman Chitrakar is a young Patua Artist from West Bengal.

He started painting nine years ago at the age of twenty with his mentor Jagdevji. He has been creatively infusing new themes to the traditional art form to create a distinctive style of his own. He carries the lineage of folk artists paint long, vertical scrolls and composes verses. Come learn this art form with Suman and also enjoy his works at an exhibit at the gallery.

When: January 30 Where: P. N. Gadgil and Sons, Aundh Gallery

Come, witness the Grand Launch Festival of Lollapalooza with DJ Prerna Singh, Abhishek Mabtri and Cosmic Lingo. Prerna specialises in creating an experience for music lovers and takes you on an unforgettable journey. Dabbling in a variety of genres, her turntables have scratched out everything from EDM, Deep, Tech and Techno. DJ Abhishek Mantri has performed at various music festivals like A Day Off and 1 Republic Festival with names like B.R.E.E.D, Dark Helm, Steppa Style. Cosmic Lingo comes

draw its members in the basement of a friend’s under-construction house. By June, Manoj Pandya-lead guitars and Rajeev Kurian-vocals were in the line-up subsequently followed by Sanjeev Mahapure on the Bass.

When: February 5 Where: Bluefrog, Viman Nagar

RAHUL RAHUL

STRINGS OF SERENITY

PUNE

Waste of tax payers’ money With the tax payment deadline around the corner, everyone is running around to file their returns. But what happens to the money that the government is collecting? The article about the closed parks and gardens shows how the civic body carelessly throws about public money in building parks which a little later are closed an of no use to the public. Besides the gardens, there are so many aspects of urban life that are prone to tax payers’ money being wasted by the authorities. When will they learn?

—Preeti Wasde

We need a modern drainage system

The widespread water logging caused by the spell of incessant rains in November shows the need for a modern and adequate capacity drainage system in the city. The PMC keeps postponing the issue and making do with whatever outdated system installed in the British era. Considering the exponential rise in the population and the consequent growth in volume of waste and garbage, the civic body should be on the ball and must keep updating the infrastructure according to the growing needs of the city. Unfortunately we are governed by civic staff who have such a lax attitude towards their duties, that essential work regarding drainage, water, roads etc keep being delayed far beyond any reasonable limit. We hope that the PMC has taken the gravity of the situation into consideration and will ensure that such water logging is averted in the future.

—Sunanda Dore

Putting on a good show for the VIPs The Pune railway station was all spic and span on the occasion of the General Manager’s visit. Not only was everything clean but all the staff was present on duty. What’s sad is that everything goes back to the lax and careless state once the bigwig has finished his visit. This is a fact, especially where government organizations are concerned, where every one does their best to impress the superiors and when they are not around no one cares a whit about doing their duty. Even the common man deserves a clean, hygienic and safe environment on the station. When will things ever improve?

—Ramesh Tiule

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016

PUNE

“I get that, because you think I’m old and all that. But it’s no problem for me. But it doesn’t scare me when I go into a big match against any player who’s in their prime right now.”

— Roger Federer, World No 3 Tennis Player

“It is the third time I am sacked and I am still sitting here.

Now I cannot lose any more - then for the fourth time I have been sacked.”

—Louis van Gaal, Manchester United manager

Puneri Paltan are title contenders: Coach With eight teams and exciting format, Pro Kabaddi 2016 promises thrills galore

BY EKTA KATTI @Ektaak

inaugural 2014 season, the Paltan was languishing at the bottom of the table, and fi nished eighth in 2015.

With a new squad and Puneri Paltan coach Ashok Shinde an aggressive approach is wholly upbeat and has assured fans to boot, and followers that the P u n e r i Paltan will make up P a l t a n for the dismal showing is raring previously, and bring to go in home the title this time the third around. edition of Led by Wazir Singh, the Pro the Pune team take Kabaddi on the Telugu Titans L e a g u e at Visakhapatnam on 2016, that January 31, and Dabang kicks off on Delhi on February 3.

- Ashok Shinde January 30. Eight Shinde said, “The teams are vying for preparations are going the honours and prizes in what on full swing. We are especially promises to be the most exciting focusing on physical fitness. The edition of the league yet. disappointment of the fans in the last In the wake of two two seasons is understandable. But forgettable seasons, the Pune we have a revamped unit this time team has been sweating it around and I believe that we have a out in the practice arena for very good shot at the title. The new a couple of months. In the format will have viewers glued to their

“I believe that we have a very good shot at the title.”

Pune driver Takale returns to rallying at Tsumagoi, Japan After a gap of one year,Pune’s really driver Sanjay Takale will open his 2016 campaign at the Rally of Tsumagoi TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly Pune driver Sanjay Takale will open his 2016 campaign at the Rally of Tsumagoi in Japan on January 30-31, as pre-season warm-up for the AsiaPacific Rally Championship. The 2016 rally is the 9th edition and as always will be run on snow and ice with all 4WD rally cars. “It has been a long

and absolutely unscheduled break. But now I think I am in a better position to plan my rally career,” said Takale.

“Last year I had planned to Sanjay Takale do rally schools in the fi rst part of 2015 and Asian rounds of the APRC in the second part, but I was struck down by malaria just before I was to leave for the Wales Rally,” said Takale, who drove the ice rally in Sweden in February.

