The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 16/04/2016

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PUNE, APRIL 16, 2016 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

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TGS LIFE

The stage is their second home

MUMBAI

‘Haunted’ Worli Seaface bungalow to be razed P2

This is Donald Trump’s

idea of luxury!

BY YOGESH SADHWANI @yogeshsadhwani

Donald J Trump, US Presidential candidate is the most talked about man in the world these days.

Here in Pune, he is trying to redefine luxury in his own way. Trump’s real estate arm has extended its name to Panchshil Realty’s luxury project in Kalyani Nagar. The twin towers, stretching to 23 storeys each and incorporating 46 sprawling residences, one on every floor. Recently, the developers obtained a completion certificate from the Pune Municipal Corporation for their project named ‘Trump Towers Pune’ and fi led a deed of declaration. Among the many documents, the deed contained ‘Trump Residential Operating Standards Manual (High Rise)’ which spells out the ‘highest five star luxury standards’. The standards lay down guidelines for how the staff at the Trump Towers should dress, wear their hair and jewellery, speak, and so on.

Here are some of the dos-and-don’ts mentioned in the 19-page manual under various subheads: CONCIERGE • The name of an owner, resident or visitor must be used at least three (3) times during a concierge’s interaction with him or her to the extent appropriate given the length of conversation.

Seee inside, p6

CITY

Engineer on satyagraha for joint parenting P5

Did you know Pune is a hub of ice hockey champions?

Majority of the state level players are from the city. Many are now making it to the national team See p08-09

MUMBAI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

“Talking about ‘Swachh Bharat’ and acting on it are two different things. Mumbai was a symbol of India’s development and there should not be such a dumping ground in the metropolis.”

— Rahul Gandhi, Vice President, Congress

India, Germany join hands to clean Ganga P 11

Takale returns to the APRC P 16

‘Haunted’ Worli Seaface bungalow to be razed

The owners of Hormus House moved to the UK several years ago, and have sold the property for Rs 157.52 crore

BY YOGESH SADHWANI AND BAPU DEEDWANIA @TGSWeekly The corner bungalow on Worli Seaface which had been lying vacant for over four decades will soon be brought down to make way for a highrise. Better known as the haunted bungalow, Hormus House has been purchased and the new owners have decided to demolish it.

The property has been acquired in parts by Karp Estate Pvt Ltd and Shree Naman Residency Pvt Ltd, who have now decided to demolish the twostorey decrepit bungalow. They have proposed to construct three buildings – one of 19 storeys which would have three duplexes and one triplex, and the other two buildings rising up to six storeys.

The bungalow on Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road or Worli Seaface was owned by noted surgeon Dr Shapurji Hormusji Modi. Born in 1953, Dr Modi is known to have studied at Grant Medical College and then went to England for further studies at St Bartholomew’s and King’s College Hospitals. He returned to Mumbai in 1899 and used to stay at Cooperage, before moving to Hormus House. The property was leased to him and his wife Shirinbai by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay. The land parcel of 42,400 square feet came along with the two-storey bungalow spread over 13,500 square feet. The property was given on perpetual or endless lease to the Modis.

Dr Modi died in October 1953, leaving the property to his wife Shirinbai and two children, son

Phiroze Modi and daughter Dr Maki Rusi Edulji. Sometime in 1980, Shirinbai sold a part of the vacant land parcel in their property to Noshir Talati, who is now a noted architect in the city. Talati used the plot to build his house. In all this, the Modis retained Hormus House and the land parcel of 27,800 square feet.

After Shirinbai’s death, the

bungalow was jointly owned by Phiroze and Maki.

Shirinbai died in November 1985, leaving the property to her two children – son Phiroze Modi and daughter Dr Maki Rusi Edulji. Very little is known about Phiroze and Maki, except for the fact that they left Hormus House and migrated to England several years ago.

Phiroze passed away in 2002.

In his will, he named his wife Freny and one Cawas Pherojsha Dubash as his executors. He donated a sizeable portion of his wealth to charity. Even in case of his 50 per cent share (remaining half with his sister Maki) in Hormus House, he stated in his will that in case of redevelopment, his wife Freny could retain a flat of 2,000-3,000 square feet (in the new building) and rest of the proceeds should be given to charity.

Freny died in 2007, leaving Dubash and sister Maki to decide the fate of Hormus House.

According to papers available with TGS, the duo sold the bungalow to Karp Estate Private Limited (KEPL) for Rs 42.52 crore in July 2008. KEPL is part of Karp Group, a renowned player in the diamond market, and is owned by brothers Kishor Virani and Anil Virani.

While transferring the lease to KEPL, Dubash and Maki retained floor space index (FSI) of 23,000 square feet in the plot. A week after

PICS BY PRASHANT NARVEKAR

Short-staffed EOW An act of bravery to rescue a cow ill-equipped to deal 1 2 3 with Ponzi schemes

BY SANTOSHEE MISHRA @santosheemishra

With Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis telling legislators that fifty Ponzi schemes are under the government’s scanner, the pressure is mounting on the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai. The sole agency dealing with financial fraud, cheating and growing number of fraudulent chit fund schemes is handicapped by a huge staff shortage.

There are 162 cases of cheating to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore related to the ponzy chit fund scheme. Major companies in the list include Samrudh Jivan, Sai Prasad, Twinkle Group, Citrus Resort Group, Scenic Land Group and Mirah Pvt Ltd Group,

The entire rescue effort was captured on camera Shashank Bhapkar

Mahesh Motewar

which are being probed for their alleged roles in the ponzy chit fund scheme.

“A total of 418 police personnel have been sanctioned in the EOW of the Mumbai Police and it has 12 units to handle financial crimes. But we are understaffed by over 40 per cent,” said Pravin Padwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, EOW. EOW officers are under tremendous work load and handle six cases at a time.

“All the cases falling in the EOW are technical and require a lot of study.

Each case is unique and its modus operandi is different. Our officials probe and study the case, attend internal seminars and have to file chargesheets also,” said a senior officer.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the state legislative assembly that the government is taking proactive steps to prevent people from being cheated through ponzy schemes, and has launched an awareness campaigns on the radio. “We have also instructed the EOW to take suo moto action if they find any advertisement objectionable,” said Fadnavis. santoshee.mishra@goldensparrow.com

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Youth ventures into construction pit to rescue a cow that had fallen in

BY EKTA KATTI @Ektaak Jagdish Koli, 26, rescued a cow that fell into a construction pit dug for the Metro project at Belpada Road in Kharghar, putting himself at the risk of serious injury in the process.

The cow had fallen into the pit on Monday night. Residents of the area informed the fire department about it on Tuesday morning. The fire department had asked for a crane to rescue the animal. But when the crane arrived, someone was needed

to get into the pit.

Koli, aka Bobby, was the man who had the courage to undertake the risky rescue.

“At around 9:30 am on Tuesday I saw the crowd, and Jagdish Koli I saw that a cow had fallen into the pit. Since no one else was willing to get into the pit, I jumped into the pit. First of all I had to calm down the cow, after which I was able to tie the belt around the cow. But as the crane was pulling it out, the cow thrashed around, the belt came loose and it fell into the pit again. I had to get into the pit and repeat the process all over again, but

this time we were able to pull the animal out of the pit,” said Koli.

Koli had rescued some people from drowning in a waterfall at Kharghar in 2012, using a makeshift rope of clothes to pull them out.

Koli, who is a supervisor in a private motor company, says that he is driven by the thought that people have stopped caring for one another, and that he can prove that it is possible to show kindness and mercy to others without wanting anything in return.

Work on the 23.40 km Metro linking Kharghar, Belapur, Taloja, MIDC Kalambol and Khandeshwar has been going on since 2011. And the pit near Belpada Road has been the cause of accidents before. ekta.katti@goldensparrow.com

they struck the deal with KEPL, Dubash and Maki sold the FSI to Shree Naman Residency Private Limited owned by developer Jayesh Shah and Suchita Shah. The deal with Naman was struck at Rs 115 crore. Essentially the entire Hormus House was sold to KEPL and Naman for Rs 157.52 crore.

Years after having acquired the property and lying low over the deal, the two owners have now decided to redevelop Hormus House. They have already raised loans to the tune of Rs 389 crore from Indiabulls Housing Finance.

They have also submitted initial plans for razing Hormus House and erecting three buildings in its place. In their applications to the authorities, they have stated that the bungalow was declared as dilapidated by the municipal corporation in 2011 and redeveloping it is the only way out. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

50 school kids suffer suspected food poisoning Around 50 school students were taken ill allegedly after they had consumed food packets served to them during an event that was held simultaneously at four city colleges, police said.

The event had been organised by Indian International Model United Nations (IIMUN) at Thadomal Shahani College in Bandra, KC College in Churchgate, Lala Lajpatrai College in Haji Ali and Whistling Woods College, they said.

“Around 1,400 students of Class VIII to X from various schools took part in the event. During the event, at around 12.30 pm food packets were served to students,” a police officer said.

The aim of the event was to make a pitch for a permanent seat for India in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). At Thadomal Shahani College, five students started vomiting after consuming the food. While three of them were taken to Hinduja Hospital in Khar, two were rushed to Holy family hospital in Bandra. Two of these students were subsequently discharged, police said.

At Lala Lajpatrai College, around 12 students were taken ill after consuming the food and were rushed to Breach Candy hospital, Bhatiya Hospital and Jaslok hospital. “All of them are out of danger,” police said, adding that students who participated in KC College and Whistling Woods College also complained of uneasiness after consuming the food.

IIMUN, founder and president, Rishabh Shah said, “The students were going to be treated to food from an Indian multinational company that delivers home-style food to corporates and schools. They served rice and dal makhani but both were stale.”

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

“The policemen working with different police stations could also file cases of traffic offences as they have the power. The local police station personnel have been instructed to clear the traffic jams occurring in their jurisdictions and look into the issues such as illegal parking, triggering snarls.”

— Sunil Ramanand, Joint Police Commissioner

Two of 1,100 babus found inefficient P12

Pune residents turn a blind eye to fire hazards PICS BY VISHAL KALE AND TEJAS GAIKWAD

Incidents of fire on the rise across the city, while housing societies fail to maintain their fire-fighting systems

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan

Along with the scorching summer heat, there are a growing number of incidents of fire in the city. In the most recent incident, on April 9, a fire broke out on the seventh floor of the Konark Enclave, Phase II, Building I, which was caused by a gas leak. The residents of Konark Enclave society Prasad Ranpise were unable to put out the fire, as the fire-fighting equipment in the society is outdated. The fire tenders arrived in time and put out the fire, and there were no casualties.

Incidents of fire are on the rise in the city for the last few weeks. But the worry is that residents of housing have no clue about using fire-fighting equipment and systems. Against this backdrop, the Pune Fire Brigade (PFB) has issued notices to 40 societies and shops, including Ganga Constela in Kharadi, Automation Research Association of India, Kothrud, Nyati in Mohammadwadi, Aseem Park in Bibwewadi and Mantri Market in Hadapsar, ordering them to

fulfil all norms under the Maharashtra Fire Act. According to the Maharashtra Fire Prevention & Life Safety Measures Act 2006, it is mandatory for all residential societies to carry out a fire audit. However, the civic administration does not have the mechanism to identify which societies have carried out the fire audit. Hence, the administration finds it difficult to take action against such errant societies.

Chief Fire Officer Prashant Ranpise, PFB, said that they have already sent notices to some societies where fire systems were not maintained. “As per the Maharashtra

Prevention & Life Safety Measures Act 2006, we conduct fire audit twice in a year. We found these societies are not maintaining the fire systems.

We have sent them notices and are awaiting their replies,” he said.

“As per the act, 30 agencies have been given tenders for fire audit in Pune. They conduct audits in January and June and give us reports. After that, if we are not satisfied, we issue notices and they have to reply within 120 days,” he said. PFB has issued the first notice in October 2015. They again sent a notice in March 2016 to Ganga Constella for not maintaining the fire system. The chief officer is still waiting for their reply. Society

chairman Sushobhan Das declined to comment.

Some residents of this society said that very few of them know how to operate a fire extinguisher. Nobody has been trained in using a fire hose or what to do in an emergency.

PFB sources said that with highrise apartments sprouting up all over the city, the issue of fire safety has assumed great importance. “People realise that preparedness is more important than reacting to a calamity.

The Fire and Rescue Services is crippled by the lack of skylifts and other equipment to fight fires in highrise structures,” said a senior officer.

Automation Research Association

of India (ARAI), Kothrud is not observing fire safety rules. Ranpise said, “Our officers visited the office and found that most of the system is outdated and not maintained properly.

Water leakage in pipes is common. We have issued several notices, but they have not replied.”

Vilas Tanpure is in charge of the maintenance of fire equipment and systems in this office. He however, refused to comment on this matter.

Residents allege that fire consultants engaged by builders provide safety equipment on rent solely for the purpose of satisfying the NOC requirement. “The equipment is often dismantled later and taken to another

site,” said a resident of Kothrud.

PFB data shows that inadequate and lack of maintenance of fire systems is the main reason for fires in high-rise building and shops. As per data this year from January to March, fires have broken out in 266 houses. There have been multiple cases of short circuit of electric appliances. While 109 cases have been of electrical fires, 22 have been cooking gas related accidents, and 166 house fires have been due to garbage burning. Authorities seldom check the fire extinguishers in societies and they are not replaced in time.

The situation is like a disaster waiting to happen. sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

“The municipal corporations must not delay formation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and ensure the projects planned under the Smart City Mission are not kept pending.”

— M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Urban Development

Facebook a popular tool among seniors too P10

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PCMC sterilisation centres are no place for healthy animals Stray dog rounded up for sterilisation, catches infection at PCMC veterinary pound, and dies

Dogs are kept in a miserable state at PCMC’s dog pounds. Carcass of a dog was found lying in a cage along with the rest waiting to be sterilised at the Nehru Nagar centre (Above)

than enough funds to carry the SOP and we will implement it as soon as we get proper details and create better infrastructure. We also plan to open a third dog pound in Akurdi or Dapodi.”

According to Dr Devde, there is a water problem at the pound. The borewell runs dry in an hour and they don’t have individual cages for dogs. “Cages where many animals are crammed together are bound to get dirty and unhygienic. In a mass sterilisation programme the possibilities of mistakes are high,” said Devde. Jagtap was unavailable for comment.

Shukantu Sengupta said, “Sheru was a young, healthy and lively dog until he was picked up by the PCMC dog squad van and sterilised on March 2. After that, Sheru went missing for a day.” On March 5, he found Sheru in a critical condition at the Nehru Nagar pound, Pimpri.

“I was shocked to see his condition. I was horrified to see the condition of the pound which was stinking of urine, faeces and stale food,” said Sengupta.

On March 8, the pound officials asked Sengupta to pick up Sheru, who was weak, timid and went into hiding. “His left ear was cut haphazardly. After a few days, Sheru started to bleed from the nose and mouth and his eyes were discharging pus, and he died after days of agonising pain,” he said.

Animal activist Anson Jospeh said, “When the dogs are kept in a group in such germ-infested pounds, an infected dog’s faeces could easily

affect and transmit infections to other animals. Cleanliness and hygiene are of the utmost importance.” romil.kothari@goldensparrow.com

Standard of Procedure that should be followed by dog pound Under sub-sections (1) (2) of section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (59 of 1960), few norms that should be strictly followed by dog pound are as follows: 1) The dog kennel must have sufficient space for proper housing and free movement of dogs.

The place should have proper ventilation and natural lighting and must be kept clean. Adults and puppies must be housed separately

and amongst the adults the males and females also should be housed separately. Adequate arrangement for drinking water and food shall be made for dogs while in captivity.

2) At a time only one lot of dogs shall be brought for sterilisation, immunisation at one dog kennel or dog pound and these dogs shall be from one locality. Two lots from different areas or localities shall not be mixed at the same dog pound or dog kennel.

3) Periodic repair of shelter or pound.

4) While the dogs are being captured in any locality the representative of the local authority or of the animal welfare organisation accompanying the dog squad will make announcements on a public address system that dogs are being captured from the area for the purpose of sterilisation and immunisation and will be released in the same area after

There are just 145 headmasters for 310 PMC-run schools, and 35 of them are run without a headmaster

TEJAS GAIKWAD

Teachers at PMC schools come and go as they please

Warje area has been operating without a headmaster for a year and the Late Gulabrao Tukaram Wanjale School has been operating without a headmaster for two years. Despite numerous letters from parents and me, the school board chiefs have ignored the issue. Now we have issued an ultimatum signed by parents to the school board to appoint headmasters on or before March 17, failing which we will launch an agitation in front of the school board building from March 18. They have not left us any option but to agitate peacefully over our demands.”

Shankar Wabale whose daughter Karishma is studying in standard III at PMC School number 196, said, “This school has been operating without a headmaster for a year. With no headmaster, even teachers are not punctual and even non-teaching staff come in whenever they please. No senior officials visit this school and as a result the school management is in disarray. This is affecting the academic future of students adversely. We parents informed the corporator of our area

about this, but nothing has happened so far.”

About no headmasters at 35 PMC schools, board deputy chief Shubhangi Chavan said, “In the wake of complaints from parents and PMC members, we have decided to promote 35 senior teachers to headmasters and appoint them at the 35 schools. The process is underway and we will give the headmasters appointment letters by the coming week.”

RTE activist and Aam Aadmi Party leader Mukund Kirdat said, “This is a brazen violation of primary educational norms. There is a lack of political will behind the appointments of headmasters in PMC run schools.

