The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 18/07/2015

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TGS LIFE

It’s almost all about the money

CITY

City developer asked to bring down ‘objectionable’ hoarding P3

CITY

FTII students refuse to budge despite threats P4

Rahane’s hometown kids all set to follow footsteps of the Indian captain

Aniruddha Rajandekar

Ajinkya Rahane, who hails from a village near Sangamner, has become an inspiration for several youth there. They are all striving to be part of the Indian cricket team in coming years See Spotlight, p08 & 09

Emile Jerome fights for rights of prisoners

The former naval officer, convicted for television executive Neeraj Grover’s murder, has approached Bombay High Court alleging that prison authorities do not follow rules, are causing a loss to the state exchequer, and are depriving convicts of a chance to reform See p02

Are the out-of-school kids all so invisible?

There are kids on every street corner whom the much hyped survey has overlooked Aniruddha Rajandekar

See p05

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

mUMBAI Right time to buy your dream home in Pune P4

“Farmers’ suicides are on the rise and ever since this government came to power, about 8 to 10 farmers end their lives daily.”

— Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Leader of Opposition

Emile Jerome fights for rights of prisoners

The former naval officer, convicted for television executive Neeraj Grover’s murder, has approached Bombay High Court alleging that prison authorities do not follow rules, are causing a loss to the state exchequer, and are depriving convicts of a chance to reform

Emile Jerome has been convicted and sentenced to ten years for the death of TV executive Neeraj Grover

BY Bapu Deedwania @bapudeedwania Emile Jerome has decided to stand up for his rights and that of other prisoners.

Convicted for assistant director Neeraj Grover’s murder, Jerome was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2011.

Now lodged in Kolhapur jail, Jerome has approached Bombay High Court to secure the Constitutional rights of prisoners to live with dignity.

Jerome has filed a writ petition through his lawyer Apoorv Singh stating that prison authorities in Maharashtra do not really care about welfare and rehabilitation of prisoners.

He first wrote a detailed letter to Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) and when nothing came of it, he filed a petition in HC. Jerome’s main contention is that though he is eligible to be transferred to an open prison, he is been kept in a regular one, not only infringing on his rights as a prisoner, but also adding cost to the exchequer. He has pointed out that he is not the only one, as there are several others who are eligible to be shifted to open prisons but are languishing in regular ones.

In his petition Jerome has pointed out that his behaviour as a prisoner has been exemplary and every year he has been given a certificate of appreciation by the administration. He says that as per the prison rules he is eligible for being transferred to an ‘open prison’.

Jerome was arrested along with his then girlfriend Maria Susairaj on May 22, 2008 for Neeraj Grover’s murder.

On July 1, 2011, Jerome was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Susairaj too was convicted for three years. Jerome has already completed 6 years 7 months and 10 days of actual imprisonment in February this year when he filed this petition.

The Prison Rules Jerome in his petition states that as per the Prison Act 1894 and The Prison Rules 1971, convicted criminal prisoners who behave well, are physically and mentally fit, are willing to work hard and abide by the rules and regulations may be shifted to an open prison. The petition elaborates that when a convict is sentenced to more than a year of rigorous imprisonment and has already served one fourth of his total sentence, as per rules he is eligible to be shifted to an open prison.

The petition states that during his sentence at the Kolhapur jail, he learnt that prison authorities in the entire state of Maharashtra do not transfer the convicts undergoing a sentence lesser than life imprisonment to open prisons nor do they grant remission to the prisoners for transfer to open prisons.

Authorities callous, putting financial burden on State His petition states that the authorities behave in a callous manner and not

prison is located inside the main prison. Jerome’s petition states that the existing circle number 4 of the Kolhapur Central Prison is being utilised as an open prison since December 2013.

Jerome says that ever since he has been eligible for transfer to an open prison, he has been released on Parole and Furlough and he has followed all the terms and conditions related to these temporary releases from prison. Jerome mentions that he has come back to the prison in time each time he has been let out for a short while. He states that he is eligible for transfer to an open prison on account of his good behaviour, diligent work and compliance to rules and regulations.

only cause huge financial burden on the state but also inflict untold misery and hardship on the convicted prisoner by not following these rules which can help in effective reform and rehabilitation of convicts. Jerome has further stated that these rules have become ‘dead letters’ as far as prisoners are concerned. He adds that if the court calls upon the Inspector General of Prisons to submit details of how these rules have been applied, it will become clear how not following these rules is resulting in wastage of state funds and deprivation of the right to life and liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

Jerome’s petition states that it is the duty of the Inspector General of Prisons to constitute a Selection Committee for Open Prisons at reasonable intervals in order to ensure that every convicted prisoner sentenced for more than one year and who has undergone one fourth of the awarded sentence excluding remission stands a chance to be considered for being shifted to an open prison.

Exemplary behaviour exhibited Jerome says that in his case, the condition for remission is carrying out the work assigned, maintaining good behaviour and adhering to the rules

Case file Neeraj Grover, a TV executive, was killed at Kannada actress Maria Susairaj’s Mumbai suburb flat on May 7, 2008 Neeraj’s body was cut into pieces with a knife purchased for the purpose, transported to another suburb in gunny bags, where the corpse was set on fire. Maria and Jerome were arrested soon after.

On July 1, 2011, a sessions court sentenced Jerome to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. His fiancee, Maria Susairaj, was only convicted for destruction of evidence.

Susairaj, who was lodged in Byculla women’s prison, walked out of jail on July 2, 2011 as her sentence was set off against the three years that she had served since her arrest.

The two were accused of stabbing the television company executive to death, dismembering his body and setting it afire in a forest.

Jerome and Susairaj have filed appeals against the convictions, the prosecution has filed a plea to enhance their sentence.

According to the prosecution, the murder was pre-meditated, as Susairaj felt cheated by Grover who failed to get her a role in television serial and that Jerome had come to the city as planned by both of them.

The letter written by Emile Jerome to Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) regarding transfer to open prison and award of remissions

Authorities give lame excuses Jerome says that the only plausible excuse that the prison authorities can give in his case would be that there is no vacancy in open prison. However, he goes on to say it is important to understand that just because regular prisons are over-crowded it does not mean that prison authority (IGP) has stopped accepting further prisoners. “In fact, if a prisoner has to suffer the hardships associated with overcrowding in prisons, then it would be better if they were to do so in an open prison because it will help,” the petition states. He elaborates that despite overcrowding in open prisons, it still makes sense to shift prisoners there because state government will save a considerable amount of the taxpayers’ money from being used in maintaining regular prisoners who can be released if the rule is followed as laid down. “Annual productivity of an open prison is considerably higher than that of a closed one. Expenditure of upkeep of an open prison is lesser than that of a closed one,” the petition states.

of open prison. “Hence as long as the prisoner fulfils these conditions, there is no justifiable reason to deny him grant of remission in accordance with the Prison Rules 1971,” the petition states.

He further says that at no point of time since his conviction, has he broken any prison rule, nor has been charged with any offence inside the jail, which can disqualify him from being transferred to an open prison. “The Annual Good Conduct Remission awarded to the petitioner (Jerome) every year since his conviction is in itself testimony to the fact that the petitioner has always been well behaved and is the ideal candidate for rely rehabilitation in society,” the petition states.

Kolhapur’s open prison The petition also states that in 2013 an open prison with a capacity of 50 prisoners has been started inside Kolhapur Central Prison. This open

Emile Jerome has been lodged at Kolhapur’s Kalambha Central Jail since May 2012

Jerome’s activities in Jail • Convict Teacher • Assisting in the Library • Conducting spoken English classes for prisoners • Participation in cultural activities • Participating and arranging religious programmes • Assisting in the reform of other prisoners

What is an Open Prison Open jails are minimum security prisons. Prisoners with good behaviour satisfying certain norms prescribed in the prison rules are admitted in open prisons. Prisoners are engaged in agricultural activities. Fourteen states have functioning open jails in their jurisdiction. Rajasthan reported the highest number of 23 open jails. There are no open jails in any of the Union Territories.

What is Remission The government has the powers to remit or reduce a convict’s sentence depending on his conduct and behaviour while in prison. Several states have taken this course, the recent one being a few prisoners from Jaipur getting a 30-day waiver on their sentence for making a film on Mahatma Gandhi.

Lacunae in Prison Administration Jerome says that the authorities concerned, being the Regional Deputy Inspector General of Prisons and the Inspector General of Prisons are empowered to grant special remission unto 60 days and 90 days every year. “But these authorities have hardly bothered to shortlist and award special remission to deserving prisoners every year,” Jerome states in his petition. He elaborates that the Prison Rules of 1971 were aimed to achieve - early rehabilitation of reformed prisoners; to release such prisoners so that the problem of overcrowding can be controlled; to reduce financial burden on the state of administration of prisons; and to make prisons self sustaining on account of the higher productivity of open prison.

Jerome goes on to say that instead all these are being overlooked and no benefit of these laws is being given either to the state or the inmates.

Jerome’s petition adds that there is urgency in his early release, as his parents are growing old and he intends to take care of them. He says that if remission is granted to him, he can be released early and all rules point in the direction that he is a fit case to be granted such a privilege. bapudeedwania@gmail.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

“ PMC must play a proactive role and connect with the citizens. It should also take initiative to involve people who could raise funds for the city . There should be a plan to make use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to make Pune a Smart City.”

— Anil Shirole, City MP

US envoy calls India a strategic player P14

City developer asked to bring down ‘objectionable’ hoarding

Cops and civic authorities ensured that the hoarding which offended people’s sensibilities and even led to minor mishaps was brought down

Call all applicants to reverify their passports

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke

Police personnel assigned to passport verification duties have summoned over 2,000 persons to whom passports were issued in 2013 and the fi rst quarter of 2014, for re-verification over the last three months.

Some data was irretrievable lost during online procedures adopted by the city police in 2013.

Thereafter, the re-verification of passports with missing credentials had become necessary.

The police task is compounded since many of those summoned did not respond, possible fearing an impounding of their passports. “We have decided not to re-verify passports of those who do not wish to do so and their names have been removed from the pendency list,” said Sanjay Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Foreigners Registration Office).

Patil said that the issue came to light after computerised pendency reports over the delays in passport

verifications.

“Some passport applications had not been verified for over 600 days. It reflected adversely on the pending list and average time taken for verification process. Verification of applications received in 2013 was pending,” he said.

“We issued circulars to all police stations asking them to recall persons whose verification was pending,” he said.

During reverification, they realised that the verification of applicants was done at the police station but records were not traceable online.

“Checking all the papers for verification would have been tedious, so we decided on reverification,” he said.

But with so many not responding, the police decided against their reverification, and their names were removed from the pending list.

As of now, re-verification of 135 applicants from 2013 and 10 from 2014 is pending, and it is expected to be concluded soon. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

Many of those summoned did not respond, fearing an impounding of their passports

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke It was meant to be a sassy ad campaign which stressed on the residential project being ‘confidentially luxurious’.

Hoardings at several sites across the city featured a lady taking a dip in her private swimming pool. For those who could afford the property, the campaign certainly made sense and even inspired them to check out what the developer had to offer. But then there were those who found the ad ‘objectionable’.

Marvel Realtors had come up with a ad campaign for their project on Magarpatta Road. It stressed on how the luxury residential project offered features like open to sky private deck, private elevators, private restaurant in the sky and private swimming pool for flat owners.

While the series of hoardings on each of the offerings did not cause a ripple, the one with private swimming pool did.

The hoarding with a lady taking a dip stated, “A 24 by 7 private pool, Bespoke swimwear from Milan, A 4 am dip on your own deck. And the World will never know.”

Recently, several citizens approached the cops and reported that they did not find the hoarding in good taste. They gave complaints in writing.

Some even stated that motorists were getting distracted by the hoarding

City cops lose 2013 passport data

and mishaps were taking place near Wakad-Hinjewadi flyover, where one of the hoardings had come up.

W i t h complaints piling up, cops decided to act. They sent out a request to the hoarding contractor and even the developer.

Hemant Patil, assistant inspector attached to Hinjewadi police station confi rmed that they had received applications stating that the hoarding was objectionable.

He added that citizens had also written to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).

“The local residents and others had written a joint application to the police

Police requested hoarding owner to remove the advertisement and it was pulled down

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

The advertisement hoarding (top) put up by Marvel Realtors for their project on Magarpatta Road was pulled down (above) following citizen protest

as well as to the civic authorities,” he said.

Patil said that they requested the hoarding owner to remove the advertisement and subsequently, it was pulled down.

“The application is still under scrutiny and we have not registered any complaint as of now,” he said.

Marvel Realtors did not want to comment on the developments. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Foreigners Registration Office) Sanjay Patil said verification of applications received in 2013 was pending

Bahubali tops entertainment tax revenues in state coffers

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka ‘Bahubali’, the historical fiction movie has had an epic opening at the box office. And it has fetched Pune district Entertainment Duty (ED) Department Rs 1 crore in just six days, after its release in theatres on July 10.

Department officials have gone on the record, stating that the revenue from ‘Bahubali’ is the highest they have collected as entertainment tax from a movie in six days after its release.

Other top earners listed in the ED fi les include a Honey Singh concert bringing in Rs 15 lakh, and the 2013 IPL series that yielded Rs 3.89 crore.

District ED officer Mohini Chavan said, “The fi lm ‘Bahubali’ has received an overwhelming response from movie buff s in Pune district.” The ED levies 40 per cent as entertainment tax on each movie ticket sold. “Marathi movies are exempted from entertainment tax, and so our main source of revenue is Bollywood cinema. Regional movies which are mostly South Indian do not generate much revenue as the viewers are limited.

‘Bahubali’ is an exception, earning record amount in just two days,” Chavan said.

The department collected Rs 6 crore as entertainment tax on movies and events in the district last month. “Bahubali alone brought in 1 crore in six days,” he said.

Even Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations have benefited from Bahubali’s resounding success at the box office.

The corporations levy an average of Rs 100 per day per movie show. ‘Bahubali’ had an average of 182 shows daily in Pune, and 37 shows in Pimpri-Chinchwad at multiplexes and theatres last week.

“We charge Rs 100 for each show at multiplexes, and Rs 70 for each show at one

RAHUL RAUT

Epic movie makes box office history, while generating record revenues for the district Entertainment Duty department

BLOCKBUSTER ‘Bahubali’, the Telugu original is an epic historical fiction film, written and directed by SS Rajamouli. It has been dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam languages.

The film is said to be most expensive in the history of India cinema, with a budget of Rs 250 crore, of which Rs 162 crore was recovered in just three days, since its release on July 10.

screen theatres. We earned Rs 1.27 lakh as tax in six days from Bahubali,” said Milind Jagtap, a senior clerk at the PMC tax department. He said that Bahubali has dominated multiplex screens, and therefore was able to generate record earnings for the department.

Bonanza for theatre owners Multiplex owners have thrived on the public response to ‘Bahubali’. The Cinepolis multiplex held a maximum of 24 shows of the fi lm last week, in both Hindi and Telugu versions. “No other movie has created such a resounding response from movie-goers in recent history. We have had the ‘houseful’ sign on display all through the weekend,” said Saurabh Gangurde, Unit Head of Cinepolis VIP. Owner of City Pride Mangala, Kothrud, Satara Road, Abhiruchi and R Deccan, Prakash Chaphalkar said that he had never seen such crowds for a fi lm on weekdays. “On Monday, the occupancy for the evening show was 92 per cent at City Pride in Kothrud, a Marathi dominated area. The Telugu version at City Pride Mangala brought in such huge crowds over the weekend that tickets were sold out much before show time, and we had to close the ticket window.” priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

WINNERS OF PREVIOUS HOUSING SOCIETY CONTESTS BY GODREJ PROPERTIES, PUNE

Maj DT Ghogale Ganga Orchard

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See you soon at your own society!

Watch out this space to know more

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Sales office : Oxford Group, Building B, 3rd floor, 501, Kensington Court, 5th Lane. Koregaon Park, Pune-411001 Regional office: Dreamworld Landmarks LLP, Godrej Eternia C, 10th floor, Office A, 3 Old Mumbai Pune Highway, Wakdewadi, Shivajinagar, Pune 411 005 Corporate Office : Godrej Properties Limited, Godrej One, 5th Floor, Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli (East), Mumbai - 400 079

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

“The government has not made clear that how it is going to set up a system to ensure that local governing bodies remain selfsufficient and self-reliant even after LBT is scrapped” — Sharad Pawar, NCP president

Effort to combat skilled manpower crunch

Akhilesh Yadav government chargesheets IPS officer Amitabh Thakur

P10

P12

FTII students refuse to budge despite threats

Both sides have pulled out their best cards GARGI VERMA @writomaniac

NIGHT VISION CCTV CAMERAS Not stopping at the stern letter, the administration at FTII has installed several night vision cameras in and around the main campus, the hostels, editing and sound departments and even around the wisdom tree, the undeclared headquarters of the students on strike.

Interestingly, unlike at other places which are under surveillance, the management has not put up any warnings or declarations at the FTII. It is mandatory for anyone putting up cameras to explicitly put out a note that the area is under surveillance. While the institute authorities call this a regular security upgrade, students smell foul play.

“It’s so evident that the entire step was taken to keep an eye on our activities, as if they need to monitor us round the clock,” said Lavanya Ramaiah, a final year student. “We were not even informed about this; there are no warnings declaring the area to be under surveillance even,” she said.

Security Officer Major Jadhaw, however, maintains that this is a regular step, something the media shouldn’t bother with. “All institutes in the city are upgrading their security systems. A night vision camera is a better device than a normal one,” he says. He, however, couldn’t explain as to why cameras ordered in 2010 are installed now, five years later. According to him, “It’s a government organisation. Things move at their pace. But we can assure you, it has got nothing to do with the strike.”

Teachers under pressure Pulling out almost everything they can from their arsenal, the management has asked teachers to convince the students to call off the strike. Faculty members, both permanent and contractual, have been asked to persuade students to go back to the classes. Sources revealed that teachers have been told that if the strike does not end soon, they will suffer salary cuts and their pension funds will also be affected. “Our faculty reached out to us and spoke in length about these messages they had been getting.

