The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 30/04/2016

PUNE, APRIL 30, 2016 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

Maharashtra’s fast vanishing TRADITIONS

Street singers, fortune tellers, dramatic performers, the Potraj, Vasudev, Gondhali and Kudmude Joshi communities were once a vital part of the cultural and devotional life of Maharashtra. The headlong urbanisation and transformation of lifestyles have rendered these traditional communities obsolete and redundant, teetering on the verge of extinction See p08-09

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

Sub inspector kidnaps Pune girl, rapes her for days

Santosh Sonawane, attached to Mumbra police station, locked up the victim in a flat and violated her repeatedly

SEE P05

Elite Radio Club throws nanny out of a birthday party Cites a circular which does not allow aayas, maids, chokras, servant boys and Office Peons to be introduced as guests in See p02 the club

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

PUNE

MUMBAI

“Apart from the immediate relief measures and long-term Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan, we have specially evolved the Mukhyamatri Peyjal Yogna, that would focus only on supplying drinking water to remote villages.”

— Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister

India seeks time for climate pact issue P 11

Asian junior tennis tourney from today P 16

Elite Radio Club throws nanny out of a birthday party

Cites a circular which does not allow aayas, maids, chokras, servant boys and Office Peons to be introduced as guests in the club

BY BAPU DEEDWANIA @TGSWeekly One of the elite clubs in Mumbai, Bombay Presidency Radio Club, is in trouble these days. They recently asked a nanny to leave birthday party, which she was attending as a guest. Their logic behind the move a circular which stated that helps are not allowed to be signed in as guest. The move hasn’t gone down too well with the member, who signed in the nanny and her employers for the birthday party.

The member has now taken on Radio Club head-on for an incident that occurred last week where ‘one of his guests was publicly insulted and humiliated’ by the club staff. Radio Club is a landmark of Mumbai known for its open spaces and its patrons are senior citizens and socialites.

The member, a lawyer by profession, has filed an official complaint with the club authorities regarding the incident that revolves around a 2010 circular issued by the club that states ‘This is to remind all members that under no circumstances Aayas, Maids, Chokras, Servant Boys & Office Peons to be introduced as Guests in the Club’.

The complainant, a permanent member of the club, had signed in around five people as his guests on April 24 morning to celebrate the birthday of his friend’s son by the pool and later at the dining hall.

The member in his complaint said that the nanny of the infant, whose birthday was celebrated, was asked to leave on the pretext that she could not be signed in as a

guest as per the circular. The member said that ‘This is a direct insult to me, she was my guest, she cannot be asked to leave!’

The member has narrated the whole incident in the complaint, a copy of which is available with TGS. The complaint reads, “We had just sat to eat lunch in the inner room of the hall when one of your staff members, who’s name I am not aware, approached my guest and asked if she was a ‘maid’. She responded by saying she was a nanny by profession. The staff member informed her and us that she could not be signed in as a guest of the club as ‘maids’ were not allowed to be signed in as guests.”

According to the member, “We thought that the staff member might not have realised that the nanny was not only not a ‘maid’ but in fact a guest who was signed in by me and not someone who

UNEQUALITY AND EQUALITY January 2016, Delhi: An incident happened with Dr Mohini Giri, a former head of National Commission for Women, who has been a member of Gymkhana Club for 60 years. Dr Giri was at Delhi’s elite club when a group of NGO workers went to the club’s ‘Chinese Room’ to dine. Dr Giri’s guests were promptly informed by a member of staff that maids and drivers were not allowed, and they would have to leave. Dr Giri fought vehemently against this rule with the club. She was quoted in one of the media reports, “Are we still suffering from a hangover of the British Raj when dogs and Indians were not allowed? And even if I had taken a maid, so what?”

had walked into the club for free, so we attempted to explain the situation to the staff member and informed him that the said individual’s social status, profession, etc should not determine whether she can be signed in as a guest of the club or not.

The staff member was adamant and explained to us that, unfortunately, that was in fact the rule and proceeded to show us a notice dated July 13, 2010.”

Both the family and the member did not create any scene and left the premises.

However, this member was certain that there is no way in which he will leave such a circular go unchallenged. He filed his official complaint with the club a couple of days later. The complaint urges to look at the ‘classist’ nature of the circular and remove it with immediate effect.

The complaint said, “I am writing to you to ask you, with utmost respect, to immediately eradicate such archaic and discriminatory rules as they find no place in today’s society, much less in a popular South Mumbai Club whose members are educated individuals. Not only is it extremely discrimi-

Clubs in Mumbai Breach Candy Bath Trust, a prominent club, also has an ‘unsaid’ rule to this effect.

“No circular has been issued but it is a clear rule that maids, aayas, servants and peons are not allowed inside the club premises. Some random incidents do occur where members have fought for their helps to be signed in as guests,” said a member at the club. Malabar Hill Club has no restrictions of his sort. “You can see helps all around the club. They tend to children and elderly at the garden. You can see the help around the pool area. Help can be signed in as guests and for free as well,” said a member at this club. Several other clubs in Mumbai have similar rules, however, they are not on paper. Also, when a member does put his foot down about his help being let in, the clubs often concede.

natory in nature to allow/disallow entry to guests based on their appearance and societal status, but also shows the club in a very bad light. The treatment meted out to the nanny was classist and unacceptable.

Should we as a society show respect and preference only to the ‘crème de la crème’ of society and ignore the rest?”

The complaint also suggests that it is about time we put an end to these rules and treat everyone equally and not let any person be discriminated on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Talking to TGS, the complainant, a young lawyer by profession, said, “Do you want to be known as the club that denies entry to people based on their societal status? I have asked the club that do they want to do this because they have been running that since July 2010 and will continue to do so till such a notice/rule persists.” “If you choose to hide this behind the thin veil of a board which reads ‘rights to admission reserved’ then you will be doing yourself and the reputation of this club a very big disfavour. I implore you to place this before the trustees of this club and remove such discriminatory rules immediately,” he said.

Meanwhile, the office-bearers of the club justified their action and said that the rule has been around even before it was formalised in 2010. “It’s not a public place, but a private club. We have certain laid down principles and expect every member to abide by them. We do not discriminate on the basis of caste, sex, religion, etc. If anything I personally encourage and believe in treating our helps well. At Radio Club we allow them in several areas, except two places – restaurant and permit room,” said Advocate Manoj Mirchandani, a committee member of Radio Club.

He said that that there have been instances where members have come along with their helps, who end up occupying all the seats and other members have to stand. “Our club has 9,000 members.

Each member has around at least four family members. Imagine the number of people we cater to. To add to this, if we allow helps to enter, then there won’t be any space left,” said advocate Mirchandani. He claimed that there are several areas in the club where aayas, chokras and helps are allowed. “In fact, we don’t even charge guest fee from members for bringing in their helps in designated areas. We serve the helps food and beverages in designated areas in the same plates as ours. So it’s not as if we have a problem with helps entering our club.

All the other elite clubs have similar rules,” concluded Mirchandani. bapu.deedwania @goldensparrow.com

Section 144 imposed in drought-hit Latur Rising water-related violence in the region force state to prohibit gathering of four or five people in an area TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly With the Maharashtra government for the fi rst time issuing the direction under Section 144 (unlawful assembly of people) of the Criminal Procedure Code in drought-hit Latur as a preventive measure to tackle possible violence over water around municipal tanks, Maharashtra Director General of Police Praveen Dixit recently took a review meeting to understand the law and order situation in drought-prone districts of the state. Latur is one of the worst drought-hit districts in the Marathwada region.

Special Inspector General of Police (IG) for law and order Prabhat Kumar briefed DGP Dixit about the water crisis in the state and the measures taken by the administration.

“Across the state, law-enforcement agencies have been instructed to ensure that more than five people do not assemble at these places, including tanker-fi lling points, public wells, tankerplying routes and storage tanks in the district. State intelligence department have been asked to activate its informers to update on any possible protest by farmers near dams,” a senior official said.

IG Kumar said that the review meeting was held with top brass across the drought-affected areas to ensure peace and harmony continues in such situations. Although the demands of farmers are legitimate, adequate drinking water supply is essential to avoid further crisis in the state. At the same time, as drought affects people,

maintaining law and order is a must.

“Latur Collector Pandurang Pol on April 21 had to impose the order prohibiting the gathering of more than five persons in areas around 20 water storage tanks until May 31. Recent incidents of anti-social elements and politicians hijacking tankers from fi lling points and huge crowds creating law and order problems at public wells left the administration with no option but to impose the directive,” said a senior officer involved in the review meeting.

There are a total of 1,821 dams across Maharashtra and drought-like situation has made the administration to limit the use of these waters only for drinking purposes and the demands of farmers to release water for irrigation purposes cannot be met in the present scenario, the review committee claims.

“The waters of Jayakwadi Dam in Aurangabad was used for irrigation purposes but dipping water level made us to stop this facility. However, farmers recently made a three- kilometre illegal channel to draw water from the dam and they were booked under Maharashtra Irrigation Act,” the official said.

The committee report said that about 30,000 farmers recently blocked the main square and roads in Nashik city demanding loan waiver, better drought relief measures along with Rs 50,000 per acre of destroyed crops.

They also want land rights for tenant farmers. Thousands of people affected by the drought in Pune (rural) and Ahmednagar regions are migrating to other cities. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Loan defaulter Dwarka Group gifted cars to bigwigs Dwarka Group owners, associates arrested for embezzling Rs 307 crore from public sector banks

BY SANTOSHEE MISHRA @santosheemishra The Dwarka Group of Companies has dipped into the liquidity of public sector banks to the tune of a whopping Rs 307 crore. Recently, it was found that a sizeable chunk of the loan was used to buy luxuty cars that were gifted to influential people, including politicians, bureaucrats, among others.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Navi Mumbai police has unearthed this scam on the basis of a complaint fi led by one Anupam Siddheshwar Prasad, deputy general manger of Punjab National Bank, from whom Dwarka Group took loans to the tune of Rs 160 crores.

EOW has named Kapil Devprakash Rajput, Mithun Devprakash Rajput, Devprakash Rajput, Murugesan Adimoolam and Hemal Jobanputra as the accused.

Four years after PNB declared Dwarka Group as defaulters, they

Kapil Devprakash Rajput

stumbled upon startling facts. On February 23, 2016, the bank finally registered a criminal complaint.

Sources revealed that Dwarka Group invited the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to inaugurate a dairy farming scheme for farmers for whom they were guarantors. Under the scheme, farmers would be given subsidised loans for the purchase of cattle. The Rajputs exploited this association with Pranab Mukherjee and availed loans from nationalised banks. Years later, they started defaulting on repayments to Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank and Central Bank of India. The banks

have now fi led cases in several courts in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nanded, Ahmednagar, Phaltan, Satara, and Agra.

“The FIR was registered on February 23 against the five directors, Kapil Rajput, his brother Mithun and their father Devprakash, along with Murugesan Adimoolam and Hemal Jobanputra. They took car loans from the period of 2010 to 2012, from the Vashi branch of PNB. All the 23 cars are of premium category. They include Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Range-Rover, Chevrolet, Audi and Toyota. Eleven premium cars have so far been recovered from the arrested accused. For the remaining cars, Kapil and Mithun have given affidavits stating that they will be handed over to the

bank in the next two months as none of the vehicles are in their possession.

They claim the cars were gifted to political bigwigs across the country,” said Shahji Umap, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 1), Vashi.

EOW senior police officials used a unique technique to retrieve 11 of the premium cars. Since they realised could not call up the political bigwigs and ask them if they had the cars, the police told the accused to call up the politicians and ask them to return the cars.

A senior PNB official said, “The 11 premium cars are in our possession and we will soon auction them.”

While Dwarka Group has been in financial mess since 2012, their troubles began early this year. Shubrata Datta, a businessman and resident of

Malad, lodged an FIR on October 3, 2015 over a fraud of Rs 6.50 crore

by Kapil, Mithun, Murugesan and Pitabash Prasad Gosh, directors of Dwarka group, and Kaushik Tanna, Rajeshwar Kishore Goyal, deputy general managers of PNB, Vashi branch, and brokers Jayesh Gala and Vyankat Krishna alias Kanan Swami.

Vashi police station police inspector and investigating officer Anil Chandrakant Shinde said, “The complainant Datta applied for a loan of Rs 14 crore to PNB, Vashi but brokers Gala and Kanan Swami told him that he was not eligible for such a big loan. They said that the deputy general manager could approve a loan of Rs seven crore, and that he should give Rs four crore to Dwarka

Milks for a period of 15 days.” The Dwarka group had already declared as non-performing accounts (NPA) and Goyal, the arrested accused, was helping to keep them functioning by showing transactions to only on paper companies. The Dwarka group kept its accounts worrking by showing a collateral of its group companies which existed only on paper.

The complainant later gave Rs four crore to the Dwarka group of companies. “I had given Rs 2.5 crore security deposit cheques to brokers under the name of Dwarka group in the year 2012 to run a company named Premier Polyester Pvt Ltd in Navi Mumbai. However, later I realised that I was cheated,” said Das, the complainant.

“Kapil, who claimed to be known to bigwig politicos, absconded and was arrested at Delhi. He was picked up from one of the residences of in the Commonwealth Games complex.

Kapil, Mithilesh and Murgesh are lodged in Taloja jail, while the others have been granted bail by the court. The hearing on Kapil, Mithun and Murugesan’s bail application is scheduled for June in the Bombay High court,” said Shinde. santoshee.mishra@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

Can menstruation be linked to purity?

P12

“Safety is the topmost priority for the BRTS route. An accident just before the inauguration is testimony of poor safety. Citizens may lose their lives if there is a major accident due to poor infrastructure.”

— Qaneez Sukhrani, Activist

Victims of housing scam throng Vadgaon Shinde site, demand scamster Madhukar Suryavanshi’s arrest TEJAS GAIKWAD

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 In wake of the TGS expose of the multi crore rupee Samyak housing scam, nearly 250 home buyers duped by Madhukar Suryavanshi and his accomplices, gathered at the Vadgaon Shinde site on April 24, to denounce the scamsters. Suryavanshi’s victims include daily wage workers, autorickshaw drivers, retired army men and some government bureaucrats.

They have demanded that Suryavanshi be arrested immediately Sur yavanshi UPED ERS D s and their had erected E BUY M m O a H c S 0 PLU 10,00 using s m o n e y c e m e n t o h l l a r of e h refunded. concrete t o M Sur yavanshi pillars and a had also four-storey p r o m i s e d slab in a people flats at t housa nd Loni Kalbhor square and Khadki, and feet area. accepted money T h e at his Rasta Peth w o r k office. star ted The plot of land i n is around six km 2012 from Lohegaon, and a b u t kuchcha road leads to w a s it. To dupe the people, stopped in 2013, and ed h as tin calls Pu Obama n situation ria over Sy

n d as soo r the lan hand ove gar Road BRTS ured to he has ass ions on Ahmedna tor and rat ict Collec bus ope to Distr nt of starting ken spo confide “I have .” le. We are as possib ore April-end Mayor bef ne corridor nt Jagtap, Pu sha — Pra

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BY YOG balance the houses over ing project in ct Suryawanshi VAR, the exac said Pawar. He writ ten to NDE from hom buyers from le er RUPANA AR BHO he took to deliv trace of the hous Titwala proje r cities. Whi homes,” ion. I have now of now in Malvani TUSHAR ANESHW HEE MISHRA no 15 the As othe is at Rs DNY there een ing mes in Foundat Foundat ion.”

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10,000, in ed Bhim Owners bedr of the deve ister’s, Chie and Sind awanshi are to ing amo cts were exceeds he start missioner’s officthe es set up pictures. rtising of one tri Awas Min of as the book housing proje to his offic the delay.

Com Prime es and with Sury n in 2007 when Man bers rity nt’ adve nam value the ’s trips han Cha to dule for mem bega set d ‘frau Minister the Prad rs are bound Most of made frequent lame reasons ruse. It tered it with the the committee Milind awanshi who issue each under rs -crime buye of nally given Group, years, Sury lakh les, kala and regis d Pawar, one partner-inyak companies, are perso 2014. Buye , but were dock. The Rs five over the it society, texti say that nitude and his cities y in the that ministers Sam flats for Devanan n, said that nwhile, ld all the Suryawanshi great mag Hakk are surel now ing, cred rs. “He wou , tor of threebe traced. Meather and areas s scam of Yojana, money back, Foundatio units - hous othe a direc to In 2015 a housing n’s Samyak Niva at least al among people in all these are yet ing toge who is get their action. But ar. up sever microfinance, datio Kasade, rground. They rs started com , with ng of empower mes,” said Paw of one supervisi e of Bhim Foun g since 2011 0 per cent academy, dation would went unde d, several buye offin 10-2 vative scheshi bought a plot bai) erned sprea in the nam been in the having paid the Foun up with inno Mum as word ed the cops. cies conc ive awan has rb near of Bhim ing ervat e buyers the agen Sangh 2009, Sury (a subu by com approach plus hom risingly, all , which by cons etime in has in Titwala k Sangh, a part called Som 10,000 Surp and crore. in Pune),” value. to the scam two gunt project Nivas Hak the flat ed a blind eye tune of Rs 500 of the housing plot (also acre and e of Samyak mass housing oom houses for Shinde a nam bedr aon ed the have turn soars up to the shi, the promoterr’ and marketed one float Vadg in the end, the , n. He promised re. estimates,hukar Suryawan e of ‘Apna Gha 2011 to 2015 March has Foundatio r’ where he said Nag from ed from Gha l Forum Mad in the nam government been approach Starting er Redressa all against in ‘Apna started started sum orders, awanshi Mumbai scheme g blessed by the e stations have i awanshi could pay Pune Con two dozen vain. In Sury e, Sury e in Saraswat e owners I over 15 over as one bein Several polic ted, but in ings estingly passed In Pun offic run. chea then the in EM shi. Inter any of the hear ing offic . The is on the who have been years and the amount While for some ing Suryawan a book , Rasta Peth nt for e le resid rest of explained. by thos on Rs not prese served notices. k Sangh the ract was Building locked. Peop it’s been all re at a cont Nag s Hak e. “He being gave years,” g nothing said that drew up nshi despite Samyak Niva is now estat y he just are doin their money, awanshi vicinity e Suryawa fed in real start The r, to man an affidavit. le the Sury to ver in the cops sinc pape dabb the le rs are p s and e of only ms reco Whi rs take the buye The bank 100 stam clause rs, did not the victi e to the rescu of the two year and left. “We the buye mnity custome to help convinced in his bank. ed up credit an inde ld first make yak Sangh and g his have com ed with one said even lock tive ing ey erin ers e,” pera mon lawy answ offic rs. It start kh, approachcate e, “He wou ip of the Sam n,” he said. for the yak co-o putting up of uent the office alon Shei is as Sam up especially of the advo home buye rs membershcontract was draw ve that this Sayyan s known who freq re and Diwan custome was set g to the term deposit ent. The buyers, Atul Nag then the the lawyers belie“We have over Nagre society a resid over 2,00 0 buyers not Accordinpeople could six per advocate ar Diwan of “We were told Both more iceberg. . buyers. hand led ay. The flat unts for tip of the we believe thatin Pune offered Shivkum in April 2015 0 people from society, just the , credit unt and were deposited Rs in its heyd book ing amodeposited cases, butle were affected schemes ts e law firm nd 1,500 to 2,00their money by cate a 100 any amo est. Our clien over and abov only paid , but also it society. of lar over 0 peop , simi and Advo for e that arou been duped , 2,00 it flats vani cred inter had lakh Nagr cred than Mal the he cent fighting t. The their s with e, Then, Aurangabad, cate Atul n with the credit to Rs two Pune had shi. We are itself. in Pun rat.