The economically and educationally weaker section whose children study in PMC schools, are not aware of what goes on in these schools. Middle class people enrol their children in private schools that charge astronomical fees.

We have to take up this issue and state our demand for appointing headmasters to the school board forcefully.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

Getting a passport is a complex task.

It involves multiple steps, all in the interests of security checks. And the complex task gets impossible if one of the agencies involved refuses to cooperate. Ask Surekha Shah of Dattwadi.

Shah, 54, has been trying to get a passport for the past three months. All her documentation is in place. However, her police verification report has returned in negative twice. While she has a civil case filed against her by her landlord, the Dattawadi police station deems it to be a criminal case. “Though it is a civil case, in the police verification it is said that there’s a criminal case against her,” said Nikhil, Shah’s son who works for a private firm. Dattawadi Police Constable Supriya Raut is the one responsible d in the police verification.

Surekha’s son-in-law Taral Lunavat, who lives in Sweden, is trying to get help through social media, “A civil case is put up as a criminal case in the police verification. This falsification of the report has caused us much grief,” he said. Nikhil thinks it’s a well planned move to harass them. “I have seen the police verification report. In it, there’s a section that asks if there is a criminal case against the person. I can see how the officer has applied whitener and has changed her answer to ‘Yes’,” he said.

“We have tried explaining, written multiple letters and have even tried to talk directly to both the police and the passport authorities. However, it has all been in vain, as no one really listens,” he said.

The police however have a different version altogether. Constable Raut said, “It is a civil case and that is what I have mentioned. The verification report has gone forth and the passport office has sent it back currently as they want a version from both the parties in the civil case. We have notified the Shahs about this. That is the reason of the delay.”

They discouraged the claim of Nikhil that the delay is because of malpractice.

The passport authorities however, explain that for them the written report from the police is the more reliable source.

While according to law, civil Surekha Shah case necessarily does not deem a rejection in the passport issuance.

However, in this case, talking about the complain of the applicant, the Regional Passport Officer Atul Gotsurve said, “For us, the police verification is an important step as the police verify the details submitted to us. So, if the police verification report claims a certain fact, we can’t ignore it. The police and the applicant will have to sort it out amongst themselves.”

“I have seen the report myself where under the criminal case section, there is a ‘Yes’. Why should we be lying against the police?” said Nikhil. “If the police are acting on their own whims and fancies, how are we at fault? We have even spoken to Raut and explained the situation to her. I don’t know why she is not changing the lie she should have not put in the first place,” he added.

Surekha had applied for a passport as she wanted to travel to Sweden in June for her son-in-law’s PhD dissertation. “We had applied in February, under the tatkal quota. However, till now her passport is nowhere near getting processed. Even if it gets under and comes by next month, there is a very slim chance of her actually getting to go to Sweden as the visa itself will take a lot of time and she may not make it to Sweden in time,” said Nikhil.

Taral raises another point. “Both Nikhil and my wife Tejaswee received their passports, even though the civil case is on Nikhil as well. However, it is only my mother-in-law who has had to face this,” he said.

The family’s fight for justice is set to continue. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Bar Council wants a dress code for law students The Bar Council of India has serious concerns regarding the professional experience imparted by the various law colleges and university in the country.

In a letter dated April 7, the Council has addressed the various principals and registrars of all law colleges and universities in the country. The letter deals with the issue of necessitating dress codes in colleges and encouraging a regular moot court attendance.

The letter by Ashok Kumar Pandey, Joint Secretary of the Bar Council of India addresses two issues, one of the moot and the other, a raging issue a few months ago, about dress codes. His letter quotes the Legal Education Committee’s decisions and recommendations made in October 2015. Sources believe that the letter has been sent to reaffirm the Bar Council’s position with the law colleges. “The council is not exactly happy about the lack of hands-on experience the law students get.

The dress code has been a burning topic since some time now,” said an official at the Maharashtra Bar Council.

The Legal Education Committee had decided in October, at the behest of

the Madhya Pradesh bar council, that while the universities and colleges have the right to decide if they wish to impose a dress code on the students, they would recommend a dress code of white shirt and black/grey/brown trousers to the universities. While most of the universities ignored the guidelines, some decided to implement a specific dress code for events.

However, in April, National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru had an incident where a professor had commented on the shorts worn by a female student. “The comments made were sexist and hurtful. Many of us wear shorts everyday to college, but Professor V Nagaraj made hurtful comments, causing aspersions on her character,” said a third year student of NLSIU. Many believe that this incident made the Bar Council resend the letters, asking them to reconsider the dress codes in their colleges. The letter reads, “It has been found that the standard of dresses by the students of law all over the country is detracting and which does not give impression of proper dress code discipline especially for the professional education.” It further recommends, “The matter is left to each university/college to decide in respect of dress code what is feasible befitting the profession in this TEJAS GAIKWAD

There is a dire need for more headmasters at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) school board run schools. As many as 35 of 310 PMC schools are operating without headmasters. There are just 145 headmasters for the 310 schools, which means that some headmaster are heading more than two schools at a time. PMC schools have been facing a shortage of teaching staff, and now schools running without headmasters is an even more deplorable state of affairs.

At schools without headmasters even the teachers and non-teaching staff play truant regularly. Parents and local corporators are now up in arms and have threatened an agitation at the board building from March 18, if the school board fails to appoint headmasters for all the schools before March 17.

Most students at the 310 PMC schools are from economically weaker sections. PMC spends crores of rupees on primary education. Last year PMC spent Rs 335.68 crore on school board which looks after primary education in PMC limits. But this money has been properly used. And the board mired in scams like low quality uniforms, and fraud in purchasing school material.

Warje corporator Dilip Barate said, “The board-run Late Vanabai Baloba Barate School (School number 196) in

sterilisation and immunisation.

The announcement may also brief ly educate the residents of the area about the dog control programme and solicit the support of all the residents reassuring them that the local authority is taking adequate steps for their safety.

5) Female dogs found to be pregnant shall not undergo abortion (irrespective of stage of pregnancy) and sterilisation and should be released till they have litter.

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar

Woman denied passport because of a civil dispute TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly

BY ROMIL KOTHARI @romil_kothari Sheru, a 12-month-old stray dog, died of an infection he contracted at the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) sterilisation pound.

TGS made a survey of the PCMC pound and found the conditions to be highly unhygienic. The animals were crammed into the cages, and the odours of faeces and stale food were overpowering.

There are two pounds run by Dr Sonap Jagtap and Dr Deepak Devde in Nehru Nagar in the PCMC area.

According to a PCMC report, 13,943 sterilisation surgeries were performed in 2015-16 at the two pounds. It costs Rs 650 to sterilize a dog.

Dr Jagtap’s pound was earlier run by a registered animal welfare organisation called People for Animal (PFA). PFA founder Manoj Oswal said. “The facility was designed as a dog slaughtering house. We tried our best to keep the pound going but our pleas for better infrastructure fell on deaf ears.”

PCMC Veterinary head, Dr Satish Gore, said, “We currently don’t have a Standard of Procedure (SOP) to follow on dog pounds. We have more

‘In past, bureaucracy didn’t fear speaking’

regard. It would be preferable if the college followed dress code of white shirt with trousers (white/black/grey).”

Regarding Moot sessions, the letter reads, “It has been repeatedly communicated by various orders to all the law colleges through circular that each college must communicate to the Bar Council of India how many times the school have participating in moot court during each semester.” While some colleges have certain rules making a number of moots for the students compulsory, many leading colleges keep moot sessions a voluntary activity.

According to law students across the country, while moot sessions provide enough practice and experience, they are a burden on the course work and even the students’ pockets. “While college does not force us to participate, there aren’t enough cookie points for the students who actively participate. Their attendances or even cost of travel are not compensated. This makes Moot sessions a troublesome affair and not something we look forward to,” said Chetan Priyadarshi from the ILS Law College Pune.

While the institutes in Pune have denied receiving such a letter, the students, when informed are not too happy with it. An ILS student, on condition of anonymity, said, “Uniforms have never been a must. Of course every college has their own dos and don’ts, but they have never been a unified code. It is a form of oppression, in a way.” An NLSIU student supported this, by stating, “We are supposed to concentrate on studying.

Why make compulsions when they are not necessary? Moots have always been voluntary and students generally take active participation in it.” gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

“The transport company has to work out plans for running buses on certain routes.

Responsibilities should be fixed about proper operations. If there is assured frequency and the fares are lowered, the number of commuters would increase in two years.”

— Jugal Rathi, president of the PMP Pravasi Manch

PUNE

China blocks UN Sanctions on Azhar, India fumes

Stephen Hawking backs project to blast tiny ships into space

P13

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Engineer on satyagraha for joint parenting

BY EKTA KATTI @Ektaak

Tejsingh Gaikwad, 37, is a man on a mission. He has launched a personal satyagraha 17 days ago, in a bid to assert his rights as a parent, and to see his six-year-old daughter Nvyia.

Gaikwad said that his wife, who is from Pune, walked out on him 11 months after they were married, in 2008. She was pregnant at the time and she filed for a divorce and a case of domestic violence was filed against Gaikwad in 2013.

“I am not a criminal. I am just demanding my rights as a father and want shared parenting,” said Gaikwad, who has been on water and tea ever since he sat on what he terms as satyagraha.

Gaikwad, who lives at Pashan, filed for visitation rights in 2013.

But he was not granted a fixed schedule, nor was the court order properly implemented. In 2015, he moved the Bombay High Court for shared parenting and he was granted visitation rights on the first, third and fifth Sundays. But his wife is never at home and Gaikwad has rarely been able to spend time with his daughter.

Gaikwad, who is fighting his case as Party in Person, wrote to the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court regarding a father’s rights to meet the child during separation or after divorce.

“No one came forward to support me, so I was left with no other option than to launch a satyagraha,” said Gaikwad, an engineering consultant.

Gaikwad is concerned over the

What is shared parenting?

Problems faced by Non Custodial Parents

It is a legal mechanism which is applied in the cases of divorce and separation. Shared parenting is when both the parents have equal access of the child. Normally, after the divorce or separation, the child by default stays with the mother. However, for the righteous development of the child, the father can file for visitation, custody or access of the child. Depending on the court orders, the father will get the right to meet their child.

However, under shared parenting, both the parents get equal time with the child and are equally involved with the child’s decision.

When the custodial parent denies free access the NCP, the situation further tarnishes the relationship between the child and the NCP. After the NCP is not given free access, the child hardly gets time to spend with the NCP. This further alienates the child from the NCP. Not giving access of child to NCP is a crime worldwide. This hampers the growth and development of the child. The courts in India should take cognizance of and act sternly and deny custody to custodial parent who are restricting child access to NCP.

toll this situation is taking on his daughter. “This situation is bound to affect her adversely in the long run.

The bond between the non-custodial parent and child worsens when the custodial parent denies and restricts free access to the non-custodial parent.” said Gaikwad.

“I will never ask for my daughter’s full custody, because she needs the love of both the parents. Shared, equal and equanimous parenting is all I ask for. It can be done by institutionalising implementation of equal shared parenting in all courts dealing with family matters. The court should enable parenting, not disable it,” said Gaikwad.

As per reports, there are more than 10,000 men in Maharashtra fighting for shared parenting. Pune

Proposed solution The government should start shared parenting helpline number, where the non-custodial parent could register the details for their children and problems faced by them in the court. The details provided should be recorded for safety purposes.

A 5-day shared parenting workshop should be conducted at the Bombay High Court and other family courts. The workshop should be attended by Hon’ble judges of all the family court and High Court, family court counsellors, members of the shared parenting enablers, other stakeholders such as doctors, physiologists, and teachers.

The solution obtained through this workshop should be documented and made available to the public on the court’s website.

Tejsingh Gaikwad

based engineer, Raghav Kumar, 36, has been fighting for visitation and overnight access of the child since 2015. He said, “This is increasingly becoming a menace to society. The child deserves the love and affection of both parents. The Bombay High Court has laid down guidelines for

child visitation which are ignored.”

In January 2016, the Bombay High Court passed an order in the case of Archana Tushar Ubale vs Tushar Ubale for shared parenting, awarding equal parenting time for both mother and father considering the welfare of the child. The court

was of the opinion that the child, who is residing with the father, should reside with both the parents equally which is better for the child’s development. The High Court, supporting shared parenting, said, “A majority of the children want contact with both the parents on regular basis and if it is denied, then, the children become hostile to the once loved but now noncustodial, ie, absent parent.

If a custodial parent speaks badly about the absent parent, the child tends to identify with that sentiment.

Gradually, a feeling that I can do without the absent parent develops

and this gradual parental alienation becomes a part of the child’s life and which may lead to social alienation which is in fact a deep trauma and not a healthy or happy circumstance.

Alienated children often show contempt and withdraw affection whenever they are in contact with the parent. Physical estrangement adds to emotional alienation.” The Court ordered access to non-custodial mother 14 days in a month.

Family lawyer Suchitra Raje said, “Equal parenting is a must for a child’s proper development.” ekta.katti@goldensparrow.com

Two-fold increase in Milk production rise marks bright PMPML rash driving cases spot in gloom of drought

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan Abid Shaikh (name changed on request of anonymity), 42, a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) bus driver scraped another PMPML bus at the signal near Hadapsar on Tuesday, and as a result, he is serving a two-month suspension.

On an average, six drivers are issued suspension notices owing to accidents through rash or careless driving every month. The rising number of accidents involving PMPML buses has rendered many drivers being suspended from duty. This has resulted in a shortage of drivers, which on duty drivers fill by working overtime. There are at present 3000 PMPML drivers, including those on contract.

According to PMPML there were 48 accidents in 2014. In 2015, 82 drivers were accused of rash driving and causing accidents.

Till March 2016, 115 accidents have occurred.

PMPML data has registered 70 fatal accidents in the past two years, till January 2016, in which 72 persons lost their lives. Of the 70 accidents, 36 were caused by contractual bus drivers, in which the death toll rose to 37. After these accidents, the police filed the first information report and the case has gone to court. A departmental enquiry was done. The drivers involved in the 70 fatal accidents are facing suspension.

PMPML public relation officer Subhash

Gaikwad, said, “In most cases, it is not the driver’s fault and the injured or deceased are to blame. Our departmental inquiry goes on and action is taken against them by suspending them for two months or more. In the case of contractual drivers, we immediately send a letter to the contractor providing details about the accident and order them not to assign that driver for duty again.”

“The extreme action taken is dismissal of drivers from duty but it has not been done with anyone yet. But, we send them on leave. After finishing enquiry we have to take them back and continue giving them salaries,” he said.

A driver facing suspension said on condition of anonymity that the shortage of drivers has put them under pressure. “The suspension of drivers leads to a shortage of drivers. We are asked to work overtime. When we work for more than ten or 12 hours, errors can happen from weariness” PMPML workers Union (INTUC) xxxxx Ashok Jagtap said that in most accidents, drivers were not involved. “PMPML has a shortage of drivers. The available drivers work overtime and even the buses are not in good condition.

Drivers on suspension forfeit their salary and running a home without salary is difficult.”

Activist Jugal Rathi, said, “PMPML officials lack sensitivity and inquiries are done haphazardly. We demand expert, impartial and time-bound inquiries of each fatal accident.

Strict action should be initiated against the drivers, and details of the accident and action taken by PMPML must be published every quarter. Most importantly, criminal cases must be filed in these fatal accidents.” sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

Katraj Dairy registers record increase in milk collection in March 2016

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar

RAHUL RAUT

Maharashtra is facing a drought-like situation owing to the scanty rainfall last year. As a result, the Pune Municipal Corporation has adopted an alternate day water supply plan since September 1, 2015, with levels of water in dams supplying water to the city falling to dangerously low levels. Amidst all this, the record increase in milk production in Pune district comes as welcome news. Pune District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (PDCMPUL), popularly known as ‘Katraj Dairy’ encompassing Pune district, has registered a 14,52,701 litres increase in milk production in March 2016, compared to March 2015. Katraj Dairy has recorded 68,52,932 litres of milk collection in March 2016, as compared to 54,00,231 litres in March 2015. In contrast, milk collection has decreased in Solapur and Satara districts.

The below average rainfall last year has spelt less fodder for livestock. The farmers have also had to bear with the fallout of the government’s ban on beef, with the expense of feeding non-productive cattle.

A bundle of jawar fodder weighing about five kg costs Rs 20 rupees and one milk giving cow needs at least three such bundles daily. Landless farmers have to but fodder to feed their cattle. The situation has left farmers in a desperate situation which is a prime reason for farmers’ suicides in Maharashtra.

Managing Director of PDCMPUL, Dr Vivek Ksheersagar said, “The dairy has a milk collection capacity 1.50 lakh litres per day. We have registered milk collection increase of 14,52,701 litres in March 2016 over March 2015. We have collected 68, 03,784 litres of milk in January 2016, 65,69,773 litres of milk collection in 28 days of February, and 68,52,932 litres in March, with eight chilling plants spread all over Pune district.

