The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 27/12/2014 by Golden Sparrow Publishing

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PUNE, DECEMBER 27, 2014 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

TGS LIFE

Countdown to the new year’s eve party

PUNE’S PEOPLE WITH A PURPOSE

SPORTS

‘Stop asking me about my retirement’ P-16

Anil Mandrupkar is educating villagers on sanitation P-2

Wildlife sanctuary at Tamhini under threat

RAHUL RAUT

YEAR END SPECIAL

Your city’s best kept secrets

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Three NGOs have decided to file a petition in the Green Tribunal to draw attention towards the rampant construction in the Tamhini Ghat region

Widespread construction of farmhouses and roads at Tamhini Ghat

Osho Teerth Park, Koregaon Park

As we rush about our urban lives day in and day out, we scarcely find time to discover new places in our midst. We often go to the same hangout joints as our repository of interesting places is limited. Here’s a guide to the little known, tried and tested nooks and corners in your city and what’s special about them. See Spotlight, p 8 & 9

Baner-based Sokrati goes the ‘billion dollar baby’ way This ad technology and analytics start-up has been selected by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Silicon Valley, for its highly-valued mentorship initiative BY YASH DAIV @yash009 A prominent technology start-up from Pune, Baner-based Sokrati, is among the three Indian firms selected by the

internationally and multiply its valuation significantly. This development has caused much excitement in the company and in the world of start-ups in Pune and rest of the country. Established by Indian entrepreneurs

Sokrati, was started by Ashish Mehta, Santosh Gannavarapu and Anubhav Sonthali in 2011. The trio previously worked at Amazon as product manager, affi liate marketing professional and programme manager

To build credibility for our products and to eventually expand will be our ultimate goal. ASHISH MEHTA, CO-FOUNDER, SOKRATI Santosh Gannavarapu

Anubhav Sonthalia

Silicon Valley chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) for its “billion dollar baby” initiative. Under this mentorship programme, TiE will assist Sokrati to expand

Ashish Mehta

based in Silicon Valley, TiE is a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals which seeks to foster entrepreneurship and nurture entrepreneurs.

respectively. Sokrati today is Google’s largest supported partner in India. It has built proprietary algorithms to manage performance driven marketing and social and display networks. Contd on p 10

CHILD LABOUR IN OUR MIDST RAHUL RAUT

This was the sight at Lakdi Pul, Karve Road signal on Thursday. A number of children are selling toys and trinkets on city roads, awaiting someone to rescue them from their plight (See p 4)

BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal

and diverse selection of flora and fauna, not to mention its scenic beauty which

The Tamhini Wildlife Sanctuary is under serious threat owing to the rapid development of its surrounding areas, which in recent times has seen the coming up of numerous farmhouses. A part of the Sahyadri range of mountains, the Tamhini Ghat was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in January 2013. Situated 70 kilometres from Pune, the ghat is home to a rich

draws tourists and visitors, especially in the monsoons, when it is dotted by waterfalls. The sanctuary is home to 28 species

of mammals, 150 bird species, including 12 Indian endemic birds, 72 butterfly species, 18 species of reptiles, 33 species of invertebrates, and rare flora. Among its wildlife is the Kondana Rat, which is an endangered species, and the state animal of Maharashtra, the Indian Giant Squirrel, commonly known as Shekaru. The extensive construction in the area could endanger the biodiversity of the sanctuary. Contd on p 10

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

PUNE

“Earning money minus the freedom to spend it is not empowerment. How about maids who come and work at our homes? They earn but are they free to spend what they earn. We certainly can’t call them empowered?” —Shabana Azmi

Younger children have shown much talent P4

Nurturing the value of entrepreneurship among students P7

For sustainability and sanitation Lions Club Pune Ecofriends (LCPE) has undertaken a cleanliness drive at Sinhagad fort and built toilets in Arvi village BY RESHMA SALUNKHE @_rashmipk

He has been an active member of the Lions Club International since 1988. In 2005, the Lions Club International had organised an ecofair with the Pune Municipal Corporation at the Sambhaji Udyan, Jangli Maharaj Road. About 2,000 students from 111 schools participated in the two-day fair. The fair primarily focused on rain water harvesting and recycling waste products. T h o u g h Mandrupkar was involved in social work, he wanted to focus particularly on environment. He gathered like-minded people and in July 2006, formed the Lions Club of Pune Ecofriends (LCPE). It is a sub-unit of the Lions Club International Foundation.

The LCPE received the Rashtrapati Award in 2008 for their toilet project

RAHUL RAUT

Lions Club Pune Ecofriends (LCPE) has undertaken a campaign to clean up the premises of the historic forts around Pune. Charter president Anil Mandrupkar launched the drive at Sinhagad fort, in August 2014. As a first step, the vendors at Sinhagad were persuaded to assume the responsibility of maintaining cleanliness around their carts or stalls, and to ensure that their customers did not litter the place. Dustbins and even fire extinguishers have been provided to ensure cleanliness and safety. The LCPE has planned the creation of Nakshatra, a garden with medicinal plants like Sandalwood and Teak in April 2015, at Sinhagad. Nature has always been close to Anil Mandrupkar’s heart. As a marketing manager in Cummins India, he travelled and stayed across the country for over 15 years. Having an option of living a lavish life doesn’t really attract him. He rather prefers to be simple

with minimal needs and set forth a sustainable life for the gen next. Deeply in love with nature, Mandrupkar is also drawn to social service. After the Morbi floods in Gujarat in 1977, Mandrupkar and a group of friends, raised money to rehabilitate the flood affected.

Its members include Sunil Bhate, Ajay Phatak, Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Shirodkar, and Ashok Mago. THE SUCCESS STORY LCPE has also adopted the village of Arvi near Khed-Shivapur, with a population of 3,000. Since 110 of the 200 families did not have their own toilets, the LCPE, on August 15, 2006, undertook the construction of toilet blocks. Of the Rs 7,000 needed for each block, Rs 4,000 was contributed by LCPE. Village sarpanch Balasaheb Ghogare has made villagers aware of the health hazards of defecation in the open. “The people have to maintain the toilet blocks, as they need to understand the importance of hygiene,” Ghogare said. Dr Ajit Karanjkar, public health centre officer, has vouched for the benefits of the toilet project, with a marked decline in malaria and diarrhoea among the villagers. The LCPE received the Rashtrapati Award for this project, in 2008. The LCPE has undertaken similar projects at Kondhur near Mulshi, Bhivri near Saswad, and Kalyan village near Shivapur. These villages have been provided sanitation facilities under ‘Nirmal Gram Project’, in collaboration with the PMC. The LCPE also launched a cleanliness drive at railway stations on October 2, when stickers with a cleanliness logo were put on passengers’ luggage. Mandrupkar names Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan as his mentor. She has adopted Sadumbare, Bhare, Kalyan and Arvi villages under the Sansad Gram Yojana. rashmikawad@gmail.com

Anil Mandrupkar explaining the importance of hygiene to villagers at Bhivri

Women, children from A friend who leads them slums get a helping hand to a better future

Snehalaya has been working for the upliftment of destitute women and also educating poor children BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal

Every child should get an equal opportunity to find his own potential and every destitute woman should be rehabilitated in society with dignity. With this as motto, Snehalaya fi xed its roots in Pune in 2012. It was initially started in Ahmednagar in 1989 by Dr Girish Kulkarni at the age of 18. The NGO provides free healthcare to destitute women and children in need, Shubhangi Koparkar and also works for their rehabilitation. Snehalaya launched its Sharda Balbhavan at Santoshnagar slums, Katraj, on October 2, 2012. Since then, the Sharda 24x7 helpline, with the numbers 9011033011 and 9422020610, has received calls from 250 women, whom the centre has been helping, said Sachin Madane, the co-ordinator of helpline. The women have been victims of dowry demands and sexual and mental harassment, by their spouses or families. The centre has also received calls and has been helping women in Ahmednagar, Latur, Mumbai and Aurangabad. Snehalaya also caters to children with special needs, unwed mothers, rape and sexual assault victims, those afflicted with HIV/AIDS, and victims of human trafficking. Snehalaya team member Shubhangi Koparkar said, “Before

Generous act

Pune-based elderly couple, Sujata and Gajanan Desai have donated a 3,000 square foot plot of land to Snehalaya, in memory of their daughter, who died in a road accident. A home for shelterless women is now under construction at the site. Women from Pune are sent to the Ahmednagar centre, but will be housed here after the building is ready.

initiating our project in Pune, our team surveyed 300 families living in the Santoshnagar slums at Katraj. With the findings of the survey, we have been involving the children of the slums in creative activities, and providing work for needy women, to enable them to stand on their own feet.” A study centre called ‘Sanskar’ has been set up to educate children at Sharda Balbhavan. The parents have been persuaded by consellors to send their children to school, rather than to work and earn money. The Balbhavan has been teaching 100 slum children. Koparkar said, “We started a study centre for the children. Because of the children’s responsibility, the women were unable to take up jobs. So we started vocational training courses for the women, free of cost. “Initially, we provided them the vocational training of purse making out of discarded clothes. Rama Ambika Mandir Trust donates us clothes from which the women make valets, carry bags, purses and other such things. We market these articles and a share of the profits goes to the women,” Koparkar said. The NGO also runs women’s self-help groups. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

‘Mitr’ focuses on improving the lives of the underprivileged BY BARNALEE HANDIQUE @barnalee ‘Mitr- a friend indeed’ is a non-prof it organisation, founded by Petronella Eates in May 2014. The organisation primarily works for child welfare Petronella Eates and youth development. Eates, who teaches at the WhizKid Nursery School at St Patrick’s Town, said, “We aim at improving the quality of life of the less fortunate with emphasis on confidence building through the medium of art, craft, song, dance, drama, sport and lots of fun. We also believe in providing children with opportunities similar to what their more fortunate peers enjoy such as academic assistance, competitions and fun-filled celebrations.” Mitr is run through the generosity of individuals, who believe in the organisation and its work. This NGO collaborates with other organisations working with orphan and abandoned children, poor children, children with special needs or those affected by HIV, thalassemia and cancer, children of sex workers and prison inmates. So far, Eates and the volunteers of Mitr, have been involved with children at Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospitals (SOFOSH), Arun Aashray, Tara Mobile Creches, St Michael’s Hostel, St John’s School, the Residential School for the Deaf and Research Centre, and even slum children in Yerawada. Eates said, “We have given more

Mitr volunteer, Sanjana Bhutada assisting children of the Residential School for the Deaf at Wanowrie, with the making of Christmas trees at the Christmas party and activity session held at the school on December 20

than 600 children a reason to smile through our various programmes. We conduct spoken English and life skills classes for the children of migrant construction workers at labour camps in Magarpatta, Kondhwa and Kharadi every Saturday. On Thursdays, we conduct Spoken English classes for the children of Class VI and VII at St. John’s School.” To celebrate the festive season, in addition to their regular activities, Mitr held a dance competition for the children of migrant construction workers, a Christmas party for Yerwada slum children and children of the Residential School for the Deaf at Wanowrie and distributed hampers to the poor. Mitr also helps schools plan,

“We aim at improving the quality of life of the less fortunate.”

Snehalaya beneficiaries displaying the purses and bags made by them to visitors during an exhibition

organise and execute social outreach programmes for the older students, with the objective of sensitising them to the needs of society as well as providing them with planned opportunities for community service. The dedicated volunteers are mainly college students, housewives and a few working individuals - who take time from their busy schedules to ensure that their activities are a success. Awareness sessions are also held for volunteers from time to time and have included topics such as understanding the rights of a child and prevention of suicides. barnalee.handique@goldensparrow.com

Get in Touch: Mitr office is at 131, St Patrick’s Town, Solapur Road, Pune: 411013 Contact: 9923373115 / 8237864643

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

Social media a catalyst for reinventing HR P5

IMC resolves issues of Pimpri Chinchwad residents P6

The Kirkee War cemetery was built to accomodate the remains of the British and African origin soldiers(around 200), who died in World War II. The cemetery has 1,668 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. — explorepune.com

PMPML chief gets cracking with initiatives

HA staff elated with govt’s revival assurance

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

With the addition of new buses to the PMPML fleet, commuters will hopefully get a comfortable ride

The newly-appointed chairman and managing director (CMD) of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), Dr Shrikar Pardeshi has started working on his 45 days’ deadline to improve the service of the public sector bus undertaking. In an effort to improve PMPML service, a total of 90 buses have been added to the fleet in just 10 days. Also, the PMPML revenue set a

record high this week. There were total 635 buses plying on the city roads this week as compared to 543 buses in the previous week. Pardeshi believes that the citizens will get more frequency of buses as more than 950 buses would start plying on city road from January 2015. After taking the charge, Pardeshi visited the PCMC head office on Wednesday. He met with Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation officials to discuss the financial well-being of the public

transport bodies. Both the corporations extended support to him and promised to clear the payment dues. PMC has payment dues of almost Rs 43 crore while the PCMC has Rs 26 crore. Due to the increase of buses on city roads and 25 per cent hike in fare, the PMPMLreported a record Rs 1.70 crore revenue, on Tuesday.. Pardeshi has set up a tri-committee for the improvement in PMPML administration. Accordingly, the daily operations will now be handled by general manager TS Dharurkar, BRTS work will be handled by chief executive officer Mayura Shindekar and the general administration will be handed over to joint managing director Pravin Ashtikar. In the fi rst week, Pardeshi sorted out the issue of purchasing the spare parts of buses. He said, “Six per cent revenue of PMPML will be spent on purchasing the spare parts of buses. The separate budgetary provision will be made for this. Secondly, the buses plying for more than 12 years and have covered eight lakh kilometres of distance will be scrapped soon. PMPML is scrapping 30 such buses.” Chief minister Devendra Fadanvis has appointed Pardeshi to revive the PMPML. Pardeshi has assured to deliver results in 45 days. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

‘I wanted to tell my story on my own’

Says noted astrophysicst Jayant Narlikar after being selected for the Sahitya Academy Award for his autobiography ‘Chaar Nagaratle Majhe Vishwa’

Jayant Narlikar

BY PRACHI BARI @prachibari News of him winning the Sahitya Akademi Award came as a surprise for astrophysict Jayant Narlikar. The 76-year-old scientist’s autobiography ‘Chaar Nagaratle Majhe Vishwa’, was unanimously selected for the award in the Marathi literature category. “I simply wrote what I felt was right and needed to tell my story on my own instead of handing it over to someone else to write it. There were many people who had offered to write my biography. I thought that if I could write it, then I could dictate the terms over the concept,” Narlikar said. “All the four cities equally contributed to my life and helped me develop as an individual. The book is all about my experience of living in these cities at different stages of my life. My life is divided in four parts in four cities, which have had a tremendous influence on me. Though I was born in Kolhapur, my father was a professor at Benaras Hindu University (BHU), and I spent the early years of my life, from 1938 to 1957, in Benaras. I have pleasant memories of BHU. We had S Radhakrishnan as the vice-chancellor. In those days, university life was very academic and we had little or no political interference,” Narlikar said.

with Jeeves and a Marathi scientist as characters, and when it was published, a Wodehouse fan wrote to me to find out from which story had I translated it. The person was surprised when I told him that it was my own writing. That was the best compliment that one could receive. I love humour and though I admit writing humour is difficult, it helps relate to the daily problems that we face,” he said. “I returned to Mumbai at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), in 1972 and I have mentioned the problems one faces in Mumbai in my book. The waiting for many things is indeed a great teacher – like waiting for a gas connection, admissions for my children, facing problems setting up house with my wife, but these things also taught me a lot about Mumbai as a city, Cambridge holds a special place in where things work on their own. I have Narlikar’s heart, as even his father studied pleasant memories indeed of walking there. For higher studies in mathematics, to my workplace since we lived in the in 1957, he joined Fritz William House. campus of TIFR,” Narlikar said. As a research scholar, he won the Narlikar also visited small towns and prestigious Smith’s Prize cities for his lectures. He in 1962 and the Adam’s wondered if people were Prize in 1967. Narlikar was interested in his lectures, at Cambridge till 1972. but at Nanded, he had For Narlikar, 10,000 people crowding Cambridge was an eyethe hall. “The organisers opening experience, had a tough time including the hostel life controlling the crowd,” he that he never got used to, remembers. and the style of teaching “I moved to Pune that was brisk and hard in 1989, to set up the to keep pace with. “My Inter-University Centre father had trained me for Astronomy and and prepared me well Astrophysics (IUCAA). - Jayant Naralikar for learning more. It was a new operation, Cambridge brought me and although I faced in close contact with many distinguished bureaucratic obstacles, I also received lots scientists and scholars, and since I was of co-operation from various sections of fond of mathematics, Cambridge was the government. When I went to register my training ground,” he said. It was the property, it took just two days,” he at Cambridge that Narlikar first came said. Narlikar even worked with the upon to P G Wodehouse’s books and his architect in the design of the IUCAA, unique humour, though he was familiar which he wanted to be similar to the with the Marathi humourists like P K Cambridge campus. IUCAA of course, Atre, Pu La Deshpande, Chintamani V went on to become an institute of Joshi and Hindi writer Bedhab Benarasi, international repute, under Narlikar’s Wodehouse’s Jeeves caught Narlikar’s guidance and leadership. fancy. “In fact, I wrote a short story, prachibari@gmail.com

“My father had trained me well and prepared me for learning more.”

TGS Quiz Contest

No. 28

nswers to the following 10 questions are embedded in the stories featured in this edition. Send us the correct answers at contest.tgs@gmail.com and be one of the three lucky winners to receive gift coupons.

Additional 90 buses takes fleet strength to 635 buses on the road

BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal

PUNE

Hindustan Antibiotics Pimpri plant

BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal The government’s recent announcement to take up the revival of the sick public sector undertaking Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd has brought much joy to HA employees here. Early this week, Union minister of state for chemical and fertilisers, Hansraj Ahir, told mediapersons in Delhi that plans for restarting HA’s Pimpri plant are afoot. Along with HA, the Nagpurbased Maharashtra Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (MAPL) will also be restarted, in concurrence with the government plans to boost the country’s pharma industries. Speaking to TGS, Hindustan Antibiotics Mazdoor Sangh’s (HAMS) general secretary, Sunil Patskar said, “We are happy that the government has taken the initiative in this regard. From the last two months, production has stopped completely, and if the machinery is not used, it will become defunct. We want the central ministry to take action as soon as possible,” he said.

What does IMC stand for?

Where is Eureka science toy shop located?

What has Snehalaya been working for?

What are the causes of sleep disorder?

Who founded Mitr?

What did actor Sonakshi Sinha work as before becoming an actor?

Who walked the ramp for designer Nivedita Saboo at the recently held Pune Fashion Week?

The Pimpri plant has a capacity for a 8. Which new flavour by Yogurtbay will be Rs 300 crore turnover. HAMS president introduced in Pune? and member of Parliament from Maval, 9. What was the title of Shailendra Singh’s Shrirang Barne, said that a meeting debut book? was held with minister Ahir and Anant 10. What is the name of the New Year party to be Geete, minister for Heavy Industries and held at Taj Vivanta? Public Enterprises, on December 19 to discuss the HA issues. The meeting was called after I put up the HA issue in Contest # 27 zero hour at the parliamentary session. winners We suggested that the ministry should Komal Bafna approve the handover of HA’s land (plots Primo Samuel number eight and nine) so that Rs 100 crore could be generated i m m e d i at e l y. Official letters Jalgaon’s famous have been issued RELIABLE Classes now in PUNE to the chemical m i n i s t r y Coming soon... in this regard,” Barne said. HA personnel manager T Das expressed happiness over the development.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

PUNE

“In life, change is the law, growth is optional, choose wisely. If we get this message in, we will continue to grow and take better decisions, which will make all the difference in the quality of our lives.” -Kiren Bedi , retired IPS officer

Signpost

Make morning walk a daily affair

Global warming limit off target?