However, they support the

The government now seems to have figured out what weapon to use to checkmate the students’ strike at Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

With only a few days to go before his term ends, they got FTII Director DJ Narain to dispatch a sternly worded letter to the students, asking them to call off the strike or face the consequences.

Narain’s three-year stint at the institute ends on July 17.

On July 14, Narain sent out a notice stating that ‘the students must go back to the academic activities’ and that ‘continuing defiance of the directives of the Director, written and oral’ would only result in ‘strong administrative action which may include rustication as well’. It further states, “All concerned students will themselves be responsible for any administrative action in this regard. You are therefore, ordered to terminate the strike with immediate effect and resume academic activities without any further delay, failing which the institute will be free to take strictest administrative action.”

The Director has taken a stern stand on the 33-day-old strike, which was launched on June 12. Narain, on his part, claims that the notice has nothing to do with his term coming to an end.

“I’ve tried to delay this action as much as possible. I didn’t want the students to suffer as once it’s on paper, it becomes my obligation to take action. We have given them enough time to reconsider, now they must face action,” he said.

The students, however, are continuing with their strike. “We have made our demands and position very clear. We will not stop the strike till we get our answers and the five members, including the Chairman, are removed,” said Rakesh Shukla, student representative. The students are questioning the grounds of rustication by the Director. “We have not taken the violent route, neither have we been disruptive. Then why are we threatened? Is this the democracy that gives us the right to question?” asks Shukla.

PICS BY ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

chairman of their governing council, since June 12. They have received support from several stalwarts of Indian cinema as well as student bodies across the country. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

POLITICAL SUPPORT

FTII students are never short of employing their creative instincts, be it walls painted over with graffiti ; DJ Narain, former director (below)

cause and have stood by us through out,” said Ranjit Nayar, a final year student.

The Director, again, believes it’s a normal procedure. He asks, “If the teachers don’t work, and the classes don’t function, what shall the payment be for?”

MONEY GAME Since the ruckus over the huge amounts of money being paid for the students, the student body at FTII is trying to find out exactly where the money goes.

“The media of the world is shifting from analogue to digital. FTII still hasn’t seen this change completely. They say there’s not enough money. So where is the money going?” asks Shini JK. The students also point out that the administration generally spends on completely worthless objects. “The green, hi-tech speakers were installed a few years back. They are used to play music in the evening. Why do we need this equipment when students barely have any free time to listen to music being played on loudspeakers?” said Lavanya.

Narain, however dodges the question. “I allocate the money provided by the government. But these are decisions made before my arrival. I can’t discuss or criticise them,” he says.

SAVE FTII FORUM A press conference note from a group called Save FTII forum has put all the student body members in a fi x as nobody had any idea about the event or their organisers. “We have no clue who

Save FTII forum is. We also distance ourselves from it and state that we have no alignment with them,” said Neel Mani Kant, a student. Soon after this, the press conference was cancelled. Later, however, this reporter was informed that Save FTII forum is a group of all the left progressive students’ unions and groups.

Shambuk, AISF’s joint secretary said, “Yes, we are Save FTII forum members.

But it is unclear who called for the press conference and why.”

TEACHERS RETALIATE In a letter dated July 15, the teachers’ association of FTII has expressed their concerns over the ongoing strike. The letter, addressed to the ministry, read,

“As teachers, we have always believed that academic activities should be resumed as soon as possible. (However) We share some of the concerns raised by the students and hope to have them resolved in a manner that will improve the structure and functioning of FTII.” This is the first time teachers have taken a stand, albeit they are still not talking to the media. “Our faculty feels that we are standing for the right cause.

Even they are unable to understand the logic behind these appointments,” said Vikas Urs, student representative.

The FTII students have been protesting against the appointment of actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as the

PATHRABE TAKES OVER AS FTII DIRECTOR Prashant Pathrabe took charge as the new Director of FTII at on July 17, when DJ Narain’s term ended. A former head of National Film Archives of India, Pathrabe is an IIS official. “He is a brilliant officer and I am sure he will be able to discharge his duties at well,” said Narain. The students’ association has said that they have no problem with this as it’s an interim appointment. “There’s no animosity; in fact we welcome him and hope that he understands our situation,” said Ranjit Nayar, one of the student representatives. “We have no idea if he has an agenda, but we would like him to address us and share his ideas,” he said. Narain, meanwhile, is waiting for his next posting. “I do not support the students’ strike.

There’s no question of my joining them. I am a government employee and the government will decide my next job placement,” he said. Pathrabe has declined to comment on any issue.

On the 36th day of the strike, Congress Party members staged a protest outside the FTII gate.

Chanting slogans against the Modi government and brandishing placards, party members condemned the ‘saffronisation’ of the education system. “We support the just demands of the students.

The Modi government will have to listen to them,” said one of the protesters. However, this protest was staged outside the FTII. “We had long back decided that we won’t let this strike become a political agenda. Anyone and everyone is welcome to support us, but if you wish to protest with us, drop your banners and come as individuals,” said Vikas Urs, student representative. The Congress Party protesters had to brave the intermittent rains.

NO STOP TO LEARNING The FTII students may be continuing the strike, boycotting classes, but they do not want to compromise with ‘learning’.

The students have started a new campaign called Yearn to Learn, holding alternate classes conducted by experts, under the wisdom tree. These sessions are not strictly related to their curriculum and neither do they involve regular faculty. “Education and learning are not restricted to a certain classroom or a structure,” said Sakshi Gulati, a final year student, about the Yearn to Learn concept. “We are trying to build a consciousness while also proving that we are not against learning,” she said.The sessions included a talk on ‘The need for institutional autonomy’ by Dr Ram Punyani and origami sessions. These classes are morale boosters for the striking students. The two-day series includes seven sessions, one involving the screening of student diploma films.

Study carried out by realtor reveals slowdown in price appreciation TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly

Pune’s residential real estate market is witnessing sluggish growth states a study carried out by Gera Developments Pvt Ltd. Part of the reason why prices continue to be anchored down is the increase in the total supply of projects and number of homes in the market. The study covers the sector between January and June 2015.

Stagnant prices, increasing inventory and many buyers sitting on the fence add to the woes of real estate developers at the present time.

The lead indicator that every future, present and past homebuyer looks at is the price of the property. The sector saw a slowdown in price appreciation from 12.47 per cent for June 2012-June 2013 to 10.03 per cent from June 2013-June 2014 and down to 3.33 per cent for June 2014-June 2015.

The increases in service tax as well as the approval and development charges that are linked to the ready reckoner have further compressed developer margins and prices in real terms have actually reduced from the developers’ perspective.

Many end customers continue to wait for the bubble to burst. Given the cost structure, the real price reduction, high interest and holding costs, it seems the dramatic impact of a bursting bubble has given way to being more akin to a

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Right time to buy your dream home in Pune

tyre with a slow puncture that continues to deflate without any drama.

The total inventory (gross supply ie all homes under construction as well as ready projects with over more than 5 per cent unsold inventory) has increased from 2,45,639 homes over 2,761 projects 12 months ago to 2,80,913 homes across 3,067 projects with a net addition of 35,324 homes across 306 additional projects. This increase of gross inventory of 14.36 per cent is significant.

While the gross stock has risen 14.36 per cent in the past 12 months, the unsold stock (inventory with developers for sale) has shown a steep jump from 66,350 homes a year ago up to a record 90,799 homes at present. This 36.85 per cent jump in unsold inventory is where the problem will take place.

ASSESSMENT OF UNSOLD STOCK BY PRICE RANGE On assessing the unsold stock by price

point over the past two years, all price ranges have seen an increase in the unsold stock. The surprise though is that the budget category (where prices presently are below Rs 4,247 psf) has seen an increase of 125 per cent from 18,019 unsold units to 40, 814 unsold units. The next highest increase is the Value category (current prices between Rs 4,248 and Rs 5,309 psf) with an increase of 75 per cent from 14,184 units to 24,768 units. The luxury segment has the next highest increase in unsold inventory at 65 per cent from 2,629 units unsold rising to 4,325 units. The Premium and Premium plus category have relatively low increases at 30 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

The data indicates that the fact that developers are focusing on the luxury segment is a myth as also the fact that there is unending unmet demand at the budget segment.

The gross value of the unsold inventory stands at Rs48,526 crores.

This increased inventory provides an opportunity for the state government to garner nearly Rs3,000 crores by way of stamp duty, LBT and VAT. Further, accelerating these home sales means additional supply leading to a boost in the GDP of the state and consequentially enhanced revenues for the state and increased housing for the citizens.

Most of the incremental stock is added outside the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits. This indicates the growth of the city outward.

While the big picture shows a challenging scenario, the fact is that the market has expanded in terms of supply and at the same time, while sales numbers have dropped, they continue to happen. This impact of increased purchase options for a reduced set of customers has led developers to see a double impact in terms of individual

project sales, however, given the fact that sales continue, barring a few stray cases, unless something drastic is done to bring down input costs (cost of land, cost of approvals, time of approvals, material costs), we believe prices will not see any significant correction.

It is a fact that any additional control for the sector will lead to increased costs for developers and this will eventually be passed on to the customers. This regulatory impact will further push prices up.

Timing the market to perfection is next to impossible. Those looking to purchase a home would be well advised to go out and strike a deal for their dream home now. Given that all indicators show reduced interest

lower tax rates rather than excessively burdening homebuyers with increased tax rates. A stamp duty rebate for stamp duty paid between now and December 31, 2015 for example could kick-start the home buying cycle and move people who are on the fence to the buying side.

Gera Developments Managing Director Rohit Gera said, “While our fi ndings indicate that the market is facing stress on various counts, this is the right time for the buyer to invest as the prices are fl at currently. While the market is being cautious and waiting for the prices to drop further which is the key consideration in any purchase, it is important to understand that additional controls for the sector

REALTY PICTURE The price rise for the year June ‘14 – June ‘15 was 3.33 per cent as compared to 10.03 per cent in the previous year - June ‘13 – June ‘14 The half yearly growth rate has also slowed down from 3.04 per cent during the period June ’14 – December ’14 down to a miniscule 0.27 per cent for the period January ’15 to June ’15 There is a significant increase of 14.36 per cent in the gross inventory in the past 12 months The unsold stock (inventory with developers for sale) has shown a steep jump of 36.85 per cent in the same period tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

rates in the near future, a floating rate mortgage would be advisable at the present time.

Given how much the government relies on stamp duty and VAT from the residential housing sector, it is time the government looked at boosting revenues from the housing sector by focusing on generating volumes at

will lead to increased costs for the developers and this will eventually be passed on to the customers. We believe now is the time to go out and buy that dream home. In many ways these are good times and there is a silver lining in the midst of the doom and gloom.” feedback.tgs@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

“We have received the proposal from a group of elected members on free bus passes, but have not accepted it. The legal department will check, if we can reserve the decision taken by the GB.” — Ashwini Kadam, PMC Chairman of the Standing Committee

Are the out-of-school kids all so invisible?

Malnutrition in AP linked to global recession

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Greek parliament vote satisfies bailout deal terms: EU

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PICS BY RAHUL RAUT AND ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

There are kids on every street corner whom the much hyped survey has overlooked GARGI VERMA @writomaniac After the much hyped and discussed out of school children survey held on July 4, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Pune Shikshan Mandal has found 1,683 children out of school in the city. It’s a staggeringly meagre number, collated by over 8,000 teachers, who had ventured out for two days to look for out-of-school children and mark their index fi ngers with ink. However, the statistic is not absolute because, we found several children who were hawking flowers

and toys at the intersection of busy city roads, unmarked and therefore no accounted for in the survey.

We spoke to a few of these children to ascertain that no one had indeed approached them. Some of them have never been to school, while some had dropped out due to their parents’ inability to pay tuition fees. For most of them, paying fees was the biggest hurdle to getting an education, though it is a factor that the Right to Education should have taken care of. While the Bombay High Court has ordered the schools to take in the students admitted

VAISHNAVI, 12

Vaishnavi, a bubbly 12-year-old, likes to get be photographed, but wishes she was dressed well.

She used to go to school but had to leave because her parents were unable to pay the fees. She sells small toys on Sambhaji bridge, and in the evenings, gets to play with her friends. “I never liked school because the teachers used to scold me a lot. If I go to school now, who will look after my little brothers and sisters? Who will earn the money we need?” she said. How much does she earn daily?

She shrugs and her friends tell me that she can’t count, so she can’t tell. No survey team met her on July 4, when she was on the bridge as usual, selling toys. “If they had come, we would have told them the name of our old school,” she giggles.

before a stay had been put across statewide admissions, around 4,568 empty school benches in 214 schools await these students who are forced to earn their own living, having been denied schooling.

Although the survey may have been a step in the right direction, it was too small a step taken too late.

Several children have not fi gured in it and their inclusion is sure to mean a significant increase in the collated numbers. It also puts the methodology of executing such surveys under a cloud of doubt. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

POONAM, 11

Eleven-year-old Poonam stands silently at the junction of FC Road and Ganeshkhind Road, near the Shivajinagar Police station. Dressed in a well-worn yellow salwar-kurta which is probably the only set of clothes she owns, alerteyed Poonam keeps careful watch on the passing vehicles. As the red light comes on, she darts between vehicles to the cars, with her bouquets of roses. She sells 4-5 bouquets a day on average.

She has never been to school, nor does she want to. “My friends who used to go to school have dropped out now,” she explains. She lives in a slum near the overhead bridge next to the Pune Municipal Corporation building, and was not included in the out-of school children survey.

“Nobody came to ask me anything,” she says.

Her fingers are bereft of marking ink, her life bereft of an education.

VIKR AM, 14

Vikram has bruises on his face which he dismisses as ‘nothing’. He is selling bouquets of roses with other family members at the Agriculture College signal. “We sell enough to feed ourselves,” he says. He doesn’t speak much but seems fascinated by cell phones and our camera.

He has never been to a school either. He seems to have no concept of a future, of becoming something. He was not a part of the survey either. “I don’t want an education,” he says, and he doesn’t have any clothes other than what he is wearing.

His mother Chaya said, “I have four kids to feed. What we get from selling roses isn’t enough to buy us clothes.” The eldest of four, Vikram knows the hard reality, and never hankers after what they can’t afford.

With this issue ARUNA, 14

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, 2015

JULY 18

m rrow.co

denspa

thegol | www.

st o m l a s ’ t I all abountey the mo

Aruna is shy. She is a friend of Vaishnavi’s and also sells stuff on Sambhaji bridge. Her working day begins at 11 am. “We earn enough to feed our family, and to buy trinkets sometimes,” she says, between giggles. She used to go to school as a kid, and of her five siblings, the youngest boy goes to school. “My parents couldn’t afford to pay the school fees. But now, with all of us working, we can afford to send my little brother to the village school,” she says with obvious pride. “I used to like school. But now that I have grown up, I don’t think I would like school,” she says. But there is a wistful tinge on her voice.

Clad in a purple salwar-kurta that has seen better days, there are no ink marks on her index finger, and how all the 8000 teachers managed to not see her will remain a mystery.

t the talk abou ork authors w e r m ei ti th st re su Fir ple as to make struggle t to as many peo ght ti ou a es g ch in a p re while kee possible, e purse strings hold on th

AAK ASH, 9

Aakash darts between moving buses, cars, autorickshaws, regardless of the danger. In his scruff y clothes the little boy is constantly on the move. “I don’t want to go to school. It won’t pay,” he says. Earning money is far more important than education for him. He evades questions about government officials, but when we tell him about the survey, he smiles and says, “They wouldn’t be able to find me and force me to go to school ever.” His parents wanted to put him in school. “But the officers wanted money which my parents didn’t have,” he explains. Selling small toy dogs and flowers, he is content. “I go back home after sunset. Our combined income is enough to keep us from starvation. Why go to school?” he asks.

Star struck!

&

S

RE ISU E L

LIFESTYLE

She is the youngest of the kids selling flowers or toys in Deccan Gymkhana area. She drives a hard bargain, and does not reduce her prices. She doesn’t know how old she is, the concept of age is alien for her. The other kids told us her age. “I have never been to school but I would like to, one day,” she says, sounding wholly sincere. “I was enrolled in a school once, but never went, because who would do the selling,” she says matter-of-factly.

No one came to ask her about school, there are no ink marks her fingers like children out of school are supposed to have.

S

FEATU RE

TEJASHREE, 8

FEATU RE

In the issue

Obsessed with Graham Bell’s creations

Celeb Chat

tECH

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

The very first Apple logo featured Sir Isaac Newton sitting underneath a tree, with an apple about to hit his head - http://www.thefactsite.com/

‘China’s law provides legal basis for deployment abroad’

Footpaths are for pedestrians, aren’t they?

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No earth shaking invention from India in 60 yrs: Murthy In a blunt message, IT czar NR Narayana Murthy has said India has failed to generate even a single “earth-shaking” invention in the past 60 years that could become a household name globally.

Besides, none of the Prime Ministers since Jawaharlal Nehru have paid any attention to the need for impactful research from the country, Murthy said while delivering the convocation address at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science here.

“Our youngsters have not done much impactful research work despite being equal to their counterparts in intellect and energy in Western universities,” he said.

He referred to the first Prime Minister’s visit to the US in 1962, where he exhorted the about-to-finish PhDs to come back to the country and play a major role in creating an India where a poorest child in the remotest village had access to decent education, healthcare, nutrition and shelter.

The result, he said, was advances in atomic energy, the space programme and other areas.

The magic of 60s should be recreated, he said. “For that we have to recreate an environment of utmost respect for scholarship and for our directors and faculty in the corridors of the government, among bureaucrats, politicians and in our society.

“We have to become more open minded in welcoming foreign intellectuals and students. We have to create opportunities

Narayana Murthy stressed the need for impactful research

for our students and faculty to spend time at well known universities abroad,” he added.

Almost all inventions such as cars, electric bulb, radio, television, computers, Internet, Wi-Fi, MRI, laser, robots and many other gadgets and technology happened, “thanks to the research by Western Universities”, Murthy said.

He added: “On the other hand, let us pause and ask what the contributions of Indian institutions of higher learning, particularly IISc and IITs, have been over the last sixty-plus years to make our society and the world a better place?