“The main reason for this increase is that we are paying milk producers a rupee extra per litre. Katraj Dairy pays Rs 21.70 per litre milk to producers, which is higher than others. With the help of the centre’s National Dairy Plan, we have conducted milk production awareness camps in the district, and have been training milk producers about complete fodder diet for cattle, caring for

VISHAL KALE

PMPML drivers involved in accidents face two-month suspension and also forfeit their salaries

Milk collection by Pune District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited MONTH

CO-OPERATIVE DAIRIES

PRIVATE DAIRIES

TOTAL

MAR 2015

50,40,579

359652

5400231 5630885

APR 2015

5251405

379480

MAY 2015

5490842

498956

5989798

JUNE 2015

5479662

542566

6022228

JULY 2015

5605498

439610

6045108

NOV 2015

5985736

141485

6127221

DEC 2015

6415508

213614

6629122

JAN 2016

6578600

225184

6803784

FEB 2016

6324190

245583

6569773

MAR 2016

6468822

384110

6852932 Collection in litres

livestock, disease prevention and boosting milk production. We also give regular milk producers a bonus during Diwali.

We provide fodder cutters, veterinary medicines, oil-cake (artificial fodder made from groundnut), and milk stock cans free of cost to producers. These are some reasons for record increase in milk collection. We are a 50 years old co-operative milk producers union so people have faith in us.”

Gujarat’s AMUL, the biggest milk cooperative collection organisation which has expanded its operations to Maharashtra.

AMUL has started collecting milk from

Maharashtra and the state’s private and public milk collection units have voiced concerns and asked the government to stop AMUL’s milk collection in the state. Katraj Dairy is the exception with its increased milk collection.

“There is competition from milk collection dairies from other states, but we are committed to deliver more to milk producers. The milk producers has the option of selling milk to the dairy of their choice. They will sell their milk to those who pay them the best rates,” said Ksheersagar. tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

“Citizens have no option but to manage commuting on bad roads. Even basic things such as placing notice boards have not been followed in several areas. People come to know that the road ahead is dug up, only when they are enroute.”

— Qaneez Sukharni, Founder of Association of Nagar Road Citizen Forum

Most Arabs reject ISIS, think ‘caliphate’ will fail: Survey P 13

This is Donald Trump’s idea of luxury!

IMAGE AND APPEAR ANCE In general, the Trump brand requires a conservative, simply elegant appearance, including without limitation with respect to grooming, attire jewellery and hygiene, and without limitation the requirements set forth hereinafter.

• Fingernails must be clean and moderate in length. Fingernail polish may not include any designs, nail piercing or appliqués in extreme colour, and should be natural or similar hues. Very long acrylic, decorated or bejewelled nails are prohibited.

• Cosmetics and their application must be conservative and elegant, and never gaudy or conspicuous. Male employees may not wear cosmetics.

• Footwear must be conservative and low key.

• Jewellery must be tasteful and gaudy or conspicuous. Necklaces may not be visible on any uniform staff members unless part of the issued uniform.

Facial piercing of any kind is not permitted. One bracelet or watch per arm may be worn but cannot include large or excessive bangles, bracelets, rubber or jelly bracelets of any kind.

Rings of conservative nature may be worn with a maximum of two rings per hand; wedding sets are permitted.

Males may not wear earrings at all.

Females may wear earrings that are not eccentric and do not contain insignias; small studs or hoops are permitted. In all events earrings may be no longer in area than that of a quarter.

• Undergarments must be worn at all times and may not be visible.

• All female employees who work at the front of house or who have contact with resident, owner or visitors (including without limitation housekeeping employees) must wear demure stockings or panty hose during all seasons.

• Hair must be worn conservatively and convey a professional appearance.

Hair, and may not fall on the face below the eyebrow, or obstruct eye-toeye contact at any time. Hair longer than shoulder length if permitted must be pulled back or tied up. Extreme, loud or faddish colours or styles are prohibited, including without limitation dreadlocks, cornrows and shaven pattern, and as a result of application of products (such as gel and spray). Hair may not excessively adorned or arranged with ribbons, clips, beads or glitter or the like. Plain, simple devices such as barrettes and hair holders are acceptable as long as they are of neutral colour and style, and do not pose a safety hazard. Hats are not permitted unless they are a part of an issued uniform.

• Male Employees’ Hair: Facial hair must be neatly groomed including shaving daily with no stubble.

Sideburns must be neatly trimmed and cannot extend below bottom of the earlobe. Moustaches are permitted as long as they are neatly trimmed and do not extend bottom of the upper lip, and may not be grown while on active duty. Goatee, beard, sole patch and

shadow are not permitted. Hats are not permitted unless they are a part of an issued uniform.

DOORMEN • Vehicle doors must be opened without delay; owners, residents and visitors may never have to wait or open their own door.

• Large umbrellas bearing the logo “Trump” must be available for and offered to residents and visitors at the front door during the inclement and weather.

PORTERS • Porters must use an owner’s, resident’s or visitor’s name a minimum of three (3) times when escorting him or her; when departing his or her room, porters must provide a pleasant, warm and genuine farewell and indicate that the porters are available for assistance.

HEALTH CLUB • Health club must include a high quality music system.

• Complimentary water, 100% cotton towels and fruits must be offered.

• Health Club/Gym Locker Rooms offer the following minimum amenities: • Ample supply of 100% cotton terry (bath sheets, bath towels and wash cloths) • Ample supply of high quality amenities in oversized bottles including: Shampoo, Conditioner, Bath gel, Lotion, Hair gel, Deodorants, Cologne selections, Emory board, Sauna, Jacuzzi POOL • Pool water temperature must be maintained at maximum 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) at all times.

• Whirlpool water temperature must be at maximum 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) at all times.

Whirlpool area must have signage with stated regulations pertaining to use by people with health conditions and children.

STAFFING AND HUMAN RESOURCES • Owner or tenants are not permitted to hire a convicted felon to work onsite unless otherwise mandated by law.

Mandatory background checks must be completed on all employees.

SITE MAINTENANCE AND LANDSCAPING • Under no circumstance may any air conditioners protrude or be noticeable from any windows or balconies or be otherwise visible from any units or outside locations.

INTER ACTIONS WITH RESIDENTS, OWNERS AND VISITORS • Employees must smile at and maintain eye contact as much as possible with owners, residents and visitors.

• Employees must address owners, residents and visitors by name to

Residents of Trump Towers

Sanjay Ghodawat

Ranbir Kapoor

Prasan Firodia

Rishi Kapoor

the extent reasonably possible.

All employees (including without limitation doormen, valets, concierge staff and porters) who have regular or frequent interactions with a resident, visitor or owner must become familiar with such person’s name.

• Employees must not use the word “no” to a resident. Employees must be helpful. If an employee cannot help the resident, he/she must be referred to the resident manager or the matter must be referred to the resident manager.

• Employees must not lean on walls or counters.

• Employees must apologize whenever a resident has to wait for service.

• Employees must hold doors open for residents and visitors.

• Employees must ask if a resident can be places on hold before doing so.

• When receiving a gratuity, an employee must immediately smile at and thank the person giving the gratuity, and not count the gratuity in such person’s presence.

• Employees may not socialize with

The twin towers, each of 23 storeys, have 46 flats with carpet area of 4,500 square feet each. The houses have been sold to who’s who from Pune and Mumbai. Actor Rishi Kapoor and his son Ranbir Kapoor have bought two flats. Others include Irfan Khatri (son of irrigation scam accused Nisar Khatri), Sanjay Ghodawat (businessman with interest in renewable energy, FMCG, textiles, mining, real estate and education), MRC Transolutions (headed by Arvind Arya), Chirag Lakhi (diamond merchant Dilipkumar Lakhi’s son), Prasan Firodia (MD of Force Motors). residents, visitors, owners or any employees or clients of the foregoing.

Employees may not borrow money from owners, residents, or visitors or engage in any business relationships of transactions with them. Employees must not use first names in addressing owners, residents or guests or otherwise indulge in familiarities. Employee may not socialize (whether in the Building or the Property of otherwise) with owners, visitors or guests under any circumstances except in connection with their employment. Employee must contact a resident manager if there is doubt about a situation.

TELEPHONE STANDARDS • Employees must answer the phone promptly – phones must be answered by the third (3rd) ring.

• Express yourself: Speak at a moderate rate and volume, but vary the tone of your voice to show a bright and cheery voice. Avoid a monotone, computer style conversation. Put a “smile” in your voice.

• Placing a call on hold: Some phones have hold buttons. First obtain permission from the caller to place them on hold. If the caller chooses to stay on line, check every 30 seconds to let them know that you have not forgotten about them. Always thank the caller for waiting and show the caller your appreciation.

• Using the caller’s name: Use the caller’s name as much as possible. This makes the caller feel recognized and provides a better feeling regarding service.

HOW TO HANDLE COMPLAINTS • Employees must listen to the resident attentively with an expression of concern and interest. Employees must keep eye contact while the resident is speaking and keep record of any relevant information. Then the employee must let the resident know that the complaint is being written down.

• Employees must sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and reassure the resident that every effort will be made to rectify the condition. Employees can respond by saying, “I apologize that you have experienced this situation and I thank you for letting me know. This is how I can get started on resolving this matter for you… Is this acceptable?”

• Employees must not accept responsibility for the situation as that may put the management in a liability risk condition. Employees must not say anything like, “I’m sorry we did….. to you” or “That happens all the time.”

Employees must not assess blame or present an excuse, but look only at resolving complaint.

GENER AL RULES AND RESPONSIBILITIES • Employees must not carry beepers, cellular phones or any electronic equipment unless authorized by management.

• Employees must not engage in any type of arguments with residents, their visitors, commercial unit owners,

other employees or clients. Every effort must be made to avoid arguments and unnecessary discussions. If a situation develops that cannot be resolved satisfactorily, the resident manager must be contacted immediately.

• Employees must not congregate anywhere in the building during off time. When shifts change, employees must change into street clothing and leave the premises immediately.

• Employees are not permitted to borrow, lend or use any supplies, furniture, equipment or vehicles from the company, residents, visitors or other employees. Parking of residents’ vehicles by staff is strictly prohibited.

Building staff is strictly prohibited from performing any maintenance work. For residents or vacant/occupied apartments either during or after work hours unless it is an emergency and authorized by the resident manager.

This rule has no exceptions. Under no circumstances should an employee take the responsibility of retaining resident’s car keys and securing cars in front of the building.

• Employees must not discuss matters unrelated to the assignments while they are on duty.

• Employees may not bring onto (or hang or otherwise have in their possession in) the Property any pornographic, “pinup” type or any sexually provocative or similar images (whether or not any of the foregoing display nudity) anywhere in the Property.

• Employees must work overtime if necessary, in order to ensure that every shift has minimum manpower coverage.

• Discrimination or harassment against a resident, visitor or fellow staff member because of race, colour, age, religion, sex, national origin or disability will not be tolerated. Neither will unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical expressions of a sexual nature to other staff members, residents or visitors of the building. yogesh.sadhwani@goldensparrow.com

Pune resident launches ‘Angholichi Goli Ghya’ to save water

A family of five can save 50 litres of water by skipping a bath once a week

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar

Former Mayor of Pune Dattatraya Dhankawade had declared alternate day water supply to city on September 1, owing to scanty rainfall in city and low water levels in dams.

Electrical engineer Madhav Dhanawe-Patil, 36, is doing his bit to save water by bathing on alternate days.

He also launched a campaign called Angholichi Goli Ghya, or take a bath tablet. The message is to skip a bath at least once a week to save water. He is making this appeal to housing societies, colleges, and to eminent personalities.

He has written Ghya Angholichi Goli, Me Pani in Marathi on a slate, with which he clicks photographs alongside eminent people, and uploads the photos on social media.

Madhav’s campaign is turning into

Madhav’s campaign is turning into a mass movement and his Facebook followers have crossed the 15,000 mark

a mass movement and his Facebook followers have crossed the 15,000 mark. Madhav says that a family of five, with ten litres of water per person for a bath, can save 50 litres of water a week by skipping a bath. People in Marathwada and Vidarbha have to

wait for hours to get drinking water.

And urban residents in the state areas can save thousands of litres of water through Madhav’s concept.

Madhav has met more than 500 people personally and connected with people through Facebook and 40

whatsapp groups, who are following Madhav’s proposal.

Madhav Once on day of Padava in Diwali said, “I have been bathing on alternate days since September 1. Even my wife Rupali skipped her bath on Gudi Padwa. People in Marathwada struggle to get drinking water, and they are coming to Pune and Mumbai due to

water scarcity. Water is public property and every citizen of this country has equal right to water. It is a shame that farmers who have given land for dams are deprived of water. Under the name of development, we are taking away farmers’ lands which are the means of their livelihood. Farmers who have given land for dams have not been rehabilitated. Farmers are committing suicide in our country. Citizens of Pune get 130 litres of water per capita daily, while rural people struggling to get drinking water. There is a huge migration from Marathwada to Pune, who are to be found at Majoor Adda in Hadapsar. It’s our responsibility to save water for our rural brothers.”

Yuvak Kranti Dal’s chief Kumar Saptarshi, senior political analyst Suhas Palshikar, RTI activist Vivek Velankar, Communication studies HOD Madhavi Reddy, ANIS’s Vinod Shirsat, economist Bharat Desadala and Dnyan Prabodhini’s Harsha Kirke are among the eminent personalities who have supported and participated in Madhav’s campaign ‘Vidyawani’ community radio

of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has taken cognisance of Madhav’s campaign and broadcast a show on his campaign. Madhav is also a MA Philosophy student of SPPU. He urged people not to celebrate even dry Holi as water is needed to wash even dry colours. Many SPPU departments did not celebrate even dry Holi on Madhav’s appeal.

Madhav’s friend Vikas Ugale helps him in the campaign, which has reached Jaysinghpur and Kolhapur areas. “My likeminded friends in Jaysinghpur and Kolhapur are undertaking this drive in Kolhapur region. I plan to connect with likeminded youths from Maharashtra and sensitise people regarding water.

I have printed pamphlets with tips for saving water, like using bath water in the toilet, kitchen water for plants, and skipping a bath once a week. We have only ten per cent potable water and the rest is ocean water which we cannot use.

So water is very precious and it is every human being’s responsibility to use it very carefully. The third world war will be fought on water issue,” said Madhav. tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

“Jews have been part of the Indian society for 2,300 years now. But post independence, we have not been recognised as a minority.”

— Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, Head, Delhi Jewish Community

“Mahatma Phule was a stalwart ahead of his time, who gave voice to the marginalised. Inspired by his ideals, let us work to create a harmonious society where the role of education is pivotal.”

— Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Vegan is their way of life

Living Free has been popularising the benefits of having only veggies in diet

BY SALONEE MISTRY @SaloneeMistry

Two years ago, five activists went home thrilled with the launch of ‘Living Free’ campaign in Pune. Animal lovers at heart, they all were just waiting for an opportunity to do something that would save the lives of the voiceless beings. Today, from five, the community is one of India’s strongest and largest.

And each member who believe in the cause has worked hard to move their group forward and make it popular. ‘Living Free’, the fl agship campaign of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), focuses on the reduction in the consumption of animal products by mobilising grassroots movement and spreading awareness.

Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry. Vegans, besides being vegetarian, also do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products. Living Free works towards making veganism an easily adopted and widely recognised approach to reducing animal and human suffering.

With the support of dedicated Living Free leaders and volunteers, over 1,50,000 people have been reached out all over the country.

The members of ‘Living Free’ in Pune have been regularly organising awareness campaigns on roadsides

Be it standing on streets/roadsides shouting slogans and raising awareness or doing road shows, screening of movies, putting up stalls and even running awareness drives in schools and colleges, the volunteers of Living Free in Pune Community have done everything to get the message across. Also add vegan cooking challenges in hotel management institutes, street art, talks and even presentations to the list.

Pune community’s leader and foremost volunteer Neha Vaz said, “Functioning in 15 cities across India, the volunteer base of the community is huge and its success can be attributed to the national campaigns that are run regularly.

Living Free focuses on reduction in the consumption of animal products by mobilising grassroots movement and spreading awareness. Living Free operates in Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Jammu,

Delhi, Coimbatore, Varanasi, Udaipur and Surat other than Pune. In some of these cities, we have partnered with local organisations and, in others, individuals are supporting us to spread the word.”

The community’s biggest challenge includes fi nding a location to conduct their events and get requisite permissions to hold them. Apart from this, fi nding the perfect start to a conversation, approaching people and create a greater demand for cruelty - free products are the other problems that they are continuously trying to resolve.

Even with so many issues the community has reached 46,000 plus people, held more than 3,800 video screenings, carried out 84 major outreach campaigns and adopted seven colleges as a part of their Adopt-A-College campaign.

Their list of achievements also includes arranging India’s biggest

PUNE

Empower women under Digital India

Vegan Festivals in 2014 and 2015 that was attended by 7,000 people and 40 ethical businesses.

When asked about her experience with Living Free, Neha said, “My journey to become a vegan and a more compassionate soul has accentuated after I joined the community. It has been a learning experience all along, to meet like-minded vegans, or non-vegetarians which we try to convert all the time. I personally learnt composting, growing my own greens and raw food recipes through the events that we organise.”

Th rough email support network and outreach events, the volunteers give advice and support to a diverse range of people: from those looking to go vegan, to long-standing vegans on how they can help propagate the movement.

They also hold events where they talk to novel and unlikely audiences about veganism, as well as signing up new members.

She said that veganism is the future and it is something that keeps her going whenever the team faces an issue with any of the work that they are involved in, she added. They currently have approximately 50 volunteers of all ages and professions be it homemakers, students, lawyers, business owners who help out with the cause. The future is full of more wall arts, video outreaches, leaf-letting and chalk arts, believes the team.