25,000 ing amount umer cour orders Advokumar Diwa huge sum n the eas on in . Even Khadki dow Suryawan le at the cons said Sam g Shiv the wher areas book , as r shut goin the duped,” t lakh and othe money for his Khadki He even an.

100 peop now increasing coming out Rs eigh cost Rs three that I was Latur is in a are society. e cost e rs of collected said Diw ARE family number the victims re. He has been feet hous the same hous , he first Once the buye him, he said an. society,” SAWAK with his cate Nag In 2011 said. He ever similar favouring advocate Diw for some ained advo pay only 10 or RAJ ESH akare lives li, Mumbai. Sangh pestering dated in project. ing,” he nshi ’s office ey. wed a p. to expl Saw started be accommo diva awa fast,” saidawanshi follo Maple grou mon Hak k booking all to noth people lakh,” Rajesh project in Kan Nivas would Malad.

I lost it rounds of Sury then ask base price for ng all ourcrores. I Sury house to the he has Samyak in Malvani, would the the rented that they shed, taki operandi people that ent to . It was s of about booked doing cent of the has vani n hundred modus heard rnm e homes uncle had ,” he said more 20 per using to tell n in two “He he gove dabl e. are 2012 essio stole paid me used sinc affor state 3.2 lakh . “My sit in inco e they “He rnment he had . “I was t have the flat. promised poss offer ing d by the the offer and paid Rs I shou ld the low as depo sed that He mus inced that sinc have govent. I got ped at “He been veste p houses for to change for 1,20,000 that he reali the same plot ever, He jum for Rs 32 lakhthought that booked conv ar and dule chea re , How frau was . used for ide bedk later s squa rs and prov 2014 only to unt. I ldn’t be farce,” he said of Am two flats , a 300 His price rtunity well for Rs than othepossession in name ion, they wou a ing amo asked me groups. people. For some money as was all as book out on the oppo ting and ing stuck. to get recognit later that it in 2011 chen flat different supposednshi held a meegs were gett en not miss oom-hal l-kit lakh upfront flat by ed. Wh I to know dejected. the Suryawa money as thin e and wait a one bedrI paid Rs 2.2 I wou ld get me, there look ing . more 00 mor ribed the meeting police 2015 but 2015, 22 lakh promised that ad desc t ahead pay I paid Rs 60,0 my calls or In ntly till SAM RAT ng Samarth ned. “The I wen y home. and was waited patie t So ped taki 2014 at the Sawant, he was ROH AN Samrat had drea m I nshi flatl it go as planthe poor. So for Rs eigh in he stop a to 2013. news of my nd, Suryawa plot did not for that , Khadki, Rohan buying ed an FIR . According 00 and re feet to be a refu m of told to know Kanchan was no houses ht a 650 squa sit of Rs 80,0 ware. lodg on,” he said father. a drea Uru li Later he was asked for n I came his I in Dha n stati g boug for depo had whe erty said whe and akare. booked That ’s house , after savin , after show n prop gaon Shinde. gaon Shinde he paid the two years,” refused. scam,” said Saw akare who Vad for Rs Vad lakh. I , in 2014 In 2012 ial amount, Saw a nothing,” he lakh to patiently years later held a meeting Sangli and plot except all on 15 like h ed tant ed Rs le was y wait h the a subs fina lly book t so muc , three cour t case water and that ever awanshi Most peop rang ing fromplot on whic ed have spen now is the However tion, Sury told us that vani Samrat in his father’s that even failed. “I in Mal r got to see the e. “He show agita hope e flats ked only s, much the buyers. “Helable. He said . chec a hous “I was near , neve take plac ed. Thu said. His. the plot in 30 lakh tion was to that the land with all y was not avai ing sanction never d for name. nshi ’s site I loved laid the said has filed him and d with R er and construc en we aske had elect ricit were not gett I Suryawa . My fath AN KA hures and believed ible. Wh beat us up and, it, they ement, us broc church. We he was registere r), we PAI TH of permits tion isn’t poss early 2012 came to see per the agre we were e bouncers January 2015 vani ARV IND ent missione we s. Sinc Mal As that en ce in construc ey back , his Com r plan s resid e.

Wh ind Poli after he on . Thu . Afte rat. on ston is only insisted rnment (Charity he said with Samarth money A nkawdi, Arv s t to our mon three lakh n,” said Sam foundati bit. It work dow n,” we wen ed Dha awanshi him Rs the gove him one money that land shut us lodged an FIR hard earn house Pait hank ar handed r to get possessiolater, Sury on the doubt health my e was no s rat nd the didn’t anot her PMC Dhaware “I just want an just eage e months that ther e for the mas to refu st in ing from Sam as at the nt realise refused Thre were gett the Stat ion. can’t even inve money a first plac only to I owners d more depa rtme. “I bought e. in the airingly. ey for the site back . demandethat the land Sawakar said desp ever acqu ired more mon assistant suring 1076. parcel project,” said ext now,” he asked for SuryawanshiI have mea pret 2010 had ing ing plot .

T and hous feet in wort h greedy have been chasnever responds believe SAWAN r squa re BAL AJIt sub inspecto . He cannot plot was I paid plot. “I vain still in I if has The so but sure Assistan Sawant dying. lakh, ,” he since, drea m Rs 16 ey he is not y. He Balaji 1,60,000 years later, even his mon t. seen my ar lar stor at the ARE Rs hsag AW simi Six poin a d. gett ing R DH ware, a Suk tioned he recounte has a shot at saving till that houses AN KA Dha is posi a jail and ad for RAV ISH ishankar a years he even was my life’s spaper Rav Yerawad the Yerawad saw a new that a fewin such When a back . “It resident, lives in “I bought unaware himself Nagar a rented , he was ld find jail line. re feet plot for in 2011 line he wou all my life in e. I had the 650 squa and paid Rs dow n “I have lived my own housfirm and lakh Rs 12 a mess. wanted to have in a private ever, all I a clerk . How house. ing as he said gs,” work been some savin thus had

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the reasons cited were that permissions were being sought for drainage line, water, and electricity shortage. When people raised questions, he assured them they would get keys to their flats within six months.

Satyawan Shinde and his cousins own the 40 acres of land, of which six acres was sold to Suryavanshi. Shinde claims that he also has been cheated

by Suryavanshi. He does not allow the duped home buyers to enter the site.

Vimal Ram Jagtap, 34, of Dhanori, saw an advertisement in a local newspaper. She was told by Suryavanshi that she could choose a flat at Vadgaon Shinde, Khadki or Loni Kalbhor. She paid Rs 50,000 to

book a 450 sqaure feet flat at Vadgaon Shinde. She had to pawn her gold ornaments to raise the money.

Raziya Shaikh, of Khairewadi slum, Shivajinagar invested Rs 80,000 to book a 450 square feet flat in 2011.

Her husband Imtiyaz, an autorickshaw driver, had to borrow the money from her relatives, and now they want their money back.

Ashok Bhosale, 35, of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar in Yerawada, sells cutlery for a living, and makes about Rs 10,000 a month. His family includes wife Bharati, sons Harshad, 17, Tushar, 14, and mother Shanta, 70.

He pays Rs 1500 as rent, and invested his savings of Rs 70,000 to book a 450 sq feet flat.

Sanjiv Gadre, 52, of Ghorpadi, is a clerk in the railways, and invested a lakh of rupees for a flat at Uruli Kanchan.

Prabhakar Nichit, of Ghatkopar, a BEST driver, booked a flat for Rs 60,000. Autorickshaw driver Afjal Banimiya Inamdar, 29, of Airport Road, invested a lakh of rupees in a flat.

All these people duped by Suryavanshi, plan to stage a protest at Guardian Minister Girish Bapat’s office on May 5, and will also stage a march from Swargate to Shaniwarwada on May 4. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

Six year wait for appreciation

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka Rafique Mulla, 63, aka ‘chacha’, has been driving an ambulance for 40 years. He was among those three ambulance drivers who ferried victims of the German Bakery blast to Sassoon General Hospital.

The Bund Garden police had promised them appreciation certificates for their service, but six year have passed and Balasaheb Hingane, Rafique Mulla and Asif Shaikh are still waiting.

“We do not want money or gifts. All we want is a token of appreciation for our efforts in a time of need,” said Mulla, who carried dead bodies of the Bakery blast to Sassoon General Hospital.

Pune Ambulance Association president Balasaheb Hingane, 57, said that he along with two other association members helped the Bund Garden police

carry dead bodies and the injured to hospital from German Bakery.

“The then Police Sub-Inspector of Bund Garden Police station Ashok Randive voiced appreciation for our selfless efforts,” said Hingane, and Randive agreed to give them certificates of appreciation. Six years after the blast, they are still making rounds of Bund Garden police station for the certificates.

And all they get is standard replies.

“We are told by the staff that the officer is not available. Six months ago we were told that Randive had retired from service,” Hingane said.

Bund Garden police station senior Police Inspector Madan Bahaddarpure said, “I do not have any idea what retired PSI Randive promised these ambulance drivers. I will not be able to give them certificates of appreciation. “ priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

VISHAL KALE

Samyak scam victims unite, want their money back

RROW DEN SPA THE GOL2016 PUNE

PUNE

Payment kiosks not Pune’s Bombay Sappers help desilt Nere dam functional, and yet PMC pays for them Indian army lends a helping hand to droughtstruck Nere village

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had signed a contract with private firm Vansh Infotech in 2006, to install 75 multi-utility payment kiosk centres across the city, for citizens to pay property tax bills, MSEB bills, telephone bills, or make railway/bus/airplane reservations. PMC pays Rs 15,000 per month per kiosk, plus electricity charges.

But most of the kiosk centres are shut down. The kiosk centres at Tilak Road in front of Grahak Peth, and at Bajirao Road near the BSNL office are broken.

But PMC is still paying for such kiosk centres, which are draining taxpayers’ money. For all the smart city hype, the PMC cares little to provide facilities for citizens, and instead is wasting public money.

Shashi Bhate of Sadashiv Peth said, “The kiosk centre in front of Grahak Peth often remains closed, and if it is open, it does not have internet connectivity.

Kiosk centres do not provide MSEB bill payment, railway/air/bus reservation facilities, and property must be paid by cheque. We can pay property tax online on the PMC website with debit or credit cards, so where is the need for kiosk centres? It’s a waste of public money. I have written many letters to PMC but TEJAS GAIKWAD

nothing has happened. Vansh Infotech Company probably belongs to some political person, as the contract goes to the same company for nine years.”

The kiosk centres at Grahak Peth, near B U Bhandari, Sai Chowk, Chittaranjan Vatika and Bajirao Road are closed most of the time, and citizens have stopped going to these centres.

Records show that except for property tax payments, none of the other facilities like MSEB bill payment, telephone bill payment, railway/bus/ airplane reservations are provided at these kiosk centres.

PMC made a payment of Rs 4,00,500 to Vansh Infotech in March, and is even paying electricity bills for these kiosk centres, but information is not available on PMC records. About non-operational kiosk centres which PMC is paying for, PMC additional commissioner Rajendra Jagtap said, “There were 75 kiosk centres installed under the contract with Vansh Infotech.

But later, because of not functioning properly, we reduced kiosk centres to 54.

PMC only pays for these 54 kiosk centres.

Kiosk centres are to facilitate property tax payments, MSEB bill payment, telephone bill payment, railway/bus/ airplane reservations, according to the contract. If they are not providing these facilities, it is a serious matter. I will immediately order my staff to verify this and action will be taken against this service provider private company, whom we did contract, if they are guilty.” tushar.rupanavar@ goldensparrow.com

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar

The Indian army, besides guarding our borders, are known to lend a helping hand during calamities. This time around, army personnel have come to the aid of drought-hit Nere village in Satara district. On the request of retired army personnel in Satara district, the defence ministry has sent Bombay Sapper personnel to desilt the 143-year-old Nere dam,

Retired Colonel Rajendra Godse with army dozers at Nere village

which has run dry.

The Maharashtra government has declared drought situation in 14,708 villages, which cover 34 per cent of the state. Some places like Latur are being provided water by train. Maan and Khatav tehsils of Satara district are considered major drought-hit regions. Nere dam in Maan region is one of the main sources of water for nearby villages.

But the Nere dam catchment area is full of silt so water was not stored up to its capacity. Villagers have given many applications to the district

administration and local politicians to remove the silt but nothing had happened. Retired army personnel from Nere and adjacent villages united under the leadership of retired Colonel Rajendra Godse, of Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan Pratishthan, an NGO. They met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi and sought his help. Parrikar urged the Bombay Sappers of Pune and Satara collector Ashwin Mudgal to help. The Bombay Sappers sent two bulldozers, with Naik Darshan Khan, Lance Naik Gurujit Singh and

City school insists on Adidas shoes Don’t send your child to Wisdom World School if you can’t afford Adidas shoes

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma India is on the path to equality in education for all socio-economic classes through the Right to Education Act. In a discordant note, a Pune school is turning education a status symbol by promoting a high profile shoe brand.

Wisdom World School in Wakad wants its students to wear the best, highcost branded apparel, including Adidas shoes. “I wanted admission for my five-year-old child in the pre-primary class. Not only do they demand lakhs of rupees in fees but also had specific, upmarket brands of clothes and shoes for its students to wear, so I quickly changed my mind about my child being

educated in such an atmosphere,” said a shocked parent.

The school uniform includes white and black shoes, and sports shoes, and parents are allegedly instructed to buy Adidas shoes. “We were told to buy TEJAS GAIKWAD

PMC is paying for multiutility payment kiosk centres that are shut down

Havildar Sachin Gaikwad to Nere village. District Collector Mudgal sent three trucks from the district administration. The desilting started on April 25, 2016. Green Thumb, an NGO from Pune which has been desilting Khadakwasla dam, joined hands with Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan for removing silt from Nere dam.

Godse said, “Nere dam was built in 1872. But since its construction, silt had not been removed. So the catchment area of the dam too is full of silt and water not been stored to capacity. This small dam is the only one in our Maan-Khatav region. Its water is used for both drinking and irrigation. For four consecutive years our villages have had scanty rains during monsoon.

We now face a drinking water shortage problem so we retired defence personnel came together to desilt Nere dam. We met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who immediately agreed to help and give us bulldozers from Bombay Sappers, Pune. The silt is pure soil so farmers from adjacent villages are taking it to their farms in their own vehicles, and it will make arid land fertile. With the silt removed, the water storage capacity of the dam will increase.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

Adidas shoes for our children as they are superior,” said another parent.

“Children are constantly growing and accordingly we have to keep buying bigger size shoes and uniforms. Buying a new pair of Adidas shoes every six

months is expensive, but we have no option but to comply,” said another parent. Some go along with the school’s policies. “The school caters to an affluent section of society. If one can afford the fees, one can also buy branded shoes,” said a parent.

“Even children are aware that a student who does not wear Adidas shoes, cannot afford them. I don’t want my child to be influenced by such thinking,” said a parent of a class III student.

Pune education department assistant education officer Dhananjay Pardeshi said, “It is wrong for a school to specify a shoe brand. It is a private school so we don’t have a say in their rules. But this is the kind of issue we are fighting under Right to Education.”

Wisdom School Principal and Director J Simoes was not available for comment, neither were the school trustees. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

PUNE

“Puneites are already reeling under water crisis and further cuts will only add to their woes. If the district administration really wants to help the residents of the parched areas, it should deploy tankers to carry water from the other parts of the district.”

— Prashant Jagtap, Mayor of PMC

Slow networks preventing Apple full bloom

India lowly 133 on Press Freedom Index

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MIDC takes back 364 non-operational plots Of the 364 industrial plots, 341 or 95 per cent are from Baramati MIDC area

FILE PHOTO

STATISTICS

MIDC area

Undeveloped plots ( Number /area)

Served showcause notice

Plots taken back (number and area)

Baramati

391/44 hectares

391

341/36 hectares

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1

Ranjangaon

35/42

30

11/10

Pandare

34/5

34

9/0.64

The state government told industrial units to return unused plots/lands last year. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) of Pune region has taken back 364 plots amounting to a total area of 120.98 hectares, from nine industrial units in the region till date. Of the 364 plots, 341 (95 per cent) are from Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar’s Baramati MIDC area.

Nine MIDCs fall under Pune MIDC region, which includes Talegaon, Chakan (phase 1 to 4), Ranjangaon, Baramati and Pandare.

The number of undeveloped plots in the region is 640. The ministry of industrial development allotted thousands of hectares of land to entrepreneurs and industrialists. But instead of developing industries some were left unused. Then state government announced various exemptions like time limit to develop those plots, but many failed to comply.

Then the MIDC issued notices and

Talegaon Horticulture

21/ 28

21

3/6

Chakan (I, II, III, IV)

31/ 140

28

0/0

Pimpri

128/15

54

0/0

started the process of returning the plots last year. ‘’The MIDC recently took back 364 empty plots, and action will be taken against such non-operational plot owners. If need be, the plots will be re-auctioned,” said an official from the MIDC office of Pune region. The

plots retaken were as follows: Baramati 341 out of 391 total undeveloped plots, Ranjangaon 11 (35), Pandare 9 (34), Talegaon Floriculture 3 (21). Not a single plot was taken back from four phases of Chakan and Pimpri MIDC. “Under the Udyog Sanjivani Yojana, we provide discounts on the penalised

amount to the entrepreneurs of taken back plots, till April 30, 2016. The drive will continue in future,” said Ajit P Deshmukh, Regional Officer of MIDC (Pune region).

MIDC, Pune regional office had conducted surveys in industrial estates of its jurisdiction, to identify investors and empty industrial plots.

The plots are taken back and will be re-auctioned if the owners fail to pay the fine. The survey was conducted in Pimpri MIDC, Talegaon Floricultural, Chakan MIDC Phases I, II, II and IV, Ranjangaon, Baramati and Pandare and other industrial estates of MIDC.

KCB gives contract to a non existing person VISHAL KALE

Parking contract near Khadki railway station area not renewed by KCB for over seven years

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan

Despite the act stating that the contract for parking at Mahatma Gandhi Road (MG Road) near Khadki Railway station, under Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB) jurisdiction has to be renewed after three years, the same people are running the parking for over seven years. The information has made available under the Right to Information (RTI) act.