P11

RAHUL RAUT

‘Younger children have shown talent, creativity’

Says eminent artist and illustrator Ravi Paranjape after judging the entries received for the TGS Children’s Day painting competition on the theme Child Labour in India

P13

PAINTING COMPETITION RESULTS GROUP A (UPTO CLASS III) 1

RANK Class II

RAHUL RAUT

Akshar Manav Association has announced a competition for various sections of literature like novels, plays, collection of poems and stories. The competition has no entry fee, no word and topic limitation, provided the work is original and not previously published. Prizes will be declared in every category. The last date for submission is December 31, 2014. Contact on 8308749510 for more details.

ARDRA N PATIL Tree House CLASS High School

ATHARVA KUDALE Tree House CLASS High School

ATHARVA PHAPALE Tree House CLASS High School

KOHSHEEN RAINA Tree House CLASS High School

RIDHI MESHRA Tree House CLASS High School

III

AADITYA GAVANDE

DES New English Medium High School

AMITA CHAUDHARY Modern High CLASS School

III

AAKASH SINGH

PRADNYA SOMANI

Tree House High School

RANK Class v

Tree House High School

RANK Class IV

ANVI G Millennium CLASS National School

MAHESH PAWAR Tree House CLASS High School

RUCHA VAISHAMPAYAN DES Secondary CLASS School

SHUBHAM DUBEY Sardar Dastur Hoshang CLASS Boy’s High School

SANA SATPUTE Bhavan’s Paranjape CLASS Vidya Mandir

TANAYA SAWAQJI DES Secondary CLASS School

GROUP C (CLASS VII, VIII, IX) 1

RANK CLASS VIII

SANHITA PHANSALKAR

Jnana Prabodhini Prashala

TEJAS PABLE

NIHARIKA HARSOLE

Modern High School

RANK CLASS VII

Jog Educational Trust

RANK CLASS IX

COMMENDATION CERTIFICATES (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Ravi Paranjape

PRACHI BARI @prachibari The wait is over for the results of the fi rst TGS Children’s Day competition, 2014, in which nearly 750 school children from the city participated in the Paintings, Poems and Essays events under the theme Child Labour in India. The competition was organised as a tribute to the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize joint recipient, social worker Kailash Satyarthi in recognition of his crusade against child labour. A three member jury led by eminent painter, illustrator and philosopher Ravi Paranjape adjudged the drawings after careful scrutiny and deliberations. The other two judges were Vrishali Kekre, design director, Therefore Design and Abhay Vaidya, editor, The Golden Sparrow on Saturday.

JAHNVI LELE Jnana Prabhodini CLASS Prashala

NIHARIKA HARSOLE Jog Educational CLASS Trust

VIII

SUHAS VIJAY MANE Sadhana CLASS Vidyalaya

SHRADDHA REDDY PES Modern Girls High CLASS School

VIII

VII

An award winning paiting by Aaditya Gavande of class V from DES New English Medium High School

RESULTS

The results of the TGS Painting Competition are being announced today while those for the essay and poems competitions will be announced in the subsequent issues.

“It was indeed a pleasure to see the variety in the entries and although I feel that the younger standard students have fared better than the higher standard students, I am still happy

that they all participated and made an effort to draw and paint,” Paranjape after judging the shortlisted entries. He appreciated the initiative from this newspaper saying that he was happy with the theme and the fact that a platform had been provided to the art of drawing and painting. The well known artist said that while the theme was difficult to conceptualise, many students have worked hard and etched out their ideas flamboyantly on the paper. prachibari@gmail.com

SIDDHESH UNDRE Sadhana CLASS Vidyalaya

VIII

SANHITA PHANSALKAR Jnana Prabhodini CLASS Prashala

VAIBHAVI PAWAR NMV Girls CLASS School

VIII

GROUP D (CLASS X, XI, XII) 1

RANK CLASS X

PRANJALI BARVE

Jog Educational Trust

BHASKAR PARDESHI

Jog Educational Trust

RANK CLASS VII

NIGANA TALAWAR

Modern High School

RANK CLASS IX

COMMENDATION CERTIFICATES (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) MANASI CHAUDHARI PES Modern Girls CLASS Highschool

ROHIT GARUD Modern CLASS Highschool

SAMRUDHI JADHAV HHCP Highschool, CLASS Huzurpaga

TEJAS BHINGARDEVAY Millenmium CLASS National School

VAIBHAVI PAWAR NMV Girls School

CLASS

Party precautions to take on New Year’s Eve More than 250 people were booked for drink driving last year GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke Young people in the city need to take precautions against risky behaviour on the occasion New Year’s Eve on Wednesday. Last year more than 250 people were booked for drink driving. Plenty of interesting events have been announced. While people brace themselves for the happening events, city police and event organisers have

taken new measures to curb parties that tend to go out of control. Santosh Gupta, entrepreneur said, “The priority on everyone’s list should be to cross check if the party organiser has been granted permission to host a party. You do not want to be evicted from the venue at the last moment. Hire a driver or take a teetotaller along with you. Th is will ensure you reach home safe and sound.” He also recommends to keep an eye on the drinks. “Make sure they are not mixed or spiked with illicit drugs.” The city police have taken extra safety measures this year. The traffic police as well as special branch officials

New Year’s Eve checklist • Let your family know of your exact locations, especially during pub hopping • Avoid drink driving • Give personal safety highest priority • Ensure your phone battery is charged well • Carry a spare battery

IANS

The recent conversion spree evinced by certain Hindu outfits is a throwback to our primitivism when every clan would try to increase the number of its members for its safety. Religion came relatively very late. But this hoary tendency, that had already become mankind’s chromosomic character and integral to his DNA, percolated down to organised religions that came into being hardly five thousand years ago. The followers of every religion began to believe erroneously that by increasing

the corpus of their respective faith with the help of recruiting new members, could place their faith ahead of other (faiths). The stress on quality was replaced with the accent on quantity. The essence of spirituality advocates ‘vertical conversion’: the (upward) spiritual growth of an individual, not the ‘horizontal conversion’. —Sumit Paul

Positive retirement

Does a human need to have a fi xed routine after the so called retirement phase? Most of us have set goals and divided our lifespan into fi xed segments that often end up as chapters of a book. What Vasantrao Gughe mentioned in TGS Life, Dec 20 issue is an example of finding life after retirement. His

will have an elaborate presence on city roads and partying spots to ensure maximum safety on the Eve. Deputy commissioner of police (special branch) Shrikant Pathak said that this year, they have not permitted any party on an open ground or space. “These parties may cause unwarranted law and order problems. Thus a definite ban has been put on these parties,” he added. Event organiser Keshav M said, “We often hear of cases where people misbehave. To avoid such nuisance, one should choose their partying place carefully and go along in a group. Choose a place which has moderately

or high-priced tickets as they will likely have a decent crowd.” Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Sarang Awad said that several precautionary measures have been taken to prevent drunken drive on the city roads. “The major thrust will be to catch hold of drunken drivers and detain them. We have 75 calibrated breath analysers and police will use them throughout the week,” he added. Awad said that naka-bandi operation have been planned across city to nab the drunken drivers and offenders. (Inputs by Anjali Shetty)

editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com

Going beyond conversions

Our newspaper is interactive and you are welcome to write in to our various segments: • Letters to the Editor email: editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com; editor_tgs@gmail.com By post: The Editor, The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030, (Best letter gets a weekly prize) • Articles for the Relationships page: relationships@goldensparrow.com, relationships.tgs@gmail.com • The Way Forward with Compassion & Hope: wayforward@goldensparrow.com • Want to become an entrepreneur? For mentoring advice, write to our associates: mentoring@pune.tie.org • Get weekly events listed: listings.tgslife@gmail.com

Tree House High School

COMMENDATION CERTIFICATES (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Letters to the Editor TGS is interactive

MITALI THAOK

RANK Class II

GROUP B (CLASS IV, V, VI)

Satara Sainik School event today

Akshar Manav Writing Competition

VARUN SALVEKAR DES New English Medium High School

ANVI A INAMDAR Tree House CLASS High School

Students perform at Kala Chaya on Dec 20during an event that was organised as a part of Milaf, a cultural exchange programme between Maharashtra and Nagaland

The Foreigners’ Registration Office (FRO) of the Pune city police will remain open on the first, second and fifth Saturdays of the month, from January 2015. The FRO has taken this decision in view of the growing numbers of foreign nationals arriving in the city. “We attend to about 70 to 100 Indian and foreign nationals every day and we foresee the same number of people coming in to the FRO on Saturdays,” said Sanjay Patil, deputy commissioner of Police. Over 35,000 foreign nationals visit Pune annually and their visas and C-forms are processed by the FRO.

RANK Class II

III

FRO will be open on Saturdays from Jan

Tree House High School

COMMENDATION CERTIFICATES (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

RANK Class V

Sainik School Satara Past Students Association is holding Ajinkayn Festival 2014 on December 27 and 28, at their school campus. The bi-annual get-together brings students right from 1965 to the recently passed out batches for an interactive session. The registered candidates, those who have difficulty in finding an accommodation, 16 dormitories will be available for them. Those who need local assistance may contact Vijay Nangrepatil on 09423866020.

LALITA CHOUDHARY

dedication to his new job without financial attachment is a trend that needs to be appreciated and also reflected upon. The word ‘retirement’ may look good in life insurance ads but life has much more to offer. It is not about finding a new goal but more about being comfortable with the process of ageing and still being an asset. Old age need not be a recollection of memories and can in fact liberate a human from the bondage of being a stereotype. Life need not be a book like existence but it can be a continuous process. It may not be about finance but more about enriching the concept of life. Vasantrao may seem unusual in a world of fi xed thinking but his passion for work will surely enlighten more and more lives. -Sunil Melwani

Inspiring story about Kimaya App It was heartening to read about Kimaya application, (Giving prematurely born babies a strong hold on life by Yash Daiv; December 6) developed by Josh Software as a means to curb infant mortality, by calculating the right nutrients to be administered to the baby for rapid growth. I myself was born premature in the seventh month in the small town of Udaipur decades ago. My weight was 2.75 pounds. The delivery was helped not by a doctor but a mid wife. Of course the incubators were unheard of then. There was very little chance of my survival but my mother lost no hope. Later the incubators and other medical facilities came and now this wonderful app, which I am sure will come handy

for mothers of premature born babies. —Urmilla Ramrakhiani

Write to Us Letters to the Editor may be emailed to editor_tgs@goldensparrow. com or mailed to Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt Ltd, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030. The Best Letter of the Week will receive a special gift from Venus Traders, Pune’s finest stationery departmental.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

Pune University is the second largest in the country. With Osmania University, Hyderabad having 901 colleges affiliated to its names, Pune comes in second with 811 colleges affiliated to it since its inception in 1949. —University Grants Commission data

Vajpayee: Apostle of peace personified P 12

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‘India to overtake US in smartphones by 2016’ P6

Social media, a catalyst for re-inventing HR Talent acquisition is one of the biggest challenges that companies face. Top professionals from the city participated in the recent HR Re-invented Conclave, that had a panel discussion on the role that social media plays in talent acquisition

RAHUL RAUT

BY ISHANI BOSE @ishani_bose Social media provides a platform for companies to connect, learn and engage on a global level. A company going social today is all about employee branding, as the employees are representatives of the company interacting with the outside world. Group Manager (HR) WNS Kunjal Kamdar said that one must find out if his/her company provides a platform for employees to have a digital identity, which could be fruitful in the branding process of the company. He was speaking at the recent NHRD Network (Pune Chapter’s) silver jubilee conclave, called HR Re-invented. Kamdar uses sourcing and social media to expand and innovate new channels in recruitment processes. He believes that one of the most important aspects in re-inventing the HR model for contemporary times, is to be more digital media savvy. “As the HR of the company, your responsibility is to find out which platform your employees are most comfortable using and focus on that. Brand is nothing but what your employees talk about. Talent acquisition is the responsibility of every employee and social media is the best platform for that. One needs to be extremely privy about his/her social presence and should seriously work towards building it,” he said. Sarang Brahme, global head, social recruiting, Capgemini, said that for small companies, especially start-ups, social media is a great platform to engage with its customers and the world at large. “No company can live in isolation. How

IN THE

NEWS

Ganesh Natarajan, vice chairman and CEO, Zensar Technologies

Can we people in HR reach out to the people and make our company and ourselves worthwhile, is the question we should really think about. Satya in the modern context means feedback; satya means connectedness and seva means utilising the funds of the company in transforming society.

Ajay Bakshi, director HR, Vodafone Shared Services (India) Today HR needs specialists to replace the traditional generalists roles performed by them. Also, HR needs to be result oriented, agile and should embrace learning”

Anjali Raina, executive director, Harvard Business School Given the changing learner profiles and use of multimedia based learning, games and simulations there is a need to reinvent teaching methods to be relevant as a function.

(From left) Kumjal Kamdar, group manager-HR, WNS; Sukanya Patwardhan, practice head- Ethics, Diversity, sustainability and coaching, Tata Management Training Centre; Sarang Brahme, Global Head, Social Recruiting, Capgemini; Irfan Abdullah, directortalent solutions, Linkedin India

others in the field perceive you, depends a lot on your social media presence,” he said. Brahme has 10 years of experience in talent acquisition, with specialisation in sourcing and social recruiting. He is well versed in global as well as Indian hiring processes and is currently working with global HR and marketing teams to enhance talent sourcing, branding and engagement through the use of digital channels. About using social media to attract talent, Brahme said, “Talent acquisition is a two-way process. Not only do the employers undertake a background check about the employees in advance,

but even the employees do a thorough research regarding the company before applying for a job there. And that is where the company’s social media presence plays a very important role. What kind of engagement does the company have online? What is its brand value? All these play a huge role in getting the employee to decide whether or not he wants to work in that company, because at the end of the day, the employee is looking for experience and not a career.” Irfan Abdulla, director, Talent Solutions, Linkedin (India), focused on leading and scaling up the his company’s business in India thus helping

Catch up with developments in Pune as the week comes to a close

Gadkari declares `260 cr for CIRT Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari, recently sanctioned Rs 260 crore for the Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) to carry out research and build an institute of international standard focusing on safe road transport. The CIRT is a Government of India campaign, which is established with an objective to upgrade the public transport system in India by bringing into place efficient management systems through research.

Puneite wins national photo contest Nitin Jain’s ‘White Bellied Eagle with Snake’ won the national photography competition held as a part of the All India Photography Competition and Exhibition on Biodiversity

City-based visual designer & photographer Nitin S Jain bagged the first prize in the national photography competition, held as a part of the All India Photography Competition and Exhibition on Biodiversity, which was held in connection with Nitin S Jain the Third Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC 2014) – the largest get together of scientists, conservationists, environmentalists and local communities concerned with biodiversity. The competition was held at Chennai during December 17-20, 2014. The winning photograph was titled, ‘White Bellied Eagle with Snake’. Jain won a cash prize of Rs 10,000.

two months ago to transform the north compound wall of Nivara Old Age Home. These artists showcased their creative talent last weekend. The painting titled as ‘Dissolve’ was made with an intention of bringing artists together and to interact, exchange and respond to each others creative energies by expressing themselves on a massive single canvas.

MSEDCL bags the Iconic Insight Award The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company was awarded the Iconic Insight Award by the International Data Corporation (IDC) on December 18. The award is presented to bodies which have succeeded in providing exceptional service to consumers using information and technology. Chairman of IDC (Asia), Shalil Gupta gave the award to Yogesh Khainar , deputy general manager of MSEDCL.

15 artists gather for Street Art Project 15 Pune artists came together under the ‘Pune Street Art Project’ that started

padayatra for peace and harmony covering 6500 kilometers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. The ‘Walk of Hope’ will begin from Kanyakumari on January 12, 2015 and will pass through Pune around June 15.

CME signs MoU with PCMC College of Military Engineering recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation for the installation of a pipeline to dispose off treated water from the Kasarwadi Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) into the rowing channel on CME premises. Started with the aim of conserving fresh water, CME authorities believe that the plan will facilitate disposal of treated water which is otherwise being wasted.

RAHUL RAUT

Walk of Hope

Sawai Mahotsav to resume from Jan 1

Sri Maheshwarnath Babaji’s Manav Ekta Mission under the aegis of the Satsang Foundation recently announced the ‘Walk of Hope’ a

Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav which was called off due to rain, will now be held from January 1-4, 2015. Organised by Aarya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, the festival will be held at New English School, Ramanbaug. (Compiled by Ishani Bose) ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com

Linkedin fuel India’s talent economy. His job entails consulting leading Indian enterprises on ways to attract, source, engage and retain talent and in-turn become the employer of choice to a large base of passive candidates. About talent acquisition, Abdulla said, “We at Linkedin are synonymous with talent. We have often seen that passive candidates are usually the best. As customers move to social, it is imperative for organisations to align to social media. Additionally social no matter how omnipresent, cannot replace the human touch. It compliments human touch. ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com

Gajendra Chandel, member, corporate steering committee and chief HR officer, Tata Motors Ltd Not much has changed over the years in terms of competency of the HR. It is supposed to be a credible source for building of credibility of the organisation. HR needs to understand core business and advice business solutions placing the emphasis on the future.

Smita Nair Jain, chief operating officer, Barclays “The three crucial Rs for the HR of every company today, are relevance, responsibility and responsiveness. Until now, the HR was only an out patient department of the organisation. But today there has been many technological advancements, demographic change, urbanisation, because of which the HR’s role has to be re-invented.”