“The more people we have behind us, the more influential we can be, thus the bigger impact we can make,” Neha said. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

College students hold digital pathshala for women in unorganised sector and illiterate homemakers

BY SHEKHAR PAIGUDE @TGSWeekly Middle-aged woman Vidya Takawale is reaping the benefits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project ‘Digital India’ aimed at creating a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. She now knows how to use a smartphone, laptop and camera. Her dream has come true. And a group of youths has helped her realise the dream. She is a regular attendant of the digital literacy batch organised by Shrikant Bangale and his friends.

Savitribai Phule Pune University journalism student Shrikant Bangale is on a digital India mission. He presented his idea at the YUVA (Youth Unite for Voluntarily Action) meet organised by The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) at New Delhi.

“Dr Annapurna Vancheswaran, senior director, sustainable development outreach and youth education division of TERI assured assistance if we implemented the programme successfully,” Shrikant said.

Digital India is nationwide programme to proliferate digital literacy. The government has put forward the goal to digitally literate citizen between the age group of 14 and 60. The government is going to spend thousands of crore in the coming three years on digital literacy. “As tagline of the mission is empowerment through technology and digital devices, empowerment of women is prerequisite for any empowerment in society. Hence, we have selected women for digital pathshala programme,” Shrikant said when asked about the selection of women for this initiative.

Another member of the campaign, Pawan Ghattkambale said, “I have arranged classrooms for this programme. I teach women

Many women, including homemakers, are reaping benefits of Digital India initiatives

on how to use digital camera. In the beginning participants were reluctant to hold camera but now they are confident to use it.”

“Working women are our prime target. We are focussing to reach out to self-help groups, women in unorganised sector and illiterate homemakers,” Shrikant said. Explaining the response from women, group member Bhavana Bathia said, “Women are basically interested in learning smartphone and other electronic gadgets. Initially we held several workshops but didn’t get expected results.

Then we converted workshops into weekend batches. Now there are there batches of 35 women each in Hamalnagar, Gultekdi and Marketyard.” The group has goal to bring around three thousand women into digital space and is trying to cover construction workers and domestic help.

Digital pathshala is an innovative idea to proliferate literacy in society. The initiative taken by Shrikant and his group is a welcome step to bring biggest strata of society into digital space. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Pune MIT students create replica of Shelby Cobra 427, the iconic sports car of 60s

BY ROMIL KOTHARI @romil_kothari

MIT students Vishnu Prathap and Suyash Kalbhor have created a replica of the Shelby Cobra 427, said to be the fastest car of its time, as part of their fi nal year project of the PG diploma in Transportation Design course. Their professors had suggested the project.

“We started working on the project in August 2015 and it has taken us about nine months to complete it. Almost everything, from chassis to suspension was made in-house, except for the lights and engine. We used a Maruti 800 engine in our Shelby replica,” said Suyash.

The team included five core members including their professor Donshong Koren.

Rs five lakh was sanctioned for the project.

“The money didn’t come in all at once. We had to keep taking advances from the college.

When there was no money, our professors chipped in from their own pockets. We spent around Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs four lakh on the project,” said Vishnu.

It was easier said than done as many of the parts were not available, so they made these

About Shelby Cobra 427 The iconic 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 was said to be the fastest car of its time. Designed

by American automotive designer Carroll Shelby in association with AC cars, a British car manufacturing company, the Shelby could go up to 100 mph in just 10.3 sec and had a top speed of 265 kmph. parts themselves.

“We worked 10 in the morning till 1 am at night on most days. We used to sleep in college, eat in college and didn’t go home for days on end,” said Vishnu.

Core member Deepak Vijayan worked exclusively on the fibre glass body, and tried to make it look just like the original Shelby Cobra 427. “We have come very close to the original Shelby, like 95 to 98 per cent as far as aesthetics are concerned. Few will realise that it was made here in MIT Pune. Being a design institute, we were not focusing much on the technical aspect, but we wanted to closely replicate the Shelby,” said Donshong.

Dongshong believes that this experience will enable them to undertake projects on an even bigger scale. romil.kothari@goldensparrow.com

Full scale replica of the iconic Shelby Cobra 427 made by MIT students

Diabetes Care & Research Foundation is taking care of their medical and education expenses

RAHUL RAUT

Pune made Shelby sports Guardian of 700 poor kids with diabetes from Maruti 800 engine

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE dnyanesh1 Many diabetologists celebrate ‘World Health Day’ with the theme ‘Halt the rise, beat diabetes’ by organising formal programmes and serving lip service to society. Meet Ruby Hall Clinic chief diabetologist Dr Abhay A Mutha who takes his profession as service to mankind and more. The president of ‘Diabetes Care & Research Foundation’ (DCRF) has adopted 700 poor children aged between two and 18 years across Maharashtra suffering from Type 1 diabetes where the body lacks the cells which produce insulin in the pancreas. The doctor bears their monthly medical and education expense of Rs 8 lakh per month till they turn 18 years. Later, when these kids turn adults the foundation supports them in providing sustainable livelihood opportunities. DCRF is said to be India’s fi rst-of-its-kind foundation that takes care of medical investigations, insulin injections, hospitalisation, education and necessary requirements of 700 children.

DCRF was founded by Dr Mutha (founder president), Father Amrutlalji Mutha (chief trustee) and late KB Grant (then chief advisory board) in 2004 to prevent diabetes and improve awareness in society besides addressing the plight of economic weaker sections suffering from this ailment. The social body organises various awareness programmes, seminars, exhibitions and patient education programmes. And their childhood diabetes welfare programme stands out because of its effectiveness and positive result. “The number of children belonging to low-income and poor families and suffering from diabetes is alarming. The disease requires 3-4 insulin doses per day and the monthly medical expense of Rs 4,000 is beyond the reach of the poor.

With parents struggling to meet the medical costs, their kids’ education takes a back seat.

We try to fi ll that gap,” said Dr Mutha.

Dr Mutha also runs an OPD at Rasta Peth.

Treating innumerable patients have made him conclude that diabetes severely affects the life of children. “This disease is seen among the rich and the poor. The affluent can manage the ailment but it is a constant struggle for the poor.

As awareness about the ailment is poor in society, the government should take it up as a national programme and join hands with various NGOs and hold various campaigns,” he said.

CASE STUDIES Rohit Pakhre, 14, Dhankawadi

Rohit who is living in the slums of Dhankawadi with his family was diagnosed with diabetes ten years ago. His plumber father could not afford treatment. The family availed of the facility provided by DCRF but Rohit soon fell into the habit of stealing because of bad company.

“When Rohit came to us, he had no confidence on how and what to speak. He was of simple nature but was abusive. Hence, we admitted him to another school,” said Shruti. “My son is now going to Samarthgad School in Katraj now. He is in standard IX and DCRF takes care of his medical and education expenses. We cannot be more grateful to the foundation,” said Rohit’s father.

Suvarna and Shital (siblings) Shital Dhokle, 19, is an Arts student and her 26-year-old elder sister Suvarna is a commerce graduate. And both suffer from diabetes since childhood. Their father is an autorickshaw driver and the family is living in Paud Phata. The family is unable to manage the medication of two daughters. “I came to know the seriousness of the ailment. But DCRF has been like a humble provider and gives medicines at doorstep regularly. They also make it a point to call us and get updates,” said Shital’s father.

Ishant Shevte, 20 Singhad Institute of Engineering third-year student Ishant has been suffering from diabetes since age 12. DCRF has provided him with medicines that cost Rs 1 lakh for free. “He is fit and pursing his education and I always thank God for this foundation,” said Ishant’s mother.

The beneficiaries of DCRF are given the medical benefits at home till they reach the age of 18. Kids can pursue education without getting concerned about the ailment. “We regularly send insulin, glucometer per month by courier. Those who are unable to meet educational expenditure are admitted to

nearby schools and their fees are paid directly by cheque to the school. We cover children from all districts of the state,” said Shruti Deshpande, diabetic educator at DCRF. The foundation’s philanthropic activities have also been commended by various organisations. dnyaneshwar.bhonde @goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

Samyukta Pradhan

BY SALONEE MISTRY @SaloneeMistry Say ice hockey in the sweltering 40-degree scorch pervading Pune currently, and people will think that you have had a stroke too much of the sun. But as far-fetched as it may seem, ice hockey is a sport that is played right here, even though a snowflake may not last a second in this inferno-like heat. Obstacles there may be many, and finding a suitable surface to play and practice on may be like a herculean task, but there are enthusiastic youngsters of Pune, who have been honing up on their skills with a hockey stick and skates to play this dazzlingly swift game of ice hockey. Three years have gone by and the bunch of individuals has now been forged into a unified unit, and imbued with a team spirit, they are working on evolving towards a higher destination, one match at a time.

Shailendra Potnis, 50, is the motivator and mentor, who not only introduced these youngsters to ice hockey, but he is also grooming them in every aspect of this engaging and captivating sport.

Potnis has been involved in and dedicated to the promotion of rollball, roller-hockey and ice hockey for 27 years. It is no exaggeration to state that he has trained almost every roll-ball rollerhockey and ice-hockey player from the city representing Maharashtra.

Potnis is also the director Skate Masters Sports Foundation, Pune, under whose auspices he trains

Aagum Shah

PUNE

Bushra Tupke

Did you know Pune is a h

ice hockey cham Shailendra Potnis

youngsters in athletics, roll-ball, roller-hockey and ice hockey.

Physical Training Director at Vidya Niketan School, Pimpri Potnis was completely unaware of ice hockey, but his first ever experience was enough to spark a life-long obsession with the sport.

One thing led to another, and the more he progressed in the realm of ice hockey, the more his fascination with it grew, and then teaching others was the logical step.

“To groom outstanding sportsmen and women, they must be given access to quality guidance and facilities.

There is no infrastructure for ice hockey in Pune, but in-line skating is similar to skating on ice, so that is the most viable option. Ice hockey is a sport that demands peak fitness and therefore that is one aspect I

I tell my students not to blame the lack of facilities, but to perform to the best of their abilities

focus on intensely,” he said. Potnis takes his wards for a training camp twice a year to Essel World, where they get to practice on the artificial ice rink. To keep out of the way of the general public at the amusement park, Potnis’s ice hockey enthusiasts use the rink early in the morning before the park is open, and late in the evening, after it closes. But he

plans to build an artificial rink for the ice hockey players in Pune.

Potnis is also the secretary of the Maharashtra Ice Hockey Association. “I tell my students not to blame the lack of facilities, but to go out and perform to the best of their abilities. Once they get the basics right, the other aspects of the sport tend to fall into place,” he said.

The Maharashtra girls’ ice hockey team placed fourth out of six teams at the nationals in Ladakh in January 206, and though the boys’ team lost all their matches, their performance was appreciated.

Potnis feels that the cash crunch is what is holding back the growth and progress of ice hockey. He feels that the overwhelming dominance

and popularity of cricket is partly to blame for such a situation. It is also a shame that the Maharashtra Government does not recognize ice hockey as a sport.

“As an ice hockey club, we are doing everything in our power to get more children attracted to the sport,” he said. And he is rewarded by the great enthusiasm and zest

‘The goal-tender has a very crucial role to play’

Roshni Gaikwad

Roshni Gaikwad, 14, has one of the most crucial duties in ice hockey, that of the goaltender. “Being a goal-tender is kind of lonely as I am alone in the goal. The forwards are always co-ordinating their play with the others, passing the puck around, and trying their best to approach the rivals’ goal and score, which is a team effort. My job as goaltender means that it is my sole responsibility to keep the rival forwards from scoring, and that is a huge responsibility,” Roshni said. She was the goalie for the girls’ team that featured in the nationals at Ladakh this year.

Playing in Ladakh this year was the first time that she was playing the Nationals and she could not be more grateful of the experience that she had. While it was nothing like playing in the rink back home or even the artificial one in Essel World, she managed just fine. The biggest challenge for her too just like everyone else was to survive the climate and get the balance on ice. Being the goal-tender of the Maharashtra team became her identity in Ladakh and one that she absolutely loves.

While there is a lot of sitting up and down involved in being a goal-tender, Roshni played all the games sitting down and was also known for this throughout the other teams.

Skating since she was eight years old, Roshni started off by playing roll-ball, roller hockey and has now for the last three years been playing ice-hockey.

Only 14 years old, she is currently in the 10th grade at Vidya Niketan School in Pimpri

and is not quite sure of what she wants to do in the future. She plans on continuing to play for the next few years and spend some time researching on the sport before she decides if she wants to pursue it as a career.

“To be a good goal-tender, one has to be good at everything. Stopping goals is only a part of the job. Being able to pass the puck at the right time and to the right player is also important,” says Akshay Kolapkar, goaltender of the Maharashtra boys’ team.

Akshay too featured in nationals at Ladakh, where they faced vastly more experienced teams. However, these very same rivals were quite friendly off the field, and even offered the relatively inexperienced state team members lots of guidance and tips. Akshay found that his experience as a goal-tender in roller-hockey made it easy for him to adapt to the same role in ice hockey.

Being a goal-tender involves an awareness of positions, angles and techniques. He believes that ice hockey will flourish here once there are adequate facilities, and if the sport is promoted in a constructive manner. Ice hockey is a team sport and Akshay really appreciates the virtues of team work, where every player has a role to play in reaching a common goal.

Akshay, 21, is in the final year of graduation in the commerce stream at Indira College of Commerce and Science, Pimpri.

He wants to join the civil service but aims to continue playing ice hockey, which he loves dearly.

with which his s to the sport.

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

PICS BY RAHUL RAUT

Sanskruti Mendjogi

Akhil Pillai

hub of

‘Glad to be among the first Indians to play ice hockey’

mpions?

Majority of the state level players are from the city. Many are now making it to the national team

Akhil Pillai, 21, is a person with many facets to his personality. He is a dancer, as well as a musician who plays the violin and guitar. And he is also an outstanding athlete and sportsman, who has featured on the track at the national level, and also played hockey at the national level. Akhil then switched to speed skating, roll-ball, roller-hockey and has been playing ice hockey for three years.

“Ice hockey is a relatively new sport in India and an interesting one at that. There is so much to learn, explore and try out that I am glad to be one of the first Indians to take to such an amazing sport,” said Akhil.

“The sport has a great future in India, and you can see that in the increasing number of people enrolling to learn

“Playing on ice in extremely low temperatures is difficult and drains out all your energy”

is dusty and often scattered with dried twigs and leaves. Practicing on normal speed skates, they learn to balance and make their way across hurdles to shoot the puck into the net. These ice hockey

players of Maharashtra do not have natural ice to practice on, but have to get used to three different kinds of skates for three different rinks, the ground, the artificial ice rink and the natural ice rink.

Believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century in the UK and elsewhere, ice hockey is played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a rubber puck into their opponents’ net to score points. Ice hockey teams consist of six players each, a goaltender and five players who skate up and down the ice.

A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, particularly Canada and northern and western Europe. Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada.

Worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, where the first indoor hockey game was played on March 3, 1875.

videos of international ice hockey players and trying to figure out their technique. I am always trying something new with the stick and the puck, attempting to improve my game,” he said.

The lack of facilities for ice hockey in Maharashtra are a hurdle, as are the climatic conditions here.

It takes him awhile to acclimatise to the cold conditions that are needed for ice hockey, and having reserves of stamina are indispensable in a fast-paced game like ice hockey.

Parth is determined to make the most of the opportunity with the Indian team in New Zealand.

Could ice hockey be a career option? Parth said that he would love to give it his best shot. “The fact is that ice hockey is not a game that is popular or even known about in India. Therefore, there is no money or sponsors or fanfare connected to ice hockey. Fortunately, my parents have been unflagging in their support, and I would love to return their favour in some way. Right now becoming a computer engineer is the most concrete option that I have,” he said.

past year. He is a topper in school and likes to play the guitar.

Sanskruti Mendjogi, 12, is the youngest member of the girls’ team.

She used to play roller hockey, but now wants to be an international ice hockey star.

She said that being a part of the nationals was an unforgettable experience.

Samyukta Pradhan, 13, was a part of Potnis sir’s fitness class, who went on to learn ice hockey from him. “I hope that I can take up ice hockey as a career,” she said.

“Playing on ice in extremely low temperatures is difficult and drains out all your energy. We all gave our 100 per cent and will only do better from here on,” she said about the team’s performance at the nationals.

Ronak Agarwal started playing when he was nine years old and is the youngest ice-hockey player from Maharashtra to have won the silver medal at the nationals in Gurgaon two years ago. He has not played icehockey for the last year because of his studies and can’t wait to strap on his skates again. “It is difficult but once you get used to the skates, it is so much fun. You simply need practice and must be focused on the sport.

I could not be happier that I am a part of the Pune and Maharashtra teams,” he said. He wants to become a computer engineer and aims to continue playing ice hockey.

Aagum Shah, 14, has been playing ice hockey for about two years now, and has featured in two statelevel and one national championship.

He likes ice hockey for a number of reasons, the control one needs over the skates, the dizzy pace of the game on ice and the precision needed to score goals or deliver passes.

‘Ice hockey could get India an international reputation’

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experience, though it also requires it. Once we have the basic amenities far higher levels of strength and in place, we can build on them. stamina as compared to playing on When we start performing better, an artificial ice rink, ,” she said. “I even funds and sponsors won’t be a just love ice hockey problem,” he said. and I hope to Bushra Tupke, continue playing 14, a ninth grade for as long as she student of Podar can,” she said.

International A a y u s h School, is thrilled Agarwal, 12, to be a part of never misses an the Maharashtra ice hockey practice girls ice hockey session. The sixth team. She finds grader missed out ice hockey a on the nationals sport packed in Ladakh because with thrills, that — Samyukta Pradhan of his exams. But demands high he has featured in levels of strength district and state and stamina. level ice hockey matches over the “Playing on real ice is an amazing

What is ice hockey?

