The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 02/04/2016

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TGS LIFE

Made for each other in real life too

MUMBAI

Sony Asks Dhanush Why This Kolaveri Di P2

CITY

Mumbai biggies battle for scenic plot worth Rs 50 crore in Pavana P5

Censor Board chief ’s family found running an ‘illegal’ resort in Matheran Pahlaj Nihalani’s son owns a palatial villa spread over five acres in Matheran, which is let out to tourists. The property does not have requisite licences from the revenue department and has become an eyesore for licensed hotel owners who have to shell out huge sums by way of taxes every year

BY GARGIVERMA @missgverma When it comes to films Pahlaj Nihalani, chief of the Central Board of Film Certification in India, takes a high moral ground. But there seems to be trouble in his own backyard. A palatial villa owned by his family in Matheran is talk of the town as the residential property is being ‘illegally’ let out to tourists thronging the hill station.

The property called The Fleetwood is spread over five acres. It boasts of a heritage villa with four bedrooms and a cottage with two suites. Also known as Salmona, the property as per revenue records is a residential one and has been in possession of Chirag Nihalani, censor board chief’s son since 2003.

Most licensed hotel owners in Matheran talk endlessly about how Nihalani and his family are swindling the government, by paying taxes and other charges meant for a residential unit but using it for commercial purposes.

Local taxes and charges for amenities like water, electricity, among others for commercial premises or hotels are much higher than that for residential units in Matheran.

Another grouse the local hotel owners

have against likes of Nihalani is that they can offer huge discounts since their taxes and charges are much lower than those paid by licensed ones. “The ones who do not have licences have lesser overheads. They can slash their tariffs to half and still survive,” said Rusi Irani, owner of Cecil Hotel, one of the bigger names in Matheran. He explained that he is barely making any profits from the hotel owing to the commercial rates he pays for amenities and increased taxes. Most importantly, competition from unlicensed hotels and guest houses, makes his property

less viable for guests.

“I charge moderately for each of the 15 rooms in my hotel.

Even though my rooms are occupied only during season, I have to pay commercial rates and taxes through the year. The unlicensed Pahlaj Nihalani and the places don’t pay a five-acre palatial villa in single penny for Matheran taxes and thus they bargain to even half of what we charge,” he explained.

Officials in the revenue department confirmed that the property ‘titled MP 101, City Survey Number 203, bearing the card reference number R-01/(o) is a residential property owned by Chirag Nihalani since 2003’. Pawan Chandak, superintendent of the revenue department in Matheran said that the residential property cannot double up as a hotel. Interestingly, the property is managed by Neeta Nihalani, censor board chief’s wife.

When TGS contacted Neeta Nihalani she categorically denied that her plush property

in Matheran is used to house tourists. “The property is neither a lodge nor a resort. We maintain it ourselves,” she said.

Little did she realise that the property is advertised extensively on the internet and the bungalow in fact has a website of its own. The website states that ‘Fleetwood – A house in the Clouds’ is ‘apt for nature lovers, travellers and adventurous homosapiens who are in search of experiencing the old world charm and travel back in time’. The owners offer ‘an all inclusive package of meals and accommodation’. The property according to www.fleetwoodhouse.com can accommodate ‘20-25 people’. Each guest is charged is Rs 2,750 per day during his stay in the luxury property.

Locals say that they have taken up the issue of illegal hotels in Matheran with the authorities and pointed at Nihlani’s palatial property as well, but in vain. Interestingly, way back in 2011 a survey of such illegal and unlicensed hotels, resorts and home-stays was conducted by the revenue department and 45 properties were shortlisted. They were all served notices. Nihalani’s property does not figure in the 2011 list.

“I can’t comment on why action was not taken before, as I wasn’t posted here then. All I can say that as soon we get the orders, we shall conduct a fresh survey and take action,” explained Chandak.

See inside: Your favourite hill station is decaying, p08 & 09

Water meant for parched societies sold in black

See p05

MUMBAI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

“The government has not taken any effective measures to tackle the severe drought in Marathwada and various parts of the State. At least Rs 1 lakh crore should have been given as relief to farmers battling drought.”

— Prithviraj Chavan, former Chief Minister

India, China led investments in renewable energy in 2015: UN P 11

‘Need better cycle to improve timing’ P 16

Sony Asks Dhanush Why This Kolaveri Di

Sony drags actor, producer and singer K Dhanush to court over breach of Rs 7.5 crore contract. The actor was to dub his Tamil film ‘3’ in Hindi for the network

BY BAPU DEEDWANIA @TGSWeekly South Indian superstar and Rajnikant’s son-in-law K Dhanush is in trouble over a contract he signed with Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd way back in 2012. If the petition fi led by the network in Bombay High Court is to be believed, the actor, producer and singer did not honour his commitment and stopped responding to their communication after faltering on the contract.

According to the petition fi led by Sony, they signed a contract of Rs 7.5 crore with Dhanush for dubbing his fi lm ‘3’. The Tamil fi lm released in 2012 was a romantic-psychological thriller and had the song ‘Why Th is Kolaveri Di’ which went viral. While the fi lm was written, directed and also produced by his wife Aishwarya, Dhanush starred in the fi lm and also made his debut as a singer by lending his voice to the chart buster. The fi lm released in March 2012 but made headlines months before for the song Kolaveri Di that went viral. The song by far is possibly the most viewed Indian song on YouTube with 103 million views. Dhansuh also co-produced the fi lm alongside his wife.

As per the petition fi led by Sony in HC, four days after the fi lm’s release in March 2012, the network and Dhanush signed an agreement where the actor cum producer agreed to give exclusive satellite rights for ‘3’ dubbed in Hindi. Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd (formerly known as Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd) wanted to telecast the fi lm on its various channels, internet and mobile. The title of the fi lm was to remain ‘3’ in the dubbed version as well.

Th is agreement between Sony and Dhanush was termed the ‘License Agreement’ under the contract.

Sony agreed to pay Dhanush Rs 7.5 Crores for this as license fee. The sum was agreed to be paid in two

parts – an advance of Rs 75 lakhs or 10 per cent was payable within one week of execution of agreement, and the remaining 90 per cent was to be paid after Dhanush provided them with the dubbed material.

Also it was agreed in the agreement that Sony would make the balance payment after proper delivery and technical quality checks on materials.

As per the agreement, Sony made an advance payment of Rs 75 lakhs to Dhanush. The grace period of the arrangement between the two was three months. Th is meant that the maximum time limit for Dhanush to give them the material was three months after the fi lm’s release. It was agreed that should Dhanush fail to release the dubbed version within the stipulated period and also fail to give an intimation of a revised date before the end of three months grace period, then Sony would have a right to terminate the agreement. In that case Dhanush was to refund the license fee with 18 per cent interest.

According to the petition, Sony soon became the aggrieved party as Dhanush failed to release the dubbed version. Several reminders, letters, discussions to honour the agreement, promises went down the drain. Sony in its matter before the HC through their solicitors Economic Laws Practice stated, “Given the apathetic attitude of the Respondent (Dhanush), the Applicant (Sony) was constrained to finally terminate the agreement on January 14, 2014.” After having done this, Sony demanded its advance payment back. Dhanush, it is alleged, failed to refund the amount and paid no heed to the network’s persistent requests to return its money as per the terms and conditions laid down in the agreement.

The network in its petition stated that after having tried all plausible ways, on September 23, 2015 they sent a legal notice to Dhanush to once again make the payment along with the interest

accrued on it, however, even this failed. Sony, as a last measure used the arbitration clause mentioned in the agreement to refer the matter to the arbitrator in case of a dispute. As per the agreement it was agreed that in case any dispute arises between Sony and Dhanush, they would resolve the dispute by referring it to a mutually agreed arbitrator. Sony suggested Justice (Retired) SN Variava to be appointed as the sole arbitrator. However, Dhanush failed to respond to this as well, neither confi rming nor denying the appointment suggested.

A troubled Sony Pictures moved High Court in December 2015 under an arbitration application.

Recently, the matter was heard by Justice SJ Kathawalla where in his order he directed that the sole arbitrator on this matter will be advocate Astad Randeria, the venue will be Mumbai and both Dhansuh and Sony will appear before him.

When contacted arbitrator advocate Randeria cited inability to comment on the issue saying, “The matter hasn’t yet reached me however, being the sole Arbitrator I wouldn’t be able to offer any comments.”

Attempts to reach Dhanush did not yield any results. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Masterminds behind Silloo- Police recruitment brought Pilloo fiasco in trouble down by 50 per cent TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly

Weeks after the Silloo-Pilooo fiasco came to light in Bombay High Court, all those involved are in troubled waters. Not so long ago police arrested Kersi Minoo Guard, and Ashok Hire, an associate of the Mira-Bhaynder MLA Gilbert Mendonca. Thane police officials have now decided to summon 74-year old Pilloo Mehta who impersonated Silloo Mistry and filed a petition in the Bombay High Court.

On March 29, Thane Sessions Court rejected Pilloo’s anticipatory bail application. The police told the court that her custodial interrogation was required. They had filed a FIR on February 26. The FIR registered by Kasarvadavli police station in Thane named Pilloo, her brother Kersi Guard, former Mira Bhayander MLA Gilbert John Mendonca, his associate Ashok Hire and advocate GB Lal. They were all booked for cheating, forgery and mischief.

Now that they have power to arrest her, cops have had a change of heart. DB Chandanshive, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said, “After her anticipatory bail plea was rejected, we have decided to summon her and take her statement.” He added that considering Pilloo’s age, they are not inclined to arrest her.

“She is very old and ill as well, so we would prefer for her to come and provide her statement in the police station, than arrest her,” Chandanshive said.

As for the remaining two – former Mira Bhayander MLA Gilbert Mendonca and Advocate GB Lal – Mendonca’s bail plea hearing is on April 2, while Lal’s plea has been rejected.

ALL ABOUT THE CASE It all started with Pilloo filing

Government has curtailed recruitments owing to slump in the market

BY SANTOSHEE MISHRA @santosheemishra

Gilbert Mendonca

Pilloo Mehta

Kersi Guard

Silloo Mistri

a petition in HC claiming to be a 90-year-old Silloo Mistri who owned 107 acres land situated in Thane worth Rs 875 crores.

Impersonating Silloo, Pilloo in her petition claimed that her land had been encroached and that Thane police were not initiating action against the land mafia. However, when the petition filed in December 2015 came up for hearing for the first time on January 6, 2016, Silloo’s son Jehangir Mistri, who is a senior counsel in HC, stood up and said that his mother had not filed any such case. Over the next few

hearings, the mystery unravelled, with Pilloo finally admitting on January 21 that she was, indeed, an impostor.

The Kasarvadavli police thus registered an FIR. First to get arrested was Pilloo’s brother Kersi Guard. The 74-year-old told the court that she had posed as Silloo on instructions of her brother. Kersi in turn told HC that he was under pressure from Mendonca and his aide Hire. Hire was nabbed from Pune on March 28.

Meanwhile, HC too has issued contempt notices against the five. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

The economic slump has taken a toll on Maharashtra state police recruitments. There has been a 50 per cent cut in recruitment of cops this year. Officials say that ‘slack in market’ has forced them to do so, the drought, which is said to be the worst in 100 years, isn’t helping much.

The Directorate of Training of the state police has begun recruitment of constabulary at 61 units, including Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, among others. Though the requirement is of over 9,000 personnel, the department is planning to recruit only 4,833 cops.

Sudhir Shrivastava, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance,

said, “We have received over 80,000 applications from across the state. But we have only 4,833 vacancies. So, we shall shortlist the recruits based on the physical assessment, documentation and written test.” He added, “The state is only able to recruit 50 per cent of the actual need. So, based on the urgency and need, these 4,833 candidates shall be divided across the state.”

The reason of this drastic slash in recruitments in police force, is the drought which is said to be the worst in 100 years. It has hit the regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha and the crops of 90 lakh farmers have been destroyed, directly affecting the government funds. According to Shrivastava, ““It has been the repercussion of the financial stature of the state and there have been restrictions

on recruitments in the state across.

Under purview of rising inf lation, the decision is enforced in all the government sectors by the finance department and police department is a part of it.”

VV Laxminaryan, Additional Director General of Police (administration), said, “There is a ban on recruitments across all departments in the state. It is only for this department (police) that we are recruiting half of the actual vacancies.” According to figures available with the police, Mumbai has vacancies for 1,275 policemen, Pune 231, and Navi Mumbai 78.

Praveen Dixit, Director General of Police said, “We will manage with 50 per cent of the force needed.

Policing is not based on the strength within department, it’s based on the skill of all.” santoshee.mishra@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

TEJAS GAIKWAD

RTE admissions delayed this year

Parents worried as Pune education department is yet to start registration

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma Even though the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (the RTE Act) has been implemented for the second year this time, the delay in carrying out the exercise has left parents a worried lot.

Instead of following a set procedure, the education department is continuously pushing the date to start the admission procedure with parents remaining unsure if their children would even get admission in a school this year.

Admissions under the RTE Act has not begun yet. Even the registration process, precursor of the actual admission, has not started.

“The proposed date was February 28.

A month and several proposed dates have passed but the registration hasn’t begun yet,” said RTE activist Prashant

Chandane, adding that parents are growing restless by the day.

Meenal Gupte is one such parent.

Mother of twins, she is unsure if her daughters, aged 5, will get admission in any school. “My husband works as a clerk in a private company. We cannot afford to pay donations that many schools demand. RTE Act was our only hope, and even that seems fading,” she said. Her current worry is what if under RTE Act her daughters don’t get admissions. “We could have tried to get admission individually, but even those doors are closed as admissions have stopped in most schools.

Now, our only is RTE,” she said.

Comparison of admissions under the RTE Act between this year and the last exposes the extent of mismanagement. Registration had started in February last year. “By March, the fi rst list of admission had even come out. Even at that rate, it was only in October that students had got admission. When they started early, October was when admissions happened. Just think how much time it will take this year, when they haven’t even started yet,” said Chandane.

If the Pune education department is to be believed, the delay is unavoidable and reeks of red tapism.

“We don’t have the orders to activate the registration on website yet. As soon as the ministry asks us to start the registration, we would,” said PMC school board assistant education officer Dhananjay Pardeshi. He added, “Parents keep coming and asking us daily. They sometimes even get violent or abusive. We understand their worry, but our hands are tied.” According to him, the delay is because the school registration is not over yet. “Once all schools get registered, we will collate the number of seats that are available.

Only then can we roll out the student registration. Hence the delay,” he said.

The education department believes that unlike last year, other processes won’t take as much time. But no one can assure parents. “What if like last year, the schools refuse to give admissions to our children? Or ask us to deposit huge money?” asks Gupte.

Parent’s worry is legitimate in a way. The education department has yet not taken any action against the number of schools that refused admission to students under RTE. “According to the education department, they were going to fi le a contempt against those schools. No action has been taken yet,” Chandane said. While the authorities accept this, they keep pushing the blame from one to another. “We had sent the list of schools to higher authorities earlier itself. Now, it’s for them to take necessary action,” Pardeshi said.

While the schools that refused to give admissions went unscathed, parents worry that more schools would go that way this year. “What will stop them from refusing the admission?

The delay is not helping us much either,” Gupte said. Clearly, RTE has taught a bitter lesson to many. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

On doorstep Fashion Consultation*

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

“Parties would make the demolition drive of illegal shrines an election issue. All encroachments are supported by politicians, and have grabbed public land in garb of religious structures.”

— Vijay Kumbhar, Activist

New tech tool to identify, kill duplicate PAN

File panel report on personal laws: SC

P10

P12

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka Couple of years back, three of the seven members of Sartape family in Manjari (Budruk) migrated from Pune district. The family falls under Below

Poverty Line (BPL) and has been taking benefits of Food Security Act (FSA) since it was first introduced in 2013. The family did not delete the names of migrated members from the ration card and continued to enjoy the benefits. But the introduction of Aadhaar and ration card linkage scheme exposed their wrongdoing.

The linking of ration cards with Aadhaar has helped authorities to delete one lakh bogus ration card holders in Pune district. And deceased Vatsala Badhe of Theur was among

the one lakh deleted beneficiaries whose relatives were getting food grains on her name until the fair price shop owner in the area got to know about the reality when the family could not provide deceased’s Aadhaar card for linkage.

“The figure is likely to increase as we have found that over 100 quintal food were given away to bogus beneficiaries every month. It also means that many genuine beneficiaries were not availing of the benefit,” said District Supply Officer Jyoti Kadam.

The Aadhaar and ration card seeding drive has been going on in the state since April 2015 and was supposed to cover the state by March 31. The linkage is compulsory for even ration card holders who do not use them to buy foodgrains through the public distribution system. “Fair price shop owners will also face action if they are unable to provide information about bogus beneficiaries. They face the possibility of getting their shop licence cancelled,” Kadam said. priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

DRDO robot systems can protect airspace and handle mines Mobile Autonomous Slewing and Stabilisation System (MASS) and Mobile Autonomous Robot System (MARS) received critical acclaim at Defexpo 2016 in Goa

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan The ninth edition of defence exhibition Defexpo 2016 in Goa saw Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) unveil two new unmanned ground systems: the Mobile Autonomous Slewing and Stabilisation System (MASS), dedicated to protection of ground areas and airspace, and the Mobile Autonomous Robot System (MARS), designed to handle and secure IEDs and hazardous objects.