Shubro Sen, former director, Tata Management Training Centre The onus for learning in an organisation must be shared between the learner and organisation. Gone are the days when the learner and the organisation could take a passive approach to learning. One must plan one’s learning architecture well in advance and engage.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

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204 million emails are circulated every minute, all over the world by different users — www.factslides.com

Desperate congress wants a revamp P 10

I will be back in 2017 P 15

IMC is a portal that resolves issues of Pimpri Chinchwad

In The TECH WORLD Instagram worth $35 bn, surpasses Twitter

The Improve My City (IMC) portal (http://cityissues.in/Pune) has resolved 122 citizens’ complaints in less than a year

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal Improve My City (IMC) is an innovative online platform launched by IT professionals, to enable residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad to lodge their grievances, with the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). Since its launch in January 2014, the PCMC has addressed 122 of the 220 complaints from residents. Citizens can log on to IMC (http:// cityissues.in/Pune) to register their complaints, which are then forwarded to the concerned civic authorities. The complaints are followed up until the problem is resolved. The portal received an award, at the South Asia Summit on Social Media for Digital Empowerment, organised by Digital Empowerment Foundation and the American Centre recently. The team was also presented the South West Manthan Award for ‘social app’, along with Zenzar IMC founders and volunteers receiving award from Sanjay Katkar. Lto R: Ravi Langote, Avinash Technologies at an event organised by DEF Koyari, Vaibhav Ghuge, Deepak Mehra, Sanjay Katkar (co-founder, Quickheal ) Sunny Kanade, (Digital Empowerment Foundation). The Devesh Agarwal (Delivery Manager, Decos Software Development), Sagar Shinde, Terril Thomas, techies-turned-entrepreneurs have offers Nikhil Joshi, Amol Deshpande and Amit Hindinkeri from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to launch the online platform initiative locally. The eight founding members are Sunny a mobile app, wherein residents are required Founder of the portal and a resident of Kanade, Sagar Shinde, Ravi Langote, to upload photographs of their problems,” Pimpri, Sagar Shinde said, “A friend was Deepak Mehra, Nikhil Joshi, Ibrahim Shinde said. severely injured in an accident caused by Shaikh, Amit Hindinkeri and Avinash The portal deals with issues like potholes, a pothole in PimpriKoyari. The team has water leakages, footpaths, garbage, sewage Chinchwad area. People 12 developers and 164 and drainage etc. knew about the pothole volunteers. Sagar Shinde said, “The PCMC authority but didn’t bother to Sunny Kakade said, is more supportive than its Pune counterpart. report it, because they “The citizens’ response Some issues take time to be resolved. A didn’t want to take the has been fantastic right Kalewadi-Pimpri resident wanted a speedtrouble or didn’t know from the launch. Some breaker in his locality which took three whom to report to. citizens register issues months for the authorities to build. The civic We developed an app regularly. Other cities officers blamed budget allocation procedures - SUNNY KAKADE that alerts authorities have expressed their for the delay. We follow each complaint once regarding such issues. interest in launching it is registered with us.” We used our IT and MBA knowhow to the portal.” The team wants to develop a single develop the portal, and invested Rs 20,000 “We ask people to lodge complaints on platform for grievances of all kinds involving of our own money. Facebook and Twitter as it is easier. There is all departments. They will soon launch the

“Other cities have expressed an interest in the portal”

Snapdeal to promote Rajasthani handicrafts

IMC calling Any complaint related to hygiene, garbage, public toilets, potholes or manhole-covers can be reported to IMC Pune through the mobile app. Download the app from Play store on Android phone. Click a photograph of the problem that you want to report. Upload the photograph with location information on the app. Citizens can register their complaints on http://cityissues.in/ Pune; www.facebook.com/SmartCityPune or twitter.com/IMCPune.

facility in Mumbai, Nagpur and Nashik. An updated version of the portal called ‘Fixi’, where people from around the world can report issues with applied conditions has been launched. “We meet on weekends to review the complaints and develop the site. Our volunteers assist citizens who face difficulty while logging complaints,” said Shinde archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

‘India to overtake US in smartphones by 2016’ India will have 123.3 mn cellphones by this year and will surpass US’ 200 mn mark by 2016 India will overtake the US as the second largest market for smartphones in the world by 2016 as smart mobile devices become affordable, global research firm eMarketer said recently. “India will exceed 200 million smartphone users, topping the US as the world’s second largest smartphone market by 2016 due to increasing penetration of affordable smart mobile devices in the country,” the US-based research firm said in a report. By this year-end, China will have 519.7 million smartphone users, followed by the US at 165.3 million, India with 123.3 million, Japan with 50.8 million and Russia with 49 million.

Russia will, however, surpass Japan as the fourth largest smartphone user population in 2015 and the US will surpass 200 million smartphone users by 2017, accounting for 65 percent of its population. “China will continue to lead the world rankings in 2016 with 624.7 million smartphone, followed by India (204.1 million), the US (198.5 million), Russia (65.1 million) and Japan (61.2 million),” the report said.

Globally, there will be 1.91 billion smartphone users in 2015 and increase by 12.6 percent the following year to touch 2.16 billion in 2016. The number of active smartphone users globally touched the one billion-mark (1.31 billion) in 2013 for the first time, with China in the lead at 436.1 million, followed by the US (143.9 million), India (76 million), Japan (40.5 million) and Russia (35.8 million).

“Over a quarter of the global population will use smartphones in 2015 and by 2018 one-third of consumers worldwide (2.56 billion people) will do so,” the report noted. Indonesia will pass 100 million smartphone users in 2018 to become the world’s fourth largest user country of smart mobile handsets. “While smartphones are shifting the paradigm for consumer media usage in mature markets, cheaper handsets are creating opportunities in emerging markets where many users of smart devices had no access to the internet,” the report added. — IANS

The Incredible power of ‘Yet’ In an independently organised TEDx Conference, Carol Dweck, a psychology professor speaks about believing in the incredible power of ‘yet’ TED is a global platform where people from different fields come together and speak for 18 minutes or less about their respective disciplines. It was started in 1984 by a non-profit organisation called Sapling Foundation, under the slogan — Ideas worth sharing. Initially it organised conferences where matters related to technology, design and entertainment merged, but today it includes varied topics such as business, photography, art, science and the like.

BY ISHANI BOSE @ishani_bose “I heard about a high school in Chicago where students had to pass a certain number of courses to graduate, and if they didn’t pass a course, they got the grade “Not Yet.” And I thought that was fantastic, because if you get a failing grade, you think, I’m nothing, I’m nowhere. But if you get the grade “Not Yet” you understand that you’re on a learning curve. It gives you a path into the future.” This is how psychology professor Carol Dweck began her TED talk, ‘The power of Yet’, at TEDx Norrkoping, Sweden earlier this year. “Not Yet” gave Dweck an insight into a critical event early into her career, which she says, was a real turning point. “I wanted to see how children coped with challenges and difficulties, so I gave 10-year-olds problems that were slightly hard for them. Some of

them reacted in a shockingly positive way. They showed a growth mindset,” she said, adding that other students felt it was tragic and catastrophic. From their more fi xed mindset perspective, Dweck said that their

intelligence had been up for judgment and they thus failed.In a study conducted, these children told that they would probably cheat the next time instead of studying more if they failed a test. In another study, after a failure, they looked for someone who did worse than they did so that they could feel really good about themselves. In all the studies conducted thereafter, they showed signs of running away from difficulty. Dweck asks very relevant questions“Are we raising our children for now instead of yet? Are we raising kids who are obsessed with getting A’s? Are we raising kids who don’t know how to dream big dreams? And are they carrying this need for constant validation with them into their future lives? Maybe, because employers are coming to me and saying, we have already raised a generation of young workers who can’t get through the day without an award.” Dweck teamed up with game scientists

Photo sharing website Instagram has been valued at $35 billion by Citigroup, surpassing Twitter. Th is beats Twitter’s market cap of $23 billion by a wide margin, wired.com reported In April 2012, Instagram was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion and had about 30 million users. The app was downloaded over a million times on the day the android version hit the market and has continued to grow. In the last nine months, Instagram’s user base grew 50 percent, while Twitter could only boost its active user base by 4.8 percent in the last quarter. Also, Instagram wants real people and accounts. Two days ago, it cleaned up spam and deleted millions of fake accounts.

from the University of Washington to create a new online math game that rewarded ‘yet’. In this game, students were rewarded for effort, strategy and progress. “The usual math game rewards you for getting answers correct right now, but this game rewarded the process. And we got more effort, more strategies, more engagement over longer periods of time,” she said. In one study, Dweck taught students that every time they push out of their comfort zone to learn something new and difficult, the neurons in their brain would form new, stronger connections, and over time they could get smarter.Lastly Dweck urged the parents/teachers to not waste any more lives. “Once we know that abilities are capable of such growth, it becomes a basic human right for children, to live in places that create growth, to live in places filled with ‘yet,” she said. ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com

E-commerce website Snapdeal.com has joined hands with Rajasthan Small Industries Corp (RAJSICO) for online promotion and selling of the state’s traditional handicrafts. The website will create a special store exclusively for handicrafts from Rajasthan under the brand name Rajasthali, the flagship brand of the handicrafts marketing wing of The Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (RSIC), a Government of Rajasthan Undertaking. The partnership is part of Snapdeal’s commitment to create life changing experiences for one million sellers in India and empower thousands of artisans and small businesses to sell nationally, said a statement. Snapdeal will not only onboard government run Rajasthali emporiums on to its platform, but will also provide them assistance for online cataloguing, refining their product offerings through key market insights and marketing support. The store will be launched in January next year.

Internet voting does not guarantee security: Ex-CEC Coming out fi rmly against introduction of e-voting in future, former chief election commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi said internet voting does not guarantee the security and integrity of voters. “We are not looking at internet/ distance voting for foreseeable future for two reasons. Technologically, it is child’s play for us to vote through internet or mobile phone but for two reasons -- our security and your integrity,” Quraishi. He was speaking at the launch of his book ‘An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election’.”If you are voting from home with your laptop and a gunman puts a gun on you and says ‘vote for me’, then we can’t protect you at home. In such instances, we can’t guarantee your security,” he said. Quraishi highlighted the “innocence” of electronic voting machines (EVMs), saying they are resistant to being hacked and misused in contrast to online procedures.

BigBasket.com will deliver grocery at your doorstep Bengaluru’s BigBasket.com, an online grocery shopping and home delivery system launched in Pune this week. Ranked within the top five retails stores by 1planetretail.net surveys BigBasket.com CEO Hari Menon feels that a cosmopolitan like Pune is a great market for them. He said, “We did an extensive survey of the market and saw an enormous potential for an online grocery store. In today’s fast paced world, the convenience of ordering online grocery for Pune will be a boon.” Along with launching the services, BigBasket. com also launched a mobile application and sharp pricing policies for their products.

Web application to regulate sale of acid

The government has announced a web application to regulate the sale of acid and to categorise acid attacks as ‘heinous crimes’. A home ministry statement said the web application would cover areas like registration of stockists and retailers and selling acid to individuals only after recording their personal details. Th is, the statement said, was meant to regulate the sale of acid, which has been used by men to attack unsuspecting women with serious and at times fatal consequences. It said suitable amendments would be made in the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure time bound investigation and trial.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

“Look for trust more than skills in partners.” — Hari Menon, co-founder & CEO, BigBasket.com

Signposts Indian, Russian agencies promote IT

Hyperloop will make super-fast trains

START-UP MENTOR

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a new start-up is planning to develop a supertube that would take passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes flat at a speed of 760 miles per hour.The trip currently takes up to 12 hours by train and more than six hours by car. Hyperloop, the tube transport dream of SpaceX founder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, could be ready for passengers in as few as 10 years. Over 100 engineers from across the world are working on the supertube. It is a practical solution to travel long distance cities, according to Musk.

Vishwas Mahajan

“If you want to be a start-up leader, you have to walk the streets and not be invisible. As a leader, you have to be completely committed to hearing, learning and responding to your consumers.” —Alok Kejriwal, digital entrepreneur

Nurturing the value of entrepreneurship among students International Entrepreneurs club is turning the mindset of hundreds of students and nurturing a spirit of entrepreneurship among the young

BY ARCHANA DAHIWAL @ArchanaDahiwal International Entrepreneurs (IE) has been providing a platform for budding entrepreneurs in Pune as well as the neighbouring areas, since 1993. It has shaped the careers of hundreds of students and has helped them run successful businesses, during their college days. One of the major initiatives taken by IE Trust is to provide ‘IndustryInstitute tie up’ to encourage young entrepreneurs while pursuing their education. Entrepreneurs’ clubs have been established in various colleges through this initiative, which are imparting essential entrepreneurship lessons to the students. It is because of these clubs that these students get opportunities to interact with well-established, successful business personalities. It also helps them generate a sense of entrepreneurship. IE president Santosh Lalwani told The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, “We had noticed that there is a desperate need to change the belief system of

society, which says that good education is a pre-requisite for a good job. Since childhood, people are being trained for job oriented careers. We are changing the mindsets of students, from being employees to become employers. To change this belief is the objective of IE. We strive to inculcate the culture and values of Entrepreneurship in the ignited minds - SANTOSH LALWANI of the students. In the last three years, we have got very good responses from students.” Three years ago, a model of this activity was implemented on a trial basis in Pimpri Chinchwad Education Trust’s SB Patil Institute of Management. The entrepreneur clubs were formed in college with the cooperation of trustees and management of this college. There were interactive sessions held in colleges and institutes on issues such as ‘We will become Entrepreneurs’. There are 90 student members of IE clubs in colleges situated in Pune as well as Pimpri-Chinchwad. Various successful entrepreneurs are called for sharing their journey and experiences, throughout the year. They speak thinking, determination, dedication, about various issues which include honesty and consistency to gain the ideation process of starting the excellence in business. They also speak business, overcoming obstacles that about their achievements and failures. come in the way, importance of positive To encourage entrepreneurs, every

“IE provides industry institution tie up to encourage young entrepreneurs.”

The right industry to validate your product

This feature is a collaboration between The Golden Sparrow on Saturday and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), the world’s largest non-profit network of entrepreneurs. For additional questions about your entrepreneurial challenges, write to mentoring@pune.tie.org

We have developed technology that can be used in retail shops as well as in the travel industry to attract more business. Our investors would like us to validate the technology in one of these domains. Which industry should we choose? - Milind and Sunil First of all, it’s good that you have created a technology that has applicability in multiple industries. Th is is clearly a strength of your technology. Technology applicability: Many times, products are created that have limited applicability in industries other than the one it is intended. It consequently limits the addressable market. Additionally, the fortune of the industry itself, its growth, its challenges become the limiting factors of the technologies that have application for specific industries. However, your technology which has applicability in multiple industries is definitely good. It allows you to start with one target industry and then innovate and develop products for different industries. Thereby, you have the ability to weather the industry-specific storms. Your investors will want to validate the technology: It is very important to create a market validation for whatever you have developed. While technology by itself has the ability or potential to solve a problem in a variety of industries, you need to actually create a solution and validate the same with the customer in that industry. You need to

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

The government sponsored Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) has signed an agreement with Skolkovo Foundation, the strategic development institution of the Russian government, to promote Indian IT companies in international markets. The agreement provides for exchange of information to help set up joint venture startups looking to enter both Russian and Indian markets, promotion and networking for companies, as well as holding innovation-related events in both countries. As part of the agreement, ESC has invited 15 Skolkovo startups to take part in the Indiasoft-2015 international conference on information technology to be held here in February 2015, the statement added.

PUNE

arrive at a business model around it, that will be profitable for your company. So it is absolutely logical from the point of view of your investor to ask you to validate your product. Validation process: The product development process is highly iterative. You start with a ‘minimum viable product’ that gets developed based on the technology you have created. Th is product then gets tested in the market place and based on the customer feedback the product evolves to solve the customer’s grievances. Choosing the industry: The next challenge you have is to choose the industry where you want to validate your technology. In your case, your choices are retail and travel. Both these industries are large and present lots of opportunities. It is very important for us to choose the industry that is large enough so that you become capable of addressing a larger market. Your investor’s concern will be to validate product, quickly, cheaply and create a business model. If you look at the travel industry, by its very nature is multi-locational, regional, national or even global. It means that the customers of your customers are coming in from different locations. If your technology has the ability to attract customers to a particular hotel, if the users of your technology are geographically dispersed and this makes it difficult for you to validate and test your concept. Your cost of doing that and the time that will be required will be quite high. In contrast, if the same technology allows retailers to attract customers, look at the dynamics of this combination. The retailers are primarily local and the customers who visit them are from a smaller geography, may be a city or even may be a smaller part of the city. Th is helps you to direct your marketing to a reasonably smaller area and create your proof of concept quickly and at low cost. Recommendation: So given this dynamics I would recommend you go for retail as a possible industry to validate your product concept. It is always said that when you developing a product, it is wise to fail cheap , fail early, fail often before you come up with a winning product and the market combination. In your context retail seems to be that market. Good luck! Vishwas Mahajan, president of TiE Pune Chapter, answers real life questions of entrepreneurs.

year on July 29, (that is on the birth anniversary of JRD Tata), IE felicitates a few successful entrepreneurs. The awards are also given for excellence in entrepreneurship in research and

innovation, entrepreneurship in service sector and for social relevance across the state. IE has four clubs- at Pune, PimpriChinchwad, Baramati and Nigdi. It has 150 active members to run these clubs. The club is open to all, and anybody who desires to become an entrepreneur or who already is an entrepreneur or who is supporting entrepreneurship in whichever way possible, can be a member. Talking about the main objectives of IE, Lalwani said, “Our objectives include getting together old as well as new entrepreneurs from all walks of life and nurturing a sense of brotherhood among all members of the clubs. We also aim to promote professional, industrial, economic, financial and technological cooperation among members and conduct special programmes in various fields of management, finance and technology in order to develop entrepreneurs. We also sort out all issues of entrepreneurs during our regular interactions.” Lalwani said, “Today, IE is going Global. It showcases the entrepreneur’s talents on an international platform through various exhibitions. To make IE a successful trust, a lead initiative was taken by the founders of the organisation, Bal Patil and BR Sabade.” IE formed the Nigdi club recently to provide a support system to entrepreneurs of newly developed industrial belt like Chakan, Talegoan and Ranjangaon. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

PUNE

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Your City’s

best kept secrets Osho Teerth Park, also known as Nala Park:

How fitting that one of the best romantic spots in the city should be named after the mystic and love guru, Osho. Located in the pristine Koregaon Park, Osho Teerth is also known as Nala Park, as it has been created out of a waste water canal. Beautifully landscaped, this garden is frequented by young lovers who are seen enjoying each other’s company amidst the arms of the nature. The chirping sounds of the birds, complemented with the soothing sound of water along with the swinging of trees, make the park so very romantic.

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The best spot on FC Road

Not the iconic Roopali and Vaishali restaurants which are avoidable when your priority is to spend lots of time over a chat while having good, reasonably priced food in a quiet corner, undisturbed. Thrown in at no extra charge is the parking facility for cars and bikes! Won’t you die for such a gem of a place on FC Road? We strongly recommend Aryan restaurant next to the British Library. Part of the three star Hotel Deccan Park promoted by Suresh Nayak, the restaurant is spacious and in its 11th year after renovation. It serves good quality vegetarian food, which includes South Indian, Punjabi, Jain and Chinese cuisine. Ambience is good and staff is courteous.

Peshwe Energy Park

Bird Valley Park, Chinchwad

Not many know that the Peshwe Park Zoo next to Saras Baug garden, has been replaced by the Peshwe Energy Park. It has up to 300 adventure games- right from basic confidence obstacles, rock climbing and balancing exercises, wall climbing exercises, bicycle ropeway to warrior play stations. These all have been put in place for strengthening children’s mental and physical ability. Only children between the age group of three and 15 are allowed to play in the park. Children’s ticket costs Rs 40, while for adults it’s Rs 10. The park is open from 10 am to 6pm and is shut on Wednesdays.

Inputs By Archana Dahiwal, Prachi Bari, Reshma Salunkhe & pics by rahul raut

Romantic Rendezvous

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Baaneshwar cave temple, Tukai Tekdi, Baner

Developed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) near Shahunagar on Telco road, this valley has a large lake, boating facilities, jogging track and bird watching facilities. A ‘deepmaal’ - tower with lamps and a pavilion gives a view of the large lake formed in the abandoned query. There is a jetty for anchoring boats. A giant eagle sculpture adorns the top of a rocky outcrop near one of the quarries. Visitors can enjoy rides in paddleboats which can seat four to six people. A children park, amphitheatre, skating ground and 1.5 km long stretch of jogging track are among the other attractions of the park. Says garden superintendent Suresh Salunke,”We want visitors to observe the natural habitat from here.” Tickets are worth Rs 10 per head and there’s paid parking for two wheelers and four wheelers.

Interesting ancient caves lost in the concrete jungle of Baner in west Pune. Baaneshwar is another name for Lord Shankar or Shiva. This is a swambhu temple with a shivalinga in one of the caves. “The entire cave gets flooded with water, during rainy season which we pump out and use only for Dev Puja,” says temple trustee Sudhir Kalamkar.

