PUNE, AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016 | www.thegoldensparrow.com
Waiting hours for 15 minutes of togetherness
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TGS LIFE
Ruby Hall holds patient for 24 days over nonpayment
When a person convicted of a crime is put behind bars, it puts his family members through an intense ordeal and trauma. Besides the societal stigma, financial hardships and other fallouts of the incarceration, the inordinately extended waits that the prisoners’ families have to endure outside the prison gates, for the brief 15-minute visitations, seem like an added burden for the already intensely anguished folks See p08-09
Here are our future Olympic boxers
Making the cut to the Olympics himself in 1988 and missing a medal by a mere point, Pune based boxing coach Manoj Pingale is all set to train and coach players to compete internationally
BY SALONEE MISTRY @SaloneeMistry
H
is eyes started watering as he remembered an incident from almost two decades ago. He had been training since he was ten with a vision to create history. When he missed the bronze medal by one point at the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea, he had sworn to find a way to get it. He trained harder for the next four years but as luck would have it, a muscle tear near his right shoulder, only shattered his dream the second time as he could not compete with the injury. Since then all he has wanted
was a medal from the Olympics and now he sees it around the necks of the young boys and girls who he trains through his academy. This is the story of Manoj Pingale, 48, a passionate boxer. Dressed in simple jeans and T-shirt, he has absolutely no airs about himself, is extremely modest, and almost always wears a smile. Training 60-odd kids on a ground given to them by a Parsi trust, he ensures that he doesn’t let anything hamper their routine. Given the lack of facilities since there is no roof above their head, practices come to a halt during the monsoons. Irrespective of this and the many other adversities
that they face, their determination and passion which makes them come for practice every single day is commendable beyond doubt. With the correct guidance and adequate facilities, it is safe to say that there is an entire bunch of boxers willing to sweat it, chase their dreams, and make the country proud if only they had the opportunity. TGS visited the ground in Rasta Peth where these young kids practice with their coach Pingale, and spent some time there. We spoke to a few of them and learned about what makes them so determined about the sport and the challenges they face. Continued on p06
Nirmala Jawale sought free treatment under Indigent Patient Fund (IPF). The hospital on its part claimed that her family was well off and not eligible for the charity scheme. She was discharged only after charity commissioner intervened See p04
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
PUNE
MUMBAI
‘‘The SC should leave Govinda to the best wisdom of the faithful. The apex court should instead expedite the countless cases piled up on its table. Let the court take the contempt of court action. We will see.’’ - Raj Thackeray, MNS President
India falls short on urban development agendas P 12
Focus on domestic, global regulators: Sebi P 14
Women welcome HC verdict on Haji Ali
The Bombay High Court ruled that women must be allowed entry into the inner sanctum of the shrine MUMBAI: In a significant judgement, the Bombay High Court lifted the ban imposed on women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali dargah here, saying it contravenes the fundamental rights of a person. The court has, however, stayed its order for six weeks following a plea by Haji Ali Dargah Trust, which wants to challenge it in the Supreme Court. “The ban imposed on women from entering the Haji Ali dargah is contrary to Articles 14, 15, 19 and 25 of the Constitution of India. Women should be permitted to enter the dargah on par with men,” a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Revati Mohite Dere said. Under the said Articles, a person is guaranteed equality before law and has the fundamental right to practice any religion he or she wants. They prohibit discrimination on grounds of religion, gender and so on, and provide freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. The bench allowed a PIL filed by two women, Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Niaz, challenging the ban on women’s entry in the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah. “The state government and the Haji Ali Dargah Trust will have to take proper steps to ensure safety and security of women entering the dargah,” the court said. The high court had in June this year reserved its verdict on the petition.
The PIL states that gender justice is inherent in Quran and the decision contravenes the Hadith, which proves that there is no prohibition on women visiting graves. The Maharashtra government had earlier told the court that women should be barred from entering the inner sanctorum of Haji Ali dargah only if it is so enshrined in the Quran. The ban on women’s entry cannot be justified if it is on the basis of an expert’s interpretation of the Quran, the then Maharashtra Advocate General Shrihari Aney had argued. The dargah trust had defended its stand saying that it is referred in Quran that allowing women close proximity to the dargah of a male saint is a grievous sin. Advocate Shoaib Memon, appearing for the trust had earlier said, “Women are not allowed inside mosques in Saudi Arabia. They are given a separate place to pray. We (trust) have not barred women. It is simply regulated for their safety. The trust not only administers the dargah but also manages the affairs of religion.” Elated after the Bombay High Court verdict allowing women’s entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, members of Pune-based Bhumata Ranragini Brigade led by Trupti Desai, who has been spearheading the fight for gender equality in all places of worship,
have decided to visit the shrine this weekend. “We welcome the decision of the High Court. It is a tight slap on the faces of those who put a ban on women’s entry into the Dargah. It’s a big victory of women power,” said Desai celebrating the verdict with her group outside her office. “This is a landmark decision. The right that women are entitled to get, the right that has been given to women in the Constitution, that were somewhere taken away from us. The ban was on entry of women in the ‘mazar’ (area) of the Haji Ali dargah. We have been fighting against the secondary status given to women... patriarch mentality, this ‘dadagiri’ (high-handedness) attitude of the
(shrine) Trust that ‘we will not allow women’...This (the verdict) is a victory of movement of Bhumata Ranragini brigade,” she added. The women group led by Desai will visit the shrine in the heart of Mumbai on August 28. “Though the high court has stayed its order for six weeks following a plea by Haji Ali Dargah Trust, which wants to challenge it in the Supreme Court, we will go on August 28 till the point where women are allowed and will seek blessings,” she told reporters. Desai had led a high-profile campaign in April this year to break the bar on women at the core area of the Dargah, but was stopped short of entering the shrine at the last minute amid resistance by activists of outfits
opposed to the move. However, in May she offered prayers at the Dargah but skipped venturing into the inner chamber of the shrine where women were not allowed. The women rights activist, whose previous campaigns were centred around Hindu temples, had then maintained that her agitation for right to equality for women at places of worship is not linked to any religion. Bibi Khatoon, another social activist and member of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) - a Muslim women’s rights group, which had fought the ban, too rejoiced the verdict and said, “Firstly, I would like to thank the High Court Judge, Kanade Sir. All these women who
Why fingerprint Boiled eggs for state jail inmates proof is hard to find Prisoners to get two boiled eggs daily, but they will have to pay in advance for them
CID fingerprint bureau still has to deal with data in files while it awaits new office premises and digitalisation of records BY SANTOSHEE MISHRA @santosheemishra While the world talks about digitalisation and e-governance, the fingerprint bureau of the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has a massive data of over ten lakh records, still has files piled up in their office. The home department had recently announced that even the state police internal circulars would go online, but the fingerprint bureau with a huge data of fingerprints across the state, is at the mercy of ‘digitalisation’. The four fingerprint bureaus at Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad, are facing a crisis of searching through old records. The bureau has approximately ten lakh fingerprints of accused persons and convicts, awaiting the government order to put all the records for digitalisation. “The Mumbai bureau alone has fingerprint data not less than four lakh. It is all in the files. We have kept the files police station wise, wrapped with cotton saris. The issue arises when the ‘search expert’ from our bureau goes inside the room as that data is from the 80s. It is very difficult to locate one document (file) from the huge pile,” said an official on condition of anonymity. “The bureau is also waiting for new office premises. We had put in a request
to the authorities to give us a new office at the commissioner compound headquarters inside the new building. However, no one has paid heed to our request,” he said. With the small office, the search experts from the fingerprint bureau are struggling to manage their records. Another senior expert on the condition of anonymity said, “The collection of fingerprints is done from the crime spot with the help of local police. These prints are collected for making imprints on slides. It is a critical analysis among thousands of data. We match the available imprint with us. Since it is still not become digitalised, we are involved in manual work of searches in our small godowns.” “In the recent past we received the circular of keeping palm imprints also from the crime scene. Of course it was earlier done but the data was not maintained. Now in the city bureau palm data is around one lakh,” said the senior officer, adding, “it affects the police in terms of cracking the case, as there is a delay in producing relevant fingerprint due to non-availability of digitalisation.” Fingerprint is the personal identification of any living or deceased person. Such identification is useful for police, banks, judiciary, military, immigration, election commissions or hospitals to find the culprits. santoshee.mishra@goldensparrow.com
TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly
Keeping in mind the health of prisoners lodged in state prisons, the authorities have decided to provide two boiled eggs daily to the prisoners in Maharashtra, a senior official said. “After receiving an application from a prisoner in Aurangabad jail, the authorities decided to include eggs into the menu for prisoners, based on humanitarian and health considerations,” a senior jail official said. At present the prisoners get breakfast, and full meals (lunch and dinner) twice a day. There are 227 jails including nine Central Prisons in Maharashtra, and the prisoners, both undertrials and convicts can also avail of food of their choice from canteens in the jails. Even during the Hindu holy month of Shravan, prisoners who want eggs can get them. It will soon be
launched as a health improvement and fitness initiative. However, the food of two boiled eggs is not a facility but it will be the choice of prisoners. To avail of the eggs into their daily diet, prisoners will have to pay in advance for them. “Many prisoners, both undertrials and convicts, are used to eating eggs before being imprisoned. Earlier jails did not include eggs it the menu. It
will start within a week,” said a senior jail officer. “Eggs will be provided to those inmates who want them in jails across the state, based on humanitarian and health grounds,” said Additional Director General of Prisons BK Upadhyay, adding, “boiled eggs will be provided but we are still to schedule the timings.” tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
IIT-B bans 9 startups for delaying placement offers MUMBAI: Premier tech school IIT Bombay on Thursday blacklisted nine companies including startups like Portea Medical and Chinese firm Johnson Electric from placements for one year as a penalty for a variety of violations like, revoking the offers to some of its graduates. The action follows a controversy over a host of companies, majorly startups finding the going tough, either revoking the offer letters or delaying joining dates which have impacted students. Online pharmacy player Portea, which has reportedly raised USD 46.5 million in two rounds, has been blacklisted for one year for revoking an offer, the school said in an official statement. Similarly, the NCR-based Peppertap that was into grocery sales, has also been penalised for revoking offers. Johnson Electric of China has also been penalised for revoking offers. Others who faced action for revok-
ing offers include GPSK and Cashcare Technologies, the statement said. For delaying the joining dates of the selected candidates, consulting companies IndusInsight, and the Houston-based American company LexInnova have been barred from placements for a year, it said. A company named LeGarde Burnett Group was also blacklisted for both revoking an offer and after it was found “fake” with no proper office address, it said.
Another company Mera Hunar was found to have come up with a different name and hired students for another startup, which attracted the penal action of one year. Since IITs have a centralised placement panel called the All IITs Placement Committee and in all likelihood, the action by IIT-Bombay will automatically bar the startups from approaching any of the IITs in the country for placements next year. PTI
have been fighting for this right for sometime now had taken a back seat fearing what society will say... but then let the society say what they want to... but what we want do, we will do.” “The Sufi saints too were given birth by women, then why we are being barred (from entering into the inner area of the dargah). Had the court not decided in our favour, we would have approached the Supreme Court. But we are very happy today that the court came to our rescue. I am thankful to our advocates, Raju Moray sir, and the entire media,” she said. The demand for equal access to the Haji Ali Dargah was first raised by BMMA, which had filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court in August 2014 against the “blatant discrimination on the ground of gender alone”. The Dargah Trust had defended its stand, saying that it is referred in Quran that allowing women close proximity to the dargah of a male saint is a grievous sin. Men have unhindered access to the actual burial place of the saint, and are also allowed to touch the tomb. Earlier this year, women managed to break the gender bias and gained full access to Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. The fight to allow women into the shrine, built on an islet, 500 metres from the coast, intensified following a petition in the Supreme Court demanding entry for women to the famous Sabarimala temple in Kerala. PTI
Maha calls all party meet to discuss internal security law M U M B A I : Fol low i n g severe battering from ally Shiv Sena and the Opposition over its proposed internal security law, the BJP-led M a h a r a s h t r a Devendra Fadnavis government has now decided to place the draft of the Act before an all party committee for discussion. “On the instructions of the Chief Minister, it has been decided to place the draft of proposed Maharashtra Protection of Internal Security Act before an All Party Committee for discussions,” Additional Chief Secretary, K P Bakshi said in a statement issued here. “Thereafter, the proposed draft will be discussed in the Cabinet and after discussions, public suggestions and objections will be invited. The finally-accepted draft will be sent to the Legislature after approval of the cabinet,” he said. Reacting to government’s stand, opposition NCP said that the government should have taken all parties into confidence before uploading the draft for public. “The CM knew very well that we would not allow him to go ahead with his plans of imposing dictatorial rule in Maharashtra. Thus, he did not consult the opposition. Now, the Shiv Sena’s slap to the BJP has shamed it and the CM is now trying to woo the opposition to bulldoze his way through. This can never happen,” NCP MLC Kiran Pawaskar said. Congress secretary Al-Nasser Zakaria said the BJP should be ashamed of going against the ideals of party stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, who always criticised the Congress for Emergency. “Will these leaders, who have been shoved into the ‘margdarshak mandal’ agree to the BJP’s stand under Modi ji now? We want the BJP stalwarts to come out in open and oppose this Act or else concede that the party’s ideals have been demolished to suit their agenda,” Zakaria said. PTI
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
‘‘Normally the deadline is 10 pm during the Ganesh festival. However, the government of Maharashtra has allotted 15 days in a year when there can be a relaxation in the deadline. Five days are allotted during the Ganpati festival. Mandals take the liberty to play loudspeakers till midnight, but of course in the permissible levels.’’ - Sunil Ramanand, Joint Commissioner of Police
US security assistance to Pak falls by 73 per cent since 2011 P13
Mumbai biggies shut the road to Maval school Pansoli village residents are forced to take treacherous routes to school and market as their ring road has been closed down by some bizmen
PICS: TEJAS GAIKWAD
BY GUNWANTI PARASTE @gunwantiparaste The residents of Pansoli village are having a hard time since their ring road has been closed down by some industrialist. They now have to use the Pavana dam side route which is very dangerous. Pansoli village (Maval) is 80 to 90 km from Pune and 25 to 29 km from Lonavala. Even the children are not able to attend school. Mansiha Laxman Ghadge is a 14-yearold standard VIII student. “The Pansoli village main ring road has been closed by some businessman. I am not able to attend my school. The optional road behind Pavana dam
is very dangerous. The government should intervene and reopen our ring road,” she said. Varsha Vasant Mohad, 13, is a standard VII student. “The Pansoli village main road has been closed for the last six months. It’s very difficult to reach school. I have to walk 15 km to school. The optional road is not properly developed and landslides happen there. We prefer to go school from Pavana dam side, but it’s also risky, as we can slip and fall in the water,” she said. Ganga Laxman Ghadge, 7, and Ganesh Laxman Ghadge, 7, study in the Zilla Parishad school. Their parents are worried about them because the road is dangerous so they do not
want to send them to school. The Irrigation Department provided another option but it is dangerous because of landslides, especially during the monsoons. Govind Ghadge said that some businessman has closed the main road, and another road under forest department is also closed. There is no other option but to go to the Lonavala market, and in a medical emergency there is no road to reach the hospital. Construction is not allowed within 100 metres of the dam but an illegal helipad has been constructed within 15 feet. Sagar Ghadge said that the Pavana dam affected people have not been rehabilitated.
Docs who conducted sex determination on the move jailed for four years BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma While radiologists in the city have been rallying against the PCPNDT (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) Act 1994, two doctors have been convicted of illegal sex determination and female foeticide in Mhaswad village of Satara district. Interestingly, amongst the four accused, there’s only one doctor, and the others used to work as medical help in hospitals, including a veterinary clinic. They used to perform the sex determination test in a mobile van and even did minor surgeries in the van. Two out of the four accused have been convicted under the PCPNDT act sections 3, 4 and 6, for conducting pre-natal determination, using a non-registered machine inside a van, by the Judicial Magistrate of Satara, on August 22. While the others have been granted acquittal on the grounds of lack of evidence, the petitioners are going to fi le an appeal against the acquittal. The two convicts, Arun Sawant and Dileep Raajge, have been awarded four years imprisonment each.
PUNE
In 2013, resident of Dehu, Anis Sheikh got a tip-off that there were certain doctors in Mhaswad and Pimpri who were willing to do a sex determination test and operation within Rs 2000. He informed the rural civil surgeon of Satara, Dr Ashwini Sonawale and Dr Yamini Adbe who is a member of the district PCPNDT committee. They then enlisted the help of a pregnant woman and her husband and planted a ‘decoy’ to catch the culprits red-handed. Anis’s friend, Imran Sheikh and his wife Ayesha Sheikh agreed to be the decoy couple. In November 2013, Ayesha, Imran and Anis along with Dr Adbe contacted one of the accused, Yashwant Satpute, who asked them to come to Pimpri. Satpute used to work as a veterinary dresser at the Bansal clinic in Dehu Road. Mid-way to Pimpri, another accused, Arun Sawant, stopped them and asked Ayesha and her husband to accompany him in their van, while the others were asked to follow. “Thereafter, his accomplice, Vilas Sawant, performed sonography in the van and announced to Imran that his wife was carrying ‘barfi’, a code word
for a girl child. He then asked for Rs 20,000 to perform the abortion,” states the petition. According to Dr Adbe, after a little while, the van containing the sonography machine and the decoys had sped past. “Since we had to stop them before the abortion, we took the help of local police and invaded the Chaitanya Clinic in Pimpri where they had gone to Dr Dilip Rajge, an electropathy doctor. Had we been even a little late, they would have commenced the procedure,” she recounted. However, the police managed to intercede and arrest three of the men involved. Yashwant Satpute, Vilas Sawant and Dilip Rajge were arrested but Arun Sawant managed to flee the scene and was later arrested. The case was fi led against all four of them in December 2013 and after almost three years, the court of Justice Rajesh Patki have passed judgment. “We are glad that the two culprits are behind bars. We will appeal to get those acquitted behind bars too,” said Dr Adbe. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com
Residents of Pansoli, Kever and Manjgaon villages are waiting for rehabilitation. Pavana dam executive engineer Manohar Khade says that construction is prohibited within 100 metres of the dam. “We will definitely find a solution to this problem. We have already given another option to villagers, but they are not ready to use another road,” he said. Maval tehsildar Sunil Thorve said that they would definitely solve this problem. “We will discuss it with the irrigation and forest departments and very soon the government will find other option,” he said. gunwanti.paraste@ goldensparrow.com
Unidentified flu outbreak in Shirur tehsil BY VICKY PATHARE @Vickypathare2
Doctors and residents of Shindewadi and other parts of Shirur tehsil have expressed serious concern about the outbreak of an unidentified flu, the first of its kind in the country. Eight more cases of the unidentified viral fever were reported on Wednesday, with flu like symptoms. All eight persons have been admitted to Rural Hospital, Shikrapur on Wednesday. Of the eight, seven are children below age eight years of age. Suspecting it to be an outbreak of swine flu, the health officials have given Tami-flu to all residents. A 120 people were reported complaining of fever and throat infections in a period of just three weeks. Health experts suspect that it may be an outbreak of Rickettsial fever, which has fatality rates as high as 30-35 per cent. Rickettsial diseases are some of the most covert re-emerging infections and notoriously difficult to diagnose. Six patients earlier admitted to the Sassoon General Hospital, were found positive and infected for the primary but not confirmatory Weil Felix for Rickettsial disease. Five out of these six patients were discharged on Thursday. It’s a challenging task for the health officials of Pune district, as Pune’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) does not have the screening facility for the suspected Rickettsial fever, and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi has refused to investigate the samples which were proposed to do. “The B J Government Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital have decided to import the kit from an American laboratory to detect the Rickettsial disease. If the patients are found positive and diagnosed with the diseases it would be the first case in the country,” said Dr Renu S Bharadwaj, Microbiology Department Head at BJMC “All tests for infection of malaria, dengue, chikungunya and other flu like diseases were taken. Finally it was found positive for infected with typhus fever in primary investigation but after the kit will arrive in a week and then only the disease would be identified,” she said vicky.pathare@goldensparrow.com
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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
PUNE
‘‘BJP MLAs and local leaders are trying to influence the process in every possible manner. In fact, their leaders have given a clear direction that local leaders must ensure the panels are carved out in such a way that the possibility of BJP candidates’ victory goes up.’’ - Ramesh Bagwe, Congress Chief and Former Minister
Start planning on the move! P10
Ruby Hall holds patient for 24 days over nonpayment
Nirmala Jawale sought free treatment under Indigent Patient Fund (IPF). The hospital on its part claimed that her family was well off and not eligible for the charity scheme. She was discharged only after charity commissioner intervened BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 The charity commissionerate of Pune region is dealing with a peculiar case, of a patient held back for 24 days by Ruby Hall Clinic, for not paying the hospital bill. The patient’s relatives said that though she was given discharge on July 25, the actual discharge happened on August 19, and charity officials are inquiring whether she is the real beneficiary. The patient, Nirmala Yeshudas Jawale, resident of Gundegaon village, tehsil and district of Ahmednagar was suffering from brain hemorrhage. She underwent a successful surgery, and the total bill came to Rs 6.90 lakh. At the time of admission, her husband Yeshudas had deposited Rs 2.70 lakh, and on July 25, the hospital asked them to deposit the remaining Rs 4.20 lakh, before discharge. Meanwhile, during his wife’s treatment, Yeshudas came to know that patients whose annual income was below Rs 50,000, were treated at Ruby free of cost. “I own a small piece of land in my village and as my annual income was also less than Rs 50,000, I was eligible to avail of the Indigent Patient Fund (IPF) scheme. I asked the hospital’s medical social department to treat my wife free of cost, but they refused to and demanded the full amount from me,” said Yeshudas. “I took a loan and deposited Rs 2.70 lakh for the treatment, but now I am not in a position to pay the remaining hospital bill. I have spent more than Rs 10 lakh on my son when he met with an accident last year, so I don’t have any money,” Yeshudas said. He then wrote to the charity commissioner of Pune on July 27, submitting the income certificate certified by the tehsildar. In the letter, Yeshudas described himself as poor, and also attached proof of income certificate. After seeing the letter, Navnath Jagtap, Additional
Charity Commissioner (Hospitals), ordered an inquiry into the matter and sought explanation from the hospital as to why they were not discharging the patient. After that the medical social workers of Ruby Clinic went to the village of the patient, Gundegaon in Ahmednagar district, to inquire whether the patient Jawale was poor or not. The medical social workers alleged that they clicked pictures of the patient’s home and school. “We inquired with the Sarpanch of the village and went to the patient’s home. Their house is well constructed, and Yeshudas (husband of the patient) is on a committee of a local school. The school has buses and we clicked all these photos and submitted them before the charity commissioner as proof, saying that the patient was not below the poverty line. But the charity commissionerate did not accept these proofs,
saying that the picture does not establish the evidence that the patient is not poor,” said Poonam Chauhan, medical social worker of Ruby Hall Clinic. It has been almost 20 days since the process has started and the patient has been in the hospital undergoing treatment. On August 16, Yeshudas again approached the charity commissioner and requested to order the release of the patient. Then a meeting was called, and after inspecting both sides (hospital and patient) documents, Joint Charity commissioner Shivaji Kachare ordered the discharge of the patient. On August 19, the hospital discharged the patient Nirmala Jawale without charging them. “The patient has income proof which is less than Rs 50,000. As per the Bombay Public Trust Act (BPT Act), the patient is eligible to avail free treatment, so we ordered to discharge the patient. The hospital submitted us photos of patient’s house and other things but it cannot grant as it is the proof of patient is rich,” said Navnath Jagtap, Additional Charity Commissioner. Asked if there was doubt to the hospital regarding the income certificate of the patient, Jagtap replied that the hospital should appeal and challenge the sub divisional officer against the suspected income certificate. If the certificate was found to be disproportionate to the actual income, hospital can lodge criminal complaint against the patient. Hospital can take action on such patients on grounds of submitting false information to the revenue department and obtaining the income certificate disproportionate to actual income source. Yeshuraj Jawale said that comissionerate officials called him for further inquiry on August 26. Abhijit Anap, superintendent (medical) of charity commissioner office, said that the patient was discharged from the hospital and the inquiry is going on and its decision will be final. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com
RAHUL RAUT
Wanted, a public toilet at Haveli tehsil office Haveli tehsil head office in Shukrawar Peth has no public toilet, and people have to walk a kilometre to the PMC toilet on Shivaji Road BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar Haveli tehsil is the largest in terms of both population and size in Pune district. It comprises 123 administrative units of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, and has a population of more than 30 lakh. Its head office is in the heart of Pune city, at Shukrawar Peth. Tehsil office, circle office, city survey office, forest office and talathi (Class III employees of state revenue service) offices are housed in the Shukrawar Peth office, which comes under the state Public Works Department. There is a regular flow of people who come here for the 7/12 extracts of their property, land sale/purchase documents, income certificates, domicile
certificates, caste certificates etc everyday. But the tehsil administration has not provided a single public toilet in these huge premises. One public toilet was demolished in 2004, when the government gave adjacent land for construction for a new tehsil office. Owing to this situation, visitors to the tehsil office, stamp vendors, class II officers, talathis, advocates and common people have no option but to use the PMC toilet which is nearly a kilometre away on Shivaji Road. It is very inconvenient for women visitors. There was a public toilet at the
Haveli tehsil office before 2004. The Haveli tehsil office dates back to the British era. Considering the growing population of Haveli tehsil, the state government decided to build a new tehsil office on PWD plots 931 and 607, adjacent to the Haveli tehsil office. Ms Kamdar Kakade J V is the developer of this site. The one public toilet on tehsil office premise was demolished by a builder for construction of the site. Advocate S D Oswal, has had a stamp vendor shop on the tehsil premises for 28 years. “Scores of people from all over the city come to the Haveli tehsil
Panel on OROP not hearing individuals: ex-serviceman
office for works relating to documents of revenue and other certificates. But there is not a single public toilet on the tehsil premises, Tehsildar (Class one officer of state revenue department) has a toilet in his cabin. Others have to go outside of the tehsil premises and use the PMC toilet which is on Shivaji Road. Construction of the new tehsil office has been going on since 2004 and is getting delayed year by year. It is shameful that a tehsil office which has the highest revenue in the state does not have a public toilet for people visiting its premises,” he said. About the lack of a basic facility like a public toilet on the tehsil premises, Tehsildar Dashrath D Kale said, “This public toilet problem has come up because of construction of a new tehsil office. The new tehsil office under construction will have facilities like a public toilet. It will be completed by December this year. The construction was delayed due to lack of funds. Considering the large numbers of visitors, we will construct one temporary public toilet on the existing tehsil premises.” tushar.rupanavar@ goldensparrow.com
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State has healthy rate of kidney transplants Around 10,000 transplants of various organs has been carried out in the state over the last two decades
BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 According to the transplantation data provided by the public health department, the kidney is the most common organ in the human body which fails, in comparison to others. It is also the one to be donated the most. Since two decades, of the total 9,998 organ transplants carried out in the state, 9,364 (94 per cent) transplants were of kidneys only, which was the highest in the state. The rest 634 (6 per cent) includes the liver, lungs and the heart among other organ as well. Almost two decades ago the ’Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994’ (THO) came into existence in Maharashtra. The data available with TGS from the year 1995, states that kidney is the most commonly donated and accepted organ of the human body. There are two types of donors, one is live and second one is cadaver (deceased). Since humans can stay alive on one kidney and the liver can regenerate itself, the living donors are able to donate these two organs. In the second type, the cadaver donors are those people who have been declared brain-dead and whose organs are kept viable by ventilators or other mechanical mechanisms until they can be harvested for transplantation. In the cadaveric donor category the organs like kidney, liver, lungs, heart and others organs can be donated. The data shows that in kidney transplants, most of the beneficiaries have opted for live donors over cadaveric organ. From 1995 to June 2016, a total of 9,364 kidney transplants were carried out at the 75 kidney transplant centres in the state. Out of a total number of 9,364 transplants, 8,654 were from live donors and rest 710 from cadavers.