MASS is an advanced multipurpose platform capable of carrying/supporting a variety of lightweight payloads, including small guns, radars, anti-tank missiles and electro-optical payloads. The system has been configured on a new Small Wheeled Autonomous Platform (SWAP) and is part of DRDO Small Autonomous Intelligent Land Systems (SAILS) initiative launched by the Pune-based Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) (R&DE (E)), a premier system engineering laboratory of DRDO. Designed and developed indigenously with in-house concept, designs and technologies, MASS serves as a versatile, autonomous mobile platform with inbuilt features of providing platform stabilisation as well as an additional capability for slewing and tracking a variety

of lightweight sensor and weapon payloads.

Speaking to TGS, R&DE (E) Associate Director and Team Leader VV Parlikar said, “We are carrying out high-end R&D in the new, advanced and emerging technology areas of autonomous navigation, military robotics and intelligent systems for ground-based military applications MASS can be effectively fitted with appropriate sensor and weapon payloads and deployed in field areas to effectively play the important role of patrolling,

surveillance as well as protection of ground-based assets and airspace.

The new system, which is in an advanced phase of development and testing, has three-degree dimensions of freedom — Roll, Pitch and Yaw axis — and can serve as an efficient stabilised platform to counter ground-based disturbances”.

According to the Parlikar, MASS can be used “for pointing, orientation of payload and aiming” at the targets with a high degree of precision and accuracy. The system is also capable of rapid slewing and smooth tracking

Bhama Askhed to be completed by 2017

of targets.

Configured on a small electrically p r o p e l l e d w h e e l e d platform, the system is capable of operating in autonomous, s e m i VV Parlikar autonomous and tele operation modes. It has a maximum payload capability of 300 kg, and its gimbals (pivoted support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis) can carry up to 20 kg of payload. The system has an elevation of 30 degrees and its maximum speed is 10 km/h.

Under the small autonomous land systems initiative, DRDO have built new military robotic equipment MARS. The system has been designed with a capability for remote, safe and intelligent handling of variety of hazardous and dangerous objects including land mines, IEDs, explosives. The system is fitted with a six manipulator arm mounted on a small mobile platform similar to MASS and is capable of auto navigation and intelligent autonomous handling of objects of interest.

“Development and realisation of MASS and MARS was completed in record time of two years by a small multi-disciplinary, multi-skilled team with a start-up kind of approach and urgency. Both the systems are concept and technology demonstrators and are under advanced phase of testing and performance evaluation and would be offered as a product after trials. MARS and MASS were a huge draw at Defexpo India 2016 and received critical acclaim and appreciation from Indian and foreign visitors,” Parlikar said. sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

TEJAS GAIKWAD

Aadhaar-ration card linkage helps delete one lakh bogus ration card holders in Pune district

TEJAS GAIKWAD

District has been giving away 100 quintal food to bogus ration card holders every month

The dug up road for the pipeline at Dattamandir Chowk, Viman Nagar is creating nuisances for the nearby residents

BY EKTA KATTI @Ektaak The Bhama Askhed water pipeline project that is supposed to resolve the water crisis facing citizens is marred by delays besides causing public inconveniences because of digging work done on roads.

Under the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) project, a 42-km pipeline will be laid to draw water from Bhama Askhed Dam to city. The water pipeline project was started in 2008 and Shiv Sena stopped the work in 2015 stating that the State Government have failed to resolve the compensation issue of farmers who gave up their land for the pipeline project.

A total of Rs 600 crore has been allocated for the project and PMC has spent 30 per cent of the fund.

After a lengthy meeting with Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, PMC Mayor Prashant Jagtap on March 30 said, “After four months of delay, the Bhama Askhed water pipeline project has received the green signal from Sena members. We assure citizens that the project will be completed by the end of 2017.” The civic administration’s ambitious plan has forced commuters and pedestrians living in the eastern part of the city to watch their step due to extensive digging and pipelaying work and cropping up of accident-prone spots. The work is going on for months

and massive pipelines are seen lying on the roads and footpaths. Walking on busy areas is difficult as pipelines block footpaths. There have be incidents of people falling off the footpath during rush hours. In some areas, contractors have already placed huge pipelines on roadsides despite the work getting started at the place.

RTI activist Qaneez Sukhrani, a resident of Viman Nagar who has been following this project since its inception, said. “The pace at which they are laying the pipeline is very slow. Over 10 lakh citizens living in Kharadi, Chandan Nagar, Kalas, Wadgaon Sheri, Viman Nagar, Yerawada, Dhanori and Vidya Nagar areas face water shortage. The project will definitely provide relief to nearby areas but there is no transparency or initiative from contractor to complete the work on time. There seems to be no planning done as the contractor is haphazardly digging up, but not laying pipes and closing the trenches.”

In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on March 26, Sukhrani has stated the ongoing politics that is hampering the progress of laying of pipeline. Mayor Jagtap said, “I understand the issue of the dug-up roads. We have told the ward officers in that area to complete the concretisation of roads by April 29.” ekta.katti@goldensparrow.com

IPL 2016 will generate record entertainment revenue for Pune FILE PHOTO

Officials expect houseful Gahunje stadium with inclusion of Rising Pune Supergiants team in T20 contest TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 season has given Pune district the much-needed opportunity to generate substantial revenue through entertainment duty. As compared to Mumbai ’s entertainment calendar that is filled with events all year round, Pune has few and far between.

The financial capital contributes maximum revenue to state’s coffers. With Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) International Stadium in Gahunje being one of the venues to hold the immensely popular T20 league played in India,

the district Entertainment Duty (ED) department will collect Rs 4 crore as entertainment tax on the nine matches that will be played on MCA International Stadium.

The department hopes to garner more revenue as officials expect a houseful stadium with Pune’s team back after a year’s gap.

Speaking to TGS, District ED

officer Sushma Chaudhari-Patil said, “We could earn only Rs 1.65 crore in IPL 2015 as only four matches were played at the Gahunje stadium. These four matches also saw poor response

as Pune’s IPL team was dissolved.

However, with Pune as a participating team, we are expecting record collection this year.”

Out of 59 matches to be played in IPL 2016, nine will be held in Pune.

Entry tickets are ranging from Rs 700 to Rs 8,000 and entertainment tax is levied on every sold ticket. “We charge 20 per cent entertainment tax on each ticket. The collected amount is later used for various governmental schemes,” Chaudhari-Patil said. She added that to collect such a huge amount as entertainment tax was common in Mumbai, but it has never happened in Pune city before.

“The sitting capacity of the stadium is 36,000. In the last match played between India and Sri Lanka on February 9, we earned Rs 76 lakh in just one day despite 3,000 seats remaining empty. We look forward to houseful stadium when Pune’s team will be playing and sale of 36,000 tickets. We do not give complimentary

tickets even to VIPs for IPL matches,” she said.

According to ED department officials, the amount collected from IPL matches this year will be more that the district’s annual revenue collection figure.

The 2016 IPL tournament will see two new franchises, The Rising Pune Supergiants, owned by Intex Group and Gujarat Lions, owned by a consortium led by Sanjeev Goenka chosen from cities of Pune and Rajkot taking the place of popular teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, as the latter teams are suspended up to 2017.

These two teams will be a part of the tournament for the next two years.

Rising Pune Supergiants will be led by MS Dhoni and features players like Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen and R Ashwin. Suresh Raina will captain Gujarat Lions and the team has Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja and Aaron Finch. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

“Pune and Raigad district administrations should strictly enforce the rule that heavy vehicles must ply on the slow lane, which is on the left side. Fines must be imposed on heavy vehicles flouting the rule.”

— Laxman Jagtap, BJP Chinchwad MLA

New highly sensitive biosensor may detect cancer early P10

PUNE

No dear political group in Nepal P13

Water meant for parched societies sold in black

Tanker mafia in Pune caught red handed by TGS Team selling water to construction sites and to villages outside PMC’s jurisdiction

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar Early this week Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced setting up of ‘water war rooms’ in districts to tackle water scarcity and instructed collectors to come down hard on those selling water illegally. However, days after his order, water mafia continued to rule in Pune, as district administration and civic officials in the city sat tight.

Several tankers were seen topping up their tanks from one of the eight filling stations set up by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and on paper heading for residential areas where supply is scant. However, instead of heading to the parched areas, they went to construction sites and fringe villages, where they off loaded their tanks for huge profits.

TGS Team decided to follow some of the tankers leaving from eight filling stations across the city. Currently, PMC has 15 of its own water tankers and has brought in additional 35 on contract basis to service areas which get scant water supply. To add to this, private tanker operators too are allowed to refill from the eight filling stations run by PMC. The rule book states that while ones operated by PMC cannot charge a penny more than Rs 400 from residents, private operators can charge Rs 150 for transportation over and above Rs 400 for water per tanker.

While most of the tankers operated

by PMC service residential areas, private operators are flouting every rule in the book to make a fast buck. The operators are supposed to supply water

only in residential areas within PMC limits. They, however, end up selling the tankers, each containing 10,000 litres at construction sites and in areas outside PMC limits. They charge anywhere between Rs 1,200 to 2,000 per load.

Pune is facing acute water scarcity.

Since September 1, 2015, PMC has been supplying water through their lines to most areas on alternate days.

There are some areas which do not get adequate supply due to reduction in pressure in the lines. These areas are now serviced through tankers.

After the 50-0dd tankers were pushed into service by PMC, and private operators too allowed to lift water from civic body’s filling stations for mere Rs 400 (for 10,000 litres), commissioner Kunal Kumar made it amply clear that the tankers should cater only to residential areas. He also said that anybody selling the water to commercial entities or outside city limits would be booked under criminal charges. This has had little or no impact on tanker operators wanting to make a fast buck.

VG Kulkarni, head of PMC’s water supply department said, “It’s illegal to sell drinking water to construction sites and outside PMC limits. We are in the process of appointing flying squads to check on the tanker operators. Also, we are going to make it compulsory for the private tanker operators to install global positioning systems (GPS) on their vehicles so that we can track them. We are not going to tolerate such malpractices. Operators found selling water meant for drinking for

commercial gains will be blacklisted and will not be allowed to lift water from our filling stations.”

Kulkarni explained that tankers are allowed to lift water from the PMC filling stations for residential areas for Rs 400. “To cater to commercial entities like marriage halls, restaurants, among others, they have to pay Rs 890 per refill. But since we do not have a tracking system in place right now, all the operators pay Rs 400. However, we have made it clear that water certainly cannot be supplied to areas outside our limits and cannot be used for anything other than drinking purposes,” added Kulkarni.

When contacted by TGS, PMC chief Kunal Kumar said, “We will file the criminal cases against tanker owners who are caught selling water to construction sites.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

Construction site On Tuesday we followed tanker with registration number MH-12VD-2772. After it had refilled at Parvati filling station, it went to Katraj. Once in Katraj, the driver took the vehicle to a construction site and emptied it there. Tankers are not allowed to sell water meant for drinking purposes to construction sites.

Bought at residential rates, sold to a restaurant

A fierce battle is raging in Maval, a haven for sprawling farmhouses of the rich and famous, between businessman Aneel Vadgama and Mumbai based developer Shobhit Rajan. They are fighting over a sprawling farm spread over 20 acres located on the banks of Pavana Dam, and said to be worth a little over Rs 50 crores. Vadgama, 47, has moved court seeking filing of an FIR against Rajan, for allegedly taking possession of the prime plot using muscle power.

The Vadgaon Court has now sought a report from the local cops.

In his criminal application filed on March 1 before the court, Vadgama, who heads Aron Realty, stated that he bought the plot way back in the year 2000 from one Laxmi Prakash Singhania. He alleged that on January 16 this year, over 100 men barged into his plot and forcible evicted his staff. He claimed that the men sent

by Rajan were armed and threatened his staff. They allegedly ransacked the entire property and eventually took over the plot.

Vadgama, who claims to be heading Rs 600 crore real estate and hospitality empire, stated in his

on to Sinhgadh road, and then went to Narhe, which is outside PMC’s limits. The entire load was emptied at a construction site in Narhe. The tanker operator flouted the norms by not just selling the water outside city limits, but also to a construction site.

Village well outside PMC

then entered Phursungi Grampanchyat, which is out of PMC limits. The tanker was emptied in a well in the village. As per the rule book water from PMC limits cannot be sold outside city limits.

On Monday, we went after a tanker with registration number MH-14-BJ-930. After refilling at Ramwadi filling station, the tanker went towards Hadapsar and

On Thursday TGS team followed a water tanker with registration number MH-12-HD-9720 after it had refilled at Parvati filling station. The driver brought the vehicle to a halt outside German Bakery Wunderbar on Law College Road and emptied the load in a tank in restaurant’s premises. The tanker operator had paid mere Rs 400 at the filling station, when it was supposed to pay Rs 890, since the water was meant for a commercial entity.

A businessman and a developer are staking claim to a 20 acre farm located not too far from Amitabh Bachchan’s farm house on the banks on Pavana Dam in Maval

application that his chief executive officer Moin Surve approached Lonavla police for help and to file an FIR, but in vain. “Earlier complaints to the police have fallen on deaf ears and no stringent action has been taken. The accused have taken law into their own hands on several occasions and have been getting all the required support from the police,” stated the application filed before the court.

Vadgama has demanded that a case of attempt to murder, rioting, assault, intimidation and for possession of arms be filed against Rajan and his men. He has also sought that the case should be handed over to Pune or Mumbai police as he has no faith in Lonavala police.

On March 29, the Judicial Magistrate First Class of Vadgaon Court sought a report from local police on the incident. Inspector Sandeep Yede attached to Lonavala police station, however, said that he had not received orders from the court and hence will not be able to comment.

This is not the first time that the two sides have drawn their swords.

At the heart of the controversy is a vast land parcel measuring eight hectares or 20 acres. Vadgama claims he bought the land parcel in the year

Construction site outside PMC limits

On Monday TGS team followed a tanker with registration MH-12LT-6663 after it had refilled from Parvati filing station. The tanker got

Mumbai biggies battle for scenic plot worth Rs 50 crore in Pavana

BY YOGESH SADHWANI @ yogeshsadhwani

PICS BY TEJAS GAIKWAD

2000 and registered the sale in 2004.

He says that he is been in possession ever since he bought it. He acquired the land parcel from a power of attorney holder of Lakshmi Prakash Singhania, the original owner of the plot. Singhania and Vadgama are fighting a legal battle in Pune civil court over the transaction. Snghania has maintained in court that he did not own the plot in the year 2000 for him to give a power of attorney to anyone to sell it, thereby challenging Vadgama’s acquisition.

On the other hand Rajan, head the Raiaskaran Group, which has built residential and commercial properties in Mumbai, claims he bought the plot from Singhania in the year 2008. The developer, who is actor Amitabh Bachchan’s cousin, claims that he has been in possession of the land parcel and protecting it after he bought it from original owner.

Rajan’s company Nadal Infra Agro Pvt Ltd filed an FIR way back in 2013 against Vadgama alleging that he and his goons forcibly took over possession of the land parcel located on the banks of scenic Pavna River. Back then Vadgama, was arrested and released on bail a day later. The 47 year old businessman went on to file a petition in Bombay High Court against police

and the then superintendent of Pune rural police Manoj Kumar Lohiya for arresting him without having any grounds. Vadgama in his petition, which is still being heard by HC demanded compensation from the state government for his arrest and sought action against all the police officers involved including Lohiya.

A probe has been ordered into the allegations made by Vadgama against the police officials.

In June 2015, Rajan’s company moved Vadgaon court demanding an FIR against Vadgama on charges of rioting, kidnapping, wrongful confinement, cheating, forgery, among others. Back then Rajan alleged that Vadgama had entered into his property with goons and forcibly taken over possession of the farm land. The case is still being heard. Meanwhile, both sides have given several complaints to Lonavala police station, in whose jurisdiction the land parcel falls. There are few other criminal cases filed by the two sides, which are pending in several courts.

When TGS contacted Vadgama, he said, “Rajan is known for such tactics. He knowingly buys land parcels which have already been sold to others at throw away prices and then forcibly takes them over. He has all the required muscle power and police machinery at his beck and call. He even got me arrested on false charges in 2013 and now the police officials officers who were involved back then are under the scanner. In January this year Rajan sent his men and forcibly took over the plot from me. I am not the types to cower down and will take this battle to a logical end in courts,” said Vadgama.

Rajan’s spokesperson sent an emailed response. “Our Company has been in peaceful possession of these lands after having registered the sale deed in the year 2008. With the steady escalation in land prices, certain unscrupulous elements, including one Aneel Vadgama, have made failed attempts in the past to enter our property with a view to harass us. These have been reported to the police who have registered FIRs.” yogesh.sadhwani@goldensparrow.com

Shirdi teenager dies in police custody Four policemen suspended; While victim’s family alleges custodial torture, cops say he committed suicide

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 Four police officers were suspended on April 1 for death of a teenager in custody on March 31. The suspended officials are Assistant Sub Inspector Razzak Shaikh, Head Constable Aiyub Shaikh, Police Naiks MD Mane and RD Awad.

Even as the deceased family claim that 16-year-old Kiran Rokade died due to custodial torture, the police insist that it is a case of suicide.