Open Air Café at Hotel Raviraj:

Open Air Café at Hotel Raviraj

Offers good food, has a pleasant ambience because of the tree canopy and its own allotted parking space. Situated on Bhandarkar Road, the café in this hotel is a favourite meeting spot for many. Now in its 35th year, the hotel continues to serve delicious multi-cuisine food at reasonable prices. Raviraj was started by Arvind Joshi who previously ran a grocery business. “We have some loyal customers coming for the last 25 years,” says Sandeep Joshi, hotel manager. Butter chicken is a specialty at this restaurant.

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A nondescript cozy little hotel-cumrestaurant, which could easily pass of as just another building, on lane No 10, Prabhat Road. Definitely among Pune’s best known secret hideouts. This 30 room hotel with a restaurant is one of Pune’s most preferred spots for many playwrights and actors. “We named it after our guru, Swami Swaroopanand from Pawas who belongs to the Nath Sampradaya,” explains Shrikant Desai, owner. Desai had already earned a good reputation for his excellent Maharashtrian catering services and decided to expand by opening Anand Hall, a small restaurant with Spartan tables and chairs. He is proud of the top personalities from Marathi theatre, film and music who have patronised his establishment over the years. Bharat Ratna Bhimsen Joshi was among them as also stalwarts like Ustad Zakir Hussain to Hariprasad Chaurasia. It was in Swaroop’s Anand Hall, that the famous multi-faceted humorist Pu La Deshpande wrote Ek Hota Vidushak, with Laxmikant Berde in mind. DM Mirajdar also wrote his novels and plays here while Shanta Shelke composed most of her songs in her regular room 310. Playwright and director Suresh Khare’s biography has a chapter dedicated to Swaroop. Syyed Desai in the Marathi film Dakhati Soon (younger daughter-in-law) has shown the hotel façade in his film, and Smita Talwalkar named her lead characters Shrikant and Ujjwal Desai in one of her films. The restaurant also has a mention in more than 70 Marathi films.

Swaroop

Punavale-Ravet basket/ umbrella bridge

Eureka Educational Toys Shop

Few people are aware of the Eureka Science Center, a tiny shop opposite SP College, Tilak Road. Started by Ulhas Tumne, a retired mechanical engineering professor at MIT and his wife Sunita, this shop has been inspired by IITian and science educator Arvind Gupta’s concept of ‘toys from trash’. This shop is for you and your children if you love science and educational toys. Available are scientific toys and books, models and science project kits, telescopes, microscopes, binoculars, lab equipments etc, priced from Rs 10 to Rs 500 for children of all ages.“When children ask for science projects, they have 500 options to choose from.” says Sunita.

Lakaki Lake Centrally located in Model Colony, off FC Road, this picturesque lake provides a peaceful and solitary escape from the otherwise noisy and busy humdrum of city life. The benches on the pathway meandering along the lake are swamped with young couples. It is also a perfect location for a pre-wedding shoot.

Empress Garden Located on the Ghorpadi-Mundwa Road, this sprawling, 39 acres garden is a leading botanical garden of Pune. The natural beauty of the park is also a solitary haven for the young lovers in the city.

Lover’s nooks

Watching the Sun set in a misty evening from the PunavaleRavet Bridge on Pavana River is heartwarming. This is India’s first basket shaped bridge in a rural area. Constructed jointly by Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) in 2012, the bridge’s architectural design makes it so special. It provides easy access to the Pune-Mumbai expressway and provides a link between the Pimpri-Chinchwad township, expressway, Ravet and Punawale village. The bridge has a single span of 100 meters without supporting pillars.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

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“Attempts are being made to convert religion of people. But we should know that Mughals and Britishers, who ruled the country for several years, did not succeed in converting religion of people. Nobody can change it.” —Azam Khan, Uttar Pradesh minister

No backlash after Sydney siege, Muslims still fearful P 13

Can Rahul Gandhi get his act together? There is already a vocal group that has been calling for Rahul’s anointment as the top boss BY SAROJ NAGI The Congress’ poor show in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand could be the last straw for party workers who are tired of waiting for the top leadership to take the organisation out of the morass it has been pushed into in the last couple of years through a series of electoral debacles both before and after the Lok Sabha polls. There are signs of an impending eruption with two distinct streams emerging in the party, both united in their common motive to goad the leadership to act and break the ennui that continues to grip the organization. To its chagrin, the saffron party has become a king maker in J&K and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be moving inexorably towards his objective to setting up a Congress-mukt Bharat, using each election to push their party further to the margins ---and perhaps into near oblivion. The next up the chopping block are states like Bihar (2015), West Bengal (2016) and UP (2017) where the party has already been reduced to a fringe player. Though the latest set of defeats were expected, it has intensified the woes of party workers and second rung leaders who are bothered more by the fact that their top bosses seem to be paralysed into inaction. Unhappy with the prevailing state of affairs in the party, a group of Congressmen is now toying with the idea of forming a ginger group to express their anguish and protest and demand corrective measures. So far, any expression of unhappiness at the state of affairs in the party has been private and individual. But now for the first time there is open talk of forming a collective though it remains to be seen whether the idea will be pursued and given shape. There is little doubt that if such a group is formed it would consist essentially of leaders disgruntled both with the party’s inaction as well as with their own marginalisation in the party, especially with the appointment of a new generation of state unit chiefs who consider them as has-beens. The second set of leaders include those who want party chief Sonia Gandhi to take any action that helps to end the status quo even if it means elevating vice president Rahul as party

president. “Kuch to karo,” said a despairing neta notwithstanding his reservations about the Amethi MP’s capabilities. For precisely this reason, there is already a vocal group that has been calling for Rahul’s anointment as the top boss. Besides the younger lot of Congress leaders who owe their political existence and relevance to him, there are seniors like Digvijaya Singh who have openly called for his elevation. Once considered close to Rahul, Singh’s place in the charmed circle around the 44-year old Gandhi has been taken up by Madhusudan Mistry who, not surprisingly, is among those who believes that the future belongs to the Amethi MP. The time is considered right for Rahul to take charge since Sonia completes her five year term in 2015 and fresh organizational polls culminating in the party president’s election have to be completed by the middle of the year. Accordingly, in the coming days, leaders like Singh are likely to vociferously renew their call to elevate Rahul ---something which Sonia herself wants, given the fact that she is now 68, does not keep good health and would like to be around as a mentor for him and the party as well as a buffer between him and those who are unhappy with his uninspiring leadership and style of functioning. His anointment as the top boss would formalize the existing arrangement in which he has been calling the shots ever since he was made vice president in January 2013 in the aftermath of the electoral disasters in states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat or subsequently in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. After the party’s rout in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 in which he was the star campaigner, Sonia ensured that the state leadership led the campaigns in the subsequent assembly polls in Maharashtra or Haryana where it was staring at a certain defeat. With Rahul being increasingly blamed for the party’s sliding fortunes, Sonia tried to shield her son from sniper attacks by refusing to convene a brainstorming session, taking the responsibility for the defeat and offering to step down---an offer which was immediately rejected. The probe panel she set up to look into

Rahul has shed his reluctance and is ready to accept the responsibility of leading the party

With Rahul being increasingly blamed for the party’s sliding fortunes, Sonia tried to shield her son from sniper attacks by refusing to convene a brainstorming session, taking the responsibility for the defeat and offering to step down

the party’s defeat identified every factor barring one --Rahul’s uninspiring leadership. Rahul has now been entrusted with the task of reviving the party. In the last few weeks he has been confabulating with senior leaders on how to rebuild the Congress. Another such meeting is scheduled with the AICC general secretaries on December 24. “This is to prepare the roadmap for the party,’’ said a leader, claiming that the party is getting ready to mark a new beginning with the new year. Sources maintain that Rahul has shed his reluctance and is ready to accept the responsibility of leading the party. Other than accepting a higher post and a greater profi le and responsibility in the party which saw his meteoric rise from an ordinary MP to party general secretary and then vice president, Rahul has systematically refused to join the Manmohan Singh cabinet during the UPA regime or of leading the 44 member Congress parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha. Unlike his mother Sonia whose renunciation of the prime minister’s post in 2004 raised her stature,

Wildlife sanctuary at Tamhini under threat

Tamhini Sanctuary biodiversity Dr Sachin A Punekar, in his book Tamhini Wildlife Sanctuary, (an abode of myriad forms), states that: • The 49.62 sq km Tamhini has been carved out by taking 12 compartments of reserved forest from Paud and Sinhgad ranges in Pune forest division, while eight compartments belong to Mangaon range in Roha division in Thane. Located west of Pune, Tamhini is a hilly place near Mulshi dam. The area is blessed with waterfalls, verdant valleys and lush evergreen forests. FLORA: The sanctuary possesses three types of forests, namely Western subtropical hill forest, southern moist-mixed deciduous forest and southern tropical semi green forest. Numerous plants species have been recorded from this sanctuary along with medicinal plants. FAUNA: About 28 species of mammals have been reported from this region. This region also holds a population of Kondana Rat, which is a critically endangered species. Along with this, leopard and Indian Giant Squirrel have been reported from this region, and 18 species of reptiles were reported from this sanctuary. A new species of frog named Ghate’s Shrub Frog is described from this sanctuary. About 16 amphibian species reside in this sanctuary. More than 150 bird species have been reported from this region.

Contd from p 1 Besides the construction of farmhouses, the levelling of hill slopes and construction of roads have compounded the threat to this nature reserve. Concerned over the situation, three NGOs including Devrai Trust, Pune, Nisargsevak and Foundation for Sustainable Development, Kolhapur are planning to file a legal petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Conservationists of Pune city have set up a ‘Save Tamhini’ forum, and are planning to file a court case, to put a stop to the construction and commercial activity in this eco-sensitive zone of the Western Ghats. An online campaign ‘To save the nature treasure of Tamhini region’ has also been launched. Speaking to The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, Devrai Trust representative Dhananjay Shedbale. said, “Tamhini is a

Rahul was slammed as a shirker for his refusals. Not surprisingly, the big question is whether Rahul would measure up to the daunting challenge of reviving the party or leading it from the front if and when he is made party chief, given his penchant to suddenly vanish from the public eye when he is required to be on the job 24x7. His first test for the new year is already on him, especially with the latest results further eroding the party’s image, appeal, credibility and acceptability. During the winter session of Parliament ending December 23, the Congress had joined hands with other opposition parties to stall the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP-NDA is in a minority, and put the Modi government in the dock on the issue of conversions. But holding up proceedings in Parliament and preventing the government from pushing its legislative and reforms agenda unless the Prime Minister makes a statement against such religious conversions is an easy job. The real challenge for the Congress is to galvanise its grass-root workers to take

on the BJP politically and ideologically. This requires a long, painful and tortuous haul, especially in the four key areas that the party has been talking about for the last couple of years but failed to work on. These include the need to reinvent and rebrand the Congress, restructure the organisation and rework the political and socioeconomic strategies that take into account changing social realities in which the middle class has moved further up the economic ladder and scheduled castes and tribes and other marginalized groups are now as aspirational as any other section demanding opportunities. But what they consider as possibly more important ---and perhaps most difficult---is to rework the image and appeal of their chief. Can Rahul transform himself? Does he have it in him to deal with these challenges? His track record so far does not stand him in good stead. With the BJP becoming the new Congress, workers can only live on the thin sliver of hope that there will be a dawn some day to their dark nights. By special arrangement with firstpost.com

Baner-based Sokrati goes the billion dollar way rich biodiversity region, that is vulnerable to anthropogenic interference. Such developmental activity will endanger the ecosystem and will also affect the water supply to Pune city.” The NGOs have called for a halt to construction activity in the region, including road building, and have demanded that only residents of the area be entitled to provide hospitality services for tourists. A study by the NGOs has revealed an alarming extent of damage inflicted on the Tamhini Ghat region, including the plateau and to the valley near Dongarwadi village. The plateau has been labelled as an eco-sensitive zone by the Kasturirangan Committee and is also mentioned in the Madhav Gadgil Committee report. archana.dahiwal@goldensparrow.com

Govt taking steps to protect Tamhini region Deputy Conservator of Forests, Pune, Satyajeet Gujar told The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, that the area in a 10 km radius around Tamhini Ghat has been declared as a sanctuary, and that it comes under the ecosensitive zone. This proposal is pending with the state government and once it is passed, it will be sent to the central government. The promulgation of the area as an eco-sensitive zone will help the cause of conservation in the area. It will not affect the inhabitants of the region, but is primarily aimed at regulating activities like commercial mining, setting up of polluting industries and saw mills in the area. Besides the Pune forest division, the Raigad division has also sent a proposal to the state government to declare an eco-sensitive zone around the Tamhini Ghat Sanctuary, that will act as a buffer zone. The area limits for the proposed zone have not been decided. Most of this area comes under Pune forest division.

Contd from p 1 It handles over 12 million monthly visits to advertisers by managing over 100 million active ad entities on a real-time basis. Several top brands in e-commerce, travel and finance sectors across India and USA enjoy higher conversion rates with Sokrati’s digital marketing and analytics platform. With more than 3000 clients and a rising revenue and shareholder value, Sokrati ranks under the 20 hottest startups of the country by Techncircle. “TiE is a massive network. We will leverage on the experience and target retail there. To build credibility for our products and to eventually expand will be our ultimate goal,” said Mehta while speaking to The Golden Sparrow on Saturday. Sokrati gets 30 per cent of the revenue from the US. The team sees this opportunity to probe further. They

plan to hire four to five marketing professionals from the country to start their base in the States. Their ‘One Marketing’ technology platform combines marketing technology, big data analytics and consumer psychology to deliver ads that users want to see at the right time with the most alluring message on the most cost-effective channel. The start-up has clientele in the insurance, ecommerce, flash sales and device based targeting. After having showcased their services in the US, Sokrati was offered to be the part of the billion dollar initiative. “We are grateful to TiE for offering this opportunity. They have offered the Indian ecosystem a global platform through such initiatives. We were elated when we heard of our selection. It is milestone for our team,” said Mehta. yashdaiv@gmail.com

Rajasthan ministers get IM threats JAIPUR: Some Rajasthan ministers, including the state home minister, have received threat e-mails allegedly from Indian Mujahideen (IM), warning them about bomb blasts in the state, police said Friday. “The e-mails have been received by some cabinet and state ministers, threatening them that there will be bomb blasts in Rajasthan Jan 26,” Rajasthan Director General of Police Omendra Bhardwaj, told IANS. These e-mails were received Dec 22 at around 5.45 p.m. “We got information about it Thursday. We are trying to investigate and verify the credibility of

the mails,” a police officer said. “We have tightened security at major spots across the state as we do not want to take any chance,” he said. According to police, the e-mails are being sent by IM and they said that the ministers should be careful as the group is going to give them a “big bang surprise”. The mails said the ministers can now understand the goal of the group and do whatever they can. Th is should be taken as a warning and IM will conduct the blasts in various parts of Rajasthan Jan 26. IANS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

“Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.” —BKS Iyengar

“Everyone wants to live a happy life, but we tend to look for happiness and satisfaction in material things. However, several scientists I have spoken to now acknowledge that having a happy mind is crucial to physical health.” — Dalai Lama

Make walking a daily affair Daily walking, starting slowly and building up after a couple of days, has great health benefits

The Way Forward With Compassion & Hope

Care for the elderly with joy in your hearts BY C RAVINDRANATH

BY DR BM HEGDE “A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time—pills or stairs.” — Joan Welsh “The walk for health was a grand success,” cried out the electronic media that benefited hugely from the advertisement revenue from the insurance company and the hospital sponsoring the event. It has, indeed, been a motivational event to wake people up to the reality that healthy lifestyle is profitable. But there it ends. It would be prudent for us to ask for an outcome audit. What has been the final outcome of this propaganda? If we were to believe that these two companies were doing all this for our benefit, we will be too naïve. No corporate business house does such big investment in advertising and organising an event of such magnitude without some benefit for its stakeholders. Most charity has some ulterior motive behind it. Most big charities in the world spend upwards of 80 per cent of their funds for their administrative expenses! What then could be the motive? The hospital involved gets many benefits in addition to the mega advertisement about their facilities. Many of those who took part in the walkathon, other than those regular walking freaks who are shown in the TV

ads, might be those who had not walked that long, earlier. They will get some joint pains, joint swelling with fluid inside the joint sac and even muscle catches, in addition to a small percentage that gets shortness of breath, etc. They would want to get themselves investigated. There is a tendency for them to gravitate to this or other medical facilities. The biggest source of income for hospitals these days is investigating apparently healthy people, for what is called routine checkups. In the present context of the linear science of modern Western medicine, “routine check-ups in the apparently healthy could be most dangerous activity,” writes the British Medical Journal in one of its issues. Since we do not have a definition for ‘normal’ in our Western linear science, we use the averages as normal. This is dangerous. This brings between 5% - 25% false positives for each parameter checked. Thus a man/woman, who sees the doctor for check-up, becomes a patient

for life. There is every possibility that many of them are given some drugs for life. Those drugs might have serious side-effects in the long run! To give you some idea, let us start with aspirin, the simplest drug given almost routinely when you see a doctor. This is claimed to give protection against heart attacks. Recent audits did show that “while aspirin in small doses might, or might not, prevent nonfatal heart attacks, they will certainly kill about 10% of that population due to cerebral haemorrhage.” Calcium channel blockers, like nifedipine, are now seen to be associated with a significant increase in breast cancer in women. Some beta-blockers, like atenolol, are associated with increased risk of strokes. A simple H1 blocker, like some of the proton pump inhibitors, could prolong the QTc interval in the heart and could stimulate fatal arrhythmias. Even a simple anti-histaminic can also increase the QTc interval in the ECG

Daily walking is even known to reduce the incidence of major killers like stroke, coronary artery disease and diabetes

like H1 blockers. Study after study has clearly shown that checking up apparently healthy people, and then giving them reductionist chemical drugs, does not do any good; it might, in fact, do more harm. Daily walking, starting slowly and building up after a couple of days, has great health benefits and is even known to reduce the incidence of major killers like stroke, coronary artery disease and diabetes. Coupled with daily routine devoid of undue stress, sensible diet; enthusiasm for work and being compassionate might be the best insurance against most of the killer lifestyle diseases. If one could club all these routine healthy habits with yoga, meditation and praanaayaama, one could be healthy and active until death. If your lifestyle is any different, take the walkathon every year. But remember, if you are a sedentary person, walkathon might be counterproductive for you but good for the industry sponsoring the event. “He’s the best physician that knows the worthlessness of the most medicines.” — Benjamin Franklin (Professor Dr BM Hegde, a Padma Bhushan awardee in 2010, is an MD, PhD, FRCP (London, Edinburgh, Glasgow & Dublin), FACC and FAMS.) @moneylife.in

Sleepwalking is a mysterious disorder Somnambulism or sleepwalking has no specific treatment, but the investigation of what triggers it, is essential BY BARNALEE HANDIQUE @barnalee My son’s classmate had come to stay over for the night. After a late dinner and much revelry, we retired to bed. At around 1.30 am, I heard someone fumbling with the lock on the front door. Shaken out of deep slumber, I was petrified. I gathered the courage to open Dr Seema Darode the front door. My son’s friend Bipin was at the door, glassy-eyed and he didn’t respond when I spoke to him. I realised then that he was sleepwalking. Sleepwalking occurs commonly during deep sleep, but it may occur in the lighter stages of sleep. It usually happens within a few hours of falling asleep, and the sleepwalker may be partially awake during the event. Sleepwalkers have little or no memory of their actions. Children, who suffer from sleep apnea, are most prone to sleepwalking. Sleep apnea is a common disorder, owing to which a person has pauses in breathing, or shallow breathing, while sleeping.