Among the live transplants (8,654), as many as 7,265 people donated their kidney to relatives while the rest (1,389 people) donated their kidneys to unrelated recipients. The 710 cadaveric kidney transplant recipients’ details do not mention whether they are related to the donor or not. The first organ transplant was carried out in the state in 1995, and the figure touched 108, including 107 kidney and 1 liver donations, in that year itself. The graph of kidney transplant has been increasing every year with the yearly average being between 600 and 700. Liver donation stands in second position (550), followed by heart (22), lungs (02) and other organs (60) which include skin, pancreas and bone marrow. The heart transplant started in 2015 and five transplants were carried out in that year, while 15 were carried out in 2016 (till June). There are a total of 118 organ transplant centres registered with the state health government. For kidney transplants there are 75 centres divided between Mumbai (35), Pune (20), Nagpur (6), Nashik (5), Kolhapur and Aurangabad (4 each) and Amaravati (1). There are a total of 21 centres for liver – Mumbai (18) and Pune (03). Heart transplants centres are seven with Mumbai (6) and Pune (1, sanctioned but permission withheld). Lungs can be transplanted in Mumbai (4) and Pune (1) also. For heart and lungs (combined), the state has four centres, Mumbai (3) and Pune (1). For pancreas, there is one centre each in Pune and Mumbai; one centre for intestine in Mumbai and the city also has facility for pancreas and intestine combined. There is one centre for hand transplant in Mumbai. dnyaneshwar.bhonde @goldnesparrow.com
ORGAN TRANSPLANT (1995 TO JUNE 2016) Kidney
Liver
Lungs
Heart
Other (skin, pancreas and bone marrow)
Total
710 (Cadaver) & 8,654 (live)
550
2
22
60
9,998
Symbiosis discharging untreated sewage into open plot of land near the AFK employees residential quarters, is putting the occupants there under great health hazard BY VICKY PATHARE @Vickypathare2 The residents of Range Hills are facing health hazards and great inconvenience, as the Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS) at Range Hills, is discharging untreated sewage in the open plot of land near the Ammunition Factory, Khadki (AFK) employees’ residential quarters. AFK and Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB) have issued several notices to the SIMS management over this matter, but to no avail. The SIMS building plan sanctioned by the KCB included the
construction of an adequate capacity Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) on the college premises. But the STP that came up had less than the capacity needed to treat the sewage, owing to which untreated sewage is being disposed of by SIMS in the open area. Around 180 families occupying the 22 buildings (B Type) in this area are affected by the increasingly unsanitary conditions. A ‘B Type’ resident, Shalini Varpe, said, “The problems we face include bad odour, the breeding of mosquitoes, and stray animals like pigs. I have been living in this area for four decades. The conditions earlier were pleasant, but SIMS has made our lives miserable.
RAHUL RAUT
SIMS discharging untreated sewage at Range Hills
We have raised the issue with AFK and KCB officials, and the local corporator, but it has all been in vain. Now it seems that we have to live with this problem as the authorities are unable to solve it.
The sewage was being discharged next to our houses, but after we protested they have changed the spot, but they have not stopped.” Another resident, Sujata Gaikwad
said, “The sewage has given rise to the breeding of mosquitoes. Now we have to keep our windows closed to keep out the mosquitoes and the foul odour. It is a serious health hazard what with the outbreak of dengue, and we have to protect our children from the mosquito hazard too. The KCB seems to be unconcerned about the hazards we are facing.” KCB Chief Executive officer (CEO) Amol Jagtap said, “The KCB had issued notices to SIMS to stop the discharge of sewage water immediately, and to make alternative arrangements at the earliest. The residents have faced this problem for a long time. SIMS has assured that the work will be completed within a month. KCB officials will take timely followups. SIMS has started the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) construction. They have also submitted a report to the KCB, stating the duration and
details about the STP structure.” Criticising the KCB, corporator of the ward Vaishali Pahilwan said, “I have raised the issue with the board authorities several times, but they seem to be unconcerned about the health hazards faced by the citizens. SIMS management is not co-operating with us and do not take the notices seriously. KCB officials are legally obliged to solve the issue but they have turned a blind eye towards the problem. There is a need to take stringent action against the SIMS management, as it is a clear violation of environmental norms laid down by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). KCB has issued more than six notices in one year, and SIMS keeps saying that it will take a couple of months to complete the work of STP. KCB officials give us the same excuses when we enquire about the development.” vicky.pathare@goldensparrow.com
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
‘‘UK has an expertise in urban master planning and urban transport planning. They are two major sectors which need transformation in the city. During the survey , citizens have listed transport as the biggest problem.’’ - Kunal Kumar, PMC Commissioner
Come, ride in Rinku’s pink autorickshaw
PIC: RAHUL RAUT
BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar
Rinku Vasant Maske, 26, has cleared her Master of Commerce from Rajmata College with first class marks. But she has taken to an occupation which seems like a detour from her commerce education. Rinku is the first woman to get an autorickshaw driving license from the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) in February 2012. But she had to wait till 2015 to get her autorickshaw driver badge, which she got under the five per cent reservation for women autorickshaw drivers, declared by the state government in the same year. As per RTO norms, pink coloured autorickshaws are for women, and Rinku recently got the first pink coloured autorickshaw, thus becoming the first woman autorickshaw driver in Pune city officially. She has broken new ground by entering a male-dominated occupation. But Rinku has had a hard time getting here, as society is still not willing to accept a woman autorickshaw driver, especially in slum areas like Vitthalnagar in Bhosari. She has had to face criticism, rude comments and jokes, but she stood firm and overcame all these hurdles. Things have changed now and the same people who earlier passed comments, are now lauding her achievement. Rinku lives in a 10 x 15 feet room in Vitthalnagar slum in Bhosari with
Rinku Vasant Maske is the first woman autorickshaw driver from Pune to get her badge and the pink autorickshaw allotted to women autorickshaw drivers
her family. Her father Vasant used to drive a truck, but now runs a shop. Her brother Siddharth is also an autorickshaw driver. He is the one who taught her to drive. She hails from Latur district in Marathwada region of Maharashtra and her grandfather shifted to Pune in 1972 owing to the drought back home. Her father Vasant started driving a truck to earn a living.
“Driving is in our blood, and it helps us earn our livelihood. My father and brother both encouraged me to take up autorickshaw driving. There is no gender discrimination in our family. My parents never treated me like a girl but always encouraged us to do what we like,” she said. Since her family has been through many ups and downs she believed that driving an autorickshaw could be a
Fee hike complaints rise against educational institutes Most school and junior colleges have not implemented the Maharashtra Educational Institutions Act, 2011 for fees regulation BY VICKY PATHARE @Vickypathare2 Most private unaided schools and junior colleges are yet to form executive committees to regulate the fee hike at the institution level. The deputy director of education office is flooded with complaints regarding fees hikes regardless of the implementation of the mandatory ‘Maharashtra Educational Institutions Act, 2011’. Irked parents visit the education director’s office to file complaints about the fee hikes. The registrations of educational institutes not following the act can be cancelled, said officials. State education minister Vinod Tawde had publically announced last year about the strict implementation of the fee regulation act to restrict the commercialisation of education, from the academic year 2015-2016 itself. But the act is still not followed by educational institutes. As per the Maharashtra Educational Institutions Act, 2011, educational institutes across Maharashtra, regardless of being government or private, aided or unaided, have to follow the norms. The government and aided educational institutions have to fix the fee while an executive committee regulates fees in
private educational institutions. The executive committee should comprise of the principal and members of the Parents Teachers Association. “Private school management has to submit a detailed proposal of fee hike for approval by the committee, eight months before the commencement of the academic year. If the difference in the fee decided by the panel and the management is less than 15 per cent, then the amount agreed by the former will be applicable,” the act states. The act allows schools to hike fees by a maximum of 15 per cent over the fees of the previous academic year unless approved by the executive committee of the school or the divisional fee regulatory committee. The act further clarifies the fee to be charged has to be based on the location of the school, infrastructure available, qualification status, qualified teachers and non-teaching staff, expense on maintenance and administration and the yearly amount of salary increment. Features like tuition fee, library fee and deposit, term fee, laboratory fee, caution money, gymkhana fee, hostel fee and mess charges, examination fee and admission fee, have to be also considered by the committee. In Pune city alone, the education department for the current academic year 2016-2017, has received as many as 125 complaints from parents unwilling to pay wrongly hiked fees, against 32 educational institutes. Most of the complaints are against Shri Shri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir, Bhugaon, Potdar International School, Ambegaon, The Lexicon International School, Wagholi, Hutchings High School, Camp, Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Euro Kids, Wakad,
Vibgyor High School, Kondhwa & Hadapsar, Indian Education Society, Wadgaon Sheri, and D Y Patil International School, Pimpri. The anxious father of a girl studying standard IX in Indian Education Society, Wadgaon Sheri said, “There is no executive committee at the school to monitor the fee hike so I had to complain at the Deputy Directors office. The school from the last three years is siphoning money in the name of activation fees, computer fees etc. There is not a single computer provided to the students for learning, even after this. There are no facilities like parking, sports ground and water, still they charge a heavy amount every year and keep on hiking it. If parents complain about the immoral fee hike, the management starts harassing the pupil for it, due to which most of the parents hesitate to raise their voice against it.” The exhausted mother of a standard III student of Vibgyor High School, Kondhwa, said, “Vibgyor School is following its own set of rules for fee hike and there is no one to curb it. Hundreds of parents face the brunt of fee hike every year. The educational department is a toothless body which has no control over the private schools. Even the fee regulation act is not helpful for us. Lack of guidelines and proper execution of Maharashtra Educational Institutions Act, 2011 from the state education department has forced the parents to pay arbitrary fees. Even after paying so much for the education of our child, the quality of the school and its education is falling.” Deputy Director of Education Dinkar Temkar said, “There is no official record of the institutes which have formed executive committees which will regulate the fees in the private educational institutions with us. Every educational institute in the state has to compulsorily follow the act from this academic year 2016-2016, as it was delayed last year. Soon a workshop will be organised and a meeting will be called to take the accountability of the institutes about implementation of act as we have started getting complains against fee hike. Registrations of these educational institutions can be cancelled if they don’t follow the fee regulation act and are found guilty.” vicky.pathare@goldensparrow.com
Sarkozy bid for French presidency
Sponge creates steam using ambient sunlight
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Bhosari woman who is a commerce graduate, gets an autorickshaw driving license as well as the first pink autorickshaw meant for women drivers great source of livelihood for her and her family. She was still studying when she started learning to drive. “Today women work alongside men in every field. Initially people were sceptical when I started driving an autorickshaw but I ignored them. My family stood by me so I never looked back,” she told us. With her family backing her she applied for a license at RTO, passed the exam and driving test. She is the first woman in Pune to get the license. Maske had to wait for her badge till 2015. It was through the governments five per cent reservation quota for women autorickshaw drivers, that she was able to get her badge. The RTO has made it a norm that women autorickshaw drivers must use a pink colour autorickshaw. She is the first woman to get the rickshaw and has recieved it just two days back. Currently her autorickshaw is undergoing the RTO registration process, and very soon it will be on the road. “I will give priority to the safety and comfort of my passengers. I will not refuse any fares and take passengers where they want to go. Women passengers will feel safe in my autorickshaw, and I hope I get a great response from passengers. When a woman does something never done before, society tends to criticise and oppose us. But women should focus on what we want to do, and over time society will automatically realises the worth of what we do,” she said. tushar.rupanavar@ goldensparrow.com
PUNE
Chikungunya grips Pune district BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 With monsoon, the quiet city of Pune and its surrounding area has been gripped with various incidents of high fever and vector-borne diseases including dengue, malaria and chikungunya. Health authorities are alarmed that of the 336 chikungunya cases reported from the state, 306 patients (91 per cent) are from Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and rural areas. They are unable to cite any specific reason for the outbreak and are taking all precautionary measures to check it. The virus has not claimed any life. “Mosquito is the main cause behind the spurt in chikungunya cases in Pune district. The Aedes aegypti mosquito spreads dengue virus and also carries the chikungunya virus. These mosquitoes breed in stagnant water in the neighbourhood,” said Dr Pradip Awate, state surveillance officer of the state health department, fearing that there may be more people who are affected by the ailment in rural areas where the facility of undergoing tests to confirm the virus is unavailable. The official figure states that 134 chikungunya patients were found from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), 14 from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and 158 from rural areas of the Pune district. Chikungunya is an infection caused by the chikungunya virus spread through infected Aedes aegypti mosquito bites. The disease features the sudden onset of fever two to four days after exposure. The
fever usually lasts two to seven days, with joint pains typically lasts up to weeks, months or sometimes years also. The mortality rate is a little less than 1 in 1,000 cases with the elderly or those with underlying chronic medical problems most likely to have severe complications. The ailment is confirmed by various tests but mostly Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) tests detect both antiCHIKV immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG antibodies from either acute- or convalescent-phase samples within 2-3 days. Mosquito infected with the virus bites mostly in day time. A resident doctor from Ward No 15 (medicine) of the Sassoon General Hospital said that there was a spurt in chikungunya cases in August. “Every day 4 to 5 patients are being admitted at the hospital from various areas of the city.” Despite repeated attempts, Dr Kalpana Balivant, chief of vector borne control disease PMC, was unable to comments. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com
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‘‘Mandals must install eco-friendly Ganesh idols for maintaining environmental balance. They must also take precaution that the vehicular traffic is not obstructed, and erect a minimum number of banners and posters with permission.’’ - Dinesh Waghmare, Municipal Commissioner
Kaziranga animals and flood fury P 11
PICS: RAHUL RAUT
Here are our
FUTURE OLYMPIC BOXERS
Continued from p1 Their fitness expert PVK Raman told us about the nutritional requirements of playing the sport and what must be done to ensure that these children get it in adequate amounts. ‘My dream is to earn a medal for India’ It was on his way to school that he would often stand outside a boxing academy admiring the agility and stamina with which the boxers moved inside the ring. Soon enough he found his way inside and without his parents learning of what he was up to, he managed to attend practice every single day. It was only when he had won a competition and his name had appeared in the newspaper did they know that their son was a boxer. His father owned a newspaper stall and his mother was a housewife. Even then when they found out about his passion they whole-heartedly supported him. “My dream is to earn a medal for India. I remember every single detail of the match when I lost. It affects me even today that I could not win it at that t ime. The only thing I have on my m i nd every single waking moment is to be able to train the kids that have the talent in the hope that I can live my dream through them,” he said. He currently
Kuldeep Kushwah The son of a railway employee, Kuldeep Kushwah has been an admirer of boxing for the last five years. Currently pursuing his graduation in commerce from Ness Wadia College, he hopes to someday represent India in a boxing match and take up the sport professionally. His uncle was a boxer and since he grew up seeing him play, he doesn’t even know when he fell in love with the sport. “There is nothing about boxing that I do not like. While I am a little weak when it comes to stamina, I will give it my all to ensure that it doesn’t hinder my achievements in the sport,” the 17-year-old said. Kushwah has till date played three state matches and has won one gold, silver, and bronze at these competitions. He also featured in the nationals in 2014 where he got a silver medal. In addition to this, he has played innumerable matches representing his school and college. The young boy knows that tomorrow even if he wishes to take up a job he will choose not to completely give up on boxing ever.
has about 60 under-privileged children who train under him. Pingale represented India at the Olympics in 1988 and had even played at the Asian Games earlier where he had won a gold medal. He had also won ten state championships in a row and was only 18 years old when he made it to the Indian Senior boxing team. On the international level he has five gold medals and one bronze medal too. The biggest challenge that he faces while training these children is the lack of facilities. There is no support from the federation either and so currently all the equipment that is being used is funded by Pingale himself or private sponsors. “There is a need to start building these players from the grassroots level. The kids that come to me are already struggling to make ends meet and so we do not take any fees from them. Their passion and dedication towards me and the sport is all that matters to me and pushes me to try my best every single minute,” he said. Pingale is also on the selection committee for the Indian Boxing Team. He was also conferred the Arjuna Award given to a sportsman for outstanding achievements at the national level, in 1993. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow. com
Pawan Gaikwad It takes him about an hour to get to the ground to practice every single day. Living with his parents in Loni, Pawan Gaikwad who is 16 years old, was hooked to the sport after he saw a few matches on the television. Studying commerce at NGS Boys High School, he has been a boxer since he was in the fourth grade. His father is a farmer and sometimes accompanies him to the ground to see his son play. “I don’t think I want to do anything other than be a boxer in the future. Pingale sir thinks I have the potential to go for it and I will not leave any stone unturned to get there. Playing for the Indian team is my dream,” he said. Gaikwad has several times represented his school in boxing matches and was even selected at for the India camp of that age group.
HE WANTS TO WIN MEDALS AT THE AGE OF 90
Shambhurao Deshpande is an athlete who has not let age dim the determination to keep physically fit, and his daily regimen is perfect testimony BY SHAILESH JOSHI @TGSWeekly Shambhurao Deshpandeis 88 years old. Atthis age,most people would be taking it a little easy, but not Shambhurao. He still strives to remain as active as he can be, and this indomitable spirit makes him a source of inspiration for the younger generation. Shambhurao lives in 10 x 10 room in Bibwewadi with his wife. His home is full of trophies and mementoes from his heyday, when he claimed scores of medals,thanks to his feats on the athletics field. He was born in Nasrapur in Bhor taluka in Pune district. He put in a lifetime of service before retiringfromthe railway mail service. Shambhurao was a natural and was endowed with natural abilities, which were evident even at the age of five,when he
won his first race.He has not looked back since then. The disciplines Shambhurao was involved in include 100 and 200 metre sprints, long jump, high jump, pole vault, as well as gymnastics. He represented Maharashtra at the AllIndia Posts & Telegraphs meet at Bhivani, Haryana in 1989. He has participated in 11 Asian meets and bagged 26 medals, including eight golds, 11 silver and seven bronze. He has kept the tri-colour flying high with his medal-winning performances in seven countries, such as Seoul, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. These are senior category events Shambhurao has won these medals in, the events having taken place between the years 1996 and 2012. Besides, the international arena, Shambhurao has won no less than 74 medals in events staged in the country,
at Bengaluru, Chennai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Balewadi etc. These 74 medals and the 26 international ones, add up to a round 100 medals. “I want to win a medal in an international athletics event in the 90 age group,” he said. “Hard work is the key to the success, and my message to youngsters isto keep practicing,and do your best to win,”he said. Shambhurao is still determined to keep up his fitness regimen, and he climbs Taljai hill everyday. He gets a meagre pension, with which he and his wife get by. But times are hard and it’s a struggle for him to make ends meet. He has a son from a previous marriage, who really does not play a big role in his life. But his desire to win is still undimmed. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
THE FITNESS EXPERT A retired army athlete, PVK Raman, currently looks after the health and fitness of the kids boxing at Manoj Pingale’s academy. He served for 24 years in the army and was even helping the Indian hockey team with their fitness. One of the problems that these boxers face is that of not getting enough nutrition to develop and combat the amount of training that they do. Endurance, stamina and agility training must begin right from when a kid is three years old, believes Raman. Coupled with the correct amount of nutrition a child’s body then LENDING A HELPING HAND A hub that breathes creativity when it comes to fitness, Multifit Gym located in Koregaon Park is the place to be for all your health goals. Started by Samir Kapoor, the gym not only provides you with equipment and facilities but also offers you other sports like boxing and martial arts. Born and brought up in an army background, Kapoor loved the adrenaline rush and this is what actually pushed him to start MultiFit. Focusing on functional training the philosophy of the gym is to create a community of fitness enthusiasts making it a long-term goal and integrating it in one’s lifestyle. What Kapoor noticed was that most of the people that went to a gym decided to go to get physically fit rather than for muscle. But all these people also believed that machines were the way to get to their goal. This is what he hoped to change. Taking this very thought forward, when Kapoor found out that Pingale who teaches boxing at Multifit, runs an academy to help build world-class
develops well and their physical needs can be met with such an aggressive sport, he explained. “To set records or even reach and compete on the international level, the basics must be very strong. Currently our kids don’t even qualify for the local tournaments since they do not fit the weight criteria for their age. If at the grassroots level itself care isn’t taken, then it only becomes tougher as they grow up,” he said. Raman feels that there is a lot that the kids can do and achieve if they get the right kind of opportunity. He helps out Pingale by training them too, focusing majorly on increasing their strength, which is something that a boxer can’t do without. boxers, he wanted to do something to help. “I remember Pingale telling me that he spent 12 years training to fight nine minutes in the ring. For some reason this stuck with me and on talking to him further I found out about all the problems that they were facing at the academy. I asked him to come up with a plan and promised to financially and logistically help out as much as I could,” he said. Pingale has the permission to take his students to the boxing ring in Multifit any time of the day to train them. Since his dream is to send his players to the Olympics, he will now begin to finalise a few who he believes can make the cut and Kapoor will sponsor everything that they need till the 2020 Olympics and maybe even after. This is something that the two of them hope will change the way the sport is seen in this cricket crazy country and also motivate many more to take it up. You encourage the lot that is already training, Kapoor has also declared cash prizes worth Rs 50,000 for the gold medal winner, Rs 40,000 for the one that gets silver and Rs 30,000 for the one with the bronze at the national level matches.