Speaking to TGS, Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police Saurabh Tripathi said, “It is a clear case of suicide. I have personally visited the lock-up room where he had hung himself. We are effectively handling the sensitive case. Four police officers have been suspended for negligence of duty. As the incident has taken place under the jurisdiction of Shirdi Police, the station in-charge Inspector Pramod Wagh has been transferred to Ahmednagar Control Room. The case is handled by Ahmednagar’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

According to the deceased’s elder brother Ravi, Kiran used to sell sweets outside the famous Shirdi Saibaba Temple. The police personnel deputed on temple premises approached Kiran around 10.30 am on March 31 and thrashed him for alleged pickpocketing. The 16-year-old was later handed over to the Shirdi police.

Ravi rushed to the police station after he was alerted. “Police had detained him without any evidence.

I was waiting to pick up my brother outside the station but all I could hear was his screams. The police did not allow me to meet my brother. They assured me that Kiran will be released by 5 pm.

However, to my utter shock, I saw the lifeless body of my brother wrapped in a black sheet being taken out from the station by police personnel around 1 pm. The police took my brother to Shirdi Super Hospital but did not tell me anything about his condition. I tried calling on Kiran’s cellphone several

times but did not get any response.

After several attempts, a doctor at the hospital answered the call and told me that my brother was brought dead to the hospital,” said Ravi.

When Ravi approached the police to confirm the message given by doctor, he was told that Kiran had committed suicide by hanging with a belt in police custody.

Later, the panchanama was done by Shrirampur Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Jadhav.

The body was sent to Ahmednagarbased hospital for post-mortem, but the deceased’s relatives demanded it to be done in Sassoon General Hospital for transparency. “The body was brought to Sassoon Hospital around midnight on April 1. The post-mortem will be video recorded in the presence of Tehsildar,” Ravi said.

“Police have beaten him to death.

We will not take his body till we get justice,” said Badrinath Wakchoure, maternal uncle of Kiran.

Hailing from Ahmednagar, Kiran dropped out of school after IX standard to support his family. Six months ago, Kiran started helping his elder brother Ravi in selling sweets in front of Shirdi temple. The deceased’s father runs a small business of supplying bricks in Shirdi. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

“For more than 25 years, Kharadi, Chandan Nagar, Viman Nagar, Yerwada Dhanori and Vidya Nagar has scarce drinking water. This affects about five lakh citizens. It has become a political slugfest where every party is demanding a large chunk of the supply.”

— Qaneez Sukrani, Social Activist

Panel to decide on state-of-art products P 14

City students write letters to children of Beed farmers New English School Ramanbaug teacher’s initiative help foster friendship between urban and rural kids

BY SHAILESH JOSHI @TGSWeekly Hi friend! You are the children of farmer who provides us food. Come to my home and I will show you Shaniwarwada and other famous places in Pune. Your father works hard in the farm. Please reply if you like my letter. These are the common contents of the 25 letters handwritten in Marathi by Kasba Peth’s Akshay Vadake and other students of New English School Ramanbaug in Narayanpeth to the children from the socio-economically weaker sections in Beed district who are provided free education by NGO Shantivan.

An initiative started by Ramanbaug school’s Maths schoolteacher Diptee Dole, photo copies of these letters will be collected by Dole and her colleagues

Mayur Karjatka and Amol Kachare and distributed to students in Beed in April.

Dole decided to provide financial assistance to the farmers of Beed

that sees maximum number of farm suicides in the state. After coming to know that NGO Shantivan has been providing free education to the children of sugar cane cutter workers, widows and orphans for the past 16 years, she started sending money to the NGO. Shantivan is founded by couple Deepak and Kaveri Nagargoje at Arvi village of Shirur Kasar tehsil in Beed district. Over 300 students are residing at the NGO’s hostel and Shantivan is giving free education to over 700 students.

“Children raised in poor families face a lot of physical and mental health issues. I came up with the idea to ask students of my school to write letters to the children of Shantivan and develop a friendship between children divided by financial and urban-rural spectrum. I realised that helping Shantivan financially was not enough. And students happily agreed to write letters in Marathi language to their would-be friends in Beed.” Dole said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Illegal vendors fleece passengers at Pune Commuters want administration to check price and quality of food items available on the station

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan Pune Railway Division has failed to check unauthorised vendors and sellers in trains and at stations. They mostly target north-bound trains and force passengers to buy food, water and other commodities at a spiked rate. While many allege that railway authorities are involved in running the racket, the latter continue to deny it.

When asked by some commuters, these vendors claimed to be working for ‘Poona Caterers’.

Speaking to TGS, Railway Pune Division Public Relations Officer Manoj Kumar Jhanwar said, “We regularly conduct surprise drives against unauthorised vendors.

Railway Protection Force (RPF) comb

platforms and trains for unauthorised vendors. They are authorised to take action against vendors who don’t have badges or identity cards.”

While the travelling public can lodge complaints against licensed vendors, they have no such option when it comes to unlicensed vendors, both at platforms and in trains as these vendors are hard to identify.

Contractors of various stalls put up at the railway station complain that unlicensed vendors severely affect their

business by selling snacks, eatables and beverages without making any payment to the railway authorities, thereby earning extra profit. They said

that railway officials should carry out surprise drives to check if vendors on platforms and trains carry badges or identity cards.

Commuters want administration to check price and quality of food items available at stalls as vendors are seen selling same food items at different prices. They do not carry rate charts.

Even water bottles are sold at high price at platforms.

An unauthorised vendor at Pune Station claimed that there are over 50 such vendors who sell food items and they pay a cut to authorities to do business without disturbance. “We never faced any problem with Government Railway Police (GRP) but RPF staff has been demanding a cut that is impossible for us to pay,” the vendor said.

Meanwhile, Pune Divisional Security Commissioner D Vikas refused to reply to the question of whether RPF has been demanding money from unauthorised vendors to do business at platforms and trains. sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

Manodhairya online facility fails to click Department of Women and Child Development staff admits that they still carry out 95 per cent work manually

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka The staff of Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) are daily struggling to maintain the confidential records of the beneficiaries of Manodhairya Scheme as the software has not functioned properly since the state government decided to go online with the scheme.

Manodhairya Yojana was introduced in 2013 to provide swift monetary compensation and rehabilitation (if necessary) to the survivors of rape and acid attacks. Within one month of the launch, the state government decided to develop a software considering that the DWCD staff would keep a tab on cases and compensation online. However, even after a couple of years since the software was first developed by the Pune-based private software company Algorithm and updated by the Centre for Information Technology of Yashwantrao Chavan Academy for Development Administration (YASHADA), the software is only able to show the total number of beneficiaries of Manodhairya scheme in the entire state.

“We are unable to see the district wise list of beneficiaries. If anyone, right from RTI activists to scholars who work for the rehabilitation of women and children, asks us for the number of cases registered under Manodhairya, we have to carry out

the tedious task of searching the data manually,” said DWCW legal advisor JS Waghurde. The software was expected to update districtwise data online as soon as District Criminal and Injuries Board (DCIB) records a fresh case under Manodhairya.

“The software is all messed up.

Till a few days back, it was necessary to upload a scanned copy of First Information Report (FIR). As the department does not have a scanner, we had to scan these confidential documents from outside and face the risk of getting it misplaced. Hence, the software’s programming was changed. Still we have to do 95 per cent of Manodhairya scheme related work manually,” said DWCW Protection Officer Sanika Patil.

ND Dahale, a district probationary officer in State DWCW has been working on Manodhairya scheme since it was launched. “Not only district-wise case figures but the software was developed to show graphs of cases listed under this scheme. It was supposed to show the trend where we could get to know whether the rape incidents are occurring in a particular social class of society.

However, these plans remained on paper as the software faces technical glitches,” said Dahale.

Newly appointed WCW Commissioner KM Nagargoje agreed that there is still a long way to go. “I am aware about the technical glitches in the software but that is not the only thing. Many of our employees do not know how to use the software and we will hold training for them. The software upgrade is on top of agenda at the meeting to be held in June,” he said. The software was launched with a budgetary allocation of Rs Maharash tra 'Manodh airya' 4.05 crore and scheme for rape victim s Rs 80 lakh each ERROR was allocated for the software in 2014-15 and 201516. priyankka. deshpande@ goldensparrow. com

Cops arrest two accused in vehicle gutted incidents within 48 hours VISHAL KALE AND TEJAS GAIKWAD

Over 33 vehicles were destroyed in Katraj and Sahakar Nagar blazes

BY EKTA KATTI AND YOGESH WAGH @TGSWeekly

to the terrace and came down from the C wing,” Ahire said. The resident near Sahakar Nagar Police Station had lit fire to dry garbage collected in the area at 11:40 am on March 29. The fuel drained from seized vehicles may have caused the fire to spread and three sheds behind the dumping yard were also burnt down.

The police have managed to arrest the accused involved in two separate fires that gutted over 33 vehicles in the city on March 29 within 48 hours of the incidents.

The origin of the early morning blaze on March 29 that gutted three cars and 14 two-wheelers at the parking lot of Shree Ganesh Park Society in Katraj was a playful act during Rangpanchami celebrations.

The police have managed to arrest the accused within 48 hours of the incident.

Speaking to TGS on March 31, Bharati Vidyapeeth Police Station Inspector Balasaheb Surve said, “We have arrested Pranav Dilip Dhavade, 29, of Santosh Nagar, Katraj for setting a bike on fire at Shree Ganesh Park Society. To take revenge from his cousin brother Shreyas Bathe, who lives at Shree Ganesh Park Society, Pranav set the former’s two-wheeler at the parking lot on fire. On the day of Rangpanchami, Shreyas had accidently thrown colours on Pranav’s four-wheeler. Agitated by the incident,

INNOCENT VICTIMS The stall named Golden Bakery Shop was the sole source of livelihood for 42-year-old Sahakar Nagar resident Nazakat Ansari. And the fire at Sahakar Nagar Police Station dump yard has damaged his shed. “I have been running this shop for 15 years.

Now, I am clueless about my future,” said the father of three children.

Ansari was selling bread when his shop caught fire. The Rs 30,000 that I had saved and kept in the shop for my wife’s kidney operation also got burnt.

I did not know when the shop caught fire but onlookers dragged me out of the shop. The shop burnt down in front of my own eyes,” said Ansari.

Keshav Ramane’s bangles shop Mahalaxmi Alankar located next to Ansari’s shop was also destroyed in the fire. “This shop was built by my father and we have been running this over 40 years. The fire destroyed bangles worth Rs 10,000. Now I will have to take a loan to start my business again,” said Ramane, 48. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Pranav decided to teach Shreyas a lesson. Even though he wanted to set only Shreyas’s bike on fire, the blaze spread and gutted three cars and 14 two-wheelers causing damage worth Rs 4,85,000.”

Pranav has been booked under Section 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 430 (mischief by injury to works of irrigation or by wrongfully diverting water) of IPC. Meanwhile, the fire that destroyed

11 four-wheelers seized by the police and kept on an open plot near Sahakarnagar Police Station at 11.40 am on the same day was caused by Natha Arade who was clearing the area by setting dry leaves and grass on fire. The fire spread and destroyed 11 four-wheelers and two three-wheelers and two-wheelers each. Sahakarnagar Police Station Senior Police Inspector SG Shinde said the gutted vehicles were seized by the police. Natha Arade, 55, of Taljai Vasahat has been booked under IPC 436, 427 and remanded to 15-day police custody for damaging

property worth Rs 6,30,000.

WAKING UP WITH EXPLOSION The residents of Shree Ganesh Park Society woke up at 2.15 am to sounds of mild explosions coming from parking lot. The residential society has four wings and the fire has spread only to its A and B wings. The fire department was alerted and two fire trucks from Katraj and Sinhagad reached the spot.

Chief Fire Officer (Katraj) Sanjay Ramteke said, “When we reached the spot, we saw huge flames coming from

parking area. The fire was brought under control within 15 minutes.

No water tankers were needed and residents had already started shifting other vehicles that were parked near the blaze area.”

Kamlesh Ahire, 23, who has been a resident of the society since 10 years, woke up to a loud explosion that came from the parking area of the society.

“We were shocked to hear a series of explosions and did not know from where the sound came from. As the vehicles were burning and we could not reach the parking area, we went

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

“Unless human beings try to mend their ways, admit to their guilt and repent, their evil deeds will catch up with them.”

— Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Pune

Terrorism is a challenge for mankind, not just any one country or region. Those who believe in humanity should join together to tackle terrorism.

— Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Helping Hands in neighbourhood Four Samaritans have come together to help the needy around the city

BY SALONEE MISTRY @SaloneeMistry What started off with just four friends visiting an old age home has now blossomed into a social organisation that is changing the lives of the less privileged in many ways. The compassionate quartet has donated mattresses, bedsheets and pillows to leprosy home, provided mid-day meals to 60 children of a municipal school, contributed grocery and clothes to orphanages, slum and street dwellers. The woman brigade’s ‘Helping Hands’ has done it all and for them it is not charity but sharing and being there for others that form a part of the society that they live in.

THE FIRST STEP Hailing from aff luent families, the four friends — Shehnaz Chawla (journalist), Shamim Waghmale (associated with a corporate firm), Priya Sampat (deals in share market) and Rohini McArthur (homemaker) — have lot of things to spare that are of no use to them. Rather than throwing it away, they decided to pass it on to those who were in need of these things. Later, they began giving grocery, clothes and meals to people living in slums. Sharing with friends their feeling of contentment in doing these contributions inspired the latter to join them and the team now consists of twelve women, including Jyoti Kampani, Neeru Shrivastava, Hemal Savla,

Helping Hands member distributing clothes to the children of a basti. This is one from the several drives that they have conducted for those lviing in such establishments.

Ravila Verma, Sindhu Kulkarni, Frogh Sami, Meghna Sachdeva and Kashish Shroff. Most of them are involved in social work but were ecstatic about being a part of this project.

SPREADING SMILES The first project that Helping Hands took up was that of collecting grocery for a few families connected to Vanitashray, the orphanage in Kondhwa that looks after orphans and widows. “It is amazing how we got opportunities after this one small gesture to serve more people. While we too would scout for beneficiaries,

we realised that we were getting to know about so many more families and people that we could help.

People started approaching us to contribute for the cause and that is when we realised that whatever we were doing was being truly appreciated,” said Chawla, adding that through networking Helping Hands was able to raise Rs 3.26 lakh from corporate donation. They also provided mid-day meals to 60 children, grocery to slums, old age home and orphanages, along with donating clothes. Helping Hands also collected supplies to be send to Chennai, when f loods ravaged the

When the streets come alive

Pune-based street artist Harshvardhan Kadam uses walls as medium to tell stories that are close to his heart. He talks about his recent stint at Delhi’s Lodhi Colony, and the idea behind it

Harshvardhan Kadam’s creation on ‘Viswaroopa’ at Lodhi Colony, Delhi

BY ZAINAB KANTAWALA @kantawalazainab Th ink, perceive, execute, is the mantra that city-based artist Harshvardhan Kadam swears by.

He uses street art as a medium to express himself, and relay his views to the masses.

After taking over the streets of Pune with illustrations, lettering, murals Harshvardhan and graphic Kadam design, he is now also responsible for turning Delhi’s Lodhi Colony into an open air art gallery. So whenever you get a chance to visit Delhi next, this art colony, and Okhla are the two neighbourhoods that should be on your must visit list.

The playful explosion of colours on the street and buildings in the most friendliest and psychedelic way are sure to mesmerise you. “My artworks are based on Indian mythology and philosophy. The mindset behind this was to create something that the passers-bys are given a chance to become part of that moment,” says Harshvardhan, who signs his art as inkbrushandme.

One of his artwork that sprawls across the 40s style central government

quarters, are surrealist figures and gold bordered human faces. He calls this piece Viswaroopa. “Th is one was the most challenging piece. It is demonstrates universe, whether micro or macro embodied in Lord Vishnu.

Th is interpretation of Viswaroopa also marks the beginning of 18-day battle of the Mahabharata when Krishna reveals his swaroop in front of Arjuna,” he explains. Th is took him around nine days to ideate and execute the idea. He wanted viewers to experience the inner confl ict of Arjuna, and freeze in the moment that happened ages ago.

One of his paintings depicts the most complicated episode in Mahabharata, it talks about the time when Arjun has to re-battle against his own cousin Karna. “Art has been for the rich and a privileged few, so says the history. But street art stands out, it sees so classification and unites all. It is bringing art out of the galleries out on the street,” he says.

He believes that public art be it installations, murals or performances breaks social barriers. He adopted the moniker ‘inkbrushnme’ for what was originally his illustration and design studio. It’s been a decade and ‘inkbrushnme’ continues to travel, amusing the passersby with his painted murals in outdoor and indoor spaces and encouraging other artists to join him. “A few years back, I was on my way to Banaras, and I saw a lot of

murals on the ghat, made by foreign artist. That inspired me a lot. So I thought it will be exciting to introduce this liberal art form to this beautiful city,” adds Harshvadhan.