What is somnambulism Know about somnambulism It is a sleepwalking disorder that originates during a deep sleep. The affected person is walking or performing other complex behaviours while asleep. It is difficult to awaken the sleepwalker and he/she will probably not remember the incident.

Child and Family Guidance Centre psychologist Dr Seema Darode said, “The sleepwalking disorder is also known as somnambulism. It originates during deep sleep and the affected person is walking or performing other complex behaviours while asleep. It is difficult to awaken the sleepwalker and he/she will probably not remember the incident.” Though adults also have sleepwalking issues, it is more prevalent among children aged 10 onwards. “The reasons for sleepwalking may be stress, fear, tension and anxiety. During sleepwalking, a series of behaviours are carried out. Some may walk out of the room, while others may

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simply sit on the bed and look around, walk around the room or house or even leave the house. Some sleepwalkers even drive long distances. The sleepwalking activity can last between 15 minutes to an hour,” explained Darode. Other possible causes for sleepwalking include the influence of alcohol or certain medications. Experts recommend establishing a regular, relaxing routine prior to bedtime, to cope with sleepwalking. There is no specific treatment for sleepwalking. The patient can be made to undergo psychotherapy. Family members of a child who sleepwalks, should contact a doctor or specialist

immediately, who can then diagnose if fatigue, medication or stress is triggering the symptoms. “There is a psychological method of taking care of this issue. The treatment primarily consists of verbal therapy. It is a way by people with troubled mind is helped to deal with their behaviours, thoughts and feelings. This will help to reduce the stress and anxiety of the person and help him to lead a better life,” said Darode. It is also important to eat the right kind of food to induce sleep, such as warm milk. Milk and dairy products contain tryptophan, which induces sleep. Nuts and seeds, banana, honey and eggs are also high in tryptophan. barnalee.handique@goldensparrow.com

ith life expectancy going higher and longevity becoming more common, the question of how to deal with the elderly is becoming pertinent. If not addressed soon, this is likely to assume alarming proportions. Western culture puts them in old-age homes. It is not our culture. We respect and revere age. Though traditionally, our elders are cared for by their families, the disturbing fact is that this is no longer religiously adhered to. Children go abroad and settle there and a few lucky parents get to visit them occasionally, especially to play nanny to their babies. Added to this is the thinking that sons have to take care of parents, God bless those who have only daughters. Looking after an aged parent is considered more a way of life if not an onus. They are often seen as burdens and liabilities and we care for them more from a sense of duty than pleasure. Not all however deport themselves thus. While I know a retired army officer whose mother lives in an old age home in the same city, I have another friend who cares for his aged in-laws at home. “A thing is useless only if we are unable to find a use for it. This is our failure. My in-laws teach me valuable lessons in love, compassion, forbearance and sacrifice. We admire others for these qualities. Why can’t we practise them? My wife and I have no problem having them with us. Each day, they are making us

better persons.” His words are wise perhaps, but impractical to most of us who are unwilling to compromise our comforts. In fact, I recently discovered that there is an organisation called NRIPO – Non Resident Indians’ Parents’ Organisation – that has been functioning for several years in Pune. Here, parents whose children live abroad meet, interact with one another, give and receive emotional support and find solace in knowing they are not alone. It would be inopportune to sit on judgement over others or to prescribe a course of action. While there are those who discard or grudgingly accept their older generation, there are also those who inspire others by their love and devotion to them. However, I feel caring for the elderly out of social pressure or just because we would want our children to care for us in our declining years, is transactional. “A man will do it when he has to and he will do it when he wants to,” said Dale Carnegie. He quickly followed this statement by pointing out the difference between the two in the quality of work. Anything done voluntarily or from the heart would be (in his opinion) infinitely better than what was done out of compulsion. We can care for our aged in different ways. It can be by choice. It can be by compulsion. Which one would you opt for? (The writer is a multi-faceted personality who believes in responding with compassion and hope to the difficult situations in life.)

Is a problem bothering you and you are unable to decide what to do? Write in to us at wayforward@goldensparrow.com for advice and suggestions from C Ravindranath

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

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TH E EDIT PAGE

Editor’s pick

The correct interpretation of the Secular State would be that all dharmas or religious faiths are treated with equal respect.

- Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bharat Ratna

Expect Indian media to be irresponsible The high degree of corruption in the Indian media in the form of paid news and private treaties, and its loss of credibility is the subject of the latest book by the wellknown journalist Vinod Mehta. Profit-making by means fair and foul has emerged as the highest priority for a large section of the media. Discarded by the wayside are the role and responsibility of the media in a secular, democratic nation and commitment to professionalism, values and principles of journalism. Higher the sensationalism, higher will be the viewership or readership of your news channel or newspaper, and this will further translate into higher profits. Profits will be still higher if you include paid news and private treaties as a part of your day-to-day operations. The fact that you are cheating your reader and abusing her trust by falsifying news does not bother the journalists or their paymasters because there’s music coming in from the cash registers. This is the driving mantra for many of the leading members of the Indian media today and this is the example they have set before the industry. Readers need to be fully aware and enlightened about this dark reality of Indian journalism today. This is all the more relevant for us at a time when various extremist organisations, including small and insignificant ones, especially from the Hindutva fold, are taking to sensational antics and strategies to grab media attention nationwide. The media is only too willingly to play into the hands of such organisations because of the reasons mentioned above. Such is the vast and oceanic spirit of tolerance and inclusivity in Hinduism that even the worshippers of Ravan- the pre-eminent symbol of evil- have been given space in this land. Mother Teresa has her critics just as Hitler has his admirers. Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin subscribed to a thought and ideology which has its followers. They have a

right to their space under the spirit of democracy- as long as they break no law. Allowing them their say does not mean that you agree with them. Denying them their space would amount to showing the same intolerance that a large number of extremist organisations have shown towards writers and thinkers in this country who cherish their freedom of thought. By sensationalising the Hindu Mahasabha’s plans to raise a temple to Nathuram Godse, the media is only playing into the hands of such organisations, who, having been ignored so far, want to grow big by creating noise and sensationalism. They succeeded in making it to the front page of leading newspapers across the country, getting invited to TV debates, and thereby receiving far more publicity than they deserve. The media thrives on creating sensationalism and then riding on it. In the words of the writerphilosopher Alain de Botton, quoted in these columns earlier, everything that is sensational and negative is prime time news for the media. Instead of this, says Botton, the media as a powerful and highly influential vehicle of mass communication should play a role in helping shape the future that we desire. This is possible if the media gives up its focus on negativity and instead highlights what is positive, extraordinary, inspiring and insightful. This is not to say that the media should not perform its role as a watchdog on the government and as a mirror to society; but at the same time, shouldn’t the media promote the values of kindness, tolerance, harmony and cooperation among the people? Shouldn’t the media be constructive instead of destructive? Media organisations exist because of the support from readers and viewers like you. Let your voice be heard, loud and clear. @TGSWeekly editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com

Readers need to be fully aware and enlightened about this dark reality

Mohan Bhagwat & Modi: same as Sonia & MMS? The spirit of secularism and inclusiveness was captured eloquently by prime minister Narendra Modi when he described “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” (Together with all, development for all) as the cornerstone of his approach to good governance. Th is philosophy coupled with Modi’s track record as chief minister of Gujarat has given him nationwide acceptance as endorsed yet again in the elections in Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir. Modi’s feeble voice during the events over the last month was, however, disappointing. His promise of “good governance” was overshadowed by the “Hindu Rashtra” comments made by the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, his support to the questionable “Ghar Wapsi” campaign, and the Modi government’s faux pass in its directives to Navodaya Vidyalayas to organise events for school children

on Christmas day. There were other needless controversies sparked by other ministers in his government, all marking a departure from Modi’s promise to the nation. Just as Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the force behind the Manmohan Singh government in the erstwhile establishment, it is but natural for RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to imagine and act as the real power behind prime minister Modi’s government. However, he is not the one elected to power by the people of India and Modi must not allow Bhagwat to influence his policies and programmes beyond a point. Narendra Modi holds the promise of emerging as one of the great leaders of India provided he is able to contain the divisive agenda of the RSS and its affi liates. @TGSWeekly editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com

Vol-1* lssue No.: 28 Printed and Published by: PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 Printed at Diligent Media Corporation Ltd., Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai. Published at Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411 030, Tel: 020-2432 4332/33. Editor: Abhay Vaidya (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867)

The state of affairs in Pakistan as captured by cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu of The Sunday Guardian

Vajpayee: Apostle of peace personified Vajpayee articulated poetry as one of the means of expressing himself in any given situation BY ASHOK TANDON A 28-year-old dhoti-kurta clad young man was jostling to push his blanketwrapped baggage into the unreserved compartment of a passenger train at Delhi Railway station on May 8, 1953. It was a send off for Shyma Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (predecessor of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party), on a mission to enter Jammu & Kashmir defying the entry-permit order of the government and demanding full integration of the state into the Indian Union. On the call of duty was a journalistturned hitherto unfamiliar political secretary to Mookerjee - Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mookerjee was arrested on May 10, 1953 on the J&K border while entering the state and was taken to Srinagar jail. He sent Vajpayee back to Delhi with a message for the party rank and file to continue the agitation against what he then termed “Ek desh mein Do Vidhan, Do Pradhan, and Do Nishan Nahin Challenge “(in one country there can’t be two constitutions, two prime ministers & two flags). Mookerjee died under mysterious circumstances while in custody in Srinagar on June 23, 1953. And young Vajpayee, with his oratorical eloquence relentlessly went on to spread his political mentor’s message across the country and made an indelible mark as a debutant on the political scene of independent India. Vajpayee entered the Lok Sabha from Balrampur in UP in the second general elections in 1957 and his maiden speech earned him laurels from many contemporary veteran parliamentarians, including the then

Students participate in a painting competition organised by Gurukul drawing school on the eve of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Mumbai on December 24

prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru who, while introducing Vajpayee to a visiting foreign dignitary once said “ this young man one day will become the country’s prime minister”. Vajpayee remained a member of parliament for 47 years, elected 11 times to the Lok Sabha, and twice to the Rajya Sabha. But the issue of Jammu & Kashmir always remained foremost in his mind. He was a staunch critic of Nehru’s Jammu & Kashmir policy. A poet by heart, Vajpayee articulated poetry as one of the means of expressing himself in any given situation. He would often recite one of his poems during the course of his speeches to convey his message for the occasion and enthral his audience. One of his poems on Jammu & Kashmir “Mastak Nahi Jhukega” sums up India’s position on the issue of Jammu

& Kashmir. As external affairs minister in the 1977 Janata Party government, Vajpayee pursued the policy of friendly relations with India’s neighbours, including Pakistan, on the principle of peaceful coexistence & mutual respect. His famous quote “you can change friends but not your neighbours” went on to become a dictum in the Indian foreign office establishment. Resolving all the outstanding issues with Pakistan, including the issue of Jammu & Kashmir issue in a peaceful manner through bilateral dialogue without any third party intervention was Vajpayee’s mantra when he became the prime minister, first for 13 days in 1996, then for 13 months in 1998 and again for a full five-year term in 1999. The successful nuclear test “Operation Shakti” in Pokhran on

Three minds of your body BY ANIL RAJVANSHI

it. Thus the autonomous nervous system of gut allows it to work independently of Since dawn of civilisation, humans the brain. Nevertheless recent researches have always expressed love, feelings and have revealed that there is a tremendous emotional pain coming from the heart amount of information flow from the gut and basic feeling or intuition coming from to the brain via the vagus nerve and this the gut. Hence the expressions broken flow is mostly one sided. The reverse interaction (from the heart, gut feeling etc. Rationalists and brain to the gut) is when we get hunger scientists have scoffed at these expressions pangs and the brain tells the body to get saying they are only metaphors, but recent food or when something goes wrong in researches suggest that they may have the gut like pain or diarrhea, necessitating scientific explanations. medicines for its cure. Recent scientific On an average a brain has nearly evidence also suggests that a big part of 100 billion neurons and is the seat of all our emotions are probably influenced our thinking. The gut (digestive system by the chemicals and nerves in of the body) has close to 500 the gut. For example 95% of million nerve cells and 100 million body’s Serotonin is found in the neurons and is almost the size of a gut. Serotonin is an important cat’s brain. Not only does the gut neurotransmitter, which is a “talk” with the brain chemically well known contributor towards (by releasing chemicals which are feelings of well being. Sometimes then taken to the brain by blood) it is also called a “happiness but also by sending electrical hormone”. In Patanjali Yoga signals via the vagus nerve. Vagus nerve is one of the THINK gut occupies the centre of bodylongest nerves whose central universe! It says that by Sanyam purpose is to relay the information and on navel (Nabhi, gut etc.), a yogi gains the status of internal organs like gut and heart knowledge of the constituents of the body! to the brain. It starts from the head and THE HEART MIND ends near anus. Most of the gut neurons Life starts when the heart starts are used in the daily grind of digestion. Gut beating (21 days after conception) and system is an extremely complex chemical ends (clinical death) when it stops. Heart processing machine which breaks down has nearly 2 billion muscle cells and the food, absorbs nutrients and moves the 40,000 neurons. The heart neurons are waste down towards anus for expelling

very few in number compared to those in the brain (100 billion) or gut (0.1 billion). Nevertheless these neurons transmit heart’s signals and its condition to the brain. Recent studies have shown that heart sends signals to the brain that are not only understood by it but also obeyed. Besides the electrical signaling, heart is also an endocrine gland releasing peptides which help in blood pressure modulation and improving the functioning of kidneys. These peptides also stimulate the pituitary gland thereby helping it to release hormones like oxytocin commonly referred to as “love” or bonding hormone. The speed of heartbeat or its contraction changes depending upon our emotions. For example when we are aroused either by passion or anger then the heart speeds up and in more quiet times or in meditation it slows down. Pranayama or breathing exercises can stimulate the vagus nerve. Similarly the chanting of mantras or deep throat singing as practised by Buddhist Lamas also stimulates the vagus nerve. It has been show that this stimulation helps in reducing blood pressure. Scientists have also discovered that heart is involved in the processing and decoding of ‘intuitive information’. This could be the basis of saying “Follow you heart and you will never go wrong”. © Anil K Rajvanshi anilrajvanshi@gmail.com

May 13, 1998, was Vajpayee’s strategic master stroke which he defended as a “deterrent” rather than a weapon of mass destruction. He put India in the league of the world’s elite nuclear club yet announced moratorium on future testing. He carried his message of peace to Pakistan during a bus journey to Lahore on February 19, 1999. The Delhi-Lahore Bus Service Sada-e-Sarhad (Call of the Frontier) was launched as a symbol of the efforts of the Vajpayee government to promote peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan on the basis of reciprocity. And now the NDA-2 under the stewardship of prime minister Narendra Modi has embarked upon the mission of accomplishing the unfinished agenda of Vajpayee for a terrorism-free prosperous South Asia. Modi picked up the thread where Vajpayee had left in matters of India’s pro-active policy of improving relations with all immediate neighbours was on display at the very outset of the NDA-2 when heads of all the SAARC member countries were invited to witness Narendra Bhai’s swearing -in-ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan in Lutyens Delhi. Modi, who has always held Vajpayee in highest esteem and considered him his role model, never misses a chance to eulogize the larger-than-life towering personality of this living legend. (Ashok Tandon was media advisor to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vaypayee. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at ashokkumar.tandon@ gmail.com)

Limericks of the week BY C RAVINDRANATH

There seems to be aversion To the issue of conversion Good or bad The media is glad For it creates conversation

Perhaps the time’s near To live in peace sans fear The message of hope Is not only from the Pope All want a Happy New Year!

Most news is dour So shouting is power For the keen It can be seen In the 9 O’Clock noise hour!

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

PUNE

With selections from The New York Times

ISL gives India football a re-launch pad P 15

“Terrorism has once again shown it is prepared deliberately to stop at nothing in creating human victims. As never before, it is vital to unite forces against terror.” -Vladimir Putin, Russian president

The 2 degree threshhold set as a determining target by experts is being debated on the basis of some real life observations by JUSTIN GILLIS

Experts realized, for example, that at some increase in global temperature, After two weeks of grinding meetings the immense Greenland ice sheet in Lima, Peru, the world’s climate would begin an unstoppable melt, negotiators emerged this weekend with raising the level of the sea by as much a deal. They settled on preliminary as 7 meters over an unknown period. language, to be finalized a year from Their early calculations suggested that now in Paris, meant to help keep the calamity would be unlikely as long as long-term warming of the planet below global warming did not exceed about 2 degrees Celsius. 1.9 degrees Celsius. That upper boundary was first “Risking a loss of the whole settled on four years ago Greenland ice sheet at another round of talks was considered a noin Cancun, Mexico, and go area,” said Stefan is commonly called the Rahmstorf, head of “2C target.” earth system analysis at But where did that the Potsdam Institute target come from in the for Climate Impact first place? And even if Research in Germany. we manage to stay below “We are talking about it, will it really protect really sinking a lot of the planet from serious coastal cities.” harm? As the economic The target has a and scientific arguments long, winding history accumulated, the - Andrea Dutton that is rooted as much in Germans managed to politics and economics persuade other countries as in science. It first to adopt the 2C target, surfaced in the 1970s when William turning it into official European policy. D Nordhaus, an economist at Yale who The proposal was always controversial, was studying global warming, pointed with African countries and island out in his then-rough models of the states, in particular, arguing that it was economy that the damages to society too much warming and would condemn really started to intensify at that level them to ruin. The island states cited the of warming. potential for a large rise of the sea, and The nations of the world agreed African countries feared severe effects in 1992 to try to head off the worst on food production, among other damage, in an ambitious but vague problems. treaty that called for action to prevent But as a practical matter, limiting dangerous interference with the global warming to no more than 2C climate. seemed like the most ambitious target That raised the question of how that could possibly be achieved, since much warming would be dangerous. it would require virtually ending fossil In the mid-1990s, the German fuel emissions within 30 to 40 years. government picked up on the 2C At Cancun in 2010, climate delegates finding as a way to breathe life into the made 2C one of the organizing treaty. principles of their negotiations. The A decade of subsequent research talks culminating in Paris next year are added scientific support to the notion seen as perhaps the best chance ever that 2C was a dangerous threshold. to turn that pledge into meaningful

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Global warming limit off target?

“The climate is now out of equilibrium with ice sheets. They will melt.”

From a helicopter hovering over Greenland, oceanographer Fiammetta Straneo takes measurements to determine how fast the water is melting the nearby Helheim Glacier, Aug. 26, 2010. Greenland’s glaciers have been launching icebergs into the ocean at an accelerated pace, researchers say, and science and observation have raised questions of whether the limit of a two-degrees Celsius temperature increase, a basis of climate negotiations, is stringent enough.