RTI activist and social worker Madan Gade and Saleem Tamboli had filed two different RTIs to know

about the parking contract near Khadki Railway station under KCB jurisdiction.

Both had filed the RTIs on November 23, 2015. According to the RTI, the running of the parking lot at MG Road near railway station had been given to three contractors, and that that contract had not been renewed since 2009.

According to RTI, KCB has given the contract of cycle and scooter/bike parking to Tarlochan S Ahluwalia, Sayyad Altaf and Shaikh Bashir Kadar.

KCB had given 100x8 square feet of space

to all three. The last time the contract was renewed was in 2009. According to the contract, each one has to pay Rs 1200 per month to KCB. KCB sources said that Ahluwalia and Altaf are the main contractors and Kadar does not exist. “Sayyad Altaf is using fake name of Shaikh Bashir Kadar. Regarding this, Tamboli had written to KCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amol Jagtap.

He is still awaiting a reply,” they said.

Activist Madan Gade said, “KCB had not renewed the contract since 2009,

nor had they called for a tender. In fact Saleem Tamboli has written a letter to CEO and asked about Shaikh Bashir Kadar. Sayyad Altaf and Shaikh Bashir are using the same account. Payments have been made twice from the same account.”

On February 18, 2016, both of them used one cheque book with two different cheques numbers 208214 (Sayyad Altaf Husain) and 208215 (Shaikh Bashir Kadar) of the same Muslim Coop Bank, with the same amount of Rs 14,400.

Interestingly, when Tamboli filed an RTI he learned from KCB that they had not given any parking contract near Khadki railway station. When he asked about the copy of the contract, he was informed that all the documents had been digitised and they were not able to give him a copy. sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

It is mandatory for entrepreneurs to develop their industrial plots and take Building Completion Certificates (BCCs) from the MIDC within three to five years (as per zone) after obtaining the plot. The period of submitting BCC is also mentioned in the agreement with entrepreneurs.

“We have identified plots in industrial estates, which have not gone into production within the stipulated time period. In spite of reminder and notices the owners failed to pay attention; we have taken back their industrial plots,” said Patil. “Instructions have been given to surveyors to find out which plots are

yet to start operations for an industrial purpose,” he said.

The entrepreneurs can get back the plots after paying the penalty as per the guidelines of state government, amounting from five to 40 per cent (depending on period) of the current market value of the plot. “The state government issued a government regulation regarding this last year, accordingly, the industrial plots should go into production. The electricity bills, production and other details are also to be verified during the survey,’’ said an official in the office. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

25 per cent TB patients have relapses TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly Around 29,093 or 25 per cent of 1,30,910 tuberculosis patients identified in 2015, and who availed of treatment, have fallen prey to the disease again, owing to halfway treatment.

These patients were included in the health department TB programme and put on DOTS treatment.

Over 75 per cent of them recovered completely, but 25 per cent contracted the disease again.

Joint director of state (TB and leprosy) Dr Sanjiv Kamble said,

“The first and major reason is that they abandon the treatment halfway.

Those who are cured completely contract the disease again due to low immunity (relapse), and there are those who do not recovered despite regular medication (failure).”

In 2015, 1,30,910 TB patients were identified across Maharashtra, of which 10,276 were from Pune, including 3778 in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, 1898 in PimpriChinchwad and 4600 in rural areas. Eighty per cent suffer from pulmonary TB, and the others include bone, brain, teeth, genetic and other TB strains. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Woman patient compensated for physical, mental anguish Nursing home, doctor ordered to pay Rs five lakh to patient over botched surgery

RAHUL RAUT

The medical profession is not the spotless one it used to be. In a recent case in Pune consumer court by a patient, the hospital and the doctors have been ordered to pay Rs five lakh as compensation for the physical and mental trauma faced by the patient.

The over four-year-old case concluded on April 11, 2016. A complaint had been lodged against Dr Sumedha Dabke, owner of Dabke Nursing Home on Karve Road in 2011

by Sujata Gujarati, who was a patient at the nursing home in 2009. Gujarat, suffering from obstetric issues, was advised by Dabke to get her uterus removed surgically, which was done on July 20, 2009. The hospital bill amounted to Rs 55,000.But though the surgery was successful, Gujarati was passing blood with urine. Dabke first said that it was a normal consequence of the surgery. But the condition persisted and Dabke put Gujarati on medication on July 30, 2009andalso prescribed tests and medicines that did not help. The complainant alleged that the doctor “did not pay any heed to the problem and behaved in an arrogant manner and asked her to go to any other doctor or urologist.”

Gujarati was advised CT scans by another doctor, which rrevelaed that the (patient’s) urinary bladder had two small openings and this was making communication directly to the vagina and that is why the urine and sometimes blood was passing through

the vagina. This condition is called a Vesco Vaginal Fistula (VVF), the order said.

According to the second doctor, the condition may have resulted from a botched surgery. “While removing the uterus, other organs have been damaged and that is why the complainant had suffered from tremendous mental and physical pains.”. So, Gujarati had to undergo another surgery at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital on September 21, 2009, at a cost of Rs 75,000, which could have been avoided.

While the lawyers representing the doctor denied all allegations, the expert committee supported them to an extent by stating that the situation could have arisen out of any complications and was not directly a fault of the doctor.

However, Judge V P Utpat decided that since there was also a possibility that the condition was actually caused by the earlier surgery, the case couldn’t

be dismissed. The order read, “After considering the entire case record, the affidavits filed by the experts, opinion given by the Expert Committee, this Forum has come to the conclusion that there is every possibility of Vesico Vaginal Fistula while performing the surgery of hysterectomy. Negligence means failure in duty that includes to do which is required to be and not to do which is not required.”

The complainant had also made the insurance company as an opposite party as they had failed to compensate the patient on the basis of the Dr Dabke’s reports. The court ordered Dr Dabke, her nursing home and the insurance company to pay the patient Rs five lakh in a period of six weeks.

While Dr Dabke has resumed her practice, she refused to comment on the issue. The patient as well was unreachable. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

Man gets compensation for wife’s death The consumer court had to deal with another case of medical negligence, where a patient lost her life allegedly due to inept doctors at a nursing home has been finally ordered upon by. The bench of Judge V P Utpat has ordered the doctors to pay Rs ten lakh to the complainant, who lost not only his 28-year-old wife, but also his unborn child due to wrong medication and negligence by the doctors.

In August 2009, complainant Pandharinath Waghole of Daund admitted his pregnant wife at the Sanjeevani Hospital located at Gadital, Hadapsar. The hospital is jointly owned and run by Dr Kusum and Dr Uttam Tamhane. “On August 25, 2009, the patient’s stomach started aching.

However, it wasn’t the labour pain.

To induce the labour pain, Dr Uttam Tamhane gave the patient an injection named ‘Tramadol’. After this the condition of the patient worsened and she developed swelling in her body and spots on her face. She even had trouble breathing,” the order read. Dr Tamhane, seeing the condition worsen, referred the patient to Jehangir Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival, the petitioners claim. “While the doctors claimed that the death happened due to a rare complication called amniotic fluid syndrome, the post-mortem

report indicated that the death could have also happened due to the wrong medication,” the petitioner’s argument reads. The petitioner, Waghole, claimed that his wife and child died due to the negligence of the doctors and wrong medicines given by them due to lack of knowledge and experience. He demanded a compensation of Rs 20 lakh against the physical and mental trauma along with medical expenses.

While the doctors denied all allegations, they alleged that the patient succumbed to her condition. “The doctors are trained and experienced.

Death happened because of the syndrome and not negligence or because of wrong medicine administration,” the defendants argued. According to the expert panel from Sassoon, the doctors were not responsible for the death, the order reads. However, the judge raised the question that they haven’t given any alternative reason and thus their report

VISHAL KALE

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma

is flawed. The judge, taking pretext of older cases, said that the claim that medical negligence happened couldn’t be disproved. “However, the patient did not die of the said syndrome as none of the symptom matched,” the order read. The judge also added, “The logs and records show that the doctors did not take any action to save the child.

This adds to their negligence as they were responsible for both the mother and the child’s health. The injection Tramadol was either the reason of death or aggravated the situation.”

Taking into consideration the damage, the age of the deceased patient and the family’s monetary situation, the judge ordered the doctors to pay Rs ten lakhs as compensation within six weeks of the order date.

The doctors at the Sanjeevani Hospital have refused to comment and the deceased patient’s husband was unavailable for comment.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

Santosh Sonawane, attached to Mumbra police station, locked up the victim in a flat and violated her repeatedly

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Watch out for the new bombshell on the block

A wanderer’s travelogue

In the issue S RE FE A TU

TEJAS GAIKWAD

PMC is leaving untreated sewage in Mula-Mutha river at Navi Peth near Vaikunth Crematorium area through a drainage line

official of MPCB on the condition of anonymity.

“Before taking action we had issued showcause notices to PMC but the reason they stated is not acceptable, so we are filing a case,” said the officer. Sub regional officer Devidas P Koparkar of MPCB refused to comment.

While the PMC is failing to abide by water pollution norms, PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is not far behind. MPCB officials said that the PCMC is generating 290 MLD sewage, out of which 224 is treated and the rest 67 MLD is left into the Pawana river.

After filing a case against the PCMC in 2002, MPCB again filed a case in February 2016 in chief judicial magistrate court. Even panchayat of Alandi, Lonavala, Dehu and cantonment boards are under the MPCB scanner for leaving sewage in rivers and these bodies may face action from the pollution board.

“We are gradually filing cases against all municipal corporations and municipal panchayats,” said Jagannath S Salunkhe, sub regional officer of MPCB. Pradip Beldar, head of sewage treatment of PMC confirmed that the case is being filed in NGT court and we will deliver our version in court.

Another officer Shekhar Akware of PMC STP department said that the order has given by NGT court recently in another case says that the current STP plant should be used its full capacity in spite of new one. While another officer from (Engineering) STP department said that the PMC is in process of setting up new 11 STP under Jayka project in the city.

“Central Government has allocated 85% fund out of fixed 992 crore and the rest 15% is share is by PMC for Jayka project. Under the project around 11 new STP would be set up around both banks of Mula-Mutha river in city with total capacity of 396 MLD.” said the official. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

Dhiraj Kamble quit his job at Samruddha Jeevan in February 2016.

“I have appeared form many interviews since but I am yet to land a job, and the Samruddha reference is a black mark,” said Kamble. Payment of salary was never on time at Samruddha Jeevan. “I joined in September 2015, and got my first salary in November. The company owed me salary for three months. The company authorities now allege that I took an advance of Rs 28,000 from the company,” said Kamble.

Samruddha Jeevan affirmed to TGS that the company was going through a financial crisis. HR executive Sagar Motewar said that the company would pay the employees their dues.

“The company is going through a financial crisis and we are aware that some former employees have not been paid their salaries. We will pay them their dues as soon as possible,” said Motewar. priyaanka.deshpande@ goldensparrow.com

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Taking a serious view of pollution issues, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) is in the process of filing a case against the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for leaving untreated water (sewage) into the Mula-Mutha river. Sources say that MPCB is filing the case in National Green Tribunal court (NGT) according to the water act.

It will turn the second action after MPCB had filed case on PMC in year 2000.

As per the information available with MPCB officials, citizens living in PMC limits generate sewage of 744 Million Litres per Day (MLD) and only 567 MLD is processed at

ten Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) in the city. As per the MPCB law, the sewage should be treated with STP which sets aside the dirt from water. This processed water should be distributed among citizens for nondrinking purposes like agriculture, washing clothes, vehicles, watering trees etc. If not possible to distribute the processed water, it should left in the river.

“PMC is processing just 567 MLD (76 per cent) untreated water out of 744 MLD every day and rest 177 MLD (24 per cent) sewage is left into the Mula-Mutha river from 22 places, which is causing high water pollution day by day. So we are filing a case against PMC in NGT court with The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974,” said an

Mahesh Motewar

RAHUL

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1

Wilson Sakpal shifted from Mumbai to Pune to take up a job in a cooperative society established by Samruddha Jeevan, a group facing a Central Bureau of Investigation probe over the multi-crore ponzi scam. Its chief Mahesh Motewar was recently arrested for collecting over Rs 1,500 crore from depositors. The unpaid employees of the company have now written letters to the management requesting to be paid their salaries, failing which they would be left with no choice but to commit suicide.

Samruddha Jeevan Multi-State Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society Ltd employees have not been paid their salaries for three months, and some have even quit their jobs. The other employees are making the rounds of the company head office on Fergusson College Road, for their salaries.

“I joined the company as an assistant team leader of marketing in September 2015 and left in January 2016, because of the delays in payment of monthly salary,” said 25-year-old Sambhaji Patil. He has been visiting the company office for hi dues. “The concerned authorities refuse to pay my dues. I have no money left and have no option but to commit suicide,” Patil said.

Sakpal joined as Assistant General Manager in November 2015. “I quit my job on April 19 as I had not been paid my salary since January. I am jobless, my wife is pregnant and I have no idea what the future holds as I have no money left,” said Sakpal.

PICS BY

Pollution Board comes down hard on PMC for discharging untreated sewage into river

BY PRIYAANKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka

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got friendly with the victim, who recently completed her diploma in pharmacy.

Police said that earlier this month, Sonawane came to Pune for the victim’s birthday celebrations. In the garb of advising her about her career, he lured her to his house, where he raped her. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Wanowrie police officials said that Sonawane returned to Pune on April 18 and raped her again. A few days later, he called her and told her to write a note for her parents, stating that she was leaving home for further education. Out of fear, and well aware that Sonawane was a cop, the victim agreed to do as told.

police on Apirl 27, on the charges of raping the victim repeatedly from April 13 to 27, 2016. According to police, Sonawane’s father-in-law and the victim’s father are friends. The cop had rented a house in the building owned by victim’s father in Pune. While he was posted in Mumbra, his wife and four year old daughter stayed in Pune. Cops said that the physics graduate would visit his family every week.

It is during these visits that he got to know the victim, who stayed in the same building and would often visit their house to meet Sonawane’s wife. On the pretext of helping her make career choices, Sonawane

Samruddha Jeevan staff threaten suicide

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Sonawane, 30, was attached to Mumbra police station in Thane as a sub inspector. Originally from Solapur, the physics graduate joined the police force in 2006. He started off as constable in State Reserve Police Force and worked there till 2013. Later, he appeared for sub inspector’s exams and got through.

In 2014, he was posted as a sub inspector with Mumbra police station. At the time of arrest he was in-charge of police chowky in Mumbra.

Sonawane, originally hails from Solapur and completed his BSc in physics.

After completing his formal education he joined SRPF. In 2013, he married his girlfriend of several years, who now works with a reputed hospital in Pune as a nurse. The couple has a four-year-old daughter. Though Sonawane was posted in Mumbra, his wife and daughter continued to stay in a flat rented from victim’s father. The cop would visit his family every week.

Ever since his arrest, except his maternal uncle, nobody has bothered to inquire about him from the police. Hours before his arrest, his wife did go to police station but fainted as soon as she was told about her husband’s involvement in the victim going missing.

On April 23, he sent an autorickshaw driver to pick her up and make her board a train to Mumbai. The autorickshaw driver told Sonawane the train name and seat number. The sub inspector received the victim at Kalyan station and gave her a mangalsutra. He then took her to a lodge at Kapurbawadi, Thane and raped her again.

The next day, he rented a flat at Kharegaon in Kalwa and locked her up. The victim has told the cops that Sonawane would visit her often and rape her.

Meanwhile, on the day she went missing, the victim’s parents filed a complaint with Wanowrie police station. They told the cops that Sonawane had something to do with her going missing. Acting on the complaint, cops decided to trace Sonawane and the victim’s cell phones.

To their surprise, both the phones were showing the same location, confirming the parent’s suspicion. Over a period of time, cops were able to narrow down their location and ended up at the rented flat in Kalwa on Wednesday, April 27.

The same day Wanowrie cops arrested Sonawane and charged him under sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 363 (kidnapping), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), among others of the Indian Penal Code. The offence was registered at Kalwa police station, in whose jurisdiction the apartment is located, and transferred to Wanowrie police station for further investigation. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

EN T E R T A I

Earlier this week, a sub inspector attached to Mumbra police station brought shame to the police department.

Santosh Sonawane, 30, kidnapped a Pune resident and raped her for days. He kept the 20-year-old victim locked up in an apartment in Kalwa and violated her repeatedly. The victim’s ordeal ended only after a team from Wanowrie police was able to trace their location and rescue her. Sonawane has been arrested and remanded to police custody till May 7.

Sonawane, 30, a sub inspector attached to Mumbra police station (Thane), was arrested by the Wanowrie

About Santosh Sonawane

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Sub inspector kidnaps Pune girl, rapes her for days YOGESH WAGH AND PRASHANT NARVEKAR @TGSWeekly

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ISRO rocket tech to power human heart

“Our commitment is to the people of Pune. If anyone is interested in joining hands with us, they should take a step forward. Otherwise, we shall contest the elections on our own.”

— Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena Chief

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City celeb chat

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

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“With more people migrating to cities, water resources are dwindling. It has become mandatory to go for waste water treatment. We have to look at shifting from the conventional approach.”

— Girish Bapat, Pune Guardian Minister

30 years on, Ukraine mourns victims of Chernobyl P 13

PICS BY RAHUL RAUT AND TEJAS GAIKWAD

PMC schools that groom youngsters in their favourite sport

These three PMC schools give their students the right impetus and incentives to take up the sport of their choice, along with formal education

BY EKTA KATTI @Ektaak The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) launched the Olympic Veer Khashaba Jadhav Krida Niketan at Sinhagad Road, in 2009 to cater to children from poor families. In wake of a positive response to this venture, the PMC launched Bharat Ratna Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Krida Niketan in Hadapsar in 2013. It has recently launched a branch of the school in Yerawada.

Jyoti Inamdar, the principal of Olympic Veer Khashaba Jadhav Krida Niketan, is thrilled that the first batch of her students will pass out this year.

Now 58, Inamdar will retire in October 2016. “From the first day of school

when they were little tots crying non-stop, to now where they will be passing out, each day has been memorable. It is a great reward to see children grown into responsible Jyoti Inamdar persons. I will retire in October and I am elated that I was able to make such a success of this school,” said Inamdar.

Aditya Mourya, a Standard X student of Olympic Veer Khashaba Jadhav Krida Niketan, has made his mark as a wrestler. “I am swamped with emotions as I will be passing out

this year. The school has been very supportive and I hope I am able to give back something in return,” he said.

Every March the PMC has a Battery Test for kids who want to enrol in any of these three schools. PMC Sports Official Rajendra Dumne said, “The Battery Test determines the student’s grit and strength and we come to know which sports they are interested in. Accordingly, we enrol them in one of these three schools. They are given a preference of the location.”