His team consists of eccentric professionals from various fields. It is their collective energies that have made this project into a very beautiful ecosystem. But all that doesn’t come easy. “We have to get permissions of the owners and officials. Since we respect this so much, we do not want to add that hint of vandalism. Problems were innumerable, at every turn, but when the artists sign his work, they all fade into the moonlight,” he says. Using different types of paint, they literally scratch off the surface of buildings to create a masterpiece.

The core of this project stems from pure love towards the art, the wall, and the society. He consciously try to keep it apolitical, and wish to continue with the same enthusiasm and spread the love. The most satisfying moment for him is when people appreciate the art.

“People appreciate the work of art. They enjoy it, admire it, or are puzzled by it.

They respect the efforts an artist takes to create work of art. They now want more spaces to be painted,” he adds.

Harshvardhan has also done street painting in Jaipur and Bengaluru, and was also invited to France and Germany to bring life to their walls. zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com

PUNE

city in December 2015.

At Dr Bandorawalla Government Leprosy Hospital in Kondhwa Budruk, the group distributed grocery and toiletries to 170 inmates. They also took up the job of pest control for bed bugs and changing of mattresses, bedsheets and pillows at the leprosy home.

They have got quite a few people to contribute towards covering the medical expenses of some of the inmates of the home as their treatment is expensive.

A 32-inch television set gifted by Helping Hands has also found a home in Sant Baba Moni Saheb Vridh Anand Ashram in Chinchwad. Their zeal to help did not end here but only got bigger.

When they were approached by the family of one Bharat Maheshwari to cover the hospital bills for his eye operation, Helping Hands gladly agreed.

In addition to all the work that they do, one of the main reasons that they formed the organisation was not only to help the needy but also to form a bridge and connect people directly to the various homes and organisations that really need their help. “Helping Hands is just a medium to connect those who are happy to give money, time and anything else with those who really need them. Every drop makes an ocean and small step makes a big differene is what we believe in,” Shehnaz said.

Helping Hands wants to extend their reach to cover more social projects and get more people involved and connected with the needy and this is their aim and future plan . salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

Splashing colours on a canvas this Holi TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly The festival of colours was celebrated at Peony society in Baner with a splash of shades brought in by the bold crayons, warm pastels and a huge canvas. Irrespective of the age group, children, youngsters, elders alike thoroughly enjoyed it. The essence of Holi was taken care of entirely without wasting litres of water.

There are innumerable people f locking to the city in search of jobs because they aren’t able to do farming as a result of the shortage of the funds. On the other hand people living in the city who have enough access to water spend it recklessly and someone must draw the line somewhere. The children must be taught not only the value of water but also build in them a concept that allows them to come up with alternatives. This idea came to Rajeev Rudrakshi and Ramesh

Malge, residents of the society, since we did not want the children to feel sad about not getting to play with colours. Even though coming up with an alternative plan was difficult it was something that needed to be done, they believed.

Gauri Gokhale also a resident of the city shared with us her experience of being a part of the different kind of celebration. “The entire atmosphere was full of excitement and enthusiasm irrespective of the age. People spent hours on the huge canvas and the children were the happiest. Currently so many of us are getting water on rent and some can’t even do that, so as activity of this nature is much needed.

This was one step closer towards preserving water for our future and the residents hope to come up with better and easier solutions to converse and save water and impart in the children values that will help them live a better life. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

Damn the horses, bring in e-rickshaws

F

or those of you who haven’t been to Matheran, the hill station does not have tar road. The narrow roads are paved with laterite rich red soil, which has eroded due to constant abuse.

The hill station has been mired in controversy over soil being lifted from other places to pave the roads year after year.

Activists reveal that in a bid to pave the roads, in the past the municipal council had taken the soil from between the tree roots.

The soil from the roads was swept away in the rains. The trees too have suffered with soil erosion. Now the civic body is spending money on getting artificial embankments done around the weak trees.

Making matters worse is the rising chorus for bringing in e-rickshaws or electric rickshaws.

Those in favour say that since the rickshaws are battery operated they will not pollute the environment and not flout the norms of the ecosensitive region.

As of now tourists and locals alike have to make do with either walking to their destinations or have to choose between horse backs and handcarts. Bringing in e-rickshaws would mean that roads would have to be paved every year and maintained regularly. As of today the roads are in pathetic state and have been eroded over the years, leaving stones and pebbles in

its wake, making the ground highly uneven. Levelling the roads would require soil which is considered a luxury in Matheran.

Likes of Mehta, who are in favour of the e-rickshaws, point out that they would speed up the pace of life around the sleepy hill station.

“There are no effective means of transport as of today. We never get our supplies on time as we depend on the horses and handcarts. They cost a lot and are half as efficient,” he said.

There are those who believe that the e-rickshaws would have a positive impact on the environment. “Horses don’t have a stable in Matheran. The horse owners tie them up wherever they wish. These horses, who are not kept properly, nuzzle at the

PICS BY TEJAS GAIKWAD

APRIL 2, 2016

APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

Raising a stink

Your favourite hill station is decaying

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma

Spread over barely seven square kms, this vehicle free town has just about 1,000-odd households with a population of 4,393. It has been declared an eco-sensitive region by the Ministry of Environment and Forest. All in all, Matheran has everything working for it.

However, things are far from perfect at the scenic hill station, located at a height of 2,625 feet above

barks of trees resulting in the trees drying up and eventually dying. So many trees have been lost to this,” said Manoj Khedkar, local environmentalist, leader of opposition in the municipal council and also a lodge owner.

Dr Uday Tambe attached to municipal council hospital points out that horses in matheran are a cause for worry. “The horse dung, mixed with the fine soil has become a big reason for worry.

We have been getting patients with skin diseases and bronchial disorders, all thanks to the horse dung mixed with soil. Moreover, accidents caused by falling from horses are routine here. It’s time we reduce dependency on the horses,” he said.

The horse owners believe that the talk of e-rickshaws is nothing but an attempt to render them jobless. “Why is Matheran so special? Because we have kept it the way the Britons used to. We change anything and the ecosystem goes into an imbalance,” said Akhtar Khan, spokesperson of the horse owners’ union. The union’s president Shailesh Shinde said, “We have been in this profession for generations. We manage to scrape through. If you take the horses out of Matheran where will we go? Moreover, there will no Matheran if you take horses out of here.”

Only source of drinking water being polluted for profits

T

wo deflated boats inside the police lockup best describe the state of affairs in Matheran. The boats were not so long ago spotted on Charlotte Lake taking tourists on joyrides. This is despite there being a ban on swimming, bathing or washing in the lake, which is the only source of drinking water for the entire hill station. The matter was immediately reported to cops, who refused to act. After a lot of persistent efforts by local activists, police managed to get the boats out of water, deflated them and put them behind bars. The cops refuse to give out any details of the owners and people behind polluting the water. Officials at the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), that supplies water to Matheran from the lake, and Matheran Hill Station Municipal Council were equally tight lipped about the issue.

Those behind making a fast buck from boating in the lake now have bought new boats and the activity has begun all over again. Needless to say that all the government agencies are busy passing the buck onto the others.

Maria Vaz, a local lodge owner, who has taken up several issues plaguing Matheran with the authorities, was the first to spot the boats in Charlotte Lake in January this year. “There were two inflatable rubber boats and several people were lining up on the sides of the lake waiting for their turn at riding the boats,” she recounted. Realising that it was illegal to have boats in the lake, she and few other residents of matheran rushed to the local police station on January 28.

They were shocked when the cops refused to lodge an FIR. “They told us that since we didn’t own the lake, we couldn’t complain about it. Only the authorities can lodge an FIR,” said Vaz. “It wasn’t until the chief officer of our municipal council stepped in that the police actually took an action,” she added. “Few days after the incident, the police conducted a panchnama and without registering any offence, got the boats off the lake. The boats are now behind bars. There is no trace of owners, who have now bought five more boats and put them in water yet again. If anything the boat owners have become bolder. This time they have put up banners around the lake

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

PUNE

advertising the service.

Vaz and other residents have been making rounds of the police station, municipal council and the MJP to get the boats off the lake and their owners behind bars, but in vain.

Prashant Thombare, chief officer of Matheran Hill Station Municipal Council, said that there’s little the civic body can do. “We are going to lodge an FIR at the earnest. We just need the engineer from the MJP to endorse it, as the upkeep of the lake is their responsibility. It would be then left to the police to initiate action,” said Thombare.

The MJP on its part pointed fingers at the municipal council. “We do not own the lake, municipal council does. We simply supply water from the lake to the citizens,” said an engineer from state owned water supply body, requesting anonymity.

the sea level, nestled in the Western Ghats. Seemingly unending problems plague the smallest hill station in the country. From illegalresorts and guest houses steadily mushrooming and causing huge losses to the exchequer, to blatant mismanagement of sewage and waste, to soil erosion, to miscreants taking over Charlotte Lake, which is the only source of drinking water in the township - the list is endless. And now, a section of people are lobbying to get rid of

the horses and bring in e-rickshaws instead. Matheran has enough and more troubles.

Discovered way back in 1850 by then collector of Thane district and later developed by the British as a hill station, Matheran has gone from being a quaint scenic town to a battle ground territory where the vile seems to be winning over those who want to preserve the sanctity of the hill station. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

Where are the medical facilities

N

ot so long ago a 32-year-old techie from Mumbai, who was on a break in Matheran fell off from a horse. She suffered severe head injuries. In the absence of proper medical care available in Matheran, she was rushed to a hospital in Panvel. However, the techie succumbed to her injuries while on her way to Panvel. This is not an isolated case. People who have fallen off the cliff, or a horse, or suffered a snake bite have to be taken to hospitals in neighbouring townships as Matheran does not have much in the name of medical care.

The hill station which has over three lakh tourists visiting every year, doesn’t have a single allopathic doctor. The only two doctors available are Ayurvedic trained, Bachelor of Medical Science graduates. The two have been appointed by the municipal council in their only hospital. The hospital also is for namesake.

Apart from basic first aid, the hospital does not have much to offer. Their ammunition does not go beyond gauze and bandages.

“We have been here for the past five years. There was an MBBS doctor who had joined with me, but he left midway. Since then, the post has been vacant,” said Dr Uday Tambe, who is attached to the municipal hospital in Matheran. He explained that the hospital does not have scanning or XRay machines, and the doctors have to make do with limited supply of selected medicines.

So how do they deal with medical cases? “We look at the symptoms and use our training to understand what is wrong. If it seems serious, we refer them to Neral, Badlapur or Panvel where

they have enough facilities,” he said. In case of an emergency the sole ambulance rushes the patients to neighbouring townships.

The municipal council seems to be helpless on this front. The only way to turn things around would be to het MBBS doctors and equipment so that they can treat serious cases. “We have written several letters to the government and asked for doctors for our hospital. The problem is that no doctors want to come and work in such a remote place, with no equipment and not even designated wards or operation theatres.”

A

Illegal houses and hotels

A

survey of hotels and guest houses operating without valid licences done in 2011 revealed that there 45 such entities in Matheran. The revenue department issued notices to these hotels and ever since have not bothered to initiate action against any one of them. Over the years the number has multiplied. Sadly, this time there is no survey to point at the number of illegal hotels, lodges and guest houses in the hill station.

What this translates to is massive loss of revenue for the exchequer. In contrast to the licensed ones who pay for amenities like water, electricity, and taxes at commercial rates, the ones who operate without valid licences enjoy the same benefits at residential rates.

Bearing the brunt of the sorry state of affairs are the ones who are licensed. “The ones who do not have licences have lesser overheads.

They can slash their tariffs to half and still survive,” said Rusi Irani, owner of Cecil Hotel, one of the bigger names in Matheran. He explained that he is barely making any profits from the hotel owing to the commercial rates he pays for amenities and increased taxes. Most importantly, competition from unlicensed hotels and guest houses, makes his property less viable for guests. “I charge moderately for each of the 15 rooms in my hotel. Even though my rooms are occupied only during season, I have to pay commercial rates and taxes through the year. The unlicensed places don’t pay a single penny for taxes and thus they bargain to even half of what we charge,” he explained.

Irani is not the only facing the brunt of competition from unlicensed hotels. Even Hari Mehta and several other licensed hotel owners have an issue with the fact that the municipal council has not initiated any action as yet.

Adding a cherry on this cake is the council’s decision to raise taxes by 50 per cent.

Several hotel owners have now come together to file a complaint

with the municipal council against the unlicensed lodges. “Let everybody be on the same level playing field. Why should we pay extra when those who don’t have any licences are killing us by the day?” said an agitated Irani.

On this front too, the authorities have thrown their hands in air.

Municipal Council is quick to point out that once revenue department registers a place as commercial property, they will be able to recover property taxes, water bills, among others at commercial rates.

Till then they have no option but to charge residential rates, which are

only a fraction of commercial ones.

Pawan Chandak, superintendent of the revenue department said, “The fact is that the last survey to check the unlicensed hotels and resorts was done in 2012. After that the practice was discontinued. We haven’t taken much action against the 45 illegal ones till date as there is no updated list. The regulations from the government’s side are not

very clear.”

Among the list of fresh offenders is Ajay Sawant, former president of Matheran Hill Station Municipal Council and Neeta Nihalani, censor board chief Pahlaj Nihaliani’s wife. While Sawant said that the hotel was owned by his relative and not him, Nihalani said that she did not use her property as a guest house or home-stay.

s per the notification issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on February 4, 2003 that declared Matheran an eco sensitive zone, untreated aff luent should not be dumped anywhere. “No eff luent, either treated or untreated, shall be permitted to be discharged into any water body or water source within the Eco-sensitive Zone,” stated the notification. But this is merely on paper. With not a single aff luent plant constructed by any of the government agencies, the onus is on residents and hotels in the area to build their own sewage treatment plants (STP), treat their sewage and only then discharge it. Barring a handful of hotels, the rest just dump their sewage in the open turning Matheran and surroundings areas into a septic tank.

Hari Mehta, a third generation hotel owner, points at the scenic gorge right below his property. “Several restaurants, hotels and others have started to dump their sewage in the valley below,” he said, adding that none of the government agencies have ever bothered initiating action against the offenders. The 72-year-old owner of Laxmi Hotel, took us to the point in where sewage lines from several establishments converge and dump the untreated waste directly into the gorge. “In summers, the stench caused by the heat is enough to make anyone sick. We only know how we have been surviving,” said Anjali, Hari bhai’s wife.

Big names in hospitality in Matheran like Richie Rich and Kumar Plaza, Hari Bhai explained, have started using the gorge as a perfect dumping ground. “Their pipes circumvent the buildings and come on our side. If these get blocked, they have alternate pipes leading to the villages below. So many of our workers staying these villages fall ill during the rainy season due to the bacterial and fungal growth,” said Hari Bhai.

There are also those who do not even care to take their lines carrying untreated sewage up to the gorge, and instead simply lay them till the woods surrounding Charlotte Lake. Usha Ascot and Anand Ritz, two big names in the hospitality business in Matheran, are among those who dump their untreated waste into the woods. “Both these places dump their sewage into the woods surrounding Charlotte Lake. The impurities invariably go and mix with the water, polluting it,” said a local hotel owner, pointing at the stream emanating from Usha Ascot.

The authorities, who seem to be well aware of those f louting the sewage dumps, did not have explanations to offer. “We had carried out a survey of all such properties dumping untreated sewage a few years ago. We had asked all the hotels to install in house sewage treatment plants,” said Thombare. On being asked about specific hotels, he added, “A notice was issued to Usha Ascot two years ago.

We had received a written response from them informing us about the installation of an STP,” he added. Ever since the letter from the hotel was received by the municipal council, none of the officials have bothered to go back and check if the hotel does indeed have a functional plant and if they really treat their sewage before dumping. Thombre admitted that his officers have not inspected Usha Ascot’s plant in the last two years. None of the hotels were willing to offer their comments to TGS. “I have always been proud of this property that my grandfather started. He used to host several celebrities of yore. My children grew up here and I have spent a fair part of my life here as well.

However, it hasn’t always been like this,” concluded Hari Bhai.

In one of the reports submitted by municipal council to the state government onSwachh Maharashtra Mission, the civic body has admitted that they need 10 STPs and are struggling to construct their first one. “Matheran being a hill station with environmental concerns, has restrictions on construction of sanitation related infrastructures like sewage treatment plants. Thus for a long period of time, there was no sewage treatment plant (STP) in Matheran. Hotels and private buildings have their own small scale sewage treatment plants. Government of Maharashtra had approved construction of sewage treatment plants at 10 places. An amout of Rs 9.85 lakh has been given for construction of STP at Indiranagar, Matheran. MMC has got technical approval from Maharashtra Jeevan Pradikharn, Panvel. It has capacity of 100 Cubic Meters per day,” stated the report to the state government.

Matheran’s first public owned STP is expected to be over only in December this year.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

TECH/START-UP

PUNE

“The Apple Lisa was the first commercial computer with a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse.”

— http://www.thefactsite.com/

Doc gives acid victims free surgery, urges for strict laws P 12

New highly sensitive biosensor may detect cancer early Scientists have developed an optical sensor that is one million times more sensitive than the current technology, and may help detect certain cancers far earlier than possible today.

The sensor may provide a way to detect a single molecule of an enzyme produced by circulating cancer cells.

Such detection could allow doctors to diagnose patients with certain cancers far earlier than possible today, monitor treatment and resistance and more, researchers said.