RAHUL RAUT
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
“They “Th ey (youth) should hold books, in their hands and not stones. We are linking the future of Kashmiri youth with the future of India. I appeal to Kashmiris to identify those who are creating trouble.” — Mehbooba Mufti, J&K Chief Minister
“India is committed to working with international community to craft an ambitious, comprehensive and equitable development agenda with poverty eradication at its core.” — Sumitra Mahajan, Lok Sabha Speaker
Society do-gooder
Give youngsters pedal power on the path to education
The two unwritten yet sacrosanct rules of this social organisation is no political affiliation and no media byte TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeek y Two hours week y or he soc e y - w h h s bas c pr nc pa an NGO was ormed e gh years ago The n er-schoo eco- r end y and bes ou o was e decora on ma er a exh b on organ sed by an Pune-based Organ sa on who wan s o keep he r name n o ds on Sunday Augus 28 s us one o he var ous soc a ac v es ha h s NGO does “I s our annua ac v y where we showcase he ar c es made by schoo ch dren We carry ou he pro ec named Eco-Paav rya based on ce ebra ng es va s n eco- r end y manner The even w be he d a Indradhanushya Ha Near Sach n Tendu kar ogg ng Track be ween 10 am and 12 30 am on Sunday ” sa d one o he vo un eers who o ned he rus hrough soc a med a one year ago S nce s orma on he organ sa on has re g ous y o owed wo ru es o run he r m ss on — no affi a on w h any po ca par y and no med a presence The on y n orma on med um ha uses s Facebook Speak ng o TGS one o he rus ees who d d no wan h s name o be pub shed sa d “Our organ sa on re g ous y o ows hese wo unwr en ru es We have over 400 vo un eers and over 1 000 on ne suppor ers We s ar ed our ac v es n Pune and now are carry ng ou n a ves n Nash k a so Our Facebook page s he on y med um o show our ac v es and he compan es ha und our soc a ac v es a so agree w h our sacrosanc ru es We do no
Parivartan provides cycles to students from viilages who are preparing for competitive exams BY SHA LESH JOSH @TGSWeek y
The hardsh p o cyc ng 24 kms every day o reach Br han Maharash ra Co ege o Commerce on Gokha e Road rom h s house n Nanded Pha a and back dur ng h s co ege days a ways made Ashok Jadhav Ashok adhav h nk abou he needy s uden s who had o wa k he d s ance o a end co ege La er a ong w h h s seven co ege r ends Abh Sopan Ghu e Sun Ma e Shekhar Wa hekar Gu ab Dedge N n Chavan Chandrakan Thore Shash kan Devkar and van adhav he aunched an n a ve n 2011 ha rans ormed he ves o many s uden s “We r ends wou d mee o en and a k abou every h ng under he sun As each one o us were assoc a ed w h var ous soc a organ sa ons n our nd v dua capac y our conversa ons a ways narrowed o ake up any pro ec
Pa va an g ed 7 cyc es o needy g
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ha w benefi he soc e y And we dec ded upon prov d ng cyc es or ree o needy s uden s who are prepar ng or compe ve exams and co ege s uden s rave ng rom rura areas o he c y We wan ed o he p change he s ua on ra her han us h nk and d scuss abou ” sa d adhav one o he ound ng members o he S nhagad-based soc a organ sa on Par var an On Augus 17 he organ sa on v s ed Shree Bha ravna h H gh Schoo n Saswad and g ed 17 cyc es o needy g r s uden s under s Par var an Cyc e Bank n a ve The organ sa on has g ven away cyc es wor h Rs 40 akh o needy s uden s s nce he me o s orma on “W h me more ke-m nded peop e o ned our n a ve and now he vo un eer s reng h s 25 Our ma n
ocus s o prov de cyc es o he s uden s as some are ex reme y poor and cou d no even afford bus ares o ge o schoo A er cover ng s uden s rom v age areas we are now he p ng hose who move o he c y rom v ages o pursue educa on We ra se unds rom our pocke s and a so accep dona ons ” sa d K shor Dhage ano her ound ng member The group has been dona ng cyc es o s uden s ha ng rom rura areas n Pune d s r c and Mara hwada I was on he sugges on o one Sach n Pawar who s pursu ng s ud es o become a k r ankar ha Par var an s ar ed dona ng cyc es o needy s uden s ha ng rom v ages and do ng ur her s ud es n Pune “There are some poor s uden s rom Mara hwada reg on who come o Pune or h gher educa on or prepar ng
s Pa va an Cyc e Bank n a ve
or compe ve exams bu canno even afford he expense o pub c ranspor By dona ng cyc es o hem Par var an can he p hem save he amoun spen on ranspor a on and use or he r academ c purpose ” sa d Pawar add ng ha he organ sa on s do ng a commendab e soc a cause Sudh r Agashe he 21-year-o d s uden rom Osmanabad d s r c and one o hree benefic ar es who rece ve cyc e rom Par var an sa d “I am s udy ng a Fergusson Co ege and a so prepar ng or compe ve exams rom nana Prabodh n n Sadash v Pe h My a her s a arm abourer and we bare y manage o eke ou a v ng The cyc e prov ded by Par var an has he ped me save money and I w a ways be ndeb ed o he organ sa on or he r so emn ges ure ” g eedba k@go den parrow om
This Dahi Handi mandal climbs high on social cause
TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeek y
curd m k bu er and owar puffs w h organ sers g v ng away cash pr zes o gov ndas who break he Dah Hand ” he sa d Speak ng o TGS he manda s member A Saha sa d ha he group has dona ed bags books no ebooks s a onery o poor s uden s “We d s r bu ed 200 b anke s o s uden s o var ous schoo s nc ud ng Bhave H gh Schoo Nu an Mara h V dya aya and Huzurpaga H gh Schoo n u y h s year We appea ed o needy s uden s o approach us and rece ved 40 responses A we ask or s documen s ke markshee educa ona cer fica e us o ascer a n he benefic ary s den y ” Mankar sa d Saha sa d ha he manda a so o ows he d rec ons ssued by he po ce regard ng se ng s ages crowd managemen pro ec ng women g r s and ch dren and avo d any sor o m shap dur ng ce ebra ons I en rus s respons b y o pro ec ng women and g r s on he r vo un eers and avo d h gh dec be sound sys ems a er 10pm bes des ensur ng ha he even ends be ore 10pm Ano her member Gorakh Ma a e sa d ha hey prov de pro ec on o he g r s who par c pa e n he danc ng a he es v y g eedba k@go den parrow om
encourage any o our members and vo un eers o n erac w h he med a We do no have any h ng aga ns he med a bu ea ur ng a s ory w h name or pho ograph o any o our members cou d have an un avourab e nfluence on o hers ” he sa d under n ng he harm ess reach o soc a med a and a one-way commun ca on ha a ows he rus o engage w h he pub c a s own w Some o he n a ves carr ed ou by he rus nc ude raffic awareness programmes w h he he p o pos ers and s ogans eco- r end y decora on workshops ac v y o s udy ma er a prepara on draw ng co our ng mak ng homework shee s or spec a ch dren Recen ac v es ha he NGO carr ed ou nc ude raffic awareness ac v y ce ebra ng Independence Day w h he sen or c zens a o d age home Yoga and un games w h orphan k ds ree p an a on and conserva on dr ve A so h s NGO s work ng n v ages nearby Pune and a so assoc a ed over 40 schoo s n Pune Wan o know he r name? K nd y a end he r h s Sunday s ac v y g eedba k@go den parrow om
CARS, BIKES, TRIPS, GEAR HONEST, FUN REVIEWS TECHSPEC TANK PADS
TGS LIFE
Regardless of what bike you ride, your knees and thighs are typically going to come into contact with the fuel tank/airbox cover, which is usually made of painted metal or plastic. The problem is that metal and plastic don’t stick very well to textile, nylon or any material that you’d typically wear as pants on a motorcycle ride. Anchoring to your bike with your knees and thighs is critical for safety and confidence. Most sport riders are familiar with grippy stickers that you can put in place on the sides of your tank to alleviate this. Techspec is one such brand, which makes a unique ‘snakeskin’ pattern rubber material that can be applied to your tank with adhesive. Unlike some other brands of grip pads that look like organic globs or some sort of acupressure surface, the Techspec item is a fairly basic,
AUGUST 6, 2016 PUNE
THRILL OF DRIVING
TGS LIFE JULY 9, 2016 PUNE
THRILL OF DRIVING By Tushar Burman
Road-tripping in Thailand
TGS LIFE JULY 16, 2016 PUNE
THRILL OF DRIVING
T
here are many legends surrounding the birth of the Ford Mustang, one of America’s most well-known performance cars. I will avoid the word “iconic” because it’s so overused in this context that I challenge you to find a launch or drive report without it. One such legend has its name inspired by the legendary P51 Mustang fighter aircraft used by the USAF, which makes sense seeing its “aviation inspired” interior on this 2015 model we drove. Other stories tell of how the entire allocation of the original run of the Ford Mustang sold out in just a few months. It has been an immensely popular vehicle since its birth in 1964-65, and this is its 52nd year in continuous production, despite the challenges of the ‘70s oil crisis, various downturns and such. Other muscle cars have come, gone and been resurrected, but the Mustang has been a constant. The model Ford has launched in India is the Mustang GT and it wears all-new bodywork compared to the outgoing model. The previous generation started the “retro-futuristic” craze back in 2005 and has served the company well, spawning innumerable special editions and variations on performance and body style. This new model bears the same basic shape, but has a much more stylish, swoopy visage. The front is more aggressive with a wider grille and three slashes in each headlamp, while the rear looks more old-school with the same three-segment design following through. The classic long bonnet and short boot with a fastback roofline remains, covering a 2+2 cabin and a surprisingly roomy boot! It’s all very well executed, betraying no irony or cheesy nostalgia. This truly does look like many decades of progress have been made to get to this handsome shape. The Mustang is only available in the V8 engine option for India, which makes
Perfect roads as far as the eye can see
TGS LIFE
are present and are best used in sport mode or one of the sharper driving modes. There are four of those, including a “Track” mode that turns off the traction control, unleashing all 515Nm upon the rear wheels. Some of our colleagues were caught unawares as their cars did unintended 180-degree turns. The Mustang isn’t for the hardcore trackjunkie, despite what the driving modes may say. The tendency is to safely understeer as opposed to snap-oversteer. Of course, you can get it to do the latter but it’s a deliberate effort. The upside is that it’s very easy to get used to and just, well, drive. Suspension is pliant and comfortable, ground clearance is generous, which should make it good to use in our road and traffic conditions. The interior is a bit bland — all black and grey surfaces, but with a surfeit of buttons. The steering wheel has no less than four separate clusters of buttons for various controls. Everything is generally where you expect it, save for the bonnet release, which is inexplicably in the passenger footwell. We had to get off the car for motorcycle to open the hood! Comfort is good, however, with supportive leather seats, usable rear seats (but not for adults), cup holders, armrest with storage, two west of Chiang Mai which is considered oneUSB of slots, an SD card reader and an 8” information/navigation screen. the best riding roads in Asia. Among the first All this at Rs 65 lac, ex-showroom Delhi, stopovers on this route is a popular, butshould still tiny which translate to about Rs 77 lac onroad.If Maharashtra town called Pai, which we visited. Chiang buyers will be disappointed however, as the recent revision in RTO taxes Mai were Pune, think of Pai asmeans Wai,thatexcept the imported Mustang GT will 140km away. probably cost north of Rs 80 lac. Still, in this price waterfalls segment, one’s options are cars like the Nestled in a valley replete with Audi TT and the Mercedes CLA 45 AMG. and lush greenery, Pai is a small with all-wheel drive and much Bothtown are smaller, a growing tourist population, sharper pioneered aroundby a track, but also less practical in terms of ground clearance, comfort and backpackers. It’s close enough to the border space. With the Mustang, you have the with Myanmar to have cultural heritage, influences of and enough space in the machismo for a verybut grand tour, as long as you leave the hill tribes in terms of food andboot clothing, Our Honda CB500X proved an able, fun and comfortable ride for our trip that giant spare tyre at home. significant enough to have all the infrastructural tushar@goldensparrow.com
TANKED-UP TGS LIFE
JUNE 25, 2016 PUNE
JUNE 11, 2016
By Tushar Burman @tburman
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that Himachal Pradesh is likely to make more of a dent in your bank balance. Food, boarding and infrastructure are organised and consistent, typical of a nation that takes tourism seriously, and with pride. You never pass a street stall without a sing-song “Sawatdi-khaaaa” (Thai for namaste, quite literally), friendly smiles and a disarming lack of guile. Thailand also has strong cultural connects to India, having a Hindu and Buddhist history. It occasionally surprises the uninformed when encountering names and iconography from the Ramayan and other Hindu mythology. There is, in fact, a Thai version of the Ramayan on TV, with Ram played
perfect sense. There’s an intimate connect Mustang, but the saving grace was that those in most minds between muscle cars and big, were around the lauded Buddh International brawny engines. That’s not to say that the Circuit, India’s only F1 track. As you’d Mustang has always had a V8. There have expect, the Mustang is pretty fast in a straight been many inline-four options over the years line. This time round, it isn’t too bad around as well, but we suspect the international the corners either, having an independent EcoBoost version would not be accepted in rear suspension instead of an ancient liveour market. The motor makes 395bhp and axle type found in most generations of the 515Nm of torque, which is down somewhat car. This is clearly a grand-tourer sort of car. from the international model. This is The suspension feels quite plush, there’s to accommodate the varying fuel perceptible body roll when you’re quality available in India. We’re hustling around the corners and Verdict pleased with this decision; a car things are generally smooth at + Comfort, like the Mustang deserves to speed. I suppose we should be price, heritage be driven, not bragged about pleased as consumers that we’ve - Middling auto when comparing specs, while come to a point where we can gearbox your staff takes a jerrycan to actually buy much harder-core the nearest 97 octane bunk, performance cars in this price TGS rating which is probably an hour away. bracket. ;;;;2 Trust us: we know what it’s like The V8 sounds nice inside the to have a hoot of a car in the garage cabin, but isn’t particularly evocative because it’s out of pricey fuel. It wears beefy insideChiang or out. It’s butjump-off muted burble Maia isdeep your point tyres shod around 19” wheels and uses large that comes to the ear; no snap crackle and adventures Brembo brakes to bring things to a halt. pop drama of European tyre-burners. The We only had five short laps in the India edition only comes with the 6-speed
THRILL OF DRIVING
The TUV300 urban SUV gets more punch with a 100hp motor
MOTORS IN THAILAND Riding or driving in the country is bound to feel familiar to an Indian tourist. For one thing, they drive on the left side of the road — a colonial vestige similar to ours. They accept International Driving Permits issued in India. Being part of the ASEAN region with a large contract manufacturing industry also means Shima a recently-released Polish brand of that vehicles tend to be similaris to what you’ll see on Indian roads. Toyota Innovas and Corollas,far less known than the typical motorcycle apparel, Suzuki Swifts, Nissans and familiar European gear you’ll see on your mates on a Sunday ride. luxury cars in urban areas. What you’re likely to they aren’t be unprepared for However, is the automotive culture of scrimping on their debut. customisation that If seems the is country. theto pervade catalog anything to go by, the lineup is It’s ridiculous! On my first day in Bangkok, I was thorough and top-notch betraying no cost-cutting. passed by a courier delivery truck with massive tested the D-Tour WP (waterproof) gloves oversize rims and We’ve tyres. Even cabs — whether licensed or Uber —and are seldom seen without an have come away impressed. To begin with, obligatory level of customisation. the price isis right: Rs 4800 for a pair of this kind Automotive enthusiasm even more is a good the dealThai indeed. evident in the two-wheelers ride. There are several things to Unlike in India, where culturally, we’re about Key is the fused liner, which like about the gloves. “bigger is better”, the Thai have a different take Shima calls NextFit/NextDry. What this means on their commuter vehicles. Step-thrus and
SHIMA D-TOUR WP GLOVES
THOROUGHBRED @tburman
MOTO GEAR
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hen we last drove the TUV300 shortly after its launch, it was a pleasant surprise in its package, refinement and general ability around the city. At the time, we didn’t really take it on an extended highway jaunt and probably just as well; you see, in it’s previous guise, the TUV300 came with a modest 75hp output motor, which was fine in urban environs, but didn’t really have punch anywhere in the rev range. That has now changed with Mahindra calling this iteration the mHawk100 motor -- essentially the same thing but now putting out considerably more power and torque, up to 100hp and 240Nm. If you’ve read our previous assessment of the TUV300, not much has changed, save for our experience with other, more recent SUVs in and around the same segment. The TUV300 crossover/hatchback which was globally unveiled in is surprising in its nice interior accoutrements. A great AC, Out back are the jump seats that make this he SUV,urban technically, a very decent infotainment system with Bluetooth and iPod a 7-seater. It’s doable, but not comfortable for long journeys. Then April, Datsun’s Redi-GO finally makes its way to Indian roads. connectivity that works flawlessly, a nice two-tone Dash that again, have you seen how many passengers tourist cabs can pack The Redi-GO runs on a three-cylinder i-SAT engine mated looks contemporary and a quiet cabin that belies the intrinsic into a Scorpio these days? The jump seats fold 799 up andccrear seats nature of a three-cylinder Diesel engine. It should sound and feel fold down to liberate a lot of extra cargo room, you need it.manual transmission. It produces 53 hp, 72Nm of to ashould five-speed rough, but it doesn’t. Nothing in the SUV does. Call us picky but this author is not a fan of the TUV’s torque and delivers a fuel efficiency of 25.17 kmpl. The top speed Of particular interest to us in this new 100hp guise of the aesthetic. I’d prefer the front of the NuvoSport with a squat stance is 140 Kmph and the ground clearance is 185mm. The vehicle on TUV, was the suspension. You see, the Mahindra NuvoSport, instead of sharp corners and the face of Bane, Batman’s formidable which we also recently tested, uses the same engine, but has a foe. That said, with a top-end model, you do get at a nice display thefinish, press launch looked solid, with most details standing up problem with considerable body roll. Not so much with the TUV, decent looking alloys and wheels that fill their wells properly. to scrutiny. While it may be built to a cost, it looks good in the flesh which is controlled and feels more secure at highway speeds. It There are even some nice extras like a start-stop system (well, not andextends doesn’t also feels a bit firmer, but that’s a trade-off we’re willing to make: really nice in our traffic), an eco mode that rangebetray while it’s budget category. some more jerks to the spine in exchange of careening off a cliff sacrificing power, and static cornering lamps, Safety which are aisboon courtesy “Datsun PRO-SAFE7” which includes on a sharp bend. Engine performance is also on par with the when turning the wide vehicle in darkness. In fact, we’re confused braking NuvoSport, but after using the TUV’s manual transmission, we about why these features don’t make it toshortest the NuvoSport, whichdistance, high strength body shell to absorb impacts, ended up missing the AMT of the NuvoSport, which somehow gets cruise control as consolation. But thegood TUV doesn’t. Strange. visibility and wider view of the road, high bolster support while managed to keep things feeling sprightly. Still, it’s evident from the quality of thecornering, interior that the TUV absorbing steering and a driver airbag. energy With the benefit of hindsight and experience, we can also is meant to be a bit more upmarket. But it costs between 10 and Five personalized kit options are available: Urban, Style, Kool, say that the current TUV300 feels a bit heavy to steer compared 16,000 rupees LESS than the NuvoSport. Confused? So are we. to peers like the Vitara Brezza and NuvoSport, but retains the On our extended time with the TUV300, urban and Easy Kit - Premium. Colour options available Easywe’ve Kit done - Sporty surprisingly, far better than the NuvoSport practical turning radius we enjoyed previously. It’s squared-off commuting, Mumbai-Pune highway runs, multi-passenger are: White, Silver, Interior Grey,is,Ruby and Lime. The Datsun Redi-GO design (tank-like, according to Mahindra) has the benefit of outings and cargo runs, and we were unable to run the comes with warranty of 2 years/unlimited km andandthe car allowing excellent visibility while squeezing into tight tank dry, so anecdotally, the mHawk100 engine ais also with follow-me-home lamps, parking sensor other bellscan and be spaces, which the TUV can do despite its width. The quite efficient. Highway runs were usually whistles one expects in a India modern App’. vehicle. Mahindra is churning Verdict booked via cruising mobile app called ‘Datsun breadth manifests in internal space as well, with the between 100 and 120, which is where the vehicle out vehicles rapidly based on what are fast turning out to be + Refinement, front passenger having plenty of shoulder space. feels most comfortable. We’re sure the 240Nm is proven platforms. Perhaps at some point they will also consolidate performance, The rear seat is wide enough for three passengers capable of more sprightly performance, but the vehicles to be less confusing. As a parting googly: you can still buy price as well, though we did hear the odd complaint TUV300 weights 2.2 tonnes, so there’s only so the old, less powerful engine with the TUV300, but the new one - Heavy steering much it can do. The rest of it is up-to-date. Dual costs just Rs 8,000 more, so why would you? about jerks being transmitted up into the spine from rear passengers. airbags and ABS are present, as are keyless entry tushar@goldensparrow.com TGS rating ;;;`2
Datsun Redi-GO launched, starting at Rs 2.38 lac
VW launches Ameo compact sedan Sub-4m three-box starts at Rs 5.14 lac
the palm area and a reinforced, soft pad on the knuckle. There’s a rubber screen wiper on each thumb, which worked very well on our rainy rides. Waterproofing is good, with light showers being repelled entirely. The D Tour WP do seem to run a bit large, so you might need to order one size smaller than your typical glove. Recommended. Shima D-Tour WP gloves PRICE: Rs 4800 BUY AT: Kombustion Imports & Exports Pvt Ltd (+91 87938 84215)
is that there’s no inner lining flapping about behind the exterior shell. Those can be infuriating to put on and take off. Shima’s solution is to fuse the waterproof liner with the exterior shell. This makes for a slightly stiff feel, but far more comfortable in the long run. Fasteners are good, with a velcro cinch at the wrist and a larger velcro pad to secure the cuff, which is extra roomy to accommodate your sleeve, should you choose to wear the gloves over them. The velcro Hondapads themselves are CB500X not the typical sort, with the + Refinement, base (hooked) part being Fueling, practicality a - much Bland flatter, smoother material that catches less on TGS rating dri-fit material. Protection ;;;;2 is adequate for this sort of glove, with some leather in
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MIDDLE CHILD Hardcore performance is great for track days. Audi has a more everyday option @tburman
Minimal badging on the sides and at either end
W has finally put a price tag on its sub-4m sedan — the Ameo, and it’s very competitive. Evidently, the company has taken steps to address its reputation in making cars that are costlier to own than the competition. In this case, the Ameo ends up being cheaper than their own Polo hatchback, Currently, the Ameo is availabel only with a petrol engine — the same 1.2l MPI three-cylinder motor we’ve seen before in the Skoda Fabia and VW Polo. A diesel is promised soon. Volkswagen is touting several segment-firsts: rain-sensing wipers, static cornering lamps, cruise control and a centre armrest up front, but the kicker for us is that two airbags and ABS are standard on all variants, which is a big step forward at this price point. Visually, the Ameo looks very similar to its Polo and Vento cousins, with a slightly stubby-looking front and
back. The rear boot is expectedly short, but allows a bit more cargo volume than the Polo hatchback. It’s not the Large plenty prettiest integration of a boot thatboot we’vestores seen, but VW and is easy to access have been understated in their styling of the rear. In a front three-quarter view, the boot does not draw attention to itself, which is probably a good thing. Watch for a detailed review of the made-in-India Ameo next week. Prices:
A
udi’s S line of cars don’t get the recognition they deserve. Sitting in between the standard models and the totally performance-oriented RS cars, they sit as the middle child, often overlooked. We have, on occasion, driven the RS5, RS7, even the R8 and come away impressed by the raw power they pack into seemingly standard body styles. But let’s face it: a wolf in sheep’s clothing isn’t likely to make you a nice wool coat. It’d rather eat the coat with you in it. Not so much the car on this page: the S5, which is what Audi calls a “sportback”, basically a sedan with a hatchback rear and more rakish roofline. In terms of size, it sits somewhere between an A4 and an A6 but ends up feeling surprisingly compact. Even in terms of performance potential, you could consider the S5 the middle child. There are sportscars in the lineup that make less power. Why then did Audi feel the need to paint the media car in this lurid yellow, we have no idea. It’s a unique shade for sure, akin to pure printer’s ink
R is equipped with Brembo monobloc callipers, Showa big piston forks, Öhlins rear suspension and Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa Tyres. The Thruxton R is priced at Rs 10.90 lac ex-showroom, Delhi. That’s a lot of bike for the money, and should appeal to a wide swath of motorcyclists with it’s “modern classic” vibe. This rounds out the new Bonneville platform with the Speed Twin, Bonneville T120 and Thruxton R coming in at attractive prices and all immediately available. Triumph continues to push aggressively forward in terms of models and marketing. There are more than a few lessons for some other manufacturers to learn.
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MERCEDES-BENZ GLC LAUNCHED AT RS 50.7 LAC JUNE 18, 2016 PUNE
JUNE 4, 2016 PUNE
expanse of nice, flat luggage area and very easy to access thanks to the hatch opening. It’s a bit like THRILL the Skoda Octavias of old -- looking like sedansOF DRIVING with hatches hiding huge boots. On the go, the S5 is a refined experience. The 7-speed dual-clutch transmission is quick and smooth, and shifts gears with digital efficiency. Press the throttle with aggression and the gearbox quickly shifts down, releasing a nice V6 roar from the quad pipes out back. It’s a chatty car in that it likes to make nice growly noises when provoked, but never overpowers. The sound is enough for feedback and kicks, but does not cause discomfort. High-rev gearshifts release a nice crackle from the exhaust. Paddle shifters are present for those times when you think you know better than the car’s electronics. Driving modes can be chosen Dash is usual Audi fare. Dark two-tone upholstery between comfort, dynamic, efficiency or tailored and carbon trim look sporty to your individual tastes. Ride quality is where the generally luxurious experience breaks, with than anything else and it drew attention wherever the large wheels and relatively low profile tyres it went. Though, we suspect, it would pass under transmitting road imperfections to the passenger. the radar in a more sedate paint job. Few, if any Setting the car in ‘Comfort’ mode didn’t do much external features stand out. You have a typical in this regard. Audi front grille, headlamps and design language On our favourite, winding hill road, the S5 tweaked slightly to accommodate the curvaceous shone with its Quattro permanent all-wheel rear hatch. The red ‘S’ badges are also discreet on drive system. There’s always more grip than you the front and the back. need, and it works well with the performance of Step inside and the treatment is typical Audi. the motor. The specifications will surprise you if “Butat mom! my friends have SUVs with lower and the GL-class). Mercedes provides two If you’ve been in a recent A-type sedan, everything you drive the car before looking theAllbrochure: coefficients!”. IsV6! this a common refrain in engine options: the diesel GLC 220 d outputs is familiar. There’s the MMI screen, central console 329hp and 440Nm from thedrag supercharged your household? Tired of doing the school run 170hp and 400Nm of torque while the petrol and ergonomics as expected, but with a small, We’ve driven much angrier-feeling carsright angles? Mercedes GLC 300 outputs 245hp and 370Nm of torque. in an SUV that has only beendelivers listening tothis you and your burgeoning Officially, Mercedes has launched the fiddly jog dial. The steering wheel also with less power. Thhas e S5 ilk and is readyDespite to address this sticky problem. GLC ‘Edition 1’, which is their traditional was doesn’t have explicitly labelled phone capability with little drama. Verdict One is no longer stuck with the BMW X6 as of saying ‘first batch’. As they’ve done before, controls, which is something that being 4.7 metresthelong, the that S5 slices feelsthrough the air rather the Edition 1 cars come into the country as only SUV + Refinement, bashes itfootprint into submission. CBUs (fully imported). This is Mercedes’ sixth will confuse those coming from a small compact with than performance, The Mercedes-Benz other car brands. Upholstery is in is good andGLC class of vehicles luxury SUV in the country, making their lineup width-wise. Visibility was launched on 2 June, conveniently slotting the most comprehensive among the luxury car unique black and dark brown and there the flat-bottomed feels into thesteering sliver of space left between the GLEpurveyors. - It’s just “nice” class and GLS-class (previously, the ML-class Expectedly, equipment levels are high. is much leather on display. There nice to till around good surfaces. are some lacquered carbon fibre The ORVMs could have done a TGS rating trim pieces along the door and other better job showing the sides and rear ;;;`2 surfaces as well, though we’re not sure if of the vehicle, but that could be down it’s the real thing. The seats are comfortable to personal preference. and supportive one-piece units for the front, lending The Audi S5 has plenty ofIn performance a surprise move, Mahindra launched vehicle from 0-80% charge in 1 hour and an all-electric feeling version of its Verito sedan, 45 minutes, is reserved only for the top (D6) a sporty look without being uncompromisingly potential, but keeps everything the eVerito, on 2 June. Mahindra variant. Fast charging needs to be done an odd, middle hardcore like the near-race seats you’d find in a comfortable and luxurious. It isdubbed claims that the sedan can go 110km on a at one of Mahindra’s designated charging child and we imagine it will have takers than sports car. fullless charge. The manufacturer is claiming stations, while a standard full charge takes costsbecause as low as Rs 1.15/km. 8 hours and 45 minutes using a 15-amp sedans Rear legroom is good for a person of my size more overt sportscars or luxuryrunning e eVerito also phones home home plug. Other features include opportunity (5’9”) but then, few grown men are actually my of the niche it occupies. That’sThan with a variety of information regenerative braking and a Claims a diff erent. size, so we’d suggest a seating capacity of four for for the buyer who wants something (Telematics). Fleet sales seem feature called REVIVE, which range of to becomes a likely target, especially is basically an 8km power in this maximum comfort. At least one passenger we rode Certainly no other car we’ve seen considering the aging Verito/ reserve for emergencies. You 110km on a ex-showroom, with commented on how his i20 felt more spacious shade. At just north of Rs 69 lac Logan platform. The eVerito don’t get airbags in any variant. full charge can buy more in key in the back. Again, apart from the “sport” theatre, the price will give you pause. You is available immediately Performance is about New Delhi, adequate for city use, which is more overt sports Mumbai, there is little else to talk about. Open the hatch spacious luxury cars for less, or cities: Bangalore, Kolkata, where Mahindra is pitching the again. Pune, and it’s another world. Literally! Audi claims 480 cars for as much. Stuck in the middle Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and eVerito. Top speed is claimed at 86kmph tushar@goldensparrow.com litres of cargo space, and we believe them. It’s a vast Nagpur. and the 110km range is dependent on load.
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Marks the sixth luxury SUV that Mercedes sells in India
AMEO=POLO PLUS By Tushar Burman
bottomed steering wheel which feels nice to manipulate. If we were to nitpick, we’d say that the touchack in 2009, when Volkswagen introduced screen infotainment system is a bit smaller than the Polo in India, it was a breath of fresh on the hatch, but it serves the purpose perfectly air. At the time, the go-to car for the well and doesn’t end-up looking aftermarket like segment was the Maruti-Suzuki Swift, and some recent cars we’ve driven. You get steeringwhile the Fabia did exist to represent a European mounted controls, cruise control and a cooled contender, it was deemed too odd and expensive glove box for beverages on hot days. A centre for what it offered. Volkswagen was reeling from armrest is available for the driver which is a slim problems with the Skoda brand’s service and unit much like in the Vento. You don’t get rear cost complaints and didn’t want to repeat the AC vents behind it, however. same mistakes with VW. Fast-forward to 2016 Rear seat accommodations are quite and anecdotally, VW cars are still considered comfortable, and the extra knee room over the expensive to run (they’re not; this author owns a Polo hatch is apparent. Headroom at the rear is petrol Polo). VW has taken specific note of this at a premium, much like the Polo hatch, so those sentiment with the Ameo compact sedan, and with long torsos (or generous behinds) may hit has launched it for a very competitive price, even their heads on the roof. slightly undercutting the Polo hatchback! If you’ve read so far and are wondering where How they’ve achieved this was not the masala begins, well, it doesn’t. The Ameo immediately apparent to us on our long-ish test is striking in its anonymity. Even viewed from drive. The car is fundamentally the same inside the front 3/4 angle, one can barely discern the and out, save for the added boot. We drove the boot sticking slightly out of the rear. It’s a tiny Eighteen-inch alloys areHighline standard. Mercedes sunroof, lighting switchable petrol variant (the diesel motor will ambient extension of the body, to bewith sure, since the idea during Diwali) and fit, finish and quality and is to fit a sedan within fourbehind metres tothe qualify will provide an optionalcome off-road engineering colours levels, cargo bars rear to be on par with the hatch. Plastics for lower taxes. We’ve always liked the practical package that raises the appeared ride height by 20mm seat that liberate another 30 litres of luggage are just as pleasing to the touch, with no hollow, depth of the Polo boot, and this remains useful in and offers three additional ride modes: - find.space what an up EASYplasticky-feeling spots we off could The two-and the Ameo. Mercedes Only now, the calls volume goes from dashdrive and beige interior remain,PACK and make tailgate. 294 litres inDO the hatch to 330 in the sedan. It’s a road, incline and slippery.tone Five modes are WE HAVE YOUR the cabin feel airy. Bonus points for the flatminor bump, but it’s there. @tburman
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standard in the GLC: Comfort, Eco, Sport, ATTENTION YET? Sport+ and Individual. Hill descent control Safety is typical Mercedes fare: ABS, ESP, is standard as well. We also see the use of Crosswind-assist, PRE-SAFE, Attention Verdict Mercedes’ new 9G-TRONIC nine-speed + Safety,auto price Assist, Active Parking Assist, 7 airbags, LED transmission. headlamps and adaptive tail lamps. - Marginal enginethe Slotting in below their range-topper, All this could be yours at Rs 50.7 lac for the rating diesel GLC 220 d, and Rs 50.9 lac for the GLC GLC understandably gets plentyTGS of comfort ;;;22 and convenience features. There’s a panoramic 300 petrol, ex-showroom, Pune.