These schools are funded by the PMC’s Education department. The timings are from 7 am to 5 pm, and students are provided three meals a day.

Sanjay Gaikwad, in charge of the school in Yerawada, said, “We haven’t yet named the school. As per PMC, it is school number 126. There are 72 students in the school in Standards IV and V. As they are young, we are training them in physical fitness. In the coming years we will introduce them to sports like basketball and volleyball.”

THE SCHOOL IS THEIR LIFE Nestled in the Chetan Pardhe, narrow lanes of Sarita 17, a Standard IX Nagar, Sinhagad student, is a national Road, Olympic Veer level kabaddi player.

Khashaba Jadhav His mother Rasika, Krida Niketan is 40, is proud of heer spread over a large son’s achievements. plot of land. The “I joined this batch of 2009, had school after the 50 students from Battery Test which all corners of Pune.

I took in Standard Now the school has IV. Since then I 250 students from have been focused Standards IV to X. on kabaddi. It is The school has two my life. My school sports grounds, three provides me with coaches and four all the basic sports teachers. facilities along with - RUTUJA BONDE “All the 250 education,” said students are enrolled Chetan. The game in one or another sport. The is gaining popularity thanks to the students here are mostly interested Pro Kabaddi league, he feels. “This in kabaddi. The school has produced league has changed the face of this eight national players so far,” said game. More and more people are Ajay Jagtap, 30, head coach. turning towards kabaddi,” said Chetan, who hopes to join the Puneri Paltan, Pune’s Pro Kabaddi team in the near future.

Chetan, a right corner player, was part of the Maharashtra team for National Kabaddi Championship, November 2015 in Gujarat. The Maharashtra team lost to the hosts 24-25 in the semi-final. “That was the most memorable day of my life as our team was crowned as runnerup,” said Chetan, who is a fan of Puneri Paltan’s Manjeet Chillar.

The head coach said, “Chetan is one of the most experienced players in the school. He has put the school’s name on the national map of kabaddi. His skills are mind Rutuja Bonde blowing. We are sure that he will be selecteds in the India team.”

The coach is very understanding.

It is the most unique and interesting sport which bring the players together.

THE MASTER BLASTER SCHOOL Started in 2013, Bharat Ratna Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Krida Niketan in Hadapsar has over 127 students. Handball, throwball, skipping, kho kho, football and athletics are all on the agenda.

The school has two grounds, one attached to the school and another adjoining the school. In just two years, the school produced two under-14 state handball players, Aparna Chavan and Rutwik Chaudhary.

School director Ramesh Dalvi has been with the school since 2013. “I have been a teacher for over 25 years. I feel honoured to be part of such an amazing school who motivates kids to take up sports,” said Dalvi. “Parents often tell me that their kids have become disciplined, understanding and patient,” he said.

Aparna Chavan, 13, a Standard VI student, hopes to play for India

NUMBER OF PLAYERS AND SPORTS 35 30 29 33

Handball Throwball Athletics Rope skipping, kho kho and football

one day. She was selected in the u-14 Maharashtra handball team last year which happens to be her most memorable day. A resident of Hadapsar, she lost her parents when was a toddler, and her uncle has looked after her since. “The school, my uncle and aunt have given me enough. The only way I can repay them is by winning

Aparna Chavan

medals. My uncle’s happiness knew no bounds when I was selected in the state team last year,” she said.

Chetan Pardhe

Nitin Pawle

Nitin Pawle, 14, is a Yoga fanatic. The Standard IX student has brought several laurels to the school. “I have been part of this school since its inception. With proper education the most important thing that the school has given me is the art of Yoga. I leant Yoga under the guidance of these coaches and now I am at the stage where I can teach Yoga,” said Nitin.

In 2015, Nitin won an individual gold at the Nationals held in Shirdi.

This year, he won a bronze in a team event and an individual silver at the Nationals held in Delhi. In 2015, due to his consistent performance he was selected twice for international tournaments in Korea and Thailand, but wasn’t able to attend, because of a lack of money. “The school provides us the top most facilities,” he said.

Sixteen-year-old state kabaddi player Rutuja Bonde owes her love for sports to this school. The Standard IX student said, “The school has the best kabaddi facilities. The coach is very understanding. It is the most unique and interesting sport which bring the players together.” Bonde, the right corner player, admires the city’s Deepika Joshi and her skills. ekta.katti@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

“India believes that the foremost challenge to international security continues to be posed by international terrorism. The RIC countries must lead the way in getting the international community together to counter terrorism through joint action.”

— Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister

“We should not be a slave of anger, hatred and arrogance. So therefore I think the basic human nature is compassion, being compassionate.”

— Dalai Lama

His cinema does not escape reality For Santosh Ram, movie is a medium to express his social commitment

BY SHEKHAR PAIGUDE @TGSWeekly From being an avid watcher of films shown in ‘Indian Panorama’ programme on Doordarshan as a young boy living in Dongarshelki village of Udgir taluka in Latur district to becoming a writer-director-producer with many award-winning short films under his belt, 36-year-old Santosh Ram is living the script of his passion. His first feature film ‘China Mobile’ will be released soon.

LOVE FOR CELLULOID Santosh was attracted to films since childhood. He grew up watching films of the likes of Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Amol Palekar and Gautam Ghosh. He worked on developing strong writing skills while pursuing his graduation from Latur before moving to Pune for higher education in 2001. Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and National Film Archive of India (NFAI) were the establishments that made up his mind to shift base to Pune and help realise his dream to become a film-maker.

Son of a schoolmaster, Santosh worked as a data collector in Pune to support his dream of becoming a film-maker, living in a room he shared with five other boys at the Mahatma Phule Hostel.

“I could not clear the entrance test of FTTI despite appearing for it twice. Then I made friends with students and started assisting them in their projects. These assignments taught me the practical aspects of cinema. I call myself a ‘FTII canteen pass-out’ as I learned cinema at the institute’s canteen.

Later, as member of NFAI film circle and Ashay film culture, I attended many film festivals across the globe. These discussion

Santosh Ram (left) made short film ‘Galli (The Lane)’ with Belgium cinematographer Benjamin Brugatz. (Right) ‘China Mobile’ is his debut Marathi film

sessions helped me understand various nuances involved in the making of a film,” he said.

ACADEMIC JOURNEY While doing his post-graduation in English Literature from Modern College, Pune, Santosh developed an appreciation for cinema.

He participated in the film appreciation course conducted by NFAI and FTII in 2006. He also completed the six-month filmmaking course conducted by Cinefusion, Pune and was selected for a six-month course in City Narratives In Cinema and Literature conducted by Maajlis and Maxmullar Bhavan, Mumbai.

THE STRUGGLE It is a black and white truth that actors and film-makers from rural areas who decide to not follow the Bollywood script have to pay a price to achieve success. On the one end of the cinema spectrum is Bollywood bursting with grossly overpaid stars and obnoxious publicity and struggling ‘meaningful cinema’ makers make up the other end. And Santosh has journeyed the distance in the past 15 years of making films. He has found that financing and

publicity for independent film-makers from rural areas is a remain a Sisyphean task. The self-taught and self-made film-maker said, “I had to run from pillar to post to raise funds for my short films. Finally, my first short film ‘Vartul’ (Circle) was released in 2008 with the help of my friends. The short film won over 14 awards and was screened in more than 54 film festivals in India and abroad.”

Vartul (Circle) was shown in the 11th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival (New Delhi), International Documentary and Short Film Festival Of Kerala, 17th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Canada) and 5th National Show of Independent Cinema “Otros Cines”, San Nicolas (Argentina).

Santosh started Vivek Chitra Productions with Ramchandra Pundlikrao Marewad in 2008. He is working on ‘Santosh Ram Project’ — a series of 15 short films and debut Marathi film ‘China Mobile’.

ACCOMPLISHMENT The writer-director-producer explores the effects of Internet in village youths through his debut Marathi film ‘China Mobile’. As digitisation spreads into rural India, Santosh’s film narrates its effects on villagers’ lives.

Brighten future of slum kids Mission Transformation founded by five friends now has 1,200 happy young faces

BY ROMIL KOTHARI @romil_kothari Management consultant and researcher Shivani Kolakar, 24, always wanted to do something for deprived children. And her desire took shape when she founded the NGO Mission Transformation along with her four friends — Akshay Koshti, Mohini Patel, Raman Gangasagre and Madhura Bhalerao in 2013. The social body’s mission was to educate the children for a better tomorrow with a vision of development of the deprived.

Mission Transformation opened its fi rst centre in Vishrantwadi where they started teaching the neighbourhood slum children English, computer science, audiovisuals, skits and plays. The children are also taken to different places. “As we aim for the overall development of a child, we make our programmes creative and research oriented,” said Shivani. In a span of three years, Mission Transformation has opened multiple centres in Vishrantwadi, Sinhgad Road and Parvati covering

over 1,200 children.

Out of five Sundays in a month, two are devoted to teaching English and the remaining for extra-curricular activities. The founders plan activities every month to teach children about the basic laws and rights, craft, fi rst aid and other social subjects. “We intend to make a generation that would inspire the next generation.

We want to make them capable and competent so that they can face the

Mission Transformation teach children to make lanterns. (Top) Shivani Kolakar

outside world with confidence,” said Shivani.

Apart from child development, Mission Transformation also teaches women English and computers on Saturday. They also teach them to make useful items like lanterns and hold fares and exhibitions to help them sell it. The fund collected is given to the women.

The NGO launched a campaign called ‘Legal Literacy Campaign’ across the villages in Maharashtra starting from Mulshi from April 28.

Under the programme, volunteers will visit villages and clear the legal doubts of people. A team of lawyers and law students have been hired to help in their cause. A box has been kept at a public place in the village where any villager can write their query on a piece of paper and drop it in the box. All the queries will be answered within 2-3 days and put up on the notice board in the village.

The NGO will also hold interactive sessions with villagers every month to address their unanswered issues.

Mission Transformation plans to cover 144 villages.

Mobile study rooms for slum kids will also be started by the founders from May. “Kids have told us that they do not have adequate space in their house to study. We are going to modify Tempo Travellers from inside and equip it with books, computers and benches. The vehicle will be stationed near the centre every evening and each vehicle will accommodate 16 students” said Shivani. The NGO will start the project with six Tempos and plan to add more in future.

The NGO has also started teaching migrant kids from other states who could barely understand Hindi, Marathi or English. And schools pass these kids despite their knowing the basics of language. “We visited the school and teachers said that they had to pass these children in accordance with the government rule,” said Shivani. With the help of audio-visual and language specialist, the NGO is making efforts to teach them language. Shivani said, “We have started the journey to teach underprivileged children and now there is no looking back.” romil.kothari@goldensparrow.com

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‘China Mobile’ will talk about two teenagers who are recently introduced to the digital world. “The film based on a real story would capture how digital world is impacting various aspects of their lives including relationships and love. Based in Latur, my hometown, the entire movie is filmed with local actors as a way of making the film more authentic and generate employment in the drought-stricken area. ‘China Mobile’ is my first independent project. My rural background helped me to understand changes after the globalisation and the film is its depiction,” Santosh said.

His short films ‘Vartul (Circle)’ and ‘Galli (The Lane)’ have been premiered in more than 54 national and international film festivals and won about 14 awards in various categories.

Galli unfolds the struggle, friendship, depression of people living in the lane.

“Cinema is the most effective medium to portray thoughts. It should deal with real life rather than fictional characters. The depiction of reality will accelerate the change in society” Santosh said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Techies raise funds for Vidarbha farmers

In a noble move, a group of IT professionals has come together to raise funds for repaying loans of over 100 debt-ridden farmers in drought-hit Vidarbha region, notorious for farmer suicides. The IT professionals have united under the banner of an NGO, Apulkee (sense of belongingness), with an objective to help debt and drought-ridden 121 farmers in five districts of the cotton belt.

The NGO has so far raised Rs 3 lakh from people who are known to IT professionals and their circle of friends and companies. It aims to collect Rs 85 lakh to close the loans of the identified farmers.

Describing the criteria for selecting the farmers, Mayuri Dhavale, a senior associate working with Apulkee, said, “We shortlisted most affected five districts of the state and then zeroed in on marginal farmers with less than 5 acres of landholding. Additionally, priority was given to the families affected by farmer suicides.”

The list was prepared after sifting through data provided by local NGOs and volunteers associated with Apulkee.

Teams visited the selected farmers to study their current condition and collected 7/12 extract (a key land ownership document) along with bank and loan details.

Dhavale gave district-wise break-up of beneficiary farmers and their pending loans which was Wardha (25 farmers - loan amount Rs 21,38,582), Washim (25 farmers - Rs 12,57,762), Amaravati (27 farmers - Rs 18,34,402), Yavatmal (25 farmers - Rs 12,72,104) and Akola district (19 farmers - Rs 18,62,200).

Abhijeet Falke, head of the NGO, said, “The situation (in Vidarbha) is grave and it cannot be solved by any one organisation, individual, NGO or government body. Only a collaborative movement will give some relief and therefore we have launched a small initiative seeking (financial) support from our personal contacts.”

“The amount raised will be used only for loan closure and directly given to the banks. No cash amount will be handed over to the farmers. The loan closure report will be shared with all the companies and individuals who contribute towards the cause and uploaded on the website apulkee.org,” said Falke, who himself runs an IT company in Pune.

The NGO also plans to seek funds from its foreign-based volunteers and other companies if the target from Indian sources is not met.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

Maharashtra’s

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Street singers, fortune tellers, dramatic performers, the Potraj, Vasudev, Gondhali and Kudmude Joshi communities were once a vital part of the cultural and devotional life of Maharashtra. The headlong urbanisation and transformation of lifestyles have rendered these traditional communities obsolete and redundant, teetering on the verge of extinction

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BY ASHISH PHADNIS AND TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @TGSWeekly

he state of Maharashtra is home to a rich spectrum of heritage and an intriguing diversity of culture. But owing to the two decades of opening up to global markets and a dizzyingly rapid transformation of lifestyles, these once hallowed, ancient traditions are vanishing before our very eyes. The breakneck pace of all-out urbanisation has taken its toll on traditional professions, ethnic groups, tribes and their culture. They have had to forsake their cherished ways of life, unique and colourful means of making a living, and have fallen on hard times, ekeing out a precarious, hand-to-mouth existence and even needing or depending on charity to get by.

The Waghya Murali, Potraj, Vasudev and Gondhali communities have managed to keep alive their unique cultures and vibrant art, enriching the cultural tapestry of Maharashtra

FAST VANISHING

PICS BY RAHUL RAUT

TRADITIONS

with their engaging traditions. But neither the government nor any concerned organisation or institution has done much to ensure the continuation of these communities’ culture and tradition, even as they have faded into an obscurity that verges on the brink of extinction.

Faced with the everyday reality of procuring the basic needs of food, shelter and education for their children, the members of these communities have been forced to abandon their beloved traditions. They would rather have their young ones going to schools, colleges in ensuring upwardly mobile job and career prospects, than to groom them in what seems like outmoded, redundant traditions. All that is very well, but don’t we as society have a responsibility to ensure the preservation of such unique, rich and vibrant cultures?

The Golden Sparrow tracke down members of these now rather obscure communities to gauge just how they think and feel.

Vasudevs, flag-bearers of a distinctive devotional culture

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he melodious chant of ‘Daan Pavala, Deva Daan Pavala, Vasudevala Daan Pavala’, as a man in a saff ron robe or ‘jhaga’, and conical headgear decorated with peacock feathers, and statues of Vitthal and Rukmini, pouch around his neck, hands wielding ‘chiplya’ and ‘taal’, and anklets at his feet, croons a folk tune... that is a Vasudev doing his thing.

Maharashtra has enjoyed an enduring and iconic proud tradition of street singers. A Vasudev sings bhajans in praise of Lord Krishna, a musical form of worship marked by a distinctive and resonant vocal skill and proficiency. Once common across rural Maharashtra, the sounds of the vibrant Vasudev tradition have been increasingly getting lost in the thunderous clamour and cacophony of Maharashtra’s rampant urbanisation. There is an all-round diminishing of a next generation in the Vasudev community, as earning a living by being a Vasudev has become difficult if not impossible in urban zones. And education, on the other hand opens the door to an infinite number of career options, as well as the possibility of leading a respectable life in society.

Mahendra Sahebrao Salunkhe, 37, lives in the vicinity of Alka theatre, along with nearly 50 families of the Vasudev community.

Togged up in his resplendent robe and head dress, Salunkhe goes door to door in the Vasudev tradition, doing what he has done all along, sing paeans in adoration of Krishna.

“The Salunkhe family has been practicing Vasudevs since the 13th century. We are true blue devotees of Lord Krishna and Vitthal and Rukmini of Pandharpur. It’s a timeless tradition preserved by our forefathers from generation to generation. I consider it my

responsibility to preserve and keep this tradition alive. I have no education as my parents made me a Vasudev at an early age. They did not force me to leave school but they did want me to continue our tradition. I did learn to read and write,” he said.

There very few of the community taking up the Vasudev tradition, as the young generation prefers to devote themselves to education, which is sure to reward them with material prosperity, rather than the Vasudev tradition, which seems on the brink of extinction, he feels.

“Vasudevs are a very important part of Maharashtrian life, flag-bearers of an engaging and vital devotional culture.

Living a gypsy-ish, nomadic life, they went from place to place, singing bhajans by Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram and Eknath, the greatest of Maharashtra’s saints,” said Sachin Pawar, of Savitribai Phule Pune University’s department of philosophy, a scholar, orator, and researcher of saints in Maharashtra and Varkari Sampradaya.

At sunrise, Vasudevs go singing in the streets of rural Maharashtra, urging their listeners to undertake perform selfless acts of charity, and to worship Lord Krishna. A true Vasudev will not lose his equanimity whether he gets a reward or none as he goes door to door. Marathi-speaking people treat Vasudevs with respect and generosity, rewarding them with food or money. Vasudevs have existed in Marathi cultural tradition before the dawn of the 12th century, but came to eminence during the times of Dnyaneshwar.

A community of warkaris, members of the Vasudev community are to be found at Pandharpur’s Ashadhi and Kartiki waris.

tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

PUNE

T

w people listen to TV fortune rs, or get Tarot card readings

the flamboyant Potrajs, the Kudmude community prefers simple attire, such in white kurtas, saff ron scarf inscribed ds ‘Jai Sri Ram’, and a panchang in one

oach you without and do not ask for ut start telling you sha, or fortune. The hi have been relied on of rural Maharashtra ns, to predict the future. shi, or Joshi with parrot, ory of the Kudmude aghuwale Joshi are seen in a cage. Approached by a Joshi tells the parrot to pick out a t is written on the particular chit is the e future for the client. mude Joshi population has dwindled over the last few decades in rural The reason for this is that people no the Panchang to know their future, and the Joshi’s sole means of livelihood has

hwar Gangawane, who still practices his hi tradition, said, “My parents taught he Panchang. Forecasting the future for people has been our community’s legacy for generations. We had quite a significant role to play in the lives of the people of rural Maharashtra, who depended on us to tell them their fortune. But now people listen to TV fortune tellers, get Tarot card readings and such, than come to us.”