“The prognosis of many cancers depends on the stage of the cancer at diagnosis,” said Giuseppe Strangi, professor at the Case Western Reserve University in US. “Very early, most circulating tumour cells express proteins of a very low molecular weight, less than 500 Daltons,” Strangi said.

“These proteins are usually too small and in too low a concentration to detect with current test methods, yielding false negative results,” he said.

“With this platform, we’ve detected proteins of 244 Daltons, which should enable doctors to detect cancers earlier - we don’t know how much earlier yet,” he said.

“This biosensing platform may help to unlock the next era of initial cancer detection.”

The researchers believe the sensing technology will also be useful in diagnosing and monitoring other diseases as well.

The nanosensor, which fits in the palm of a hand, acts like a biological sieve, isolating a small protein molecule weighing less than 800 quadrillionths of a nanogramme from an extremely dilute solution.

The sensor consists of a microfluidic channel that restricts the molecules’ ability to float around and drives them to the

App to trace stolen vehicles across country A mobile app with complete data on stolen vehicles across the country was launched. The app, ‘Vahan Samanvaya’, launched by Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, will help police and public trace the database of stolen vehicles.

It was launched at a function organised to celebrate the 31st inception day of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The minister also launched a web portal named Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) compilation system which will help NCRB to get data from all states and other agencies so as to have a complete picture on its circulation.

The NCRB is mandated to empower the police with information technology and is responsible for collecting, analysing the crime data of the country.

It facilitates investigating officers with updated IT tools and information in investigation of crimes. The Home Ministry has entrusted the Bureau with the responsibility of implementing their flagship plan programme “Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System” of connecting all police stations online by March 31, 2017.

PTI

FOR REPRESENTATION ONLY

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed an optical sensor that is 1mn times more sensitive than present best

Researchers believe the sensing technology will also be useful in diagnosing and monitoring other diseases as well

sensing area on the surface of a metamaterial.

The metamaterial is made of a total of 16 nanostructured layers of reflective and conductive gold and transparent aluminum oxide, a dielectric, each 10s of atoms thick.

Light directed through the layers is concentrated into a very small volume much smaller than the wavelength of light.

The top gold layer is perforated with holes, creating a grating that diff uses light shone on the surface into two dimensions.

The incoming light, which is several hundreds of nanometres in wavelength, appears to be concentrated in a few nanometres at the interface between the gold and the

dielectric layer. As the light strikes the sensing area, it excites free electrons causing them to oscillate and generate a highly confined propagating surface wave, called a surface plasmon polariton.

This surface wave in turn excites a bulk wave propagating across the sensing platform. The presence of the waves cause deep sharp dips in the spectrum of reflecting light.

The combination and the interplay of surface plasmon and bulk plasmon waves are what make the sensor so sensitive, Strangi said.

“This new sensing technology may help us not only detect cancers, but what subset of cancer, what’s driving its growth and spread and what it’s sensitive to,” he said. “The sensor, for example, may help us determine markers of aggressive prostate cancers, which require treatments, or indolent forms that don’t.”

Strangi’s lab is working with other oncologists worldwide to test the device and begin moving the sensor toward clinical use. “We consider this just the beginning of our research,” he said.

He worked with postdoctoral researchers Kandammathee Valiyaveedu Sreekanth and Efe Ilker, PhD students Yunus Alapan and Mohamed ElKabbash, Assistant Professor of Physics Michael Hinczewski, Assistant Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Umut Gurkan (co-PI) and Antonio De Luca, who was a visiting research scholar in Strangi’s lab during this study and is now an associate professor of physics at the University of Calabria in Italy.

The study was published in the journal Nature Materials.

PTI

New tech tool to identify, kill duplicate PAN

System will ensure no entity is able to evade tax by holding two PAN cards After years of labour, the Income Tax (IT) department has finally got a new technology tool to check the menace of duplicate PAN cards which also allows the taxman to ‘kill’ the second one.

An ambitious electronic smart platform called the Income Tax Business Appl ic at ion-Per ma nent Account Number (ITBAPAN) has been operationalised by the department which will help the taxman and PAN issuing intermediaries identify such duplicate numbers every time a new application for generation of the fresh IT department-issued unique identity reaches their portals.

“The department earlier used to check against duplicity of PAN in a manual fashion which was not foolproof but the new electronic system is very accurate,” a senior official said.

In cases of old PAN cards, he said, however, the manual system has to go on.

The department, in order to ensure that no entity is able to evade tax by way of holding two PAN cards, has been trying for a number of years to find a smart tool to check the menace.

There have been numerous instances when while probing tax evasion and black money

cases, investigators found duplicate PAN cards were used.

“The new process will help identification and surrender of duplicate PAN allotted to a person so that further use of the same duplicate PAN allotted to a PAN holder could be stopped,” a recent communication, accessed by PTI, from the systems wing of the department said informing field offices of the department about the new technology upgrade.

The new system, upon finding on the ITBA-PAN platform that a duplicate PAN exists, will direct the taxman to inform applicants to approach their respective assessing officer and surrender the duplicate identity and, in case the applicant does not do so, the system will check the bonafides and automatically ‘kill’ the duplicate identity.

PTI

Facebook users are ‘working for free’: Expert An expert has termed Facebook users as “products” of the company who are working for free and helping the social media giant make money.

“We all think that we are users of Facebook. You must remember that you are all products of Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook). By providing your information, he is making use of you and he is selling that information and what you get is a free Facebook account and what he gets is dollars in his bank,” Lt Gen (Retd) AV Subramanian said.

Subramanian is an expert in electronics equipment who has headed the simulation development division of the Indian Army. “...very indiscriminately, we share information which is extremely personal, and not only that we share that information, and we make it more and more focused by our likes and dislikes.

“We actually help that guy (Zuckerberg) to hone his advertisement value by that... you are the products he is selling, and more than one and half billion Facebook customers who are there, you are the free workers who are available in the group,” he said. Facebook representatives were not available for comments.

PTI

4G will shoot up online content demand Multinational professional services firm Deloitte says better bandwidth will see reasonable growth in digital platform With greater rollout of 4G services in the country, consumer demand for online content will increase rapidly in the coming years, says Deloitte.

“4G will bring complete transformation of... television viewing experience and mark a shift in the control from the broadcaster to consumer. Further, low-cost smartphones bundled with low tariff will help in boosting the Internet usage in India over the coming years,” a Deloitte report said.

4G services increase the capability to offer high quality content. With India becoming a digital platform, even rural users will prefer online content, it added. Rural users account for 35 per cent of India’s Internet community despite representing over 60 per cent of the country’s population.

4G services increase the capability to offer high quality content

In the coming years, digital platform like digital audio and video on demand service will see increased activity.

Hence, getting the right business model will be very crucial, Deloitte said.

Once better bandwidth by way of 4G is available and appropriate content is programmed, this

platform can see reasonable growth in the coming years, it further said.

India has become the third largest country in terms of Internet users. The total number of Internet subscribers had reached 319.42 million by the end of June 2015.

According to Internet and Mobile Association in India

(IMAI), the Internet user base will cross 500 million by 2018, with rural Internet users alone being almost 210 million.

Traditional TV services are well accepted and direct TV is still the chosen option, but OTT (over-the-top) is the new consumer reality which is changing ways of TV consumption for large masses, Deloitte said.

OTT is the delivery of fi lm and TV content through the Internet, without requiring users to subscribe to a traditional cable or satellite. Online video, however, remains largely driven by YouTube and other social networking sites.

According to a Media Partner Asia (MPA) report, India’s active OTT video subscribers in 2014 were 12 million and is expected to grow to 105 million by 2020. Though OTT media is growing faster, there is quite

a long way to go.

“Currently, most of the OTT players are generating revenue through ad supported models.

OTT players are devising product and service offerings that lure free users to become paid subscribers,” Deloitte said.

Media companies like Star, Sony Pictures Networks, Zee, Eros and Reliance Entertainment have begun offering OTT video on demand (VoD).

Deloitte believes that apart from traditional broadcaster, OTT VoD remains the win-win situation for both customers and service providers.

It expects regional content to also be in demand, as a survey conducted by Vuclip shows that 78 per cent of the users prefer watching content in their native languages.

PTI

APP WORLD

Eat healthy, stay fit My Diet Coach

IOS/Android: Free We all know that in order to lose weight you just have to consume fewer calories than you burn. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

But simply knowing this doesn’t make losing weight any easier at all. While other apps might offer just a calorie counter or a weight chart, My Diet Coach offers a full set of motivational and lifestyle changing tools. This app will help you find your inner motivation, help keep you on track, let you make healthy lifestyle changes and resist food cravings, emotional eating, avoid exercise laziness and other weight loss difficulties.

Diet Point

IOS/Android: Free Have you ever searched for the advice from a registered dietitian about which plans are the best for you, or what are the effects of master cleanse, low carb or paleo? DietPoint will take care of everything and will recommend right food just for you. All users get access to 25 meal plans, shopping list and meal reminders. Meal reminders are notifications that pop up every time it’s time for your next meal. They will make sure you’ll never miss another breakfast, lunch, and dinner or snack again and thus drastically improve your weight loss process.

Weight Loss Smoothies

IOS/Android: Free If you are trying to get healthy and need ideas for healthy, yet tasty foods and drinks, check out this weight loss smoothies app. This app includes some simple weight loss smoothie recipes as well as some general health information and a place for you to share your favorite smoothie recipes. Making smoothies is an art more than a science. There is no need to worry about an exact recipe because every piece of fruit has a different level of flavor so the exact same mixture can and will taste different from day to day.

Use the recipes included as idea starters and come up with your own delicious, healthy creations. If you come up with on you want to share with the world, submit it to us and we may feature it on the app.

My Diet Journal

IOS/Android: Free My Diet Journal replaces your paper diet journal. This can be used whenever you want to keep track of what and when you eat, drink, and any supplements you take. Keep your exercise log as well as any statistics you want to track, such as your weight, BMI, Percent Body Fat, or blood pressure. Graph the actual values and the overall and recent trend lines to see when you’ll reach your goals. Keep your inventory of consumables in the app and as you use them, the count will be adjusted so you’ll know what to buy on your next shopping trip.

Prescription weight loss diets

IOS/Android: Free Your goal is to lose a few kilos?

The following App gives you 50 video recipes low calorie cuisine. The main feature of these instructional videos is not intended to get used to an aggressive diet, but a diet that you can maintain over a lifetime, while enjoying the pleasure of eating.

It is time to learn about a healthy weight loss diet, in which you will not lose weight dramatically, but gradually. But the point is that not recover those lost kilos.

You can find vegetarian recipes, recipes for chicken, fish, meat, rice and pasta; pizzas recipes low calorie salad recipes.

Pay special attention to the recipe of spaghetti squash.

ENVIRONMENT

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

H EALTH

APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

“Wearing contact lenses has been identified as a risk factor for the development “Rising temperatures worldwide are changing weather systems and of eye infections such as giant papillary conjunctivitis and keratitis.” distribution of water, thereby affecting availability of potable water.”

— Maria Dominguez-Bello, Author, New York University School of Medicine — M Mitchell, Professor, New York College of Environmental Science

India, China led investments in renewable energy in 2015: UN 2014 fifth warmest year since 1901: Teri

India and China led developing countries in investments made in renewable energy in 2015, when for the first time commitments in solar, wind and other renewables capacity by emerging economies surpassed those by wealthy nations, a UN-backed report has said.

The report ‘Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016’ by the UN Environment Programme said the developing world including China, India and Brazil committed a total of USD 156 billion in new renewables capacity last year, up 19 per cent on 2014. Investments by developed countries were down eight per cent in 2015 to USD 130 billion.

The year 2015 was the first time when investment in renewables in developing countries outweighed that in developed economies, the report said.

A large part of the record-breaking investment in developing countries took place in China, which lifted its investment by 17 per cent to USD 102.9 billion, more than a third of global commitments.

India was also among the top 10 investing countries in renewable energy,

India was also among the top 10 investing countries in renewable energy in 2015

with its commitments rising 22 per cent to USD 10.2 billion. The US, Japan, UK Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Chile all made it to the top 10 investing countries in 2015.

“The investment (in India) took place against a backdrop of prorenewable policies introduced by India’s BJP government. These include a target to almost- triple wind capacity to 60 GW by 2022,” the report said.

Within the developing-economy category, the “Big Three” of China, India and Brazil saw investment rise 16 per cent to USD 120.2 billion, while other developing economies enjoyed a 30 per cent bounce to USD 36.1 billion.

Among developed countries, investment in Europe was down 21 per cent, from USD 62 billion in 2014 to USD 48.8 billion in 2015, the

Now, stringent rules for bio-medical waste

The nuclear leak at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) continues unabated more than a week later at the indigenously made 220-megawatt nuclear reactor in southern Gujarat.

Despite best efforts, it continues to leak a mixture of light and heavy water.

The exact cause of the leak also remains a mystery. India has another 17 reactors of the same Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) type that continue to operate and the big question is should the entire fleet be grounded until the mystery of the leak is fully resolved?

The Kakrapar Unit-1 reactor was running at best capacity when the first leakage of steam was detected visually on remotely operated cameras on the morning of March 11, later as pressure rose in the huge double contained

reactor building a plant emergency was immediately declared. Subsequently all safety systems worked with precision bringing the nuclear chain reaction to a halt. The 350 workers at the plant remained safe as none was stationed in the area where the leak took place.

Sekhar Basu, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, said a “feeder piper carrying heavy water leaked and all radioactivity was confined within the reactor building itself and no radiation escaped outside the plant”.

A week later, the plant though remains in a ‘safe shutdown condition’ yet the accident that occurred at 9 am on March 11 is a wakeup call on the safety of Indian power plants. Now top experts and not just anti-nuclear activists are calling for an overall review of the safety of the 21 nuclear power plants of the country that can together generate 5,780 MW of power, and also give India its huge nuclear weapons punch.

According to the Indian nuclear watchdog Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), no plant worker has been exposed to radioactivity nor has any radioactivity been released into the environment. AERB reports that “a small part of the cooling water is continuing to leak out of the coolant system”. It seems the venting of built up pressure did not release any radiation as the experts from the Environmental Safety Laboratory of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre did not find any increased levels of radiation or radioactive contamination in a 20 km radius of the plant.

PTI

Programme’s objective is prevention and early diagnosis of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

It also aims to reduce complications and drug dependency, and promote capacity-building for human resources development, Naik said.

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TGS LIFE

Run for... yourself

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

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

said director of the school, who

DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL

CHINCHWAD 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

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,

the FIR and kept in touch with “We are feeling fitheled investigating officer and public prosecutor The director is let down by the PUNE, MARCH 14, 2015throughout. | www.thegoldensparrow.com

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.”

ALANDI

AKURDI

RAVET

Sab golmal hai...

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

CHIKHALI

KIWALENIGDI

~ Suit filed by the siblings

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,”

Parents teach them more than exams do P 10

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

~ Suit filed by the siblings

What a mess!

Teacher booked for sexually abusing 22 students acquitted

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

CITY

Truly, a tree lady P4

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

Experts are calling for an overall review of the safety of the 21 nuclear power plants of the country

A programme has been launched by the AYUSH Ministry to integrate Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unani with the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases and Stroke, the Lok Sabha was told.

RAHUL RAUT

Kakrapar plant leak exposes ‘mysterious’ chink in armour

Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Unani to be integrated

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Several cracks and holes have developed in the Mount Everest region due to last year’s devastating earthquakes that killed about 9,000 people across Nepal, according to a specialist team responsible for maintaining the climbing route on the world’s highest peak.

“The great earthquakes of April 25 and May as well as a large number of aftershocks have caused some damage in the Everest region,” Ang Tshering Sherpa, chairman of Nepal Mountaineering Association, said.

“The ice-fall doctors fi xing the ladders and ropes have informed that due to the cracks and holes developed on the slope of the mountain they need to fi x more ladders this time,” he said.

Icefall doctors are Sherpa mountaineers charged with repairing the climbing route on Mount Everest.

“This time we need 10 doctors, more than the usual six, to fi x the ropes and install aluminium ladders,” Sherpa said.

PTI

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

source. Also, the procedure for getting authorisation has been simplified.

“It mandates bar code system for proper control and has simplified categorisation and authorisation. Thus it will make a big difference to the Clean India Mission,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said while releasing the new rules.

Bio-medical waste comprises human and animal anatomical waste, treatment apparatus like needles, syringes and other materials used at healthcare facilities. This waste is generated during diagnosis, treatment or immunisation at hospitals, nursing homes, pathological laboratories, blood bank, etc. Under the new rules, use of chlorinated plastic bags, gloves and blood bags will be phased out within two years.

PTI

Cracks develop in Mt Everest

cataloging, digitisation and publication of text books and manuscripts (ACDP) implemented during 11th Plan.

The Centre for Traditional Medicine and Research, Chennai has also collected 268 rare Siddha palm manuscripts and digitised them and the Tamil Valarchi Kazhagam in Chennai has published eight volumes of Siddha medicines in Tamil. “Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) is also engaged in digitisation of classical Unani books and manuscripts and so far 50 books manuscripts have been digitised by the Council,” he said.

PTI

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

The Centre has notified new rules for the management of bio-medical wastes in the country that prescribe more stringent standards for incinerators to reduce emissions and envisage the creation of a bar-code system for bags containing such refuse.