Takale had delayed his Wales rally school to recover from malaria, but

health issues forced him to withdraw from the APRC. “My health is back to normal and I have also managed to bring down my weight,” said Takale insisting that starting the season on ice was a calculated move though there are no ice rounds in APRC. Takale, who is fine tuning his driving skills to prepare for the bigger challenges in 2017, said he coach Graham Middleton was of the opinion that he should start from where he left off last year.

Takale drove the ice rallies in Sweden and Wales in 2015. The Rally of Tsumagoi which began in 2007 has been granted international status by the FIA this year. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

A great platform for footballers Girls’ teams to feature in the under-14 Roger Cup 2016, besides 16 boys’ squads TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly Roger Cup 2016, the under-14 football tournament kicked off on January 29 at the Stella Maris High School Ground, Vadgaonsheri. Organised by former students of the school, the two-day, ninea-side tournament features 16 teams.

This year’s edition also features girls’ teams, including those from Vidyankar High School, SNBP, St Felix and Vikhe Patil schools. The boys’ field featuring experienced squads from teams like Stella Maris, JN Petit, St Joseph’s and Vikhe Patil schools promises to throw up some rousing encounters. It was won

by Army Public School in 2015.

JN Petit coach Nandu Angirwal said, “Th is is the fi rst time we are participating in this tournament and we have high expectations. The kids are quite exicited for the tournament and they are very focused. My team’s forte is its midfield and defense and we are hoping to win the title,” said Angirwal. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Vikhe Patil’s soccer teams blossom under her care Pune schools certainly take football quite seriously. Which is why Vikhe Patil Memorial School has appointed former Indian women’s football team member Punam Kumari as their football coach. Kumari, 38, take pride in the fact that the school’s under-14 boys’ and girls’ are taking part in the Rogers Cup 2016 tournament.

Kumari came from her home state of Bihar to Pune in 2013, owing to her husband’s transfer. She applied for and was appointed as the Vikhe Patil School football coach. “I plan on staying here as the youngsters in Pune show great football potential,” she said.

She took to football

when she was 12. The defender played her fi rst district match for Indira Gandhi Women’s Football Club, Muzaffarpur. In the early 90s she was selected for the Bihar team. She was selected for the Indian women’s team in 1998. Her 5’ 7” stature is ideal, and in the Indian context she is pretty imposing.

She scored just a handful of goals for the national team, but she earned the nickname of ‘China Gate’ for her impressive defensive game. Kumari played 26 matches for the Indian team.

She was awarded the Asia Cup best defender of the year honours in 2002.

TV screens.”

The team roped in last year’s top performers Manjeet Chillar and Ajay Thakur from Bengaluru Bulls. “Chillar and Thakur are certain to boost the overall morale of the team besides contributing with their exploits. We have a wealth of experience among our ranks this time around. We are certainly far better prepared,” said Shinde.”

Deepak Hooda and Prashant Chavan from the Jaipur Pink Panthers are also expected to make their presence felt. Chavan is well aware of the fans’ expectations and believes that the team has the potential to fulfi l them. “Th is is a new season and a new tournament. We have a team that is capable and spirited and I aim to contribute my bit in making a comprehensive bid for the title,” said the defender.

Defending champions U Mumba will take on Telugu Titians on the inaugural day. ekta.katti@goldensparrow.com

PUNERI PALTAN SCHEDULE LIVE ON STAR SPORTS NETWORK Telugu Titans vs Puneri Paltan

Dabang Delhi vs Puneri Paltan

Venue: Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Visakhapatnam 31 Jan: Match 4, (9 pm)

Venue: Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru 3 Feb: Match 9, (9 pm)

Bengal Warriors vs Puneri Paltan

Puneri Paltan vs Patna Pirates

Venue: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium, Kolkata 7 Feb: Match 15, (8 pm)

Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune. 11 Feb: Match 22, (8 pm)

Puneri Paltan vs Jaipur Pink Panthers

Puneri Paltan vs U Mumba

Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune. 12 Feb: Match 24, (8 pm)

Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune. 13 Feb: Match 26, (9 pm)

Puneri Paltan vs Bengaluru Bulls

Patna Pirates vs Puneri Paltan

Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune. 14 Feb: Match 28, (9 pm)

Venue: Patliputra Sports Complex, Patna 18 Feb: Match 33, (9 pm)

Puneri Paltan vs Dabang Delhi

Puneri Paltan vs Telugu Titans

Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur 20 Feb: Match 37, (9 pm)

Venue: Thyagaraj Sports Complex, Delhi 26 Feb: Match 46, (8 pm)

U Mumba vs Puneri Paltan

Puneri Paltan vs Bengal Warriors

Venue: NSCI, Mumbai 29 Feb: Match 52, (8 pm)

Venue: NSCI, Mumbai 2 Mar: Match 55, (8 pm)

INDIRA GANDHI INDOOR STADIUM, NEW DELHI 4 Mar: Semi-Final 1: Rank 1 vs Rank 4 (8 PM IST) 4 Mar: Semi-Final 2: Rank 2 vs Rank 3 (9 PM IST) 5 Mar: 3/4 Place: Runner Up SF 1 vs Runner Up SF 2 (8 PM IST) 5 Mar: FINAL: Winner SF 1 vs Winner SF 2 (9 PM IST)