It’s finally here: the Polo with a boot
The exterior of the boot itself is reasonably well integrated, and not as much of a tack-on like you’d find on the Swift Dzire. Not as good as the Ford Figo Aspire, but not bad. The tail lamps are simple and don’t draw attention to themselves. Styling seems to be borrowed from the Skoda design language, with a crease running across the otherwise slab-like boot lid. Everything seems to be designed to be anonymous. VW have had to adjust the front and rear overhangs accordingly, and the car ends up looking a bit stubbier than the hatch. The Ameo at present is only available in a petrol variant, utilising the venerable 1.2l MPI three-cylinder motor that does duty in the hatch. It generates 75PS and 110Nm of torque, which felt inadequate six years ago, and continues to be. It’s a flexible engine, to be sure, with useful low-end grunt that allows you to have a load of passengers and navigate inclines with grace rather than amateurish slipping of the clutch. However, there’s no getting around the rough sound of the three-cylinder and this author continues to field the same questions he’s had to with his own car: “is this a diesel?”. Once at highway speeds, it’s okay, but overtakes take effort. You do get cruise control, however, so that sort of balances things out a bit. The stiff suspension makes the car fun
Engine and interior mimic the Polo hatch
to drive, but is hard on all passengers. We really wish VW would do something about this. Perhaps the most important thing about the VW Ameo is the fact that it comes in at such a competitive price, and that it does so with two airbags and ABS as standard across variants. There are some segment-firsts such as rainsensing wipers, cruise control and auto up/down power windows with anti-pinch all-round, but that’s about it. The Ameo is a competent car at a competitive price about in the middle of the pack. You can get more features for more money with a Hyundai, but you get the secure, Teutonic feel of a well-built car with the VW. The petrol engine is a mixed bag, and we suspect many will wait for the diesel this Diwali. tushar@goldensparrow.com Watch a video overview here:
Mahindra launches all-electric eVerito
Triumph Bonneville Thruxton R launched for Rs 10.90 lac
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while remaining lightweight. Features are basic but thoughtful. There’s a water-resistant pocket within the shell at chest level for your phone, and a felt pocket above the waist for your glasses. Unfortunately, this pocket is unusable when the rain liner is in place. Zippers are of high quality as is the neck fastener, which uses velcro and has a soft pad where your neck meets the textile. The jacket comes with CEapproved armour in the shoulders, elbows, and along the back. Fit appears to be European, which will work well for slimmer riders. fast There are button fasteners on the sleeves to get a more snug fit, and velcro on the cuffs and waist. The RST mesh jacket will be available in this black/red combo, or the inverse: red/black. RST mesh jacket Price: Rs 9500 Buy at: Bay City Speed Shop (baycityspeedshop@gmail.com)
TGS LIFE
JULY 30, 2016
By Tushar Burman
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RST MESH JACKET
RST is a British manufacturer of motorcycle apparel that has recently become available in India. The distributor pegs them as a mid-tier brand, but we were impressed with the thought behind this jacket and its features. This is a basic textile/mesh jacket with a supplied, removable rain liner. Some background: it’s very hard to stay entirely dry in motorcycle gear unless you use an impermeable rain jacket over your kit or invest in much more expensive stuff. Rain liners are nice to have, but rarely foolproof. Thankfully, this RST jacket comes with a liner that zips into the shell using a long U-shaped zipper. Sleeves are held in place with small elasticated loops holding onto buttons on the liner. It’s a snug fit and doesn’t move around much. This design allows the jacket to be quite resistant to rain in light to medium rain,
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wo months after the release of the Bonneville T120, Triumph has rolled out Thruxton R in the Indian market. The 1200cc Thrurxton R runs on a high power, 8-valve, parallel twin engine generating just over 95hp and 112Nm of torque. This is a higher output version of the mill that powers the T120. The Thruxton R carries feature like ABS, ride-by-wire, traction control, torque assist clutch, LED DRL, LED rear light, an engine immobilizer and a USB charging socket. The bike also has riding modes to choose from: road, rain and sport. The equipment list continues; the Thruxton
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Riding your motorcycle in the monsoon is a necessity for many, but it also brings out the adventurers. You’ve almost certainly got that Facebook friend who takes his bike to impossibly wet and dirty locations just because she can. If you’d like to follow suit but prefer to stay a bit drier, we have some kit you might want to consider
MOTORCYCLING THROUGH THAILAND niceties of the rest of Thailand. Think perfect 4G If you’re a motorcycling enthusiast, or have connectivity, AirBNB and the most incredible become one in the recent past, you’ve probably gourmet burger I’ve ever eaten on the street. The known or heard of someone who’s ridden a bike Pai river itself is popular for white water rafting around our ASEAN neighbour. In fact, there at various skill levels, and you can even take a is now a land route from North-East India slow boat to Laos, which takes two days and through Myanmar into Thailand. Heck, you costs just 1750 baht, or about 3500 rupees. In can go all the way to Singapore before you hit fact, our overnight stay and jaunt in the night the inevitable shore. There are many reasons to market ended up costing less than Rs 2000 for this, not least of which is the incredible road the two ofconverter us. Try getting that deal in Panchgani automatic. It’s a traditional torque you won’t be banging and down network. You’re very unlikely toso see a badly anyupnight of thetheyear. gearbox like a dual-clutch unit, but it’s okay. In potholed section of tar. In termsterms of distances, And that, in essence, is a microcosm of the of speed, it’s somewhere in the middle the country is about 1600km longofand 1000km experience you’re likely to have on any a economy automatictype and aofperformancedual-clutch. It can be sluggish, we across, so there’s plenty to explore.tuned Of particular road trip in but Thailand — it’s cheap to the point think it matches the character of the engine. note car” is the Mae Hong a long circuit sure, we’ve driven slower. Paddle shifters What else do you call a vehicle that the term “pony was coined for?Son loop --For
By Tushar Burman
MONSOON
So close yet so far. Perfect reasons to take off for a motorcycle trip
by a Gujarati. He has a huge fan following! Having been (and motorcycled across) the country twice, I almost tend to take it personally when people refer to the country and its sex trade, as if the nation is one giant red light district. It isn’t, and you should definitely avoid visiting it with someone who holds that belief. This author travelled the length of the country with his spouse, feeling perfectly secure despite being a nervous traveller. It truly is a place where you can hit the road without any specific plan and come off the bike feeling like you’ve explored and seen something new.
@tburman
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till buzzing from what must have been thousands of curves across just over a hundred kilometres of road, it occurred to us that perhaps we should take a break and refuel our bodies, since the Honda CB500X we were riding showed no signs of using any significant quantity of gasoline. We were at Pai canyon, a small lookout point for tourists along the highway with four food and one coffee stall. My spouse enjoys the occasional coffee, so she requested one. The beans were promptly ground in front of us, mixed with condensed milk, ice and water, and served in a convenient plastic container. All this while, I bit down on a prepackaged Tuna sandwich knowing full well that the nearest fresh tuna was at least 1200km away. Both the sandwich and coffee were fresh and delicious. If this was roughing it on a road trip, it’s exactly my style.
black rubber piece. We think it goes rather well on our “modern classic” Ducati Scrambler. Grip is excellent, whether seated or standing, and it doesn’t rip up your pants or cause discomfort. Also useful is the fact that the adhesive allows you to remove and reposition the pads a number of times before losing efficacy. It also comes off without leaving residue. Grippy tank pads are one of the cheapest mods you can do to you bike to allow you to ride safer and more confidently. It certainly helps in the rains to make sure you stay on the bike. The Techspec pads are available for most popular bikes, or you can buy them in self-adhesive panels and cut them to suit your vehicle. Techspec ‘snakeskin’ tank pads PRICE: Rs 4000 - Rs 7500 depending on application BUY AT: Bay City Speed Shop (baycityspeedshop@gmail.com)
VISHAL KALE
The Supreme Cour d rec ve on ce ebra ng Dah Hand r ua dur ng anmash am has no dampened he sp r o Gov nda groups or pa haks n Pune The Apex Cour has barred youngs ers be ow 18 years o age rom par c pa ng n he Dah Hand r ua and has res r c ed he he gh o he human pyram ds o 20 ee a m fixed by he Bombay H gh Cour Dah Hand Manda s n Pune make e abora e p ans o ho d Dah Hand one o he ma or a rac ons o Kr shna anmash am w h gus o and grandeur across he c y Each manda has s own eam o you h who orm floa ng pyram ds ha are cheered and encouraged by v ewers and oca suppor ers One o he ma n ea ures o h s es v y s he presence o ce ebr es ha no on y doub es he
en er a nmen quo en bu a so adds he much needed s ar va ue o he show Th s year a so many o he c y s Dah Manda s nv ed d gn ar es w h he excep on o Akh T ak Road Dah Hand Manda “You can see banners a around he c y s ree s d sp ay ng mages o ce ebr es nv ed as gues s o a end Dah Hand even organ sed by var ous groups and manda s We s opped h s prac ce hree years ago a er rea s ng ha he huge amoun spen on hese persona es who mos y grace he occas on or on y a ew m nu es cou d be used or a soc a cause Now we con r bu e Rs wo akh owards prov d ng educa ona ass s ance o 40 br gh and needy s uden s o s andard I o s andard X and be ong ng o c y schoo s I am happy o see ha o her manda s are a so o ow ng our examp e ” sa d Kedar Mankar pres den o he manda and he bra nch d beh nd he n a ve The 80-member Akh T ak Road Dah Hand Manda nv es gov nda roupe rom Mumba and announces a rac ve pr ze money “I s a memorab e even when on ookers cheer and dho asha groups prov de background score as gov ndas orm mu - er human pyram ds o break he proverb a ma k fi ed w h
VISHAL KALE
Akhil Tilak Road Dahihandi Mandal has done away with inviting celebrities and instead provides educational materials to needy students
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Legroom is decent at the back. Headroom is a bit tight for taller passengers.
The eVerito will be available in three variants with marginal differences between them. Unusually, fast-charging ability, which Mahindra claims can charge the
Prices start at Rs 9.5 lac ex-showroom, Delhi, for the D2 variant after state and FAME subsidies. The D4 and D6 variants cost Rs 9.75 and 10 lac respectively.
VISHAL KALE
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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
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Waiting hours for 15 minutes of togetherness
isitation is the basic right of every prisoner, and they should make the most out of it, believes UT Pawar, Superintendent, Yerwada Jail. Pawar says that jail is like an ashram, and visitations by their family members has a positive effect on the jail inmates. Managing 300 visitors each day is routine for him. But every day there are visitors who have come to meet the convicts or under-trials for the first time. Watching over them is an emotional experience for Pawar. “Visitation makes a person strong, gives them a reason to live,” said the
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@TGSWeekly
he street outside the Yerwada Central Jail is congested with the vehicles of people commuting to their offices, early morning. Adding to the congestion and chaos are the crowds of people lined up on the side of the street, some of whom also stray on to the street, amidst the passing vehicles. These are the people, who are the families and relatives of the prisoners lodged in Yerwada prison. They are wait patiently outside the gates of the prison, for them to open, so that they can meet their fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles or other kin. All they get is 15 minutes to spend with their incarcerated kin, twice a week. They have to wait just a couple of hours before their number comes up, if they are lucky. Most of them have a far more harrowing ordeal, as their waits begin the night before, as they queue up at the registrations office, where permits are granted for their visits with their imprisoned family members. They come from all over. There’s an elderly
couple from Pimple Saudagar, waiting to meet their son, who is serving a sentence after committing a murder in a drunken stupour. They know that he is guilty of the crime, but they have not abandoned him, and visit him every month. “I can’t just abandon my son, so what if he has committed such a heinous crime,” said the woman. Her husband does not feel as kindly towards his offspring. “I don’t care about him any more, but I care for my wife and accompany her here on every visit,” he said. Another senior citizen from Kolhapur, is here to meet his imprisoned grandson. “Even when I know that he has done wrong, we are still obliged to stand by him as his family.” It is not easy to accept the guilt and criminal status of a family member. One of the women waiting at the gates of the prison has come to meet her younger brother, without letting her mother know that she is doing so. “I am not as strong as my mother. I still care for my brother, and worry about him. After all he is my younger brother,” she says, her eyes brimming with tears. For some, it means hard times, when the bread-winner of the family has been locked up. “My husband’s friend duped him and then
Each day is an e Superintendent. “Time stops when we witness an emotional meeting between the visitor and convicts or under-trails. I have been serving in this field for more than 18 years, but to see them for the first time bring tears,” he said. Pawar and his team make sure that harmony is maintained during visitation. When high on emotions, things could take a turn for the worse. But as Pawar puts it, since he has taken over as superintendent of Yerwada Jail last year, everything has been smooth.
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sha Bhosale, 40, did not have a clue that her son, Pradeep, 19, had been in prison for more than five months. She has arrived at Yerwada jail after a bus ride from Mumbai this morning, to meet him, accompanied by her 80-year-old mother, Lakshmi Pawar. “I have no idea how my grandson is. I just want to see him and then I will be at ease. He is a nice kid and he always took care of me. I was sceptical about letting him go to Pune. But it was his wish to come here, so we let him go,” Lakshmi said. Pradeep left Mumbai to settle down in Pune in 2015. He did odd jobs and even sent money to his mother. “He occasionally called from Pune, and assured me that he was fine. He never said what job he was doing, but I was sure he wouldn’t do anything wrong. I am clueless of what he has been accused of. All I heard was that he was under arrest for killing someone. Why would he kill someone?” said Asha, as she wiped her tears. She has been looking after the family upkeep as her husband has refused to support them. She works as a housemaid. “My husband does not have a job. So I have taken up another job to support the family.” Asha is not educated and does not understand the law or what to do to help her son. “I don’t understand how to go about it. I don’t know where to find a lawyer,” she said, wondering when if ever her son will be set free. Asha has to handle the situation, and also manage to make ends meet. She also has to look after her mot her, who has health issues, a n d makes a great fuss about food, ever since Pradeep has been in jail. “I hope that she feels better after seeing Pradeep today, and it will give her
lodged a false complaint against him. I have sold all my jewellery and now I do not even have money to feed my children, or pay the lawyer,” said a woman waiting to meet her husband. She has come from Khandala, and spent the night under a tree outside the jail. But beyond the seemingly endless ordeal of waiting and hardship, the place also has somewhat of a carnival atmosphere. It is a special occasion, to be able to meet one’s estranged family member. The women turn out in their brightest and newest outfits, and remind their children to be on their best behaviour, as they wait to see their dads. The grown-ups have to keep up a happy façade, hard though it may be, as there is no time now to indulge in grief. And as the moment they have waited for draws near, their excitement and anticipation is tangible, making the moment a special one, even in these most difficult of circumstances. TGS spoke to some of these people, whose anxiety and longing to meet their incarcerated kin is almost palpable, to gauge the extent of their ordeal, and what they do to cope with the situation. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
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some peace of mind,” she said. “I am certain that my son is innocent, and I am sure that he will be set free and cleared of all the charges. I will fight till the end to prove that he’s innocent,” she added with a smile.
She can’t fathom how she was unaware about her son’s imprisonment for five months
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PICS: TEJAS GAIKWAD
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‘This visit is precious as th
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enuka, 19, is sitting on the floor in the courtyard at Yerwada jail, and she is carrying her one-and-a-half-year old son Ranveer in a sling. Renuka has come to Yerwada with her mother and son, to meet her uncles and husband, who have been behind bars for the past two years. This is her second visit in two years. “They are all inside and I don’t think they will ever come out,” she says. Renuka and her mother Shanti have spent more than half a day travelling her from Baramati. “My in-laws attacked my family and my husband stood up against them. In the ensuing fight, two men died. Since my in-laws were more in number, they lodged a police complaint against their own son, and two of my uncles. The police arrested
STATISTICS
Patience is necessary for these families as they wait outside the Yerwada prison gates, as the jail authorities announce the prisoners’ numbers for visitations
“Some see his what t spread to find visitat been a appoin a little them,” H mind to visi
‘I’m certain of my son’s innocence, and I will fight till the end’
When a person convicted of a crime is put behind bars, it puts his family members through an intense ordeal and trauma. Besides the societal stigma, financial hardships and other fallouts of the incarceration, the inordinately extended waits that the prisoners’ families have to endure outside the prison gates, for the brief 15-minute visitations, seem like an added burden for the already intensely anguished folks
BY EKTA KATTI AND GARGI VERMA
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Number of female prisoners : 226 Number of male prisoners : 4,500 Visitation for convicts : Two days/week (15-20 minutes) Visitation for under-trials : Monday-Saturday (15-20 minutes) Visitation time : 8 am – 6 pm Visitors per day : Approximately 300 Officers present during visitation : One officer, six constables and two havaldars Calling privileges : Only for convicts, twice a month for five minutes
them fo prison t eyes. Sh Her member used to b she mov mother husband told us. money t hope tha is precio see him son,” she
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
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emotional roller-coaster
etimes, a prisoner doesn’t wish to s relative. We do not know then to tell their relatives. The jail is d over 40 acres. It’s quite a task d the prisoner and get him to the tion hall. Fortunately, there hasn’t any untoward incident since I was nted Superintendent. If things get e out of control, all we do is warn ” said Pawar. He understands the state of the of the visitors when they come it their relatives for the first
time. All the visitors have to do is establish their blood relation with the prison and wait for their number to be called. “Each day, there are people coming in from Kolhapur, Mumbai, Satara, Khed and various cities across the state. We give them the benefit of doubt and have made the process of visitation quite simple for them,” he said. Over 18 years, as a jail officer, Pawar has been through many events that have made him stronger. But
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My wife hasn’t left the house nce Ashwini was jailed’
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U T Pawar, Superintendent, Yerwada Prison
‘The children have questions but I have not told them the truth’
wini’s father and brother have still not come to terms with her imprisonment
shwini Botre, 19, has had her life turned upside down in just three months. A native of urunagar, Khed, Ashwini dreamt ings just like any other girl, a nt house, and a happily married Ashwini was married to Ajit, 25, neighbouring village, last year. e did she know that she would in jail, accused of killing her own and-a-half month old son. Ashwini’s father Dattatreya adukar, 40, has driven 45 km from urunagar, to visit his daughter at wada jail for the second time in a th, and there is a visible sparkle is eyes, as he waits to see her. y would my daughter kill her son?” asks Mahadukar. “Her inhave plotted this against her. Ajit decent person. He has been quite ortive. The in-laws had some land ute going on. My grandson died of dice, my daughter did not kill him. s innocent,” he said. He says that Ashwini was falsely sed of killing her own son in 2016. Since then the Mahadukar ly has been through a nightmare. adukar owns 20 acres of land hed, but since his daughter has in jail, he hasn’t had the will or nation to work on his farmland. ney now means nothing to me. I
one incident during his tenure at the Thane Central Jail remains etched in his heart. Talking about it, he said, “As the person wasn’t able to provide maintenance to his wife after separation, he was arrested on several occasions. During his second arrest he was in jail for more than three months. He had lost all hope and faith in humanity. His parents were old and could not travel from Jalgaon to visit him. He was all alone. It was us officials who provided him the muchneeded mental strength. Watching him evolve over the months was tenuous,” he recounted.
have no motive to go to our farm and work,” he said. Ashwini’s mother is yet to come to terms with her daughter’s incarceration. “My wife hasn’t left our house ever since Ashwini has been imprisoned. She is mortally scared of what people might say. She just sits quietly in one corner of the house. We are warkaris, we hadn’t even set foot in a police station before this, let alone the jail. It has a big shock for all of us, and it has disrupted our family life,” Mahadukar said. The Mahadukar family are, of course, living each day in the hope that Ashwini will be set free. They are clueless as to how the law works, and are desperately searching for a good lawyer. “We still haven’t appointed a lawyer, because we have no idea how to go about it. All we can do is pray for her as her condition is very bad. Ashwini had a Caesarian and the stitches hadn’t healed. We have no clue how she is surviving inside,” said Eknath, Ashwini’s uncle. They all miss Ashwini’s presence, they remember the kind of food she used to cook. “She was a good student and completed her standard X. She is also an amazing cook. Just talking about her masodi, a dish made from split chickpeas, makes my mouth water. It’s her specialty,” Mahadukar said.
egha Dhankale, 20, has travelled to Pune from Alegaon, hoping to see her imprisoned husband. She has been waiting for a long time for her number to be called out. And when a woman tells her that her number has been called out, she rushes to the gates of the prison, to be let inside. She says that her husband, Amol, 30, was falsely accused of killing an elderly woman in Alegaon, 31 km south of Shirur, in March. “The police arrested my husband five months ago, and he has been in jail since then. I haven’t seen him since the incident. My mother-in-law visited him a couple of days ago, and she told me that he was miserable inside the jail. Today, they are letting me meet him, but it will be for just 15 minutes. But I am glad that I will be finally able to see him,” smiled Megha. Megha has been married to Amol for nine years, and now that he is in jail, she is having a difficult time carrying on living without him by her side. “I am sure that he is innocent. He was able to provide for us though we are poor and lived on the streets,” she said. They do have a broken down hut in Alegaon to live in. The couple have two children, Pratyusha, 4, and Vishal, 2, who have no idea where their father has been for months. Megha keeps dodging their questions, and at times she has to resort to telling lies, and say that he has gone away for work. “I don’t what else to tell them. I still haven’t told them the truth. They keep asking me about their father, but at times, the best I can do is tell them blatant lies,” she said. “I have gone beyond the stage of missing my husband. I have no idea when, if ever he will be released from jail. My first priority as a mother is now to look after my young children. I want to work to earn some money to feed them, but I have not been able to find a job all this while. All that is left for me to do is beg for food or money, for my children and for myself. But these conditions have made me stronger and I am determined to not lose hope, and do all I can for our children while I wait for my husband’s release. Hopefully he will he out soon,” said Megha.
Megha has to be strong to look her young ones, even as she worries for her husband
hese are the few minutes I get to see him’
or murder, and they were sent to Yerwada two years ago,” she says, with tears in her he was just 17 then, married and pregnant. r husband Raju was the only earning r in her family, selling balloons, and she beg on the streets. After his imprisonment, ved back to her maternal home, where her and sisters were all beggars. “To get my d out of jail, we need lawyers, the policemen We have nothing to eat. Where will I get to pay for a lawyer?” she asks. She has no at her husband will ever be free. “This visit ous as these are the few minutes I get to m. This is the first time he will be seeing his e says with a smile. Ranveer was too young
to travel last year to meet his dad. As precious as the 15-minute visit is for Renuka, for her mother, it is a tiresome affair. She refuses to talk to us. She keeps bickering with the guards to let them stay longer. She is here to meet not only her son-in-law, but also her brothers. Renuka and Shanti are waiting for their number to be called out, when they will be able to meet their men behind bars. Then it will be another year before they meet again. “He will be sad if he sees me crying, so I do my crying outside. I can’t say that life would be different if he was out of jail. We would still be living on the streets with no money, but I would have been happier,” she says, as the guard calls out her number.
For these children living inside the jail, Anganwadi is their entire world
Their world is within the walls of the prison
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ight next to the women’s ward at Yerwada Prison, there is a small one room hutment that remains locked most of the time, except for three hours on weekdays from 09:00 am to noon. This small place serves as the window to the world for the ten children who are living with their mothers inside the jail. While four of them were born inside the jail, the other six were brought in when they were hardly a year old, in many cases, even less. These children, the oldest of whom is not even five yet, live in the jail and know nothing about the outside world. “They don’t even understand the difference between inside and outside,” explains their teacher, who handles the Anganwadi where these kids are brought daily for three hours to learn language, math and basic general knowledge. However, in order to provide them a happy growing environment, the teacher spends a lot of her time in teaching them songs, poems and rhymes along with games, drawing and colouring. Their eyes light up at the sight of visitors and they trip over themselves to show us their latest skill, which is to recite an English poem without any prompting. “They grow up in such a depressing environment inside the jail; it really makes us feel that we need to provide for them the basic things that most children get by default,” said one of the teachers at the Anganwadi. For most of these children, their world is within the prison walls. “Once, when one of our inmates was getting released, her threeyear-old son walked up to me and said, “Madam, we are going home tomorrow.” His stress on the ‘we’ made me think that just by association with his mother, the
system has made him a criminal too,” said the officer on duty at the female prison. For some of these children, both their parents are inside the prison, so they don’t even have relatives visiting them. “Generally, we send the wives and children of the male inmates once a month to the men’s ward. That day, generally, is almost like a celebration for the entire family,” the officer explained. For the kids with their fathers outside it is no better. “Mostly, the fathers have given up on them and they never show up. Many come only once a year. So, the children don’t recognise them,” she said. Since their world view is limited by the prison walls, their aims and ambitions are limited too. One of the kids, Sneha, wants to become Aashatai when she grows up. “Aasha is our matron, she takes care of the children inside, when their mothers go for hearing or are not around,” explained the teacher. Another child, Ayaan, who has recently learnt to pronounce his entire name, wants to become ‘Madam’ when he grows up. He means a teacher, but has never seen a male teacher and thus believes ‘madam’ to be the only teacher. Many others don’t understand the context of growing up and moving out of the prison. “Inside, all their needs are taken care of. They are fed properly, given new clothes and are taken care of. However, many of these children when they leave along with their mothers can’t fare well outside as their mothers don’t earn enough to look after them. Thus, watching them walk out these gates is a bittersweet feeling,” said the officer incharge. Their lives, however, will always be tainted, simply because they spent their childhood in an area where most adults never want to set foot.
Renuka’s mother looks for a spare scarf as their number is announced
The Anganwadi has decorations made by the authorities; a small effort to lighten the children’s environment
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
TECH/START-UP
PUNE
‘Defamation is not to throttle democracy’
‘‘The average person receives around 30 emails a day, 3 of these being spam.” http://www.shoutmeloud.com/
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‘My phone proves who I am!’ With phones now sporting finger print and iris scanners, you can soon do Aadhaar authentication from your home BY ANAND PARTHASARATHY With Aadhaar enrolments crossing 1 billion, every seventh human being now holds an Aadhaar identity. The Indian system is poised to be the de facto citizen ID for a host of payments—cooking gas subsidies, pensions, MNREGA & JanDhan Yojana payments. But the Achilles Heel of the system is the woeful support infrastructure: public facilities equipped with authentication systems— essentially iris eye scanners and finger print scanners —are spread too thinly. Getting an Aadhaar card is easy. The challenge is to establish you are who you say you are, when you need to—and this just won’t happen at the present snail’s pace at which authentification stations are coming up. What if every one with an Aadhaar number could identify themselves from the comfort of their home? How? With one’s mobile phone! The ability to identify oneself from one’s own phone will be the killer app of the near future—and the technology for this is largely available. When the Chinese TV and smart phone maker TCL re-entered the India market last month, it chose as its first offering, a handset—TCL 560—which offered a new way to unlock the device: Eye
Verify. Pre-record a scan of iris—and then ‘look’ into the selfie camera every time you want to open the phone... a fool proof way to prevent others from doing so. At a media event in Beijing, Gionee previewed its flagship phone, the M6, with some of the tightest security features to appear on any handset. The M6, to be available in India at Diwali, comes with a front finger-print scanner and enhanced malware prevention.
Improve your selfie with flash BY V SUDHAKSHINA Chinese mobile brand Oppo has been around in the Indian market for some time now with its camera specific smart phones. Recently the company unveiled the F1s from its ‘Selfie Expert’ series, but this time the device isn’t just about selfies, there are a few other interesting specs to it. We got a chance to try out the Oppo F1s and here’s our take: Being a selfie-special, device the F1s’ highlight is its front camera, which is a good 16 megapixel. It comes with few tools and editing features like the Beautify 4.0 technology that comes with upgraded photoprocessing algorithms and seven beautify levels with two skins tone modes. There’s also the Panorama mode (similar to F1 Plus) with 120 degree wide angle that can fit your entire gang or maybe a picturesque background in your selfie. But the best feature i s the front screen flash, which now comes with an auto mode that autom at ic a l l y detects the surrounding light to brighten your selfies accordingly. Apart from few up gradations here and there, we felt that most of the camera features were almost similar to the other models from the Selfie Expert range. The13 megapixels rear camera comes with f/2.2 aperture, 1/3.06 inch sensor and
Oppo F1s with higher resolution front camera and upgraded features
LED flash. The F1s sports a stylish and slim design with 7.6 mm thickness and 160 grams weight. It features a metal body with curved edges that come in two color variants of gold and grey. The 5.5 inch display comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. Images are crystal clear in the IPS TFT, HD screen with 1280 x720 pixels resolution. One more interesting feature of this device is the fingerprint scanner. Located at the front, the scanner recognizes five finger prints and allows users to assign them to directly open apps like Whatsapp, camera, Facebook, etc with a single touch on the home button. We found this feature convenient to quickly open apps. The F1s comes with a MediaTek 64-bit octa core processor and a 3 GB RAM. It is powered by Oppo’s Color OS 3.0, which is based on Android 5.1, this we felt as bit of a lag, as most of the devices these days come upgraded with Android 6.0. The 32 GB internal storage is expandable up to 128 GB. This device comes with a triple-slot card tray for two nano 4G SIM cards and an SD card. The 3075 mAh battery gives a decent life. Priced at Rs 17,990, the F1s is meant for the selfie lovers, who also want some extra features from their device. It is now available on Amazon and Oppo retail stores. IndiaTechOnline
The new avatar of the Samsung flagship phone—Galaxy Note 7—came to India this month. It claims to be the most secure smartphone ever launched. You can chose to customise the phone with your finger print—or by a scan of your iris. The Unique Identification Authority of India is reaching out to all phone makers to make their phones Aadhaar compliant, but few phone makers have as yet put their money where their mouth is.