The Environment Ministry’s Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016, also bring vaccination, blood donation and surgical camps under its ambit while providing for pre- treatment of laboratory and microbiological waste and blood samples and bags on-site as prescribed by the World Health Organisation and National Aids Control Organisation (NACO).

Under the new rules, bio-medical waste has been classified into four categories instead of the earlier 10 to improve the segregation of waste at

continent’s lowest figure for nine years despite record investments in offshore wind projects. The US was up 19 per cent to USD 44.1 billion, and in Japan investment was much the same as the previous year at USD 36.2 billion.

It added that the highlight of India’s performance in 2015 was a jump in utility-scale solar financing to USD 4.6 billion, up 75 per cent on the previous year, although still a little below the 2011 record of USD 4.9 billion.

Among the big projects getting the financial go-ahead were the NTPC Kadiri PV plant phase one, at 250 MW, and the Adani Ramanathapuram PV installation, at 200 MW. Solar investment surpassed commitments to the country’s wind sector for the first time.

PTI

Rainfall activity over the country was below normal in 2014, which was also the fifth warmest year on record since 1901, a report by policy research body TERI today said.

“Particulate matter concentration exceeded the prescribed limit in 83 per cent of the monitored locations in 2012. The annual mean temperature of India during 2014 was +0.53°C above the 1961–90 average. The year 2014 was the fifth warmest year on record since 1901.

“Rainfall activity over the country was below normal (88 per cent of long period average) during 2014.

An enormous challenge lies before central and state governments to monitor the sustainable development goals and climate action plans in terms of data for environment,” according to the 13th edition of TERI Energy and Environment Data Diary and Yearbook (TEDDY) 2015-16.

The report, released by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), also said the Indian solar photovoltaic (SPV) market has witnessed “significant” growth and nearly 80 per cent of manufacturing components in solar thermal technology have been domestic.

yet to get a copy of the order.

The case dates back to February 2013 when some of the students studying in class five walked up to their class teacher and alleged that their creative writing sir had touched them inappropriately. The class teacher in turn informed the principal and management.

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

The investigation was carried out by 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

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

BY YOSHITA SINGH

A survey has found that around six per cent people of the country have received treatment from traditional medicine systems, including Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Yoga, Lok Sabha was informed.

Replying to queries, Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik also said 161 AYUSH wellness centres have been approved.

“National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has undertaken a survey on social consumption in India on health in its 71st round conducted during January–June 2014.

“As per key indicators released recently by NSSO for the 71st round, it is estimated that about 6 per cent of the people have received treatment from Indian systems of medicine (including Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha), Homoeopathy and Yoga and Naturopathy,” the minister said.

He said the ministry has given financial assistance to 31 institutes to preserve rare and precious AYUSH books for translation and publication under Central sector scheme, acquisition,

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Report says 2015 was the first time when investment in renewables in developing countries outweighed that in developed economies

Six per cent people treated by traditional medicine systems

PUNE, MARCH 21, 2015 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

PUNE, MARCH 28, 2015 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

Hum

expected to get over in a year’s time.

Fourteen years later, there is no sign of the fi lm. Vishnu Kamalapurkar, 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

light only after receiving his RTI 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

“When Mamata came to power, not only the state but the entire country had hoped that Bengal will regain its lost glory. But in her five years, Mamata has taken Bengal only towards degradation.”

— Amit Shah, BJP President

Doc gives acid victims free surgery, urges for strict laws

According to UK-based plastic surgeon Charles Viva, all burns are preventable

NEW DELHI: For Charles Viva, a UK-based plastic surgeon who has spent decades stitching together the disfigured and burnt bodies of acid attack victims across the globe, often for free, the presence of strong laws act as deterrents against perpetrators of the Charles Viva inhuman crime.

Viva, 80, a retired NHS doctor of Sri Lankan origin was here recently with a volunteer team of surgeons and clinicians from the UK chapter of the global NGO Interplast to undertake free reconstructive surgeries on victims of burns and acid attacks.

“The effect of acid attacks causes the same amount of trauma to victims in every country be it in India, UK or anywhere else in the world. However, we have very strict laws where if somebody throws acid they are definitely put behind bars for 10 to 15 years. So there is a strong deterrent,” says Viva.

According to a spokesperson at

Viva says it takes him between 45 minutes to one hour and longer for most operations depending on the nature of injuries

the W Pratiksha Hospital in Gurgaon, where the surgeries took place, the team from London performed over 30 surgeries on burn, acid and cleft-lip victims from the economically weaker section. The project titled ‘Project Revive’ received support from the Acid Survivor Foundation of India (ASFI) and the NGO Ritinjali.

Among those who were operated upon was 30-year-old Anupama from Bihar, a 7-year-old boy who slipped and fell on acid while playing in his home and others who underwent a free surgery.

According to Viva all burns are preventable. “In England we had a good

‘India is better placed than EU’ NEW DELHI: Comparing diversity issues in India and the European Union, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya said the world’s largest democracy is better placed as a cohesive unit than EU and is bound to see high growth rates in the coming decades.

Arvind Panagariya Replying to a question on India often being called a “noisy democracy” at an industry body CII event here, the noted economist said India despite its huge diversity and varied traditions and cultures, has stayed as a single cohesive unit.

Quoting economist Jagdish Bhagwati, Panagariya said that Bhagwati told Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, in response to his comment on India being a noisy democracy, that “You hear the noise, I hear the music”.

“This says it all. Just think about it, Europeans, with far less diversity than India, today are still struggling to become a single state. The whole movement towards a single Europe is ridden with so many difficulties.

“Even as a single monetary union there are fears that Greece might drop out of this union and tomorrow Spain might drop out of this union,” he said.

He added that quite contrary to that,

with much greater diversity in India, the country has stayed as a single nation.

“And not only have we stayed together, but the nation has grown over time. Because in today’s noise we tend to forget that in 1950s and 1960s when you go back there were so many separatist movements based on language, etc,” he noted.

On the way ahead, he said: “So I see it as a huge success of India’s democracy.

I think I will not have it any other way. In the long run we will see our growth rate in the next 15-30 years return to the rate of 8-10 per cent.”

On steps India needs to take to make its growth more inclusive, Panagariya said India’s nature of growth has been different.

In earlier success stories of Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and China, most recently, growth happened through rapid growth of labour-intensive industry, which created a lot of jobs and then that was led by growth in services sector.

“What we need to do is make the ecosystem better for the labour-intensive industry so that our industrialists can see what can be done through people and what can be done through machines...,” he added. Panagariya stressed that the thrust should not just be on increasing the use of machines, but for the industry to find the right mix so that the growth can be evenly spread.

On India’s growth potential, he said the scope is “enormous”.

PTI

Vol-II* lssue No.: 42 Editor: Yogesh Sadhwani (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867) Printed and Published by: Shrikant Honnavarkar on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 and printed at PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 at Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai.

Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411 030, Tel: 020-41220010.

response if we educate not only grown ups but also children we can make a difference,” he said.

“People should be made aware of the steps in case of attacks. If immediate attention is given to a patient, the results can be better,” says Viva.

“Patients here who live in remote areas do not have access to proper care but in other countries also the situation is exactly the same because they don’t know to deal with it,” says Viva. .

Viva, who has performed surgeries in war-torn Afghanistan, Pakistan and in parts of Africa says the kind of injuries he sees in conflict areas are different than the ones in other areas.

Arrest warrant against Tikamgarh collector TIKAMGARH: A magistrate’s court here has issued an arrest warrant against the district collector Kedar Sharma after he failed to attend court hearing twice.

Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Pradip Dubey issued the arrest warrant. Prosecution officer Pankaj Dwivedi said that Sharma, in his capacity as district magistrate, gave administrative nod for prosecution of Arvind Raikwar, resident of Harshmau in Niwari tehsil, in an Arms Act case in October 2015.

In the consent letter for Raikwar’s prosecution to the police, the collector also mentioned one Asaram.

Niwari JMFC’s court asked Sharma to be present on February 27 to explain why Asaram’s name figured in his prosecution order, Dwivedi said.

The collector didn’t turn up, so the court, on March 9, issued a bailable warrant, seeking his presence on March 26. But the collector didn’t turn up too. So the court issued an arrest warrant against the collector, seeking his presence on April 12.

PTI

“In areas of conflicts we see a lot of injuries, some of which are sustained after stepping on landmines. There are also burns from petrol bombs,” says Viva.

Acid attacks are often difficult to treat and doctors say that affected area should be cleaned with large amounts of water and acid-soaked clothes should be removed as soon as possible.

Searing pain besides scarring and disfigurement are other symptoms that victims have to cope with besides severe psychological and emotional trauma.

“Often a patient has to undergo as many as 10 to 15 operations. If immediate attention is given they might not need so many operations,” says Viva.

Since acid eats up the skin very fast and causes damage to a lot of structures, doctors say it is much too painful to undertake reconstructive surgeries in one go even under anesthesia.

Viva says it takes him between 45 minutes to one hour and longer for most operations depending on the nature of injuries. While he often face grim and traumatic stories, the surgeon says sometimes he is surprised by the positivity of his patients.

“Once I had a family of nine who had acid thrown on them come to me for treatment. There were two sisters who had lost an eye each in the attack but the entire family was so positive in their approach to life and I learned a lot from them,” he said.

PTI

FDI in e-commerce to boost demand for office space P 14

File panel report on personal laws: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to file before it the report of a committee which was constituted earlier to look into the aspects of personal laws relating to marriage, divorce and custody prevalent in various religious minorities, including Muslims.

A bench comprising Chief justice TS Thakur and Justice UU Lalit asked Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, to submit the report within six weeks in the court.

The bench also asked the Ministry of Minority Affairs to file its response to the petition filed by one Shayara Bano challenging the constitutionality of Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala.

Talaq-e bidat is a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations), or in a tuhr after coitus, or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go (unilateral triple-talaq).

Meanwhile, the bench directed the apex court registry to make available within six weeks the copy of judicial records of a petition on the issue which was taken note of as a separate petition by it.

The Supreme Court had earlier this month sought response of the Centre on Bano’s plea challenging constitutionality of Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 in so far as it seeks to recognise and validate polygamy, triple talaq and nikah halala, and had tagged the matter with a similar suo motu petition.

BOW WOW

Celebrity dog breeder Satish Cadabom with a Korean dosa mastiff puppy which he recently purchased for Rs 1 crore in China, at a press meet in Bengaluru

Bano has said she was subjected to cruelty and dowry demands from her husband and in-laws and was administered drugs that “that caused her memory to fade, kept her unconscious” and made her “critically ill” at which point her husband divorced her by triple talaq.

The petitioner has also challenged the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, saying that it fails to provide Indian Muslim women with protection from bigamy.

Bano has stated in her petition that the issue of gender discrimination against Muslim women under Muslim personal laws, specifically the lack of safeguards against arbitrary divorce and second marriage by a Muslim husband during currency of first marriage notwithstanding the guarantees of the Constitution, needs to be examined by the Supreme Court.

PTI

All 18 teachers of a govt school in J-K suspended SRINAGAR: All the 18 teachers of a government school here were suspended after they were found sitting in staffroom instead of taking classes during a surprise check.

Director of School Education in Kashmir Shah Faesal, who paid a surprise visit to the Government High School in Bemina, also found that students of classes IV and V were unable to “even write basic mathematical questions” let alone solve them.

“The school has 18 teachers and 110 children... Classes IV and V students could not even write basic mathematical questions like ‘25 divided by four’, not to speak of solving it. All classes were vacant and all teachers were sitting in the staffroom,” Faesal said.

All the 18 teachers of the school have been put under suspension and will only be reinstated upon improving learning levels of the students, he said.

“They (teachers) will be given salary only after discipline and learning levels of these children from poor families improve. I found the school to be one of the “dirtiest” in Kashmir with garbage littered all over the place,” he added.

PTI

Media becoming ‘agenda-setting institution’: I&B Minister Jaitley said just as the character of the media has changed, the character of politicians too has changed

NEW DELHI: The Indian media is becoming an “agenda-setting institution” forcing politicians to respond in line with this changed character of the press, I and B Minister Arun Jaitley said.

“Governments have also realised that there is multiplicity and different trends.

Now one of the trends is that media is no longer a reporting institution, it is also becoming an agenda setting institution.

Therefore within that media you have to find space for reporting institutions,” Jaitley told PTI at an interaction here.

He was responding to a question about how government perceives the

coverage it is receiving in the media.

“You can (in this situation) find space in social media, some space in conventional print media. You may or may not be able to find space on electronic media because space for news on the electronic media is depleting,” he added.

Asked about the perception that the government seems to prefer one-way communication, with even the Prime Minister not holding a Press Conference, Jaitley said he and the government communicate regularly but quipped that “just as the character of the media has changed, the character of politicians too has changed.”

Jaitley said that often he does not give TV bytes as the journalists are only interested in a comment to be run for the 9 pm prime time show.

It’s a question of who sets the agenda, he said. The government thinks it should

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during an interaction with PTI journalists in New Delhi

set the agenda and media should report and the latter thinks that it sets the agenda, he added.

Referring to comments made by him on the media in recent times, Jaitley said that often a person is not sure of facts

even after going through the newspaper or watching TV as there is an “overdose” of opinion.

It is here, Jaitley said, that there is a chance for conventional media to strike back. He lamented that excellent speeches were made by female MPs on budget, but they hardly got any media coverage.

Talking about the growth of FM radio, Jaitley said that while AIR news has already been allowed, giving a nod to overall news could take longer.

In news, he said there is no censorship but only a monitoring mechanism. Presently, the required monitoring mechanisms for FM radio are not in place, he said while refusing to put a timeline as to when this “next step” of allowing news on radio could be taken.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATUR APRIL 2, 2016

Dudhare leads state to second place P 16

“We recover various kinds of ammunition very often as these were all hidden by the LTTE during the war. So the question of our national security being threatened does not arise.”

— Karunasena Hettiarachchi, Defence Secretary, Sri Lanka

Myanmar democracy takes a historic step Aung San Suu Kyi’s trusted aide takes over as the country’s president

National League for Democracy party (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at Myanmar’s parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar

NAYPYITAW MYANMAR: Myanmar’s slow transition to democracy took a momentous step as a trusted aide to ruling-party leader Aung San Suu Kyi took over as the country’s president, officially ending more than 50 years of the military’s control over government.

In a day full of ceremony and symbolism, Htin Kyaw was sworn in along with his two vice presidents and 18 Cabinet ministers. Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate and face of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, takes on a prominent role as the country’s new foreign minister and the head of three other ministries education, energy and the presidential office.

“The Union Parliament has elected

me as president, which is a historic moment for this country,” Htin Kyaw, 70, said in a speech after being sworn in. He pledged to work toward national reconciliation, strive for peace with warring ethnic rebels and improving the lives of Myanmar’s 54 million people.

While it was a historic day for the impoverished Southeast Asian country, democracy remains incomplete. The military retains considerable power in the government and parliament, and the president himself will play second fiddle to Suu Kyi. She cannot be president because of a constitutional manipulation engineered by the military, and has repeatedly said she will run the country from behind the scenes.

“I am very happy that we have a

president who represents people,” said Mar Thin, a 50-year-old street cleaner.

She said she used to own 70 acres of land that she and her sister inherited from their father before the military kicked them out and appropriated the land for the defense ministry.

“I hope that the new government can solve the land confiscation problem and let us own our land as farmers. All we want is enough food, and to live without fear. I hope that President Htin Kyaw will do that for us because Daw Suu promised us a lot of things, and we love her too,” Mar Thin said, using an affectionate term for Suu Kyi. US President Barack Obama called Htin Kyaw’s election “a historic milestone in the country’s transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government. Burma will face significant challenges going forward, including achieving broad-based economic development, advancing national reconciliation, and promoting the rights and freedoms of all its people,” Obama said.

“The United States looks forward to being a friend and partner of the new government and the people of Burma as they make progress toward building a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous future.”

Htin Kyaw’s swearing-in was held in parliament with lawmakers dressed in traditional costume. Later, outgoing President Thein Sein shook hands with his successor and handed him a letter and a golden sash, officially transferring power.

AP

No dear political group in Nepal

‘Safeguarding loose nukes top priority for US’

BY LALIT K JHA WASHINGTON: Safeguarding loose nuclear materials around the globe is a top priority for the US, the White House has said ahead of this week’s Nuclear Security Summit here which would be attended by world leaders including from India, China and Japan.

“I would anticipate that issues related to nuclear materials and safeguarding them is high on the agenda (of the Nuclear Security Summit). This is obviously something that is a top priority,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference.

The summit is more focused on those nuclear materials that are not under the same kind of careful watchful eye that they are in Belgium, he said when asked about reports that the terrorists behind the Brussels attack were also conducting surveillance of nuclear sites in the country.

“We understand that the Belgian government has decided to employ on-site military quick-response teams at nuclear plants and research centres while it determines what other actions may be necessary. Obviously, ensuring the safety of those kinds of facilities can and should be a top priority.

“President Barack Obama has made this a priority because frankly this is an issue that he worked on prior to entering the White House.

The President spent a decent amount of time working across the aisle with Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana on efforts around the globe to safeguard nuclear materials,” he said.