“Is there one invention from India that has become a household name in the

globe? Is there one technology that has transformed the productivity of global corporations? Is there one idea that has lead to an earth shaking invention to delight global citizens?”

The co-founder of the country’s major IT firm, Infosys, said: “Folks, the reality is that there is no such contribution from India in the last 60 years. The only two ideas that have transformed the productivity of global corporations — The Global Delivery Model and the 24-hour workday — came from the company called Infosys.”

Pointing to the problems plaguing the country such as illiteracy, child malnutrition, poor public health service, Murthy said, “I can go on and on. The important thing is to recognise that this country has no shortage of problems to be solved urgently.”

He said: “Youngsters are our best hope, and there is no difference in the intellect, enthusiasm, energy and confidence between the young students at western universities and at IISc. “Yet, when our students leave the portals of these institutions, there is not much impactful work they have accomplished in research here. What is worse is that there is not much impactful work they accomplish when they go into the real world here in India,” he said.

“This is an issue that the elders of our society like academicians, politicians, bureaucrats and corporate leaders must

debate deeply and act urgently if we have to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren,” he added.

Stating that this issue had not received the attention of Prime Ministers since the time of Nehru, Murthy remembered the first Prime Minister’s visit to US in 1962 where he exhorted the about-to-finish PhDs to come back to the country and play a major role in creating an India where a poorest child in the remotest village had access to decent education, healthcare, nutrition and shelter.

He said the result was green revolution, white revolution, advances in atomic energy and the space programme.

Stressing that the magic of 60s should be recreated, he said “For that we have to recreate an environment of utmost respect for scholarship and for our Directors and faculty in the corridors of the government, among bureaucrats, politicians and in our society.

“We have to become more open minded in welcoming foreign intellectuals and students. We have to create opportunities for our students and faculty to spend time at well known universities abroad.”

He said there must be free flow of ideas between our intellectuals and foreign scholars. “Our younger faculty must have full freedom to pursue their line of research without hindrance.”

PTI

More Americans reading news on Facebook, Twitter

New app may help heart attack patients recover faster A new smartphone app could help heart attack patients recover faster and better cope with the trauma associated with such life-threatening experiences, its makers claim.

The ‘Day-By-Day’ app claims to help patients through a step-by-step recovery process using live digital coaches, videos, articles and food journals, to help patients implement lifestyle changes.

The app, which is launching through a trial programme at Duke University, is an extension of Vida Health’s current smartphone app, which provides health coaching services for a range of chronic conditions.

“We’ve already seen that we’ve improved outcomes and lowered costs for other needs - Seven out of eight people lose weight using Vida Health,” Stephanie Tilenius, CEO of Vida Health, which teamed with British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to launch the app. Heart attack patients are often recommended to make lifestyle changes to prevent a second attack.

Under such circumstances, people may experience emotions of anxiety, depression, ‘fortune.com’ reported.

PTI

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly becoming the source of news for people in the US, a new survey has found.

The study, conducted by Pew Research Center in association with the John S and James L Knight Foundation, found that 63 per cent of Twitter users and 63 per cent of Facebook users said that each platform serves as a source for news about ongoing events and issues.

That share has increased substantially from 2013, when about half of users (52 per cent of Twitter users, 47 per cent of Facebook users) said they got news from the social media.

Although both social networks have the same portion of users getting news on these sites, there are significant differences in their potential news distribution strengths.

The proportion of users who said they follow breaking news on Twitter, for example, is nearly twice as high as those who said they do so on Facebook (59 per cent vs 31 per cent) ? lending support, perhaps, to the view

that Twitter’s great strength is providing as-it-happens coverage and commentary on live events, the researchers said.

Twitter news users were more likely than Facebook users to report seeing news about four out of the 11 topics covered in the survey - national government and politics (72 per cent vs 61 per cent), international affairs (63 per cent vs 51 per cent), business (55 per cent vs 42 per cent) and sports (70 per cent vs 55 per cent).

Twitter and Facebook news users were roughly

comparable for other topics - people and events in your community, local weather and traffic, entertainment, crime, local government, science and technology, and health and medicine.

On Facebook, women were more likely to see posts about health, entertainment and people and events in their community, while posts about weather, entertainment, crime, and health were more commonly seen by women on Twitter.

The study found that the rise in the share of users getting news

on Facebook or Twitter cuts across nearly every demographic group.

Use of Twitter for news, for example, grew among both users under 35 (55 per cent to 67 per cent) and those ages 35 and older (47 per cent to 59 per cent).

On Facebook, news use grew among both men (44 per cent to 61 per cent) and women (49 per cent to 65 per cent).

Though news usage among those under 35 increased at the same rate as among those ages 35 and older, on Facebook, younger users are more likely to see news than older users.

When it comes specifically to news and information about government and politics, Facebook users are more likely to post and respond to content, while Twitter users are more likely to follow news organisations, the study found.

The main source of data for the study was a survey fielded over two weekends in March 2015, among a sample of 2,035 adults 18 years of age or older.

PTI

Mind-controlled car Smart steering wheel detects driver drowsiness unveiled in China A new fatigue-sensing steering wheel device tracks a driver’s grip to alert them to wake up and pull over if they are drowsy.

The technology is based on the fact that when people drive and are reasonably alert, they are constantly applying pressure to the wheel and/or moving their hands along it.

If someone should fall asleep, have a heart attack or otherwise lose consciousness, that pressure will lessen and their hands will move less.

The device consists of a thin strip that is applied to the inside rim of a steering wheel, beneath the covering, ‘Gizmag’ reported.

The strip is made up of thin

layers of foil, which have a weak electrical current running through them.

When pressure is applied and causes the layers to touch one another, it creates a short circuit between those layers.

A microprocessor keeps track of the intensity, frequency and location of those shorts, and uses it to establish a typical driving pattern for the user, according to the company Hoffman and Krippner, which developed the device.

When they deviate from it significantly, the car will then alert them to wake up and pull over.

PTI

A thin strip is applied to the inside rim of a steering wheel

by KJM Varma

An indigenously-developed mindcontrolled car that would do away the use of steering wheel or accelerator was recently unveiled for the first time in China.

Developed by a research team from Nankai University in Tianjin in collaboration with Chinese car maker Great Wall Motor, the new vehicle was presented to the world for the first time.

The car is controlled via a headset with 16 sensors that sends impulses from the user’s brain to the car’s processing system.

Spectators watched as the vehicle moved forward and backward; and was locked and unlocked — all through the

power of the mind, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The sensors capture brain signals and the recognition system analyses them, translates them into driving instructions and sends them to the car.

The team which designed the vehicle claim this is the first time Chinese researchers have controlled a car in this way.

Duan Feng, associate professor at the university’s computing and control engineering department, said that there was still some way to go before the technology can be put into production.

The technology could transform driving and help disabled people drive, he said.

PTI

APP WORLD

Get your daily dose of news feed Feedly news reader

Android: Free Feedly is a personal space where you can organise your favourites blogs and publications and connect to the news, knowledge and ideas that matter to you. This app lets you organise all your favourite publications, podcasts and YouTube channels into collections and receive updates when new stories and videos are publishes. From tech to business to design to cooking to fashion, Feedly helps you discover new Youtube channels, blogs or news sites you can add to your feedly and easily read in one place.

If you are looking for inspiration, you can open the search panel and browse some of our popular topics and discover the best blogs for tech, business, marketing, entrepreneurship, design, cooking, photography and more.

ViralShots News

Android: Free TheViralShots app is envisioned to bring to you the latest news, all the viral stories from across the world (focusing on India). They deliver all the news and latest trending stories in English and Hindi. Their team curates the latest news and the best of all the viral stuff from across the web, 24x7, to make sure you do not miss on the latest from across the world, we then deliver it to you in a short and crisp format.

News Republic

Android: Free This smarter news app is offering the most comprehensive daily breaking news coverage from over 1,100 licensed and trusted newsfeeds worldwide. Get the latest breaking news headlines from your favourite topics in a highly visual format. News Republic learns as you read, personalizing your news experience automatically. They bring you complete articles with full text, photos and videos from trusted sources around the world.

NewsBullet

Android: Free This app offers quick and relevant Indian news served in just five bullet points. The perfect for those who have no time to go through all of those lengthy articles and helps to stay updated about the latest happenings around you. NewsBullet provides you with the most precise version of your favourite news articles in the form of bullet points. It helps you save your precious time and at the same time keeps you updated with the most relevant and important news around you.

Socialife News

Android: Free This news app that gives you the power to customise how you want to view the latest headlines, sports scores, news articles, Facebook posts, Tweets, YouTube videos and content. All in one beautifully designed magazine style layout!

Socialife is more than just your average news and magazine app.

Socialife can be personalized and offer news and content from over 2000 different sources available 24/7 on your Android smartphone or tablet. Whether it’s art, culture, music, food, photography, sports, local or global breaking news… Socialife has it all.

All Indian Newspapers

Android: Free This app provides you all Indian newspapers under a single roof, so that you do not have to worry about finding different websites of the newspaper for their online or ePaper versions. This application comes with pre-loaded leading All India newspapers. User can personalise the list by selecting favourite newspapers and adding to their personal My List.

Also while referring articles from the newspaper, you can bookmark particular article to refer them later again. So All Indian Newspapers not only helps you to read India Newspapers at single click only but helps you to refer them later at your convenience.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

“The T33 Smartphone is developed and designed to overcome the problem of language barriers faced across India by giving them an option to choose from various languages.”

— Manish Sharma, MD, Panasonic India

Signpost Indian start-up sets up crypto-currency platform An Indian start-up, claiming to be a non-profit organisation, has said Greek citizens can get 2,000 euro each in form of a virtual currency in lieu of promissory notes signed by them. The company, Trestor Foundation, claims it is the only global organisation that can help people in Greece to get the money despite the capital control on bank withdrawls. Those wanting to get the funds — 2,000 euro worth of Trest (a bitcoin like crypto- currency) — can visit its retail partners in Greece and sign a ‘Promissory Note’, which would be used after the capital controls are removed.

PTI

Union Minister lauds Startup village of Kochi The Startup Village at Kochi has instilled confidence among youngsters to take up entrepreneurship and become job creators in a big way, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Giriraj Singh has said. “I am very happy and content after my visit to Startup Village. What I learned from my quick survey of the incubator is that as the world is fast embracing the Startup culture, we Indians are also not far behind,” he said during his interaction with the Startup Village authorities and entrepreneurs. Startup Village is not just a group of people churning out new ideas, but it is also an institution that gives a platform for young people to transform their ideas into reality, he said.

PTI

“The company aims to add 180 outlets this fiscal, taking it from the present 520 to 700 across the country.”

— Nagendra Palle, CEO, Mahindra First Choice

‘Microsoft missed out on mobile boom’

BY YOSHITA SINGH Microsoft’s India-born CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged that “one big mistake” the company made in the past was to think the personal computer will reign supreme forever and failing to anticipate the technological transformation of the mobile phone.

“If anything, one big mistake we made in our past was to think of the PC (personal computer) as the hub for everything for all time to come. And today, of course, the high volume device is the six-inch phone. I acknowledge that.

“But to think that that’s what the future is for all time to come would be to make the same mistake we made in the past without even having the share position of the past. So that would be madness,” Nadella said in an interview to technology news website ZDNet. He added that the company has to be on the “hunt for what is the next bend in the curve”.

“That’s what, quite frankly, anyone has to do to be relevant in the future. In our case, we are doing that. We’re doing that with our innovation in Windows. We’re doing that with features like Continuum. Even the phone, I just don’t want to build another phone, a copycat phone operating system, even,” he said.

Nadella recalled

that when he had joined the company in 1992, the focus and ambition was to take PC in every home and on every desk.

“Guess what: We achieved that. And a company has to outlast any given technology paradigm and any ambitious goal. And so for me this going back to what is it that drove Bill (Gates) to build even the BASIC compiler or the interpreter to what we did in terms of inventing

The company has to be on the hunt for the next bend in the curve

Tata hails the scope of e-commerce

‘E-commerce will change the face of Indian merchandising’ Promising start-ups in e-commerce such as e-commerce and e-retail, which and e-retail space are the ones that will in my view is going to change the face change the face of Indian merchandising of Indian merchandising and marketing and marketing business. business, Tata “So, in a small token way, because Sons Chairman I am not a very wealthy person I have Emeritus Ratan invested myself in some 10 companies Tata said. hoping that some of them will succeed.

“For the last I think it ecommerce companies have three years, I great potential.” have been a free Asked how important was it to person (by not “nurture” the startups, he said: “I in command of have hardly been involved in the angel the Tata Group). funding of any start-ups. It was always Ratan Tata If I look at the after they have established themselves landscape, I see to certain extent. the future in young managers, the young “So it is important to nurture them, start-ups. It is what I saw it is important to support in United States in the them. The creative ones 70s and 80s,” he said. are the ones that usually “The ability to think have the problems in out of the box has made getting the support. the United States change Because no one has done its appearance from that before and those smokestacked companies need to be nurtured. The to innovative companies promising ones.” that we see around us On his latest today such as Apple, investment in Facebook, etc,” Tata said.

Coimbatore based He said this while instart-up firm Ampere teracting with the students - RATAN TATA Vehicles, he said, “I of Great Lakes Institute of invested there because Management at its 11th I was impressed by the convocation in Chennai. management which had In the past few months, Tata has hands on experience. invested in close to 10 companies, “It (electric vehicle space) is an area mostly in the e-commerce space, that is left untouched. It (the company) including Snapdeal and Chinese deserved little bit of support. I never handset maker Xiaomi. met her (Ampere Vehicles CEO Elaborating on his interest on Hemalatha Annamalai) before. But investing in start-ups, Tata said: “This is when she asked for help, I decided to an opportunity to encourage and support invest,” he said. young start-ups which are in new space PTI

“I see the future in young managers, the young start-ups.”

Satya Nadella

95 per cent corporates have lowest cash flow visibility Almost 95 per cent of corporates in the country have lowest visibility of their cash position due to dominance of cash payments for spends rather than use of e-payment channels, says a study.

“Indian corporations have been identified as having the lowest visibility over their cash flow, with many lacking efficient processes, systems and tools to deliver real-time visibility and predictability of cash flows,” global payment technology company Visa said in its ‘Cash Flow Visibility Index Study’ for 2014.

The study showed that 95 per cent of companies do not have 60-day visibility of their cash obligations, and 87 per cent of them do not even have a 30-day visibility.

It said due to “lack of right processes, systems and tools”, companies require time to manually work on analysis reports.

The study revealed that 97.5 per cent of leading companies in the country do not have access to analytic reports that provide real-time visibility of cash positions.

It said corporates spend up to 480 man hours per week manually entering data and preparing cash assessment and analysis reports due to absence of appropriate tools and systems.

The level of adoption of electronic collection and payable platforms in many businesses, the study said, is very low.

“Only 15 per cent of companies use electronic collection platforms to manage their revenues, and close to 44 per cent of the corporate’s operation is managed on spreadsheets,” it stated.

The lack of real-time digitised data of receivables and payables means that businesses are unable to predict their future cash obligations accurately, one of the findings showed.

“Real-time visibility and predictability is a must-have for all CFOs and treasurers so that they can make accurate decisions on reinvestments or expansion of their businesses,” Visa Group Country Manager, (India and South Asia) TR Ramachandran said.

PTI

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productivity or democratising clientserver computing,” he said.

The Microsoft chief had spelled out personal computing, reinvention of productivity and business process and building an intelligent Cloud platform as the company’s three “bold ambitions” going forward at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2015 underway here.

Elaborating on his outlook for the Windows phone, Nadella said he does not want the phones to be any other phone operating system or device. He stressed Microsoft will also not launch a phone a day but focus on few phones that are unique.

“And that’s what I want our devices and device innovation to stand for.”

The conference was the first major company event following the announcement on July 8 that Microsoft would be cutting 7,800 jobs and write off USD 7.6 billion, all related to its Nokia business.

Nadella said the announcement about the Nokia business was not about any change to the company’s vision and strategy, but for sure it was a “change to its operating approach”.

“The way we’re going to go about it. I’m not going to launch a phone a day. I’m going to focus on a few phones that actually grab share that, in fact, showcase our uniqueness,” he said.

India, a critical market for Microsoft, will be among the 13 countries where the technology giant will host mega events to launch Windows 10 on July 29.

PTI

Angel investments rise 81 per cent to Rs 70 cr in FY15

The report covered investments done by five Angel groups Angel investments — initial capital provided to start-ups by affluent individuals — made by five large groups in the country grew by 81 per cent to Rs 70.3 crore in 2014-15.

The investments by five large Angel groups were Rs 38.8 crore in 2013-14, says the ‘India Angel Report’.

Between April 2012 and March 2015, there were a total of 153 deals reported, for a total value of Rs 204.2 crore.

The report covered investments done by five prominent Angel groups in the country - Indian Angel Network, Mumbai Angels, Chennai Angels, Calcutta Angel and Hyderabad Angels with over 700 members.

“There has been an increasing trend of angel investments in companies with proven track record in terms of revenues,” it said.

About 76 per cent of the companies funded in 2014-15 were generating revenues compared with 40 per cent of companies funded in 2011-12, the report added.

“The report examines the trends emerging within the angel investing space in India which has historically been fragmented,” Ajay Hattangdi, chief executive and managing director of India and South East Asia at InnoVen

Capital India said.

“The growing maturity and momentum of angel investments in India as evidenced by the report bodes well for the health of the entire venture ecosystem,” he added.

Bengaluru pipped Mumbai to witness the highest angel investment this year, the report said adding the investment in Bengaluru surged 29 per cent, compared with 21 per cent last year.

Information technology and online services was the hottest segment, with over 39 per cent of angel money flowing into the sector.

The report also pointed out that the median size of an angel round grew to Rs 1.38 crore in FY15 from Rs 52 lakh from last year, and the median pre-money valuation increased to Rs 9 crore from Rs 6.7 crore in the same period.

More than 25 per cent of angel investors participate in follow-on rounds in the companies that they have previously funded, it said.