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Aayush Agarwal

Parth Jagtap

Advocate Giridhar Agarwal, president of the Maharashtra Ice Hockey Association said that ice hockey needs to be channelised properly and given enough limelight. “There is a need to change people’s view towards the sport.

Many people are unaware of the sport and how it is played. Till now we have been raising funds through people that we know and the parents of the players.

The Pune Municipal Corporation also contributes a small sum every year, but is it not enough. If we want to create a name in international sports, it is games like ice hockey that will get us that recognition,” he said.

It seems to be an uphill struggle for ice hockey in India, beginning with the absence or lack of facilities. Skating on an in-line rink requires different skates compared than the ones used on artificial ice or real ice.

An artificial rink gives players an idea of what it is to skate on ice and get used to the low temperatures as well. But building an artificial rink is expensive.

“We are collecting funds to build an artificial rink. We will start by changing the existing rink to a synthetic one and then work towards an artificial ice rink,” said, Bipin Sapre, founder of Skate Masters Sports Foundation. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

TECH/START-UP

PUNE

“Hewlett Packard, which is more known as HP, was invented in a garage in Palo Alto during the year of 1939.”

— http://geekofreak.com

Complainant can’t be probe officer P 12

Stephen Hawking backs project to blast tiny ships into space The USD 100 million interstellar project will explore a star system 25 trillion miles away from Earth

BY ADITI KHANNA Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking in collaboration with Facebook is backing a new USD 100 million interstellar project to explore a star system which is 25 trillion miles away from Earth. “If we are to survive as a species we must ultimately spread out to the stars,” Hawking told BBC. “Astronomers believe that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet orbiting one of the stars (in) the Alpha Centauri system. But we will know more in the next two decades from ground based and space based telescopes.

“Technological developments in the last two decades and the future make it possible in principle within a generation,” he said.

The spaceships will be blasted by laser beams from Earth to explore our nearest

Way to detect gravitational waves Scientists have discovered new technology that may identify gravitational waves throughout ‘the observable universe’, instead of detecting them a billion light years away.

The breakthrough could eventually see hundreds of gravity wave ‘events’ being recorded every day, according to Professor David Blair from at The University of Western Australia (UWA).

The cutting-edge technology involved tiny new devices known as ‘catflap’ pendulums less than a millimetre in size which would be fitted to existing gravitational wave detectors, Blair said.

“Currently the detectors can only detect huge tsunamilike waves, but with the new technology we would be able to extend that range about seven times,” Blair said. Blair said UWA researchers were fabricating the first devices using a new ion beam etching machine.

An international project team has put together gravitational-wave detector equipment used to regularly measure gravitational waves.

PTI

Renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking, right, seated in a speech adaptive wheelchair, discuss the new Breakthrough Initiative focusing on space exploration and the search for life in the universe, during a press conference in New York

star system which is 25 trillion miles away under the most ambitious space mission in history announced yesterday.

The 100 million dollar research programme to develop the computer

chip-sized “starships” was launched by the billionaire Yuri Milner, supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

“For the fi rst time in human history man can do more than just gaze at the stars. We can actually reach them,” Milner said.

Weighing only a few grams, the spacecraft would contain a camera, communications devices and navigation equipment. These craft would be attached to “light sails” a few hundred atoms thick, which would be pushed by the lasers.

Over the course of a few minutes, the craft could be accelerated to 130 million miles per hour, a fi fth of the speed of light, and reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system, in 20 years.

By using lasers it would not need to carry its own propellant.

Philip Lubin, the University of California physics professor on whose ideas the plan is partly based, said that the approach may well be our best shot at interstellar travel.

“We have smartphones, lasers in DVD players, lasers in medicine, in industry.

Their improvements allow us to speak of something which a decade ago was not

feasible,” he said.

Prof. Hawking, the author of A Brief History of Time, is backing the project

by Milner’s Breakthrough Foundation, a private organisation funding scientific research initiatives that government funders think to be too ambitious.

The nearest star system is 40 trillion km (25 trillion miles) away and using current technology it would take about 30,000 years to get there.

The expert group concluded that with a little more research and development it might be possible to develop spacecraft that could cut that journey time to just 30 years. “I’d have said that even a few years ago travel to another star at that kind of speed would not be possible. But the expert group figured out that because of developments in technology there appears to be a concept that appears to work,” said Dr Pete Worden, who is leading the project.

The $100 million project is aimed at establishing the feasibility of sending a swarm of tiny spacecraft, each weighing far less than an ounce, to the Alpha Centauri star system.

PTI

Chinese driverless cars begin 2,000-km-long road test

BY KJM VARMA

Two driverless cars produced by a Chinese automobile company began a 2,000-kilometre test drive in a bid to steal a march over US giant Google, which hopes to release its selfdriving cars to the public by 2020. Li Yusheng, engineer-in-chief of Chang’an Automobile Engineering & Research Institute, said the drive will help test their functions in diverse conditions. “The vehicles have performed well in uncomplicated road conditions, such as urban driveways and highways, but they still need the help of a driver to navigate them in places like gas stations and toll booths,” said Li. “We want to improve the vehicles’ sensors

and processing technology, and then to prepare models for mass production,” Tan Benhong, deputy director of the institute was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Chang’an aims to put its driverless cars into commercial use in 2018. They are expected to pose a competition to Google’s self-driving cars currently under development.

Google’s cars have already travelled over 1 million miles without anyone at the wheel. The Internet search company hopes the vehicles will be released to the public in 2020. Worldwide, at least 18 companies are developing autonomous cars, including BMW, Audi and Toyota.

PTI

China’s contenders for driverless cars include auto makers BAIC group, GAC Group, SAIC Motor, Chang’an and BYD

increasing at a fast pace, driven by increasing availability of devices at an affordable price points offered by a number of local and Chinese phone manufacturers.

In 2015, about 42 per cent of all phones imported in the country were smartphones.

“The large-scale offered by some of these markets has enabled 4G chip manufacturers to produce components at a much lower rate, thereby driving costs of 4G smartphones sharply lower,” it added.

The report further said sharp reduction in 4G device prices across the Asia-Pacific region, coupled with the impending entry of Reliance

Jio Infocomm has made the Indian telecom companies take notice of the rapidly evolving 4G device ecosystem. “These operators, as a result (during the second half of 2015), started making aggressive investments in rolling out network infrastructure for high-speed broadband data services, especially 4G. Device manufacturers have responded with increased 4G device launches while also pushing the envelope on lower price points,” it added.

As per its analysis, almost 10 per cent of all the devices available in the market are 4G-enabled, the report added.

PTI

Facebook a popular tool among seniors too Older adults have become Facebook’s fastest growing demographic and are joining the social network to stay connected, researchers including one of Indian-origin have found.They suggest that seniors want to make new connections, just like college kids who joined the site decades ago.

“Earlier studies suggest a positive relationship between bonding and bridging social capital and Facebook use among college students,” said Eun Hwa Jung from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in the US. “Our study extends this fi nding to senior citizens,” said Jung.

In the study, the desire to stay connected to family and keep in touch with old friends - social bonding - was the best predictor of Facebook adoption and use, followed closely by the desire to fi nd and communicate with like-minded people - social bridging.

Curiosity is also another motivation for senior Facebook users, Jung said.

“Because they are now familiar with

social networking technology, some seniors are just starting to use Facebook out of curiosity,” she said.

“Older adults who are motivated by social bonding and curiosity tend to use Facebook as a form of social surveillance,” said S Shyam Sundar from PSU. “Surveillance is the idea that you are checking out what people are up to. Th is

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4G devices becoming affordable The market for 4G devices in India is becoming increasingly affordable and there are around 15 phone models which are available at a price point of Rs 5,000 or lower, a report by Kotak Institutional Equities said. The report said it is now possible to buy a 4G device for as low as Rs 4,000 (or USD 60) with a 5-inch screen size, 1.1 Ghz quad-core processor, 8GB internal memory, 5MP camera and 2,300 mAh battery, which are good enough entry-level specifications.

“Six-months back the cheapest 4G-enabled smartphone used to cost Rs 7,000 (USD 105) approximately,” it added. The report said smartphone penetration in the country is

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is something that many older adults do.

They want to see how their kids are doing and, especially, what their grandkids are doing,” said Sundar.

However, seniors were not motivated to actively participate on Facebook when family and friends prod them to use the site, researchers said.

“When senior citizens respond to

requests to join Facebook, that tends to be a negative predictor of use,” said Sundar.

Older adults also tend to use Facebook features that their younger counterparts favour, researchers said.

“Our fi ndings show that messageinteractivity features - for example the chatting function and wall posting - are the dominant activities for older adults’ Facebook use,” said Jung. Seniors in their sample visited Facebook 2.46 times a day and stayed on the site for a little over 35 minutes each day, researchers said.

“Those who are motivated by social bonding are more likely to use the Like button, which shows the importance of simplicity in interface design for senior citizens,” said Sundar.

Researchers conducted an online survey with 352 adults whose ages ranged from 60 to 86. A total of 184 - or 52.3 per cent - were female and 168 - or 47.7 per cent - were male.

The fi ndings were published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.

PTI

IOS/Android: Free For those of you who don’t have the time to edit your own videos, you may want to take a look at this interesting application. Magisto creates videos for you in three easy steps. Simply launch the application and select your videos that you want to be made into a movie, next select a theme, then select a soundtrack – you are done! Magisto will upload your video to the company’s cloud service where it will be edited into a magical masterpiece. Once your video is ready after a minute or two, you can share it on your favourite social websites. Magisto also has a built-in social network so you can share with friends and family.

Splice IOS/Android: Free Splice is a video editor that aims to be powerful, yet minimal. Luckily for both users and the company behind Splice, the application fulfills its goals. Users simply select the video clip they want to work on to get started. The timeline then presents each video as an individual clip to work on and edit if needed. Tap any video that needs adjusting and you are sent to a separate area to add effects, trim selections, or adjust text overlays. Once you have made your changes, you are returned to the main board to examine your other clips. From here you can add sound effects or record voice-over narration for your video.

Replay IOS/Android: Free Replay is an application focused on creating videos automatically for you without a need to edit them yourself. However, Reply provides a lot more control over your theme, music, and video properties. Start by selecting your video and Replay will give you a list of possible themes for remixing. Once you have selected a style, you can opt to change the music to something else in Replay’s library or select any audio currently on your iPhone. If you want to adjust the trim, audio, or crop of the video, a few clicks let you get the job done. Replay even allows you to preview your theme changes in edits in real-time without the need of uploading it to a server.

ENVIRONMENT “Road dust and particulate matter is a bigger hazard than vehicular emissions. These are especially high while the roads are being constructed and pose risks for those living nearby.”

— Sundeep Salvi, Director, Chest Research Foundation

Tend to be more anxious, angry or envious than others?

You might want to blame your genes!

According to an international research led by the University of Glasgow, Neuroticism — a personality trait related to depression, anxiety and even heart disease — can be linked to nine new distinct gene-associations.

The study, published in journal Molecular Psychiatry, included researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Cardiff and Queensland, Australia and was co-led by Professor Daniel Smith from the Institute of Health and Wellbeing.

The existence of these genetic associations could indicate a person’s predisposition to neuroticism.

The authors focused on neuroticism as it is the personality trait most closely associated with mental illness and physical health problems.

People who have high levels of neuroticism tend toward depression and anxiety. They also tend to have worse physical health, with links to conditions such as obesity and heart disease.

The research represents the largest genetic study of a personality trait ever undertaken, and improves the understanding of people’s personality differences, and why some are more predisposed to mental health problems than others.

The study tested more than 100,000 individuals from the UK Biobank cohort, the Generation Scotland sample and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research sample.

PTI

India, Germany join Fertility treatments may up cancer risk hands to clean Ganga Infertility and hormonal fertility treatments may influence the amount of dense tissue in the breast and increase the risk factor of developing breast cancer, a new study has found.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that women with a history of infertility had denser breasts than other women. The association was more pronounced in women who had undergone controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), the hormone treatment required for in vitro fertilisation.

“The results from our study indicate that infertile women, especially those who undergo COS, might represent a group with an increased breast cancer risk,” said lead author Frida Lundberg, from Karolinska Institutet.

Breast tissue is composed of two types of tissue: dense, fibroglandular and non-dense, fatty tissue. Women with extremely dense breasts have a four to six fold higher risk of developing breast cancer than women with non-dense breasts, previous research has found.

In this study, women with a history of infertility were found to have higher absolute dense volume - that is more dense, fibroglandular breast tissue.

Hormone replacement therapy, like COS, increases oestrogen and progesterone levels and has been suspected to increase breast cancer risk.

This is the first population-based study to investigate the effect of infertility and hormone stimulation on mammographic density which may be a useful marker for the effect of hormonal fertility treatment on breast cancer risk, especially in women below the age at which breast cancer is normally

German contribution to the 2016-2018 project will be around Rs 22.5 crore

India joined hands with Germany to attain “pristine” status of Ganga by adopting river basin management strategies used for cleansing rivers like Rhine and Danube of pollutants.

Ministry of Water Resources and German International Cooperation (GIZ), owned by the German Federal Government, signed an agreement recently. The agreement was signed in the presence of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation secretary Shashi Shekhar and German Ambassador to India Dr Martin Ney. The objective of the agreement is to enable responsible stakeholders at national and state levels to apply integrated river basin management approach for Ganga’s rejuvenation, the Ministry said in a statement.

“Initial actions will focus on Uttarakhand, with scope of expansion to other upstream Ganga States. The ultimate goal is to adopt successful river basin management strategies used for Rhine and Danube and replicate the same, wherever possible for attaining pristine status of river Ganga,” it said.

The agreement will be based on “Indo-German Knowledge Exchange” and practical experience on strategic river basin

Devotees take holy dip in the river Ganga on the occasion of Baisakhi in Haridwar

management issues, effective data management system and public engagement, it said.

The project will closely cooperate with other national and international initiatives including Indo-German bilateral projects like ‘Support to National Urban Sanitation Policy (SNUSP)’ and ‘Sustainable Environment-friendly Industrial Production’ (SEIP).

The duration of the project is three years, from 2016 to 2018, and German contribution it will be to the tune of Rs 22.5 crore, it said.

Th anking the German Government, Shekhar said the European country’s

technical know-how will be “immensely fruitful” in pollution abatement of Ganga.

‘Namami Gange’ is the Union government’s fl agship programme that aims at reducing pollution and conserving the river.

The government has solicited support from various countries to rejuvenate Ganga.

Government of Germany, with its experiences in cleaning and rejuvenating European rivers such as Rhine, Elbe and Danube rivers, was keen to join hands with India, the statement said.

PTI

diagnosed (50 years and older).

The researchers selected 43,313 women aged between 40 and 69 years who had mammograms as part of the KARolinska MAmmography project for risk prediction of breast cancer (KARMA) between 2010 and 2013.

The women also responded to a questionnaire including questions about age, height, weight, smoking status, alcohol consumption, history of infertility, and family history of breast cancer.

They found a stronger association between COS and mammographic density in older women, which may point to a potential long-term effect of COS on the breast tissue.

Whether differences in breast density may affect potential breast cancer risk remains unknown.

The study was published in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

PTI

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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

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

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

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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

BHOSARI

4 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

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

RAHUL RAUT

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

said director of the school, who

DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL

CHINCHWAD

THERGAON HINJEWADI VILLAGE

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

“Our social norms did not develop in complete isolation from what was happening in our natural environment.

On the contrary, we can’t understand social norms without understanding their origins in our natural environment,” said Bauch. The researchers note that STIs may be one factor among many including female choice, pathogen stress and technological impacts - that altered human behaviour from polygamy to monogamy. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

PTI

The study found a stronger association between COS and mammographic density in older women

THANK GOD IT’S S AT U R D AY

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

evolution of different social mating behaviours in human populations based on demographic and disease transmission parameters.

The study, by Bauch and Richard McElreath from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, found that when population sizes become large, the presence of STIs decreases fertility rates more among males with multiple partners, therefore changing which mating behaviour proves to be most beneficial to individuals and groups.

Combined HIV, Hepatitis C vaccination in the offing Scientists have for the first time found that it is possible to generate simultaneous immune response against Hepatitis C virus and HIV, raising the possibility of a combined vaccination.

An estimated 2.3 million people globally are co-infected with HIV and HCV, the leading cause of non-AIDS deaths in co-infected individuals, researchers said. The research showed that the ‘prime boost’ approach is compatible with co-administration of vectors encoding for HIV and HCV antigens (molecules capable of inducing an immune response).

In this approach, the immune system is first primed through exposure to non-replicative serologically distinct adenoviral vectors that contain fragments of HCV and HIV viruses.

Following this, booster vaccinations are given with the same combination of HCV and HIV fragments, each inserted into an MVA vector, a vaccination virus strain commonly used in clinical trials.

“While we have drugs to treat both HIV and HCV, these are out of reach for many and do not prevent reinfection,” said Professor Lucy Dorrell of the University of Oxford.

“Knowing that it may be possible to vaccinate a single individual against both diseases opens up huge possibilities for rolling back epidemics of disease and

PUNE

“Pune faces severe problems like traffic congestion and pollution.

There is utter neglect of public transport and non-motorized transport like walking and cycling.”

— Prashant Inamdar, Convener, Pedestrians First

STIs, peer pressure likely turned humans into monogamists

Prehistoric humans may have developed social norms that favour monogamy and punish polygamy due to the presence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and peer pressure, a new study suggests.