PTI

India key player in Indo-Pacific region Prime Minister Narendra Modi is welcomed

by Indian Ambassador to US, Arun K Singh and his wife Maina Chawla Singh as US ambassador to India, Richard Verma looks on at Andrews Air Force base in Washington

WASHINGTON: India has become a key player and an important partner in advancing maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region and there was an “unprecedented” US-India cooperation to protect freedom of navigation for all nations, a top American diplomat has said.

“As a regional power that is committed to advancing the rulesbased international order, India has become a key player and an important partner in advancing maritime security in the Indo-Pacific,” Assistant Secretary of State for South an Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told a Washington audience.

“As such, our bilateral cooperation is increasingly taking on trilateral and multilateral aspects,” Biswal said at the Centre for a New American Security, a US think-tank.

“The high-level engagements between our two countries since May of 2014 include six at the leader-level,

KATHMANDU: While acknowledging that multi- faceted IndoNepal ties witnessed “ups and downs” recently following the anti-Constitution agitation by Madhesis, India has described as a “misconception” the notion that it supports Ranjit Rae any one political group in Nepal.

“There is a misconception that India supports any one group. We have a policy for Nepal...not for any one group,” Ranjit Rae, India’s Ambassador here, said.

Rae was asked about his country’s stand vis-a-vis political parties representing Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin who have raised concerns over certain provisions in the new Constitution.

Madhesis reside in Terai region bordering India. Late last year, a four-month long agitation by Madhesis virtually crippled the landlocked country as the stir, which saw sporadic violence, severely affected supply of essential items through trade routes along Indo-Nepal border.

Nepal had accused India of imposing a proxy blockade by backing the Madhesis.

“India and Nepal share strong and multi-faceted relations which have seen ups and downs. Our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has visited (Nepal) twice in the last two-and- ahalf years. This shows the importance India attaches to Nepal,” Rae said when asked about the current status of bilateral ties.

He was interacting with a visiting group of Indian journalists at a tourism event organised over the weekend by state-run Nepal Airlines and KGH Group of Hotels, a leading player in local hospitality sector.

Asked about issues raised by Madhesis, Rae said “we have already welcomed two amendments made in the Constitution by the Nepal Government.”

The amendments (made in January) referred to by the envoy related to proportionate and inclusive representation of all marginalised communities, including the Madhesis, in all state mechanisms and allocation of seats in Parliament on the basis of population.

However, Madhesis are still not satisfied. They are opposing carving out of seven provinces under the Constitution and demanding adequate protection of their rights.

Asked about this, Rae said all issues should be resolved through dialogue in a peaceful and democratic manner.

PTI

Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav (second from left) and Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli (extreme right) at the Presidential building in Kathmandu

This photo shows an aerial view of the Enchanted Storybook Castle under construction at the Shanghai Disney Resort in Shanghai.

The Disney theme park is scheduled to open on June 16, 2016

China’s work force to decline to 57 per cent by 2030: Experts

BY KJM VARMA BEIJING: China will face severe demographic challenges in the next 25 years as its working-age population is predicted to shrink over six per cent to 56.9 per cent of the total population by 2030, according to a new study.

Last year the working population was stated to be 63.3 per cent last year. The ageing population will swell from 16.1 to 25.2 per cent which could seriously test China’s social and economic development, experts said.

The number of those aged between 16 and 59 will decrease to 896 million in 2020 and 824 million in 2030, while those aged 60 and over will grow to 253 million in 2020 and 365 million in 2030, according to a new data provided by the Population and Development Studies Centre at the Renmin University of China, state-run Global Times reported today.

China ended the three decades old one-child policy this year and replaced

it with two-child as the demographic crisis deepened with sharp rise in the population of old age population.

According to latest figures, the number of people aged 60 or over in China has reached 212 million at the end of 2014, accounting for 15.5 per cent of the country’s population, with the number of disabled elderly people approaching 40 million.

The United Nations has predicted that people over age 65 will account for 18 per cent of China’s population by 2030, double the number in 2011 which will have a negative bearing on

including the Nuclear Security Summit this week, and we could well see more before the end of the administration,” Biswal said.

The area of greatest potential, however, is in maritime security, especially as the US engage in an unprecedented cooperation with India, the region’s largest maritime power.

Nearly 90 per cent of global trade relies on maritime shipping and the Indian Ocean is the super-highway for much of this commerce. From 1992 to 2012, the average ships in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea jumped by over 300 per cent.

She said as the Asian economies continue to rise, so will the need for greater maritime security in IndoPacific region. The top US diplomat said there is no question that a rising India, now the world’s fastest-growing large economy, is and will continue to be the engine of South Asia’s growth.

PTI

Peaceful protest a right but shouldn’t paralyse society

DREAM CASTLE

Says Indian Ambassador as Kathmandu accuse India of imposing a proxy blockade by backing the Madhesis

BY RANVIJAY S YADAV

PUNE

China’s labour availability. By 2050, China is expected to have nearly 500 million people over 60, exceeding the population of the US. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that in 2015, China’s working age population was 911 million and there were 222 million senior citizens.

“China’s current demographic structure is severely distorted, as the country now faces problems such as low fertility, an ageing society and gender imbalance. This may hinder economic development as well as social stability in the long run,” said Mu Guangzong, a professor at Peking University’s Institute of Population Research said.

Yi Fuxian, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, recently warned that China has entered a “low fertility trap” and that its ageing population will impede economic development.

PTI

GENEVA: Terming peaceful assembly as a “crucial tool” of public participation, India has told the UNHRC that while the right to peaceful protests cannot be taken away, any demonstration should also not be allowed to “paralyse” the normal life.

“The ability to protest peacefully is an essential enabler for other rights and freedoms,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ajit Kumar told the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“Peaceful assembly is a crucial tool of public participation,” he said in India’s Explanation of Vote at the adoption of draft resolution on ‘Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Peaceful Protests’.

He said that as the largest democracy in the world, India is committed to rule of law and the Indian Constitution guarantees all fundamental rights, the freedom of speech and expression as well as freedom to peaceful assembly including peaceful protests.

The Indian envoy’s comments at the Geneva-based UN human rights body came amid a heated debate back home on nationalism involving leading varsities over the right to peaceful protests and freedom of expression.

Asserting that no person can be divested of these rights, which cannot be taken away or abridged, Kumar however stressed that every right has a corresponding duty and in the name of legitimate exercise of one’s right to protest, the fundamental right of others cannot be “scuttled.”

“Enjoyment of rights always entails a degree of responsibility.

Our Constitution clearly recognises these inherent, reasonable restrictions, clearly related to the purpose enshrined under the right.

“In a democratic polity, the fundamental right of each citizen is sacrosanct. However, the collective cannot undermine the same. The persons or the organisations should always be cognisant that in the name of demonstration or protest, the life of a civilised society cannot be allowed to be paralysed,” he said.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

MONEY MATT ER S

“State-run oil and gas companies are planning to create a venture capital fund to encourage start-ups to develop new business models and infuse innovation into India’s hydrocarbons sector.”

— Dharmendra Pradhan, Petroleum Minister

Signpost Inoperative PF accts to earn interest Retirement fund body EPFO decided to provide interest on inoperative accounts from April 1, a move which will benefit over nine crore such accountholders having total deposits of over Rs 32,000 crore. The decision was taken by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees’ headed by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. “UPA government stopped interest on inoperative accounts. Now we have taken a proworker decision,” he said.

“Our commitment to BlackBerry 10 has not changed - we know our developer community continues to be the strongest proponents of BlackBerry 10 and they are creating thousands of apps.”

— Lou Gazzola, Sr Manager, BlackBerry’s App Ecosystem

FDI in e-commerce to boost demand for office space JLL India says impact of this development on Indian real estate will be significant

Demand for office, warehousing and logistic spaces will increase with 100 per cent FDI permitted in marketplace e-retailing, significantly benefitting the real estate sector, according to property consultant JLL India.

The government has allowed 100 per cent FDI through automatic route in most of e-commerce retailing, a development that will boost domestic as well as foreign players like Flipkart and Amazon.

“India is already host to some of the largest global e-commerce players. The announcement that 100 per cent FDI will now be allowed in e-commerce is going to open the floodgates to a host of other players in this segment,” JLL India Chairman and Country Head Anuj Puri said in a report. “The impact this development will have on Indian real estate will be significant,” he added.

Firstly, Puri said the new players would require large office spaces to house their back-end teams and this demand would be naturally directed to the seven major cities.

“The second impact will be on the demand for warehousing and logistics real estate. Unlike the demand for office

spaces, this additional requirement will be spread fairly evenly across Indian cities,” he said.

Stating that the e-commerce players need to deliver products quickly to their customers, Puri said one of the most important clientele segments for them are in the tier II and tier III cities.

“We will therefore see a significant step-up in demand for warehousing spaces in and around these cities,” he added.

Indian real estate sector, particularly housing segment, is facing a huge slowdown from last 2-3 years. However, office and warehousing segments have been performing better due to demand of spaces from corporates especially e-commerce fi rms.

On the fl ip side, the consultant said that there has been a rider clause attached to the FDI liberalisation on e-commerce. “...e-commerce players now will be unable to sell below market prices and not more than 25 per cent of sales will happen via one vendor...this announcement brings brick-andmortal retailers on a more level playing field, and would help to still the outcry over unfair trade practices to an extent,” Puri said.

“Overall, this is positive for the

retail industry; more rational behaviour will now prevail in terms of market trade practices, and mounting of losses by most e-commerce companies will be curtailed. Online sales may reduce as deep discounts disappear, although losses will also be capped,” the consultant said.

W i t h e-commerce in

India still at the nascent stage, the base being low even now and the growth rate very high, there is enough scope for both e-commerce and brick-andmortar retail to flourish.

The decision to allow 100 per cent FDI in e-commerce market places shows government’s clear intention to promote fair competition in the retail sector, the Retailers Association of India (RAI) said. Though the actual impact depends on the enforcement of the said guidelines, the association said in a statement.

It said the condition that an e-commerce fi rm will also not be permitted to sell more than 25 per cent of total sales from one vendor or its group companies will prevent marketplaces from behaving like pseudo retailers and ensure that they stay true to their claim of being technology Indian real estate sector, particularly housing segment, platforms. is facing a huge slowdown from last 2-3 years “The policy seeks to provide a levelplaying field,” RAI said quoting Rakesh Biyani, Jt MD, Future Retail.

PTI

Global perception positive about India’s performance in 10 yrs Globally people think India’s performance improved substantially over the last 10 years, former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

“In the last 10 years, the global perception has been that the performance of India has improved very substantially. Globally, people perceive India very differently now what they used to 10-12 years ago,” Ahluwalia said at a leadership lecture organised by JIS group.

He said the perception is a direct consequence of the actual performance.

After the liberalisation of the economy in 1991, he said, the effect was not felt immediately as things were done very gradually. He said the net effect was that things moved slowly.

“In 2003, the first big growth rate happened. It had never happened before,” Ahluwalia said, adding in the last two years of the UPA rule it was not just about the global economic crisis but also about India’s own constraints.

On Foreign Direct Investment, he said successive governments have proved that India wants FDI. Ahluwalia opined that it is not important for the nation to focus on 8-10 per cent growth rates as sound policy and consistent reforms can sustain 7.5 per cent growth rates.

On labour laws, he said there is no reason why the legislation should be so restrictive and show extreme concern for labour rights.

“The rest of the world will only be happy and bless us,” he said.

PTI

Maha, Guj accounted Panel to decide on state-of-art products for 46 pc of exports Just two states — Maharashtra and Gujarat — accounted for over 46 per cent of merchandise exports from the country in 2014-15, says a study by industry lobby Assocham.

The next three states were Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The top five states together claimed over 69 per cent of the country’s total export earnings in the previous fiscal, it added.

Export earnings in 2014-15 stood at around USD 310 billion.

While Maharashtra shipped goods worth USD 72.83 billion during the reporting period and continued to remain the best performing state, Gujarat exported goods worth USD 59.58 billion, again retaining the

second spot.

Tamil Nadu emerged as the third largest exporter with USD 27.47 billion.

But in growth percentage terms, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 18.3 per cent, followed by Haryana at 14.4 per cent.

Exports from Gujarat and Maharashtra grew 8 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively, it added.

Indicating the importance of SEZs in achieving higher exports, the report notes that almost three-fourths of operational SEZs are located in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

PTI

MEGA SHOW

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at the launch of the first Indigenous Composites Sonar Dome at Defexpo-16 in Goa

The government has set up a committee to decide whether a product is stateof-the-art and can be eligible for exemption from the mandatory local sourcing applicable for FDI single brand retail trading.

The committee will be headed

by Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek, an official said.

It will have a representative from NITI Aayog and an official from the concerned ministry.

Th is committee operationalise a provision of the policy of foreign direct investment (FDI) in single brand retail.

Last year, the government

Hiring musclemen to recover loans unethical: HC The Kerala High Court held that the practice of banks and financial institutions authorising musclemen to recover loans from borrowers “is illegal, unethical and against protection of public interest.”

Considering an appeal filed by a detective agency in Kozhikode complaining non-payment of commission by a public sector bank which engaged it to recover loan from a borrower, Justice PB Suresh Kumar said “engaging private agencies to recover loans is certainly to harass and intimidate the borrower.”

Declining to pay the commission, the bank argued that on the very date the agency was engaged to recover loan payments, the borrower approached the bank and settled the dues by selling his property.

The court said the practice of hiring recovery agents who are musclemen need to be discouraged and bank should resort only to procedure recognised by law to recover dues from borrowers.

“In a democratic country having a well-established, independent judiciary and having various laws, if musclemen are engaged to recover dues to the bank, it will create lawlessness,” the court said.

In a country governed by rule of law, recovery of loans by banks and other financial institutions should be done through due process of law, it said.

PTI

iPhone and iPad maker Apple and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi have submitted applications with the DIPP for opening single-brand retail stores in the country

had relaxed the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for singlebrand retailing.

The government has stated that

it may also relax the sourcing norms for entities undertaking single-brand retailing of products having state-ofthe-art and cutting edge technology and where local sourcing is not possible.

In respect of proposals involving FDI beyond 51 per cent, sourcing of 30 per cent of the value of goods purchased, is mandatory from India especially from MSMEs, village an cottage industries, artisans, craftsman, in all sectors.

“The committee will scrutinise the applications of companies which would seek exemption from the sourcing norm on the ground that their product is ‘state-of-art’ and is using ‘cutting-edge’ technology for its

manufacturing,” an official said.

Another source said that some foreign companies in the telecommunication sector has sought permission to set up single brand retail stores in India and they also wants exemption from the sourcing provision. iPhone and iPad maker Apple and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi have submitted applications with the DIPP for opening single-brand retail stores in the country.

At present, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in the sector but the companies are required to take FIPB permission if the limit exceeds 49 per cent.

PTI

High interest rates will make Indian economy sluggish Justifying slashing of interest rate on small saving instruments like PPF, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said interest rates in India are “extraordinarily” high and the country risks becoming the most sluggish economy if lending rates continue to rule high.

The existing tax-free interest rate of up to 8.7 per cent on small saving instruments translates into an effective interest of 12-13 per cent on deposits.

Correspondingly, the lending rate, which is always a notch above deposits rate, would be 14-15 per cent, he told PTI in an interview here.

“On small savings, India’s interest rates are extraordinarily high. And high interest rate prevents growth,” he said.

Citing the example of 8.7 per cent tax free interest on Public Provident Fund (PPF) investments, he said this translates into an interest rate of 12.5 per cent or 13 per cent including tax benefit.

“Where in the world you get 12.5 per cent return of interest? So if deposit rates become 12.5 per cent, then what should lending rates be, 14 to 15 per cent? You will become the most sluggish economy in the world, if lending rates are 14 to 15 per cent,” he said.

Jaitley said no country can have “a system where lending rates are low

but deposit rates are high. The two are interlinked”.

The government had on March 18 announced cut in interest rate on PPF to 8.1 per cent, on Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) to 7.8 per cent from 8.7 per cent, on girl-child saving, Sukanya Samriddhi Account to 8.6 per cent “NPS gives from 9.2 per cent the best and senior citizen returns as savings scheme to 8.6 per cent from 9.3 compared to per cent with effect any central from April 1.

Asked whether scheme does” the government had taken an unpopular decision, Finance Minister said, “It would be most unpopular decision if India’s lending rates were 14 to 15 per cent. To destroy India’s economy would be the most unpopular thing to do. Low interest rate in the long run will help everybody.”

When a borrower goes to bank for availing home loan, “he should get it at 9 per cent or 15 per cent? Which decision will be unpopular”, he asked.

Jaitley said India must have multiple products, giving a range of interest rates. “Even at 8.1 per cent rate is a very good rate of returns, much better than you get anywhere in the world because

it is tax free. 8.1 per cent tax free is 12.2 per cent. It’s not a small rate of interest. The government, he said, has to create a mechanism where interest rate become more reasonable and those are transmitted by the banks.

“As India is growing, standards of social security have to increase.

And one important component of social security is to make India into a pensioned society,” he said.

He said the original proposal to tax withdrawals from EPF was to converge Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and National Pension Scheme (NPS) “into a system where you contribute during your earning period, you get a tax rebate (and) when you retire, you get a big lump sum for your social commitments, tax free and the rest becomes an annuity, the 60 per cent becomes an annuity, which is also tax free.”