InnoVen Capital India, formerly SVB India Finance, has committed over Rs 700 crore in loans across 80 transactions to venture capital backed companies since 2008.

PTI

Bengaluru pipped Mumbai to witness the highest Angel investments

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

PUNE

JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

pics by Aniruddha Rajandekar

Rahane’s hometown kids all set to follow footsteps of the Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane, who hails from a village near Sangamner, has become an inspiration for several youngsters there. They are all striving to be part of the Indian cricket team in coming years

Ashvi Khurd

A

s we enter Ashvi Khurd, a village located 25 km off the Pune-Nashik highway, and ask for Ajinkya’s maternal family, we are promptly guided to a small clinic.

This is where Dr Ganesh Gaikwad, Ajinkya’s maternal uncle practices.

“This village got its name because it used to be where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s cavalry was based. Now it is better known as Ajinkya Rahane’s village. Till a few years ago, I was Dr Gaikwad, but now people call me Ajinkya’s uncle,” said a proud Dr Gaikwad, who finished his BAMS and decided to settle down in the village instead of practicing medicine in a city.

Once he is done tending to a long queue of patients, he takes us to his modest house constructed in the middle of a farm. This is where the family of nine members, including Ajinkya’s maternal grandparents stay.

“We used to live in the village. After Ajinkya was born, we felt the need for a bigger house. We constructed this house in the same year as he was born.

He spent quite a bit of his childhood here,” said Dr Gaikwad, leading us into the house. Inside, Ajinkya’s grandparents Radhakrishna Gaikwad (73) and Kusumbai Gaikwad (66) are busy watching the third one day match between India and Zimbabwe.

Ajinkya’s maternal grandparents and uncles at their modest home

While Ajinkya got out at 15, his team won. “He has led the country to three victories after becoming the captain. We are very proud of him,” said Kusumbai. Dr Gaikwad explained that after Ajinkya started doing well in international cricket and his mother got clued into the game, they bought larger television set just so that Kusumbai could watch her grandson play.

“Even as a child, all he would do is play cricket. He would come here with his bat and ball and play the entire day. He would run to the fields or play indoors. Everybody was expected

Ajinkya Rahane with his maternal family during a recent visit to Ashvi Khurd

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke Ajinkya Rahane’s recent selection as captain of the Indian team has led to euphoria in villages around Sangamner.

Almost every second kid in the villages there wants to become a cricketer.

Whether it’s a school ground, or an open field, kids can be seen everywhere honing their skills. Armed with crude bats and plastic balls, children from villages spend hours practicing their game. Their ultimate goal is to become Ajinkya Rahane.

The 27-year-old cricketer and captain of the Indian ODI team originally hails from this region. His profile across several mediums states Ashvi Khurd, a tiny but enterprising village 170 km from Pune, as his origin.

The children in Ashvi Khurd and the neighbouring villages talk endlessly about how they have shaken hands with the star, and even chatted with him about the game. Talk about the cricketer and kids promptly fish out their photographs with him taken over the last several years, ever since Rahane started playing for the country.

The star cricketer is a regular feature at his maternal home in Ashvi Khurd and Chandanapuri, where his father

grew up. The two villages are 20 km away from each other. Locals say that every time Rahane visits either of the two homes, he makes it a point to meet locals. “He is very down to earth. His stardom hasn’t gotten into his head. He is always happy to interact with everybody and behaves like any other village boy,” said Bajirao Rahane, a retired circle officer from Chandanapuri.

Several others from Ashvi Khurd too are all praise for the Indian captain.

“When he came here about a year ago, he patiently posed for pictures with several students and locals. He answered all the questions patiently. Other than the fact that a boy from our village has become an international star, what makes him really popular here is his temperament.

He’s a simple man who doesn’t have any airs about himself,” said Sunil Hinge, sports teacher at Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Vidyaniketan School in Ashvi. The school, thanks to Rahane’s success, now has a full fledged cricket team and at least two dozen aspirants.

“The game used to be played earlier but like any other sport. Now everybody is inspired by his success. They all believe that people from villages too can make it big,” said Hinge. BR Tambe, Principal of Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Vidyaniketan School, explained that

Hoardings congratulating Ajinkya Rahane after he was appointed captain of the Indian Team sprung up in Chandanapuri

it’s not just cricket that has gained prominence with the kids. The school that has around 1,000 students from eight villages has seen a spurt in performance in almost every field. “We often give Ajinkya’s example to our students to motivate them. Those who are willing to work hard can certainly

make it big, no matter where they hail from, we tell our students. His example resonates well with not just students interested in sports but also those who are good at studies. Our students now want to become doctors, chartered accountants, engineers, among other professions,” said Tambe.

Ajinkya’s stardom is fast changing the mindset of people at Ashvi Khurd and Chandanapuri, where locals are often seen trying to claim that the cricketer is originally from their village.

“While he officially writes Ashvi Khurd on several platforms, Chandanapuri is where he hails from. His father grew

Chandanapuri

F

or 92-year-old Jhelu Rahane, her grandson plays some kind of a ball game. “To chendu khelto,” she says. Sitting outside her palatial bungalow in Chandanapuri village, she talks about how Ajinkya was a regular visitor to Chandanapuri when he was a child. “They would come for vacations. I used to play with him. He grew up in my arms,” said Jhelu, who gets a lot of attention from locals and now is better known as Ajinkya’s grandmother.

Pointing at the bungalow, she says, “My son (Ajinkya’s father, Madhukar) built this for me couple of years ago. He would come once a week to supervise the construction.” Hers is the largest and most expensive property in the village, located on the Pune–Nashik highway, in Sangamner Taluka of Ahmednagar. Her elder son, Sitaram, lives right next door. The family cultivates pomegranates and grains on the farm right next to the palatial and yet sparsely furnished bungalow.

The octogenarian explains Madhukar moved to Mumbai after completing his SSC. “He struggled

a lot there and eventually settled down in Dombivli. He and his family would come on vacations here every year. These days Madhukar visits regularly but Ajinkya can’t make it so often due to his busy schedule. He has a lot of responsibilities and needs to work doubly hard,” said Jhelu, who is hard of hearing. She proudly shows off Ajinkya’s trophies from early days.

“Everybody here keeps talking how Ajinkya is famous and very good at his game. When he came here couple of years ago for house warming of the new bungalow, villagers hosted a huge ceremony in his honour.

Thousands of people turned up. It felt good to see all that,” said the grandmother, who seldom watches her grandson play on TV. What Jhelu loves the most about her grandson is that despite the success, he is down to earth. “He is well behaved. He is ‘abol’ (one who speaks very less) – speaks only when spoken to. Both his father and he are like that,” she adds.

Each time someone visits the Rahane household to talk about

Ajinkya, a crowd gathers outside. The entire village is curious to know more about the star cricketer, who hails from their village. With population of around 5,000, the village goes berserk each time Ajinkya does well or achieves a new high. When he started doing well in international cricket they hosted a ceremony and called several dignitaries to honour him.

Recently when Ajinkya was appointed as the captain of the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour, hoardings sprung up in Chandanapuri congratulating him for the success.

A majority of the families in the village share the same surname – Rahane. Almost everybody in Chandanapuri claims to be related in some way or the other to Ajinkya.

Locals say that Ajinkya has become a huge source of inspiration for them.

Kids can be seen playing cricket in land parcels meant for grazing cattle. “Cricket was just another sport till Ajinkya made it big. Now even the primary schoolchildren now have a cricket team,” said Bajirao Rahane, a retired circle officer residing in Chandanapuri.

up here. His grandmother still stays here. For us he is a Chandanapuri boy,” said Bajirao Rahane, who organised a felicitation programme at Chandanapuri for Ajinkya a couple of years ago after he was selected in the Indian cricket team.

The ones at Ashvi Khurd quickly point out that his mother hails from the village and he spent most of his vacations there. Some even point out that his birth place is Ashvi Khurd and not Chandanapuri. His maternal uncle, Dr Narayan Gaikwad, however settles the dispute. “Ashvi Khurd is where he was born, which is why you will find most of his profiles stating the village name. His native place is Chandanapuri and will always be that. If you ask me, both the families are just too happy to have someone like him. He is a perfect example of determination and hard work,” said Dr Gaikwad.

Meanwhile, children in several villages around Ashvi and Chandanapuri don’t really care where he hails from. For them he is an inspiration, who drives them to strive. “Someday we will all be part of the Indian team and make our village proud like Ajinkya Rahane,” say the children practicing at Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Vidyaniketan School ground. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

The star

A

jinkya Rahane was born to Madhukar and Sujata Rahane in 1988. The family used to stay in Dombivli, a suburb located 40 km from Mumbai. As a child he showed a lot of interest in cricket. Since his father could not afford to pay for expensive professional coaching centres, he was admitted to a local one. Sevenyear-old Ajinkya and his mother used to walk two km every day to his coaching class. Later, in 2005, former Indian batsman Pravin Amre took Ajinkya under his fold and started coaching him.

Ajinkya also took a fancy to karate at a young age. “Most people used to wonder how a lanky boy could play such amazing and powerful shots.

The secret was his stamina which he developed while acquiring a black belt in karate. His calm composure and energy levels are a result of martial arts,” said Ajinkya’s close friend.

Within two years of coaching under Amre, Rahane made his first class debut for Mumbai.

Making most of the golden chance, Rahane

scored a century on debut 143 (207) and was picked for the Irani Trophy match against the Rest of India. Rahane made his international debut in the same year, when he represented India U-19 on their tour to New Zealand.

The next year, he made his Ranji Trophy debut, followed by an impressive showing for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 2007-08.

Rahane’s 1,089 runs in his second Ranji season (2008–09), was a crucial factor in Mumbai’s 38th title win. He continued to impress in domestic

cricket, by scoring over 1,000 runs thrice in his five seasons.

Though he had to struggle in the initial period of his international career, he finished as India’s third-highest run-getter in India’s tour to South Africa in 2013-14.

In away Tests, Rahane averaged 61.83, having scored 371 in four Tests including a century and two fifties. He is also the fourth Indian batsman to post a Test century on his first appearance at Lord’s, joining Sourav Ganguly,

Dilip Vengsarkar and Ajit Agarkar.

Rahane was part of Indian team that made it to the final of 2014 World T20, but wasn’t very impressive in the ODI World Cup in 2015.

In the Indian Premier League, Rahane started with his home team Mumbai Indians, but later moved to Rajasthan Royals and had a successful stint with the team.

Early this month, he was selected to lead the Indian team on the Zimbabwe tour, becoming the 23rd Indian captain.

Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Vidyaniketan School

S

tudents of this school would do almost anything to improve their cricketing skills. Now that they have met Ajinkya Rahane on several occasions, and seen him rise from a small time cricketer to captain of the Indian team, they are determined to follow in his footsteps. The school has a professional cricket team and the

Pranav Shinde, a standard X student, said that he had scored 30 runs in his last eight-over match. “I am a good batsman. I love to bat at the top order. My parents do scream at me sometimes but I study hard during my examinations and make up for it, for cricket,” he said. Asked who his favourite player was, he replied – Ajinkya. “He is very cool and remains cool before playing his shots. I like that.” The students also analyse how he played during a particular match, and how shots can be selected. He stays near the school and is available to his teammates any time of the day. He loves batting but his friends said that his bowling is poor. His parents are farmers and toil hard in their fields.

Ajinkya’s grandmother Jhelu Rahane at her newly constructed bungalow (inset)

to bowl, while he batted,” says Kusumbai. Members of the Gaikwad family explain that back then they did not make much of his fetish for the sport. “I recall an incident when someone in the house accidentally walked over his bat. He was barely seven years old. He promptly told everyone that the bat was his God and nobody should insult it in any manner.

We obviously laughed about it back then,” said Kusumbai.

The family explains that when he was in school, he would visit Ashvi Khurd every year during vacations.

“Then he got very busy with his game. He used to wake up at 5.30 am and run for his practice. His parents too encouraged him a lot,” said Dr Gaikwad.

Kusumbai is quick to add that despite his fame and glory, Ajinkya makes it a point to call her regularly.

“Just before his wedding last year, he came with his wife to be, to seek our blessings. Again, before he left (Zimbabwe series) he came for a day.

He is very simple. He loves homecooked food, likes to spend time walking in the fields and chatting with children. No wonder he is such a rage,” added Kusumbai, who even today works on her farm with her husband.

neighbouring college, run by the same trust, too has one of its own. Those who aren’t on the teams are striving hard to become ace cricketers some day.

BR Tambe, Principal of the school, explains that after the school reopened they have seized over a dozen balls that the students have sneaked into classrooms. “They play indoors, during

recess, in small breaks between classes.

Some kids have broken benches and used the planks as bats. They have just gone crazy over the sport after Ajinkya’s rise,” said Tambe.

On the campus, Ajinkya and cricket are favourite topics. The kids do not miss a single match and discuss Ajinkya’s performance like seasoned

players. Quite a few of them have taken cricket seriously and attended cricket coaching classes during the summer holidays.

Sunil Hinge, sports teacher at the school, explains that after Ajinkya’s success, several kids have come forward to be part of the cricket team. “One of our students – Poonam Khinnar –

Yash Bhandari, a standard IX student, said that he is a fast bowler. “I had travelled alone to Chandanapuri two years ago when Ajinkya had visited his village for a function. He is cool and a very good athlete. I follow him because he remains alert,” he said. His parents are farmers and he stays in a hamlet of Balapur located near Ashvi from where he walks down to the school.

Vikrant Sahane, also a standard X student, said that he is a batsman. “I am not a tall guy and I like to play at third down position. It is a critical position where one has to really maintain his cool. One cannot afford to play in a hurry. Here, Ajinkya is my role model, because he keeps his cool. I follow him and play according to that,” he said. His parents are farmers. They stay in a small house in Ashvi Budruk, about a kilometre away from the school.

Another student Sushil Mantode of standard X said that he likes the hairstyle of Virat Kohli but he likes the attitude of Ajinkya. He likes the shots of Suresh Raina, who comes down the order, but the middle order is critical for a team which is led

by Ajinkya. His father works with a private company in Ahmednagar. His father had enrolled him in the summer cricket coaching camp. His mother looks after the family in the village and works on their farms. Sushil, a fast bowler and batsman, said that he had attended coaching classes at the district headquarters of Ahmednagar. “It was a costly affair but my expenses reduced since I stayed with a relative,” he said.

has become an ace cricketer. She has played inter–university and state level matches,” he said. He mentioned that the institution has the Yugandhar cricket team, which has been performing exceptionally well over the last two years. “Ajinkya is their role model. They all emulate his style on the field,” laughs Hinge.

Their commitment to the sport can be judged from the fact that though they have to walk back to their homes in one of the eight neighbouring villages, they prefer to practice for at least an hour every day after school. “We keep telling them to head home so they reach in time. But they all want to be good at cricket,” said Hinge.

An all-rounder, Shubham Mandhare said that he likes Ajinkya’s fielding. He is equal to Virat and Raina in terms of fielding. “I am the only good fielder in the team,” he said. Mandhare’s parents run a grocery shop in the village and sell tennis balls and bats. Concessions are given to school kids. He likes Ajinkya because he is from his village. Shubham is a spin bowler and apart from Ajinkya, another local lad, Zaheer Khan is his favourite cricketer.

Prasad Kshirsagar, a standard IX student of the school stays in the village. His parents are farmers and sometimes work as casual labourers.

He likes Ajinkya’s batting and fielding.

“I am his fan and some day I would like to be like him,” he said.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

India needs to curb red tape and lift FDI limits: Biden P13

“Language gives primary identity to a community and a nation and hence, various regional languages and Hindi shall be protected and promoted.”

— M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister

Centre seeks report on minority jobs

Initiative is part of review of the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for their welfare A head-count of people belonging to minority communities employed in central government departments during last one year has been started by the Centre as part of review of the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for their welfare.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has asked all central government departments to send details of people from minority communities, employed during April 2014 and March 2015 to it.

The information was earlier sought by the DoPT from all central government ministries.

“Not many departments have given the information. A reminder has been issued on Friday seeking a consolidated annual data of recruitment of minority communities in the last one year,” a senior DoPT official said.

“The reasons for decline in the percentage of recruitment of minority communities’ candidates as compare to previous year’s data may also be intimated,” as per the earlier order.

The departments have been asked to give details separately of total number of employees working under them, number of persons employed during

DoPT seeks details of people employed during April 2014 and March 2015

the year and persons from the minority community employed during the year in a set proforma. The details have to be given categories-wise -- Group A, B, C and D, separately.

In addition to the five communities already notified as minority communities viz., Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis), it may be ensured that data relating to Jain community candidates are also taken into account in the annual consolidated data, the DoPT had said.

Information in respect of Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) are to be sent to Department of Public Enterprises.

There are about 48 lakh employees working in various central government departments.

PTI

festive colour

Effort to combat skilled manpower crunch Industry bodies join hands to impart training in plumbing TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly Industry in India is facing an acute shortage of skilled construction labour. Absence of formal training system has resulted in workers taking a long time to acquire skills, which in turn had kept their wages at a menial low. This had also adversely affected the industry by way of substandard quality, material wastage, cost increase, inability to meet time deadlines and unhappy customers.

According to National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a public-private partnership tasked with funding and directing private skilling programmes, approximately 12.8 million people will join the job market every year in the coming decade.

The Economic Survey 2014-15 has stated that as per the Labour Bureau Report 2014, the present skilled workforce in India is only 2 per cent, which is much lower when compared to the developing nations.

As per the report, the number of persons aged 15 years who have received or will be receiving skills is merely 6.8 per cent.

The survey states that as per NSDC there is a need of 120 million skilled people in the non-farm sector for 2013-14. Inadequate skill training capacity, negative perception towards skilling, and lack of industry ready skills even in processional courses are the major cause of poor skill levels of India’s workforce.

(From L) Kushal Vice Chairman Ranjit Naiknavare, Finolex Industries Executive Chairman Prakash Chhabria and CREDAI Pune Metro Shantilal Katariya felicitate a participant at the skill development programme

To fill the gap, on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, Finolex Pipes announced its plan to collaborate with Kushal, the social partnership project between Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) Pune Metro and NSDC, to improve the skills of building services workforce by imparting training in the area of plumbing at an event held in Pune on July 15.