The young generation the community have naturally been ced to seek other means of earning a living than rely on their tradition.

So they now will rather get an education and find

employment in the public and private sectors, or set up small scale businesses.

Dr P Viswanadha Gupta is a researcher of the nomadic tribes of Maharashtra. “The Kudmude Joshi community are also known as ‘Khiwari’ in and outside of Maharashtra. The members of this community who live in Pune city are from Gulbarga and adjoining villages of Raur, Bankur, Tadakal etc. They tell people their fortunes with the help of Panchang and parrots. They observe Hindu as well as Muslim customs and rituals.”

Jat panchayats are prevalent in this community too and their decisions are very important in marriages, rituals or disputes. While arranging a wedding, members of the panchayat receive pots of tadi or toddy liquor from the families of the bride and groom.

“Not just liquor, but we also get beedis on the third day after the death of a person, as part of the tradition. Goat’s meat is also served as offering.

There are such rituals and wrong notions among the community. But the youth are trying to discard such wrong notions and superstitions, and some rituals are now banned by our community,” said Gangawane.

The Kudmude Joshi community is very socially and financially backward despite their fortune-telling occupation. Their women collect old clothes, patch them up and sell them. In Maharashtra, they receive two per cent reservation in government jobs and education.

“There are a lot of castes that fall under OBC category in our country, so it is getting harder to benefit from reservations for the Kudmude Joshi community. Most of the community are deprived of reservation. After a lot of struggle, the government has agreed to give separate reservation for the Kudmude Joshi community under OBC,” said Gangawane.

What we do is not just about earning a living, it is a religious duty

he members of the Potraj community are still a common sight in and around Pune. Men dressed in colourful skirts, with ghungroos tied to their feet, dancing and prancing to the rhythm of a drum played by a woman, striking themselves with a long, snaky, wicked-looking whip called ‘korda’ or ‘asud’, that makes a scary, resounding crack, the Potrajs are a rather fl amboyant, mesmerisingly eye-catching act.

They have been making a living by performing on the streets for generations past. The self-infl icted whipping is in obeisance to Goddess Kadak Lakshmi, who protects them from the scourge of epidemics and ill fate, and grants their villages the boon of prosperity. In return, people give them food and money. But with the advancement of rational thinking, we all know that it’s not God’s wrath that causes epidemics, and consequently people don’t really need a Potraj to avert calamity. Consequently the community has had their stable source of income diluted to an alarming degree, if not taken away altogether, though they have strived to keep the tradition alive. In fact, the times are so bad that they cannot refuse a ten rupee note, and at the end of a day, their earnings do not exceed Rs 100-150.

“We are not beggars. We neither steal nor indulge in criminal activities. What we do is not just about earning a living, it is a religious duty for us,” says Sanjay Pawar, 36, who has been serving God the Potraj way all his life. And his eldest son Suresh, 22, has also chosen to continue with the Potraj tradition.

Sanjay’s wife Suryakka wants her children to get a proper education, and has enrolled them in the nearby Sane Guruji School, near Dandekar bridge.

“We have been abiding by our religious tradition and duty for generation upon generation. Being born into the Potraj fold, we have a duty to fulfi l our destiny. But we also realise that our tradition will not enable us to get by in these fast-changing times. That is why we are forsaking our legacy and sending our children to school, so that they can get educated and one day become doctors, engineers or teachers. We want to be treated by society as a respectable race,” said Suryakka, who is all praise for Bhai Vivek Chavan, leader of the Bharatiya Dalit Cobra Party, for his support to the community.

There are only a few hundred members of the Potraj community in the city and surrounding areas. But they are still in great demand on special days like Pournima, amavasya, or during Hindu festivals.

“People come looking for us at such times and invite us to perform at their events. We are also invited to Thane, Kalwa and Dadar in Mumbai, and even to other districts of Maharashtra.

Those are the times when people are willing to pay us decent amounts of money. But in other times, it is a whole different story, and we just have to manage on what we get,” said Suresh, who has no regrets about following in the Potraj tradition.

A Potraj’s training starts at an early age of 7-8, as they gradually cope with the harsh stings of the whip. The Potraj community is a sub sect of the Maang or Matang caste.

They live here in Pune in the Ganeshmala, Ramwadi, Mohammadwadi and Kondhwa slum areas. They hail originally from Baramati district, while some also belong to southern states.

Other sects and performers

BAHURUPI Bahurupi literally means to take on or adopt different appearances. Bahurupi artists once used to be spies for kings.

Today, they are forced to wander from place to place to earn a living. They portray different characters to entertain the public, and are rewarded with money or food. They have no principles or rules for the performances of the art form and just go according to the taste and desire of the villagers. According to the dialogue, the artist changes his facial expressions, body language as he mimics the character he is playing.

I won’t be surprised if the Gondhali community becomes extinct soon

G

PINGLA

DASHAVATAR Dashavatar, is a traditional South Indian form, found mostly in the Konkan area. It is popular in Sawantwadi, Kudal, Malvan, Vengurla, Kankavli etc. Dashavatar is a popular traditional theatre form with a history that goes back 800 years. The term ‘Dashavatar’ refers to the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, which are ‘matsya’ (fish), ‘kurma’ (tortoise), ‘varaha’ (boar), ‘narasimha’ (lion-man), ‘vaman’ (dwarf), Parashuram, Ram, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. It is performed during the annual festival of the village deity in the temple premises after midnight, without any technical props. Their akhyan is considered to be the main performance based on mythological tales. The performers use bright make-up and costumes.

ondhal Jagaran, a very ancient form, is basically a tribal dance to worship Goddess Amba or Durga. Gondhalis are invited to perform mainly at marriage or thread ceremonies, or at religious festivals like Navaratri.

Gondhalis wear very loose shirts, a cloth around the waist, a necklace made of shells or kavdya around the neck, kumkum and haldi on the forehead, and they play several percussion instruments like sambal, duff and khanjira.

Dada Ahire, 46, is very proficient with his sambal, and when he raises the tempo of his rhythm, the listeners are spellbound. Ahire, who has been performing gondhal for 20 years, learnt the art of playing sambal from his forefathers.

“We do not force our kids to continue our legacy. Those who are interested observe the elders, practice on their own and then one day replace retired members in the group. Th is way,

the tradition has been going on for generations,” said Ahire, whose son Anil has shown no interest in continuing the tradition and has focused on education instead.

“I don’t blame him. He knows there is no future in this. We get invited only on special occasions. March and April are the peak seasons for us. After performing all night long, we are paid Rs 600-700. We have to manage all our expenses of the year on what we earn during these two months. So we never turn down invites. But this has been taking a toll on us physically and health issues are common in our community,” said Ahire.

The Gondhal presentation is a mixture of prose and poetry. It begins with prayers to the deity, as they sing songs and bhajans. The latter part of the gondhal includes mainly mythological stories.

Gondhalis consider themselves to be Nath Panthiya. Earlier, they went from one religious

Pingla are dressed in traditional robes, a damru in one hand, images of gods and goddesses in the other hand. They arrive even before the Vasudev. Pinglas are fortune -tellers and people believed that what Pingla predicts, would come true. They were given food and money in return and asked to say auspicious things for the family. The Pingla are on the verge of extinction as their fortunetelling abilities are passé now.

place to another. Despite the religious duty, poverty and illiteracy are common in the community. And despite coming under reserved caste, they don’t get benefits of the reservations.

“Many of us don’t belong to any village. I was born somewhere in north Maharashtra when my mother was on tour. So we don’t have any birth or caste certificate. We never bothered about it as we were doing our duty. But now the lack of records is affecting my son, who is aspiring for higher education,” said Ahire.

“Some members of our community have transformed themselves and have even found means to earn a good living and fame. But the younger generation thinks what we do is below their dignity. If the government doesn’t give us some status or respect, I won’t be surprised if the Gondhali community becomes extinct one day,” he said, with a tinge of nostalgia.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

TECH/START-UP

PUNE

“Early Zenith TV remotes changed channels by sound. When you push the button, a small hammer strikes an aluminum rod, triggering a sound above our hearing range that’s picked up by the TV.” — http://crazyfacts.com/

New device may diagnose cancer, TB in minutes A UK-based start-up claims to have developed a new smartphone-sized, handheld device that may accurately diagnose everything from cancers to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis in a matter of minutes.

The DNA analyser called Q-Poc runs on a solar-powered battery or wind-up device and is designed to read biological samples submitted through a credit card-size cartridge.

It can work with a range of sample types. Swabs can be used to detect sexually-transmitted infections, while sputum is used to detect tuberculosis.

“We are now at the point that we have a working prototype that can perform a highly sensitive tuberculosis test from a sample through to results in 15-20 minutes,” said Jonathan O’Halloran, co-founder of the company QuantuMDx which developed the device.

“The technology is now being ramped up to beta stage and we hope to start manufacturing towards the end of this year,” said O’Halloran.

Q-poc analyses the DNA of pathogens rather than the proteins within the sample. It depends on microf luidic technology, which allows f luids to pass through different microscopic channels of different diametres, ‘The Guardian’ reported.

A chemical process breaks down the sample into a molecular soup, which is then forced through a nanoscale-based filter system.

Q-Poc will initially be used to detect tuberculosis.

PTI

Safety is a bigger concern in Delhi P 12

Rajan warns against deep APP WORLD online sparkle discount in start-up space The for wine lovers Many businesses are in different stages of their life-cycle with some trying to establish the viability With concerns being raised about cash-burn in burgeoning e-commerce sector, RBI Raghuram Rajan made it clear that getting revenues through deep discounting is not a viable business model for startups.

“If the only reason you are getting revenues, not profit, is because you are selling based on 50 per cent discount, it can’t be viable in the long run,” he said.

He was quick to acknowledge that many businesses are in different stages of their life-cycle with some trying to establish the viability.

“All these businesses are trying to establish viability, some are still being financed in a big way,” he said, adding that it is natural for some of them not to work which will lead to shutting down the business.

He was speaking after delivering the YB Chavan memorial lecture here at state secretariat.

The remarks come amid dwindling valuations of some successful Indian startups, which are being partly attributed to the high stress on discounting in the business model. Many of

START-UP SUCCESS

the startups depend on capital injections from venture capital funds and some have also closed down.

“I think this (shut down) is a natural process and we should not stand in the way and lament too much,” Rajan said, making a strong case for policies which will make it easier for startups to exit so that resources can be used

productively.

Given the competitive nature of things, it is also essential to have safety covers including health insurance, unemployment insurance and pensions, he said, adding that such nets can ensure “social peace”.

Welcoming that it has become “reputable” for being an entrepreneur, Rajan made a

plea for being resilient, saying “the enterprise started by an entrepreneur can fail, the people should not fail”.

He said the conditions for starting up are improving by the day on the back of interventions by the government and regulators which have upped the infrastructure and logistics support. However, there is a lot which needs to be done, he said, flagging skilled talent as a key prerequisite for the country.

There are many other soon to be introduced aspects which will help the startup ecosystem, Rajan said, pointing out to Bankruptcy Code which he expects to be introduced in the current session of the Parliament, and also the introduction of the Small Finance Banks.

He also said that the bankers while dealing with stressed loans with small businesses should also understand that the smaller firms do not have the same mettle to take every case to a court as a big business does.

“I said easy exit (for startups) but it should not be unfair exit.”

PTI

CSIR plans incubation Thermometer smaller than a hair created centres in 30+ labs

To promote start-ups and commercially exploit technologies developed in its laboratories, India’s premier science institution CSIR has decided to start incubation centres in over 30 different labs across the country.

The decision on this was taken at a meeting of the Directors of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) held recently here.

The CSIR has over 38 laboratories across the country doing research on an array of topics ranging from medicines to leather industry and from marine research to farm technologies.

“At the CSIR, we develop different technologies and take patent for it. But then it has to be taken forward to a larger audience. So we have decide to have incubation centers in our laboratories that

will help startups. “If one looks at startups, the maximum emphasis is given to IT startups. The focus of these incubation centers will be to encourage startups in other fields and also take the technology to the masses,” said Girish Sahni, Director General of the CSIR. PTI

Scientists have created the world’s tiniest thermometer that is 20,000 times smaller than a human hair, using DNA structures that can fold and unfold at specifically defined temperatures.

The advance may significantly aid our understanding of natural and human designed nanotechnologies by enabling to measure temperature at the nanoscale.

Over 60 years ago, researchers discovered that the DNA molecules that encode our genetic information can unfold when heated. “In recent years, biochemists

also discovered that biomolecules such as proteins or RNA (a molecule similar to DNA) are employed as nanothermometers in living organisms and report temperature variation by folding or unfolding,” said Alexis Vallee-Belisle, professor at University of Montreal in Canada.

“Inspired by those natural nanothermometers, which are typically 20,000 times smaller than a human hair, we have created various DNA structures that can fold and unfold at specifically defined temperatures,” said Vallee-Belisle.

PTI

The advance may aid in figuring out nuances of nano technology

Slow networks preventing Apple full bloom India dominated by low-end smartphones primarily because of the network and economics

BY YOSHITA SINGH India presents a “really great opportunity” for Apple but slow networks and the informal retail structure there is preventing the tech giant from realising its full potential, its CEO Tim Cook said as the company’s revenues plunged for the first time in 13 years.

Cook said while India is the thirdlargest smartphone market in the world, it is dominated by “low-end” smartphones primarily because of the network and the economics due to which “the market potential has not been as great there.”

Cook, addressing analysts in a conference call after the company posted decline in revenues for the first time in 13 years, said while India presents a “really great opportunity” for the company, slow networks and the informal retail structure across the country is holding the company back from realising its full potential.

“But I view India as where China was maybe seven to ten years ago from that point of view, and I think there’s a really great opportunity there,” he said.

While sales for Apple in China, its second-largest market after the United States,

Apple CEO Tim Cook said iPhone sales were up 56 per cent from a year ago in India

fell 11 per cent, in India iPhone sales were up 56 per cent from a year ago.

Cook said Apple is placing increasing emphasis in such emerging markets where it’s clear there will be disproportionate growth as compared to the more developed areas. “...if you look at India, and each country has a different story a bit, but the things

that have held not only us back perhaps but some others as well is that the LTE rollout with India just really began this year, and so we’ll begin to see some really good networks coming on in India,” Cook said.

He said faster networks will “unleash the power and capability” of the iPhone in a manner that older networks like the 2.5G or

even some 3G networks, would not do.

“And so the infrastructure is one key,” he said. Cook described building the retail channel as another area that will help Apple get a stronghold in the market.

He said unlike in the US, where the carriers sell the vast majority of phones, in India the carriers in general sell virtually no phones. “And so it’s out in retail, and retail is many, many different small shops,” he said.

Cook pointed out that Apple has been working in India “with great energy” particularly over the last 18 months and he “encouraged” by the results the company is beginning to see in the market there.

He said the company believes “there’s a lot, lot more there.”

Apple recently announced financial results for its fiscal 2016 second quarter ended March 26, 2016.

The company posted quarterly revenue of USD 50.6 billion, down from USD 58 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Its quarterly net income stood at USD 10.5 billion, a decline from USD 13.6 billion in the same period last year.

Sales of its best-selling iPhone dropped year-over-year for the first time, slipping to 51.19 million in the recently ended quarter compared with 61.17 million in the same period a year ago.

Despite the decline, Cook sounded an optimistic note saying “this too shall pass” and “the future of Apple is very bright”.

PTI

Vivino

IOS/Android: Free You’re at a party or restaurant enjoying a dynamite bottle of wine you don’t want to forget. Snap a photo of the label, and up comes everything you need to know, including a list of retailers in your neighborhood who stock it, and a place to record your impressions.

You can even share notes with Facebook friends. Vivino recognizes more than one million wines and has more than 3 million users worldwide. The latest upgrade offers instant push notifications when others like a wine and the average rating and price for each wine.

Delectable

IOS/Android: Free This one-stop app helps you discover, remember, share and buy highly rated wines with simple label photo recognition and a vibrant community that includes Facebook friends as well as wine industry professionals. Take a photo of a wine label and instantly get ratings and descriptions with Delectable, the critically-acclaimed free app that helps you get access to the world’s best wine. Keep track of your favorites and learn more about wine by following the world’s leading winemakers, sommeliers and wine critics. Search by varietal or region, and build your own cellar.

Drync

IOS/Android: Free Drync uses the same image recognition technology to scan and decode the bottle you’re enjoying at dinner or a friend’s house, or that you spot in a magazine. It provides similar analysis, but it also prompts you to buy immediately. It has the largest selection of wines for sale, along with competitive prices and low shipping costs to most states. It even offers concierge service for out-ofstock wines. Snap a photo of any wine label and the app instantly recognizes it. Not only does it work on bottles, Drync can also scan labels from your camera roll, magazines, computer screens, and even billboards.

Wine Making Guide

IOS/Android: Free The Wine Making Guide app is the ultimate app for all wine making enthusiasts and is filled with tons of great information and advice related to the art and skill of wine making. The app is split into several sections, each of which contains a wealth of useful tips and advice for everyone who enjoys or wants to starting making their own wines.

This is the ideal companion for everyone interested in wine making. Whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned pro, you will find this app extremely useful and informative, and with the great advice and tips you will find inside, you can easily get started with making your own delicious wines.

Wine Lover

IOS/Android: Free The WineLovers app stores all the information about your favorite wines and the ones that might be your favorites. You can add wines to your collection by searching through our direct link to the wine.com database or manually adding it yourself. You can even take a picture of the label to help you remember! Add your own tasting notes or other detail comments. Find out what the professionals are saying about the wines you like and keep it with your selections. Search wines in your favourites by using key words.

ENVIRONMENT ‘‘It is important to know that trees and plants provide health benefits to our communities, as well as beauty. The finding of reduced mortality suggests that vegetation may be important to health in a broad range of ways.’’

— Linda Birnbaum, Researcher, National Institute of Environmental, US

“E-waste segregation is very important to us, especially because we use so many gadgets and smartphones over a period of time. We need to efficiently dispose them off so that their components are reused.”

— Eric Miller, Director, World Story Telling Institute

India has sought time to implement the Paris climate agreement, saying it should not be done in “haste” and all countries should be allowed to follow their national processes. “A debate about early entry into force of the Paris Agreement is unfortunate.

Early ratification can be understood, but it will take time as per the national processes of approval,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said at the Major Economies Forum Meeting here.

“We should not make haste because Paris Agreement is to be implemented post 2020. There is enough time for ratification and all countries should be allowed to follow their national processes,” he said. The US and China are leading a push to bring the Paris climate accord into force much faster.

India on April 22 signed the historic deal along with more than 170 nations, marking a significant step that has brought together developing and developed nations for beginning work on cutting down greenhouse

Quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the past 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide A quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO), a new study has found.