They are missing the business opportunity of a lifetime. The first few who create Aadhaar-ready phones at an affordable price—between Rs 5000 and Rs 10,000 —with government-certified iris and finger scanners, will open up a market of a billion Aadhaar number holders. Samsung has launched an Aadhar compliant tablet— Galaxy Tab Iris—but at Rs 13,499 it is still not a mass consumer item. Aadhaar is the biggest, but not the only opportunity for biometric authentication hardware on phones. An announcement by the National Payments Corporation of India, has largely gone unnoticed by the aam janatha. It was called the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and it is a technology that can revolutionize how we transfer money, making it as simple as sending a text message on a mobile phone. Such schemes will be all the easier to run — and more secure—if mobile phone owners had the ability to prove their identity, instantly, anywhere, anytime. Fingerprints can deteriorate — people who do manual labour, see their fingers roughen and the scans are blurred with time. A scan of your iris, the colored, ringshaped part of your eye that surrounds and controls the size of the pupil, is the most fool proof personal identification system we have. No two iris scans are alike. If iris scanners in public places grow to support iris and finger scanners on phones, India would have truly entered a new digital era where all of her 1.2 billion citizens can say: I know who I am—and can prove it. IndiaTechOnline
This phone shoots with dual lenses
The Huawei P9 captures 2 images simultaneously
BY VISHNU ANAND
Kalyani Nagar, Pune start-up EPPS Infotech, has carved a niche for itself in the intensely competitive arena of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). It has crafted and launched an ERP solution focussed on addressing the needs of small & medium enterprises for whom global solutions like SAP and Oracle would be an unaffordable overkill. The company was co-founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Asheer Kapoor and technologist Atul Pimple. Asheer studied Electrical & Electronics Engineering at Bharati Vidyapeeth Pune and brings some 18 years of
experience in business management, including ownership of Pune based companies like Poshs Soma Packaging & Logistic and Poshs Metal Industries. Atul holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai and was trainined in Oracle and Networks & Solutions at IIT, Kharagpur. He has some 14 years of ERP experience, having worked for clients like Cox & Kings, ICICI, Birla Cellulose, PT Indo Bharat Rayon, and Grasim Industries EPPS’ ERP solution is known not just for its affordablility, but for its innovative mobility feature, something that has not been offered by even premium ERP solutions. The EPPS ( it stands for Enterprise Process Protocol System) solution enables quick decision-making even
while on the move – ‘Business Anytime Anywhere’ is its mantra. In a short time it has earned many loyal clients including the Alta Moda chain of textile stores in Indonesia. The solution works seamlessly across all prevalent OS (operating systems), browsers and smartphones as well as tablets. Says Managing Director,Asheer Kapoor: With the launch of our ERP solution, we aim to further drive the Digital India and Make in India initiatives announced by the government of the India to the extent of making it inclusive and accessible for the SMEs as well. We are confident that our foray in the new-age ERP space will usher in new industry benchmarks and apparently benefit the interests of the end-user.” IndiaTechOnline
Surf, where you want
Opera VPN brings professional Web tool to lay users Virtual Private Network or VPN is a technology that all corporate networks harness to ensure secure and private communication within the virtual wall of their enterprise. This is not generally available to the rest of us lay users of Internet. Opera has changed all that. Earlier this week it released an Android app, “Opera VPN” which lets the user enhance online privacy, block websites from tracking our preferences with cookies and access portions of the Internet that are not accessible because of geographical restrictions. Many US sites, are closed to us in India, with a notice: Not available in your region. When travelling abroad, you will find that some countries have blocked global versions of Facebook or Gmail and only allow their local editions. With Opera VPN installed on your phone, you can overcome all such restrictions. What’s more, it includes a tool that scans any public WiFi networks you may be using in a mall or an airport or some such place and alerts you if you are vulnerable to hacking. Opera VPN is also available for iPhones.
Browser with a Color-ful connection UC Browser has been revamped with TV content
The UC browser enjoys good popularity in India — and last week it cemented its bond with Indian users , by adding new feature and a content tie up with Colors TV. News feeds from UC feeds are now integrated with the browser. Once a user selects his favourite topics, the algorithm adapts and offers more information on the topic of choice. The information is shareable, can be customised and is available in 2 languages - English and Hindi, to be followed by other Indian languages starting with Tamil. The personalised channel settings allow the users to choose their favourite news channels and make their own reading sequence, as per their individual preference. The user friendly browser also has a night mode feature that offers a convenient browsing experience during night. The partnership with Colors is centred on 4 popular TV shows: Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, 24, Big Boss and Comedy Nights Live. UCWeb will create multiple engagement platforms around these shows.
Flock-ing together for productivity
Flip phones, dual-SIM phones, Dolby sound phones, metallic phones, slim phones. They keep changing like fashion clothing every season. Just when we thought 2016 was going to be about big, chunky phones with huge batteries, along comes a bunch of phones that take mobile photography to the next level. Three mid-range phones have been announced in the last 2 weeks, and all of them are being touted as devices that enhance your selfie experience. But last week, Huawei unveiled a phone that comes with a different pedigree of camera. Leica is a legendary German name in the world of photography, specifically rangefinder cameras. The P9 features two cameras, each sporting Leica lenses inside. Every time you click an image with the P9, both the lenses get fired, one that produces professional-quality colour images, and the other lens that merges this with the same image in monochrome. This combination results in better quality pictures, especially in low-light conditions. Users can choose between three film modes: Standard, Vivid Colors and Smooth Colors. You can also select monochrome -only mode, to capture powerful black and white images of superior quality.
The P9 achieves focusing based on three criteria– laser, depth calculation and contrast. It automatically selects the one that yields the best result in any given environment. The in-built image processor gives you manual control of the shutter for long exposure shots, and options to choose from multiple shooting modes like Tail light trails, Light Graffiti, Silky water, and regulars like Pro camera, beauty mode, Ultra snapshot, among others. The device also sports an 8 megapixel front camera that can capture wide-angle selfies. The 5.2 inch device with 1080p full HD display, comes with a high-density 3000 mAh battery that offers considerably high battery life, akin to phones with larger batteries. The P9 also comes with enhanced security at the silicon-chip level, that ensures superior security such as fingerprint scans. With a 6.9 mm shell, the P9 is a slim and light device that is handy to hold, especially while taking photographs. The single nano SIM device is powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow, with 3GB RAM and 32 GB memory. Priced at Rs. 39,999, the P9 will waken the photographer in you.
Indian enterprise messaging tool is global hit
Flock is a communication app for teams that speeds up and simplifies work life. The brain child of Mumbaikar, Bhavin Turakhia, Flock lets you connect with your team, get on video calls, manage projects with to-dos, polls and reminders and integrate your most favourite apps. Within months of its launch, Flock was being used by 25,000 organizations across the world. It is free to use for as many users and for as long as they want but there are premium paid versions too. Flock recently conducted a survey to understand how it has helped its users to move away from traditional ways of communication and increase productivity at work. When questioned about enterprise messaging apps replacing internal email, sixty percent of Flock users said they cut down their email usage by half.
IndiaTechOnline
IT is like that...
Start planning on the move!
Pune-based startup creates mobile extension to ERP solution
In the App World
Asheer Kapoor (left) and Atul Pimple co-founders of EPPS. ERP in mobile is their USP
ENVIRONMENT
Scientists have found a low-cost and environment-friendly method to recycle waste rechargeable lithium-ion batteries - using fungi. A team of researchers at the University of South Florida in the US is turning to naturally occurring fungi to drive an environmentally friendly recycling process to extract cobalt and lithium from tonnes of waste batteries. “We were watching the huge growth in smartphones and all the other products with rechargeable batteries, so we shifted our focus. The demand for lithium is rising rapidly, and it is not sustainable to keep mining new lithium resources,” Jeffrey A Cunningham, the project’s team leader said. Cunningham’s team is working with organisms found in nature fungi in this case - and putting them in an environment where they can do their work. Cunningham and Valerie Harwood said, “Through the interaction of the fungus, acid and pulverised cathode, we can extract the valuable cobalt and lithium. We are aiming to recover nearly all of the original material,” he said. Results show using oxalic and citric acids, two of the organic acids generated by fungi, up to 85 per cent of lithium and up to 48 per cent of cobalt from cathodes of spent batteries were extracted. PTI
Design may provide inexpensive alternatives for residential water heating, wastewater treatment
Scientists have invented a bubblewrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores, an advance that may lead to low cost alternatives to wastewater treatment and medical tool sterilisation. The “solar vapour generator” requires no expensive mirrors or lenses to concentrate the sunlight, but instead relies on a combination of relatively low-tech materials such as bubble wrap to capture ambient sunlight and concentrate it as heat. The heat is then directed toward the pores of the sponge, which draw water up and release it as steam. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US found the structure heated water to its boiling temperature of 100 degrees Celsius, even on relatively cool, overcast days. The sponge also converted 20 per cent of the incoming sunlight to steam. The design may provide inexpensive alternatives for applications such as desalination, residential water heating, wastewater treatment and medical tool sterilisation. The current design builds on a solarabsorbing structure they developed in 2014 - a similar floating, sponge-like
At first, doctors did not detect signs of any neurological abnormality: the analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid and the exams of the eyes and the ears showed normal results. Images taken by MRI showed a reduced brain parenchyma, foci of calcification in the subcortical area and compensatory dilation of the supraventricular system. These results and the fact that the mother’s symptoms of Zika infection appeared in the seventh month of pregnancy led to a first diagnosis of mild microcephaly. Later, spastic hemiplegia (cerebral palsy) was detected. The baby’s father travelled to the Northeast of Brazil and showed symptoms of Zika before his wife. PTI
It is the first reported case of prolonged infection in newborns
JEREMY CHO
MIT graduate student George Ni holds a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores
material made of graphite and carbon foam, that was able to boil water to 100 degrees Celsius and convert 85 per cent of the incoming sunlight to steam. To generate steam at such efficient levels, researchers had to expose the structure to simulated sunlight that was 10 times the intensity of sunlight in normal, ambient conditions. In ambient sunlight, while the black graphite structure absorbed sunlight well, it also tended to radiate heat back out into the environment. To minimise heat lost, the team used spectrally-selective absorber - a thin, blue, metallic-like film that is commonly used in solar water heaters and possesses unique absorptive properties. They then mounted the structure on a thermally-insulating piece of floating foam. Researchers use bubble wrap, as a cost-effective way to prevent heat loss by convection. This approach would let sunlight in through the material’s transparent wrapping, while trapping
air in its insulating bubbles. “I thought it was not a highperformance material. But we tried the clearer bubble wrap with bigger bubbles for more air trapping effect, and it turns out, it works,” said George Ni, an MIT graduate student. “Now because of this bubble wrap, we don’t need mirrors to concentrate the Sun,” said Ni. The bubble wrap, combined with the selective absorber, kept heat from escaping the surface of the sponge. Once the heat was trapped, the copper layer conducted the heat toward a single hole, or channel, that the researchers had drilled through the structure. When they placed the sponge in water, they found that water crept up the channel, where it was heated to 100 degrees Celsius, then turned to steam. The research was published in the journal Nature Energy. PTI
Higher intake of citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons may help prevent heart disease, liver disease and diabetes in obese people, a new study has claimed. Oranges and other citrus fruits contain plenty of vitamins and substances, such as antioxidants, that can help keep you healthy, researchers said. Now a new study has found that these fruits also help prevent harmful effects of obesity in mice fed a Westernstyle, high-fat diet. “Our results indicate that in the future we can use citrus flavanones, a class of antioxidants, to prevent or delay chronic diseases caused by obesity in humans,” said Paula S Ferreira, a graduate student at Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) in Brazil. Being obese increases the risk of developing heart disease, liver disease and diabetes, most likely because of oxidative stress and inflammation, Ferreira said. When humans consume a high-fat diet, they accumulate fat in their bodies. Fat cells produce excessive reactive oxygen species, which can damage cells due to oxidative stress. The body can usually fight off the molecules with antioxidants. But obese patients have very enlarged fat cells, which can lead to even higher levels of reactive oxygen species that overwhelm the body’s ability to counteract them. Citrus fruits contain large amounts of antioxidants, a class of which are called flavanones. Researchers wanted to observe the effects of citrus flavanones for the first time on mice with no genetic modifications and that were fed a highfat diet. The team conducted an experiment
BY SUBHASHIS MITTRA The legislation to provide for enhancement of maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks is a step aimed at benefitting about 1.8 million women in the organised sector and increasing the strength of the working women force. Once the new law is enacted, India will not only jump to third position in terms of the number of weeks for maternity leave after Norway (44) and Canada (50), but also move into a select league of 16 countries that extend paid leave to new mothers. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her full paid absence from work, to take care for her child.
The new law will be applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more people. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 provides for increasing maternity benefit from 12 to 26 weeks for two surviving children and is aimed at benefitting about 1.8 million women in the organised sector, said Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya while replying to a debate on the legislation. “The very purpose of this Bill is to increase the working women force because in the work force, participation of women is decreasing day by day,” Dattatreya said. Activists have welcomed the passage of the bill extending maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks and stressed the need to create awareness about its benefits so that the health of the newborn can be secured. Arun Kumar of the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) said, “The government now needs to promote breastfeeding. There is a need
with 50 mice, treating them with flavanones found in oranges, limes and lemons. The flavanones they focused on were hesperidin, eriocitrin and eriodictyol. For one month, researchers gave groups either a standard diet, a high-fat diet, a high-fat diet plus hesperidin, a high-fat diet plus eriocitrin or a high-fat diet plus eriodictyol. The high-fat diet without the flavanones increased the levels of celldamage markers called thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) by 80 per cent in the blood and 57 per cent in the liver compared to mice on a standard diet. However, hesperidin, eriocitrin and eriodictyol decreased the TBARS levels in the liver by 50 per cent, 57 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively, compared with mice fed a high-fat diet but not given flavanones. Eriocitrin and eriodictyol also reduced TBARS levels in the blood by 48 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively, in these mice, researchers said. “Our studies did not show any weight loss due to the citrus flavanones,” said Thais B Cesar, who led the team. “However, even without helping the mice lose weight, they made them healthier with lower oxidative stress, less liver damage, lower blood lipids and lower blood glucose,” said Cesar. PTI
Kaziranga animals and flood fury
BY ZAFRI MUDASSER NOFIL
Every year, floods cause great damage to the flora and fauna of the famous Kaziranga National Park in Assam. This year was no different. As many as 310 animals, including 221 hog deer and 21 one-horned rhinos perished in the devastating floods. In fact the prized one-horned rhinos in Assam have been facing this dual threat from the flood fury and poachers for long. Heavy monsoon rains led to floods in the Kaziranga National Park since the last week of July, triggering animal migration towards the Karbi Anglong Hills across National Highway 37. Primary wildlife care facility in the area, the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), run by IFAW-WTI with support from the Assam Forest Department, deployed its Mobile Veterinary Service units to aid affected wildlife. According to state Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma, 49 rhinos have died since the new BJP-led government took charge in May. Of these, poachers killed five rhinos in Kaziranga National
Park and one in Orang National Park in little over two months. Twenty-two rhinos have perished in floods and 21 had natural deaths across Kaziranga, Manas and Pobitora forest areas. In India, a rhino horn fetches up to Rs 10 lakh, but this goes up five times in the international market. These poachers are part of an organised network and change their tactics frequently. They strike at odd hours and during bad weather conditions. They operate from strategic locations so that the animals are killed with a single shot.
For developing a vision and roadmap for long term conservation of rhinos in the state, the Assam government constituted the “Task Force for Translocation of Rhinos within Assam” commonly called “Rhino Task Force” in June 2005 incorporating conservationists from diverse background. The task force received support from two international organisations — World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Rhino Foundation (IRF). The task force “Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020” set a vision to have a rhino population of 3,000 in the wild in Assam
Maternity leave to benefit 1.8m working women New law will be applicable to establishments employing 10 or more people
PUNE
Sponge creates steam Citruses may check obesity ailments using ambient sunlight
Zika virus may linger in babies for months Zika may linger in the blood of an infected baby for more than two months, suggests a new study from Brazil that raises concerns about the potential of the virus to damage an infant’s brain even after birth. Physicians at the Santa Casa de Misericordia and researchers from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil described the case of a baby born with Zika infection in January, who remained infected by the virus even two months and one week after birth. This is the first reported case of prolonged Zika infection in newborns, researchers wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine. The baby was slightly smaller than the 33cm recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO).
AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
‘‘Around 90 per cent of my patients are currently that of atypical viral fever. Among them, 70 per cent are exhibiting chikugunya-like viral fever symptoms while the rest that of dengue-like viral fever.’’ — Dr A Bhondwe, ex-president, Indian Medical Association, Pune
‘‘On an average, the noise levels during the festive season go above 110 decibels, much more than the permissible levels at night. This goes higher during the immersion procession.’’ — Mahesh Shindikar, Assistant Professor, CoEP
Fungi to recycle rechargeable batteries
H EALTH
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY
to create awareness about how this leave from work can be utilised.” “Many people often do not know the purpose of maternity leave. They need to be told that it is in order to allow mother and baby to be together for breastfeeding and securing the health of the child and to allow the mother to recover,” he said. WHO and UNICEF recommended that every child be breastfed within an hour of birth, given only breast milk for their first six months of life and continued breastfeeding up to the age of two years along with appropriate complementary food. In line with this, government guidelines too recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. “It is then only logical that baby and mother
stay together,” Kumar said. According to WHO, eight lakh child lives could be saved every year globally if infants are properly breastfed. However, globally, less than 40 per cent of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed. During the course of debate on the bill in Parliament, some law makers sought norms for paternity leave also so that parents can share the responsibility of raising children. Many countries now give paternity leave to fathers as well as mothers. India should follow suit, the MPs opined. Global studies show lower child mortality and higher gender equality in societies where both parents care for babies. Maternity leave benefits the richest 10% of workers in the organized sector.
Government guidelines recommend exclusive breast feeding for the first six months
Female farmers, casual workers, selfemployed women and housewives are excluded. Since maternal leave payments are linked to pay, the richest women earning lakhs per month are the greatest gainers, whereas needy mothers get nothing. What’s feminist or fair about this? Government is mulling over a contributory maternity benefit scheme for the unorganized sector employing around 10 crore women, after enhancing the paid maternity leave in all companies to six months. The ministry has geared up to provide this sustenance to women in unorganised sector. Analysts point out that increasing maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks will also significantly increase wage costs in labour-intensive industries that India needs to provide jobs and competitive exports. A recent study suggests that only two countries offer more maternity leave than India’s proposed 26 weeks. PTI
in seven of its protected areas by 2020 from the then count of about 2,000. According to Brahma, Kaziranga, Manas and Orang national parks in Assam are home to 2,532 rhinos as per latest census. She said there are 111 highlands inside the Kaziranga National Park for animals to take shelter during flood, but these need urgent repair. “We need to raise the heights and also increase the number of such highlands. This time animal fatalities were little more as some highlands also came under water,” according to Brahma. According to DFO of Kaziranga National Park Subashis Das, the current wave of flood has claimed 21 rhinos. Gauhati High Court had stayed the NGT order on demolishing shops and dhabas located within 100 metres of National Highway 37. In view of the twin threat to animals particularly rhinos, a comprehensive policy on their protection is to be adopted. The Assam government has a huge task ahead in this regard. The pride of Assam - the rhino - is at threat. So it’s time to act. PTI
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
PUNE
‘‘BJP wants to rake up on law and order in UP. I don’t want to comment on how weak we are on the borders. I am from a military school and many of my batchmates are serving in the armed forces. I know, therefore, how weak we are on the borders and in the World.’’ —Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister
Panel on OROP not hearing individuals: ex-serviceman NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court was told that the one-member judicial commission, set up to deal with grievances of ex-servicemen on One Rank One Pension (OROP), was not hearing issues raised by an individual but dealing only with contentions raised by organisations. The Centre refuted the claims before a bench of justices BD Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar saying the commission was hearing the grievances raised before it not only by organisations but by individuals also. The bench was hearing a plea seeking directions to Ministry of Defence and the commission, headed by Justice (Retd) L Narasimha Reddy, “to give an effective public hearing to those affected or aggrieved by implementation of OROP”. When the matter came up for hearing, petitioner SP Singh told the bench he had approached the commission with his grievances but was not heard and told that the panel was only hearing the contentions of organisations. The petitioner also claimed that armed forces officers were sitting with the panel despite the fact that it was a one-member judicial commission. Central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia said the petitioner was heard by the panel. The bench then asked the petitioner to file an affidavit stating that he was not given an opportunity by the commission to put forth his grievances and posted the matter for further hearing on September 28. The Centre had earlier told the court it has extended by six months the term of the one-member panel on OROP. The petitioner, who is an ex-serviceman, has said that as per a Ministry letter dated April 13, “Defence Forces pensioners/family pensioners, Defence Pensioners’ Associations can submit their suggestions/views on the revised pension as notified, to the MoD, through post or by email within 15 days i.e. by April 29, 2016”. The Centre had told the court that date for forwarding suggestions and representations was later extended to May 15. PTI
India falls short on urban development agendas
PTI
HCI analyses the progress made in infrastructure, poverty, employment, sustainability, institutional capacity, gender
NEW DELHI: India recorded “virtually no” improvement on indices aimed at measuring implementation of the agendas of a 1996 UN conference on urban development, whereas Nepal and Pakistan have made progress, a report has found. In the run-up to Habitat III, the third UN conference on urban development and settlements, in October, a report called ‘Habitat Commitment Index (HCI)’ was released recently gauging the progress made towards implementing the agendas of HabitatII conference in Istanbul, in 1996. Habitat III will be held in Quito in October this year where UN member states will agree on the New Urban Agenda. In the run-up to the event, the New Yorkbased Global Urban Futures Project released the review report on the progress on the previous urban agenda. The HCI analyses the progress made in six categories of the Habitat II agenda - Infrastructure, Poverty, Employment, Sustainability, Institutional Capacity, and Gender. In the last two decades, “the best performers were Pakistan (+2 points) and Nepal (+2 points), while the worst performers were Bangladesh (-2 points) and Sri Lanka (-3.8 points)” among the South Asian countries, says the report.
‘Defamation is not to throttle democracy’
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court reprimanded Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for using defamation cases to “throttle democracy” and asked her to face criticism as she was a public figure. “This is not done. You can’t use defamation case to throttle democracy. This is not healthy democracy. You must face criticism if you are a public figure,” a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan said. “Government cannot use state machinery to file criminal defamation cases against political opponents. It should focus more on good governance,” the bench asserted. The court’s observations came on a petition filed by DMDK chief A Vijayakanth seeking quashing of defamation cases filed against him by state government. The apex court had on July 28 said
Eurozone business strong despite Brexit P 14
defamation cases should not be used as a political counter weapon against the critics of governments and had stayed non-bailable warrants issued against the actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth and his wife Premlata in such matters. Counsel for state government had submitted a report in which it said that 200 defamation cases have been filed in the last five years, of which 55 cases were against the media and 85 cases involved Jayalalithaa. Over two dozen cases were filed against Vijayakanth and others for being critical of Jayalalithaa and her government. The bench also issued fresh summons against the public prosecutor and posted the matter for further hearing on September 21. Earlier, the apex court had said that anyone calling a government corrupt or unfit cannot be slapped with a defamation case. It had said that cases relating to criticising the government or bureaucrats had a “chilling effect” and there has to be tolerance to criticism. The court had also sought the list of defamation cases filed by the public prosecutors in Tamil Nadu on behalf of the Chief Minister against her critics. Earlier, the apex court had issued notice to Jayalalithaa on a plea by Vijayakanth seeking stay on proceedings on criminal defamation cases filed against him through public prosecutors. PTI
India, however, slipped marginally by 0.41 points on the HCI scale, lower than the South Asian average of 1.26. The other countries included in the HCI analysis for South Asia include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan. “India, with a population of over one billion people, has had virtually no change in the last 20 years in the HCI score. Overall the country’s HCI has changed by only -0.41,” it says. The country has improved in the Gender (+6.3) and Poverty (+15) dimensions, while it received negative scores in Institutional Capacity (-19) and Infrastructure (-3.8). It is interesting to note that the country had minimal increase in the Sustainability (+2) dimension despite plans to implement
solar energy projects, the report says. It says that despite the issue of gender inequality being consistently on the agenda of the government, the “traditional patriarchal norms continue to dominate society, where women are relegated to secondary status in the household and workplace”. Overall there has been extremely little progress worldwide, with the average HCI score increasing only by 1.49 points, from a global average of 69.68 in 1996 to a current average score of 71.17, the report says. “The HCI has demonstrated that despite the Habitat Agenda’s 241 paragraphs containing over 600 recommendations, there has been little meaningful change in urban conditions since Habitat II,” it adds. PTI
NEW DELHI: India has figured among the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world with a total individual wealth of USD 5,600 billion while the United States topped the chart. According to a report by New World Wealth, India was ranked 7th ahead of Canada (USD 4,700 billion), Australia (USD 4,500 billion) and Italy (USD 4,400 billion), which came in at 8th, 9th and 10th slots, respectively. The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total individual wealth held (USD 48,900 billion) while China stood second and Japan third, with total individual wealth of USD 17,400 billion and USD 15,100 billion, respectively. Others in the top 10 club include the United Kingdom (4) with a total individual wealth of USD 9,200 billion, followed by Germany (5th, USD 9,100 billion) and France (6th, USD 6,600 billion). Wealth refers to net assets of a person. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities, the report said adding that it excludes government funds from its figures. The ranking of India as one of the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world is largely because of its large population. On India, the report stated, “Australia and India also grew strongly and India, Australia and Canada have just overtaken Italy over the past 12 months.” The study ranked the wealthiest countries in the world as of June 2016 in terms of total individual wealth held. PTI
PTI
‘LIVE WIRE’ ENJOYMENT
A boy jumps from submerged electric poll in the flooded water of river Ganga in Allahabad
Blow to Kashmir’s eco, Rs 6,400 cr loss in 49 days SRINAGAR: The ongoing unrest in Kashmir has led to a whopping Rs 6,400-crore loss to the economy of the Valley, with businesses being badly hit due to curfew and separatist sponsored strikes. Tourist and other business activities in Kashmir have come to a halt for the past 49 days after protests erupted in Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on July 8. Clashes between protesters and security forces have claimed the lives of 66 people and left thousands of others injured. Shops, business establishments, private offices and petrol pumps have been shut as the separatists groups have called for a complete strike to protest the civilian deaths in the violence after Wani’s killing. The separatists have announced periods of relaxation, but they are usually in the night which does not help the traders who allege that there have been instances of masked youths or even security forces forcing the shopkeepers to down the shutters.