The scheme is put into action to provide financial help as an incentive to increase the numbers of trained and skilled labourers which in turn helps in raising their standard of living.

“Fundamentally, we are celebrating people who work with their own hands, who form the backbone of any society,” said Finolex Executive Chairman Prakash Chhabria. According to him, as a pilot project, Finolex Pipes

WORTHY EFFORT

A view of CST Station in Mumbai illuminated in green light ahead of Eid in Mumbai on Thursday

‘Take action against those wrongly availing SC benefits’ Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes directed the state government to initiate criminal proceedings against persons wrongly availing the benefits of the SC castes, depriving needy beneficiaries.

In a communique to state welfare department, Rajesh Bagha, Chairman SC Commission, said the state government must take step against those peoples who were taking the benefits of scheduled castes by concealing their real castes.

Citing a case, Bagha said that one Jagdip Singh, who belongs to a minority community and is a resident of Pathankot district, got a gas agency allotted to him under SC quota on the basis of a caste certificate he got by allegedly concealing his identity and caste.

The Commission on a complaint against Jagdeep Singh sought report from Welfare Department and its vigilance cell.

The Sub Divisional Magistrate of Pathankot in his report had admitted that Jagdip got the caste certificate by allegedly concealing information.

The Commission on the basis of the report, ordered cancellation of Jagdip’s caste certificate and directed state government to initiate criminal proceedings against him.

“This case gives an impression that a large scale racket was running in the state in which some minority communities people, by concealing their names and castes, were getting SC certificates,” an official release PTI quoting Bagha said.

Kushal is an effort for upliftment of construction labourers. It provides onsite training to the construction workers to empower them both socially and economically. Training is provided to unskilled/semi-skilled workers in six trades of bar-bending, shuttering, masonry, tiling, plumbing and painting.

Kushal empowers construction workers to hone their existing skills on to a higher level and thus help them command higher wages. The mission of Kushal is ‘to effectively train and enhance skills of 1,00,000 construction workers over a period of 10 years. Its aim is to train 20,000 construction workers in Pune city, over a period of 3 years, with the aim of improving their quality, productivity of work and soft skills, resulting in higher wages and better lifestyle.

Know rights as member of housing society Awareness seminar to be organised in Mumbai as citizens often fail to avail of housing benefit TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly Many citizens are unaware about their rights as members of cooperative housing societies and end up listening to whatever their society representatives say. Many keep quiet for fear of reprisals from elected members.

W i t h many housing complexes coming up in cities, it is necessary for Sunita Godbole residents to know their value and importance as member of a cooperative housing society.

Woman’s Legal Forum for Cooperative Housing Societies, Mumbai District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd, Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association (MSWA) and Cooperative Department, Government of Maharashtra will be holding a seminar on co-operative society matters at the Ravindra Natya Mandir Auditorium, Prabhadevi in Mumbai on July 24 at 7 pm.

Minister for Cooperation Chandrakant Patil will be the chief guest at the event. Eminent speakers will be MSWA’s Ramesh Prabhu, advocates Vinod Sampat and Uday Warunjikar, Shirish Deshpande of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, former

Participants fill registration form before attending the seminar

information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, Mumbai District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd director Abhishek Ghosalkar, advocate Anand Pathvardhan, Women’s Legal Forum president Sunita Godbole, cooperative housing society activist JB Patel and Maharashtra district co-operative housing federation ltd director Chhaya Ajgaonkar.

“Many citizens face harassment at the hands of managing committees of their housing societies as they are unaware of provisions of Maharashtra Co-operative Housing Societies Act, 1960. With the help of cooperative

experts, activists and officials from different government bodies, RTI union, we aim to fight injustice meted out to residents by housing societies,” Godbole said.

She said that despite the Act and bylaws provided for functioning of managing committees, Maharashtra Co-operative (MC) does not enforce this provision and members are unaware of it. The general body meetings are usually male dominated.

Godbole said the 97th amendment to the Constitution (97th Amendment of Act 2011 known as the ‘97-CAA’) grants citizens the fundamental

right to form cooperative societies.

The amendment has added the term cooperative societies along with the right to form unions.

The amendment has also added a directive principle of State policy, asking the State ‘to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperative societies’.

The move would go a long way in developing the co-operative sector.

The amendment would ensure representation to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and women on the board of directors of co-operative societies.

She said that the seminar will also cover 97-CAA, functions of regulatory authority, new election process, nomination process, will, stamp duty, premium, society audit, structural audit and other aspects of cooperative housing societies.

“Participants at this seminar will know the duties and responsibilities of police in issues related to co-operative housing societies. Common issues in any co-operative housing society could be resolved by discussion. If this does not solve the issue, the complainant may have to raise it to appropriate authorities, like deputy registrar for co-operatives, consumer or cooperative court, municipal corporation and police. Any resident has the right to approach the police if office-bearers behave as dictators or some members are having parties and disturbing the peace in the building,” she said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

will be sponsoring the training of 500 candidates with the long-term aim of training 1,00,000 workers in the next five to seven years. They will be taught plumbing course along with additional inputs on on-sitetraining.”

Finolex Pipes is also providing Rs 10 lakh to sponsor a team from Kushal that will be participating in the World Skills Competition at Sao Paulo (Brazil) on August 2015.

Kushal Vice Chairman Ranjit Naiknavare said, “Two Kushal trained construction workers will be representing India at Sao Paulo this year.”

Kushal model is mix of ‘onjob-on-site-earn-while-you-learn’, wherein 80 per cent is practical onthe-job-training and 20 per cent is classroom training, entailing zero wage loss for workers. The training duration is of two months/eight weeks.

So far Kushal has trained 22,408 construction workers. According to CREDAI Pune Metro President, Shantilal Katariya, “The nationally acclaimed training programme of Kushal has trained more than 20,000 labourers in three and a half years.”

“It is a positive step taken towards increasing the number of skilled labourers in India, where unskilled labourers are in abundance. We are trying to build a dignity of labour while also providing them a platform where they can learn and grow without any wage loss,” said Naiknavare. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Rs 2,000 crore rehabilitation package for Pandits A Rs 2,000 crore rehabilitation package for the Kashmiri Pandits is being readied by the Home Ministry under which 3,000 government jobs and 6,000 new flats would be offered to the displaced community.

A note is being prepared for the approval of the Union Cabinet for the Rs 2,000 crore package for the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, who had to leave their homeland following rise of militancy in late 1980s, in Kashmir valley, a government official said.

Under the proposal, 3,000 government jobs will be provided to educated youths of the community and 6,000 new flats will be offered as transit accommodation along with a longterm plan of constructing two-three composite townships in the Valley.

J&K government has already assured to provide land for the proposed flats. These jobs will be in addition to the 3,000 jobs already offered to the Pandits under the previous UPA government’s 2004 package of Rs 1,618 crore and 5,242 two-room tenements constructed in Jammu and allotted to the migrants.

The new flats to be built in the Valley will not be on twin-sharing basis as earlier so as to enable migrants to move back with their families.

The Home Ministry is also working on a Phase-II plan which involves permanent rehabilitation of Pandits in two-three composite townships of 2,500 families each to be built near Srinagar and Anantnag.

Currently, there is a small transit accommodation of 200 flats in Sheikhpura, Budgam in the Valley. PTI

ENVIRONMENT

H EALTH

Tiger habitat in Buxa has shrunk

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TGS LIFE

Run for... yourself

NATION

CITY

Get your voice heard on NetaG P6

No damaged goods please P3

GRANDCHILDREN SUE THE COMPLETE MAN

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Dr Vijaypat Singhania’s grandchildren from his estranged son Madhupati have moved Bombay High Court seeking their share in ancestral property. They have filed a suit against their grandfather, father, mother and Raymond Limited. Detailed story on p7 TGS LIFE

When hunger strikes past midnight

NATION

CITY

Bakery worker’s daughter gets her wings P 12

Why are traffic cops taking selfies these days?

P3

AUTO,

HAIL A

CAB

or long distances (depending on their mood), overcharge or ask for obnoxious fares, often refuse to ply by meter – the list is endless.

TGS Team members decided to give the ‘victimised’ autorickshaw drivers a chance.

Five members of the team tried hiring rickshaws for distances

Intentions of Dr Singhania were ‘malafide and illegal’ with a motive to grab the share of Madhupati and Anuradha as well as grandchildren and to achieve the same he directed that his son and daughter-inlaw move to another country ‘instead of Collectively Pune Municipal continuing to stay in India with the family.

DEHU

6

Corporation, PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation and Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited have spent `1,816 crores on constructing dedicated corridors and flyovers along major routes, erecting bus shelters, and buying buses.

Despite this not a single route is operational or has succeeded in years. Citizens residing in twin cities continue to cry foul over pathetic public transport system. And from the looks of it nothing is going to change in near future.

See Spotlight on p8&9

Precious man hours are lost every day at Hinjewadi just because planners forgot to make more entry and exit points. Over a decade after Hinjewadi was planned to house country’s best IT firms and saying is true. But what they are not telling us or willing to talent, planners have finally woken up to the plight of citizens. concede is that their enemy lies within. Their enemy number one They have now planned five alternative roads. But the authorities is not private cabs but members of their own ilk – many of whom are in no hurry to complete them. See spotlight on p8 & 9 are rude, refuse to ply short

RITU GOYAL HARISH

CHINCHWAD BHOSARI

4 THERGAON HINJEWADI VILLAGE

KALEWADI FATA

WAKAD

DIGHI

NASHIK PHATA

5

LOHEGAON

DAPODI 50

PIMPLE GURAV

WAGHOLI

3 4 BANER

VISHRANT VIMAN WADI NAGAR YERWADA

AUNDH

2

SANGAMWADI PASHAN

AH47

WADGAON SHERI

MUNDHWA

SHIVAJI NAGAR

GHORPADI

9

BAVDHAN

CAMP

HADAPSAR

KOTHRUD

SWARGATE PARVATI

WANOWRIE

1

NANDED AMBEGAON BUDRUK

KONDHWA

UNDRI

KATRAJ

4

Had it not been for a Pune-based activist everybody had forgotten about a film on Lokmanya Tilak commissioned in 2001 by Central Government at the cost of 2.5 crores. Three years after Vishnu Kamalapurkar raised questions about the film,

said director of the school, who

fi led the FIR and kept in touch with “We are feeling the investigating officer and public prosecutor The director is let down by the PUNE, MARCH 14, 2015throughout. | www.thegoldensparrow.com yet to get a copy of the order. prosecution The case dates back to February 2013 when some of the students and the system. studying in class five walked up to their class teacher and alleged that It is upsetting their creative writing sir had touched because we do them inappropriately. The class teacher in turn informed the principal and not how to face management.

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

The investigation was carried out by statements.”

DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL

ALANDI

AKURDI

RAVET

Sab golmal hai...

The creative writing teacher from a reputed school in Baner was booked and arrested in February 2013. A special court acquitted him on the grounds that police bungled up in collecting evidence

The case created ripples across the city. A teacher was accused of sexually abusing 22 students all from fi fth standard of a reputed school in Baner.

In February 2013, Chaturshrungi police registered a case of sexual abuse against the creative writing teacher and arrested him immediately. Two years after the cops went all out to claim that they had a watertight case, the teacher has been acquitted by a Special Court. The court ruled that the prosecution made out a weak case. The management of the school and parents of students are not only disappointed but also irked with the outcome.

“We are feeling let down by the prosecution and the system. It is upsetting because we do not how to face the parents and students who came forward to give their statements.

We believe we were on the right,”

CHIKHALI

KIWALENIGDI

~ Suit filed by the siblings

What a mess!

Teacher booked for sexually abusing 22 students acquitted

Parents teach them more than exams do P 10

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

~ Suit filed by the siblings

And yet no respite for commuters

DR VIJAYPAT SINGHANIA

Madhupati Singhania (57) and his wife Anuradha (54) with their children Ananya (29), Rasaalika (26), Tarini (20) and Raivathari (18)

Rickshaw unions across the city want us to believe that private cab service providers or radio cab operators, as they are popularly known as, are villains.

Around 12,000 radio cabs have made their lives miserable for 50,000-odd autorickshaw drivers in twin cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The auto drivers want us to believe that corporate houses with deep pockets behind the cab services are eating into their share. Essentially poor rickshaw drivers are getting poorer because of stiff competition from private cab operators.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

CITY

Truly, a tree lady P4

PICS ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

DITCH THE

GAUTAM SINGHANIA

While Gautam Singhania ‘in a span of 14 years as CMD of Raymond Limited has built a personal net worth of `1.4 billion, Madhupati belonging to the same family was struggling to settle down in a new country, educate his children and make a new life.’ Gautam and his family led a luxurious life ‘with fancy cars, private jets, yachts and expensive holidays.’

RAHUL RAUT

The effects of air pollution cost France some 100 billion euros (USD 110.1 billion) each year, a French Senate committee report estimated today, citing impact to health as the major expense.

The study said air pollution is not merely a health threat, but also represents “an economic aberration” costing the French state and businesses billions annually in treating illness, and financing employee sick leave, lost productivity, reduced agriculture yields and cleaning up sooty buildings and other venues.

It estimated the financial impact of atmospheric pollution for health reasons at “between 68 and 97 billion Euros” per year, ranging from treatment of aggravated conditions like asthma to battling forms of cancer caused by smog.

It pegged the direct cost to France’s health care system at least three billion euros per year, with the remainder of the linked largely to time and productivity lost by businesses whose employees require sick leave during peak pollution periods.

Outlays for non-health reasons like lower crop production and the cleaning of blackened buildings were estimated at 4.3 billion Euros.

Though the report noted past efforts to battle atmospheric pollution had lowered overall smog levels in France — especially around industrial sites — sources like ground transport and heating systems have made the problem more diff use and present at higher levels in indoor air than before.

The study recommends a range of fiscal policies to encourage use of cleaner technologies, and measures to compliment incomplete or inefficient regulations already in place.

Pollution has become a major problem in Paris and several other French cities, whose air periodically becomes clogged with tiny floating particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and the blood system and can cause cancer. The World Health Organisation says fine particle air pollution is responsible for about 42,000 premature deaths in France each year. In March, French authorities briefly forced half the cars off the roads of Paris under and even-and-odd licence plate scheme.

AFP

Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

They focused on the effect of food prices on child nutrition in Andhra Pradesh.

The research team combined children’s weight and height measurements from the Young Lives data with government data on household level expenditure on and consumption patterns of food from the Indian National Sample Survey Office and the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau in order to calculate how much children ate across food categories.

The researchers found that children’s food consumption dropped significantly between 2006 and 2009 as food prices increased.

There were corresponding increases in wasting among children from poor and middle-income households, but not high-income households between 2006 and 2009.

The research suggests this supports the theory that poorer households have the smallest food reserves and are therefore hardest hit by rising food prices. Researchers examined interview data from each household’s report of their food expenditures over the past 15 days. It was published in the Journal of Nutrition.

PTI

Children’s consumption dropped significantly between 2006-09 as food prices increased

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

border but were not sure whether they were resident tigers.

“We found evidence but it is tough to say whether those tigers whose pug marks and scat we found in Buxa are residents or transitory ones coming from Bhutan,” he said.

Tiger experts have expressed doubts about the presence of tigers in Buxa. Eminent tiger expert and conservationist Valmik Thapar had said Buxa has no tigers left now and it seems that this has been the case for many years, like Sariska and Panna.

He was also against relocating tigers in Buxa unless all cattle and livestock are removed from the area.

“All human disturbances must be stopped. The density of prey should be scientifically monitored for two years.

If after five years situation improves, then review for relocating tigers there,” the former National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) member had said.

Forest officials said steps are being taken by the department to improve the habitat, prey base and for ensuring surveillance and forest protection.

Former director of Project tiger, P K Sen had said “It cannot be done overnight. They talk of the presence of three tigers in BTR but in the last 10 years sighting is zero.”

PTI

Air pollution costs France 100 billion Euros per year

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Amid concerns that tigers may have disappeared from West Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve, foresters have claimed that the habitat of the big cat has shrunk to a small area on the foothills.

“Tigers have not disappeared from Buxa. The habitat has moved to the foothills of Buxa which are close to Bhutan border. Tiger habitat is there on both sides of the border,” a top forest department official told PTI. He said human settlement along the forest and cattle-grazing have forced tigers to move away from their habitat, which once spread across Buxa forest in north Bengal.

The last census, based on scat analysis and pug mark identification, indicated that there are three tigers in BTR, which borders the forests of Bhutan and Assam’s Manas Tiger Reserve. As no photographic evidence was found despite the presence of camera traps, many wildlife experts have raised doubts about the presence of big cats in Buxa.

When asked why no tigers been caught on camera so far, another forest official said the jungle is very dense which makes the animal tough to spot.

State Wildlife Board member Biswajit Roychowdhury, who had participated in the last census, said they had found evidence of the presence of the big cats along Bhutan

people living with HIV-associated TB. The report noted that currently nearly 85 per cent of the antiretroviral medicines for HIV treatment come from India.

It said the Indian government had also succeeded in preserving the legislative and policy spaces that permit Indian companies that make generic medicines to consolidate their exporting capacities to other developing countries.

Currently, however, India is under pressure from several companies and

Spikes in food prices during the last global recession can be linked with the increase in malnutrition among children in Andhra Pradesh in 2009, researchers, including those from India, have found.

The researchers examined the proportion of children who experienced ‘wasting’, a widely used measure of malnutrition that shows a child has a lower than expected weight given their height (based on World Health Organisation standards).

They observed progress in child nutrition between 2002 and 2006 when the proportion of wasted children in Andhra Pradesh fell slightly from 19 per cent to 18 per cent.

However, this improvement had reversed by 2009 when 28 per cent of children were wasted - an increase of 10 percentage points compared with 2006, researchers said.

Th is was after high inflation in food prices in the district, beginning in 2007 and continuing through 2009.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Public Health Foundation of India and the Department of Sociology at University of Oxford, with a team from Stanford University and the London School of

governments of developed countries to dilute these provisions in free-trade agreements being negotiated with them, it said. .