As hunter-gatherers began living in larger populations of early settled agriculturalists, the spread of STIs could explain a shift towards the emergence of social norms that favoured one sexual partner over many, researchers said.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada used computer modelling techniques to simulate the

APRIL 16, 2016

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 HS RAO

H EALTH

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Genetic associations related to depression

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

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

PUNE’S FIRST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER

THE GOLDEN SPARROW

An estimated 2.3 million people globally are co-infected with HIV and HCV, the leading cause of non-AIDS deaths in co-infected individuals, researchers said.

ON SATURDAY co-infection,” said Professor Ellie Barnes who is leading the development of HCV vaccines at the University of Oxford.

The Phase 1 study enrolled 32 healthy volunteers in three groups. Group one received only HCV investigational vaccines at weeks 0 and 8.

The second group received only HIV investigational vaccines following the same dosing schedule. The final group received both HCV and HIV investigational vaccines that were coadministered. Vaccine priming against HCV and HIV induced immune response in the body, measured by the number of HIV and HCV specific

T-cells found in a sample of blood.

These immune responses were increased following boost vaccination.

Co-administration of HCV and HIV components of the boost did not impair the magnitude or breadth of either HCV or HIV specific T-cell responses compared to each alone.

“This study shows for the first time that it is possible to generate simultaneous immune response against diseases HCV and HIV, raising the possibility of a combined vaccination,” said Professor Laurent Castera, The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Secretary General.

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PUNE

“Pramod Muthalik should not be banned in Goa. There are many others from outside, who can be from the Nigerian and Russian mafias, who need to be banned before Muthalik is... Even Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar is moving around the country.”

— Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP, Shiv Sena

SC, HCs refer cases for CBI probe without manpower: Govt NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court and High Courts are handing over a large number of sensitive cases to the CBI for investigation without additional manpower, the government said to highlight acute staff crunch grappling the agency.

The Department of Personnel and Training, which acts as nodal authority for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has asked all states to send officers to fill large vacancies in the agency.

The CBI is facing acute shortage of manpower in the rank of Constable, Head Constable, Inspector and Superintendent of Police. To fill up these vacancies, the agency has requested all state governments several times to send the names of willing officials or officers to join CBI on deputation basis to ensure effective investigation of cases, a communique from DoPT said.

The problem is especially acute in the wake of the Supreme Court and High Courts handing over a large number of sensitive cases to the CBI for investigation without any additional manpower, it said. A parliamentary committee had late last year criticised judicial activism of Supreme and higher courts by overseeing investigation and passing interim directions to CBI saying it may appear to be a colourable exercise of power by them.

Recently, the government has also sanctioned 598 new posts for CBI for investigation into Vyapam scam and chit fund or ponzi scam cases. However, these posts have not been filled up so far, the DoPT said.

PTI

Two of 1,100 babus found inefficient Time and again, the state governments have been requested to carry out intensive review of service records of officers belonging to all India services NEW DELHI: Only two out of nearly 1,100 bureaucrats whose work performance was reviewed by state governments have been recommended for premature retirement, the Centre said today.

There are some states like Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand among others who have not yet shared with the central government information regarding formation of review committees for assessing performance of IAS, IPS and IFS officers working under their administrative control.

As per rule, the central government, in consultation with the concerned State, may require an officer to retire in public interest from service for nonperformance.

“The object of the rule is to weed out the deadwood in order to maintain a high standard of efficiency and initiative in the state services. It is not necessary that a good officer may continue to be efficient for all times to come, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has said.

Time and again, the state governments have been requested to carry out intensive review of service records of officers belonging to all India services — Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) — at two stages.

The review need to be carried out when officers have completed 15 years of service or five years after induction, and when they have completed 25 years of service or attained the age of 50

Complainant can’t be probe officer NEW DELHI: If a complainant himself is the investigating officer, the whole probe is vitiated, a Delhi court has observed while acquitting a man found in possession of a pistol and three live cartridges without any licence.

“It is settled law that complainant cannot himself be investigating officer(IO) and if complainant himself is investigating officer, the whole investigation is vitiated,” Metropolitan Magistrate Anuj Agarwal said, noting that in the present case the IO and complainant are same person.

“Thus, whole proceedings are vitiated,” the judge said while acquitting Devender Khari who was charged under Arms Act. The court relied upon the apex court judgement saying the basic principle of natural justice is violated if complainant himself is the investigating officer.

According to the prosecution, the police caught Devender, when they were carrying out a vehicle check near IGNOU in south Delhi.

The accused, who was driving a Honda City car, was allegedly found possessing a pistol and three live cartridges illegally.

The court, however, acquitted him noting there was serious infirmity in the case of prosecution.

“It is for the prosecution to travel the entire distance from may have to

India, EU committed to better trade flow P 14

Apex Court judgement says basic principle of natural justice is violated if complainant himself is investigating officer

must have. If the prosecution appears to be improbable or lacks credibility, the benefit of doubt necessarily has to go to the accused,” it said.

The court also noted that the mandatory exercise of entering the details of entry and exit from the police station by the cops was missing.

“In absence of the departure and arrival entry of the police officials, their presence at the spot cannot be believed,” the court said.

“The prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Hence, accused stands acquitted of the offence under the Arms Act,” the court said.

During the trial, the accused had pleaded not guilty.

PTI

Vol-II* lssue No.: 44 Editor: Yogesh Sadhwani (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867) Printed and Published by: Shrikant Honnavarkar on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 and printed at PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 at Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai.

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

PM to honour babus for implementing key schemes

DoPT is using the rule is to weed out the deadwood in order to maintain a high standard of efficiency and initiative in the state services

years, it said. As per latest status report, performance of a total of 549 officers, who had completed 15 years of service, were reviewed. Of these, a highest of 76 officers were of Maharashtra cadre, 64 of Jharkhand, 62 of AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-MizoramUnion Territories), 58 of Uttar Pradesh, 44 of Punjab and 43 of Madhya Pradesh cadre. Only one officer of AGMUT cadre has been recommended for premature retirement, the report said.

The performance of a total of 37 officers of Odisha cadre, 36 of Rajasthan, 33 each of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, 24 of Meghalaya, 19 each of Bihar and Haryana, and one of Himachal Pradesh cadre were reviewed. Of these, final decision in respect of one officer of

Include Srinagar, Jammu as smart cities: Mehbooba NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought inclusion of Srinagar and Jammu among smart cities besides allocation of an additional over four lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains to the state.

Mehbooba and Modi discussed the overall political and developmental scenario of Jammu and Kashmir, a state government spokesperson said in a statement.

This was Mehbooba’s first meeting with the Prime Minister since she became Chief Minister of the restive state. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues concerning the state.

She urged Modi to favourably consider including the two capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu as smart cities under the ‘Smart Cities Mission’, the statement said.

The Chief Minister requested for allocation of an additional 4.30 lakh metric tonnes foodgrains to the state over and above what is targeted under the public distribution system as part of the National Food Security Act, it said.

PTI

Haryana cadre is awaited. All others are found fit to continue in service, the report said.

Minutes of the meeting is awaited from Nagaland, Tripura, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka. West Bengal has assured holding the review committee meeting, it said.

Based on this status report, the Centre has proposed to discuss this and other issues with the states in a meeting

by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh with Principal Secretaries (of personnel or general administration department) of state governments on April 22.

The Centre is also reviewing performance of employees working

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give away awards to bureaucrats from both the Centre and states for excellence in implementing NDA government’s priority programmes like ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’.

Select bureaucrats will get the Prime Minister’s awards on April 21, observed as Civil Services’ Day, for their contribution to effective implementation of the government’s key initiatives.

The award, which carries a citation and cash prize, is to recognise and reward the extraordinary and innovative works done by officers of the central and state governments. This is for the first time a new category of “excellence in implementing a priority programme” has been added to the PM’s awards. The theme of 10th Civil Services Day is “Transforming India — Reform to Transform”.

“Modi will confer awards to civil servants for excellence in implementation of priority under it. Under Fundamental Rule 56(J), the government has the “absolute right” to retire, if necessary in the public interest, any Group A and B employee who joined service before the age of

BHARAT DARSHAN

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit at Banganga area to meet representative from SMILE and organisation working in an economically deprived urban area to support local enterprise

programmes of the government of India namely Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY), Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), Swachh Vidyalaya and Soil Health Card Scheme,” a press release issued by Ministry of Personnel said.

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) is to bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas, by promoting cleanliness, hygiene and eliminating open defecation.

Whereas, Swachh Vidyalaya mission is aimed at ensuring separate toilets in every school for boys and girls. The objective of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is to provide weaker sections and low income groups access to various financial services like savings bank account, need based credit, remittances facility, insurance and pension. The Soil Health Card scheme is meant to give each farmer the soil nutrient status of his holding and advise him on the dosage of fertilisers, besides information on soil modification for long-term improved soil health.

35 and has crossed the age of 50. This performance review is being carried out by different central government departments.

PTI

IIT fee hike not applicable to existing students KOLKATA: Amid protests by students of IIT-Kharagpur, the HRD ministry clarified that students who are already enrolled in undergraduate courses have been spared from the 122 per cent fee hike.

In a letter written to directors of all IITs, the Human Resource Development Ministry today said, “It is hereby clarified that the revised fee would be applicable for students taking admission starting from academic year 2016-17 onwards.”

The students currently studying would continue to pay at the existing rates, it said. The order came a day after IIT-Kharagpur students protested by shouting slogans at the campus against the fee hike. IIT-Kgp director Partha Pratim Chakraborty wrote an open letter to students saying that the protests have left him “very unhappy”.

“Unfortunately for me, in this instance, many undergraduate students did not have the basic courtesy to first engage with us before creating a disturbance and made some very unusual remarks on those receiving the waivers,” he said, hoping that better sense would prevail in the future.

PTI

‘In past, bureaucracy didn’t fear speaking’ Former principal secretary SK Misra’s memoirs details the bureaucrat’s tenure with Bansi Lal

NEW DELHI: Bureaucrats once did not fear speaking up and engaging with politicians without fear of retribution, feels SK Misra, who had served as the principal secretary to Bansi Lal during his tenure as the Haryana Chief Minister.

Misra, who became the principal secretary to Lal in 1968, recounts in his memoirs ‘Flying in High Winds’ (Rupa) — which was released here today — the “not so smooth sailing” with the late politician who could be both “hasty and impetuous”.

Misra recalled an incident when Lal, after receiving a telegram with a list of officers and their proposed

postings, asked him to tear up and throw the same into the wastebasket before drawing up a list of his own.

“I was summoned by a fuming chief secretary for not advising the chief minister to consult him before arriving at a decision. I conveyed the same to Lal, who was furious and told me ‘Misraji, in the morning he will come to my room in one capacity and leave in another’,” Misra recounted at the launch.

The bureaucrat said he managed to convince Lal of the folly in his decision and the latter next morning spoke in an affable manner to the chief secretary, who was forced to concede defeat and assure the chief minister he would implement his orders.

Another incident involved Lal deciding on the advice of a senior MLA to make Haryana “a meatless state”.

“Once Bansi Lal on the advice of a

senior MLA decided that Haryana was going to be a meatless state, no nonvegetarian. I was aghast and I sat with him and tried to reason with him about the utter foolishness of his decision.

Finally, after hours of persuasion, he relented but he wanted to move a meat factory in Sonepat district and we decided to move it away,” Misra said.

“Those were the days when officers were not afraid to speak their mind without the feeling that they will be harmed even if their advice is not accepted... There was better understanding between officers and politicians,” Misra said.

Misra, who also served as the principal secretary to Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, has in his memoirs written about his interactions with prominent personalties such as Jawaharlal Nehru, MF Hussain, Prince Charles, Sanjay Gandhi and Ebrahim Alkazi.

The launch was followed by a panel discussion that featured K Natwar Singh, Naresh Chandra, MS Gill and SY Quraishi.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATUR APRIL 16, 2016

Sharnya gets ticket to Wimbledon P 16

“Israel has carried out dozens of attacks in Syria to prevent weapons transfers to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. We operate when we need to operate, as well as just over here across the border.”

— Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister

Most Arabs reject ISIS, think ‘caliphate’ will fail: Survey Majority of teens, young adults strongly oppose the terror group, cite lack of jobs as main driver

DUBAI: A majority of young Arabs regard Islamic State as the “biggest obstacle” facing the Middle East region and believe the terror group will fail to establish a caliphate, according to a new survey.

According to the ASDA’A BursonMarsteller Arab Youth Survey, an overwhelming majority of Arab teens and young adults now strongly oppose the terror group with nearly 80 per cent ruling out any possibility of supporting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), even if it were to renounce its brutal tactics.

While three in four Arab youth are concerned about the rise of ISIS, just one in six believes the terror group ultimately will succeed.

Though concern is rising — with 50 per cent of youth citing it as the biggest obstacle in the region, up from 37 per cent last year — tacit support for the group is declining with just 13 per cent agreeing they could see themselves supporting the terror group even if it did not use so much violence, compared with 19 per cent in 2015.

A quarter of young people believe that a lack of jobs and opportunities

From left, Kuwait foreign minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled alSabah, Qatar Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Oman Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Secretary of State John Kerry, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash and Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, of Bahrain at GCC Ministerial meetings in Bahrain

are the main recruitment drivers for the terror group, although one in four of those surveyed also said they could see no reason why anyone would want to join the terror outfit.

Arab youth cite Saudi Arabia as their biggest ally for the fifth-year running (31 per cent), followed by the UAE (28 per cent) and the US (25 per cent), according to the survey.

However, the survey suggests the views on the US are increasingly polarised. While two-thirds of young Arabs view the country as an ally, one third see the country as an enemy, especially in Iraq (93 per cent), Yemen

IN THE NAME OF HISTORY

(82 per cent) and Palestine (81 per cent).

Iran’s increasing regional influence is also reflected in the survey, with 13 per cent of young Arabs now viewing the country as their biggest ally -although a small majority of young Arabs (52 per cent) view it as an enemy.

“This is an important survey of how Arab youth -- the largest and arguably most important demographic in the region -- think about the evolving and challenging environment in which they live,” said Donald A Baer, Worldwide Chair and CEO, Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm that has tracked

young Arabs’ views in annual surveys for the past nine years.

“Today’s Arab youth are tomorrow’s leaders, business owners, workers and consumers, and the information in this survey helps all of us to reach and understand this group better,” he said.

Five years after the Arab Spring, most young Arabs today are prioritising stability over democracy.

In 2016, just 36 per cent of young Arabs think that the Arab world is better off following the uprisings, down from 72 per cent in 2012 at the height of unrest.

PTI

UK plans to hire GPs from India

BY ADITI KHANNA LONDON: Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) plans to bring in general practitioners (GPs) from India to tackle a shortage of the health professionals in the UK. Health Education England (HEE) had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Apollo Hospitals in India last year which is to lead to the transfer of around 400 GPs to England, it emerged today.

“England and India have signed a memorandum of understanding as a starting point to exploring how both countries can benefit from the mutual exchange of ideas. The details of the MoU are still in discussion once we have further confirmed information we will share with you,” an HEE statement said.

However, according to GP magazine ‘Pulse’, the move is directed at meeting the government pledge to recruit 5,000 extra GPs by 2020.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee chair, said: “Doctors from overseas have always provided a valuable contribution to this country’s health system, especially as they undergo a rigorous assessment process to ensure they have the right skills for the NHS. “However, it is clearly an admission of failure that the government seems to have launched a new recruitment scheme overseas to plug what is clearly

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee chair, cites widening gap in number of home-grown GPs in workforce

a widening gap in the number of homegrown GPs in our workforce.”

In a statement, Apollo Hospitals said the MoU would involve an exchange of clinical staff.

It said: “We have signed this Memorandum of Understanding as a starting point to exploring how both countries can benefit from the mutual exchange of ideas and clinical staff in improving the education and training of healthcare staff and therefore the quality of care provided to patients.

“These are initial discussions but we look forward to announcing the outcomes of this work over the coming months and years as it progresses.”

PTI

Indo-US move to share military logistics China has raised reservation over agreement between two nations

BY KJM VARMA

People watch as Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov launches a model rocket during a celebration of the incoming 55th anniversary of Russia’s Yuri Gagarin’s first manned flight into space, in St Petersburg, Russia. Gagarin was the first human to journey into outer space in 1961 and is a national hero

PUNE

BEIJING: Reacting guardedly to the landmark Indo-US logistics exchange agreement, China said India pursues an independent foreign policy but hinted it might raise the issue during Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s visit here next week.

“We have noted relevant reports on US Defence Secretary Ash Carter’s visit to India,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters when asked about the agreement that enables militaries of India and the US to use each other’s assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.

“India is also an influential country in the world, and India has been upholding independent diplomatic policy,” Lu said.

Lu’s reference to Parrikar’s visit to China from April 18 was seen as a hint that Beijing might raise the issue

with him. The two-day visit is yet to be officially announced by either side.

“India’s defence minister will visit China very soon,” the spokesperson said.

India and the US agreed “in principle” to a series of initiatives, including the logistics exchange agreement, which they hope will strengthen military ties.

Parrikar and Carter, however, made it clear that the agreement, which will be signed in “weeks” or “coming months”, does not entail deployment of American troops on Indian soil.