Shops, business establishments, private offices and petrol pumps have been shut as the separatists groups have called for a complete strike to protest civilian deaths
“Kashmir is suffering losses of about Rs 135 crore daily. This estimates to over Rs 6,400 crore so far,” Mohammad Yaseen Khan, president Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF), said here. Khan, however, said these figures were based on the daily business six months ago. He said the trader
A policeman stops a milkman at a blocked road during curfew in Srinagar
40 knives removed from cop’s stomach AMRITSAR: In an unusual case, as many as 40 knives were surgically removed from the stomach of a policeman who claimed that he used to feel an “urge” to eat them. A team of five doctors carried out a five-hour long surgery on Surjeet Singh (40), who is employed with Punjab Police and is posted at Tarn Taran district, at a hospital. Jitendra Malhotra, MD of Corporate Hospital, said Singh had come to them complaining of stomach ache and excessive weight loss. “A series of ultrasounds followed by various tests, including endoscopy and CT scan, related to the stomach were carried out before the surgery as the patient was admitted in the hospital with severe weight loss, besides multiple ailments. “Cancer was suspected but during investigation some metal substances were found inside the stomach that had damaged liver, kidney and other organs,” said Malhotra who led the team of doctors during the operation. After the surgery, Singh was absolutely healthy, he said. Singh had been facing psychiatric problems for the past one year. PTI
PTI
Vol-III* lssue No.: 11 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.
The report states ‘India, with a population of over one billion people, has had virtually no change in the last 20 years in the HCI score. Overall the country’s HCI has changed by only -0.41’
India 7th richest country in New World Wealth list
community wants the Kashmir issue to be resolved permanently. The state government has suffered revenue losses close to Rs 300 crore in the past one-and-a-half months. “The collection of levies and taxes has come down drastically since the unrest began. The sales tax collection has been the worst hit,” an official in the Finance department said. Similarly, tourism, considered to be the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy, has also come to a stand still. “People are turning away from Kashmir due to the unrest,” a tourism player said here. He said that hotels and houseboats were empty and famous tourist spots were looking desolated. An official of the Tourism Department, who did not wish to be named, admitted that tourism in the Valley was on decline but said they were “helpless”. “What can we do? The department is helpless. We cannot go outside the state and ask people to visit the Valley. “How can we even expect people to visit the Valley when the situation is such,” the official said. PTI
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
‘Our athletes are closing down the gap: Lalita’ P 16
‘‘We have tremendous power over China — economic power — tremendous. We don’t do anything. They build and build and build, and they didn’t get environmental impact statements when they decided to rip up the sea.’’ — Donald Trump, US Presidential Candidate
US security assistance to Pak falls by 73 per cent since 2011 Pentagon reports that nearly half the CSF assistance to Pakistan is used for food, ammunition
WASHINGTON/ISLA M ABA D: The US’ security assistance to Pakistan has declined by 73 per cent since 2011 due to the deterioration in ties following the killing of Osama bin Laden in a Navy SEALs raid on his Abbottabad hideout, according to a Congressional report. The report prepared for the US Congress by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) covers both military and economic assistance given between 2002 and 2015 as well as those earmarked for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. Dawn newspaper reporting from Washington said the report shows a 53 per cent decrease in economic assistance since 2011. The bilateral relationship started deteriorating after the killing of alQaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a daring US Navy SEALs raid in Abbottabad and a US airstrike on a Pakistani border post in Salala that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Earlier this month, the Pentagon decided not to pay USD 300 million in military reimbursements to Islamabad over its alleged reluctance to act against the Haqqani network, a charge Islamabad had immediately rejected. Security aid fell 73 per cent from nearly USD 1.3 billion in 2011 to USD 343 million in 2015. Economic aid
Sarkozy bid for French presidency
BY YOSHITA SINGH
UNITED NATIONS: India’s consistent stand that Dawood Ibrahim is based in Pakistan has got a virtual endorsement from the UN which has obviously confirmed six addresses of the underworld don in that country. The listing of the UN Security Council’s ISIL and Al- Qaida Sanctions Committee also includes information about Dawood’s various passports, including those issued in Pakistan. India, in a dossier, had cited nine addresses in Pakistan as those frequented by Dawood of which the UN Security Council’s ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee has removed three, finding those incorrect. The Committee, which amended its entry concerning Dawood, a UNdesignated terrorist, made no changes with regard to six addresses provided by India. One of the three addresses which have been dropped by the Committee from its list was found similar to that of a residence of Islamabad’s envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi. “On 22 August 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strike through in the entry” concerning Dawood on its ISIL (Da esh) and AlQaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, it said. It did not amend Dawood’s addresses mentioned in the listing — “Karachi, Pakistan (White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton)”, “House Nu 37 - 30th Street - defence, Housing Authority, Karachi, Pakistan” and “Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of
FROM SAJJAD HUSSAIN
Pakistan has issued numerous protests in the past when the US targets members of the Taliban or other groups which are supported by powerful and influential elements of Pakistan’s military, Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, and government
The CRS data shows that CSF accounts for 43 per cent of USD 32.2 billion worth of US government financial transfers to Pakistan from 2002 to 2015. Economic aid comprises 33 per cent of transfers at USD 10.6 billion followed by 24 per cent in security aid at USD 7.6 billion. The CRS report, however, shows that Pakistan has or still is in the process of receiving nearly USD 1.2 billion worth of weapon systems from the US since 2001. This includes, eight P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft worth USD 474 million and 20 AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters at USD 48 million. Since 2001, Pakistan has paid or is still paying USD 2.5 billion for US arms. PTI
No crowd at these vacations spots For those who wish to escape the maddening crowd while on vacation, a new travel study has revealed alternative destinations to the most popular tourist spots across the world. The study undertaken by ‘Skyscanner’ has crunched the data from 50 million unique monthly users across their website and mobile app to suggest alternative destinations to holiday hotspots popular among Indians. According to their data, Mongolia is a “rustic beautiful” alternative to the massively populated China. With one of the lowest population densities in the world, Mongolia is best known for its Nadaam festival, an annual affair that blends the place’s “sporting tradition with its ornamental aspects.” To avoid the bustling streets of Italy, Skyscanner suggests one takes a 90 minute-drive from Milan to Lake Como. Set against the rugged, forested
foothills of the Alps, a boat ride across the lake is the best way to soak in the green lush mountains, the study said. Thailand is perhaps the most popular foreign destination among Indian travellers, which explains the overwhelming Indian crowd populating the South East Asian country. Known for its tropical beaches, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins and ornate temples, the country witnesses the maximum number of visitors in Bangkok for shopping, Pattaya for nightlife and Koh Samui for the sea. The bay of Kata located south of Karon Beach in Phuket is relatively deserted. The study suggests planning a getaway to Coorg in Karnataka. The majestic Abbi Falls are poised in perfection with the spiritual marker Byle Kuppe, one of the biggest Tibetan settlements down South. PTI
Pakistan has launched a fresh drive to gather support for its NSG membership bid with a top official embarking on a visit to Belarus and Kazakhstan to gain their backing. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi is undertaking visits to Belarus and Kazakhstan from August 23 to 27 as a special envoy of Premier Nawaz Sharif, the Foreign Office said in a statement. “The objective of the visits is to seek the two friendly countries’ support for Pakistan’s membership of the (48-nation) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),” it said. The Special Assistant is carrying letters from Sharif addressed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. “In his letters, the Prime Minister has underscored the need for the NSG to adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of the membership for non-NPT states in order to promote strategic stability in South Asia and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime,” the Foreign Office said.
Dawood Ibrahim
Noorabad in Karachi”. The addresses were included in a dossier prepared by India in August last year that had listed nine residences in Pakistan of the mastermind of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts as evidence to show that he is holed up in Pakistan. In the amendment, the Committee has stricken through the address “Main Property at Margalla Raod F- 6/2 Street no.22, House No.07, Islamabad number 29 in Karachi. This address was later found to be similar to that of a residence belonging to Lodhi.” When asked about the amendment, a top Indian official here told PTI that one address of Dawood in the listing entry was incorrect. The address was “of Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, and not Dawood Ibrahim”, the sources said. Pakistan has consistently denied that Dawood is living in that country after he fled from the law in India. Dawood was listed on November 3, 2003 and the entry has been amended in March and July 2006, July 2007 and March 2010. Being a UN designated terrorist, he is subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. PTI PTI
AERIAL FIREFIGHTING
A plane drops a load of fire retardant on the north side of Beacon Hill, in Spokane, Washington. The fast moving wildfire is threatening structures as it moves in a north-easterly direction.
The tale of Indian sons of soil toiling in the Gulf Indians working in GCC countries are the largest recipient of foreign remittance but they suffer the worst fate BY RANA AJIT The recent spectacle of over 7,000 Indians, devoid of their jobs and virtually starving and languishing in various labour camps in Saudi Arabia should and must serve as an eye-opener to the country to the miseries of millions of migrant Indian workers, who toil abroad and make India the world’s largest recipient of foreign remittance. Sure the Indian government made a prompt enough intervention and engaged with the Saudi authorities to provide succour to the hapless, jobless migrants. But for its enormity, the job and employment related troubles are just one of the run of the mill problems that plague migrant Indian workers’ lives in all the Emigration-Clearance-Required
category of countries, more so in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries which together happen to be largest overseas employers for Indians in blue collar jobs. Devoid of suitable employment opportunities back home, a huge population of Indians, numbering well over 72 lakhs find themselves obliged to work in the six GCC countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. They continue to work often amid
problems of “non-payment, short payment or delayed payment of salaries, long working hours, illegal retention of passport by the local sponsor and contractual violations regarding food, accommodation and medical facilities to the workers etc,” as government official records put it. The same government, however, often makes light of these usual problems, often seeking to assure the Parliament that such problems are few and far between. PTI FILE PHOTO
PARIS: Former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy launched a fresh bid to win back the presidency, announcing he would seek the nomination of his centre-right party to run in next year’s election. The pugnacious 61-year-old conservative, who was deeply unpopular by the end of his five years as president, had made no secret of his ambition to reconquer the top office. “I have decided to be a candidate in the 2017 presidential election,” Sarkozy, who was voted out of office in 2012, wrote in the foreword to a new book “Tout pour la France” (All for France) due out later this week. “France demands that you give her your all. I feel I have the strength to lead the fight at such a turbulent moment in our history,” he wrote in the book extract seen by AFP, alluding to the string of terror attacks that have rocked the country in the past year and a half. His aides told AFP he would be stepping down as the leader of the Republicans party to focus on his campaign. “This book is the starting point,” Sarkozy tweeted, together with a link to the foreword. “The next five years will be filled with danger but also with hope,” he wrote. His announcement that he will seek his party’s nomination at a primary in November comes in the midst of a resurgent debate over the place of Islam in French society, encapsulated in the row over the Islamic “burkini” swimsuit. Sarkozy said France’s “principal battle” was over how “to defend our lifestyle without being tempted to cut ourselves off from the rest of the world”. The opposition leader, who has repeatedly dismissed Socialist President Francois Hollande as weak, said he would also restore authority in neighbourhoods where he said “minorities are successfully blackmailing the current authorities”. AFP
‘Don’s six Pak addresses are right’
Pak seeks support for NSG bid
declined from nearly USD 1.2 billion in 2011 to USD 561 million in 2015, the report said. The cancelled USD 300 million payments were in the form of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) under which Pakistan has received over USD 14 billion since 2002. The CSF accounted for “as much as one-fifth of Pakistan’s total military expenditures” from 2002 to 2014, said the CRS, a US government news and analysis service for Congress. The CSF is meant to reimburse US-allied nations “for their operational and logistical support of US-led counterterrorism operations”. The Pentagon has reported that nearly half the CSF assistance to Pakistan is used for food and ammunition.
PUNE
PM Narendra Modi talks with Indian workers working in Doha at a camp in Doha, Qatar
The government bases its trust on India’s various labour welfare related pact with the GCC countries and believe that foreign authorities would adhere to them in letter and spirit to safeguard the migrant Indian workers’ interests. The world, however, is not an ideal place to run merely on the MoUs and pacts. For example, according to officials figures, Saudi Arabia, which hosts over 28 lakh migrant Indian workers, has nearly 1,900 Indians in its jails, while 9,076 migrant Indians died till July 2016 since January 2013. The figures do not reveal how many of these deaths were natural and unnatural, accidental or suicidal or homicidal. But compared to the corresponding figures of imprisonment (595) and deaths (194) of Indians in the US, which hosts nearly 13 lakhs NRIs, the instances of NRIs’ jailing and deaths in Saudi Arabia would surely appear to be on higher side. The corresponding figures of imprisonment of Indians and the loss of their lives in UK is very low. Ironically, it’s these Indians, toiling in the GCC countries, who make our country the
largest recipient of foreign remittance year after year – USD 55.62 billion in 2010-11, USD 66.1 billion in 2011-12, India had received USD 67.6 billion in 2012-13 and nearly USD 70 billion in 2014. Yet it’s these dinar-spinning, rialchurning NRIs, who suffer the worst fate in Gulf and ECR countries. The most crucial reasons appears to be lack of education, proper certified skills and information of the pitfalls which they are likely to encounter abroad and of the authorities that they need to approach at the slightest hint of trouble. One hopes that the government, which has launched the “Skill India” scheme for emigrant workers would, first and foremost, impart such basic and vital information to these job migrant seekers. It may be also the high time that the government may seriously consider the recommendations of its various parliamentary panels to scrap the archaic, 32-year-old Emigration Act, 1983 and replace it with a new modern law aimed at making emigration an orderly economic process. PTI
MONEY MATT ER S
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
PUNE
“Of the 50 new airports the government plans to make operational across the country over the next three years, at least 10 would be ready by next year.” — Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Civil Aviation Minister
Signposts RIL to staff: Stop using mobile service of other operators Reliance Industries, India’s largest conglomerate, has asked its 40,000-plus employees to stop using phones connections of existing operators, like Airtel and Vodafone, and instead switch to its own high-speed 4G Jio. RIL has asked employees to port their existing phone numbers to Jio, a move that may open another front with the existing operators, who have been up in arms against the Mukesh Ambaniled firm’s prolonged beta testing. “We are excited to announce yet another milestone towards greater excellence, where we will be switching our existing corporate connections to Jio,” RIL’s HR department wrote to all its employees.
NGT slaps Rs 100 cr damages on shipping firm for oil spill National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked Republic of Panama’s Delta Shipping Marine Services SA, Qatar-based Delta Navigation WLL and Delta Group International to pay Rs 100 crore as environmental compensation (EC) to the Ministry of Shipping as damages for causing an oil spill when a cargo vessel sank off Mumbai coast in 2011, damaging marine ecology. The tribunal also ordered Gujarat-based Adani Enterprises Ltd to pay Rs five crore as EC for dumping in the seabed 60054 MT coal, being carried by the ship M V RAK, and polluting the marine environment.
“GST will have an inflationary impact on tea prices. We are seeing shifts in the consumption patterns and emergence of alternate channels and e-commerce platforms and your company is looking to tap this segment.” — Cyrus P Mistry, Chairman, Tata Global Beverages
Eurozone business strong despite Brexit IMF warns growth in the currency bloc would drop to 1.4 per cent next year as the withdrawal effects kicks in
Eurozone economic activity edged higher in August with few signs that Brexit-linked dangers were yet hurting the European economy, a closely watched survey showed. Data monitoring company Markit said the eurozone economy maintained its resilience despite Britain’s shock vote to leave the EU, with a strong showing from France as well as powerhouse Germany. Markit said the preliminary August reading for its Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the eurozone rose to a seven-month-high of 53.3 points, up from 53.2 in July. The PMI measures companies’ readiness to spend on their business and so gives a good idea of how the underlying economy is performing before official statistics are compiled and released. Any reading above 50 points indicates the economy is expanding. Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the eurozone economy “remains on a steady growth path in the third quarter, with no signs of the recovery being derailed by ‘Brexit’ uncertainty.” Williamson said the better-thanexpected August figures suggested the eurozone economy was growing at “1.2 per cent (over 12 months), which is similar to that seen on average over the
ON FIRM GROUND: Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, centre, stands between French President Francois Hollande, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the deck of the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi off Ventotene island’s shores, Italy. The leaders of Italy, France and Germany relaunch European project following Brexit
first half of the year.” The IMF said last month that eurozone growth this year would hit a stronger-than-expected 1.6 per cent, instead of the previously forecast 1.5 per cent. The fund warned however that growth in the currency bloc would drop to 1.4 per cent next year as the Brexit effects kicked in. Howard Archer of IHS Insight said the “PMI data are pretty reassuring, suggesting that Eurozone economic activity is - for now at least - not being hampered by the UK’s shock Brexit vote.” Nevertheless, the data “by no means give the all clear on Eurozone growth prospects as there were mixed developments”, including slowing employment and lower growth in new orders by businesses, he added.
The preliminary German composite index fell to a still strong 54.4 points. France’s PMI jumped to 51.6 points, the struggling economy’s sharpest rise in 10 months. The survey will also influence policy at the European Central Bank, which has signalled that it could step up stimulus if Brexit headwinds worsened. “The ECB is still likely to ease (policy) eventually, but resilient PMIs should buy them more time until December,” said Frederik Ducrozet, economist at Pictet Bank in Geneva. ECB president Mario Draghi said last month that the bank was “ready, willing and able” to intervene if necessary. “There currently does not appear to be a decisive case for September action,” said Archer. AFP
Ind-Ra upticks GDP forecast to 7.8 per cent Ind-Ra has revised upwards India’s economic growth forecast to 7.8 per cent for the ongoing fiscal on better monsoon, but said the economy is just “chugging along” despite the euphoria emerging after formation of the Modi government at the Centre. “India Ratings and Research (IndRa) has revised its gross domestic product estimate for 2016-17 upwards to 7.8 per cent from its earlier forecast of 7.7 per cent. The upward revision has been prompted by the progress of monsoon and the sowing of kharif crop so far,” the rating agency said in its research report on ‘Review of the Economy’. With the area under kharif crop sowing 5.7 per cent higher than a normal area so far, it said the agency expects the farm gross value added to grow 3 per cent in the current fiscal as against 2.8 per cent forecasted earlier. It said the positive impact of monsoon on agriculture will support the overall GDP growth with its backward and forward linkages. On the macro economy, it said India’s growth is in motion but not accelerating. “Despite the euphoria and the hope that accompanied the change in the Union Government in 2014, the economic growth witnessed since then can at best be described as chugging along,” it said. However, Ind-Ra said it is not to say that the incumbent government has not done anything to revive the growth, several initiatives have been taken for encouraging manufacturing and improving on ease of doing business. Even though services sector shows its resilience and continues to be bellwether of the economy, unsatisfactory progress on the industrial front is a cause of
With poor investment, industrial growth is coming from consumption demand
concern, it added. With weaker industrial growth in continuation, Ind-Ra expects the sector gross value added (GVA) to grow 7.2 per cent, unchanged from previous forecast. As investment demand is absent, industrial growth is coming from consumption demand, it said. “Moderation in both inflation and lending rates of banks is aiding the consumption demand in urban areas. Salary revision of central government employees due to the award of the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission will further aid the urban consumption demand,” it said. The wait is getting longer for an investment recovery which is the main reason to hold acceleration in industrial growth, Ind-Ra said. The incumbent government has taken several initiatives to revive private investment as also the manufacturing sector growth in the country. However, all this has failed so far to rekindle the animal spirit in the economy, it said. PTI
Focus on domestic, Railways partner with Google global regulators: Sebi for showcasing its heritage Market watchdog Sebi will focus on co-operating with other domestic and global regulators for strengthening and promoting a conducive environment for the securities market in the current fiscal. Besides, Sebi’s priority will be achieving its mandated statutory objectives through various policy initiatives targeted towards investor protection, market development and effective regulation. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) cooperates and facilitates exchange of information with its counterparts in other jurisdictions for the purpose of regulatory enforcement. It is a signatory to multilateral MoU of International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The pact has proved to be an effective tool in cross-border cooperation in combating financial fraud and misconduct.
During 2015-16, the regulator received 89 requests for information from overseas regulators seeking Sebi’s assistance. Similarly, 44 such requests were made by the capital market watchdog to its regulatory counterparts in other jurisdictions. “During 2016-17... it will be Sebi’s endeavour to cooperate with other regulators, not only in India, but across the globe for strengthening and promoting a conducive environment for the securities market to flourish within the caveats of regulation,” the regulator said in its latest annual report. The regulator hosted a number of international organisations, including regulatory bodies, business and ministerial delegations, last fiscal. These meetings foster deeper levels of co-operation, facilitate a better understanding of the Indian securities market and further collaboration with visiting institutions. PTI
Indian Railways will collaborate with Google for digitising and showcasing its heritage on digital platforms. Google has agreed to partner with Railways to digitise its heritage assets and help create a digital repository for universal online access free of cost, said a senior Railway Ministry official. Indian Railway has a huge list of heritage assets including bridges, steam locos, buildings, artefacts and museums which can be showcased for global audience. An agreement in this regard will be signed soon between National Rail Museum and Google Cultural Institute (GCI). GCI is a non-profit organisation that partners with cultural organisations to bring world’s cultural
heritage online. GCI builds online tools and offers them to institutions for showcasing and sharing cultural assets. The official said collaboration will not only make NRM accessible online and offer virtual tours but also help digitise the national transporter’s entire heritage inventory which includes more than 20 museums, hundreds of steam locos, coaches, station buildings, bridges among others. “Once these are placed online,
After Rajan Raaga, it’s Urjit’s Patel Rap at RBI Markets and industry people are waiting for the ‘owlish’ monetary policy ‘coined’ by Patel
As the Mint Street readies for a new sheriff, industry and markets want much more than a change in the quintessential signature on currency notes when a softspoken but effective Urjit Patel takes over from an outspoken and rockstarlike Raghuram Rajan. “Figuratively and symbolically, the change in personality that Patel brings in to the top job at RBI appears to be very comforting to the industry and bankers who were often at the receiving end of the barbs, mostly in form of policy actions, from Rajan,” a veteran banker said. While everyone has been effusive in showering praise on Patel being chosen to succeed Rajan, many industry leaders, top bankers and influential marketmen
said they are also keeping their fingers crossed on whether Patel will continue as the ‘inflation warrior’ he was for his current Governor or his corporate and finance background would help taper down RBI’s “hawk-eye fi xation” on checking inflation and the ‘deep surgery’ to remove bad loans. The wish list that ‘Dr Patel’, as he is commonly referred to as, faces is long and could be difficult to fulfil on many fronts — lower the rates, go easy on banks and borrowers, be liberal with grant of banking licences, safeguard foreign reserves and rather beef it up. Ironically, Patel himself was the “Brahmastra or the master tool”, as described by a top functionary at an informal industry gathering here, that Rajan used in his battlefield — where RBI is required to control inflation without hurting growth while also catering to unending demands for rate cuts, and also clean up books of the banks from bad loans including those induced upon them.
Urjit Patel
The top functionary also told the industrialists and bankers present there that Rajan had been rooting for Patel as his successor as RBI Governor, presumably to ensure that his legacy
continues and a continuity ensues in the monetary policy — an idea which also gained currency with the government which did not want any further negative publicity or any adverse impact on currency, bonds and stock markets. “This was also precisely the reason, why the government decided to make the announcement of Patel’s appointment on a Saturday — that is to ensure that the markets do not see any knee jerk reaction and influential marketmen and banks are asked to ensure availability of sufficient liquidity of securities as well as cash,” a high-level source said. After Rajan’s announcement, elaborate arrangements were made to ring-fence and beef up the risk management and surveillance systems to check any mishaps and the same exercise has been kicked off in run up to the opening up of various financial markets, sources said. The government and corporates are hopeful that Patel, who has kept a low profile so far, would keep away from the rockstar-like public
utterances and candid views that Rajan was used to on each and every topic under the sun, except for ‘dance and music’ as himself admitted to by the former chief economist of IMF. As he has worked with the Finance Ministry as well as corporates like Reliance Industries, IDFC and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp Ltd, besides his tenure at IMF and other organisations, they expect “better understanding” by Patel when he would be faced with various demands from the industry, government or the bankers. Patel also seems to have got a favourable rating from BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, who was among the most vocal critics of Rajan. Markets and industry people are now waiting for the ‘owlish’ monetary policy after the James Bond like commentary they have had for the past three years from a Governor known for numerous quotable quotes — one of them being “My name is Rajan and I do what I do”. PTI
it will act as a great tourist attraction,” he said. GCI generally works with government organisations and not for profit groups to provide digital collection management systems and storeytelling tools free of cost. Various ministries and institutes of the government have already collaborated with GCI for displaying and preserving India’s cultural heritage digitally. Currently Google is working with the railways in providing free Wi-Fi service at 100 stations. Indian Railway is preparing a comprehensive conservation management plan to preserve and promote its heritage assets. Besides, a dedicated rail heritage website under Railway Board’s website is operational for dissemination of information. PTI
Banning cash deals over Rs 3L soon reality Government is examining SIT’s recommendation of banning cash transactions of over Rs 3 lakh in a bid to clamp down on black money in the economy, CBDT Chairperson Rani Singh Nair said. The move follows Supreme Courtappointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money recommending banning cash transactions of Rs 3 lakh and above and restricting cash holding with individuals and industry to Rs 15 lakh to curb illegal wealth in the country. “These recommendations have come. It (banning cash transactions over Rs 3 lakh) is under examination. SIT recommendations are under consideration,” she told reporters on the sidelines of an Assocham event here. The Income Tax Department, she said, has already put a 1 per cent TCS on cash transactions and made quoting of PAN mandatory. PTI
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
WATCH OUT asc ast era w th a com c book v s on o London n the 930 s When August 27 5 pm Where Br t sh Counc L brary FC Road
On Saturday they w screen Paths O G ory and Fu Meta Jacket and on Sunday they w screen Lo ta a b ack y com c nterpretat on o V ad m r Nabokov s controvers a nove o the same name When August 27 and 28 Where Lost the P ot Season s Hote Aundh
GET SET DOODLE
Th s weekend Lost The P ot br ngs you three ground-break ng masterp eces by Stan ey Kubr ck one o the most nfluent a fi mmakers o the 20th century H s fi ms are the best examp e o an art st s obsess ve a -encompass ng mmers on n every aspect o h s work From h s ear y no r thr ers to h s ate-career ever dreams Kubr ck s work exp ores a conste at on o ph osoph ca quest ons wh ch oster a deeper understand ng o the m nd human nature and the un verse we ve n
WEEK THAT WAS
Party on the tunes o the best B-town h ts w th one o nd a s bests DJ Lemon at M am n JW Marr ott An Cha nan w de y known as DJ Lemon n the wor d o mus c s popu ar not on y n nd a but a so n Duba and Europe DJ Lemon s best known
Three young rekkers rom Co aba Mumba were rescued by oca v agers a Mahu or n Thane d s r c a e Sunday n gh As per he Shahpur po ce s a on sources Varun Man N kh Merchan and Ar un Thakur had gone or a rek o Mahu or a ong w h he r dog However hey go os and were rapped near a wa er a API Choudhar and PI San ay Dhuma conveyed he message o oca v agers n Asangon Loca gu de Guruna h Ag wa e and V as Thakur a ong w h 6-7 v agers s ar ed a rescue opera on a around 11 pm A er pu ng n superhuman effor s hey were ab e o rack down he r o and brough hem down sa e y a around 4 am Varun s mo her Nee am Man w h he he p o her r end pu up a no e on one rekk ng group
A man-ea ng eopard ha crea ed havoc n Waghach Wad a v age near Murbad Thane d s r c was sho dead by ores offic a s a Ka band ores area n Tokawade v age on Wednesday even ng A er a ed a emp s o se a rap or ranqu s ng he eopard he offic a s had sough perm ss on rom w d e headquar ers a Nagpur o shoo A eam rom San ay Gandh Na ona Park had been d spa ched o rap he eopard A ong w h hree shoo ers had been sen rom he Thane Rura Po ce The eopard had k ed wo v agers n wo days As per he ores offic a s he eopard was aggress ve and no used o na ura hun ng He was smar enough o avo d cages and raps se by he ores depar men The v agers hus h he pan c bu on and wen on o a ack he ores depar men s aff and vanda sed veh c es
EDITOR
DES N GHT AT M AM
Vardhan Pandhare IT Professional The surrogacy bill has been propagated through a cabinet diktat that is inherently illegal. It is denying the right of a woman to do with her body as she pleases and thus imposes on her Fundamental Rights for quality under the law and her right to privacy. Shreeda Walwadkar Student I feel that the Indian law should change according to the changing times and our leaders should take into consideration the fact that law is the strongest means of conveying progress of the country. Giving rights to people especially the adult women who in thousands are undergoing abuse probably because of lack of education and information will only ensure a better life for women who are still in the lowest social strata. Banning commercial surrogacy is probably not the best solution. They could limit the number of times a woman can be a surrogate and also educating not only women but also men would help in changing the concept of ‘womb on rent’ which highly objectifies women, again. Basically making everyone aware and informed should be included in the bill. Proper medical care would definitely make the process simpler. A right to make an informed decision is what should be the agenda.