Green leaves use energy from sunlight through photosynthesis to chemically combine CO drawn in from the air with water and nutrients tapped from the ground to produce sugars, which are the main source of food, fibre and fuel for life on Earth, researchers said.

Studies have shown that increased concentrations of CO increase photosynthesis, spurring plant growth, they said.

CO fertilisation is not the only cause of increased plant growth nitrogen, land cover change and climate change by way of global temperature, precipitation and sunlight changes all contribute to the greening effect.

To determine the extent of CO’s contribution, they ran the data for CO and each of the other variables in isolation through several computer models that mimic the plant growth observed in the satellite data.

“Results showed that CO fertilisation explains 70 per cent of the greening effect. The second most important driver is nitrogen, at 9 per cent. So we see what an outsized role CO plays in this process,” said Ranga Myneni from Boston University in the

Rocket science may be able to help patients who are in need of a heart transplant

US. A team of 24 institutions from eight countries used satellite data from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometre and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometre instruments to help determine the leaf area index, or amount of leaf cover, over the planet’s vegetated regions.

About 85 per cent of Earth’s icefree lands is covered by vegetation. The area covered by all the green leaves on Earth is equal to, on average, 32 per cent of Earth’s total surface area oceans, lands and permanent ice sheets combined. The extent of the greening

over the past 35 years “has the ability to fundamentally change the cycling of water and carbon in the climate system,” said Zaichun Zhu from Peking University in China.

While rising CO concentrations in the air can be beneficial for plants, it is also the chief culprit of climate change, researchers said.

The gas, which traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere, has been increasing since the industrial age due to the burning of oil, gas, coal and wood for energy and is continuing to reach concentrations not seen in at least 500,000 years, they said.

PTI

Harsh parenting may put kids at obesity risk

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

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

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

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

PUNE, MARCH 14, 2015 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

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

AUTO,

HAIL A

CAB

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

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

said director of the school, who

DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL

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

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.”

CHINCHWAD

THERGAON HINJEWADI VILLAGE

RAHUL RAUT

RITU GOYAL HARISH

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

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,”

CHIKHALI

KIWALENIGDI

~ Suit filed by the siblings

What a mess!

Teacher booked for sexually abusing 22 students acquitted

Parents teach them more than exams do P 10

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

~ Suit filed by the siblings

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.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

CITY

Truly, a tree lady P4

PICS ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

DITCH THE

GAUTAM SINGHANIA

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.’

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Harsh parenting may increase your child’s risk for obesity and poor physical health, and the effect cannot be countered by a more nurturing coparent, a new study has found.

Researchers from the University of California-Davis and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found the link from harsh parenting to physical health is buffered by a warm and nurturing coparent. However, when they measured the effect on body mass index (BMI), the health risk of harsh parenting increased as warmth from the other parent increased.

“Harshness leads to problems with physical health, and no matter how hard a spouse tries they may not be able to erase those effects,” said lead author Thomas Schofield, an assistant professor at Iowa State University. The study is one of the fi rst to use data from observed parent-child interactions and look at changes in the child’s health over several years from adolescence to young adulthood.

Researchers videotaped the interactions of 451 two-parent families to assess parenting behaviour. Harsh parenting was defined as parents who reject, coerce, are physically aggressive and are selfcentred. No parent in this sample was observed hitting their adolescent, but there were other signs of physical aggression, such as pinching and pushing, researchers said.

Harsh parenting creates a chronic stressful environment that children can be exposed to for nearly two decades, said Schofield.

Th is exposure can have a lasting effect on the developing brain during childhood and early adolescence, he added.

Other research shows there are negative biological responses - chronic release of hormones, inflammation and lower cardiovascular reactivity - that can result from chronic stress.

Researchers point out that the differences in physical health and BMI were not evident at the beginning of adolescence, which suggests that the negative health effects were not pre-existing.

PTI

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar signs the Paris Agreement on climate change at UN headquarters in New York

THANK GOD IT’S S AT U R D AY

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Kiran Kumar, the chairman of ISRO said this rocket technology offered an alternate system to pump blood in very ill patients and can definitely save human lives.

The special pump made by the Indian space agency can also be powered using an indigenously made highly energy dense battery, the Lithium Ion cell, that has also for the fi rst time been made in India again by another team of rocket scientists.

The pump, which weighs about 100 grams can be fitted inside the body or placed externally and it needs a hook up to a battery to power it.

Made from a special alloy of titanium the device is ‘bio-compatible’ says K Sivan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), in Th iruvananthapuram where the special heart pump has been mastered.

Rocket scientists at VSSC use titanium alloys for making rocket engines and satellite components as a consequence they have total mastery on the metallurgy and manufacturing of the material. The same material that is flown on rocket engines has been remodelled to make the compact but high tech pump.

Th is particular device was tested on six animals. It was tested for six hours, and after that, the other organs of the animal were checked. They were intact. Th is is a very great achievement.

PTI

This image shows the change in leaf area across the globe from 1982-2015.

Credits: Boston University/R. Myneni

gas emissions. “Paris agreement is a historical achievement for mankind.

All countries should implement it in letter and spirit. After signing of Paris agreement, developed world needs to immediately ratify the Kyoto Protocol second commitment period and should present enhanced pre-2020 actions,” he said. The minister also urged developed nations to announce their “enhanced” pre-2020 climate action plans and undertake the “urgent” task of mobilising USD 100 billion, lack of which will hamper implementation of nationally determined contributions of developing countries.

“The second urgent task to be done is Mobilisation of USD 100 billion.

Without this crucial mobilisation, many of the developing countries cannot implement their nationally determined contributions,” Javadekar said. He said the need of the hour is to lay out the complete institutional mechanism for building up on the Paris accord.

PTI

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Using materials to make rockets and satellites, ISRO scientists have perfected a device that assists the human heart to pump blood especially

Rocket science may not be able to fi x broken hearts, but very soon technology mastered at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) may be able to help patients who are in need for a heart transplant.

Materials and mechanisms used on Indian rockets have been tweaked

by ISRO to make a device which some describe as a step towards the making of an ‘artificial heart’.

The heart assist device has been tested on animals and found to be successful. Better known for orbiting satellites and flying giant rockets, the multi-talented team at ISRO made this heart pump as a spinoff technology development in the spare time.

Cardiologists are very excited with this development as it offers a lease of life to terminally-ill patients since heart transplant still remains out of reach for most.

Using materials and knowhow perfected to make lightweight rockets and satellites, scientists at ISRO have perfected a device that assists the human heart to pump blood especially in cases where the left ventricle, the most powerful part of a human heart, starts to fail.

Called the ‘left ventricular assist device’ this small electrical device can pump 3-5 litres of blood every minute.

PUNE

India seeks time for Higher CO levels climate pact issue greening Earth: Study

ISRO rocket tech to power human heart

BY PALLAVA BAGLA

APRIL 30, 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

Parents, take note! Excessive use of smartphones by kids may cause them to suffer from eye deviation, warn researchers, adding that children must refrain from viewing displays for more than 30 minutes consecutively.

There is a possible relationship between convergent strabismus, a symptom in which a patient’s eye moves inward eventually to become “cross-eyed,” and excessive use of smartphones, researchers from Chonnam Nat ion a l University Ho s p it a l in South K o r e a said.

T h e convergent strabismus is more common among westerners, and usually appears before the age of fi ve, ‘Yonhap News’ reported.

Researchers studied 12 patients aged seven to 16. Their daily use of smartphones was four to eight hours.

The distance between their eyes and screens were close - 20 to 30 centimetres, researchers said.

Nine of the 12 patients were cured from the disorder after ceasing to use smartphones for around two months.

The fi ndings show the link between the condition and smartphone use, researchers said.

Users must avoid looking at smartphone screens for more than 30 minutes at a time, and parents should take their children to see a doctor if their eyes seem to be deviated, they said.

PTI

H EALTH

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Heavy smartphone use may make kids cross-eyed

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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

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yourself

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

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

PUNE

“The tens of thousands who thronged the Ramlila Maidan here when Gandhian Anna Hazare fasted in 2011 shouted the slogan ‘from their heart’. Now they say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai bolo, nahi toh marenge’ (Say Bharat Mata ki Jai, otherwise you will be beaten).”

— Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister

Don’t be in denial on terror, take visible action: India to Pak

India firm on lower carbon emissions P 14

Safety is a bigger concern in Delhi

Pathankot terror attack, 26/11 trial and Samjhauta Express blast issues discussed NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan indulged in some plain speaking on bilateral issues with the neighbouring country being firmly asked not to be in denial over the impact of terrorism on bilateral ties while Pakistan harped on Kashmir terming it as the core issue.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry met for nearly 90 minutes during which sticky issues including probe into Pathankot terror attack, 26/11 trial and Samjhauta Express blast investigations figured.

The meeting between Jaishankar and Chaudhry, who is primarily here to attend the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference, was the first formal interaction since their scheduled talks were deferred in the wake of the Pathankot attack in January.

During the meeting, India raised the issue of “abduction” of former Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying he has been taken to Pakistan, and sought immediate consular access.

This is for the first time India has categorically said Jadhav was abducted.

However, in its statement, Pakistan said it has raised “capturing” of Jadhav and expressed serious concern over RAW’s alleged involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi, a charge which was strongly rebutted by India.

“India’s Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar with his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry after a meeting at South Block in New Delhi

emphasised the need for early and visible progress on the Pathankot terrorist attack investigation as well as the Mumbai case trial in Pakistan.

He also brought up the listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar in the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee.

“Foreign Secretary Jaishankar clearly conveyed that Pakistan cannot be in denial on the impact of terrorism on the bilateral relationship. Terrorist groups based in Pakistan targeting India must not be allowed to operate with impunity,” a statement by the External Affairs Ministry said after the talks.

Can menstruation be linked to purity?

NEW DELHI: The Sabarimala temple management told the Supreme Court that the ban on entry of females aged between 10 and 50 years was because they cannot maintain “purity” for 41 days on account of menstruation, prompting the judges to ask how periods could be linked to purity.

Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the shrine in Kerala, also claimed the ban was not discrimininatory and based on “reasonable classification”.

“There is no gender discrimination.

There is a reasonable classification by which certain class of women are excluded,” senior advocate K K Venugopal, representing the Devaswom Board, told a three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra.

“What is the fulcrum of this classification,” the bench asked referring to the bar on entry of women of a particular age group.

Venugopal said girls and women

in the age group are excluded as they cannot maintain purity for a period of 41 days due to the mensuration.

“Do you to mean to say that mensuration is associated with purity of women? You are making distinction based on purity... Now the question is whether the Constitutional principles allow this?” the bench, also comprising Justices V Gopala Gowda and Kurian Joseph, said.

Venugopal said women and men both are allowed entry into the temple and hence, there is no case of gender discrimination and females of a particular age group are not allowed due to the centuries-old custom.

There are eight Lord Ayappa temples in Delhi and NCR region and women are allowed inside, he said.

Women are allowed inside in Sabarimala also, but they cannot climb 18 sacred steps on the hill unless they maintain 41 days of purity, he said.

PTI

On its part, the Pakistani statement said Chaudhry brought up the issue of Kashmir emphasising that it remained the “core issue that requires a just solution in accordance with UNSC resolutions and wishes of Kashmiri people.”

Interestingly, the Pakistani side released the talking points while the meeting between the two foreign secretaries was still on.

The statement by Pakistan also said, “In line with our PM’s vision of peaceful neighborhood, FS underscored Pakistan’s commitment to have friendly relations with all its

Over 2,400 officials involved in corruption NEW DELHI: Over 2,400 gazettedrank officers are suspected to be involved in corruption, CBI has said.

It said the agency takes six months to complete probe in small cases, which may even go up to one year. In a few complex cases, the probe may take more than a year’s time to complete.

The submission was made by CBI Director Anil Sinha before the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.

“On the query relating to officers of gazetted rank of the government of India and public sector undertakings suspected to be indulging in corruption vis-a-vis the time taken to complete investigation, the Director said that 2,411 such officers have been identified which is an increase of 87 per cent over the last year,” the panel said.

“There are also some very complex cases which may necessitate the investigation to go beyond a year.

Since the prosecution in the court depends on the evidence presented, there is no scope to unduly hasten the process which could adversely affect the investigation,” the panel said.

PTI

neighbours/India. All outstanding issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute were discussed.”

Describing the discussions as “frank and constructive”, India said humanitarian issues including those pertaining to fishermen and prisoners, and people to people contacts including religious tourism were also covered.

“The two Foreign Secretaries exchanged ideas on taking the relationship forward and agreed to remain in touch,” the MEA said.

According to Pakistan High Commission, Chaudhry also expressed serious concern over RAW’s alleged involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi. The allegations were firmly rebutted by Jaishankar.

In the context of Jadhav, the Indian foreign secretary also asked which spy agency would put their agent in the field with their own passport, and without a visa.

On Samjhauta Express blast, Chaudhry conveyed concerns “over efforts by Indian authorities for the release of the prime suspects of the Samjhauta Express blasts.”

“The Foreign Secretary further pointed out that, despite repeated requests India has not shared investigation reports in which 42 Pakistanis had lost their lives.”

PTI

While buses found preference with late night travellers in Mumbai, those in Delhi tend to rely on Metro for such journeys

NEW DELHI: More people in the national capital, as compared to Mumbai residents, worry about their safety when it comes to using public transport after 9 pm, stated a survey.

While buses found preference with late night travellers in Mumbai, those in Delhi tend to rely on Metro for such journeys and consider shared autos and all types of taxis least safe, according to ‘Crime Victimisation and Safety Perception’, a survey report by NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.

Of the surveyed persons, 45 per cent of 3,035 Delhiites worry about their safety while travelling by public transport after 9 pm as against 14 per cent of 3,658 Mumbaikars, it said.

In Delhi, metro was perceived as safer mode of transport with 81 per cent male and 78 per cent women preferring it, while buses were found to be most popular in Mumbai and used by 77 per cent men and 79 per cent women.

DANCING TO THE BODO BEAT

Bodo artists perform during the Sindhudurg festival at Malvan in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra

Shared autos and all types of taxis are considered to be the least safe in Delhi, the study said.

The study found that 68 per cent people in Delhi felt unsafe even using their own transport after 10 pm, while in Mumbai 22 per cent felt the same.

As far as the perception of the local police was concerned, Mumbai residents (65 per cent) tended to perceive the police positively, while Delhi was more evenly split between positive (42 per cent) and negative (35 per cent) on the same account.

The NGO asked all crime-affected households as well as a sample of non crime-affected households about their perception of the police overall.

“More than two-thirds of those in Mumbai answered that they perceive the police in a positive light, though just under half of Delhi respondents did. The overall safety perception is notably higher in Mumbai than Delhi,” the report said.

PTI

Crime rate dips 27% after liquor ban in Bihar PATNA: Bihar government said that the rate of heinous crimes has decreased by 27 per cent in the month of April since the imposition of total prohibition in the state.

A high-level meeting held by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with senior officials of Patna division comprising six districts of Patna, Nalanda, Bhojpur, Rohtas, Buxar and Bhabua, highlighted that the rate of heinous crime from April 1 to April 23 this year was 2,328 as compared to 3,178 during the corresponding period in 2015.

The lowering of crime rate was stated by Commissioner Patna division Anand Kishore during the meeting held by Nitish Kumar to take stock of situation in the wake of promulgation of total ban on liquor in the state on April 5 last, an official statement said.

The Commissioner informed the meeting that cases of death in road accidents have also come down during this period after declaration of the state as total dry. Besides, tension during communal procession and other kind of march have also witnessed a slide due to prohibition, it said.

PTI

India lowly 133 on Press Freedom Index Finland retains top spot for the sixth consecutive year, followed by the Netherlands and Norway

BY LALIT K JHA

Vol-II* lssue No.: 46 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.

WASHINGTON: India ranks an abysmally low at 133 among 180 countries in the latest annual World Press Freedom Index which says Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems “indifferent” to the threats against journalists.

The 2016 ‘World Press Freedom Index’ released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is led by Finland, which retained its top spot for the sixth consecutive year, followed by the Netherlands and Norway.

India jumped three spots from the 136th position it had in 2015.

“Journalists and bloggers are attacked and anathematised by various religious groups that are quick to take offense,” the report said.

At the same time, it is hard for journalists to cover regions such as Kashmir that are regarded as sensitive by the government, it said.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems indifferent to these threats and problems, and there is no mechanism for protecting journalists,” the report said.

“Instead, in a desire to increase control of media coverage, Modi envisages opening a journalism university run by former propaganda ministry officials,” it alleged, without substantiating what

it refers to.

Among India’s neighbouring countries, Pakistan ranks 147, Sri Lanka (141), Afghanistan (120), Bangladesh (144), Nepal (105) and Bhutan (94).

China is ranked 176.

The United States is ranked 44th and Russia is placed at the 148th place.

The report shows that there has been a deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional levels.

“The many reasons for this decline in freedom of information include the increasingly authoritarian tendencies of governments in countries such as

Pak ranks 147, Sri Lanka 141, Bangla 144, Nepal 105, and Bhutan 94

Turkey and Egypt, tighter government control of state-owned media, even in some European countries such as Poland and security situations that have become more and more fraught in Libya and Burundi, for example, or that are completely disastrous, as in Yemen,” the report said.

RSF rued that the survival of independent news coverage is becoming increasingly precarious in both the state and privately-owned media because of the threat from ideologies, especially religious ideologies, that are hostile to media freedom and from large-scale propaganda machines.

“It is unfortunately clear that many of the world’s leaders are developing a form of paranoia about legitimate journalism,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. The lowest ranked were Syria (177), North Korea (179) and Eritrea was placed last.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

‘I may try climbing Mt Everest next’ P 16

“He (Donald Trump) has run a campaign of bigotry and division. I think that’s quite dangerous for the country when you think about the fact that you need friends, allies. The kind of campaign he is running breeds disrespect across the globe and breeds division and danger here at home.”

— John Podesta, Chairman, Clinton Campaign

‘India, EU should hold talks only after substantial progress’

European Commission official Daniel Rosario says it does not make sense to raise expectations if both the sides are not able to deliver

BY ASIM KAMAL BRUSSELS: Asserting that automobiles and wines continue to be the sticking points in the long-stalled negotiations for the proposed FTA with India, the EU said the two sides should restart talks only after they have “something meaningful” to deliberate upon.

“We cannot allow ourselves to go back to the negotiating table and not being able to bring some real progress into this process. So it is better if necessary to keep on preparing on a more backstage level so that when we sit in front of each other, we have something meaningful to deliver,” Daniel Rosario, Spokesperson Trade, Directorate-General Communication European Commission, told visiting Indian journalists here.

He said it does not make sense to raise expectations if both the sides are not able to deliver.

Both the sides needs to ensure that when they sit together, “we have something to move ahead,” he said.