No backlash after sydney siege, Muslims still fearful by THOMAS FULLER and MICHELLE INNIS SYDNEY - When television networks in December showed hostages being forced by a gunman to hold a flag with Arabic script against the window of a Sydney cafe, it was the first sign that their captor wanted to link his cause to Islam. While watching coverage of the siege at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe from his office, Rashid Ben Zerouk, a computer specialist in Sydney who is Muslim, said he felt a piercing glare from a colleague. “He looked at me like I had to explain myself,” Zerouk said. “I walked back to my desk with my head down. I felt like I wanted to hide.” Muslim leaders in recent days nonetheless followed what has become a familiar script after terrorist attacks: They issued a statement denouncing any connection between the violent acts and the teachings of Islam, took part in interfaith meetings and candlelight vigils, and gave countless interviews to speak about Islam as a religion of peace. Hisham Bouab, who manages a chain of restaurants and attends a mosque in the Sydney suburbs, began receiving calls from non-Muslim friends and colleagues while the siege was unfolding. “I thought, ‘Here we go again,’” he said. “Another thing I’ll have to explain.” Nancy Mourad, 24, a cancer researcher at a government medical institute, said she felt “guilty by association.” “I felt the need to apologize to everyone who looked at me - ‘sorry,

Andrew Quilty/The New York Times

After the hostage standoff, Australian Muslims worry that they are one attack away

Nancy Mourad, a cancer researcher at a government medical institute who said she felt “guilty by association” after the Sydney cafe siege, on a train in Sydney

sorry, sorry’ - for something I had no connection to,” she said. Mourad, who wears a head scarf, said that as the siege continued into the night, she was jeered while playing in an indoor soccer tournament. “I heard people on the sidelines saying, ‘Kick her! Tackle her, take her down!’” she said. The next day, she continued, while she was on the way to her office Christmas party, an older man shouted at her on the train, “Bloody Muslims, go back to your country.” But Mourad also said her nonMuslim colleagues had been supportive. Muslims in Australia number about 500,000, slightly more than 2 percent of the population. Their efforts to better integrate into Australian society were also marred by the 2002

gang rape of young girls by a group of men from Lebanese families, one of whom was sentenced to 55 years in jail. Australia’s official policy toward asylum seekers has been closely intertwined with debates about Muslim integration, as many of those seeking asylum are from Muslim countries. Monis, the gunman in the hostage siege, was a political refugee from Iran. This year, officials banned the burqa and face-covering scarves from the open galleries of Parliament, citing security. The decision was quickly reversed. Mourad said he cried as he watched the events in Sydney on television. “But why do I have to hang my head in shame?” he asked. “We get tarnished, we get blamed.” © 2014 New York Times News Service

amount of global warming, the ocean, which covers 70 percent of the earth’s surface and absorbs considerable heat, will pull down the average. But the warming over land tends to be much greater, and the warming in some polar regions greater still. The warming that has already occurred is provoking enormous damage all over the planet, from dying forests to collapsing sea ice to savage heat waves to torrential rains. And scientists are realizing they may have underestimated the vulnerability of the great ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Those ice sheets now appear to be in the early stages of breaking up. For instance, Greenland’s glaciers have lately been spitting icebergs into the

sea at an accelerated pace, and scientific papers published this year warned that the melting in parts of Antarctica may already be unstoppable.“The climate is now out of equilibrium with the ice sheets,” said Andrea Dutton, a geochemist at the University of Florida who studies global sea levels. “They are going to melt.” That could ultimately mean 9 meters, or even more, of sea level rise, although scientists have no clear idea of how fast that could happen. They hope it would take thousands of years, but cannot rule out a faster rise that might overwhelm the ability of human society to adapt. Given the consequences already evident as rising temperatures play out around the world, can the

2C target really be viewed as safe? Frightened by what they are seeing, some countries, especially the low-lying island states, have been pressing that question with fresh urgency lately. So, even as the world’s climate policy diplomats work on a plan that incorporates the 2C goal, they have enlisted scientists in a major review of whether it is strict enough. Results are due this summer, and if the reviewers recommend a lower target, that could add a contentious dimension to the climate negotiations in Paris next year. “Dealing with this is a little bit like saving for retirement,” said Richard B Alley, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University.. © 2014 New York Times News Service

Microsoft co-founder adds oomph to Artificial Intelligence pursuit Artificial Intelligence has reached new heights, but a little too high feels Oren Etzioni JOHN MARKOFF SEATTLE - Inside the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, known as AI2, everything is a gleaming architectural white. The walls are white, the furniture is white, the counters are white. It might as well have been a set for the space station in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Yet for the 30 (soon to be 50) artificial-intelligence researchers, the futuristic surroundings offer a paradoxical note: AI2 is an effort to advance artificial intelligence while simultaneously reaching back into the field’s past. AI has come roaring back as speech recognition, machine vision and self-driving cars have made progress with powerful computers, cheap sensors and machine-learning techniques. That has started a Silicon Valley gold rush led by Google, Facebook and Apple, drawing outsiders like Alibaba and Baidu in China, all caught up in a frantic race to hire the world’s best machine-learning talent. Allen, who noted that he came from a family of librarians, said his decision to fund an artificial-intelligence research lab was inspired by the question of how books and other knowledge might be encoded to become the basis for computer interactions in which human questions might be answered more fully. He says that the artificial-intelligence field has made incremental advances in areas like vision and speech, but that we have gotten no closer to the larger goal of true human-level systems. “Driverless cars are a great thing,” said Oren Eztioni, but added that the field had given rise to “bad AI, like the NSA is using it or Facebook is using it to track you.” “I really don’t want a system that can’t explain itself to be my doctor,” he said. “I can just imagine sitting there with Dr. Watson and the program saying, ‘Well, we need to remove a kidney, Mr. Etzioni,’ and I’m like, ‘What?!’ and they respond, ‘Well, we have a lot of variables and a lot of data, and that’s just what the model says.’ ” Etzioni, 50, was already known for innovative Web projects, including MetaCrawler, an early search engine, and an array of successful startup companies; one of them, Farcast, was acquired by Microsoft and became the basis for its Bing Travel service. (The first student to major in computer science at Harvard.) In September, the researchers celebrated their first milestone - 60 per cent correct answers in the language portion of New York’s fourth-grade science test. Many of the questions in the actual test include diagrams and illustrations, which will ultimately require advances in computer vision.

Stuart Isett/The New York Times

emissions limits, in part because President Barack Obama has gone far beyond his predecessors in committing the United States, the largest historical producer of greenhouse gases, to action. That, in turn, has lured China, the largest current producer, into making its first serious commitments. Yet even as the 2C target has become a touchstone for the climate talks, scientific theory and real-world observations have begun to raise serious questions about whether the target is stringent enough. For starters, the world has already warmed by almost 1 degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution. That may sound modest, but as a global average, it is actually a substantial number. For any

Etzioni remains a practitioner of a modern version of what used to be known as Gofai, for “good old-fashioned artificial intelligence

That challenge is considered far more difficult than recognizing human speech. It calls for a computer system with “scene understanding,” the human ability to extract meaning from animate and inanimate objects that interact. Whether AI2’s research leads to a new generation of thinking machine or just more incremental advances, the project is a clear indication that artificial intelligence has once again become the defining force in the software world. “The narrative has changed,” said Peter Norvig, Google’s director of research. “It has switched from, ‘Isn’t it terrible that artificial intelligence is a failure?’ to ‘Isn’t it terrible that AI is a success?’ ” © 2014 New York Times News Service

MONEY MATT ER S

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

PUNE

“The rupee would trade at an average 65.50 against the dollar next year. The weakening is natural as India runs a sustained trade deficit.” — Kishore Narne, associate director at Motilal Oswal

Signpost Nifty overall trend is weak S&P BSE Sensex opened at 27,530 while Nifty opened at 8,272. The benchmark hit a high at 27,571 and 8,287. The indices headed lower to hit a four day low at 27,147 and 8,155. Sensex closed at 27,209 (down 298 points or 1.08 per cent) while Nifty closed at 8,174 (down 93 points or 1.12 per cent). NSE recorded huge volumes of 102.66 crore shares on account of expiry of futures & options (F&O) segment for December 2014.

Indian firms borrow upto $3.49 bn in Nov According to the RBI data, Indian firms raised $3.49 billion from foreign markets in November, which was a whopping over 60 per cent higher than that garnered a year ago. Data on external commercial borrowing (ECB) showed that in the approval route category, Reliance Jio Infocomm raised $1 billion for refinancing of its earlier ECB. JSW Steel $500 million for refinancing of rupee loans and Daramic Battery Seperator India raised $24.95 million for a new project.

Renault’s price hike from next month Automobile manufacturer Renault India Monday said effective Jan 1, 2015, it will increase prices of its vehicles up to 2.5 per cent due to rising input costs.“So far we have absorbed the rising input costs, but a sustained challenging market environment has compelled us to increase our prices,” said Rafael Treguer, vice president, sales and marketing, Renault India. “The industry is eagerly looking forward to pro-business policies to reignite the automobile industry in India,” he added.

“Following a strong market performance in 2014, most investors believed that the structural upturn could result in India continuing to outperform in 2015, with a modest pace.” — Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor

Why Are Banks Cutting Interest On Deposits?

When RBI increases rate, banks immediately jump to increase lending rates. However, when there is no change in RBI’s policy for the past 12 months, why banks are regularly reducing interest rates on deposits, the most important source of income for most financial consumers? by JASON MONTEIRO In yet another example of cartelisation, three leading banks in India have cut interest rates on term deposits that too when there is no change in the monetary policy rates for the past 12 months. Last time, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased interest rate in December 2013. It has remained at 8 per cent since then. Even earlier this week the central bank kept all key rates unchanged in its fifth bi-monthly policy. When there is no change in monetary policy rate, why banks are cutting interest rates on deposits? Since they are not cutting rates for lending, why depositors are being ‘penalised’ as happens each time? Last month, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, announced a steep 1 per cent cut for short-term deposits up to Rs1 crore maturing in seven to 45 days to 5 per cent. In the September quarter, SBI reduced rates thrice, twice in September alone, on retail deposits. As if this was not enough, the state-run lender on Friday cut interest rates on long-term deposits by 0.25 per cent. SBI said that the interest rates for deposits of one year and above would be reduced by 25 basis points or 0.25 per cent per annum. While the rates for deposits of one year to less than three years and three years to less than five years are reduced from 8.75 per cent to 8.50 per cent, for deposits of five years and above, the new rate would be 8.25 per cent against 8.5 per cent at present. When the state-run lender takes lead in cutting interest rates, why should private banks not follow the suit? Few days back, ICICI Bank, the largest private sector lender, cut its deposit rate offering in the 390-days to two-year buckets by 0.25 to 8.75 per cent, according to its website. HDFC Bank too, cut its retail deposit rates by 0.25-0.50 per cent in the 46-days to under-one year bucket. Banks are citing easy liquidity and slow credit offtake as main reasons for cutting interest rates on deposits. According to media reports, the reduction has been due to deposit growth outpacing credit growth, a drop in the money market rates and

aligning with the competition, which has already cut the rates. However, this is nothing but blatant misuse by banks of floating rate policies and ‘free hand regime’ allowed by the RBI. When interest rates rise, banks immediately step in to increase their spread, but fail to pass on the benefits to customers when the situation is reversed. At the post-policy press conference, governor Raghuram Rajan had expressed concern that the RBI measures are not getting transmitted into rate corrections at banks but said that he is not asking the banks to do the review. Over the past year, RBI has repeatedly exhorted banks to treat customers fairly (TCF) through various public statements, meetings and circulars. However, this is clearly not enough. While moral suasion may have worked in a closed economy, the freedom to fix charges and the formation of an informal pricing cartel through the Indian Bank’s Association (IBA) seems to have weakened RBI’s ability to compel good behaviour. As on 5 December 2014 savings

deposit rate of five major banks was 4.00 per cent, while base rate for lending was between 10.00 per cent and 10.25 per cent. No bank lends money on the base rate and charge 1.00 per cent and above interest over and above the base rate. Even at the base rate level, this shows a spread of 6.00 to 6.25 per cent between interest paid to customers on savings account and interest charged by banks on advances and loans. This spread is enough for banks to cover all basic cost for providing services, like ATMs, SMS alerts and cheque books to customers. According to data from RBI, during 2010-11, base rate for lending was 8.25 to 9.50 per cent, while savers were paid in interest of 3.50 per cent on savings bank account. The interest rate for term deposit (one-three years) was 8.25 to 9.00 per cent. Over the next four years, while lending rates gone up, the deposit rates increased marginally. For 2014-15, the base rate is 10.00 per cent to 10.25 per cent and the term deposit rate is 8.75 per cent to 9.05

Deposit Rates*

Year

Call/Notice Money Rates

2014-15

8.27

4.00

8.75-9.05

8.50-9.05

10.00-10.25

2013-14

8.28

4.00

8.75-9.25

8.75-9.10

8.50-9.10

10.00-10.25

2012-13

8.09

4.00

8.75-9.00

8.50-9.00

9.70-10.25

2011-12

8.22

4.00

9.25

9.00-9.25

8.50-9.25

10.00-10.75

2010-11

5.89

3.50

8.25-9.00

8.25-8.75

8.50-8.75

8.25-9.50

Savings#

Term Deposits 1-3 yrs 3-5 yrs Above 5 yrs

Right time for debt schemes? In continuation to last week’s report, a recurring guide to choosing debt schemes in the era of low interest rates by JASON MONTEIRO The CRISIL Short Term Bond Fund Index tracks the performance of government securities, AAA/AA rated short term corporate bonds, commercial papers and certificates of deposit. The Index has an average maturity of 1.63 years and modified duration of 1.20 years. The CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index tracks the performance of a debt portfolio that includes government securities, AAA/AA rated long-term and short-term corporate bonds. The Composite Index has an average maturity of 6.04 years and modified duration of 4.04 years. The performance of most income schemes is benchmarked to the CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index. Likewise, the performance of short-term debt schemes is benchmarked to the CRISIL Short Term Bond Fund Index. We have looked at the period from April 2002 to November 2014. If we plot the monthly returns of the respective index, all we can see is volatility. Most investors would not be aware that fixedincome investments can be so volatile. Short-term and long-term investments are equally volatile. On quarterly returns, volatility is ironed out. But you can clearly notice higher volatility in the Composite Index compared to the Short Term Index. It is evident from the monthly and quarterly charts that investments in debt schemes should not be for periods of less than one year. The interest rate sensitivity in long-term debt is clearly visible when we consider the yearly returns of the index. When interest rates have risen, or declined, sharply, there has been a significant impact on returns of the Composite Bond Fund Index compared to the Short Term Bond Fund Index.

Timing is Crucial for Higher Returns

Crisil Composice Bond fund Index Crisil Short Term Bond fund Index

+10%

7.5% - 10%

5% - 7.5%

0% - 5%

Negative 0%

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Avoid trying to time interest rate cycle for short-term gains from long-term debt schemes. If your timing goes wrong, returns would be low or even negative

While the returns of short-term schemes have varied from a low of 2.49 per cent to a high of 11.45 per cent, long-term schemes have moved between 0.83 per cent and 14.07 per cent. The average return has been similar for the Composite Index and the Short Term Index. Over the period, the CRISIL Short Term Bond Fund Index returned an average of 6.79 per cent annually, whereas the CRISIL Composite Bond Fund Index averaged an annual return of 6.10 per cent. In terms of risk, the Short Term Index had a lower standard deviation of 2.23 per cent compared to the Composite Index which had a standard deviation of 3.30 per cent. Clearly, if one is looking for returns in excess of 10 per cent from debt schemes over a period of one year, timing is crucial. On just 13 per cent of the occasions over the past 10 years, the Composite Index has delivered a return in excess of 10 per cent. These returns have been registered when the interest rates have fallen sharply. On the other hand, the Short Term Index has

delivered a yearly return between 7.50 per cent-10 per cent more frequently than the composite bond fund index. Long-term Schemes or Short-term Ones? Ideally, investors should look for an investment horizon of three years or more in debt schemes, to avail the tax benefit. After the tax changes in the Union Budget 2014, capital gains from bond schemes are taxed at 20 per cent if held for three years with indexation benefit. Effectively, tax on capital gains will be very low. In such a scenario, which category of debt schemes should one choose? Ideally, longterm schemes. However, our research has led to some interesting results. This is why we say that debt schemes are not for the average savers. We have plotted the three-year rolling returns of the Composite Index and the Short Term Index. A mere glance at the chart indicates that the Short Term Index performed better. Over the 116 months, the three-year return of the Short Term Index has beaten that of

the Composite Index on as many as 104 occasions or 89 per cent of the times. The Composite Index delivered an average return of 5.80 per cent, while the Short Term Index delivered an average return of 6.68 per cent. We decided to verify this by taking the average return of long-term schemes and short-term schemes over a similar period. The results were the same. Shortterm debt schemes beat their longer term counterparts 82 per cent of the times over three-year periods. Short-term schemes delivered an average return of 7.59 per cent compared to an average return of 6.89 per cent for long-term schemes which had a standard deviation of 2.14 per cent, whereas short-term schemes had a lower standard deviation of 1.69 per cent. Therefore, investing in a long-term scheme would deliver better returns, only if you get your timing right. Investing, based on rate-cut expectations, could be risky. However, if you are looking at a longer investment horizon, short-term schemes seem to be a safer bet. These schemes have delivered better riskadjusted returns. Why have short-term schemes beaten long-term ones? Long-term schemes are touted to yield higher returns than short-term ones. But our analysis proves otherwise. The reason is that, over the past decade, there have been longer periods of rising interest rates compared to periods of interest rate declines. Over the four-year period from May 2004 to September 2008, interest rates rose from 6 per cent to 9 per cent. Then, again, after a sharp decline, over the three-year period from April 2009 to March 2012, interest rates rose from 4.75 per cent to 8.50 per cent. Except for a brief decline, interest rates have remained above 8 per cent from March 2012 up to December 2014. Therefore, over the 13odd years, interest rates have been rising or have remained steady over nine and a half years. To be continued moneylife.in

Lending Rates*

per cent. Interest on savings deposit also remained static at 4 per cent since 2011-12. If at all banks have more liquidity and credit offtake is slower, why the lenders are not lending more or even thinking about reducing interest rate to attract more borrowers? This is not likely to happen. Because, banks, under the leadership of IBA appear to be more interested in fleecing customers under different charges. Last month, speaking at the third Verghese Kurien Memorial Lecture at IRMA, Anand in Gujarat, Rajan, of the RBI, had said, “In fact, the system renders the banker helpless vis-a-vis the large and influential promoter. Who pays for this one way bet large promoters enjoy? Clearly, the hard working savers and taxpayers of this country! As just one measure, the total write-offs of loans made by the commercial banks in the last five years are Rs1.61 lakh crore, which is 1.27per cent of GDP. Of course, some of this amount will be recovered, but given the size of stressed assets in the system, there will be more write-offs to come. To put these amounts in perspective - thousands of crore often become meaningless to the lay person - 1.27per cent of GDP would have allowed 1.5 million of the poorest children to get a full university degree from the top private universities in the country, all expenses paid.” According to the RBI governor, the amount recovered from cases decided in 2013-14 under Debts Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) was just Rs 30,590 crore or 13 per cent while the outstanding value of debt sought to be recovered was a huge at Rs 2.37 lakh crore. Commenting on the monetary policy, Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairperson of State bank of India, said, “The RBI assertion of a possible change in monetary policy stance next year is a clear acknowledgement of a benign inflation regime. In fact, by advancing the inflation target of 6 per cent to March 2015, RBI has now set out a clear message of rate cycle’s reversal, sooner than later. With oil prices at historic lows, a stable exchange rate and strong capital inflows, the feel good factor is here to stay.” @moneylife.in

Health insurance for senior citizens

Navigating through the maze of health insurance products for senior citizens is not easy. Here are the options for those already insured or uninsured as yet

RAJ PRADHAN Of all insurance products, those meant for senior citizens are the most complex and vexing. There are many senior citizen mediclaim products in the market. It is not an easy for a layperson to choose from the options. Most employees in the organised sector are covered for health insurance by their employers but corporate group policies have started to cut back on providing cover for parents. Hence, there is added urgency to understand senior citizen mediclaim. If the parents are proactive in buying health insurance during their working life, it can help them in retirement. Getting hold of a health insurance policy at a higher age can be a challenge if you missed the bus at a younger age. If you are in good health, you can still get one. Once you have a policy, check if pre-existing diseases (PEDs) are clearly specified. The insurer will check your PED declaration with a fine-toothcomb at that time and try to deny claims if you are found to have hidden material facts at the proposal. Taking one wrong step with your policy can mean your policy is not even worth the piece of paper. While the

super rich do not need health insurance, those in the lower financial group can find government schemes like Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) and state schemes like Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana (RGJAY). Those inbetween have to seek retail or group health insurance. As a principle, cover what you cannot afford to lose. If you can afford to pay some part of the claim from your own pocket, there are products with lower premium which can suffice. Trying to get everything under the sun covered will cost you a bomb. You need to strike a balance. Regular Vs Senior Citizen Mediclaim New health insurance guidelines allow entry to regular mediclaim until the age of 65, but the insurer’s ‘right to underwrite’ can be an obstacle. Although after 65, you can try to go for regular mediclaim, your chances of getting it diminish. According to M Ravichandran, president TATA AIG General Insurance, “A senior citizen product will be costlier than a normal product due to higher risk. Therefore, a person must opt for regular health insurance cover and ensure continuous renewals to get lifetime cover.” @moneylife.in

SPORTS

Old Monk badminton tourney from Jan 15 PUNE: Pune District Metropolitan Badminton Association (PDMBA) will conduct the 23rd edition of Old Monk state level veteran badminton tournament at PDMBA complex, Shivajinagar from January 15. The tournament will be played in six age categories (35, 40+, 45+, 50+, 55+ and 60+ for men and women). For details contact Vishwas Deswandikar (9423585736) or Ajit Deshpande (9822089738).