s e Sar araz Baghdad o Treks and Tra s Mumba a ong w h Pune-based rekker Onkar Oak carr ed ou he rescue opera on “I have been o he or severa mes so I s ar ed ques on ng hem abou he oca on For una e y hey were smar enough o use he compass and hey n ormed me ha hey were n he sou h-wes d rec on o a Ganpa emp e a he base o he or Th s was a va uab e p ece o n orma on and I d rec ed he rescue eam n ha d rec on ” sa d Onkar
was adm ed o he hosp a a er she comp a ned o o n pa n “I was our son who a er ed me ha he exp ry da e o he bo e o Asa nem g ven mo Anwu was u y 2016 I w m m w Th mmed a e y wen o he med w ca s ore and was surpr sed —N D G — o find ha he s ock o 500 sa ne bo es p aced on he she had crossed he r exp ry da e We n ormed Bhuma a Br gade Ac v s Trup Desa who v s ed he hosp a run by PCB on Sunday Augus 21 n gh ” Neg sa d Lashkar Po ce S a on Sen or Inspec or Vasan Kumar sa d “We have se zed he bo es and odged a comp a n w h FDA We d d no fi e an FIR as he case has o be hand ed by he med ca board ” o n Comm ss oner drug FDA V dyadhar awadekar o d TGS ha a eam was mmed a e y sen o he hosp a o exam ne a med c nes a er rece v ng he comp a n
The husband o a 44-year-o d pa en adm ed o Sardar Va abhbha Pa e Can onmen Genera Hosp a n Camp was shocked o see ha he bo e o sa ne n ec ed n o her body was exp red Fur her nqu ry revea ed ha he hosp a had 500 such bo es a s med ca s ore The qu d bo e s a gener c med c ne Speak ng o TGS pa en s husband San ay Neg sa d ha h s w e An u
AUGUST 20-26, 2016
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY
PUNE
AUGUST 20-26, 2016
PUNE
drive, they all are doing what they can within their limits and maybe sometimes even more. To continue to care about others without expecting anything in return is not something many people can manage. Hats off to their efforts and determination. II -Tanaji Jhombe
Vimal Abhinath Dhavne, at the age of 69, seems to have an unlimited source of energy and enthusiasm. This former principal of a Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) school, retired in 2013. Since then, she has worked ceaselessly for the welfare of needy women in Lohegaon and Viman Nagar. Vimal Tai, as she is fondly known, conducts reading, writing and maths classes for women, in her own home. She also devotes her time to resolve the problems these women face, be it domestic, academic or financial. She teaches the women in batches. “Some of my students learn from their children. Every woman who runs a household should know at least how to count. I teach them everything that they practically need,” she said. “A man is defined by his thoughts and actions. I want women to be heard in their homes, neighbourhood and society. If I touch even one life, my soul will be liberated,” Vimal says. Vimal Tai launched a chit fund for women in Lohegaon area, which has proved to be lifeline for the 20 women members, who now have a source to go to, to deposit their savings, or borrow money when necessary, for groceries, medical expenses or their children’s school fees. Vimal Tai also plays counsellor for women faced with alcoholic or violent spouses, domestic friction, and
The work is its own reward, he does not want anything in return time an idea comes to one’s mind, blog about it.
at times she even personally intervenes to resolve the problem. “I want to liberate women and help them stand on their own feet. I started doing this for my own satisfaction and happiness. I receive a pension which is more than adequate for my needs, so what I do is just out of my passion,” she said. Vimal Tai’s affinity for women’s welfare began when she was graduating in Women’s Studies. Since then she has worked for a number of foundations and NGOs, while working asteacher. She has known many women who wanted to study but never had the chance to. She wants the women she teaches to find jobs or start their own businesses. “I arrange tailoring and craft workshops so that they make articles like bags and earn some money,” she said. Vimal Tai believes that there is nothing worse than being idle. “It will only help you to put on unnecessary weight. It is much better to mingle with people, and participate in activities that benefit the community,” she said. “Retirement has offered me the opportunity to do something I had never done before. I want to invite more people to conduct workshops for the women here. There is a dire need of jobs for women in this part of the city and I want to change that,” said Vimal Tai.
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 20-26, 2016
Brightening others’ lives in their twilight years BY RITUJA RAO AND SUSHANT RANJAN @TGSWeekly
R
etirement is a crossroads that every working human being must come to and cross in the twilight of their career. Individuals deal with the end of a working life in varied and individual ways. While some may plunge gleefully into the prospect of having the rest of their lives to do with it as they please, others may feel a tinge of dread at the notion of having nothing constructive to do. The wiser ones among us have the foresight and ability to
make provisions for the retired phase of life, where, they are assured a pension, or have made investments that will absolve them of financial worries. The less prudent may pay for their thoughtlessness by having to seek out avenues, such as a part-time job, to earn the money to pay their bills. The fortunate ones who have put aside a substantial stash, will be able to indulge in pursuits that they have not had time for, such as travelling around the world. Others may take the opportunity to devote their time and energies to activities or causes they are passionate about. In short, there is no standard pattern that people follow after retirement, but one can say, that
different people find different ways to deal with the retired phase of life. The exceptions, of course, are the people who are endowed with a benevolent and philanthropic nature. They are the ones who will look upon retirement as an opportunity to use their resources and abilities for the benefit and welfare of the less fortunate among us. TGS has zeroed in on five exceptional human beings from the city who are using their retired phase of life to bring cheer and lend a helping hand to the needy people of society. Rather than be dismayed by what just a single person can achieve, or do to change the world for the better,
they are going forth with a positive and plentiful resource of goodwill and uplifting intent. It is not a desire for publicity or fame that motivates them. Rather it is their empathy for the underprivileged, and the desire to put right the wrongs that moves them. Such selfless persons and what they do is what elevates the human race from a dismal, dog-eat-dog existence. They are the ones who prove the truth of the adage, ‘it is better to give than to receive’. They are the ones who may inspire others to follow in their footsteps, and strive to make the world a better place. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
‘Everyone studies, but I want to make my students understand’ Arun Phadnis, 66, who worked at Zandu Pharmaceuticals, took voluntary retirement in 2000, and chose to steer his life in a different direction. A volunteer at Ramakrishna Math, near Dandekar Bridge, Sinhagad Road, Arun has now found an outlet for his love of teaching. “I teach out of liking and as a liability of my existence,” he said. Ramakrishna Math is a social activity centre with a library, hospital and school. Students of corporation schools attend classes here as they are not taught very well at their schools. Arun teaches geography to students from standard IV to X, and spends four hours a week, and two hours a day during vacations and public holidays at the Math. “I want to simplify their lives. Everyone studies, but I want to make my students understand. I explain to them the basics of environmental geography, the reason behind every geographical phenomenon. It is not just about geography, but I teach my students to apply this to their daily lives. Don’t just study, but understand. My classes
are about life and guidance, beyond just geography. I have always tried to instill the value of self-discipline in my students,” he said. Arun’s love for geography and social work has made him very popular with his students. “My colleague who teaches standard XI and XII, told me that my students were very well-prepared and think of me fondly. I believe that I should help others if I can. Any skill should be shared with those who are less fortunate. That is the circle of life,” he said. “Life changes after retirement. Everyone at that age only talks about one thing that is health. But there is a lot you can do even at an advanced age, for anyone in need and for society as a whole. You are born to die. But this way at least I know I have something for others in my life,” Arun said. Arun also runs a campaign against spitting in public. He believes that he owes his good health to the devotion to his cause. People should keep busy even after retirement, he thinks.
Working for the benefit of others
Light of selfless service P9
Thailand hopes political stability in near future P 11
Social worker turns out to be a jewel thief Self-proclaimed social
‘I wish my daughter wasfrom Latur worker being a jewel wearing a helmet confesses on that today…’
thief after being nabbed by Vishrambaug police
Pradeep Niphadkar, journalist and poet, was struck by a load of grief and sorrow when his 27-year-old daughter Pranjali died in a road accident. Pranjali, the mother of a one-and-a-half year-old child, was riding helmetless when she met with an accident on the Rajaram Bridge off Sinhagad Road on September BY7, DNYANESHWAR BHONDE 2015. She succumbed to the head injuries she sustained @dnyanesh1 a few days later. After the tragedy, Pradeep posted the following message on his Facebook page. “Please do not send condolence messages. Instead, gift a helmet to a A and 27-year-old self-proclaimed ‘social girl driving without one, click your selfie with her send it.” worker’ has landed in police custody Shaken by the incident, he resolved to curb the after cheating several jewellers. incidence of road deaths, making an ardent appeal to two-wheeler riders to wear helmets. Pradeep The joined Vishrambaug police have hands with city-based activist Anil Mandrupkar to set nabbed Rajendrakumar Swaruprao up the organisation ‘Helmet Pune’, on January 2, 2016. Gurudhalkar, resident of Sanjay Park Pradeep launched a campaign and sent text messages to all his acquaintances. “It is very important in Lohegaon, and recovered stolen gold for two-wheeler riders to wear helmets, as they can worth Rs 3.80 lakh from be the difference between life and death in caseornaments of an accident. Most road accidents involving two-wheeler him on Monday. riders prove fatal if they are not wearing helmets,” said Gurudhalkar, an Arts and Pradeep. The ‘Give a helmet to your daughter and click Physical a selfie’ stop Education her and request hergraduate, to wear a helmet. My request would campaign has evoked an overwhelming response,and to those responding to my appeal is that they should visit shops ongirlLaxmi Road, countless people gave helmets to their daughters after jewellers not ask the name of the to whom they are gifting it was launched. They also clicked selfies and sent them a as helmet, give their names. The posing a neither rich should and they well-educated to Pradeep. intention should be only to create awareness,” he said. He would tonewspapers, have and He also set up an NGO under the ‘Helmetperson. Pune’ The former journalistclaim still writesfor name, spreading awareness about helmet use through also organises events.crore “People rupees generally take it easy after purchased over one worth this organisation. retirement,butmy work has increased, and I am working ofthatornaments formy mind his fresh fiance. After “I wish my daughter was wearing a helmet on non-stop. I keep by holding events and day. I do not want any other girl or her parentsgaining to go writing in newspapers,” the articles jewellers’ trust,he said. he would through this. Therefore, I appeal to citizens that if Pradeep organises ghazal concerts under the label gold ornaments worth lakhs they see any girl driving without a helmet, they purchase should ‘Ghazal Geet’.
of rupees, and give the jewellers post
dated cheques. He was eventually caught by the Vishrambaug police in one such attempt, and his fraud came to light. The police said that he has cheated several well-known jewellers in Pune, but the victims are wary of filing complaints against him, as it would harm their reputation. Prasad Vasant Nagarkar of ‘Shripad Shankar Nagarkar Jewellers’ on Laxmi Road has filed a complaint of cheating against Gurudhalkar at Vishrambaug police station. After he was nabbed, Gurudhalkar confessed to cheating Nagarkar Jewellers of 13 tolas of gold ornaments worth Rs 4.7 lakh. As per the complaint filed by Nagarkar, Gurudhalkar went to the jewellers shop three days ago, with his second wife Poonam. “He told us that he was marrying Poonam and wanted to purchase gold ornaments worth Rs 1.15 crore,” said the complainant in the FIR. The shop staff showed Poonam some gold ornaments and the couple booked them. Gurudhalkar gave the complainant a cheque. Then the couple took 13 tolas of ornaments worth Rs 4.70 lakh, out of the booked ornaments, and paid only Rs 25,000 through debit card as per the limit of withdrawal.
60 dog bite cases
The Nagarkar jewellers shop on Laxmi Road, which the culprit had targeted
Rajendrakumar Gurudhalkar
“He handed over a post dated cheque, promising to pay the remaining amount to the jewellers and left the shop. He again came to the shop the next day and had tea with them to gain the trust of the jewellers. But when the cheque bounced, they filed a complaint with us,” said Mahendra Patil, assistant police inspector and investigating officer from
social worker in his locality. “He hails from Latur and has been living in Pune for years. He has registered ‘Green Smart India Mandal’ and planted 2-3,000 trees in Lohegaon. People know him as a social worker, and he would help them financially also. He is fluent in English, Marathi and Hindi, which impressed
Vishrambaug police station. After the complaint was filed by the jewellers, the Vishrambaug police swung swiftly into action, and nabbed Gurudhalkar from his residence. He confessed to cheating the jeweller, and during sustained interrogation, confessed that he had committed many such crimes in the past, posing as a
the jewellers,” said API Patil. Police said that Gurdhalkar had also been to Ranka Jewellers, P N Gadgil and Ashtekar Jewellers on Laxmi Road, and tried the same modus operandi, but didn’t succeed. Then he went to Nagarkar Jewellers. Prasad Nagarkar said that the presence of mind shown by them and the police resulted in Gurudhalkar’s arrest. “He had purchased the ornaments from our shop and gave us a cheque the next day. As soon as the cheque bounced, I filed the complaint with the Vishrambaug police station, and they nabbed him. Police have recovered the gold ornaments from him,” said Prasad. The police suspects that Gurudhalkar has cheated several other well-known jewellers from Laxmi Road but no one is coming forward to file complaints against him, fearing for their reputation. “We took Gurudhalkar to almost all the jewellers shops but no one is filing complaints,” said the police officer. Gurudhalkar told the police that he had stolen cheques worth Rs two lakh of Pune District Central Co-operative Bank, from Paud gram panchayat. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@ goldensparrow.com PIC: TEJAS GAIKWAD
Alandi citizens blame authorities for failing to check stray animal menace
STREET LIFE
reported in a day! Who do we trust? BY GUNWANTI PARASTE @gunwantiparaste
While the citizens of Alandi celebrated India’s 70th Independence Day on August 15, the authorities have failed to free the neighbourhood from stray dog menace as the area saw 50-60 dog bite cases on August 18. Owing to the laid-back approach of the authorities, the menace continues unabated in Alandi. The rise in the number of dog bite cases has turned out to be a headache for the civic body. Many victims of dog bite were admitted in different hospitals on Thursday night. About 25 people visited Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporationrun Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH) in Pimpri owing to dog bite. Most of the victims reported that strays attacked them in Alandi main market area. With Alandi municipal hospital facing shortage of dog bite vaccine, the staff referred them to YCMH and other hospitals. A three-year-old girl admitted to YCMH was attacked while she was playing outside her house. Roop Shitolkar (18) of Alandi suffered dog bite when she had gone to the market along with her mother to buy vegetables. Passers-by who tried to
shoo away the animals were also attacked. “I had parked my vehicle in the market area and was walking towards a shop at 7.30 pm when a dog suddenly attacked me and bit my legs and hands. Civic authorities are yet to take the stray dog bite issue seriously,” Namdev Umbarkat (48) said, adding that citizens have filed several complaints to the authorities in vain. Dog bite cases were reported by people who visited Samadhi Mandir. “The threat is so much so that walking on streets has become a nightmare even during daytime. We are helpless. There is nothing we can do to check these animals,” Umbarkat said. “We received about 25 dog bite victims on Thursday night. Some patients were discharged after administering medication,” YCMH Chief Medical Officer Dr Suraj Mahadik. Speaking to TGS, Alandi Municipal Council President Rohidas Tapkir said, “After we were alerted about the dog bite cases, we dispatched staff to catch and vaccinate stray dogs. The civic staff found many strays dead. Efforts are underway to catch strays and leave the animals in the forest area.” gunwanti.paraste@goldensparrow.com
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Soc a worker to beme a or ewe rrespecturns ve oout wha dayth ef great that the media is covering stories s unders and ng he p gh o hose like this as it helps open our eyes to the who have o s eep on emp y s omachs kind of people around us. s hard or me o unders and Wha -Sujata Shah Gee a does s no on y wor hy o A decade of feeding hungry our respec bu some h ng ha we mus mos defin e y earn rom I s peop e on the city streets mporCARS, an BIKES, o reaTRIPS, se GEAR ha she con nues w HONEST, FUN REVIEWS G 60 dog b o h s even when she does no have po d n ood d y or herse and ha on y makes her ac so much more nsp r ng Wh e s easy MON o Os GOON MO Aback and commen on wha she s do ng hard y anyone w ac ua y o ow n her oo s eps Un or una e y h s s where everyone s ops -Bhu han Sarde hmukh Th
Th
TGS LIFE
TANKED-UP TGS LIFE
JUNE 25, 2016 PUNE
JUNE 11, 2016
THRILL OF DRIVING By Tushar Burman @tburman
W
The TUV300 urban SUV gets more punch with a 100hp motor
PUNE
THRILL OF DRIVING
hen we last drove the TUV300 shortly after its launch, it was a pleasant surprise in its package, refinement and general ability around the city. At the time, we didn’t really take it on an extended highway jaunt and probably just as well; you see, in it’s previous guise, the TUV300 came with a modest 75hp output motor, which was fine in urban environs, but didn’t really have punch anywhere in the rev range. That has now changed with Mahindra calling this iteration the mHawk100 motor -- essentially the same thing but now putting out considerably more power and torque, up to 100hp and 240Nm. If you’ve read our previous assessment of the TUV300, not much has changed, save for our experience with other, more recent SUVs in and around the same segment. The TUV300 crossover/hatchback which was globally unveiled in is surprising in its nice interior accoutrements. A great AC, Out back are the jump seats that make this he SUV,urban technically, a very decent infotainment system with Bluetooth and iPod a 7-seater. It’s doable, but not comfortable for long journeys. Then April, Datsun’s Redi-GO finally makes its way to Indian roads. connectivity that works flawlessly, a nice two-tone Dash that again, have you seen how many passengers tourist cabs can pack The Redi-GO runs on a three-cylinder i-SAT engine mated looks contemporary and a quiet cabin that belies the intrinsic into a Scorpio these days? The jump seats fold 799 up andccrear seats nature of a three-cylinder Diesel engine. It should sound and feel fold down to liberate a lot of extra cargo room, you need it.manual transmission. It produces 53 hp, 72Nm of to ashould five-speed rough, but it doesn’t. Nothing in the SUV does. Call us picky but this author is not a fan of the TUV’s torque and delivers a fuel efficiency of 25.17 kmpl. The top speed Of particular interest to us in this new 100hp guise of the aesthetic. I’d prefer the front of the NuvoSport with a squat stance is 140 Kmph and the ground clearance is 185mm. The vehicle on TUV, was the suspension. You see, the Mahindra NuvoSport, instead of sharp corners and the face of Bane, Batman’s formidable which we also recently tested, uses the same engine, but has a foe. That said, with a top-end model, you do get at a nice display thefinish, press launch looked solid, with most details standing up problem with considerable body roll. Not so much with the TUV, decent looking alloys and wheels that fill their wells properly. to scrutiny. While it may be built to a cost, it looks good in the flesh which is controlled and feels more secure at highway speeds. It There are even some nice extras like a start-stop system (well, not andextends doesn’t also feels a bit firmer, but that’s a trade-off we’re willing to make: really nice in our traffic), an eco mode that rangebetray while it’s budget category. some more jerks to the spine in exchange of careening off a cliff sacrificing power, and static cornering lamps, Safety which are aisboon courtesy “Datsun PRO-SAFE7” which includes on a sharp bend. Engine performance is also on par with the when turning the wide vehicle in darkness. In fact, we’re confused braking NuvoSport, but after using the TUV’s manual transmission, we about why these features don’t make it toshortest the NuvoSport, whichdistance, high strength body shell to absorb impacts, ended up missing the AMT of the NuvoSport, which somehow gets cruise control as consolation. But thegood TUV doesn’t. Strange. visibility and wider view of the road, high bolster support while managed to keep things feeling sprightly. Still, it’s evident from the quality of thecornering, interior that the TUV absorbing steering and a driver airbag. energy With the benefit of hindsight and experience, we can also is meant to be a bit more upmarket. But it costs between 10 and Five personalized kit options are available: Urban, Style, Kool, say that the current TUV300 feels a bit heavy to steer compared 16,000 rupees LESS than the NuvoSport. Confused? So are we. to peers like the Vitara Brezza and NuvoSport, but retains the On our extended time with the TUV300, urban and Easy Kit - Premium. Colour options available Easywe’ve Kit done - Sporty surprisingly, far better than the NuvoSport practical turning radius we enjoyed previously. It’s squared-off commuting, Mumbai-Pune highway runs, multi-passenger are: White, Silver, Interior Grey,is,Ruby and Lime. The Datsun Redi-GO design (tank-like, according to Mahindra) has the benefit of outings and cargo runs, and we were unable to run the comes with warranty of 2 years/unlimited km andandthe car allowing excellent visibility while squeezing into tight tank dry, so anecdotally, the mHawk100 engine ais also with follow-me-home lamps, parking sensor other bellscan and be spaces, which the TUV can do despite its width. The quite efficient. Highway runs were usually whistles one expects in a India modern App’. vehicle. Mahindra is churning Verdict booked via cruising mobile app called ‘Datsun breadth manifests in internal space as well, with the between 100 and 120, which is where the vehicle out vehicles rapidly based on what are fast turning out to be + Refinement, front passenger having plenty of shoulder space. feels most comfortable. We’re sure the 240Nm is proven platforms. Perhaps at some point they will also consolidate performance, The rear seat is wide enough for three passengers capable of more sprightly performance, but the vehicles to be less confusing. As a parting googly: you can still buy price as well, though we did hear the odd complaint TUV300 weights 2.2 tonnes, so there’s only so the old, less powerful engine with the TUV300, but the new one - Heavy steering much it can do. The rest of it is up-to-date. Dual costs just Rs 8,000 more, so why would you? about jerks being transmitted up into the spine from rear passengers. airbags and ABS are present, as are keyless entry tushar@goldensparrow.com TGS rating ;;;`2
Datsun Redi-GO launched, starting at Rs 2.38 lac
VW launches Ameo compact sedan Sub-4m three-box starts at Rs 5.14 lac
TGS LIFE
TGS LIFE
TGS LIFE
JULY 30, 2016 PUNE
THRILL OF DRIVING
The story about the social worker who turned out to be a jewel thief is extremely shocking and builds a huge amount of distrust around the entire social worker circuit. It are is inextremely Most PMPML bus stops broken down state sad that because of just one incident the entire community gets a bad name. However this is not the first time and so it most definitely cannot be ignored. How is anyone supposed to trust a stranger posing as a social worker knocking on your door either asking for donations or promising to resolve a problem that you might be facing? It is
Th
MIDDLE CHILD Hardcore performance is great for track days. Audi has a more everyday option By Tushar Burman
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@tburman
Minimal badging on the sides and at either end
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W has finally put a price tag on its sub-4m sedan — the Ameo, and it’s very competitive. Evidently, the company has taken steps to address its reputation in making cars that are costlier to own than the competition. In this case, the Ameo ends up being cheaper than their own Polo hatchback, Currently, the Ameo is availabel only with a petrol engine — the same 1.2l MPI three-cylinder motor we’ve seen before in the Skoda Fabia and VW Polo. A diesel is promised soon. Volkswagen is touting several segment-firsts: rain-sensing wipers, static cornering lamps, cruise control and a centre armrest up front, but the kicker for us is that two airbags and ABS are standard on all variants, which is a big step forward at this price point. Visually, the Ameo looks very similar to its Polo and Vento cousins, with a slightly stubby-looking front and
back. The rear boot is expectedly short, but allows a bit more cargo volume than the Polo hatchback. It’s not the Large plenty prettiest integration of a boot thatboot we’vestores seen, but VW and is easy to access have been understated in their styling of the rear. In a front three-quarter view, the boot does not draw attention to itself, which is probably a good thing. Watch for a detailed review of the made-in-India Ameo next week. Prices:
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udi’s S line of cars don’t get the recognition they deserve. Sitting in between the standard models and the totally performance-oriented RS cars, they sit as the middle child, often overlooked. We have, on occasion, driven the RS5, RS7, even the R8 and come away impressed by the raw power they pack into seemingly standard body styles. But let’s face it: a wolf in sheep’s clothing isn’t likely to make you a nice wool coat. It’d rather eat the coat with you in it. Not so much the car on this page: the S5, which is what Audi calls a “sportback”, basically a sedan with a hatchback rear and more rakish roofline. In terms of size, it sits somewhere between an A4 and an A6 but ends up feeling surprisingly compact. Even in terms of performance potential, you could consider the S5 the middle child. There are sportscars in the lineup that make less power. Why then did Audi feel the need to paint the media car in this lurid yellow, we have no idea. It’s a unique shade for sure, akin to pure printer’s ink
Mo PMPML bu Triumph Bonneville Thruxton R launched for Rs 10.90 lac
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wo months after the release of the Bonneville T120, Triumph has rolled out Thruxton R in the Indian market. The 1200cc Thrurxton R runs on a high power, 8-valve, parallel twin engine generating just over 95hp and 112Nm of torque. This is a higher output version of the mill that powers the T120. The Thruxton R carries feature like ABS, ride-by-wire, traction control, torque assist clutch, LED DRL, LED rear light, an engine immobilizer and a USB charging socket. The bike also has riding modes to choose from: road, rain and sport. The equipment list continues; the Thruxton
R is equipped with Brembo monobloc callipers, Showa big piston forks, Öhlins rear suspension and Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa Tyres. The Thruxton R is priced at Rs 10.90 lac ex-showroom, Delhi. That’s a lot of bike for the money, and should appeal to a wide swath of motorcyclists with it’s “modern classic” vibe. This rounds out the new Bonneville platform with the Speed Twin, Bonneville T120 and Thruxton R coming in at attractive prices and all immediately available. Triumph continues to push aggressively forward in terms of models and marketing. There are more than a few lessons for some other manufacturers to learn.
Legroom is decent at the back. Headroom is a bit tight for taller passengers.