“And I do believe that more and more people should continue to switch over to NPS. And mind you, NPS gives the best returns as compared to any government scheme does,” he said.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

Our voices need to be heard

HAPPY BREAKFAST

Giving a perfect start to your morning, the popular JW Food Truck of the Pune Baking Company (PBC) is all geared up to serve some healthy offerings through its newly launched ‘Breakfast’ wing which will serve the best healthy breakfast at the Food Truck during the weekends. Join the fun with Chef Mayur Tiwari who will interact with guests.

When: April 2, 10.30 am onwards.

Where: JW Marriott, SB Road

ZUMBA SESSIONS AT THE HOMESUKH

Get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and burn those extra calories by indulging yourself in Zumba sessions by Vikas Dholkiya. It’s an ideal fitness regime, mixing cardio intervals with resistance training. It mixes effective body sculpting movements with easy-to-follow, fun dance steps which will tone you from head to toe. Before you know it, you’ll be getting fit and your energy levels will be soaring.

When: April 2, 6 pm to 8 pm Where:The Home Sukh, Aracade 4, Ishanya, Off Airport Road

SPLITZVILLANS AT BOMBAY HIGH

This Saturday let the weekend fever be high as DJ Zack and the MTV Splitzvillans are coming to town. With a unique, never-heard-before fusion of various genres of Electronic Dance Music, get set to groove on Metro Maya Saturdays.

When: April 2, 9 pm onwards

CATCH VARUN THAKUR LIVE

Laugh away those Monday blues with jokes, gags and shenanigans, as Varun Thakur will have you guffawing in no time. Let the fact that the week has just begun slip your mind, in only for some time! Gear up for some side-splitting laughter as Manic Mondays going to have to try harder.

When: April 4, 9.30 pm onwards Where: Independence Brewing Company, Mundhwa Road

A PIECE OF FRANCE IN INDIA

An exhibition that attempts to capture Francais in our own country, Puducherry. The collection that will be exhibited at Malaka Spice will showcase beautiful bright images from the small town of Puducherry.

When: Till April 14, 11 am to 5 pm Where: Malaka Spice, 1st floor, Atria Building, Baner Road

Entice your taste buds with the newest offering at Fishbowl. Their ever experimenting bartenders have curated the hottest new drinking town- Smokey Cocktails all through April. If food tastes great baked, fried or sautéed, it tastes even better grilled. So, if a cocktail hits the spot shaken or stirred, it surely sips better smoked. Smoke adds character and complexity that can turn a cocktail you’ve drunk a thousand times into a drink of great depth

T

here is one thing commonly seen at many parts of Pune, either footpath are not there, or they are narrow and encroached upon. In either case it does not serve the purpose. Almost half of the Aundh road that leads to Pune University is occupied by the vendors selling vegetables and fruits. The footpath too, has become a market place, and there is no place for the pedestrians to walk. If authorities cannot control misuse of footpaths, then why provide these at all?

At least the funds could be saved and diverted to some other useful development.

People face a tough time to even walk through Sandeep Shinde street as most of the shopkeepers place their goods on footpaths while street vendors block the road that is already very narrow. With no check, the vendors are running a thriving business at the busy road caring nothing about the vehicular traffic. It is difficult for children and senior citizens to cross the road in the evenings. Vegetable vendors, hawkers and motorists are all on the road at the same time and it is the common man who suffers. Despite a number of anti-encroachment drives, vegetable, fruit, fish vendors keep coming back and set up shops on the busy road. The increasing width of roads and commercial activity has eaten up the footpaths and pedestrian pathway in this area. It shows lack of seriousness about any civic issue. As a result, the city’s infrastructure is in a mess. The administration has no regard for pedestrians’ right to walk. Authorities should provide footpaths that are sufficiently wide, without any obstructions.

In the past so many months the vendors here have increased threefold. I hope Khadki Cantonment takes some pro-active decision, rather than being continuously lethargic about approving important issues that affect tax – paying citizen’s comfort.

Rising Pune SuperGiants gear up for their debut IPL season

A one man army

One must appreciate the efforts and hard work that the forest guard Madhkar Ghodage puts into taking care of the 267 hectares forest, as the article rightly states.

It is sad that the authorities cannot employ more people on the job. Another thing that must be kept in mind is that while he is manning such a vast area is an issue, the fact that he does not have anything other than a lathi for his defence is the height of having a casual approach to this issue. The forest department must at the earliest act upon this.

-Sanjeev Fuste

ahead of IPL season, starting from April 9.

T h e inaugural match of the IPL season will be Mumbai Indians taking on RPSG at Wankhede stadium.

The Hrishikesh Kanitkar first home match for RPSG is almost two weeks later, when they will take on Royal Challengers, Bangalore on April 22. Immediately, RPSG will face Kolkata Knight Riders (April 24), Gujarat Lions (April 29) and then Mumbai Indians on May 1.

“This city gave me everything, when I played for Maharashtra and later on for India. Now as a coach, I am starting a new innings with IPL and I am excited to be associated with a Pune team, rather than going anywhere else,” said Pune’s assistant coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar.

PIC

OF

EDITOR

Attend a solo exhibition of canvas paintings by Pooja Bhingarde titled Tatvamasi (I Am That). The acrylic on canvas paintings, this is an attempt to showcase different layers of oneself. An actual border is created that follows the distinct flow of the colour which are merely cages of ego and ignorance.

The borders are eventually blurred suggesting that one must break free from these self-created barriers.

When: Till April 17, 9 am to 6 pm Where: Bliss Art Gallery, North Main Road, Koregaon Park

IT’S SMOKIN’ COLD AT FISHBOWL

After a gap of three years, Pune will again feature in Indian Premier League and this time Rising Pune SuperGiants (RPSG), owned by Kolkata-based businessman Sanjiv Goenka, will take part in 2016 and 2017 seasons. The team, under the guidance of former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming started their preparation camp at Maharashtra Cricket Association’s ground in Gahunje.

“This is very important week for us.

We have got a very good side. One of the challenges for the new franchises is the developing relationships with the players.

We are playing against Mumbai Indians, in our first away match and it will give us a good experience,” said Fleming, during a press meet at JW Marriott hotel, Senapati Bapat Road.

“Though so much cricket played, I realised that the players are professional and they know how to maintain the fitness. The only silver lining about India’s loss in the T20 World Cup cricket is that the Indian players will have more days to recover and they will be fresh

LETTERS TO THE

A DISTINCT FLOW OF COLOURS

RAHUL RAUT

VISHAL KALE

WEEK THAT WAS

Go and get a taste of South India with Savya Rasa’s creation with a twist on the classic Bloody Mary spiced up with the bydagi chilli, ginger and lime to give it an authentic south Indian flavour. Try the South Indian take on Bloody Mary.

When: Ongoing, lunch & dinner Where: Savya Rasa, Off North main road, Koregaon Park

E WE K

This Saturday, enjoy an unparalleled beer experience with zealous sentient singer Derric D’Souza. D’Souza has won several laurels including The High Idol in 2014, this crooner, started captivating the interest of many, enthralling audiences with his songwriting and musicianship. He is a self taught guitarist and also pursuing piano grades from the Royal school of Music, London. He is influenced by singers like Ed Sheeran, Jason Mraz, Bryan Adams, The Script, and Maroon 5.

When: April 2, 9 pm onwards Where: Ground floor, Kapila Matrix, Koregaon Park annexe

Where: Bombay High, Orchid Hotel, Balewadi

INDULGE IN SOUTHERN COCKTAILS

THE

AN EXHILARATING NIGHTOUT

and distinction, thus making the brew more flavorful.

When: All this month, 1 pm onwards Where: Fishbowl, Hyatt Pune Kalyani Nagar

RAHUL RAUT

No road for the commuters

DANGEROUS TRACK: An SUV recently rammed into the divider in front of Vallabhnagar State Transport Stand. The new median that has been laid just before the underpass has been posing threat to several drivers who often fail to manoeuvre their vehicles on the stretch

They should be playing not working

Implementation is always a wait

Child labour is not a new thing and unfortunately not even a thing of the past. It is horrible to know as the story points out there are still places that are employing young children to work at their stalls and eateries. What is even sadder is that more than often the young children can be found working at places run by extremely educated people. When will people understand that they need to stop employing children for jobs that they can easily employ elders for? We need to first get rid of unemployment rather than employ children.

-Saumya Dahakte

While it is great that the Union Government has put on paper, a welfare plan for transgenders, it is as expected extremely sad to learn that it has not yet been implemented. This is not the first time that something like this has happened. Very often the authorities - be it the government or officials of a particular department - propose a plan, get everything approved and raise the expectations of the people who will benefit from the plan and almost never implement it. And if they do, it is in most cases after several years. Will this every change?

-Manohar Dubey

A brighter future indeed Doing your bit

The act and thought of giving unused bicycles to the extremely needy is extremely commendable. All the residents of Springfield Society, Kothrud, have set an example that you don’t need a lot of money to make someone else happy or to do something nice for someone else. The underlying message in this act is that not only must one be vigilant enough to notice and keep an eye out to see how they can help those less fortunate and then act upon it as well. The community and society will be a better place if everyone does their bit if not more.

- Vishal Kunnji

The story on how the youngsters are taking matters into their own hands and being thoughtful and careful of beings other than themselves was a pleasant read. It is great to know that in a world where crime is rampant, these young guns are doing their best at changing the way things function. Not only are they questioning their elders about stereotypes and traditions that deprive them of factors like equality but are also attempting at finding solutions to the problems. We are indeed headed to a time where equality and compassion will prevail over crime and selfishness.

-Renuka Nagarkar

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SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 2, 2016

PUNE

‘Need better cycle to IMPROVE TIMING’ Says Krida Prabodhini’s national-level cyclist Ganesh Pawar who won ‘King of Ghat’ award in Mumbai-Pune cycle race

BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish

PICS BY VISHAL KALE

Krida Prabodhini cyclist Ganesh Pawar was in full swing when he was fl agged off from RK Studio, during the Mumbai-Pune cycle race last week. The 22-yearold maintained the pace and was fl awless while climbing the mighty Bhor Ghat.

With a timing of 22 minutes 20 seconds, he emerged fastest to climb the 7-km ghat section

Signposts Tech Mahindra, TCS in summit clash Tech Mahindra will clash with TCS in the finals of the 12th edition of Ankur Joglekar Inter IT Cricket Championship at Poona Club ground this week. In the semis, Tech Mahindra scraped past Tieto by 13 runs in a low scoring match, while TCS scored a 24-run-win over Honeywell to move into the summit round. In the first semi-final, Tech Mahindra scored 120 runs and later Sachin Pimprikar and Vinit Pathak restricted Tieto to 107. In another match, Rahul Garg’s 67 off 46, helped TCS score 164 runs while Honeywell managed just 140 runs losing seven wickets.

PYC win inter-club tennis championship PYC A team emerged champions for fifth year in a row as they scored a 20-12 win over arch rivals Deccan A at the fifth edition of the Shashi Vaidya Memorial inter-club tennis championship, organised by PYC Hindu Gymkhana. In the final, PYC made a strong comeback from being 8-12 down to take 12 games in-a-row and assert their supremacy. The winners received cash prize of Rs 40,000 and Shashi Vaidya Memorial Trophy.

AITA women’s tennis from today Cancer Caregivers Club, a unique initiative of non-profit organisation ‘Decimate C Anticancer Foundation’, will host the Cancer Caregivers Club Cup Rs 1.25 lakh AITA women’s Tennis Tournament to raise awareness about cancer, especially in women.

The novel tournament will be organised by Deccan Gymkhana on their tennis courts from April 2. Asthaa Dargude (Mumbai), Iska Tirtha (AP), Harsha Sai Challa (AP), Sahan Shetty (Karnataka), and Mumbai’s Simran Kejriwal and Pareen Shivekar are some of the notable players who will be seen in action.

and was declared ‘King of Ghat’.

However, in the second leg of the race, he failed to maintain the speed and fi nished slightly behind the overall race winner Dilawar Singh of Railways.

“I had a good start and was going smoothly. The momentum helped me to climb the ghat and I was hoping for similar performance in the latter section of the race. However, on fl at terrain, Dilwar Singh turned out supreme. Still, I am satisfied with my performance, as I gave a good fight,” said Pawar, who has been training with coach Deepali Nikam at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi.

Pawar, who hails from Ahmednagar, has been participating in state and national level cycling contests for over

a decade. Recently, he won the under-23 title (40km) event in the 20th National Road Cycling Championship held in Tamil Nadu. At the international level, he participated in the South Asian Games held in Guwahati, Assam and was placed fourth in the 60km event.

Earlier, in 2013, he also participated in CFI International Races held in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur. In the elite category, he couldn’t impress against international cyclists and was placed 36th in Delhi while failed to fi nish in Mumbai and Jaipur.

In 2012, he was awarded the best cyclist of the 9th National Mountain Bike Championships held in Mumbai.

Interestingly, Pawar turned to cycling after he was forced to cycle to his school.

“I stay in a remote village of Punatgaon. As my village did not have any educational facility, my father admitted me in a school in nearby Newase village. As the school was located around 18 km from my home and as we didn’t have any mode of transportation, I was forced to cycle all the way to school and back. I have been cycling since standard VI and later took it as a sport,” said Pawar, who showed his spark by winning local races in Newase and Ahmednagar at young age.

He initially started training with Sanjay Sathe in Ahmednagar and later shifted to Pune for advanced training.

“I am training rigorously for upcoming tournaments. However,

I need a quality bike to better my timing. I have a good cycle for road events, but for time trials, I require an international quality cycle that will cost around Rs 4-5 lakh. My other needs are taken care by Krida Prabodhini but I need to raise money to buy the new cycle. I am looking for a sponsor and hope to get the support before the next nationals,” said Pawar.

The 22-yearold is also aiming to train along with the professional cycling teams in Europe.

“There are a few cycling teams like Sky, who participate in Tour De France and also have their own training camps open for other cyclists. Of course, they won’t allow outsider cyclists to take part in tournaments with them, but observing them closely and interacting with them is also a learning experience.

Other such open camps for cyclists are also held in Belgium and France. If I get an opportunity to participate in such training, it will defi nitely boost my performance,” he said.

Pawar is preparing for Asian Championship to be held next year. ashish.phadnis@ goldensparrow.com

Dudhare leads state to second place

Wins first-ever individual gold medal for Maharashtra in National Fencing championship TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly Nashik’s Ajinkya Dudhare made history when he won an individual gold medal in the 26th Senior National Fencing Championship held at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi last week.

Ajinkya, who is pursuing his doctorate in fencing from Nashik, defeated Sunil Kumar of Services 15-11 in the individual epee category. Th is is the fi rst gold medal for Maharashtra in the individual category. His performance helped the state fi nish second in overall championship. Services emerged winner with 42 points while host Maharashtra followed them with 11 points. Manipur, who were placed third, garnered nine points.

However, in the women’s section, Maharashtra players failed to impress as they didn’t get a place in the top3. Kerala grabbed the championship with 30 points, followed by Manipur (22 pts) and Punjab (6 pts). In

the women’s team sabre event, Maharashtra fi nished third behind Kerala and Punjab. In the youth boys’ and girls’ segments too, Maharashtra players were not in the top list.

Ajinkya, 26, is currently training at Patiala’s National Institute of Sports (NIS) with coach Mohit Ashwini.

He has ample experience at the international level having participated in six world championships, five Asian Championships, two Commonwealth Championships and 2010 Asian Games in China. Taking part in the sport since last 11 years, Ajinkya credits his father Ashok Dudhare as inspiration to take up the sport.

Ashok, who is also the secretary of Maharashtra Fencing Association, started coaching his son when the latter showed interest in fencing.

The fencing connection in the family doesn’t end here. Ajinkya’s younger sister Asmita is also an international player and has participated in the Under-12 World Championship. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Railway’s Dilawar Singh wins race Railway’s Dilawar Singh emerged winner in the Mumbai–Pune Race with a timing of 3 hours 49.75 minutes.

He was followed by Ganesh Pawar, who clocked 3 hours 54.35 minutes. Dilip Mane who was just behind Pawar, finished third with almost identical timing.

To make it more spectator-friendly, the race was divided into two legs for the fi rst time in history of the event. In the fi rst leg, cyclists covered 80 km from Mumbai to Khandala, which included 7-km ghat section. Khandala to Pune was the second leg (70 km) with a gap of 30 minutes. In all, 80 cyclists took part in the race, which was flagged off from RK Studio, Mumbai and finished at Mariai Gate, Pune.

Dilawar Singh had participated in the 2013 edition of the race but couldn’t manage to get podium finish. However, this time he claimed the title.

“The hot weather and traffic affected my performance. The organisers should conduct this race in winter season, may be in NovemberDecember,” said Dilawar, who trains with Rajendra Soni at NIS Patiala.

Dilawar Singh has won ‘Pedal for Kashmir’ cycling competition held along the banks of picturesque Dal Lake in Srinagar last year.

Amandeep Singh (Railway), Jetram Gat (Telangana) and Mallappa Murtulwar ( Karnataka) were placed fourth, fi fth and sixth respectively.