According to the report, India had among the highest new HIV infections in Asia Pacific in 2014 and the HIV prevention efforts need to be strengthened across the region.

The number of new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific rose by 3 per cent between 2010 and 2014. China, India and Indonesia account for 78 per cent of new HIV infections in the region in 2014.

An estimated 340,000 people in Asia and the Pacific were newly infected with HIV in 2014. Th is represents a 31 per cent decline in new HIV infections from 2000 to 2014, it said, adding that in India, HIV prevalence among female sex workers dropped from 10.3 per cent in 2001 to 2.7 per cent in 2010.

India also reported an increase in domestic spending on AIDS from 73 million dollars in 2010 to 164 million dollars in 2014.

“In India, the Delhi High Court read down an old colonial-era law on sodomy and decriminalised adult consensual sex, but the Supreme Court overruled the decision and is hearing an appeal against its own order,” it said.

“The report demonstrates that the response to HIV has been one of the smartest investments in global health and development,” UNAIDS said.

PTI

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

The last census, based on scat analysis and pug mark identification, indicated that there are three tigers in BTR. (Photograph for representation only)

Report notes India ‘literally’ changed the course of its national HIV epidemic through the use of strategic information that guided its focus to the locations and population approach

Malnutrition in AP linked to global recession

Supriya Bhoite from Chaturshrungi police station.

Contd on p4

advance, and second instalment was to be released after completion of certain formalities. The very next year second instalment was also disbursed.

Cut to October 2012 – Kamalapurkar fi led an RTI with chief public information officer (CPIO) of Ministry of Culture seeking information about the fi lm on Tilak.

The CPIO was clueless about the project and sought information from

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

AIDS related deaths have fallen by 41 per cent

WWW.UNMULTIMEDIA.ORG

India has been able to achieve a more than 20 per cent decline in new HIV infections between 2000 and 2014, reversing the spread of the virus, according to a UN report that says the world is on track to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

According to the report titled ‘How AIDS changed everything MDG 6: 15 years, 15 lesson of hope from the AIDS response’, the world has exceeded the targets contained in the Millennium Development Goals (MGD) to halt and reverse the spread of HIV. New HIV infections have fallen by 35 per cent and AIDSrelated deaths by 41 per cent, while the global response to HIV has averted 30 million new infections and nearly 8 million AIDS-related deaths since 2000, when the MDGs were set said the report that was released in Addis Ababa by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

“The measure of success for the United Nations is not what we promise, but what we deliver for those who need us most.

When it comes to halting and beginning to reverse the AIDS

epidemic, the world has delivered,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said following the report’s launch.

Ban said 15 million people on HIV treatment meant that the world was on its way to an AIDS-free generation.

It also means that nearly 75 per cent of all pregnant women living with HIV have access to antiretroviral medicines that improve the quality of their lives and protect their children from HIV, he said.

The report noted that India “literally” changed the course of its national HIV epidemic through the use of strategic information that guided its focus to the locations and population approach.

“Th is placed communities at the centre of the response through the engagement of non-state actors and centrally managed policy and donor coordination,” it said.

HIV treatment coverage for people living with HIV and TB has also increased and in terms of numbers of patients, the largest increases in anti-retroviral therapy among people living with both HIV and TB have occurred in India, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

India accounts for more than 60 per cent of the Asia Pacific region’s

PUNE

“The pace with which forest land has been deforested and its usage has changed after Modi government came to power, had not been witnessed since 1980. It has happened in Maharastra, Gujarat, everywhere.”

— Rajendra Singh, Environment Activist

New HIV infections down by 20 per cent in India: UN

BY YOSHITA SINGH

JULY 18, 2015

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

“Indiscriminate industrialisation and deforestations have damaged environment severely. All this is creating problems like flood, excessive rains, untimely rain and drought.”

— Hannan Mollah, leader, All India Kisan Sabha

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

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

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

Hum

Fourteen years later, there is no sign of the fi lm. Vishnu Kamalapurkar, Pune-based activist, sought details of the project in 2012 from the Central Government only to be told that they had no records left, the concerned ministry had been wound up, and that fi lm-maker could not be traced.

Essentially, the government acceded that it had been duped of `2.5 crores, the sum that was transferred to the fi lm-maker.

It has taken Kamalapurkar three years since he sought details about the fi lm under Right to Information Act to get the government to launch a fullfledged investigation. Dhumale has

receiving his RTI finally been traced by the government with the help of police and claims that the fi lm will be released in “next two to four months”. He still hasn’t answered several questions raised by the government about the script and the star cast.

It all started in December 2001, when Commemoration Bureau under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture commissioned a fi lm on Lokmanya Tilak. A sum of Rs 1.25 crores was paid to Dhumale immediately as an

Saath Saath

When

HUNGER STRIKES past midnight

A family that prays together stays together. Pune’s joint families on why they agree to disagree

TGS takes a night trail around the city to look for places that will silence a grumbling tummy in the dark of night

The Kamdars

Run for…

yourself

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

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PUNE

“RJD would compel the BJP-led central government to make public the caste-based Census data soon. We would launch a bigger movement than the Mandal movement of the 90s if Modi would conspire to delay to make the data public.”

— Lalu Prasad Yadav, Chief, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)

Signposts

PILIBHIT (UP): A 30-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself as he was upset over his sister’s love marriage in Sunghadi area here, police said. Abhilash hanged himself from the ceiling of his room in Puranmal locality when he came to know that his sister married a man from another caste, they said. The body has been sent for post-mortem, police said, adding the matter is being investigated.

PTI

Father kills daughter for repeatedly running away MEERUT: An 18-year-old girl was strangulated to death allegedly by her father, who was apparently upset over her behaviour of repeatedly running away from home in Mobin Nagar area here. The 55-year-old accused, identified as Saeed, later surrendered before the police, and was arrested, following which he was sent to jail, police said. The victim was the youngest of the six daughters of Saeed, who was unhappy over her running away from home.

PTI

Vyapam scam: Congress, BJP spar over bribery charges NEW DELHI: Congress and BJP traded charges over the Vyapam scam on Wednesday with the opposition party accusing Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other BJP and RSS functionaries of “receiving” payments from an accused in the massive admission and recruitment scandal.

BJP hit back saying Congress was showing desperation by rehashing old charges which had nothing to do with Vyapam.

Pradhan also dismissed the allegation.

Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala shared with reporters documents purportedly showing a prime accused in the scam Sudhir Sharma extending favours to BJP and RSS leaders. The information was allegedly in a pen drive seized from Sharma, a mining baron and former BJP member, by the IT department.

They alleged that besides Pradhan, the accused was making payments

to Prabhat Jha, BJP National vice president, his two sons, Suresh Soni, RSS Joint General Secretary and BJP MP Anil Dave.

“Complicity of the entire BJP leadership with deep-rooted links to RSS in Vyapam scam is thus writ large. The only alternative is a Supreme Court-monitored CBI investigation after removing Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister,” they said.

BJP secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said the Madhya Pradesh High Courtappointed SIT had probed these charges and given “clean chits”. “Now the CBI is looking into it. Let them investigate,” he said.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told PTI, “It is a stale story. Congress is living in the past. It is rehashing old charges which have nothing to do with Vyapam. It is only exhibiting its desperation.”

BJP, RSS members accused of receiving payments from an accused

Pradhan, whose travel tickets were allegedly booked by the Vyapam accused, said he knew accused Sudhir Sharma as he was an ABVP activist but insisted it was the BJP office which his booked tickets whenever he travelled for the party’s work.

“Not at all. No question,” he said when asked if his tickets had been booked by Sharma.

Congress insisted that a fair probe was not possible without removal of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and alleged he had protected the guilty.

“Facts and documents in public domain now prove that Chouhan has misled on facts, protected the guilty, refused to take action against the accused and permitted Vyapam scam to happen year after year between 2009 to 2013 despite the lid having been blown in 2009 itself,” Surjewala said.

They alleged that besides Pradhan, the accused were making payments to BJP vice president Prabhat Jha and senior RSS functionary Suresh Soni among others.

BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma hit back at the Congress for

PTI

Man commits suicide over sister’s love marriage in UP

Work on Rs 10,000 cr Zojila pass tunnel to begin soon P 14

CBI Joint Director of Anti-corruption wing and head of the Vyapam scam investigations RP Agarwal with his team arrives to start investigations in Bhopal

demanding Chouhan’s resignation and said there was “not even an iota of truth” in the allegations.

“Congress has become ‘istifa’ Congress. It has been reduced to levelling baseless allegations and demanding resignations. There is not even an iota of truth in the charges.

We condemn the allegations,” he said.

CBI forms 40 member team to probe Vyapam scam CBI constituted a special team of 40 officers, under a Joint Director level officer, to probe the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh.

PTI

Akhilesh Yadav government chargesheets Apex court turns an auction room IPS officer Amitabh Thakur LUCKNOW: Suspended IPS officer Amitabh Thakur on Thursday submitted his reply to the charge sheet slapped on him by the UP government accusing him of dereliction of duty, saying he never flouted rules and manuals and was “not at fault”.

“I was given 15 days to reply to the charge sheet but I have submitted it within 24 hours...I am not at fault in any of the 16 points stated in the charge sheet,” Thakur told reporters later.

The IG-rank officer went to the DGP headquarters and submitted his pointwise 30-page reply to IG personnel. The reply to the 16-point charge sheet was addressed to Principal Secretary, Home.

Suspended IPS officer Amitabh Thakur, who had lodged a complaint against SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for allegedly threatening him, was on Wednesday slapped with a chargesheet by the UP government accusing him of dereliction of duty, anti-establishment approach and flouting court orders.

Thakur said he would move court in a day or two seeking a CBI inquiry into all developments after his wife Nutan Thakur, who is an RTI activist, lodged a complaint against mining minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati to the Lokayukta.

Thakur was suspended on July 13 by the Akhilesh Yadav government hours after he had approached the Union Home Ministry in Delhi seeking a CBI probe into the rape charges filed against him after he lodged a complaint against Mulayam for allegedly threatening him.

Thakur was IG Civil Defence posted here at the time of his suspension.

During the suspension period, Thakur will remain attached to the DGP office and will not leave the headquarters

IPS officer Amitabh Thakur, wife Nutan Thakur and their children

without prior permission, he said.

The state home department spokesman said government has charged Thakur with violating court orders.

“In its order passed on April 9, 2014, the court had stated that the petitioner (Amitabh Thakur) is serving as an IPS officer and is bound by the rules of conduct. As a serving IPS officer he is on duty 24 hours. The court had observed that he may not be allowed to take up public causes which do not concern him and in which the state may be involved directly or indirectly.

In clear violation of the high court order, Thakur continued to file PILs in the court. He filed over two dozen PILs in the court on various issues,” he said, adding the state was directly involved in several of them.

“This clearly shows that Thakur indulged in gross indiscipline and was acting according to his whims and fancies,” the spokesman said.

Thakur said, “I have received the charge sheet and will be obeying

government orders. I will be joining the DGP office on Thursday.”

Thakur had gone to New Delhi to meet officials of the Union Home Ministry seeking security for himself and his wife and returned to the state capital Wednesday.

The IG rank official, who had released the text and audio of the conversation purportedly carrying Mulayam Singh Yadav’s voice, said he will submit a CD to the investigating officer on Wednesday itself asking him to register FIR. “But I will be submitting the original telephone record only before the magistrate as I fear that it might be tampered with,” Thakur said.

He had on Tuesday described Prajapati as a blue eyed boy of Mulayam Singh Yadav and alleged that the threatening phone call had been made only after a case was registered against the minister on his wife’s complaint.

The state government has also

Thakur will remain attached to the DGP office and will not leave HQ

charged Thakur with misuse of government money during study leave from June 10, 2009 to February 17, 2011.

“He was enrolled in IIM-Lucknow but left the institute without completing the course. Yet, he allegedly drew salary and allowance in violation of service rules. The state government detected discrepancies in the annual declaration of assets made by Thakur from the year 1992 to 2010. He did not give details of his movable and immovable properties purchased or sold by him during the period. It’s violation of Rule 16 of India Services (Conduct) Rules 1968,” the spokesman said.

Thakur has also been charged with making derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi on the social media site Facebook and in violation of service rules, visiting Shahjahanpur after the death of journalist Jagendra Singh.

He addressed a press conference and attacked the state government as well on the issue. He also joined an anti-government campaign launched by the Valmiki community in Rampur.

The state government has also charged Thakur with holding a press conference in Allahabad over a shootout in court in which a lawyer was killed.

He met the wife of sub-inspector Shailendra Singh, an accused in the case, and assured her all assistance.

Thakur staged a dharna near the office of the Director General of Police on June 19. The next day, he addressed a press conference in Dehradun against the DGP of Uttarakhand.

On several occasions, he misguided senior officers about his outstation visits, it was charged.

PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has virtually turned an auction room when two real estate firms hiked their bids for the purchase of Sahara Group’s 140-acre land in Gorakhpur with both the parties ready to fork out Rs 150 crore.

A competitive bidding took place before a Bench headed by Justice TS Thakur during the hearing on the issue related to arranging the money for the release of beleaguered group’s chief Subrata Roy, who has been in jail for more than a year.

The bidding started when the lawyer of Samriddhi developers agreed to match the Rs 110 crore offer made by Gorakhpur Real Estate Developers Private Limited.

Then Gorakhpur raised it to Rs 115 crore and the judges sought the rival’s response.

Senior Advocate Paras Kuhat, appearing for Samriddhi, took instructions from on of the partners present in the court, and jacked the bid to Rs 125 crore.

Then Gorakhpur took it upto Rs 140 crore, added Rs 5 crore more and then finally settled at Rs 150 crore. This was matched by Gorakhpur, who was ready to fork out Rs 150 crore.

At this the bench said both the parties have to show their bonafides by depositing 25 per cent of the amount by July 31 in the SEBI-Sahara account and rest of the money has to be arranged in three equal instalments by October 31.

The Gorakhpur Real Estate company had filed an application objecting the sale of property at Rs 64 crore to Samriddhi Developers and had offered Rs 110 crore.

The Bench, also comprising Justices A R Dave and A K Sikri, said failure of any of them to meet the deadline would result in forfeiture of the amount of 25 per cent deposited by them.

The money generated from the sale of Gorakhpur property would be added to the amount already deposited by the Sahara Group in the SEBI-Sahara account and go towards securing Roy’s release.

The bench posted the matter for hearing on August 3 and said it will decide the future course of action.

Gorakhpur Real Estate Developers Private Limited complied with the July 7 order and deposited Rs 11 crore with the Supreme Court Registry to establish its bonafides.

Samriddhi also placed a letter and a cheque from its bankers to show its bonafides. Earlier, the court had declined to relax the conditions for interim bail of Roy like depositing Rs 5000 crore in cash and a bank guarantee of equal amount and tough terms including payment of the entire Rs 36,000 crore in 18 months.

Sahara’s counsel Kapil Sibal reiterated that no business group in the world could pay Rs 36,000 crore. PTI

Raising money for the release of Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy

Portal offers free rides in niche supercars!

Vol-II* lssue No.: 05 Editor: Yogesh Sadhwani (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867) Printed and Published by: Shrikant Honnavarkar on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 and printed at PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 at Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai.

Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 1641, Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411 030, Tel: 020-2432 4332/33.

NEW DELHI: A luxurious Audi R8 or a sturdy Hummer? — cars that are so fast that they are called supercars are being offered up for free drives in a new campaign by an online portal.

Droom, an online marketplace for buying and selling of automobiles has partnered with cab service provider Uber to present ‘Supercars on Demand’.

To avail of the offer participants had to get on Uber mobile application between 1 pm and 4 pm on July 15 to get an opportunity to drive a supercar, organisers said .

Rishab Malik, Co-founder and VP,

Online marketplace Droom has partnered with Uber to present ‘Supercars on Demand’

Business Development, at Droom says, “We are absolutely thrilled about this one of a kind event that we are hosting along with our partner Uber.

“Niche luxury cars are now just a click away with Droom.

“With this latest category, we now offer the widest range of pre-owned, exotic and classy cars for sale. Through this campaign we wish to bring people who have longed to enjoy a first-hand experience of super cars one step closer to owning their very own mean machine.”

Users can post on Twitter, Facebook

and Instagram pictures with these supercars and surprise gifts would be given away to select riders.

“This is the first time we’re bringing #UberSUPERCARS to India, for real.

Uber is all about providing unique experiences to its riders and this is one way of giving them an opportunity to sit back, relax and enjoy the supercar ride,” says Karun Arya, Communications Lead, South Asia and India, Uber.

The ride-sharing company has offered the same deal earlier in Singapore and Malaysia among other countries.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

Breakneck growth a threat to city’s charm P 15

“We should raise the issue of Samjhauta Express to counter India while taking up the matter of 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Pakistan should boldly face India.”

— Pervez Musharraf, former Pakistan President

‘China’s law provides legal basis for deployment abroad’

Indian among 20 held for ‘terror’ links

BY KJM Varma and Aditi Khanna

Legal basis provided for the security forces to be deployed abroad to safeguard its overseas interests and world peace From KJM Varma

tourists travelling abroad annually and its overseas investments crossing over USD 100 billion.

This is the first time that such provisions have been included in Chinese law, an unidentified official

with the legislative affairs bureau of the Central Military Commission said in an interview with the PLA Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese military.

“The clause is not only based on our

military operations, but also serves as legal ground for troops involvement in overseas missions,” the official said.

“It gives a legal grounding for the army to effectively deal with multiple security threats and fulfil diversified military tasks,” the official added.

In addition to military security, the new law covers a wide spectrum of areas ranging from finance to culture; outer space activities and assets; those at ocean depths and in polar regions; as well as cyberspace sovereignty.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had recently expressed deep concerns about the human rights implications regarding the scope of a new law on national security specially in terms of rights of Chinese citizens.

The Chinese law “raises many concerns due to its extraordinarily broad scope coupled with the vagueness of its terminology and definitions,” he said in statement on July 7.

“As a result, it leaves the door wide open to further restrictions on the rights and freedoms of Chinese citizens, and to even tighter control of civil society,” he said.