MERCEDES-BENZ GLC LAUNCHED AT RS 50.7 LAC JUNE 18, 2016 PUNE
JUNE 4, 2016 PUNE
expanse of nice, flat luggage area and very easy to access thanks to the hatch opening. It’s a bit like THRILL the Skoda Octavias of old -- looking like sedansOF DRIVING with hatches hiding huge boots. On the go, the S5 is a refined experience. The 7-speed dual-clutch transmission is quick and smooth, and shifts gears with digital efficiency. Press the throttle with aggression and the gearbox quickly shifts down, releasing a nice V6 roar from the quad pipes out back. It’s a chatty car in that it likes to make nice growly noises when provoked, but never overpowers. The sound is enough for feedback and kicks, but does not cause discomfort. High-rev gearshifts release a nice crackle from the exhaust. Paddle shifters are present for those times when you think you know better than the car’s electronics. Driving modes can be chosen between comfort, dynamic, efficiency or tailored to your individual tastes. Ride quality is where the generally luxurious experience breaks, with than anything else and it drew attention wherever the large wheels and relatively low profile tyres it went. Though, we suspect, it would pass under transmitting road imperfections to the passenger. the radar in a more sedate paint job. Few, if any Setting the car in ‘Comfort’ mode didn’t do much external features stand out. You have a typical in this regard. On our favourite, winding hill road, the S5 Audi front grille, headlamps and design language tweaked slightly to accommodate the curvaceous shone with its Quattro permanent all-wheel rear hatch. The red ‘S’ badges are also discreet on drive system. There’s always more grip than you the front and the back. need, and it works well with the performance of Step inside and the treatment is typical Audi. the motor. The specifications will surprise you if “Butat mom! my friends have SUVs with lower and the GL-class). Mercedes provides two If you’ve been in a recent A-type sedan, everything you drive the car before looking theAllbrochure: coefficients!”. IsV6! this a common refrain in engine options: the diesel GLC 220 d outputs is familiar. There’s the MMI screen, central console 329hp and 440Nm from thedrag supercharged your household? Tired of doing the school run 170hp and 400Nm of torque while the petrol We’ve driven much angrier-feeling and ergonomics as expected, but with a small, carsright angles? Mercedes GLC 300 outputs 245hp and 370Nm of torque. in an SUV that has only beendelivers listening tothis you and your burgeoning Officially, Mercedes has launched the with less power. Thhas e S5 fiddly jog dial. The steering wheel also ilk and is readyDespite to address this sticky problem. GLC ‘Edition 1’, which is their traditional was capability with little doesn’t have explicitly labelled phone drama. Verdict One is no longer stuck with the BMW X6 as of saying ‘first batch’. As they’ve done before, being 4.7 metresthelong, controls, which is something that the that S5 slices feelsthrough the air rather the Edition 1 cars come into the country as only SUV + Refinement, bashes itfootprint into submission. CBUs (fully imported). This is Mercedes’ sixth compact with than a small will confuse those coming from performance, The Mercedes-Benz width-wise. Visibility is good andGLC class of vehicles luxury SUV in the country, making their lineup other car brands. Upholstery is in was launched on 2 June, conveniently slotting the most comprehensive among the luxury car unique the flat-bottomed black and dark brown and there feels into thesteering sliver of space left between the GLEpurveyors. - It’s just “nice” class and GLS-class (previously, the ML-class Expectedly, equipment levels are high. nice to till around good surfaces. is much leather on display. There The ORVMs could have done a are some lacquered carbon fibre TGS rating better job showing the sides and rear trim pieces along the door and other ;;;`2 of the vehicle, but that could be down surfaces as well, though we’re not sure if to personal preference. it’s the real thing. The seats are comfortable The Audi S5 has plenty ofIn performance and supportive one-piece units for the front, lending a surprise move, Mahindra launched vehicle from 0-80% charge in 1 hour and an all-electric feeling version of its Verito sedan, 45 minutes, is reserved only for the top (D6) a sporty look without being uncompromisingly potential, but keeps everything the eVerito, on 2 June. Mahindra variant. Fast charging needs to be done an odd, middle hardcore like the near-race seats you’d find in a comfortable and luxurious. It isdubbed claims that the sedan can go 110km on a at one of Mahindra’s designated charging sports car. child and we imagine it will have takers than fullless charge. The manufacturer is claiming stations, while a standard full charge takes costsbecause as low as Rs 1.15/km. 8 hours and 45 minutes using a 15-amp sedans Rear legroom is good for a person of my size more overt sportscars or luxuryrunning e eVerito also phones home home plug. Other features include (5’9”) but then, few grown men are actually my of the niche it occupies. That’sThan opportunity with a variety of information regenerative braking and a Claims a diff erent. size, so we’d suggest a seating capacity of four for for the buyer who wants something (Telematics). Fleet sales seem feature called REVIVE, which range of to becomes a likely target, especially is basically an 8km power maximum comfort. At least one passenger we rode Certainly no other car we’ve seen in this considering the aging Verito/ reserve for emergencies. You 110km on a with commented on how his i20 felt more spacious shade. At just north of Rs 69 lac ex-showroom, Logan platform. The eVerito don’t get airbags in any variant. full charge in the back. Again, apart from the “sport” theatre, the price will give you pause. You can buy more in key is available immediately Performance is about New Delhi, adequate for city use, which is there is little else to talk about. Open the hatch spacious luxury cars for less, or cities: more overt sports Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, where Mahindra is pitching the and it’s another world. Literally! Audi claims 480 cars for as much. Stuck in the middle again. Pune, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and eVerito. Top speed is claimed at 86kmph tushar@goldensparrow.com litres of cargo space, and we believe them. It’s a vast Nagpur. and the 110km range is dependent on load. Dash is usual Audi fare. Dark two-tone upholstery and carbon trim look sporty
THRILL OF DRIVING
Marks the sixth luxury SUV that Mercedes sells in India
AMEO=POLO PLUS By Tushar Burman @tburman
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ack in 2009, when Volkswagen introduced the Polo in India, it was a breath of fresh air. At the time, the go-to car for the segment was the Maruti-Suzuki Swift, and while the Fabia did exist to represent a European contender, it was deemed too odd and expensive for what it offered. Volkswagen was reeling from problems with the Skoda brand’s service and cost complaints and didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes with VW. Fast-forward to 2016 and anecdotally, VW cars are still considered expensive to run (they’re not; this author owns a petrol Polo). VW has taken specific note of this sentiment with the Ameo compact sedan, and has launched it for a very competitive price, even slightly undercutting the Polo hatchback! How they’ve achieved this was not immedi
Eighteen-inch alloys are standard. Mercedes will provide an optional off-road engineering package that raises the ride height by 20mm and offers three additional ride modes: offroad, incline and slippery. Five drive modes are standard in the GLC: Comfort, Eco, Sport, Sport+ and Individual. Hill descent control is standard as well. We also see the use of Mercedes’ new 9G-TRONIC nine-speed auto transmission. Slotting in below their range-topper, the GLC understandably gets plenty of comfort and convenience features. There’s a panoramic
sunroof, ambient lighting with switchable colours and levels, cargo bars behind the rear seat that liberate another 30 litres of luggage space and what Mercedes calls an EASYPACK tailgate. DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION YET? Safety is typical Mercedes fare: ABS, ESP, Crosswind-assist, PRE-SAFE, Attention Assist, Active Parking Assist, 7 airbags, LED headlamps and adaptive tail lamps. All this could be yours at Rs 50.7 lac for the diesel GLC 220 d, and Rs 50.9 lac for the GLC 300 petrol, ex-showroom, Pune.
op a e n b oken down a e Mahindra launches all-electric eVerito
The eVerito will be available in three variants with marginal differences between them. Unusually, fast-charging ability, which Mahindra claims can charge the
Prices start at Rs 9.5 lac ex-showroom, Delhi, for the D2 variant after state and FAME subsidies. The D4 and D6 variants cost Rs 9.75 and 10 lac respectively.
VISHAL KALE
Last week’s spotlight about Punekars who have retired and are helping others was such a pleasant read. It truly feels nice waking up and reading a story that has the potential to inspire all age groups. The fact that they could easily sit at home and not be bothered about things happening round them since they have already done their share and yet continue to care is extremely commendable. Be it Vijay Nakhle who was teaches self-defense or Pradeep Niphadkae who runs the gift a helmet
PUNE
‘‘The administration aims to make the city free of open defecation by the end of December. The administration will soon commence the work of building 5,000 community toilets to achieve this target.’’ - Kunal Kumar, PMC commissioner
Sumrit Shahi Authorm and N w Screenwriter Thew draft law on surrogacy itself contradicts the idea and meaning of being in a democracy. It is not Share only outrightly your regressive but is also a hugewor stepdback in not only providing equal of books rights Uto gay couples but also to single parents w and live in couples. I mean you’re telling me, based on my individual value system or by whatever force of nature, I’m a single parent or not contractually bound by a marriage certificate, I won’t be allowed to experience fatherhood? So much for ache din? Saffron is a sacred bright color, stop tainting it in shades of black.
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‘I want to liberate women and help them stand on their own feet’
Retirement can be a daunting prospect or a pleasurable one, depending on the individual’s outlook. But there are those who are determined to make their retirement phase a blessing for others, in whatever way they can
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Light of selfless service
THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY
when no one else will. I train them in physical education, sports and karate, but most importantly, I am teaching them to be fearless. Do not tolerate injustice but fight back, I tell them. I believe that crimes occur when the victim is fearful. I want to prepare the girls to deal with the worst of situations. If a girl complains of physical pain, I tell her to train harder the next day. Pain is a sign of progress. If a woman finds herself in a situation where she is being physically abused, she should at least have the strength to resist and escape. I teach my students to fight back,” he said. Society must undergo a radical change so that women will be treated as equals, he thinks. Touched by the helplessness of womenfolk in slum areas, Vijay knew he was eminently qualified to give them a helping hand, and train them to defend themselves. “It is a priceless reward when I feel that I have taught someone to become fearless. So I don’t want anything in return, except for the satisfaction of being able to help someone in need,” Vijay said.
Mansha K Shaad prom ses to be a r ot o aughter and w t as the so o p ay n H nd per ormed by Aart T war un o ds the de cate drama o a mother-daughter re at onsh p dur ng the daughter s wedd ng So take the unny route nto the e o Du ar T war a m dd e-aged nd an housew e whose daughter Mansha s about to get marr ed – as years o prayers and asts have fina y borne ru t or Du ar but wedd ngs are such rag e th ngs For wh e Du ar s determ ned to see Mansha sett ed n wed ock Mansha has other p ans When August 27 Where Gyaan Adab Ka yan Nagar
500 EXPIRED SALINE BOTTLES FOUND IN CANTONMENT-RUN HOSPITAL
‘Life has given me lot and I want to give back to society whatever I can’
‘It is a priceless reward when I can teach someone to become fearless’
Murtaza Saifudin IT Professional Let not Mr Modi’s theme of Make in India be misunderstood. We have a strong culture and value system in India and let us not start surrogacy as a Make in India concept. The surrogacy cannot become a business and it has to be a noble cause and let our soil and poverty be misused by other countries to exploit anything and everything for money. Taking the argument further, they could also advocate selling of organ as a business by the donor. When such practices are not allowed in many countries we need not be different. We do not want foreign investment or tourism in this name.
TREKKERS RESCUED AFTER FIVE-HOUR SEARCH
MAN-EATING LEOPARD SHOT DEAD IN MURBAD
LETTERS TO THE
The Indian government has unveiled a draft law which would ban commercial surrogacy. If approved by parliament, the law will also ban people who do not hold an Indian passport, as well as Indian single parents and gay people, from having children through surrogacy. We ask Puneites their take on the issue
MANSHA K SHAAD
VISHAL KALE
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Vijay Nakhle, 51, was a subhedar in the Indian Army before retiring in 2014. He operated tanks during his service. He was always involved in sports and physical education courses at centres like the Army Physical Training Centre, Wanowrie. When he retired, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He started giving self-defence and karate lessons to girls in the slums of Vishrantwadi. “I want to help them become strong mentally and physically. If you want to be strong tomorrow, you must start today. I want to change the way society looks at these girls from the downtrodden areas of the city,” he said. Vijay is training 32 teenage girls for an hour daily after school. He feels that these girls from the slums need self-defence training more than girls from the more affluent strata of society, owing to the dismal living conditions in the slums, where women are perceived as a commodity, and crimes against women are commonplace. “The girls I teach will be able to protect themselves
Abstract pa nt ngs and draw ngs are a p ayground o v sua de ghts and has the ab ty to express what other v sua art sty es cannot T t ng Art Ga ery br ngs to you S ngaar a remarkab e co ect on o around 24 pa nt ngs by Madhu S ngh an acc a med abstract and geometr c art st rom Mathura Touch ng the emot ons n a resh raw and power u y d rect way Madhu has brought together a v v d co ect on o abstract and geometr c art When T August 3 Where T t ng Art Ga ery shanya Off A rport Road
D RECTOR FOCUS – STANLEY KUBR CK
SHAKESPEARE AT H S BEST
have been fortunate and life has given me lot to be thankful for. Now I want to give back to society whatever I can,” he said. Pune, over the last two decades, has had an exponential growth in terms of vehicles on the roads, which has made commuting in the city an ordeal, no less. Ghuge wanted to do what he could to help ease the situation. “I do not have a desire to be in a position of power, and enforce the traffic rules, and punish the offenders. The fact of the matter is that a lot of road-users are unaware of the traffic rules, and it is such people I can help by making them aware of the rules. I educate them as a fellow citizen and not as a figure of authority,” he said. “I am asked questions like ‘Can I enter this one way?’, ‘Do I have to stop at this signal?’, ‘Why is the signal red?’, all the time, and it is a rewarding feeling to inform and educate people,” he said. Ghuge has not missed a single day at work, except for the times he was out of town, or was unwell. After all these years, his is a familiar face and a lot of people know him, and appreciate what he is doing. “I always tell the people I accost for violating rules, that what I am doing is for their own benefit, so that they can drive safely, and reach home safely. Most people respond to me amicably, and do not take offence at my admonition,” he said. Ghuge has no intentions of taking it easy, even at the age of 83. “I will continue doing this until my health doesnot allow me,” he said. “As a matter of fact, my recent medical check-up at Sahaydri Hospital was all clear, and everything was normal. You’ll be healthy if you have a healthy mind and a will to live for others,” he said.
VOX POPULI
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Vasantrao Ghuge, 83, has a simple formula that he lives by. “I go and lend a helping hand wherever I know there is a problem,” he says with a determined glint in his eyes. This former employee of Hindustan Antibiotics was not willing to lead a life of leisure after he retired. Instead, he offered his services voluntarily to work as a traffic controller at busy intersections of Pune city, such as Sawardhan Chowk, Neelam Chowk and University Road. “I am a believer in discipline, and I have the urge to do social work. By working as a traffic controller, I believe that I am doing a constructive job that also benefits the citizens, as the over-congestion of vehicles on the city’s streets is a peril that city dwellers face every day of their lives.” Where there’s a will there’s a way, he believes. He even volunteers at a cancer hospital when he is not on traffic duty. “People can do a lot after retirement if they want to instead of just waiting for the end,” he said. Ghuge works for two hours in the morning, and three hours in evening. Coming to the assistance of the overworked and understaffed traffic police is like a calling to him. “I go wherever there is a traffic jam, or where the volume of traffic has created a troublesome situation,” he said. Assisting the traffic police since 1995,+ Ghuge has been given an honorary traffic police uniform by the department, as a token of gratitude for his years of service. “I’ve been offered money as a reward for doing the job, or a regular salary, but I have never taken it, as I am not doing this for any material reward,” said Ghuge. The work is its own reward, he thinks, and he really does not expect anything in return. “I
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A tent made of coloured cloth serves as home and shelter for this family. The girls who study in a PMC school, use a battery-powered lamp to do their homework. They live in the Bibwewadi area, on Gangadham Road
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New PMPML CMD briefed about the transport body’s current situation, which shows that 3,500 of its 5,000 bus stops are in a state of disrepair BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar
Dhule District Collector A B Misal took charge asChairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) from Abhishek Krushna, on August 16. Soon after taking charge, Misal ordered officers of PMPML departmentsto brief him about PMPML’s current situation. The briefingshowsthat PMPML has 5,000 bus stops in Pune and PimpriChinchwad, of which 3,500 bus stops have no sheds, sheds were broken, seats were missing, and beggars were taking shelter under some stops. PMPML commuters have had to bear the brunt of the rains due to the lack of sheds at bus stops.
The only public transport for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad,more than 12 lakh people travel by PMPML buses daily,on its 1550 buses. PMPML hasrecently decidedto purchase 1550 new buses for its fleet. Jugal Rathi of PMP Pravasi Manch, said, “PMPML bus stops do not havesheds, some sheds are broken and have not been replaced,which
has added to commuters’ woes this rainy season. Many bus stops do not have bus time tables,which is also an inconvenience. The new PMPML CMD will have to take immediate stepsto resolve these issues.” About these issues, PMPML CMD Misal said, “I took charge as CMD just a few days ago. I have been briefed about the current situation by
headsof all PMPML departments like operation, traffic, engineering and maintenance accounts. The PMPML bus stops are in a bad condition, sheds of many bus stops are broken and have not been repaired. The monsoons are not over, so I have order prompt repairsof such bus stops. We are facing operational losses daily, so our main focus is to minimise them, and bring
A large, comfortable V8 grand tourer at an attractive price. We drive the Ford Mustang GT at the BIC
more buses on the road.” l Total PMPML bus stops: 5000 l Bus stops which have sheds: 1500 l Bus stops that do not have sheds: 3500 l Stops in good condition: 500 Steel shed bus stops: 130 l Leaking bus stops/seats stolen: 1000 tushar.rupanavar@ goldensparrow.com
The Mahindra NuvoSport is a friendly, practical compact SUV at a good price. The automatic is a bonus
Royal Enfield finally gives us a bike puspose-built for the Himalayas, a traditional pilgrimage for Bulleteers
Don't be fooled by the bland spec sheet. The Kawasaki Versys is a great all-round bike at a good price
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A saviour indeed Ha ng rom an affluen am y and a ways hav ng ood o ea
PUNE
PMPML’s sorry state
There s no much ha one can say abou he pub c ranspor o Pune The buses are never on me and he
au o-r ckshaw dr vers do no a ways ake you where you wan o do I you do no know your way abou rave ng by bus s he mos d cu ask you w ake on yourse G ven h s here are s nnumerab e peop e who rave rom one p ace o ano her by PMPML every s ng e Th s has a huge number o o d peop e as we and he ac ha he bus s ops don have space or he sen or c zens o res n he hours ha akes or he r bus o arr ve s some h ng ha needs o change a he ear es The s ory abou how a mos 3500 bus s ops are no n a good s a e ou o he 5000 ha are here n he c y was an eyeopener and some h ng ha mus be addressed a he ear es -U ha Podar
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Le er o he Ed or may be ema ed o ed or_ g @go den parrow om yoge h adhwan @go den parrow om or ma o The Ed or Go den Sparrow Pub h ng Pv L d 1641 Madhav Her age T ak Road Pune-411030
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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
PUNE
“If you keep winning tournaments, you automatically become number one. I will have to definitely work hard and give my best.” — PV Sindhu, Olympic Silver Medalist Shuttler
Signposts Ashish grabs gold in taekwondo Ashish Bhosale of Lokmanya Tilak School won the gold medal in the under-25 weight category districtlevel taekwondo competition organised by District sports council. This is third title for Ashish in this competition. He trains with Ramakant Sharma.
Parth, Sakshi win table tennis titles Parth Chaphekar and Sakshi Pawar emerged winners in the under-10 age group of the Sudesh Shelar Memorial district ranking table tennis tournament held at Deccan Gymkhana. Top seeded Parth defeated third seed Adwait Dhawle in the decider, while Sakshi prevailed over top seeded Radhika Sakpal.
Deccan win ‘dawn to dusk’ basketball Deccan A team, riding on super performances from Deepak Pawar (8) and Siddhant Shinde (7), defeated Baramati Boys 21-13 in the final of Modern Past Association organised dawn to dusk one-day basketball tournament recently. Earlier in the semis, Baramati defeated PYC 20-11, while Deccan proved better than Akshay Bhosale Gymkhana 31-27.
“ This is a team of high quality. Sometimes the results don’t accurately display the performance. In this case, I think the team has learnt a lot. It deserves a short break, and then, very soon, it will be back to the grind.” — Roelant Oltmans, Indian Men Hockey Team Chief Coach
Dream week for Pune boys
VISHAL KALE
Two young footballers from the city have been selected for training under FC Bayern Munich coaches in Germany for a week BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish ‘Dreams can turn into reality if you have grit and determination to achieve it,’ turned out to be a true for Sirish Varghese and Raunak Nagul, who are travelling to Germany to train under FC Bayern Munich coaches. Allianz SE, the official partner of FC Bayern Munich, has selected five talented youngsters from India. Two Pune boys along with Rumais TK and Alphin Walter (Kochi), Chandan Nayak (Bhubaneswar) headed for Germany on Thursday. Sirish started playing football since standard III and he plays with the Pune FC under-15 team. A student of Vidya Bhavan School, Model Colony, he is well appreciated by his friends for scoring brilliantly. On the other hand, Raunak started playing football at an age when his friends would probably be learning how to spell it. The 15-year-old Pune boy fell in love with the sport when he was just three. At the age of nine, he was the youngest player in the senior division of Pune District Football
Association. He scored in his debut match. He has represented his school, St Vincent’s School in various tournaments. He is big fan of Irish footballer Roy Keane. Both youngsters were excited about the selection and couldn’t hide their emotions when they said that they would be meeting FC Bayern Munich stars like Thomas Muller, Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer. FC Bayern Munich is one of the biggest clubs in the world football, and training with the world class infrastructure of the German powerhouse is the dream of many children across the globe. “Though a week’s period is too little to explore everything, getting there and witnessing these players in action is something like a dream come true. It will be the most memorable week of our lives,” they said. The winners were selected by Sunil Chhetri, captain and all-time top goal scorer for the Indian national team, Ishu, Head Coach for Star Football Academy, and Vivek Nagul, former Assistant Coach of Chennaiyan FC - ISL. In
addition, the top 60 youngsters, who played in the fi nale, were given trophies and certificates. About the selection, Raunak said, “We knew that there would be tremendous tough fight to be in the top seven from Pune. We have immense talent in Pune and over 5000 players turned up for the selection. So, qualifying for the national selection was a huge task for us.” “Before the fi nal selection, the selectors told us that they would not just analysis our skills. They told us that they would observe how we communicated with other players who had come from different backgrounds, states and languages, how we moved with or without the ball, and our attitude on the ground,” said Sirish. However, the most important piece of advice was from Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri. “He told us that we no longer represented our school, club or state, but we would represent India now. We must show what footballing talent India has got, learn as much as we possibly can and be disciplined,” said Sirish. ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com
Sirish Varghese (left) and Raunak Nagul are two of the five players selected by the Club from India
DSK Shivajians enter Durand Cup Will be the second team from city after Pune FC to feature in oldest tournament in India
TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly
TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly DSK Shivajians Football Club begins their 2016-17 season by making their debut in the historic 128th Durand Cup Football Tournament, to be held in New Delhi from August 28. DSK Shivajians FC will be the second team from the city to ever participate in third oldest football tournament in the world and the oldest football tournament in India, tracing its first edition back to 1888. Earlier Pune FC had participated in this tournament in 2013. This year’s edition makes a comeback after a one-year of hiatus and will be played at two venues, the Ambedkar Stadium and Harbaksh Stadium, in New Delhi. The team will reach Delhi following their preseason friendly against Bengaluru FC at the KSFA Stadium in Bengaluru. The team, led by new first team manager, Dave Rogers go into the tournament after a strenuous threeweek pre-season which commenced in the first week of August 2016. Juan Quero returned to DSK Shivajians FC after impressive performances in the club’s debut I-League season.
Barcelona’s Eidur is marquee player
SQUAD Goalkeepers: Rakshit Dagar, Sayak Barai Defenders: Zohmingliana Ralte, Maan Singh, Mohd. Sajid Dhot, SairuatKima, Lalnunsiama Midfielders: Biaklian Paite, Ameya Ranawade, Shane McFaul, Gagandeep Singh, Vanlalremkima, Surchandra Singh Chandam, Hitova Ayemi, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Rohit Kumar Forwards: Arif Shaikh, Juan Quero, Kim Song Yong, Lalawmpuia Staff : Dave Rogers (fi rst team manager), Barry Knowles (assistant manager), Kaizad Ambapardiwalla (fi rst team coach), John Andrews (strength and conditioning coach), Ravi Sarkar (physiotherapist), Parwez Desai (analyst). Irish youth international midfielder Shane McFaul also joined the ranks at the club midway through August. Sticking to his philosophy of promoting youth, Dave Rogers also provided opportunities to eleven players from the Liverpool FC International Academy – DSK Shivajians to be a part of the
20-member first team squad. The Pune-based club will face Sporting Club de Goa in the opening match of the tournament on August 28. The tournament, which will conclude on September 11, will see twelve teams, divided into two groups of six, vie for the top honors.
Top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals. The teams in fray include, six first timers, namely, Aizwal FC; Neroca FC; Gangtok Himalayan FC; Minerva AFC and Real Kashmir FC apart from DSFC; seasoned campaigners, Sporting Club De Goa and Dempo SC. Four teams from the Indian armed forces namely Army Green, Army Red, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy complete the lineup. DSK Shivajians FC is placed in Group A along with the likes of Gangtok Himalayan, Army Green, Indian Navy, Sporting Club de Goa, and Minerva Academy. Group B comprises of last year’s I-League side Aizawl FC, Dempo FC, Real Kashmir FC, Neroca FC along with Indian Air Force and Army Red. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
The Rajesh Wadhawan Group and Hrithik Roshan co-owned Indian Super League team FC Pune City announced their marquee player signing former Chelsea and Barcelona star Eidur Gudjohnsen as its marquee player for the 2016 edition of the league. The 37-yearold was a part of the Chelsea side that won the Premier League twice in a row in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and also won La Liga and Champions League with Barcelona in 2008-09. Speaking at the introduction of champion striker, Gaurav Modwel, CEO of FC Pune City said, “To me Eidur is a true marquee who will be an inspiration to the rest of the squad. He has made valuable contributions to every team he has been a part of – Chelsea, Barcelona or Iceland National team. I am anxious to witness his sublime touches and creative vision which could unsettle any defence. I am sure that both as a world class player and a thorough gentleman he will leave a lasting impression on fellow players, fans, and Indian football lovers at large.” The Iceland legend started his club career with Valur in in Reykjavík in 1994 season. From 1995, he played for PSV in the Netherlands until 1998. He made his national senior team debut came at the age of 17 against Estonia in Tallinn
Our athletes are closing down the gap: Lalita The steeplechase athlete feels her experience in Rio will come in handy for Tokyo 2020 TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly Lalita Babar, the 27-year-old longdistance runner, created history in Rio Olympics when she qualified for the final of the 3000-metre steeplechase event. In the process, she became the fi rst Indian athlete after PT Usha, who had qualified for the 400m hurdles in 1984 at Los Angeles. It has taken 32 years for another
Indian athlete to make the final, but the Satara girl feels that the standard of athletics in India is improving and our players are closing down the gap. “We are almost there. The way Indian athletes are improving their timing and performing in various tournaments, I am sure in Tokyo 2020, we will have a medal in athletics,” she said. Lalita, who hails from the tiny village of Mohi in Maan taluka in
Satara district, stated that she was looking forward to the next Olympics. “There is absolutely no time to boast about the performance in Rio. We have the Asian Games ahead, followed by the World Championship. So, I will take a month’s break to spend some time with my family and then will join my coach Nicholas Sansari for the rigorous schedule,” she said. About the experience in Rio, she said, “The feeling to compete with the best athletes in the world is something that can’t be explained. We worked hard for the medal but a series of incidents created obstacles for us. First
it was the Zika virus, which stopped us from training at the venue much in advance. Our plan was to train for four weeks in the USA and then shift to Rio to get used to the track and other conditions, but we just got a couple of days. Secondly, I had injured my knee in the earlier hurdle and it was swollen. So it was making it difficult to give it my best shot. Yet I am satisfied with my performance.” She also spoke about the controversy regarding her fellow athlete OP Jaisha. “I came to know about the incident quite late as I was preparing
for my event. So nobody told me what was happening. However, I just don’t understand how water was not provided to a marathon runner. It’s the most essential thing,” she said. Lalita also criticised the Maharashtra Olympic Association and Athletics Federation for not acknowledging her efforts. “When I returned, I received a huge welcome from the common man, but not a single official from the federation bothered to come there. I feel being an athlete you need a constant support to improve the performance,” she said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
in April 1996 when he came on as a half-time substitute for his own father, Arnor. Expressing his joy on joining FC Pune City, Gudjohnsen said, “There were other Eidur Gudjohnsen clubs interested in me but when FC Pune City show their interest, intent and plans, I knew this was it. I have the confidence of the coach and will ensure that they find it difficult to leave me out. Everyone needs to be motivated to succeed, and I have the same aim here. I love the sport. I still love going to training every day.” In 1998, the forward joined Bolton Wanderers in England. And in his second season with the Trotters he became their top-scorer with 21 goals. This secured a £4m transfer to Chelsea in the summer of 2000. After two successive title wins with Chelsea, scoring scored 78 goals in 263 appearances for Chelsea, Gudjohnsen joined European champions Barcelona in the summer of 2006. And his stay at the Catalan giants saw the club winning the treble in 2009. Later, he had an emotional return to Bolton in 2014, exactly 14 years after he left them to join Chelsea. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com VISHAL KALE