The two countries also agreed to set up a new bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue between officials from their respective defence and foreign affairs ministries. This came as India and the US emphasised on freedom of navigation and need for international based order, apparently in reference to China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea. Parrikar and Carter expressed their support for a rules-based order and regional security architecture conducive to peace and prosperity in Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

PTI

Judge rules against couple in China’s 1st same-sex case

CHANGSHA: A judge ruled against a gay couple in China’s first same-sex marriage case that attracted several hundred cheering supporters to the courthouse and was seen as a landmark moment for the country’s emerging LGBT rights movement.

The court in the central city of Changsha dismissed the suit brought against the local civil affairs bureau for refusing to issue the couple a marriage registration certificate.

The couple’s lawyer Shi Fulong said he expected the judge would rule against them but not so soon within just a few hours. “It goes against the spirit of the laws of the people’s republic of China,” Shi said.

Plaintiff Sun Wenlin said he would appeal until he exhausts all legal options.

China doesn’t legally recognise

Sun Wenlin, left, and his partner Hu Mingliang hold hands as they arrive at a court in China

same-sex marriage and officials with the central government have said they do not see the law changing soon.

China blocks UN Sanctions on Azhar, India fumes

China has earlier also blocked India’s bid to get Pak-based militant groups proscribed by the UN

China has exposed its pro-Pakistan stance by asserting that JeM chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar does not qualify to be nailed as a “terrorist” to face UN sanctions as his case “did not meet” the Security Council’s requirements.

In the process, Beijing has evoked an angry reaction from New Delhi on expected lines.

This is not the first time China has blocked India’s bid to get Pakistan-based militant groups and leaders proscribed by the UN. The UN had banned the JeM in 2001 but India’s efforts for a ban on Azhar after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack also did not fructify as China, that has veto powers, did not allow the ban apparently at the behest of Pakistan again.

Last July, China had similarly

halted India’s move in the UN to take action against Pakistan for its release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, saying its stand was “based on facts and in the spirit of objectiveness and fairness” with Beijing again claiming at the time that it was in touch with New Delhi.

India accused Jaish-e-Mohammad of masterminding a fatal attack on the Pathankot air base in India in January.

India had requested that its leader be added to a UN Security Council blacklist of groups linked to al Qaeda or Islamic State. But China objected.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei defended China’s decision, saying that it acts on such issues based on facts and rules in an “objective and just manner”.

“We always deal with the listing issue (banning militant groups and their leaders) under the UN Security Council committee established under resolution 1267 based on facts and relevant rules of procedures in an objective and just manner.

“The Chinese side has always been in communication with relevant parties

on the listing issue,” he said, hinting that China is also in touch with India on the issue. Swarup said India is “disappointed” that a technical hold has been put on its application to include the name of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief by a terrorist sanctions committee established by the UN Security Council.

“The recent terror attack in Pathankot on January 2 has shown that India continues to bear the dangerous

consequences of not listing Masood Azhar. Given the global networking of terrorist groups, this has implications for the entire international community,” Swarup said.

It was not immediately clear why China requested that a hold be placed on the Indian request to blacklist Masood Azhar. Technical holds can be lifted and often arise when a Security Council member wants more information. But

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar with China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua (R) at a press conference on climate change in New Delhi

sometimes they lead to a permanent blocking of a proposed blacklisting.

Asked about China’s decision to place a technical hold on the proposed blacklisting of Masood Azhar, Chinese UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi offered no details. “Any listing would have to meet the requirements” for blacklisting, he said. Pakistani security officials have said that a special investigation team set up in Pakistan to probe the Pathankot attack found no evidence implicating Masood Azhar. If Masood Azhar was blacklisted by the UN Security Council, he would face a global travel ban and asset freeze. The January 2 attack at Pathankot was followed by a raid on an Indian consulate in Afghanistan that has also been linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Jaish-e-Mohammad militants are blamed for a 2001 attack on Indian parliament that nearly led to a war between the nuclear-armed rivals.

After the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot on January 2, India in February wrote to the UN calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

The India submission was considered

by the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the US, UK and France had sent it to all the members. However, hours before the deadline, China requested the Committee to hold up the banning of the JeM chief.

Pakistan’s patronage of anti-India terror organisations such as the Lashkare-Tayyeba and the Jaish-e- Mohammed too escapes the accusation (in the eyes of certain nations) of fomenting terrorism.

This has given rise to the ‘good terrorist, bad terrorist’ syndrome, helping state sponsors of terrorism to make hay. The blur on what defines terrorism has also helped those such as China to keep blocking New Delhi’s attempt in the UN to name the likes of Masood Azhar as a designated terrorist.

It is unlikely that China will do anything adverse against Pakistan.

But it is an unsettling thought that China should equate a ban on a known Pakistani terrorist with acting against Pakistan’s interests.

PTI Feature

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

MONEY MATT ER S

“By introducing devices like Videocon Krypton V50DA and Videocon Krypton V50DC, our focus is to introduce high-on-style smartphones to keep the momentum ongoing in the Indian smartphone market.”

— Jerold Pereira, Business Head, Videocon Mobile Phones

Signpost Jewellers call off stir after govt’s assurance Jewellers have temporarily called off their 42-day strike, demanding rollback of proposed excise duty on non-silver jewellery, for 12 days after the government’s assurance that there will be no harassment by excise officials. “We have decided to temporarily call off the strike till April 24 after the government’s assurance,” Surinder Kumar Jain, Vice-President of All India Sarafa Association told PTI. Jewellers in Maharashtra have also called off their strike temporarily from April 14 to April 24, Maharashtra Rajya Saraf Suvarnakar Federation President Fatechand Ranka said. Jewellery houses remained closed since March 2 after Finance Minister in Budget proposed levying 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery.

Go public with loan defaulters of Rs 500cr & above: SC to RBI Apex Court observes that people take crores and run away while poor farmers who avail loan suffer

Default in repayment of loans running into “lakhs of crores of rupees” prompted the Supreme Court to throw up the idea of making public the total outstanding amount without disclosing the defaulters’ names, but RBI resisted the proposal citing confidentiality clause.

“This information does make out a case. This is quite a substantial amount which is involved,” a bench, comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice R Banumathi, said after perusing the Reserve Bank of India’s list of companies and persons who had defaulted on bank loans of over Rs 500 crore.

Expressing concern over the everrising amount of loans “not being returned”, the bench said “people are taking thousands of crores and running away by declaring the company as insolvent, but poor farmers who take small amount of Rs 20,000 or Rs 15,000 suffer.”

“The total amount in default can be disclosed. Whoever be the defaulter, their names can be kept confidential but what is the total amount of default can be disclosed. Lakhs of crores of rupees are outstanding. Many of defaulters have more than Rs 500 crore and above

Banks are looking to recover Rs 9,000 crore in dues stemming from loans to Kingfisher Airlines, the grounded carrier founded by Vijay Mallya

to pay,” it said.

The bench also sought the assistance of Ministry of Finance and Indian Banks Association by making them parties and posted the matter for further hearing on April 26.

During the hearing, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI counsel cited provisions in the RBI Act and the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, which mandate confidentiality of information.

The bench at the next hearing will be assisted by all the parties on the issues likely to be framed by them, including specifically the question whether “the total outstanding amount of loans

Indian concerns over Colombo port city project addressed Ruling out chances of India-China clash to gain control of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government has addressed New Delhi’s security concerns over the newly-modified USD 1.5 billion Colombo Port City project.

“There is no question of security problem. The Indian security issues have been addressed by us. There will be further discussions with India”

“In our endeavour to make smartphone that is more than just the sum of great specifications, we have built FUEL an operating system that will give a new phone experience every month.”

— Sai Srinivas, CEO and Co-founder, CREO

on this, Wickremesinghe told the media wrapping up his four day-visit during which he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

“We have discussed with India also. We are prepared to discuss it further,” he said answering a volley of questions about USD eight billion Chinese investments including the Port City project made during former Lankan President

Sri Lanka is committed towards freedom of navigation in Indian Ocean

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime, which sparked off security concerns in India.

In a politically significant statement, Wickremesinghe said he has embarked on China visit after holding talks with Rajapaksa and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga to build consensus.

About the likelihood of Chinese military presence in Lanka, he said: “Chinese have not asked for any military base in Sri Lanka. “We are going to have further military co-operation by training. They offered offshore patrol vessel (OPV),” adding that India is also building two for Sri Lanka.

PTI

defaulted can be disclosed or not.”

When advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), favoured disclosure of outstanding loan amount and cited the recent apex court verdict of December 2015 to claim that RBI has to provide all information, the federal bank’s counsel said that decision related to the Right to Information Act and would not apply in the case in hand.

The bench referred to the documents supplied by RBI in a sealed cover and said “the figures have gone up” since June 2014 and “these figures are not confidential.”

When the bench wanted to know whether RBI had “immunity” over

India ranks 19th among top 30 exporters India’s rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015 in the list of top 30 merchandise exporters of the world, according to a WTO report. China continues to hold the top position in the list.

India’s ranking among top importers slipped by one notch to 13th in 2015, from 12th in previous year. In imports, the US topped the list. India’s exports dipped by 17.2 per cent to USD 267 billion last year while imports aggregated at USD 392 billion.

In 2014, the country’s outbound and inbound shipments aggregated at USD 317 billion and USD 460 billion respectively. Slowdown in gobal demand hit India’s exports in 2015 and this year too shipments are in negative zone.

PTI

disclosing this information, the counsel cited the provisions in the Reserve Bank of India Act and The Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, which mandates confidentiality of information.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar also mentioned the provisions in Public Finance and Audit Act, 1983 on the issue of confidentiality.

“Are you (RBI) not supposed to keep a vigil and supervise how the loans have to be recovered. In how many cases you have taken action against those who have run away,” the bench asked the RBI counsel, who said “action has been taken”.

When the hearing was nearing an end, Bhushan referred to RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan saying “I thought that the present RBI Governor is a good man but I am surprised with the type of affidavit filed by the RBI.” He also criticised the RBI Governor for issuing the circular not to disclose the list of wilful defaulters.

The bench stopped him short and said “that does not make him a bad man.” The petition, which was filed in 2003 by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), had originally raised the issue of loans advanced to some companies by state-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). The plea had said that about Rs 40,000 crore of corporate debt was written off in 2015.

PTI

China okays cut of social security payment for staff

BY KJM VARMA China will cut social security payment requirements to lower the burden on businesses and increase efforts to stabilise employment, Premier Li Keqiang has said as his government is struggling to cope with the slowdown of the economy that threatens millions of jobs.

“The government will support various localities, in light of their local conditions, to reduce contributions to the five major insurance programmes and housing provident funds,” Li said at a forum in Beijing on the national economic situation.

He said that this will be conducted “in a step-by-step fashion and under a unified national framework”, staterun China Daily reported. The five programmes cover endowment, medical insurance, unemployment, employment injuries and maternity insurance.

Under the current arrangement, employers must pay just over 39 per cent of their payrolls into the five social insurance programmes. It is not clear whether the government will compensate the employees.

His remarks follow his promise at the end of the national legislative session in March, when he said local governments would be authorised to cut this percentage adequately.

Zeng Xiangquan, head of the School of Human Resources at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said China’s social insurance programmes are among the world’s most expensive, meaning excessively heavy burdens for enterprises and workers.

PTI

Aadhaar, net banking e-filing system is on Income Tax department has activated the Aadhaar and net banking-based e-filing verification system for taxpayers to file the first appeal before a tax officer, on similar lines of online ITR filing.

In order to reduce the interface between taxman and the taxpayer, the department has recently operationalised the maiden facility on its official e-filing portal.

“One EVC can be used to validate one form of the assesse irrespective of the assessment year. The EVC will be stored against the assesse PAN along with other verification details.

The EVC will be valid for 72 hours or as otherwise specified,” a notification

in this regard said.

The Electronic Verification Code (EVC) works by way of generating a personalised One Time Password (OTP) by using the Aadhaar database or the net banking identity of a filer or entity. The OTP is subsequently sent to the personal email id or mobile phone of the filer for validation and subsequent process of filing.

The facility of filing the appeal form, like filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs), can also be done using a digital signature on the official web portal of the tax department http://incometaxindiaefiling. gov.in/.

PTI

India, EU committed to better trade flow Nepal not to be a ‘lab’ for nations: Oli Modi’s visit to Brussels has revived stalled negotiations after a gap of four years

BY SHIRISH B PRADHAN Nepal will no longer be a “laboratory” for foreign countries to conduct experiments, Prime Minister KP Oli said even as he called for fresh talks with the agitating Madhesis to resolve the differences over the new Constitution.

In a televised address to the country on the eve of Nepalese New Year, Oli called on the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) to seek a solution through talks to resolve the ongoing political impasse.

“There is no issue that can’t be resolved through a democratic process,” he said.

The government has already formed a political body to settle disputes over provincial demarcations under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, Oli said and urged the disgruntled Madhesi groups to join the committee.

He stressed that the major responsibility of the incumbent government is to implement the new Constitution. Nepal will no longer be a laboratory for foreign countries to conduct experiments, Oli said without naming any nation.

“Many social scientists have made

Oli said government’s responsibility is to implement the new Constitution

different kinds of experiments in our country in the name of religion, culture, ethnicity, geography and region in the wake of negative outcome of lack of development. We should no more allow the country to become a laboratory,” the Prime Minister said.

The Madhesis, mostly of Indian origin, have been demanding the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns about adequate political representation and redrawing of federal boundaries. They had enforced months-long blockade of Nepal’s all trading points with India, creating huge shortage of essential commodities in the country and souring Indo-Nepal ties.

PTI

India and European Union have had checkered negotiations on a Free Trade agreement, which had been going on since 2007. India-EU bilateral trade is close to $100 billion annually and is therefore in the interest of both sides to speedily conclude a free trade agreement that would help in boosting bilateral trade and investment manifold, particularly at a time when global economy and trade are going through a rough patch.

More than European, it is India, which stands to gain from early conclusion of FTA as Indian economy is on a sweet spot growing rapidly while other economies particularly advanced economies and China are slowing down.

This would help European companies to invest in India, the only large economy that offers opportunity for investment.

This would also help in giving new thrust to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative and skill India campaign to make the economy global manufacturing hub and skill capital of the world taking advantage of the demographic dividend. Sixty five per cent of India’s 1.25 billion population are below the age of 35 that too at a time when most economies are witnessing

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel after their joint statement in Brussels

aging population.

Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to Brussels for India-EU summit has received a shot in the arm for the India-EU bilateral investment and trade agreement negotiations as it has revived the stalled negotiations after a gap of four years. Following Modi’s visit, India’s trade minister Nirmala Sitharaman sounded positive and said the Indian government now sees a possibility of conclusion of the free trade pact with the 28-nation EU. She is also hopeful of a free trade agreement with four-member grouping EFTA comprising Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein this year itself.

This augurs well for the economy. Both sides have welcomed the resumption of the talks as 13th India-EU summit. But analysts fear that the negotiations for India-EU FTA is not going to be easy considering the difficulties faced during the negotiations in the past. European Union is a tough negotiator and also there is now increasing protectionist tendencies among European Union as their economies are not doing well.

Sitharaman is right in saying that for the successful completion of India-EU FTA there is need for political will and a lot of give and take from both sides.

One of the thorny issue between India and EU is data security. Data

exclusivity provides protection to the technical data generated by innovator companies to prove the usefulness of their products. In pharmaceutical sector, drug companies generate the data through expensive global clinical trials to prove the efficacy and safety of their new medicine.

By gaining exclusive rights over this data, innovator companies can prevent their competitors from obtaining marketing licence for low-cost versions during the tenure of this exclusivity.

India has been strong in pharmaceutical industry and exports.

Access to European market for Indian agriculture and horitculture products is also difficult as there is strong farm lobby in Europe particularly in countries like France, which has dominant presence in EU. Intellectual Property Rights is certainly a crucial issue along with duty cuts in automobile and spirits and liberal visa regime. So far 13 rounds of negotiations have been held and the thorny issues seems to have progressed very little. But a view is emerging that India should reach out more in its interest so that some of the losses are mitigated. There are now some positive signals on both sides but one would only hope that the optimism of India’s commerce minister on IndiaEU FTA come true as past experience has not been all that good.

PTI Feature

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

Our voices need to be heard

Where: The Home Sukh, Aracade 4, Ishanya, Off Airport Road

CATCH THE IPL FEVER

Enjoy the IPL season at the open air bar with exciting, nail-biting matches.

Wear the jersey of your favourite team and avail exciting offers with cricket themed cocktails and mocktails.

When: Ongoing Where: Evviva Sky Lounge, Courtyard

by Marriott, Bund Garden Road

THE TRAVEL FEST

Pack your bags and get ready to travel to your dream destination. This summer, Inorbit Mall becomes the ideal place to plan your vacation as the mall is set to host a Travel Fest. Shoppers can choose from the best destinations and customise the packages with some great offers.

When: April 16 to May 15, 11 am to 3 pm Where: Inorbot Mall, Nagar Road Health check-up camp

FREE DENTAL CAMP

PAINTING WORKSHOP THIS SUMMER

In an effort to promote art amongst budding artists and enthusiasts, Tilting Art Gallery is hosting painting workshops this summer by Ramesh Thorat, a renowned artist. It is an opportunity to ideate, interact, practice and learn the nuances of paintings/ drawing, hone your skills with creative

Are you facing dental issues lately? Do you fear being unfit? It’s time to take charge of your health. The HomeSukh is organising free dental and BMI checkup camp this weekend. This special workshop will offer free dental checkup, blood pressure analysis and Body Mass Index (BMI) analysis followed by lucrative coupons offering free dental consultation with teeth polishing for a beautiful bright smile. The workshop will be conducted by renowned medical professional, Dr Monika Dahivelkar.