Asked about Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s letter to EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom seeking from her dates for chief negotiators to meet, Rosario said, “we are preparing the answer”.

Handshake between Narendra Modi, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker

“For the EU and the European Commission, India is and remains an important partner and also when it comes to the trade policy we were engaged for a long period of time with India in negotiations for a free trade agreement but unfortunately the process came to a standstill a few years ago and since 2013 there was no further movement in this process,” he added.

At the India-EU Summit in March, for which Prime Minister

30 years on, Ukraine mourns victims of Chernobyl

The plaque at a memorial in Chernobyl reads ‘To those who saved the world’

CHERNOBYL: Ukrainians held candlelit vigils to mark 30 years since the world’s worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl spewed radiation across Europe and left several thousand people dead or dying. Church bells rang and mourners laid flowers at Chernobyl’s memorial square as the clock turned 1.23 am -- the moment the plant’s reactor number four exploded and changed the fate of a generation living across the former Soviet Union.

“There was crying and screaming,” local pensioner Maria Urupa told AFP as she recalled the terror that struck locals as they watched poisonous clouds of radiation waft in from the plant.

At least 30 people were killed on site and several thousand more are feared to have died from radiation in what Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said “appears to have been the world’s

largest man-made catastrophe”. The exact number of dead remains a subject of intense debate because the Soviet authorities kept most of the information about the disaster hidden.

More than 200 tonnes of uranium remain inside the crippled reactor that spattered radiation across three quarters of Europe after a botched safety test.

Lingering fears of new leaks occurring should the ageing structure covering the toxins crack have prompted a global push to fund the construction of a giant new arch that should keep the site safe for generations.

The “key lesson” from both Chernobyl and the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011 was that “safety can never be taken for granted”, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said.

AFP

Donors pledge to keep Chernobyl safe KIEV: Global donors pledged additional money to help Ukraine keep Chernobyl safe for generations after causing the world’s worst nuclear power disaster 30 years ago.

The 87.5-million-euro (USD 99 million) commitment toward the construction of a new spent nuclear waste storage facility comes on the eve of the former Soviet republic’s commemoration of an accident whose death toll remains in dispute to this day.

Ukraine will still need to find an

additional 15 million euros for the underground site to store the hazardous material in metal caskets.

“It’s an important project for the world as well as, of course, for Ukraine and Ukrainians,” said Suma Chakrabarti, head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is spearheading the project. Three of Chernobyl’s four reactors continued churning out power for 16 years.

AFP

PUNE

Narendra Modi travelled to Brussels, both sides failed to make the muchawaited announcement on resumption of long stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement as many bottlenecks still remain.

Asked which sectors were the sticking points for the EU in the negotiations, Rosario pointed out that it was mainly the car and car parts and the wine and spirits sector.

Expressing disappointment and concern over the EU banning sale of

US warns of links between Islamic State, Boko Haram N’DJAMENA: At “Ground Zero” in Africa’s counterterrorism fight, senior US officials warned of deepening links between the Islamic State and Boko Haram and prodded Chad’s ruling strongman to introduce reforms for the sake of long-term stability.

But in a rare appearance before foreign journalists at his presidential palace, Chadian President Idriss Deby indicated he wouldn’t help in the US-backed effort to install a unity government in Libya, his country’s northern neighbour, a former foe and an incubator for Muslim extremist groups.

The visit to Chad by America’s UN envoy, Samantha Power, and top US military officials such as Brig Gen Donald Bolduc, commander of special operations in Africa, highlights the country’s precarious position dealing with a multitude of hostile militant groups and unstable neighbouring governments.

AFP

around 700 pharma products clinically tested by GVK Biosciences, India had deferred the talks with the 28-member bloc in August last year.

On the issue, he said India’s decision to defer the talks was “not justified”.

“For us this (the ban) was a step that was not really justified back at the time and we explained it why. But that is something that we will need to sort out during this process but we cannot simply ignore all the work that has been done so far,” he added.

He said the GVK decision “has nothing to do with the negotiations of the trade agreement”.

“It never had a link it, doesn’t have a link. It was a decision taken by the EU regulators on its own merits and the decision we respect and we don’t see any link whatsoever with the negotiation of the trade agreement. .

“What we expect again is that fortunately we are happy to see our chief negotiators were able to meet again, since then other technical meetings were held, summit was an important moment for both sides to show their commitment in reengaging in this process, lets take it from there,” he added.

On the automobile sector, he argued that the EU exporters face

duties of up to 100 per cent.

“We proposed the elimination of these tariffs on both sides and at the same time acknowledging that this poses a challenge to the Indian side as well. And then we suggested longtransitional period of elimination or even going as far as asymmetric elimination of these duties in favour of India,” Rosario said.

He said the same goes for wine and spirits where the European exporters face duties of up to 150 per cent and the proposals made in 2013 were for a gradual if not complete elimination of these duties again taking account of the Indian sensitivities.

Rosario also stated that it was not possible yet to establish the exact format for this followup of the talks but stressed that they were working on it and contacts were ongoing between the two sides to see when and how it can be done.

“The point being that there is no point meeting for the sake of meeting.

If we are going to meet, let’s turn these meetings into something meaningful and into something deliverable.

Because the expectations are high on both sides among our stakeholders, specially after all these years of standstill,” he said.

PTI

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping says that China must be on guard against nefarious religious influences from abroad.

His comments over the weekend follow a tightening of religious space that has seen bans on the wearing of veils and beards in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang and the removal of church crosses in eastern China.

“We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means and prevent ideological infringement by extremists,” Xi said at a Beijing conference on religions attended by top leaders, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

He said that religious groups must submit to the leadership of the ruling, and officially atheist, Communist Party, and stressed: “In no way should religions interfere with government administration, judiciary and education.”

Authorities in eastern Zhejiang province have over the past two years torn down church crosses and other outward symbols of the Christian faith, saying they violated building codes. Critics say that’s a sign of how the rapid growth of Christian groups, at the same time as contacts between Chinese churches and overseas supporters have grown, has made the Communist Party nervous.

China’s leaders are also concerned about violence in the far western region of Xinjiang, and say many Uighurs are crossing borders to fight with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

AP

FLYING ACROSS THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

Solar Impulse 2 flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The solar-powered plane, attempting to circumnavigate the globe to promote clean energy and innovation, arrived from Hawaii after a journey across the Pacific Ocean

Switzerland halts citizenship process for Muslim family The boys said that physical contact with women who are not family members violated their faith

GENEVA: Switzerland has suspended the citizenship process for the family of two teenage Muslim brothers after the boys’ refusal to shake hands with their female teachers sparked a national debate over religious freedoms. The brothers, aged 14 and 15, had informed education officials in the northern municipality of Therwil that physical contact with women who are not family members violated their faith.

They were then exempted from a Swiss custom of pupils shaking teachers’ hands, with Therwil officials instructing them to avoid contact with male teachers as well to avoid gender discrimination.

But the compromise sparked a heated response from leading Swiss politicians including Justice Minister Simonetta

China Prez wary of religious infiltration

Switzerland’s population of eight million people includes an estimated 350,000 Muslims

Sommaruga who insisted that “shaking hands is part of (Swiss) culture”. Today authorities in the canton of BaselCountry where Therwil is located, said that naturalisation proceedings for the family had been put on hold.

Basel-Country spokesman Adrian Baumgartner, in an email, confirmed a report from the ATS news agency on the suspension. The report also noted that such suspensions are common in

citizenship procedures as authorities often require supplemental information about the families concerned. Amid the media storm that surrounded the handshake exemption, Basel-Country requested an expert legal opinion, which Therwil pledged to follow. The father of the two boys, an imam based in Basel and a Syrian national, moved to Switzerland in 2001 and was granted asylum.

AFP

NATO to close Libya migrant route to Europe ROME: NATO is ten weeks away from launching a naval mission off Libya as part of a controversial US-backed plan to close the Western Mediterranean migrant route to Europe, officials said.

The advanced state of preparations for the operation was revealed by Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti as leaders of the US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy met in Germany. Their talks were due to touch on the migrant crisis and instability and Islamist infiltration in Libya.

Modelled on an existing NATO operation in waters between Turkey and Greece, the Libya mission is set to be approved by NATO leaders at a Warsaw summit on July 7, Pinotti said in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa. The plan forms part of a broader Italian strategy to stop migrants using Libya as a launchpad for reaching Europe by flying those with no claim to asylum back to their home countries, which will be paid to set up reception centres to reintegrate them.

AFP

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

PUNE

MONEY MATT ER S

“We are targeting to cross Rs 10,000 crore turnover in the current fiscal from Rs 5,000 crore in 2015-16. The profit is minimal and would be around 8-10 per cent.”

— Swami Ramdev, Founder, Patanjali Ayurved

“We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.”

— Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

India closes gap with China on FDI inflows

Factors include ongoing FDI liberalisation and economic reforms in India and rising labour costs in China India may this year surpass China in attracting foreign direct investment, in terms of percentage of its GDP, as the gap in inflows between the two has been narrowing on the back of ongoing reforms in the country, says a Nomura report.

According to the Japanese financial services fi rm, the trend of rising inflows to India and moderating inflows to China began in 2013 and FDI inflows to India can surpass those into China this year.

“We believe FDI inflows to India (as a percentage of GDP) can surpass those into China in 2016, as India already has l a rge

investment commitments from MNCs in sectors like electronics, solar energy, auto, defence and railways,” Nomura said in a research report.

FDI inflows to India are picking up. They rose from 1.7 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 2.1 per cent in 2015, narrowing the gap with China (2.3 per cent of GDP in 2015).

These trends of rising inflows to India and moderating inflows to China are likely driven by a mix of pull and push factors, such as divergent growth outlooks, ongoing FDI liberalisation/ economic reforms in India and rising labour costs in China, Nomura said.

Rising FDI inflows not only provide a stable source of financing the current account deficit, they also bring in technical know-how,

India pips China as top FDI destination in 2015

which can boost India s productivity growth in coming years, the report said.

“They can also be viewed as early evidence that reforms in India are bearing fruit,” Nomura added.

Foreign Direct Investment into India touched the “highest ever” mark of USD 51 billion during AprilFebruary period of last fiscal ended

March 31, according to DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek.

In fiscal year 2011-12, India had attracted FDI worth USD 46.55 billion. In financial year 2014-15, it was USD 44.29 billion. This FDI includes equity, re-invested earnings and other capital.

PTI

Govt likely to completely ban FDI in tobacco sector After making it mandatory to carry larger pictorial warnings on cigarette packets, the government is now working on a proposal to completely ban foreign direct investment (FDI) in the tobacco sector.

At present, FDI is permitted in technology collaboration in any form, including licensing for franchise, trademark, brand name and management contract in the tobacco sector.

However, it is prohibited in manufacturing of

Signpost

cigars, cigarettes of tobacco and tobacco substitutes.

According to sources, the Commerce and Industry Ministry is proposing to even ban FDI in licensing for franchise, trademark, brand name and management contract in the sector.

It would eventually mean that FDI would be totally banned in tobacco segment in any form.

The ban would eliminate the possibility of indirect flow of overseas funds to the tobacco sector, even through foreign technology collaboration

including licensing for franchise, trademark and brand name, they said.

The ministry has already circulated a draft Cabinet note to seek views of different departments including health, finance, commerce and Niti Aayog.

The move also assumes significance as India is signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobbaco Control, under which it has the responsibility of reducing consumption of tobacco products.

In a good news for people seeking government jobs, over two lakh posts are estimated to be created by the Central government in its various departments.

The Central government has projected in the budget estimates for 2016-17 an increase of about 2.18 lakh in the existing workforce of 33.05 lakh, as in 2015, by 2017. The Home Ministry will add 5,635 new jobs to take its strength to 22,006 in 2017. Similarly, there will be 47,264 new posts in police departments to take its total to 10,75, 341 in 2017 from 10,28,077 (its strength in 2015), it said. There will be increase of 10,894 in staff strength of the Defence Ministry to take the manpower count to 51,084 in 2017, according to the budget estimates presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The Civil Aviation Ministry will have 1,080 more posts to reach a total of 2,140 by 2017.

emerges on top in attracting FDI”.

Of the top 10 destination states for FDI in 2015, India claims five places, with the top place going to Gujarat, which attracted USD 12.4 billion. Maharashtra has been one of the strongest performers across the years attracting USD 8.3 billion, respectively, in 2015.

According to FDI Markets, the motives cited by companies investing in India and China are quite similar in nature. For both countries, companies identify domestic market growth potential and proximity to markets as the main two reasons for investing.

“The rapid growth of greenfield FDI in India shows that while economic development organisations try to attract FDI for the contribution greenfield FDI can make to employment and GDP, FDI is strongly attracted to high-growth economies.

“Success breeds success and to attract high volumes of FDI, locations need to create the conditions for strong economic growth and development to take place,” the fDi report said. It said the Make in India campaign and the resultant boost in FDI has resulted in a whopping increase in FDI job creation from 1.16 lakh new jobs in 2013 to 2.25 lakh in 2015 the highest number in the world.

India firm on lower Saudi Arabia unveils sweeping carbon emissions plan to move away from oil

US Secretary of State John Kerry, with Power Minister Piyush Goyal (left) and Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar in a meeting on the sidelines of Signing Ceremony for Paris Agreement on climate change in New York

Over two lakh new Central jobs by 2017

India has replaced China as top destination for foreign direct investment by attracting USD 63 billion worth FDI projects in 2015, says a report.

“India was the highest ranked country by capital investment in 2015, with USD 63 billion-worth of FDI projects announced,” according to fDi Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times Ltd. Also there was an 8 per cent increase in project numbers to 697.

Major companies such as Foxconn and SunEdison have agreed to invest in projects valued at USD 5 billion and USD 4 billion, respectively, in India in 2015, it said.

“India replaced China as the top destination for FDI by capital investment following a year of high-value project announcements specifically across the coal, oil and natural gas and renewable energy sectors,” the report said.

It said the biggest change in greenfield FDI in 2015 was the near tripling of greenfield FDI into India, with an estimated USD 63 billion.

“In 2015, India was for the fi rst time the leading country in the world for FDI, overtaking the US (which had USD 59.6 billion of greenfield FDI) and China (USD 56.6 billion),” the report noted.

In a tweet, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said: “India

India is committed to cutting down carbon emission by 30-35 per cent and energy efficiency is vital to achieve the target, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said.

“Distribution of 10 crore LED bulbs is not only our achievement, but of the consumers as well. India has a clear vision to reduce carbon emissions by 30-35 per cent and energy efficiency is pivotal to achieving this target.

Th rough the UJALA scheme, we have demonstrated our commitment to the country and the world. Taking this commitment forward, we would be procuring 20 crore bulbs this year, leading to more reduction in carbon emission,” the minister saidin a statement.

The government has distributed over 10 crore LED bulbs across the country under the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme, the statement issued by the power ministry said.

The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2015.

“More than 10 crore LED bulbs distributed! Reducing electricity bills & Reducing impact on environment #iLEDtheWay,” Goyal tweeted.

“10 cr LED bulbs are already saving Rs 5000 cr/ year. By 2019, Rs 40,000 cr of savings / year #TransformingIndia,” he further tweeted.

PTI

Saudi Arabia said it would create the world’s largest sovereign investment fund and sell shares in state energy giant Aramco under a vast plan unveiled to transform its oil-dependent economy.

The announcement of the longterm reform programme, dubbed ‘Vision 2030’, marks the beginning of a hugely ambitious attempt to move Saudi Arabia beyond oil, the backbone of its economy for decades.

“Th is is not a dream. Th is is a reality that will be achieved, God willing,” the main architect of the diversification plan, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told reporters, many of them invited from around the world.

Although it comes against a steep fall in oil prices, the plan “was not created only” to face that challenge, the sandal-wearing prince said, answering questions for 50 minutes at a royal palace in a rare government press conference.

The plan foresees social change in one of the world’s most conservative societies. There will be more entertainment options, and a greater contribution by women to the workforce.

Saudi Arabia currently employs millions of expatriates who do everything from manual labour to management.

“We will not rest until our nation is a leader in providing opportunities for all through education and

training, and high quality services such as employment initiatives, health, housing and entertainment,” Mohammed wrote in an 84-page booklet outlining the plan.

If it works, Saudi Arabia “can live without oil by 2020”.

Earlier, in an interview with the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel, the 30-year-old prince outlined measures aimed at reshaping the economy of the world’s biggest energy exporter.

“We have all developed an oil addiction in Saudi Arabia and this is dangerous and has hampered development in many sectors during

past years,” he said.

Mohammed said part of the plan is “to sell less than five per cent of Aramco” in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the stock market, valuing the company at between USD 2 trillion and USD 2.5 trillion.

By “selling even one per cent of Aramco, it will be the largest IPO in the world”, he said.

Part of the funds from the share sale, Mohammed said, will be used to set up a USD 2-trillion sovereign wealth fund which would easily surpass Norway’s USD 865-billion fund as the world’s biggest.

AFP

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said by “selling even one per cent of Aramco, it will be the largest IPO in the world.”

‘Do your assistant’s job to know Aam Aadmi well’ Governor says he wants to introduce a similar system for senior officials at Reserve Bank of India as well Asking bureaucrats to function for a day without their assistants, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said it will sensitise them to the travails of ‘Aam Aadmi’ and help in better discharge of their

duties.The outspoken Governor said he wants to introduce a similar system for senior officials at RBI as well wherein they can be asked to discharge some simple banking duties to make them understand difficulties faced by others.

“One could, as senior officials, try to spend a day doing some task which they ask their assistants to do but without revealing who they are and getting the assistance,” Rajan said while addressing bureaucrats here at the state secretariat.

“Perhaps, then we will have a

much better sense of what Aam Aadmi faces and a much greater sympathy for changing the system than we have otherwise,” he said while delivering the YB Chavan Memorial Lecture at Mantralaya.

He said a lot of officials, including himself, realise that the system is difficult only when they retire or leave the office where they are helped by assistants.

“Post retirement, the system is much harder to deal with than preretirement,” he added.

Rajan said he is mulling introducing the system within RBI where senior officials will be tasked to do simple things like changing the nominee of a fi xed deposit account, which shall make them learn about the difficulties.

The remarks come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is seeking to take special steps to make the bureaucracy more accountable and also assess it on its performance.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016

PUNE

VOX POPULI international level DJ Wars, and is now the proud winner of 9 titles in India and UAE – it’s a feat that only a handful DJs have ever achieved!

When: April 30, 9 pm onwards Where: Miami, JW Marriott, SB Road

A POWERPACKED BOLLY WOOD NIGHT!

A MUST TRY CREAM MASSAGE TO PAMPER YOURSELF

WEEK THAT WAS ARMY MAN CRITICAL, WIFE DEAD AFTER A STAY IN RAILWAY RETIRING ROOM

EDITOR

LETTERS TO THE

Anuj Sharma Indian Information Service officer of a publication I believe Salman is the perfect contender for this.