Godwit sign MoU with Maharashtra kabaddi PUNE: Godwit Entertainment Private Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association and IP rights for the Maha Kabaddi League were awarded to Godwit for a period of five years. Maha Kabaddi League would be the official body that will promote the sport in state. The official launch of the league will be held in January while first season would kick off in May, 2015. The kabaddi league received a huge response across the spectrum.

MBL to get new ownership pattern this year

‘I will be back

in 2017’

TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly

Completing her education is the priority for Pune girl Rutuja Bhosale, a rising tennis player on the Indian horizon BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish

PUNE: Rutuja Bhosale is a player to watch out for, on the Indian tennis horizon. She was the youngest tennis player to be selected for the senior Fed Cup team, in 2013. Although, academics is the priority for Rutuja at present, the 18-year-old is determined to return to the action on the tennis courts, full time, in 2017. “Right now I am completing my graduation at the Texas A&M University in the United States. It will take two years, so I haven’t set any goals for 2015-16. However, I will keep playing ITF tournaments whenever I can, to try to maintain my ranking, so that I won’t have to start from rock bottom, when I return to the tennis action in 2017,” said Rutuja, who won back-to-back doubles’ titles at the $10,000 ITF tournaments in New Delhi this year. “I was in India for the summer vacation and decided to go for it. It was a good experience and helped

KNOW ABOUT RUTUJA Current single’s ranking: 1155 Highest single’s ranking: 527 (2012) Singles Year End (2014): 919 Current doubles’ ranking: 694 Highest doubles’ ranking: 690 Doubles Year End (2014): 692 Coach: Howard Joffe Previous coach: Sandeep Kirtane Birth place: Srirampur Favourite Surface: Hard

PLAYER’S CORNER

“II have become much fitter and stronger. Now I have the confidence that I can take the fight to any player.” ” boost my confidence,” said Rutuja. The last time Rutuja played on Pune’s courts, was in 2012, when she was knocked out in the fi rst round by Thailand’s Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, in the previous edition of NECC ITF Women’s tennis $25,000 tournament, at Deccan Gymkhana. But this time around, she defeated Pune’s Vasanti Shinde and Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO), before going down to fourth seed Ankita Raina. It was a close match, and Rutuja was on the verge of causing a huge upset. She had three match points in the decider, but the experienced Ankita handled the pressure well to level the scores. And then, despite a sterling effort, Rutuja couldn’t stop Ankita from snatching the win. “Her (Ankita’s) experience played a crucial part in that match. She had played a lot of tournaments this year, whereas I had played only a few. That made a lot of difference in the crunch situation,” said Rutuja. Talking about the evolution of

Arun Harikumar

BY VIDYA UNNITHAN @vidya_unnithan City-based Arun Harikumar is a familiar name in the basketball circuit. A mechanical engineering student of Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Chennai has represented Maharashtra state in several tournaments and now plays a key role for his college team too. Recently, he led his college team to victory in the IMG Reliance All India Youth Inter-collegiate basketball tournament held in Delhi. He was the top scorer in most the matches and even in the final, he contributed 15 crucial points while defeating Punjab. However, he feels that’s the team effort that has resulted in this win. “I can’t take the entire credit. It’s a team game and we all contributed equally in this tournament. I couldn’t do much in the semifinals, but others chipped in and we entered final. It was motivating win for everyone and after vigorous training with our coach we galloped victory. We are happy that all hard work has paid off,” said Arun. Coming from a family with no sporting background, Arun plays like the game skill was an innate gift to him.P laying for the last 11 years, he ascribes his success to his then school coach, DK Mali, an ex-navy player. “Right from my childhood, I was fascinated by the game. I would just go to the courts and carefully watch the seniors play. It was then that Mali sir spotted me and took me under his wings. He motivated me whenever it was needed. I owe all my success to him,” added Arun. Arun tasted his first success when he was 11. He was part of the team that won under-12 inter-school basketball tournament in Pune. Then he graduated to next level and started representing Maharashtra. So far he has played seven nationals and has led the state team twice. His consistency earned him a berth in national squad and was selected to represent India in an international tournament held in Malaysia in 2010. Later, he kept improving his game and was rewarded with best player, most valuable player and best forward trophies in several

Arun with his father Harikumar, mother Maya and sister Aparna Harikumar

other tournaments. However this year, he suffered a little setback due to back injury, which kept him out of action for over three months. “During training session, my left side of tailbone got fractured, resulting into a complete bed rest for five months. But, I wasn’t that patient and despite several warnings from doctors, I started playing within two months. The constant hankering to be back in the game gave me the push and I built my strength back up,” said Arun. Like any other budding player, Arun also idolises American basketball legend Kobe Bryant. “The sheer dedication with which Kobe plays is inspiring. His enthusiasm for the game and the way he encourages his team mates is galvanising. I always try to mirror his moves.” Juggling a hard pressed basketball career along with his studies has not been easy for him as he says, “Basketball has always been my passion and I always spared some time for the game. On the other hand, I come from a family that strongly believes the importance of education. So I tend to manage my time pretty well.” Carrying a perennial desire in his heart, Arun says, “I see myself wearing the Indian team kit again.I am working hard to get there and I am sure one day I will.”

her game since 2012, Rutuja said, “I have become much fitter and stronger. Now I have the confidence that I can take the fight to any player.” Rutuja, who used to train with former Davis Cupper Sandeep Kirtane, at Deccan Gymkhana, was part of India’s Senior Fed Cup, captained by Sania Mirza. Her outstanding performance in the tournament earned her a berth for the second time in the Junior Fed Cup team led by Sai Jai Lakshmy Jayaram. Rutuja made her maiden appearance in the junior Australian Open, and qualified for the doubles semifi nals partnering Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia in the same year. She was also supported jointly by Lakshya, a sports NGO, and Bharat Forge. Even at Texas University, Rutuja has been working on her game and form, and was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, for an 11-8 singles record in the spring, including a 5-3 mark in SEC singles matches. She paired with Anna Mamalat, and the duo was ranked eighth in the fi nal ITA Texas region rankings. About Texas University, Rutuja says, “We get good quality coaching and physical training. Currently I am training with head coach Howard Jofee. Even the college-level competitions are tough. The only problem is that I don’t get to play many pro tournaments.” ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com

RAHUL RAUT

PUNE: City-based I-league club Bharat FC continued their transfer activity, signing midfielder J Prasad and forward Rajinder Kumar along with snapping up Gouramangi Singh Moirangthem from Chennaiyin FC on a season-long contract. 26-year-old Prasad arrived from I-League second division side Bhawanipore FC, while Rajinder Kumar has been without a club since the end of the 2013-14 season of the I-League. Prasad and Kumar have already joined Bharat FC’s pre-season training camp at the Bharati Vidyapeeth football ground.

PUNE

PUNE: The 3rd edition of Cello Maharashtra Badminton League will be held Pune District Metropolitan Badminton Association (PDMBA) complex from January 2. Speaking on the occasion Avinash Jadhav, president of Haveli Taluka Badminton Association said, “Due to unfavorable market conditions, most of the team owners pulled out of the league and thus the league could not be organised last year. However, we at HTBA believe that the league format is important for the overall development for the sport so we decided to continue organising the league with the new form of ownership pattern.” “Now the league will have various district associations as team owners of participating teams. This year six teams will participate in the league including Greater Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Thane, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur. Each district association will be free to choose its own team from the players who represent that district. The HTBA will extend a financial assistance of Rs 1 Lakh to each participating district association so that it does not come as an additional cost burden to them”, he added. Uday Sane, secretary of PDMBA said, that each team of the league will have eight players with minimum two women players. The league would be conducted in ‘All Play All’ format and the top four teams will go to semifinals. The total prize money of the tournament is Rs.2 Lac of which the winner will get Rs 1.25 Lakh and the runner up will get Rs 75000. Some of the important players who are participating in the league are Greater Mumbai – Nigel D’Sa and Leroy D’Sa, Mumbai Suburban Harshil Dani and Shlok Ramchandran, Thane – Akshay Devalkar and Eshan Naqui, Pune – Shubhankar De, Neha Pandit, Nagpur – Arundhati Pantawane and Nashik – Amit Deshpande and Yash Wagh.

ISL gives Indian football a re-launch pad BY SANTOSH RAO NEW DELHI: Football in India will never be the same again and Indian Super League (ISL) can take all plaudits for this monumental change in the country’s sporting culture. The inaugural ISL - a tournament borrowing on cricket’s incredibly popular Indian Premier League (IPL) concept has managed to recapture the imagination of football fans and effected a dramatic turnround in it, shattering old biases. Football had largely become a ‘sofa sport’ in India -- fans sitting at home watching and debating about European leagues rather than going out to watch Indian players. ISL, however, managed to turn these couch potatoes into stadium goers and this was clear from the average attendance of the tournament being the fourth highest of all leagues in the world. The average match attendance for the tournament since its commencement Oct 12 is 24,357, the highest across Asia, and

according to the organisers the league trailed only Germany’s Bundesliga, the Barclays Premier League and Spain’s La Liga. The tournament kicked off with 65,000 people attending the opening game between Atletico de Kolkata and Mumbai City FC Oct 12. Only in its nascent stage, the football league definitely has had its fair share of issues but when a country, which is ranked 170th in the world, has a league that has an attendance more than the Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1, there is little you can fault ISL with. The league also recorded over 16 million online video views through the course of the tournament. Additionally, the official ISL online channel registered 28.7 million visits. On social media too, the ISL captured the minds of football fans, recording over 1.8 million conversations, 10 billion impressions and 275,000-plus unique authors. ISL’s football semi-final clash between Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blasters FC recorded the highest number of online video views - 1.1 million - ever witnessed in India

for any single sport game. These numbers indicate that football has managed to create a huge fan following across India and is a step closer towards its ultimate goal of placing India on the global football map. Besides making football popular again, the most important thing ISL did was to make young footballers see the sport as a viable career and this in turn is expected to increase the pool of players and improve the quality of the national team. Also, the presence of high-profi le names like Robert Pires, Freddie Ljunberg, Nicolas Anelka, Elano, David James, Luis Garcia and Alessandro Del Piero, among others, whetted the appetite of football fans around the country and also the world. Suddenly sports media around the globe started noticing and taking interest in the football happenings in the country. The ISL has kicked the Indian football into the global limelight and given it the new goal: To become the top sport in the country. – IANS

IANS

Bharat FC sign J Prasad, Gouramangi

DECEMBER 27, 2014

“We’re 2-0 up and I guess it backfired on India a little bit at the Gabba with them trying to get stuck into us and Mitch Johnson fired back. He’s obviously the leader of the attack.” — Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood

“Maximisation of talent has made Alex Ferguson one of the most successful mangers. Everything, his talent and passion, he put at the service of Manchester United and football in general.” — Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

Players of Atletico de Kolkata celebrating after winning the Indian Super League trophy by beating Kerala Blasters FC in the final

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

PUNE

“Cricket Australia’s decision to promote Steven Smith to be the skipper of the Test side is outstanding. He’s got his own thoughts on the game, he is a good thinker about it, he still wants to learn.” — Australian Wicket-keeper Brad Haddin

“There is an intense competition among the quick bowlers in the squad for a place in the final 11 and whoever misses out playing the first Test against Sri Lanka will be unlucky.” — New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan

TGS News Service @TGSWeekly PUNE: As expected Army shooters dominated the 58th National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC) held in Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex, Balewadi this week. Even in the team event, Army marksmen dominated and the Army Marksmanship Unit of Satyendra Singh, Chain Singh and Chavanke Ashok won the gold, shooting a total of 1857.5 points. Punjab finished second with a total of 1846.3 and the Air Force team settled for the bronze. Also, Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar shot a total of 571 to become the new national champion in the 25m standard pistol category. Vijay scored 571 while Gurpreet Singh bagged the silver with a total of 570. Omkar Singh from the Navy settled for the bronze medal with a total of 568. In the pistol team event, the Army Marksmanship Unit won the gold with 1684 points while the silver went to Border Security Force (BSF) with 1675 points. The Navy team settled for the bronze with 1665 points. In the finals of 50m Rifle 3 Position men’s event, Satyendra Singh (Army) won the gold medal with 454.0 points by beating the very experienced Sanjeev Rajput by 8.2 points. Sanjeev received Silver after scoring 445.8 points followed by Bronze medal winner Imran Khan (Army) with 435.4 points. In the 25m Centre Fire Pistol Men event, Gurpreet

Singh (Army) won the gold medal with 586 -27x points, Pemba Tamang (Army) won Silver with 584 -24x and Samaresh Jung (CISF) received bronze after scoring 583 -19x. Vijay Kumar (Army) scored 580 -23x to be on the fourth position. The high point of the tournament was India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra defending his national title in 10m air rifle, despite being only a hobby shooter now. The 32-year-old Punjab marksman shot a total of 208 to retain the crown. He was followed by Army marksman Satyendra Singh, who finished second with 207.2 while Haryana’s Sanjeev Rajput settled for the third place with 185. London Olympic bronze medallist, Gagan Narang (Air India) was eliminated with 142.2 points. Ironically, Rajput had taken the pole position in the qualifications, shooting a total of 624 while Abhinav trailed the Haryana marksman by three points. Bindra had announced just before the 2014 Asian Games, that henceforth he would only train twice a week and take part in fewer competitions. However, he was not satisfied with his performance. “I was not happy with the performance in qualificiation. It was may be the stance, but in the final wanted to shoot better and high results,” he said after the event. During the event, the shooters were forced to take a break due to power cut twice. But, it seemed that it didn’t

India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra during 10m air rifle event final at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi

affect Bindra, as he shot 10.1 in the next shot. He also didn’t pay much attention towards loud cheering and music playing in the background. “That’s the current scenario in any shooting event globally. So we are just trying to cope up with that and trying to shoot better in such noisy atmosphere,” he added.

Apurvi, a national champion again Reigning Commonwealth Games Champion Apurvi Chandela did an encore in the women’s 10m air rifle event on the concluding day. Having qualified for the eight woman final in pole position with a score of 1168, Apurvi comfortably won

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City dams need additional 10 TMC water to tide over crisis BY ASHOK BHAT @ashok_bhat

`2,200 cr project for water augmentation

The Zero Stone monument in Nagpur and other parts of the world

Rainfall in July has brought some reThe PMC’s Water Supply lief to the citizens of Pune and the civic Department has proposed a administration. However, to be able to `2,200 crore project to replace ensure regular water supply without the network of old, leaking and cuts in the coming weeks and months, and drainage Modiwater tweets the dams supplying water to Pune willPMdamaged BY GITESH SHELKE lines. A Draft Project Report (DPR) need to build up an additional 10 TMCin Japanese @gitesh_shelke is scheduled to be placed before (thousand million cubic feet of water) the City Improvement Committee storage. Primenext minister Narendra With 28-years-old Asif Shaikh as its week, BJP’s groupModi leaderon While the Khadakwasla dam hasThursday putGanesh out a series of told tweets in head, the Shri Shivram Tarun Mandal in PMC, Bidkar TGS. reached its storage capacity of 1.98Japanese and said that be as his friends Trust on MG Road is truly an inspiring project would financed TMC, the situation in the Panshet,from The Japan had him to talk to icon of communal harmony, as it through theasked Jawaharlal Nehru Varasgaon and Temghar dams wouldthe people of Urban JapanRenewal directly, Mission. he had prepares for Ganeshotsav with a range be crucial not just for Pune city butdoneNational so. Modi is scheduled to visit Jaof charitable activities every year. The project will drastically curtail also for smaller towns downstream likepan from 30 to September 3. Describing their youth group as “a waterAugust wastage. Daund and Indapur, which depend onIn a tweet in Japanese, he said he was truly cosmopolitan mandal”, Shaikh these dams for their water supply. Tovery “excited” about the visit that will and the mandal’s secretary Sheldon fulfi l this demand, a total of 20 TMCstrengthen the relationship between Fernandes spoke of water will be required, of which storagethe ministration tookIna another review oftweet the rain-what Ganeshotsav two countries. of 10 TMC has been achieved. fall andtowater storage status at thecelebrations mean addressed his Japanese counterThis was underlined by the officialspartKhadakwasla, Panshet, Shinzo Abe, Modi said Varasgaon he deeply andto them every year. of the Irrigation Department duringrespected Temghar dams which supply water to First Abe’s leadership. and a meeting convened at the civic headthe city. foremost, the trust quarters by mayor Chanchala Kodre The Khadakwasla dam has waterinvolves everyone on Thursday. Those present at this storage to itsHerald full capacity of 1.98 TMC.from the locality in case: meeting included municipal commis-National The irrigation department thereforethe festivities. sioner Vilas Deshmukh, city engineerCourt hearing decideddefers to release some water from this The mandal Prashant Waghmare, water supply dam into the Mutha river. The PMCcollects vargani chief V. G. Kulkarni, standing comalso decided to withdraw the alternate( v o l u n t a r y on Thursday fixed December mittee chairman Bapusaheb Karne andA court day water supply plan and release water contribution) from 9 as the next date of hearing in a case top party representatives. once a day from this dam. the neighbourhood and During the meeting the civic ad-against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Contd on p 10but does not spend her son and party vice president Rahul it entirely on decorations and the Gandhi and others over acquisition of immersion procession. “Instead, we the National Herald newspaper. provide meals to the poor for 10 days Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati and also undertake other charitable Manocha deferred the hearing after it activities,” Shaikh said. was apprised that the Delhi High Court This includes the distribution

Signposts

APSHINGE:

The great village of brave soldiers Two days from today, July 28, 2014, will mark the centenary of the First World War, also known as the Great War, that ushered in a new epoch in world politics. The history of that war is intertwined with a small, remote village in Satara district. TGS Special Report p13 This medallion was presented by the Queen of England after the First World War to the next of kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed in the war. Sepoy Khashaba Powar’s medallion has been placed by his family at their place of worship

Signposts India to have 4 new central universities NEW DELHI:: The government has decided to set up four new central universities in the country, parliament was told early this week. “The ministry of human resource development (HRD) has decided to set up four new central universities, viz. one Central Tribal University each in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, one central university in Andhra Pradesh and Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Bihar,” HRD Minister Smriti Irani said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. At present, there are 40 central universities under the purview of the ministry.