PTI

“in the proper range” in the first half as major economic indicators gradually recovered, indicating stabilisation and improvement, it said.

The GDP figures announced by the NBS also remained unchanged from the first three months of the year, which was the lowest since 2009 when it fell to 6.6 per cent.

China’s economy, a key driver of world growth, expanded 7.4 per cent last year, slower than the 7.7 per cent in 2013.

The figure is in line with the government target of about 7 per cent growth this year.

However, the crash of the Shanghai Composite - which lost almost a third of its value in the three weeks from mid-June - has raised questions about the government’s ability to manage the economy, which is slowing down after years of double-digit GDP growth.

Beijing has rolled out a series of stimulus measures to boost investor confidence and China’s central bank

has cut interest rates four times since November last year.

Economists are however, continuing to call for more easing despite the better-than-expected numbers as volatility in the stock market has sparked concerns of financial turmoil in the country.

The ruling Communist party is also trying to steer the country’s economy to slower, more sustainable growth, fueled by domestic consumption rather than investment and exports.

PTI

BEIJING: China’s new National Security Law, which drew criticism from UN over rights issues, has provided for the first time a legal basis for the security forces to be deployed abroad to safeguard its overseas interests and world peace, Chinese military said.

Under the law adopted by China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) on July 3, the military can get involved in international military security cooperation, including UN peacekeeping operations, relief and rescue and other missions to protect China’s overseas interests.

Chinese military is already taking part in UN peacekeeping missions including the anti-piracy operations in Gulf of Aden.

Analysts say while it has no overseas military bases, the new law for the first time provides legal cover for its deployment abroad to protect Chinese interests.

Chinese officials defend such a law as the country expands its global reach with over 100 million of its

PUNE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping after the signing ceremony during the 7th BRICS Summit in Ufa, Russia

BEIJING/LONDON: An Indian was among 20 foreigners arrested in northern China for alleged terror links as an excursion by the group associated with a religiously inspired African charity founded by an Indian-origin man went “horribly wrong”.

The reason behind their arrest remains unclear but the tourists, including nine Britons and one Indian, detained at Ordos airport in Inner Mongolia on July 10 were linked to the South Africa-based charity, Gift of the Givers, founded by Indianorigin Imtiaz Sooliman.

“This was supposed to be a tour to explore ancient China; a planned 47-day journey for ten South Africans, nine Britons and one Indian national.

A tour that went horribly wrong on Friday, 10 July, when they were arrested at Erdos Airport, Inner Mongolia, at 9.40 am local time,” the charity group Gift of the Givers said.

According to the group, the tour operator realised something was wrong on Sunday, 48 hours after the arrests, and discovered that the holidaymakers

had been detained after travelling to the airport.

The Chinese suggested that some members were linked to a terror group, a banned organisation, and watching propaganda videos in their hotel room, the charity said.

The Indian Embassy in Beijing sought counsellor access to the Indian national who was detained along with 20 other foreign tourists.

“We are in touch with Chinese officials in Beijing and Inner Mongolia, where he was taken into custody and sought counsellor action to meet the person,” an embassy official told PTI. He said the mission is aware of the identity of the detained Indian but declined to disclose details.

The embassy contacted the relevant Chinese officials following reports of the detention of the 20 foreigners in the first such case in China, which is battling growing militancy in Xinjiang, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan.

The Indian national and 13 other tourists arrested by Chinese authorities were still in detention but six British nationals were being deported.

PTI

China’s total trade declined in the first half of this year, falling well behind the government’s targets.

China’s total foreign trade dropped 6.9 per cent year-on-year to 11.53 trillion yuan (USD 1.89 trillion) in the first six months of 2015, slipping further from a 6-per cent dip in the first quarter.

During the first half, industrial output grew 6.3 per cent year-on-year and fixed-asset investment climbed 11.4 per cent.

Property investment grew 4.6 per cent year-on-year, while retail sales of consumer goods rose 10.4 per cent.

Industrial output in China grew 6.3 per cent year-on-year in the first half (H1) of 2015, slightly down from a 6.4 per cent increase in the first quarter.

In its World Economic Outlook Updated, the IMF forecast the Chinese economy to grow 6.3 per cent in 2016 and 6 per cent for 2017.

PTI

The tourists were linked to a South Africa based charity

China beats expectations, posts 7 per cent GDP growth in Q2 BEIJING: China’s GDP grew by 7 per cent in the second quarter, its weakest growth since the global financial crisis in 2009, beating forecast of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy rattled by the recent stock market crash and falling exports.

In the first half of this year, the gross domestic product (GDP) hit 29.7 trillion yuan (USD 4.9 trillion) up 7 per cent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data said.

The national economy has stayed

India needs to curb red tape and lift FDI limits: Biden

detroit makeover PTI

Biden has sought a high-standard bilateral investment treaty that would make the world’s fastest growing economy a magnet for the American capital and technology

BY Lalit K Jha WASHINGTON: India needs to cut red tape and lift limits on FDI to move forward, US Vice President Joe Biden said as he sought a high-standard bilateral investment treaty that would make the world’s fastest growing economy a magnet for the American capital and technology.

“We each have a stake in other’s economic vitality,” Biden said.

“We know, a powerful growing and vibrant Indian economy is in United States’ self-interest. And, a growing US economy is in India’s best interest.

This is not a zero-sum game,” he said yesterday in his address at an event to commemorate the 10th anniversary of India-US civil nuclear deal.

Biden, who during his visit to India in 2013 had set the target of increasing the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion, said concluding a highstandard bilateral investment treaty (BIT) would be a very strong step forward.

It would help make India magnet for US capital and technology and benefit Indians to invest in America, he said.

India and the US are negotiating the highstandard BIT to create an enabling business environment in India.

Since 2008, the two have been engaged in talks to arrive at such a

US Vice President Joe Biden

treaty.

India has, however, adopted a model BIT framework to further ease the way for foreign firms and remove impediments.

Biden said the US supports the goal of creating jobs and boosting production at home and in India but wants to achieve that without disturbing trade or discouraging innovation.

“We are also working with India to successfully conclude WTO Doha Round and implementing the World Trade Facilitating Agreement agreed to in the WTO ministerial in 2013,” he said.

India has adopted a model BIT framework to ease the way for firms

The US Vice President said that this would provide significant benefits to both the economies and the global trade system as a whole.

“And Prime Minister Modi knows, India can move forward by cutting red tape, battling corruption and lifting limits on foreign direct investment.

That’s a decision for India,” he said.

According to the IMF, India will overtake China this year to become the fastest growing large economy in the world. Its chief Christine Lagarde has described India as the “bright spot” in a “cloudy global horizon.”

Biden said knowledge-driven economies like India and the US depend on their abilities to share ideas.

Companies must be confident that their intellectual property rights would be protected, he said.

Protecting intellectual property fosters innovative growth and not protecting it stiffens opportunities, he stressed.

“If any country has an opportunity for innovative breakthrough, it is India,” Biden said.

He said cyber co-operation has reached new heights and this has opened new avenues of co-operation.

Biden said the US welcomes India’s announcement of multi stakeholder internet governance. “A lot of work to do here.”

Biden, who in 2005 was chairman of powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, played a key role in the Congressional passage of the civil nuclear deal.

PTI

Detroit’s Park Avenue Hotel was imploded on July 11 to make way for a new hockey arena and entertainment district. The $450 million, 20,000-seat arena is expected to open in 2017

UK launches crematorium review for Hindus and Sikhs

by Aditi Khanna

LONDON: The UK government has begun a review of the country’s funeral facilities following a long-standing demand of Hindus and Sikhs that crematoriums are often too small and not well equipped to meet their needs.

UK Chancellor George Osborne announced the review in the House of Commons following representations

from Hindu and Sikh community leaders.

“Over the past year a number of British Hindus and Sikhs have raised with me their concerns about cremation facilities for their communities.

“They’ve told me that often the facilities are not large enough for everyone from the community to pay their respects and don’t always pay enough regard to cultural sensitivities,”

Osborne said, announcing that his summer Budget will mark the starting point of the review.

Other measures announced in last week’s UK Budget likely to benefit Britain’s Indian-origin families include a new residence allowance that will effectively take the family home out of inheritance tax for all but the very rich, ensuring parents can pass on their family home to their children.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

MONEY MATT ER S

“With Iran coming to market, the assumption is that there will be further slide in oil prices... India will be one of the beneficiaries of sliding oil prices.”

— Dharmendra Pradhan, Petroleum Minister

Signpost

“We are also aiming at opening BPOs in small cities and towns as they will incur less cost. Electronic clusters are being created. Their number is already up from six to 21.”

— Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Law Minister

US envoy calls India a strategic player

Greek parliament vote satisfies bailout deal terms: EU

US has assured to continue to be supportive of its global aspirations, including New Delhi’s bid for UNSC membership in a reformed security council

Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Department of Revenue and Richard R Verma, US Ambassador to India exchange documents at the signing of Inter-Governmental agreement between India and US for improving international Tax Compliance and implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) at North Block in New Delhi

A major naval exercise, ‘Malabar’, will include the Japanese Navy this year and will continue to build a common operating platform for conducting advanced humanitarian and disaster response missions, as well as military operations, he said.

Similarly, ‘Yudh Abhyas’, involving the two armies, will be held in Washington in September, which he said will bring them closer together to forge common understandings on battlefield tactics and strategy.”

Air Forces of India and the US will ‘rejoin our signature’ Red Flag excercise in the US in 2016, he added.

“The United States and India look forward to a day very soon when, for the fi rst time, we establish secure phone lines between our respective National Security Advisors, as well as between the President and Prime Minister, further opening key channels of communication on sensitive issues,” he said.

Verma said bilateral trade had crossed USD 103 bn, with Indian companies increasingly opening and investing in the US, while US FDI in India “is on the rebound” even as Indian states were competing to attracting American investments. PTI

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L), speaks with, from left, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, French President Francois Hollande and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel during a meeting at EU Council building in Brussels

Open demat account and reap benefits of investment Investors should directly trade in stock market

BY SARANSH DEY @Casaransh Indians have been into trading since centuries. After barter, where goods were exchanged against goods, came money against goods. Now businesses have taken a dynamic form where every commodity can be traded in the form of shares.

Trading has become simpler than ever. All you need is a demat account, an Internet connection and an acute eye for a business that you know well. I urge investors to directly start trading in the stock market. There are a lot of concerns that need to be addressed before taking the plunge.

Will I be able to do it by myself? Is it more risky than mutual funds? Are the investments safe?

All these questions can be answered if you decide your financial goals and risk aversion. Financial goal will chart the investment plan and risk aversion will decide whether you deal in intraday, short term, medium term or long term.

Let’s understand these goals as a firsttime investor in share markets.

Share market investment is investment in valuation and profits of a company. The prospects of a company earning more profits usually pushes the price of the share upwards. In an ideal world, the price of share in the market and its physical valuation should be the same. However, share markets are all about speculation. Hence, this leads to variance in price as per balance sheet and share market price. Now you will understand why a stock market collapses or surges. A positive sentiment leads investors to speculate companies to be in profits and prices are pushed up.

Now a holy rule in share market investment. Never overpredict profit of a company and pay more than what it can possibly be worth. Risk aversion decides how long will you stay invested in a company. Statistics show that longterm investment (of more than one year duration) in good companies has always

shown great profit and stable growth.

One year may not seem like a long time for a lay investor, but it feels like a lifetime for a pro. I have seen average investors churn money every 30 days and earn a return of 15-20 per cent per month! Though it may sound too good to be true, but it is possible for an informed investor to achieve at least 5 per cent gain per month.

Now that I have your interest, let’s talk about making your first investment in share market. I recommend the first step to be opening a demat account

linked with your savings account. Many banks have demat account facility with good portal response, delivering shares in record time and competitive brokerage. Do not subscribe to no charges accounts as it usually contains hidden charges and may have higher brokerage.

The moment you have your demat activated, pick an industry you know well. It may be as simple as transport and as complex as biotechnology. Do research about the sector. Many media houses provide a lot of insight in each sector.

Bring the trader in you to the forefront. Trust your instinct. For example, if you are a software engineer, pick the IT sector. You will know the market leader in the sector and other details. These factors and a few statistics like market high and low, average price, EPS will give you an indication as to the strongest company in the sector. Start investing systematically in shares. If you have Rs 10,000 to invest in shares, invest 30 per cent in a company you have researched, 30 per cent in a bank share and 40 per cent in an infra company.

In the long-term horizon, a stable company with good track record and

of finance ministers representing the 19-country eurozone, said the group had finished a teleconference on Greece and would issue a statement later Thursday.

The ministers were expected to discuss a three-month 7.0 billion euro bridging loan for Greece through an EU-wide crisis fund to hold Athens over until its new bailout is ratified.

Britain and the Czech Republic resisted the use of this fund, but European officials told AFP that a compromise was in the works and could be finalised on Friday.

“We do think there are a number of solutions that could be found — our objective here is the principle that British taxpayers’ money should not be put on the line for a financial package for the eurozone,” a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Tsipras agreed Monday to tough reforms after 17 hours of gruelling negotiations with fellow eurozone leaders.

AFP

AFP

Mahindra First Choice Wheels, the multi-brand used-cars offering from the Mahindra and Mahindra stable, is eyeing a significant increase in its share in the used car market. The company aims to add 180 outlets this fiscal, taking it from the present 520 to 700 across the country, which includes metros, mini-metros and smaller towns, its CEO and Managing Director Nagendra Palle told reporters here. The firm also plans to expand in the northern part of the country, including Punjab and its key focus areas include Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, parts of UP and Rajasthan. Palle inaugurated a new dealership, ‘Moments Hospitality’ in Derabassi in Punjab, near here and the company will add two more dealerships in the state, including Pathankot and Amritsar. Replying to a question, he said, “Sixty per cent of our buyers are purchasing car for the first time.”

PTI

PTI

Mahindra First Choice to ramp up presence in used car mkt

US has described India “as the global strategic, political and economic player,” and assured to continue to be supportive of its global aspirations, including New Delhi’s bid for UNSC membership in a reformed security council.

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma recalled a series of developments last week, including “the significant and welcome announcement” of resumption of Indo-Pak talks on key security and economic issues, Prime Minister Narendra Modi securing ‘important commercial and energy deals’ during his five-nation Central Asian tour and ISRO launching five British satellites.

“Th is is the new normal; India as the global strategic, political and economic player. We welcome that role and will continue to be supportive of India’s global aspirations. We will continue to support India’s bid for UNSC membership in a reformed security council,” he said.

In his remarks to students at IITMadras, Verma said the US wanted India to play a ‘leadership’ role in Paris at the climate talks and “we have welcomed and saluted their role in humanitarian response from Yemen to Nepal to the Maldives.

Incidentally, his country had ‘turned’ to India to help evacuate its citizens from the strife-torn Yemen recently, he said, adding, India was not just a regional power, but a global one.

Strategic and economic cooperation were among the areas of focus, he said.

A Greek parliament vote satisfies the initial terms of a bailout deal between Athens and its EU creditors agreed at a 17-hour summit earlier this week, an EU spokeswoman said on Thursday.

“The authorities have legally implemented the first set of four measures agreed at the eurosummit in a timely and overall satisfactory manner,” spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt told reporters.

Parliament in Athens adopted overnight a set of sweeping reforms after radical left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged them to back the unpopular measures, a condition to begin discussions for its new 86-billioneuro bailout.

“The Greek parliament took an important step toward rebuilding trust with Greece’s international partners,” added Breidthardt, who represents the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation EU. Michel Reijns, spokesman for Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup

a future outlook should earn you a minimum of 20 per cent on your investment. It is all about understanding a sector and applying knowledge to that investment decision.

The question that arises is why not then invest in a mutual fund?

Mutual funds are costly. They have entry and exit loads and could have lock-in period. A self-operated demat account has immediate liquidity capabilities, one can monitor share progress and it also entitles investor to earn dividends directly on investments.

The only con is losing sight and getting into non-planned market gossip based speculation. Investment based on random tips, Googled information and social website market gurus traps one to skip the ‘know your investment’ phase.

A long-term investment is a gainer, whereas in short term there is someone gaining at one end and losing at other end. Long-term share market investment can be a tool to ensure you can make good money within limited means. This author urges everyone to start investing.

Writer is a Chartered Accountant and will be giving financial advice every week saransh@goldensparrow.com

Now use OTP to file online ITR, Dept launches facility The Income Tax Department has launched its ambitious One Time Password (OTP) based e-fi ling verification system for taxpayers, thereby ending the practice of sending paper acknowledgement to its office in Bengaluru.

The facility can be accessed using internet banking, Aadhaar number, ATM and email.

According to the rules notified in this regard by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), any taxpayer, whose income is Rs 5 lakh or below per annum and has no refund claims, he or she can straightaway generate the ‘Electronic Verification Code’ (EVC) for e-fi ling and validating their Income Tax Return (ITR) through their registered mobile number and e-mail id.

However, this option will be subject to certain “restrictions”. Th is simply means that if the department has some adverse observation against the said PAN number with income less than Rs 5 lakh, he or she will not be allowed to do the verification directly through their email and mobile number alone.

PTI

The government will soon start work on the Rs 10,000-crore Zojila pass tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir to provide allweather connectivity to people in the Leh-Ladakh region, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said.

“We are committed to all-round development of Jammu & Kashmir.

We will begin work soon on Rs 10,000-crore Zojila pass tunnel which would be even bigger than the 9 km Chenani-Nashri tunnel in the state, which is India’s longest road tunnel at present,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari told PTI here.

Zojila pass is situated at an altitude

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari during a visit to attend final breakthrough process in India’s largest Highway tunnel, the Chenani-Nashri project on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Udhampur. The project is expected to be completed by May 2016

PTI

BY NAMITA TEWARI

PTI

Work on Rs 10,000 cr Zojila pass tunnel to begin soon

of 11,578-ft on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway which remains closed during winters (December to April) due to heavy snowfall and avalanches cutting Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir.

“We will provide all weather connectivity to different parts of the

state. The people in Ladakh have to face severe hardships and the region is cut off during the winters.