Dental and general health check ups are not only crucial to maintain your overall health but by getting right consultation, screenings and treatments at the right time escalates your chances of living a longer and healthier life.

When: April 16, 6 pm onwards

A6 SUNDOWNERS AT ATMOSPHERE 6

This Sunday come down to Atmosphere 6 to listen to the best of Chill-Out House where you can wear your favorite sunglasses, shorts and pastel shirts to enjoy the summer heat with their wide array of magnificent cocktails and worldly cuisine to end your weekend in style. Pune’s well known DJ Akshay who has a huge followership of his own will be playing his favoirte Deep/ Punk/Vocal House mixes just right to go down with the Sun and keep the spirits high.

When: April 17, 5 pm onwards Where: Atmosphere 6, Skymax, Viman Nagar

GROOVE TO PUNJABI TUNES

When we talk about the occasion of

SUMMER FIESTA

Baisakhi, so many beautiful images float before our eyes and to celebrate this harvest festival DJ Kamya will play

EDITOR

27 DRUNK DRIVERS FROM PUNE SENT TO JAIL FOR 30 DAYS In a first, 27 seven people who were nabbed by the traffic police for driving and riding under the influence of alcohol were sentenced to 30 days imprisonment by a special court of motor vehicles on Wednesday. Traffic branch Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sarang Awad said, “Judge Jaidev Ghule of the special court of motor vehicles convicted all 27 offenders nabbed by the traffic police in the past year.

All of them were charged under sections 184(Rash driving) and 185 (Drinking and driving) of the Motor Vehicle Act. They have been sentenced to 15 days imprisonment for rash driving and 15 days imprisonment for drinking and driving.”

‘REPLACE RELIGIOUS BOOKS WITH CONSTITUTION OF INDIA’ “Mai Geeta pe haath rakh kar kasam khaata hoon…” is a dialogue we’ve heard ad nauseam in movie courtroom scenes. But activists Sunil and his wife Laxmikanta Mane are trying to change the way oaths are taken in a court of law, through a petition filed in the Bombay High Court. The petition which mentions the Union of India, and the State of Maharashtra through their law and judiciary departments as the respondents, is currently in the initial stages at the Bombay High Court.

The two incidents that prompted the couple to file a writ petition are occurred recently in courts in Maharashtra. “One case is from Bhiwandi where on April 6, 2015, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of

Drunk drivers are a menace to society The Pune police crackdown on drunk driving and the sentencing of 27 persons to jail is a welcome step. People who drive or ride under the influence of alcohol are a real menace, to others and themselves. And if they are unable to behave like responsible adults, probably a stint behind bars may make them realise the foolishness of their ways. In fact, the lawlessness on the streets of Pune is itself a matter of great concern to any law-abiding citizen. Traffic laws are made for the benefit of every one and to see what is supposed to be a civilised public break the laws so brazenly, is an indicator of a great malaise. And that even women and among the culprits shows that the rot has gone very deep.

— Suhan Jataria

The downside of digitisation The story about 75 autorickshaw drivers losing their jobs because of errors in the digitisation process makes one wonder about what caused such errors in the first place. When thousands of entries are made by the same people, day in and day out, there should be a process to ensure that errors are eliminated completely.

There should be a foolproof verification and scrutiny process. The autorickshaw drivers being deprived of their livelihood for no fault of theirs, is a situation that demands some clarification and redressal.

— Preeti Shloka

Bhiwandi-Nijampur Municipal Corporation, Sunil Bhalerao was asked to take oath by placing his hands on a religious book. When he refused claiming to be an atheist, the judge asked him to leave the court and didn’t allow his deposition,” said Sarode. The second incident is from the Pune Sessions court, where additional commissioner Dnyaneshwar Molak was asked to take an oath on the Bhagwad Geeta on March 29. “I am an atheist and I did not want to commit on something I did not believe in. I was ready to take the oath on Indian Constitution, but the judge deferred the case to a later date,” he said.

Finally, on April 12, Molak was allowed to take oath on the Indian Constitution.

Even policemen deserve to live in decent houses

The spotlight feature on the housing societies or lines where the policemen of Pune live makes shocking reading. In a city like Pune, where plush housing societies are seen all over, it is a shame that the policemen are made to live in such miserable conditions. It just shows the callous attitude of the powers that be, who have neglected this issue and continue to do so. And with their meagre salaries, these policemen really have no option but to continue to live in rat-infested colonies, where leaking roofs and crumbling walls are the order of the day. While their masters probably live in air-conditioned luxury, that these guardians of the law are forced to live in such abominable conditions is matter of shame indeed.

— Soham Kulat

PIC

OF

LETTERS TO THE

Workshops on journalism, creative writing, art and toy making for children aged 5-13. Come and bring your children to be a part of fun activities and lots of learning.

When: Till April 24 Where: Bhosale Nagar Contact: 9922433621/ 8888808841

VISHAL KALE

WEEK THAT WAS 15 MEMBERS OF A FAMILY SUFFER FOOD POISONING Fifteen members of a family, including seven children suffered food poisoning after consuming home-made biryani and gulab jamun, in the Khadki Bazar area on Tuesday afternoon. They were rushed to Khadki Cantonment Hospital but were shifted to Sassoon General Hospital in the evening. All 15 persons are now in stable condition. It is suspected that the poisoning occured due to the khoya used to make gulab jamun. Fayyum Bagwan, 40, of Tinkoni Garden, Khadki Bazar had invited his relatives for a family function.

“They were served home-cooked biryani and gulab jamum for lunch. We suspect that the khawa bought from a local sweet shop. was defective,” said Ibrahim Bagwan, a neighbour.

Terror. Fear. Horror. If these words tingle your nerves then wait no further because Lost the Plot is preparing for a haunted weekend. First one up to terrify you is the cult classic, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Based on a terrifying true story, the film takes on a sinister turn of a non-stop nightmare as a family of cannibals start slaughtering a group of friends with a loudly buzzing chainsaw.

When: April 16 & 17 Where: Lost the Plot, Seasons Hotel, Aundh

I

commute from Pimpri to Shivajinagar daily. The journey is nothing less than an ordeal, thanks to Pune roads and chaotic traffic. But the most frustrating part is the traffic snarls at peak rush hours every morning and evening in Dapodi.

Adding to the chaos on an already busy road, the management has now allotted one lane of the three-lane road to commuters going to Bopkhel via a subway.

To reach my office, I use Harris bridge, where there are constant traffic jams, and the city planners have turned a blind eye to the issue. The traffic at peak hours moves at snail’s pace, and the narrow road is crammed with all kinds of vehicles. Khush Solanki The two-lane road and has three traffic signals at Phugewadi railway over bridge, Dapodi and CME gate chowk. As a result, vehicles are held up at the beginning of Harris bridge, resulting in a traffic jam or slow movement of vehicles. The bridge is inadequate to handle the growing volume of vehicular traffic between the two cities.

There are long traffic snarls of around a kilometre on both sides of the bridge during peak hours daily. The authorities should come up with the solutions urgently to help reduce traffic chaos.

The civic body must widen the highway from CME gate to Harris bridge at the earliest, as the two-lane road has become a bottleneck.

Vehicles coming from four lanes of the highway queue up at the CME gate chowk, causing major congestion. I see this is as a collective failure of local authorities and the traffic department. There’s hardly any improvement to provide respite to citizens and some serious action is needed to solve this traffic issue.

E WE K

Enjoy an unparalleled beering experience with a performance by NUEDGE. The band consists of drummer Kunal Rohit, bassist Gabriel Carassco, lead guitarist Swaroop Bhatra, lead vocalist/guitars Robie Wood and vocals

by Francis Torne. The uniqueness about the band is that all its members belong to different parts of India and came together for their common love and passion for music. The band is known for their outstanding performances be it rock, reggae or sufi.

When: April 16, 9pm onwards Where: Ground Floor, Kapila Matrix, Koregaon Park Annexe

inputs and guidance from the creative expert.

When: April 25 onwards Where: Tilting Art Gallery, Arcade 6, Ishanya, Off Airport Road

GET READY FOR A BONE CHILLING EXPERIENCE

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dhol live on stage. To accompany her, renowned Punjabi DJ Sunny and DJ Harneet will open the night with some mind blowing Bollywood and Bhangra tracks.

When: April 2, 9 pm onwards Where: Bombay High, Orchid Hotel, Balewadi

Daily ordeal of bottlenecks on Harris Bridge

NOT CARE A HOOT: Even as the traffic police have embarked on campaigns to enforce the helmet rule, here are three helmetless youths on a bike without number plates driving through a lane near Garware College

Showing other MPs the way

It is hoped that Vandana Chavan’s and Anil Shirole’s innovative and out-of-the-box ideas inspire other Members of Parliament to deal with citizens’ problems in novel ways. Better late than neve is what one must say about how long it has taken for their ideas to be granted approval. Well, there is no getting away from the tangles of red tape and bureaucracy, is there? The funds earmarked for schemes for people’s welfare should be distributed on a priority basis so that the benefits are accessible to the people in time. One can only hope that now the concepts have been approved, the implementation is done immediately.

— Archana Godi

A step in the rational direction The petition by Sunil and his wife Laxmikant Mane to replace religious textbooks with the Constitution of India is thoughtful and praiseworthy.

This will take into account those who do not believe in religion and religious texts. India is a secular country and no one should be forced to take an oath on a religious book if they do not wish to do so. Religion is or should be a personal matter and though India is a predominantly Hindu nation, people should still be free to adopt the faith or belief of their choice. The Manes though deserve credit for undertaking such a bold move, which could have far-reaching consequences.

— Shailendra Vale

Write to Us

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

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2016

PUNE

“Acting is not something that I dreamt of. Without any doubt, acting was more challenging than playing cricket. I enjoyed playing more.”

— Sachin Tendulkar, Indian Cricket Legend

“ Why only cricket has been singled out? Not just in this, even when there is something political, cricket is singled out. When it comes to having ties with some country or not, it’s cricket that is talked about.”

— Sunil Gavaskar, Former India C aptain VISHAL KALE

‘Indian shuttlers are superior’

Says city’s 11-year-old Tara Shah after winning a double crown in Israel Open Junior Badminton

BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish

Tara Shah of the city has taken the brave decision of opting for sports over studies. The standard VII student of Vidya Valley School decided to skip her final exam to play in her first international tournament last week in Israel. The decision paid off as she returned in a blaze of glory, after winning a double crown in the tournament.

The 11-year-old participated in the Israel Open Junior Badminton Championship in the under-13 category. After beating top seed Rimon Hochberg of Israel 21-1, 21-4 in the quarterfinals, followed by second seed Ektarina Matviva of Russia 21-9, 21-5 in the semifinals, she went on to beat Gayane Mamajanyan of Armenia 21-9, 21-7.

Later, pairing with Domas Paksys of Lithuania, she won the mixed doubles 19-21, 21-16, 2112, beating the duo of Elene Ambaryan and Simon Baron Vezilier. The Pune shuttler was in line for a triple crown but she and Lana Abrianov of Israel lost the girls’ doubles final 21-19, 2119 to Sofia Bobyr and Yana Prykhodko.

Tara, who trains with former Olympian Nikhil Kantekar at Balewadi, was excited over her performance and felt that she had an upper hand

over her European opponents.

“This was my first international tournament and I just wanted to get the feel of playing at that level. So, I had nothing to lose and I was playing without any nerves. I realised later that our Indian standard is much higher. In this age group, half of the European players were not able to hit a smash properly and even their footwork was not accurate.

So it went smoothly for me,” said Tara.

The only issue Tara faced was playing in the doubles and mixed doubles event, where she paired with local players. She literally did the spadework alone and covered her partners’ f laws.

“Lana, my partner in the girls’ doubles was quite nervous and even her game was not that good. So I just asked her to stay near the net and I single-handedly played all matches. The language barrier was another obstacle. My Lithuanian partner Domas Paksys didn’t know a word of English and I wasn’t able to communicate with him. So we had several misunderstandings, crashes and mistakes. Still I managed to pull out a win,” she said.

Tara started playing at an early age of six at a nearby badminton court. She then joined the Nikhil Kanetkar Badminton Academy (NKBA) but left the academy after two years and started training with Varun Khanvilkar. After a while, she switched back to her former academy in December 2015, and has been amongst the top players at NKBA. “Earlier I felt that I was not getting enough personal attention.

So, I went to Khanvilkar sir. But, at this stage I needed to get advanced coaching and I rejoined the academy. There are a lot of advantages of training in a full-f ledged academy. I wouldn’t have been

“Half of the European players were not able to hit a smash properly”

Signposts Dalvi wins national ranking tennis Pune’s Yashraj Dalvi and Kundali Majgaine of Navi Mumbai lifted the titles at the MSLTA-Yonex Sunrise PMDTA All India Ranking Under-14 Talent Series Tennis Tournament held at Balewadi. Third seeded Dalvi defeated his citymate, top seeded Sanmay Gandhi 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Paparkar, Chetnani emerge winners Arnav Paparkar of Pune and Kayra Chetnani of Mumbai emerged winners in the PYC Hindu Gymkhana MSLTA (Under-10) State Ranking Tennis Tournament. In the final, eight-year-old Arnav registered a 5-3, 4-0 win over Swarmanyu Singh of Mumbai.

Cadence academy selection trials The selection trials for Cadence Cricket Academy’s under-13 age group (boys) will be held on Monday (April 18). Players born on or after September 1, 2003 should report to the academy ground on the above date.

Sharnya gets ticket to Wimbledon TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly

Sharnya Gaware, Pune’s promising tennis star, has qualified for the national fi nals to be played at the All England Club’s grass courts in London this August.

In the ‘Road to Wimbledon’, tournament Sharnya fi nished runnerup, thus qualifying for the national fi nal. She is third city player to do so.

Earlier, Siddhant Banthia had won the tournament, while Shivani Ingle had fi nished runner-up in the girls’ section in 2014.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club Wimbledon Foundation and All India Tennis Association (AITA) conduct this qualifying tournament for the under-14 age group every year.

In the boys’ and girls’ categories, two players qualify to play in London in the junior Wimbledon tournament.

Tanisha Kashyap among the girls, and Dev Javia and Devish Gehlot are the other Indian players who will join Sharnya at Wimbledon.

In the fi nal qualifying round of Road to Wimbledon held in Kolkata last week, Sharnya went down to Tanisha 3-6, 7-6 (4) 2-6.

The match, which lasted over three and a half hours saw both players fight hard for each and every point. After losing the fi rst set, Sharnya came back strongly and levelled the scores in the tie-break. However, she

couldn’t maintain the momentum and eventually lost the match.

Earlier, Sharnya had defeated under-14 national champion Sanya Singh 7-5, 6-1 in the semifi nals. Sharnya is a standard VIII student of Symbiosis Secondary and trains with Aditya Madakekar and Kaify Afzal at Club Solaris.

Pune’s Richa Chaugule, Sanya Singh, Mallika Marathe and Gargi Pawar were also part of the fi nal qualifying round. Richa won the doubles’ title at the Road to Wimbledon (RTW) National Series.

However, in Kolkata, Richa went down to Shreya Guliya in the match for third place. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Takale returns to the APRC TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly After a year-long hiatus due to illness in the middle of the rally season, former APRC Production Cup champion Sanjay Takale is making a comeback to the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) for the six-round 2016 season that ends with the Rally of India. The season-opening rally will be at the New Zealand town of Whangarei, its traditional venue,.

The Pune rally driver will again be part of Team Cusco, Japan, where he

will be driving a higher version Subaru Impreza WRX with Japan’s Noriko Takeshita as his co-driver for the first two rallies.

Noriko is highly experienced Sanjay Takale navigator, having been the co-driver of World Rally Championship driver Arai Toshihiro.

“I am happy with the way things have

gone. My team has suggested different navigators according to the experience of particular co-drivers with the region and terrain where rallies would take place,” said Takale, who drove with Sean Gregory in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

This will be only the third full year for the Pune rally driver in the APRC and fourth time at Whangarei, where he took part as wild card entrant in 2011.

After doing that one-off APRC round, Takale decided to participate in the full circuit and returned with the APRC titles in 2012 and 2013. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

able to play any international, if I wasn’t be here,” said Tara, who is in the top 20 in the under-11 category in India.

Saina Nehwal or PV Sindhu are the icons for upcoming shuttlers in India. But Tara is fascinated with Ratchanok Intanon, a Thai badminton player, who became the youngest women’s singles World Champion.

“Saina is good, but I like many others.

Ratchanok Intanon is the best and I am amazed with her strokes. Even world number 1, Carolina Marin is one of my favourites. I want to be like them,” said Tara.

Meanwhile, talking about the competition, Tara’s coach Nikhil Kanetkar said, that their basic idea was to give her international exposure at the right time.

“I would have loved to see most of my academy players participating in this tournament.

There are very few international events held in the under-11 and under-13 categories. If our top players had gone there, we would have a complete medal sweep. But it was a costly affair and not everyone was ready to skip the final exams,” he said.

The Olympian said that the standard of Indian players is high in the age group because they play against overage players most of the time.

“Overage players are a big issue for every sport in India. It is common to see 16-year-olds playing in the under-13 category. So we don’t see to get the real talent surfacing in India. As a result, parents lose interest and they force the kids to shift their focus to studies.

However, in foreign countries, our players can do wonders as they face opponents of their age group. That’s why international exposure is a must for the young generation,” he said. ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com