Army chief pays tributes to Kargil War martyrs SRINAGAR: Indian Army chief after the wreath laying ceremony at the General Bikram Singh on Friday paid Kargil War Memorial in Drass town of tributes to the martyrs of 1999 Kargil Kargil district. War in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh The chief of the Indian Army said region on the occasion of 15th Vijay ceasefire violations by Pakistan have Diwas. been taking place regularly on the He said the army is alert and Line of Control (LoC) in the state, but has been deployed effectively on the assured that the army has been effectively borders to defend the integrity and the responding to those violations. sovereignty of the country. “They violate the ceasefire every “Let me assure you, the army is week and every month, but the army has deployed on the borders to defend the been taking effective steps to respond to PUNE, AUGUST 30, 2014 www.goldensparrow.com integrity and the sovereignty of the those,” he said. country,” General Singh told reporters Contd on p 10 I've always been a movie guy, movies have been my thing. I love movies, all kinds of movies. — Christopher Nolan

BY PRIYANKA

Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh paying homage to martyrs at the Infantry War Memorial during his farewell visit to the Infantry School, Mhow in Indore recently

Boston Globe reported.

$250,000 fine. Shah was the president and CEO of SOHM and Costas, both based out of California. He was accused of paying kickbacks to an investment fund representative in exchange for buying stock in the two companies. The fund representative was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent working on an investigation into fraud in the market for penny stocks, the report said. Penny stocks are less heavily regulated than stocks that trade on major exchanges such as the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.

students- to prepare for the winter. The mandal also runs a small library for the neighbourhood residents and children, says Shaikh, explaining that a lot of money can be saved if spent prudently on just decorations, sound systems and other such expenses. As a part of its activities, the mandal has rented out some space to a tea vendor and the rent is used for the Ganeshotsav celebrations. Ni ne te e nyears-old Sheldon, a BBA student, helping others and doing something constructive for society brings lot of joy to everyone involved in the celebrations. Associated with this youth group since childhood, he says his fellow members hail from different castes, creed and religion. The Ashok Chakra Mitra Mandal close to Shivaji Market, Camp, is celebrating its golden jubilee this year and has a number of Muslims as its members, said Faiyaz Khan, one of Headed by Raghuvir Vanal, this

(IIM)-Shillong to emerge as creative leaders to bring about the required change in the country. “I want to see all of you as creative leaders to bring about the required change,” Kalam said, while delivering a lecture “Dimensions of National Development” at the prestigious B-school on Thursday. The “missile man”, as Kalam is also known due to his background in aerospace engineering and his role in India’s

indigenous missile development, is one of the visiting faculty members in IIMShillong. Kalam spoke about the challenges that India and the world were facing and emphasised the role of leadership to tackle these issues and develop possible solutions to ensure socio-economic development. He said the key requirement for achieving a distinctive profi le for the nation was by creating sustainable enterprise-driven models at the rural level. Kalam urged the students to emulate a development model to bring

TGS LIFE

Pune brands go pan India

PUNE’S PEOPLE PURPOSE

dents were killed and some 20 injured when their school bus was rammed by a speeding train at an unmanned rail-road crossing in Telangana Thursday. The dead included the school bus driver. Although the number of school children is a minuscule part of the total number of Indians dying daily on the roads, activists say most accidents are avoidable. I dislike about Will’s school? Are my and my efforts in both on an excursion in these Maharashtra on Piyush Tewari, founder and presistandards really too high or are people crafts are unfolding. December 7, 2013. dent of Save Life Foundation, said —Priyanka working in Chopra the education field really In an accident in Tamil Nadu’s holding an adult “accountable for safetyjust that ignorant.” The next morning, Pudukottai district in June 2013, a of children while on the move” andshe received a call asking her to meet mini van collided with a bus, killing having child safety laws would act asthe principal when she dropped off seven school children. deterrents. her son at Sonshine Christian AcadAnother seven children died when Two accidents this year injured 12emy, a private religious school, in Flortheir bus fell into a gorge in Jammu and school students. The first took placeida. To her shock, the school decided Kashmir’s Anantnag district in April May 12 in Greater Noida in Uttarto expel her son. 2013. In July last year, 11 students were Pradesh, injuring two students. Ten killed and 20 injured when their bus hit students were injured in adjoining Noia truck in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh da April 29 when their school bus was district. hit by a state-run bus. Contd on p 10 Three children died when their

‘Chayan’ promises to offer shelter, legal support and counselling to couples in case of outburst from families BY YASH DAIV @yash009

RAHUL RAUT

&DESERTED

DEAD

“Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) is one such system which I suggest will help in providing opportunities through cooperative working of resource and social entrepreneur in the rural areas,” he said. “PURA is the creation of physical, electronic, knowledge connectivities leading to electronic connectivity of rural regions. With this combined and planned intervention of infrastructure, digital technology, information and enterprise, we can select a cluster of about 20 to 50 villages, which share core

“We collect money and support poor patients in the hospitals. Our members also support orphans in different orphanages in the city,”

from 20 last year and 23 the year Central minister with regards to this before, according to the list published project soon,” Bidkar said, adding that in the web edition of Forbes Asia. an announcement on the forthcoming China’s tech companies made a state assembly polls is expected in PUNE, OCTOBER 11, 2014 www.goldensparrow.com strong showing, with Tencent the most a week or two and the BJP is keen valuable, having a market cap of $155.6 to push the Pune Metro project to a billion, nearly twice that of runner-up decisive stage before the Model Code India’s Tata Consultancy Services. of Conduct comes into force,” he said. Lenovo is the biggest in terms of annual revenue of $38.7 billion, Continued on p 10

Pune’s hottest start-up, 2014 get top prize today

Muslims and Christians and they are steadfast about the spirit of unity in diversity and respect for all religions that defines the nation, said Khan.

mouth

you take care of your supporting this event and includes the roster in 2005. family. Association of Software and Other notable National companies from —Julia Roberts Service Companies (NASSCOM), India include HCL Technologies, Indus (Tie, Pune), which makes the listTh fore the fifthEntrepreneurs time, SoftwareIndustries, Technologies Parks of and Sun Pharmaceutical (STPI), Mahratta Chamber Of which appears on theIndia list for the third consecutive time. Commerce Industries & Agriculture (MCCIA), PuneTech, iSpirit, IIM Mahindra & Mahindra also rejoins Ahmedabad’s the list after a two-year absence. Centre for Innovation Incubation IANS and Entrepreneurship, SME Joinup, Hinjewadi Industries Association (HIA), IACC, and Pune Open Coffee Club. The four finalists for the top prize are: Scandid- a shopping technology start-up that enables shoppers to compare prices by scanning the product barcodes with one’s mobile phones; Framebench- a cloud based online collaboration, communication and feedback platform; Ecozen Solutions, started in September 2009 to promote awareness against poor energy management practices and elevate the Indian industry to the standards and expectations of a developed nation, and The Green Raddiwala which focuses on providing door-to-door services in collecting raddi or recyclable waste such as plastic, newspapers and the like. Founded by Sushil Chaudhari and Madhur Khandelwal in 2012, Scandid also helps consumers find latest online and offline deals. The company previously won the regional round of the Seedstars World- a global start-up competition.

3 ECOZEN SOLUTIONS Framebench, founded by Rohit Agarwal, is a cloud-based online collaboration, communication and feedback platform. Framebench is a central workplace where one can store and share one’s creative assets. The company can help remote teams and

THE GREEN RADDIWALA clients to review, mark changes required on the assets and even host discussions on them in real time, which automatically gets documented for viewing later. This visual communication workflow allows for crisp & quick feedback. Ecozen Solutions run by Devendra

Gupta, Prateek Singhal and Vivek Pande was started in 2009 to promote awareness against poor energy management practices and elevate the Indian industry to the standards and expectations of a developed nation. It is with this view that this designed a pioneering and innovative micro Cold Storage- a solar powered cold storage system, which was primarily designed for the rural segment to serve their needs ideally. This innovative product can be suitably adapted for local conditions Great across thethings world. can happen when have the The you fourth finalist, The Green courage to yourself. Raddiwala hasbebeen established by Michael Sam Nikhil Pagare—and Saurav Pasalkar to provide door-to-door services in collecting raddi or recyclable waste such as plastic, newspapers and the like. Green Raddiwala purchases the recyclable waste from households at market rates and sells it directly to recycling industries. This drastically reduces environmental pollution. ishani.bose@goldensparrow.com

(Left to right) MANS state secretary Milind Deshmukh, president Deepak Girme and Dhanak secretary Asif Iqbal at SM Joshi Hall in Navi Peth on November 4

After several brainstorming sessions that probed into legal, religious and humanitarian aspects of marriage, the group devised the concept of Chayan (choice). These organisations aspire to make Chayan a national movement. The conference began with an “oath of humanity” to promote the principle of non-discrimination based on caste, religion, language or gender. Madhav Bhavge, secretary, MANS said Chayan is the need of the hour. “It could be a national level movement which would give shape to the ideas and suggestions that we have

“People blindly follow the vedic rituals. A person should be able to justify all his or her activities rather than following a tradition. If we are able to instil this attitude in the masses we will be able to eradicate class politics and in turn the problems of mixed marriages,” he said. Subhash Bhave, secretary, SM Joshi Socialist Foundation emphasised on the need for mass awareness. “People have a tendency to hide their marriages until the legal documents are ready. This attitude must be changed,” he said. It was suggested during the deliberations that there should be a group of five to ten people in every district who will promote and provide assistance if required, for inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. yashdaiv@gmail.com

City takes lead over Delhi, Mumbai in the journey of product start-ups TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeeKLY Pune has emerged as the nation’s second-fastest product start-up hub in the country. A close second to Bangalore, Pune has taken a lead over mega-metros like Delhi and Mumbai. This has been stated in the latest report by iSPIRIT, (Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable), a company mainly focussed towards the product industry. “Pune is significantly ahead of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad,” the report said while

noting the product start-ups activity in Bangalore at 33% of India, Pune (21 %), Delhi and Mumbai (about 1112% each) and Hyderabad at 9%. “Pune is definitely No. 2, which is excellent,” said Amit Paranjape, co-founder of Pune-Tech, an online tech portal for the tech and startup community in Pune. Addressing a recent press conference Paranjape spoke about Pune’s viable ecosystem, which has been developing tremendously to enable entrepreneurs to launch an enterprise.

Others who shared this thought were Gaurav Mehra, past president SEAP and managing director, Saba Softwares; Maneesh Bhandari, director, Pune Division, Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad; Ashutosh Parasnis, president of SEAP and managing director of Qlogic; Ramaswamy Narayanan, vice president, SEAP; Vishwas Mahajan, president of TIEPune chapter and Navin Kabra, cofounder of Pune Tech. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Children, send us your paintings, poems & essays on

CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA Mention your name, age, standard, school’s name and contact number in your entry. Last Date for Receiving Entries: Saturday, 22nd November Prize Winning Entries will be announced in this newspaper Entries may be sent to: The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune - 411030. Tel: 020-24324332/33

For Details SMS/Contact: Prachi, Tel: 9822619858 or Yash: 9762884007

Vow Factor The

From the

Ever wondered where thoroughbreds go after retirement? Or why jockeys are weighed before and after a race? Barnalee Handique has the answers

the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which is complicated, different in every state and plagued with controversies. “A platform like Chayan can help modify such a law,” he said. Iqbal suggested that under the national platform one can create a secure place for couples who have mixed marriages. “We can offer them shelter, legal procedures and counselling in case there is an outburst from the families,” he said. Chayan would ensure the smooth functioning of the legal structure pertaining to marriage. Deepak Girme, president, MANS said society’s mindset have deep religious roots. Having worked with the late anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabolkar for 25 years, he said any religious text should be questioned.

Asif Shaikh (left) and Sheldon Fernandes (right) of Shri Shivram Tarun Mandal Trust preparing the decorations for Ganeshotsav

mandal runs a social organisation called Anzuman Faizane Raza and the members celebrate other prominent festivals and occasions such as Eid, Independence Day and Republic Day with equal fervor.

competencies and empower those using local enterprise. This would enable our country to grow by shared efforts and overcome the challenges faced by the society,” he said. Charting out a link between creative leadership and economic development, the former president emphasised the importance of the role that change in leadership would play for ensuring success. He also accentuated on the role of integrity among leaders for sustained success and development of the society. (IANS)

Horse,s

Prominent social workers from different parts of the country who promote intercaste and inter-religious marriages have decided to establish a national movement called Chayan (Choice). This was decided at a meeting in the city on November 4-5 during a conference on ‘Right to Choice of Partner in Inter-caste and Interreligious Marriages’. Activists from the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), SM Joshi Socialist Foundation, Rashtriya Seva Dal and Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal along with the voluntary organisation, Dhanak from Delhi, were present at this meet.

Six out of eight subways in the city are in a sad state of neglect and are closed to the public. Some are used as convenient urinating spots or as gambling dens. They are dirty, poorly lit and unsafe. Why can’t city subways be restored and made user-friendly for pedestrians? Also related is the complete avoidance of foot over-bridges by pedestrians. Why waste public exchequer and construct them if they are so very unpopular with the public? See Spotlight on p8-9

THE FINALISTS ARE...

the BJP’s newly elected city MP Anil Shirole, was to closely follow-up on the mass transportation project. Shirole focused on updating himself on the project and seeking clarifications on the project as proposed by the Congress-NCP government.

Pune FC enter Durand Cup final P 16

Nat’l movement to promote marriages of choice gets going

2FRAMEBENCH

a bid to counter the ruling CongressNCP government in the forthcoming polls, the BJP is chalking out its strategy to gain maximum advantage by announcing critical steps on the Metro project. Speaking to this newspaper, BJP’s leader in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Ganesh Bidkar said that one of the top priorities for

SPORTS

WITH A

Carrying the torch in the battle against cancer P2

City subways are

Emerge as creative leaders: Kalam to IIM students SHILLONG: Former president APJ Abdul Kalam has urged students of the Indian Institute of Management

country as special markings for a survey by the British. India’s Zero Stone stands proudly in Nagpur, denoting the centre of the country. The oldest and most famous of such milestones is located in Rome, the Milliarium Aureum (“Golden Milestone”) of the Roman Empire. The maxim “all roads lead to Rome” is believed to have originated from this monument. A number of prominent cities in the world have their own “zero stones” and are proud of it, including Washington DC, Tokyo, Berlin, Buenos Aires... The citizens of Pune and publicspirited organisations such as the MCCIA’s Janwani, INTACH, Pune International Centre and the National Society for Clean Cities, to name a few, need to lobby with the Pune Municipal Corporation’s Heritage Cell to do what is needed. The Golden Sparrow on Saturday pledges its fullest support to such an effort. Get in touch with us at: editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com www.goldensparrow.com or Tweet us: @TGSWeekly

Telangana school bus accident resulting in the death of 19 students is part of a larger tragedy that demands immediate attention NEW DELHI: India not only has the dubious distinction of having one of the worst road accident records in the world, but these are taking more and more young lives, particularly of school children. Road accidents have left nearly 70 children dead and many injured since the start of 2013, a NGO has said.

convicted in stock scheme WASHINGTON

On Wednesday, when this newspaper took a review of Pune’s Zero Stone on the footpath outside the General Post Office (GPO), the sight was pathetic to say the least. With white paint spilled over it, there was a sweeper’s broom lying next to it and rubbish all around. A tea vendor was stationed with his cart next to the stone. In 2006, when this journalist fi rst reported on this small, yet valuable piece of Pune’s heritage, there was a watermelon seller sitting on the stone, using it as a convenient stool. The Zero Stone is a very special milestone as it signifies the geographic location of a city and the point from where distances are established between towns and cities. As such, it ought to be restored, fenced and beautified so that the children of this city, other citizens and tourists can go back to the time when Pune was taking shape under the British, bit by bit. There are just 80 of such special milestones that were installed in the

Generosity & communal harmony define these mandals

What is going wrong with road safety in India?

RAHUL RAUT

yet,” said Anand, who was in the city for the release of NIIT Nguru MathLab Impact Study. About the world championship, Anand said, “To be honest, I pretty much took it as a challenge to get the nature of the match I wanted. I created more chances this time,” At the championship, Anand’s preference for the Berlin defence was

HEARD.

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

“I have got back my game, which I was missing. I am looking forward to participating in premier chess events in 2015.”

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

IANS

PUNE: In the wake of losing for a second time to GM Magnus Carlsen at the World Championship in Sochi, there was speculation all around that Indian chess legend GM Viswanathan Anand would announce his retirement. However, the five-time world champion’s recent win at the London Classic tournament was testimony enough that Anand still has the hunger and drive to remain among the elite of world chess. “I think I have already answered the question. Overall, this year has been proved very positive for me, because I have got back my game, which I felt I was missing the last year. I am certainly looking forward to participating in premier chess events in 2015. But, people just don’t want to listen to what I say, and keep asking me about my retirement. I say, don’t write me off

criticized by a number of chess experts as being the wrong strategy. Refuting this, Anand said, “I don’t think it was a bad move. If you look at top 20 games or the players in the top20, you will find that the opening is played by everyone. Secondly, it wasn’t me playing Berlin, it was him. I did experiments with Sicilian and it wasn’t like that I was stuck in the same area. I believe that the people who felt I shouldn’t have played Berlin defence, probably just don’t like that opening.” He said that he has to move on from what happened at Sochi. He was also happy about the World Championship becoming a biennial event. “This is a welcome change indeed. I think it was bit silly to play World Championship every year. I am glad now there is a year’s break for the next Candidates Championship. Now I can focus on other tournaments and not think about World Championship till next year. I will try to recover and play many more tournaments and do well. I have the time and the opportunities to try new things in the game, to do what I want. I want to use the off-season to relax and to unwind,” Anand said At the age of 45, Anand is taking on younger opponents routinely. He said, “Small corrections are needed with the changing nature of chess. It’s a gradual process. Of course, I am working on physical and mental fitness to remain competitive.” Anand thinks that Pune is one of the chess hubs in India. “The city today boasts of a perfect combination of coaching activities and tou rnaments, and it also has the best depth in the chess community,” he said. ashish.phadnis@ goldensparrow.com

Rajput is Champion of Champions In the Champion of Champions (Air Rifle) competition, Sanjeev Rajput (Haryana) won the title. Satyendra

Invitation Price

Five-time chess world champion feels that he still has the hunger and desire to be counted among the elite of world chess By Ashish Phadnis @phadnis_ashish

Singh (Army) was the runner-up. Sanjeev who scored 31.7 beat Satyendra who scored 29.9 at the finals which comprised of three shots. The other contestants were Gayatri Pawaskar, Hema KC, Anjali Bhagwat, Apurvi Chandela and Gagan Narang. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

gold over second placed Lajja Gauswami of Gujarat, finishing with a final round score of 207.2.

ILLUSTRATION BY GAURI BARVE KALE

Vijay Kumar, Sayendra Singh and Gurpreet Singh bag gold medals in their respective categories; Abhinav Bindra defends his title in national shooting championship

Aniruddha Rajandekar

Army shooters continue to dominate

A Woman Of Substance

DEEPIKA PADUKONE

Talented, hard-working and a big league movie star, They are independent and opinionated and Deepika Padukone can also these 20-year-olds are going it solo when everyone around them is getting hitched. take a tough stand when Ishani Bose tells us more push comes to shove. Anjali Shetty gauges public opinion See P10-11

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