“Plight of the people can be imagined from the fact that even potatoes cost Rs 450 a kg there during winters,” Gadkari said.

Talking to PTI after the final blast ceremony to connect Chenani and Nashri of the South East Asia’s longest (9 km) road tunnel, which is part of Rs 12,000 crore Jammu to Srinagar project, he said Zojila pass, after construction, will become the longest road tunnel in South East Asia.

The Minister said only a single bid has been received for the important project, which has been sent to a highlevel committee for a decision whether

to call for more bids or go ahead with the same.

The Minister said the Rs 3,720-crore Chenani-Nashri road tunnel project, which is part of Rs 12,000-crore Jammu to Srinagar highway project, will be inaugurated

by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May next year.

“We are hopeful that the project is completed before schedule in March next year. On completion of the entire project, the distance between Jammu and Kashmir regions will be reduced by about 90 km,” he said.

Terming the tunnel work as a historic milestone, he said it will contribute to the idea of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Made in India’.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

“If the irrigation department is ready to handover the riverside areas in city limits to the PMC, the civic body can take care and protect these areas.”

— Dattatraya Dhankawade, Mayor

PUNE

“Often, projects are delayed due to a communication gap between various departments of the government, resulting in huge financial losses. A committee will plan projects in an efficient manner.”

— Kunal Kumar, Municipal Commissioner

All over the city, two-wheeler users freely use the footpaths, putting the pedestrians in grave danger

I live in Bopodi. I walk from my home to the bus stop regularly. But with the traffic congestion on the road, two-wheeler riders have been using the pavement on the bridge.

They leave no space for pedestrians, which is now a problem with no solution in sight.

What is even more infuriating is that these two-wheeler users act as if the pavement belongs to them. They even have the audacity to honk, curse and shout at pedestrians for whom the pavements are made.

These kind of incidents are common at traffic junctions, where two-wheeler riders use footpaths to avoid the congestion at the signal. It is also common to see bikes going the wrong way on one-way roads.

Adwait Moghe

But Bopodi is not the exception because the invasion of footpaths by two-wheeler users is common all over Pune, in every area and locality.

Another hassle is vehicles parked at the entry/exit of footpaths. As a consequence, pedestrians are forced to walk on the road, dodging traffic. Th is is an open invitation to the danger of being hit or run over by vehicles. Now I am petrified of going out on the road, because I do not know when I will be the victim of an accident, because I am forced

CITIZEN JOURNALIST

to walk in between running vehicles.

My question is, what are the law enforcers doing? Th is encroachment on the pavements by two-wheeler riders has been going on for years, and I have yet to see any action being taken against a single biker.

Such kind of lawlessness in addition to the prevalent state of traffic congestion has now made moving about in the city a veritable nightmare, and if this continues, there will come a time when our city roads will be no less than death traps.

There are simple measures the authorities could adopt, like putting metal poles or cement blocks at the entry/exit of footpaths, which will make it impossible for two-wheelers to ride on to the pedestrian area. The police should also take action against two-wheeler riders who encroach upon the footpaths, which is sure to deter others.

Isn’t it high time that the police do their duty and ensure that the footpaths in the city remain free of any encroachment, and that they are safe for the pedestrians? The authorities should provide a helpline number so citizens can call up the traffic authorities and alert them about such offenses.

Global city with a Marathi heart Pune offers infinite scope and potential in both the educational and working arenas

LETTERS TO THE

EDITOR

also have not forfeited the subtle elements of culture, despite the external changes of clothes, manners and the widespread use of English as a medium of communication.

Marathi remains the most used language and Pune probably has retained the language in its purest form.

Adjusting to living in Pune is easy because of the temperate climate. None of the seasons, except for summer, puts one through the kind of ordeals that other regions are prone to.

Another benefit of living here is the food.

In recent years, the food industry in Pune has grown exponentially, and it is possible to

partake of almost every kind of cuisine from the global menu, western, eastern, Mediterranean, Mexican… you name it.

And there is also an endless number of restaurants serving local Maharashtrian food. In short, it is no less that a foodie paradise, and I make the most of every opportunity to savour the variety of culinary delights.

Pune is home to the best national and international corporate houses, and the booming IT and BPO industries have made it a haven for job seekers from all over, which has also catalysed the metamorphosis of attitudes and lifestyles.

The pros of living here far outweigh the cons.

NON-NATIVE

PAROLE

I came to Pune four years ago from Vietnam to study at the Symbiosis Institute of Management.

As a foreigner, settling in and adjusting to Pune took some time, but in no way was it an ordeal, because it has a generally mild climate, and the people are easy-going and friendly.

I did not have to make huge changes in terms of food either, as Pune is very cosmopolitan and one can choose one’s diet. It also helps that the local cuisine is delicious and it is to be found almost in every nook and corner. My national cuisine happens to be spicy and so I can enjoy Maharashtrian food without too much trouble.

Now that I have settled in, I have come to know Pune fairly well. Over weekends or when I have free time, I go around to my favourite hangouts with friends.

Where the two rivers Mula and Mutha meet, and heritage structures like Shaniwarwada and Aga Khan Palace, besides the forts on the outskirts like Sinhagad make Pune a delight for the tourist.

From the cosmopolitan Camp area to the Marathi-dominated peth and city areas, Pune is an uncanny mix and mélange of cultures, a blend of the conservative East and progressive West.

It keeps changing by the day and the malls with every global brand, and the fancy five-stars and stylish restaurants and such offers those who live here a slice of the trendy, upmarket lifestyle.

Fortunately, Pune still retains a substantial green cover, which I am sure is one of the reasons for the moderate climate. Some of the residential

Quand Tein from Vietnam

areas are well planned, and have open spaces or parks for the benefit of the people in the neighbourhood.

The newer extensions to the city are modern and well designed, in contrast to some old areas, where there is no scope for roadwidening or any other means to deal with the over-crowding and congestion.

With rapid growth there is also a downside, seen in the over-congested roads, unruly road users, the alarming rise in pollution, and the dearth of infrastructure and hygiene in several parts of the city. It is a sign that the civic authorities have not been and are not keeping pace with the city’s evolution, and the constant and endless traffic jams and chaos are indications that urgent remedies are needed to preserve Pune’s status as a happy and smart city.

FROM FOREIGN

SHORES

A courageous dad who reins in wayward son punished for his actions so that others can also take a lesson from this.

—Charulata Dey

Law is equal for all

The story about the autorickshaw driver who got his son arrested for stealing from a Ganpati temple was an inspiring one. There are a very few parents who can do this. It takes a lot of courage for a parent to bring out his son’s crime in the open and to get him punished.

Breakneck growth a threat to city’s charm

The booming growth of population has brought along ills like traffic jams and pollution to darken the city’s horizons

Vandana Nair

I moved from Bangalore to Pune eight years ago. I knew of it as the Oxford of the East, and it has lived up to that name, with all the reputed educational institutions, and all the new ones coming up. I completed my studies here and was able to observe the academic life of Pune closely. It offers students infinite scope to pursue whatever line they may choose. And the city has scores of eminent educationists who have put it on the global map, be it medicine, IT, engineering, management or the fine arts.

For me, it was revelation that the average Punekar has never lost touch with his origins and culture, despite the city changing completely in terms of lifestyle, eating habits, shopping, fashion et al, all of which have now made Pune a part of the global culture.

People in the other side of the city, which is Marathi-dominated, have retained the use of the language in its pristine form, and they

RAHUL RAUT

Footpaths are for pedestrians, aren’t they?

It is obviously the drug and alcohol addiction that has got him to stealing from a temple, and bring his parents to shame. Youngsters like these don’t think twice before taking a wrong path, and others have to bear the brunt for their mistakes. He should be severely

The story about cops refusing to fi le FIR against the army personnel was disgusting. The article brought to light how the law-keepers can be lawbreakers. Even if the vehicle was on army duty, it did crash into a civilian’s car. It is a case of accident, and I don’t see a reason why cops are hesitating in registering FIR against them. The law is equal for everybody. They didn’t even care to apologise for their mistake and instead acted rude, showing off the power. Hats off to Ranjeeta for not keeping mum and voicing out what’s right. When the authorities fail in their duties, social media becomes a forum to bring out the truth.

— Shailendra Singh

Wari for a cause

The story about the Wari kids was a true eye-opener. There are so many kids just like them who have to work their way through school. Most of them do not even get to enjoy the

pleasures of life as a child without any cares, because they are forced to grow up in a hurry and begin thinking of earning money when they are tiny tots. Those of us who are blessed to get everything that we need from our parents, often do not value it. It is also a sad reality that most of us blatantly turn a blind eye to. The most important part I believe to learn from these kids is to never give up. None of them have given up on education because it does not come easily to them.

— Shalmali Gokhale

Budding talent

It is good to know that the future of fiction is in good hands. I have read the Bombay Review a few times and I must admit to the quality of work put out by the authors that get published there. The editors are too doing a fabulous job. Initiatives like this by the younger generation only goes to show how much needs to change and how so many things can be made better.

The fact that the Bombay Review has international participation says a lot about what we as a country are capable of only if we dedicate ourselves to more

initiatives like this.

— Kavita Goyal

Scheme or scam?

While

the

inter-caste

marriage

promotion scheme may sound like a good initiative taken by the government, it is in reality no different from any of the other government schemes. They show you hope and keep you trapped in innumerable rules and regulations.

It’s high time the government mended their ways and start doing things in a much better way than what they are used to doing now.

Girish and Ashwini mentioned in the story might just be one such couple and as rightly put, they happen to be one of the few lucky couples who did not have to wait for a long time to get their funds. There is no doubt that there are many others like them who are hoping for a happy ending to their waiting.

— Varsha Mohite

Write to Us Letters to the Editor may be emailed to editor_tgs@goldensparrow.com, editor_tgs@gmail.com or mailed to The Editor, Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt Ltd, 1641 Madhav Heritage, Tilak Road, Pune-411030.

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY JULY 18, 2015

PUNE

“Sania and I would have made a good team as well. You can’t tell her she is winning or losing by looking at her face.

Because, she is always trying, it’s a precious commodity.”

— Martina Navratilova, legendary tennis player ASHISH PHADNIS

“I knew it would be challenging in Zimbabwe, so I was prepared for that. I told myself that whenever I get going, I will stay until the end and make sure that my team wins.”

— Kedar Jadhav, Indian batsman

Signposts GM Kunte shines at South Africa Open Pune’s Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte finished on top, jointly with World Championship Challenger GM Nigel Short (UK) and GM A Strikovic of Serbia, at the South Africa Open Chess Championship, in Cape Town, South Africa last week. The trio scored nine points from 11 games, leading to a tie-breaker. In the tiebreak, Kunte finished third to lay his hands on the bronze medal. Nigel Short won gold, while Strikovic grabbed silver. Grandmaster Solomon Kenny of South Africa finished fourth. Kunte, who also represents Indian Oil, won seven games and drew four to remain unbeaten in the tournament.

District Jr badminton from today The Construction 69th Pune district Junior and Senior badminton tournament will be held in Pune District Metropolitan Badminton Association’s complex in Shivajinagar from July 18. The tournament offers total prize money of Rs 2 lakh. The tournament will be played in five categories in the boys’ and girls’ segments.

Players’ performance in this tournament will be the basis for the selection to the state tournament to be held in Latur (junior category) and Chembur (senior) in August.

Shubhankar Dey and Neha Pandit are top seeded in the men’s and women’s categories.

Pune boy breaks two

national records in a day Avnesh Prasade is a kid who seems set to make big waves in the swimming pool in the years to come

BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish Anvesh Prasade of Pune is a swimmer beginning to make his mark in the pool. He made his national aquatic meet debut in 2014, but nerves and the lack of experience were telling, and he had to remain content with just a bronze medal.

This did not make a dent in the youngster’s determination, and he continued training with the same zeal and fervour. Now, a year’s hard work later, Anvesh has hit the headlines by winning a gold medal in the under-10 age group at the ongoing 32nd Subjunior and Junior national aquatic competition at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi.

Anvesh was unstoppable in the 50m butterfly event, and he set a new national record with a timing of 32.53s in the heats, eclipsing Assamese Bikram Changmai’s time of 32.84s set in 2014. What’s more, he broke

his own record, clocking 32.11s in the final round, held in the evening session on the same day, to claim the gold. In the process, he entered an elite league of swimmers, breaking two national records in a single day. Moreover he won a silver in 200m individual medley and two bronze medals in 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke events.

Anvesh trains at Harmony Club in Kothrud with Bhupendra and Narendra Acharekar, who were both at the venue.

“When he participated in the national tournament for the first time last year, it was all new to him and the nerves affected his performance. This time around Anvesh was far more confident and so were we. He came quite close to the target of 31.0 we had set, so we are well satisfied with his performance,” said Bhupendra.

About his preparations, Bhupendra said, “Avnesh is small in stature compared to other boys

Pune claims a share in state glory M u m b a i swimmers, as expected, hauled in the lion’s share of Maharashtra’s medal tally in the ongoing national sub-junior and junior aquatic Yuga Birnale championship at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi. However, local swimmers also made their presence

felt by grabbing a handful of medals.

Pune swimmers won seven individual medals in the first four days, with Anvesh Prasade claiming the major share of four medals. Akanksha Buchade and Yuga Birnale impressed with two individual bronze medals and one team gold medal each, in the girls’ category.

Akanksha earned bronze medals in the 200m butterfly (2:34.58s) and 100m individual medley (2:44.37s), in the under-17 girls’ events. Yuga grabbed a bronze medal in the 50m back stroke

clocking a time of 32.52s in the same age group, with a repeat performance in the 200m backstroke event (2:32.92s).

Akanksha and Yuga also represented Maharashtra in the 4X100 medley relay. The team which also included Monique Gandhi and B Malaika, won a gold medal with a time of 4:39.18s, bettering Maharashtra’s national record of 4:39.92s set in 2014.

Swejal Mankar won a silver medal in the 100m backstroke event, with a time of 1:02.43s.

Paltan set for new challenges The city team which finished at the bottom last season is aiming for a brighter showing this time around, with new coach and support staff in place TGS NEWS NETWORK @TGSWeekly Puneri Paltan may turn out to be the most dangerous team in the second season of Pro Kabaddi League, starting from July 20 in Mumbai. The team which finished at the bottom last season has nothing to lose and is gearing up with an all-new arsenal.

The team management has got rid of Ramphal Kaushik, and in his place has brought in experienced local coach Ashok Shinde. The Arjuna awardee who works with Air India, had closely followed the team’s performances last year and is well aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

“I followed the team closely last year, and after taking charge as coach, I have analysed the team’s performances by watching the recorded videos many times over. The players were not in peak form, a few were playing with injuries, and there was a complete lack of co-ordination. Our main focus, therefore, was on the players’ fitness, for which we held three camps. Now we have 25 extremely fit players, which gives us great flexibility while chalking out strategies,” said Shinde.

Besides Shinde, the entire support staff is also from Pune. Fitness trainer Mahendra Gokhale, sport physiologist Akshay Barbiya, sport psychologist Debashree Dandawate, Nutritionist Avanti Damle and team in-charge Rahul Sapate, are all from Pune.

Players of Puneri Paltan during their trainning camp in Balewadi

“I believe we are the only team in the league with such a local flavour,” says team manager Kailash Kandpal.

Paltan will take on Telugu Titans in their first match at the NSCI complex, Mumbai on July 20, followed by U Mumba the next day. After matches at Kolkata, Jaipur, Patna, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bengaluru, the team will play their last four matches at their home ground in Balewadi, from August 16.

“Th is will give us an edge over our opponents. Playing in front of the home crowd is always a bonus and we will benefit hugely from this factor in the crucial last rounds,” said Shinde.

The semi-finals will be played in

Mumbai on August 21, and the final is scheduled for Sunday, August 23.

The team: Raiders: Wazir Singh, Simon Kibura, Amit Rathi, Surendar Singh, Tushar Patil, Mahipal Narwal, Pravin Niwale, Ravi V, David Mosambayi, Waleed Al Hasani, Yogesh Hudda Defenders: Jitesh Joshi, Nitin More, Manoj Kumar, Kalimuthu Balamahendran, Vikas Tomar, Sachin V, Manoj Dhull, Vijender Singh, Allrounder: Amit Kumar, Ravi Kumar (right cover), Sanjay Kumar (left cover), Harvinder Singh (right center), Anil S (right corner), Sagar Katale (right corner). tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Anvesh with his proud coach Achrekar

in his age group. To compensate for this shortfall, we focused more on technique than strength. He has worked hard all through the year, never missed a practice session, follows strick diet and did all workouts religiously.

He was determined to bag a gold and did achieve what he dreamt of.”

Anvesh has been dominant in the district-level tournaments, and is now also winning state-level meets with impressive margins. He broke

the national record to qualify for the nationals in Indore Last year. He qualified for nationals in all eight events this year too. However, he won’t qualify for the Asian Age Group championship to be held later this year being in a lower age group, but he has set his goals for next year.

“My target for next year is to win many more medals in the nationals and also qualify for the Asian Age Group championship. I did not do well at last year’s nationals, but I was sure that I could win a gold in my favourite 50m butterfly event this time. I am delighted,” said Anvesh.

PARENTS’ SUPPORT The Prasade family seems to possess the swimming genes.

Anvesh’s grandfather Dilip was a renowned swimmer of his time, and coincidentally, the butterfly event was his favourite, as it is for Anvesh.

Anvesh’s dad Sunil swimming feats were only at the amateur level, but

he ensured that his sons Anvesh and Shaunak got the best training in Pune.

“We took up swimming initially for the sake of overall physical development and fitness. But we quickly realised Anvesh’s potential and concentrated our efforts on him.

The entire family has even completely avoided junk food and restaurant meals, in line with his coaches’ instructions. The sacrifices at family get-togethers and functions have paid off with Avnesh’s success,” said Sunil.

“Last year he got international level exposure, when he participated in an invitational tournament in Dubai. He bagged one gold, two silver and three bronze medals in that competition. We are planning his participation in more tournaments, but it of course costs lots of money, and currently we have no financial backing from any sponsor. We are hoping that he will be noticed and that sponsorships will be forthcoming in the coming year,” he added. ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com