He is definitely the most successful runner of India. He ran so fast that Indian judiciary finally gave up on him and acquitted him. Thus, he is the best representative alive.

Aman Dhall Corporate communications head at an IT company Let’s not make Salman a villain for this! Neither the sports management company that has brokered this deal should be held responsible.

They are all working for their vested interest. He has a movie to promote and the company has a job to do. The only criticism that anyone deserves is Indian Olympics Association. I can’t believe they bought this theory that the celebrity wanted to genuinely help by getting more publicity for the sport. How could they turn a blind eye to the fact that Salman has a sports movie coming soon to cinema halls. It clearly shows the incompetency of people who are managing the Indian sports.

BEAT THE BOREDOM

Om Studio brings to you a plethora of extra-curricular activities in form a summer festival for kids. With 10 days of learning new art forms and developing physical strength, the vacations will no longer be a boring affair with activities such as kids yoga, kidrobix dance, urban dance, origami, photo shoots and much more under the guidance of professional instructors. Th is will open your child’s mind to creative learning, boosting physical and brain strength while having a lot of fun!

When: May 2 onwards Where: Om Studio, 3rd floor, above Pashankar Auto, JM Road

SPRING SUMMER INSPIRED ART PIECES

To welcome the season of new beginnings - Spring Summer, Phoenix Marketcity Pune has put up artistic installations depicting the season at various touch points both inside and outside the mall. These superbly done art pieces capture the season’s flavour, bring in joy and create an enticing ambience for the visitors.

When: Till May 10, 11 am onwards Where: Phoenix Marketcit, Nagar Road

Azhar Shaikh Student There are authorities in charge that made this decision. And he is only representing, not playing.

People should shout their opinions on the things that actually matter.

WE NEED TO BUILD A LARGER FAN BASE: FC PUNE CITY COACH The Rajesh Wadhawan Group and Hrithik Roshan co-owned club FC Pune City have roped in Spaniard Antonio Lopez Habas as head coach for the third edition of the Indian Super League (ISL). Habas, who was the coach of rivals Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) in the fi rst two editions of the tournament, was a major factor in winning the trophy in the fi rst year and last four finish in 2015. The 58-year-old will replace Englishman David Platt. During the last ISL season, the average number of spectators was over 70,000, while in Pune it was hardly 7000. Habas said, “Fans are important. They

play a motivational role for the players and they are part of the team who play from the stands.

We need to build a stronger fan base here and it’s my duty to get their support with team’s Antonio Lopez Habas performance.” The coach stated that he was impressed with the training facilities, ground and professional approach of the club, but he would miss the huge fan support which he experienced at Salt Lake stadium.

HINJAWADI FAMILY ATTACKED ON AN ISOLATED ROAD IN BROAD DAYLIGHT In a shocking incident, a family from Hinjawadi was attacked while they were driving through Nere-Kasarsai road in their car.

The incident occurred around 2 pm on Wednesday when two unidentified men on a bike blocked their car and tried mugging them at gun point. When the family Santosh Koyate protested, one of the muggers assaulted the occupants with a knife.

The 25-year-old farmer, who stays with his family in Koyate Vasti in Hinjawadi, told the cops that the mugger brandished a gun and pointed it at his head.

“I tried pleading with him that we did not have any valuables to give. Just then another man opened the

The great housing scam The story about the housing scam, where so many common people were taken for a ride by an unscrupulous person makes me wonder who to trust these days. A home is every person’s dream, and considering the costs, people invest their life’s savings in acquiring a home for themselves and their family. It is so important then that all the dealings regarding a fl a or aprtment are entirely legal and above board, and that the law leaves no loopholes for crooked people to make use of to exploit gullible people.

The Samyak housing scam, run by one Suryavanshi, shows how far peoplw with questionable intentions can go, and cheat people of their precious savings, without a thought for the consequences.

TGS has done yeoman service by bringing to light such a scam, that is causing all the duped home buyers so much anguish and distress. Now it is the duty of the powers that be, to bring the scamsters to book, and make sure that the money invested by the victims is refunded to them, so that they can get on with their lives.

-Joginder Singh

back door and pointed a gun at my wife, who was holding our son,” said Santosh, currently recuperating in Aditya Birla Hospital, Chinchwad. Santosh’s mother managed to snatch the gun from the mugger and pushed him away. At this the mugger at the back pulled out a knife and assaulted his wife, Bhagyashri on her chin, neck and chest. “Just then I spotted a biker coming our way and started screaming for help.

On seeing the biker approaching us, the two men sat on a red bike and fled,” Santosh told the cops. The family was rushed to Aditya Birla Hospital, where Bhayashree’s condition is said to be critical. Hinjawadi police have fi led case of wrongful restraint, attempted robbery and assault against the two unidentified men under sections 341, 394, 308 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Water is not to be wasted

PIC OF

An apparent carelessness on the part of railway authorities has taken the life of army personnel’s wife and left him in critical state in hospital. Pest control work was carried out a few days ago at the retiring room of CST Railway Station where the couple stayed on the night of April 22. Lance Naik Zia Ur Rehman, 32, and his wife Nazia, 28, arrived from Madgaon by Madgaon Express on April 22 and stayed at the retiring room. The duo consumed the biryani purchased from the train’s pantry car at night. However, after some time they felt uneasy and requested the attendant to change the room. The couple stayed overnight in another room but started vomiting the next morning. Around 2 pm, Nazia fell unconscious and Rehman alerted the attendant to seek medical help. The couple was immediately shifted to St George Hospital but sadly, Nazia was declared dead before admission and Rehman is recovering in hospital. Post-mortem report is awaited and doctor said that it could be either food poisoning or inhalation of insecticide.

GROOVE WITH LIVEWIRE

Th is Saturday, enjoy an unparalleled beering experience with rock band LIVEWIRE. Livewire is a multifaceted band based in Pune formed in 2004 by Troy Damerum. The uniqueness of this band is that their versatility is eminent from the wondrous blend of genre’s it covers from Rock, Blues, Rock n roll, Sufi, Old classic rock, Indi Rock and many more. The band consists of multi- talented composer and song writer, Vibhas Shukla, self taught drummer, Gautam Deb, bass and vocals, Albert Dennis and lead guitarist Troy Damerum.

When: April 30, 9 pm onwards Where: Ground Floor, Kapila Matrix, Koregaon Park

TEJAS GAIKWAD

Aesthetics Medispa introduces its new soothing cream massage for summer. The new cream massage therapy is a healing

Miami, the uber chic club is all set to host the famed DJ Zubair Shaikh, one of the leading DJs of Dubai who is well known for spinning at the best clubs alongside top global celebrity artists It’s going to be a night to remember with patrons dancing to the tunes of a prominent name in the Bollywood music scene. Over the years, DJ Zubair has gained popularity for his exceptional style of mixing music that invariably results in power packed dance floors.

He started off in his teenage years by arranging music for friends parties, but his career took off professionally only in the early 90 s. In no time, DJ Zubair started competing in national and

Punit Bhat Senior manager at a real estate company Salman Khan’s appointment as a goodwill ambassador for the Indian Olympic contingent was sure to attract negative as well as positive reactions. While an Indian sportsman could also be considered, the idea of reaching out to a mass audience can be reached only with a figure who is popular. Keeping this in mind, Salman is a perfect choice. At such times we must overlook his past for which law will take its course, or also ignore the fact that his upcoming movie is based on a wrestler’s life and he will be using this medium to promote his fi lm. For a country where the Olympics needs to be popularised, there is no better person than Salman and to top it all, he is doing it free of cost.

E WE K

Artists Madhavi Joshi (Indian Mythological Art on Acrylic Canvas), Vaishali Rajpurkar (Historical lovers’ portrayal), Anuja Sane (Abstract and Landscape), Ambarin Dharamse (Abstract and Landscape) will display their art work at the Avartan. The exhibition includes 30 paintings and will be inaugurated at the hands of Saurabh Gadgil, director, PNG. The painting exhibition will be inaugurated with a jugalbandi of santoor and tabla by musicians Ajay Bakshi and Hrishikesh Jagtap.

When: May 2 to May 7, 11 am to 7 pm Where: LetArtWork Gallery, 3rd Floor, 18 High Street, Baner-Pashan Link Road

art that is used both for recreational and medicinal purposes. Massage creams are used to reduce friction on the skin and to prevent any discomfort during the massage.

When: Ongoing, 10 to 7 pm Where: Aesthetics Medispa, Sneh Riviera, Off FC Road

Layom in collaboration with Layom Institute of Arts and Media celebrates its sixth anniversary with the performances of its students along with all the teachers in the presence of renowned Sarod exponent Pt Rajan Kulkarni.

When: May 2, 5.30 pm onwards Where: 6th floor, Karnataka High School Auditorium, Erandavane

THE

AVARTAN PAINTINGS EXHIBITION

CELEBRATION OF MUSIC & DANCE

Salman Khan was recently named goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. We asked Puneites what they make of it

CHILD’S PLAY: There may be little water in their village, but the children will always find ways and means to amuse and entertain themselves

For all the talk about how water is such a precious commodity especially after the scanty rain last year, just wander around Pune city and you will see millions of gallons of water just flowing down the drain.

In Camp, the lane next to Wonderland is always waterlogged and I really do not know the source of this seepage. There are leaky faucets and taps all over the city and it is best left to the imagination how many trillions of litres of water are wasted drop by leaking drop. The condition in the drought-hit villages of Maharashtra is alarming, where people are risking their lives on a daily basis, as they draw up water from wells, where the levels of water have sunk abysmally low. Then there are the swanky hotels with immaculate gardens that zillions of gallons of water is wasted on, while living people have no water to drink. And what about all the cricket grounds that need constant watering? Why not ban cricket in times of drought? It is more important that people have water to drink rather than waste it for the sake of the fans who have nothing better to do than to bet on cricket and pass time.

-Swapnil Fuge

Pune is an unsafe place The story about the family that was attacked near Hinjewadi, is extremely shocking. The fact that the incident took place in the day makes it even scarier, because this means that no time is ever safe. Incidents like these make us wonder if anyone is ever safe and what is it that exactly goes on in the minds of those who commit such crimes. What is it that angers these people so much that they become hell-bent on taking someone else’s life?

It is important to reprimand these people and take strict action against them.

-Vaishali Bhogar

The water-sharing solution District Collector Saurabh Rao’s call to intensify the water cuts in the city is a good move. People in the city are spoiled as we take everything for granted, and there is no excuse for wasting water in such difficult times. In comparison, the residents of drought-hit villages are having such a hard time and it is only fair that we share our resources with them. The next monsoon is still a long time off and there is no guarantee that it will be plentiful and sort out all our problems in a jiff y.

-Shambhavi Jagtap

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 30, 2016

PUNE

“It’s a sport in which you are bound to be hit whether you win or lose. My job is to hit the guy in front of me, I do that. If I can finish off a bout early then that’s my strength.”

— Vijender Singh, Indian Boxing Star

BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish

‘I may try climbing Mt Everest next’

Michelle Kakade of the city is a triple Limca Book record holder.

She is set to become the fi rst individual to complete an epic 6000 km journey of the Indian Golden Quadrennial, on Sunday, May 1, which will of course be another Guinness Book World Record.

Michelle, who has been on the road since October 21, 2015, will reach the Gateway of India, Mumbai after covering nearly 1.2 million steps across 56 major cities in India.

On reaching Pune, the 47-yearold said, “I had already three records under my belt. So the next level was a world record. I wanted to do something that had never been achieved or attempted before. And after a rigorous schedule of six months, I realised that if I set my mind on something, there is no stopping me. So if I decide to climb Mount Everest, I am confident that I can achieve that too.”

To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind, to do anything that you want to do. Th at is the strength of the human will, to trust yourself, to test your limits. Th at is the courage to succeed, she said, quoting Canadian fi lm director Bernard Edmonds.

Says ultra sports athlete Michelle Kakade, who will complete her epic 6000 km journey in the fastest ever time on foot

6000 KM

3000

Distance Michelle ran across India

Calories she burnt everyday

15

35 km

Pairs of shoes she needed

Indian speedstar athletics trials to hunt rural talent TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly GAIL (India) Limited has embarked on Indian Speedstar, a grassroots athletics programme which aims to unearth young talent across the length and breadth of India. Under the programme, the Pune leg will conduct a state-level camp and athletics selection trials at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi sports complex, from May 1.

The trials for wild card participants, who missed the opportunity to participate in the district level event, will also be held at the same venue.

The selected wild card participants will then compete with the shortlisted athletes from May 2.

In the initial stage of the selection process, district level trials were conducted under the guidance of coaches and selectors appointed by the committee, and selections will be based on talent identification and criteria set by the committee. A total of 7045 children from different districts of Maharashtra participated. Of these, 146 kids qualified for the state level trials.

“We have a huge talent pool in the interiors of the country, who are deprived of exposure and a platform to showcase their talent. Th rough this initiative we aim to identify and nurture them by through professional coaching. They could bring home medals in athletics in the international arena,” said Mangesh Bendkhale, state representative of Indian Speedstar.

GAIL Indian Speedstar will identity and nurture talent in track events (100m, 200m and 800m) for the age group of 11 to 17 years. Winners will be given extensive training throughout the year. The event was part of the initiative launched by National Yuva Cooperative Society (NYCS) as part of a nationwide campaign to discover athletes for the Olympics in 2020 and 2024. The initiative, in its fi rst year, kick-started earlier this year with trials conducted at 55 districts across ten states, in which more than 25,000 kids and youth participated, of which 850 made it to the state level camp and selection. National Yuva Cooperative Society has tied up with Anglian Medal Hunt Company as its technical partner for this project. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

BEING AWAY FROM HOME WAS DIFFICULT “The goal I set for myself was a large task when I started last year. I had lot of health issues for two months.

I wasn’t very confident that I would be able to complete it. The most difficult part was being away from home. I was naturally emotional when I reached Pune,” she said.

Minimum distance she ran everyday

Asian junior tennis tourney from today Japanese players Toru Horie and Yuki Naito lead to lead the challenge TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly Toru Horie, Junior world number 22 and Yuki Naito world number 33 junior girl, of Japan, will lead the Asian challenge, while title holder Pranjala Yadlapalli will lead the Indian challenge at the BVG India MSLTA B1 ITF Asian Junior Tennis Championship at Balewadi from Saturday.

Th is major event on the ITF world junior calendar, will be held in Pune and Maharashtra for the fi rst time in the history of the championship, and is supported by BIPL Sports, KPIT, Icon Group , Department of Sports and Youth Services and Yonex.

“We are happy that by hosting such events in Pune and Maharashtra we are helping our players gain valuable ITF points playing at home.

Normally to play an event of this grade, a player would have to spend around Rs 1-1.5 lakh. We are glad that AITA allowed us to host this event,” said Sunder Iyer, MSLTA secretary and tournament director.

The event which is restricted to tennis players of the Asian continent, commands the highest points on the ITF calendar and is considered a launch pad for Asian players to be catapulted to the world stage.

“Serena Williams remains the queen of women’s tennis but don’t be surprised if she’s no longer number one by the end of the year.

I am pleased to see stronger competition in the women’s game.”

— Martina Navratilova, Tennis Legend

The event assumes importance as the performances here affect world rankings and also gives opportunities to Asian players to make it to major junior Grand Slam events like the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.

The tournament assumes greater significance for Indian tennis as Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathy, Harsh Mankad, Karan Rastogi, Sandeep Kirtane, Sania Mirza, Isha Lakhani, Rutuja Bhosale and Snehadevi Reddy have emerged champions at earlier editions of the event. India’s top junior Pranjala Yadlapalli, who was the winner of the event last year, will be seeded second and the Indian fans will expect her to regain the title.

The winner of the event will get 180 ITF points, while the runners-up will get 120. The semi-fi nalist (80), quarter-fi nalist (60) and the prequarter-fi nalist will get 30 points.

The Indian players have an uphill task as only ten Indians apart from Yadlapalli feature in the main draw at the cutoff. Ballekere Ravikumar Nikshep, Vasisht Cheruku, Dhruv Sunish and Udayan Bhaskar have made it to the main draw, while among girls, Zeel Desai, Mahak Jain, Mihika Yadav, Nidhi Surapaneni, Sathwika Sama along with city girl Snehal Mane have done so.

The main draw of the tournament will be played from May 2 , while the qualifiers will be played on Saturday and Sunday. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Snehal Mane is only city player to get direct entry into main draw

Michelle had to cope with hot weather in Rajasthan, chilly mornings in Delhi and humid coastal climates, and though she suffered health issues, she kept going.

“The highly polluted cities in Gujarat affected my health badly and I suffered severe bronchitis attacks.

It reduced my stamina, my speed, but fortunately didn’t interrupt my schedule. I never thought of giving up,” said Michelle.

SWEAT MORE IN PEACE They say, the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.

And Michelle did accordingly.

She underwent a rigorous training for seven months before the event and had everything planned to the tiniest detail.

“The entire event was perfectly synchronised. It was well planned with my coach Raj Vadgama. I even did a practice run from Pune to Mumbai to get the feel of running on highways. We had alternate plans and everything was precisely chalked out. The support team also played a crucial role and even on days when I was not feeling well, I managed to reach the designated target. It boosted my confidence,” she said.

“I didn’t even shed much weight.

Th at was the target. Losing weight would mean I was not getting enough nutrition, and that wasn’t advisable. I was burning 3000 calories a day, which is a massive amount. So I kept refuelling and rehydrating regularly.”

WARM WELCOMES India is not a safe place for women. And running at dawn on uninhabited highways was a concern. But Michelle had no

unsavoury experiences.

“I never had any such issue.

I never felt threatened, insecure, even in Delhi and UP which are not safe places. I never heard a bad comment or uncomfortable stares.

In fact the people were encouraging and I received warm welcomes everywhere. In Rajasthan, they even showered rose petals on me. It was memorable,” she said.

In Orissa, she was surprised by the cops. “I was running down the road of a small town. A police subinspector asked me if I was okay. I was taken aback. Apparently the cops had been told about a woman running in the wee hours. So he drove 25 km to enquire if I was okay. It was a remarkable gesture,” said Michelle.

ABOUT MICHELLE Michelle’s running odyssey began at the age of 35, with half marathons.

She ran her fi rst full marathon at the age of 38. She embraced a new challenge and moved on to ultra runs in 2009.

In 2010, she became the fi rst Indian to complete the marathon Des Sables, a six-day, 254 km run across the Sahara desert, arguably the toughest footrace on earth.

In 2012, she became the only Indian to win a membership of the elite Four Deserts club, considered the ultimate test of human endurance. She completed the Atacama crossing (Chile) in March 2011, the Gobi March (China) in July 2011, the Sahara Race (Egypt) in October 2011, and the last desert (Antarctica) in November 2012.

Michelle set another record in 2012 by running the longest distance of 171.2 km on a treadmill in 25 hours. ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com