The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 14/05/2016

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PUNE, MAY 14, 2016 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

Ranbir’s new flat costs Rs 1.42 lakh per sqft!

How can we waste food when so many go hungry?

Highest rate paid so far for a Mumbai residence, 10x what previous owner paid

BY YOGESH SADHWANI @yogeshsadhwani The 34-year-old Ranbir Kapoor has paid the highest per square foot rate for an apartment in Mumbai. He recently bought an apartment on the seventh floor of a building in Pali Hill, Bandra and shelled out Rs 1,42,184 per square foot, making it the highest rate ever paid in the maximum city. Ranbir Kapoor concluded the deal on April 27 and paid a whopping Rs 35 crore for the 2,469.60 sq feet apartment in Vastu Pali Hill building.

Mumbai has witnessed several high-end deals but all of them have been in South Mumbai. The highest so far has been in Darshan Apartment in Malabar Hill. The triplex flat got sold for Rs 57 crore and cost the new owners Rs 1.35 lakh per

sq ft in the year 2013.

Ranbir beat all the previous deals in South Mumbai as well as the suburbs with his latest acquisition.

Interestingly, Vastu Pali Hill is not a high-end building that offers several amenities. The 12-storey building with two basements for parking has in all 21 flats. The flat comes with two parking lots, one in the basement and one in the open. The building does not have the who’s who of the city living in it. Interestingly, the flat acquired

by Ranbir is valued at a mere Rs 11.31 crore as per the Ready Reckoner rate.

The actor, who has given several hits in his career spanning nine years, has acquired the four-bedroom flat from Khyati Valia, who is on the board of directors of several real estate and financial services companies.

According to the papers available with TGS, the actor paid the fi rst instalment of Rs five crore for the flat on March 2. He paid the next instalment of Rs ten crore on April 20, and a week later concluded the deal by paying the remaining Rs 20 crore. On the same day, he registered the deal with Department of Registration and Stamps. Over and above the Rs 35 crore tag for the flat, the actor shelled out Rs 1,75,30,000 for stamp duty and registration.

Continued on p2

In India, around 194 million people starved in 2014-15 as per a UN report.

The number is on the rise. In a bid to turn things around, several corporate houses in Pune are now stressing on the need to minimise food wastage and have come up with innovative methods. Then, there are those who are taking from the rich and feeding the poor See p08-09

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

MUMBAI

“Central and State governments are promoting the ‘Make in India’ programme in the country as well as abroad. “It would be better if they ask some industries to move their projects to Vidarbha region. It would improve the situation in Vidarbha.”

— Jayant Patil, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader

N K Singh gets Japan’s top award P 13

Bankruptcy code passage advocated P 14

Ranbir’s new flat costs Rs 1.42 lakh per sq ft!

Continued from p1

TEN TIMES RETURNS IN FOUR YEARS The owners of the flat bought by Ranbir Kapoor struck gold. Khyati Valia bought the flat for Rs 3.5 crore in 2012. Four years later, she sold it for ten times her acquisition price. Her neighbour, Shraddha Valia too bought the four-bedroom flat for Rs 3.4 crore in December 2011 and registered the deal in April 2012. Barely a month later in May 2012, she sold it for Rs 23.75 crore to actress Nadia and her husband Shirish Godbole.

NEIGHBOURS The new house is barely a stone’s throw away from his parents Rishi and Neetu Kapoor’s bungalow KrishnaRaj. Ranbir’s next door neighbour in the new house will be South Indian actress

DEALS IN THE PAST There have been several high-end deals in Mumbai. However, all the record breaking ones have been reported from South Mumbai.

Ranbir’s is the fi rst ever record breaker from suburbs.

In 2013, a sea-facing flat in Darshan Apartment, Malabar Hill building was sold for Rs 57 crore, at Rs 1.35 lakh per sq ft. In the same year, a duplex in Worli’s Samudra Mahal was sold for Rs 43 crore, at Rs 1.18 lakh per sq ft. In 2012, a flat in Tahnee Heights on Napean Sea Road was sold for Rs 39 crore, at Rs 1.2 lakh per sq ft. Ranbir struck his deal for Rs 1.42 lakh per sq ft, the highest so far.

OTHER ACQUISITIONS Apart from acquiring real estate in Mumbai, Ranbir has also bought a flat in Trump Towers, Pune. His father Rishi Kapoor was the first to buy a 4,415 sq ft house on the 12th floor of one of the two Trump Towers in Kalyani Nagar way back in October 2015. He paid Rs 11.12 crore for the property. A couple of months later, in December, Ranbir bought a house of the same size on the 10th floor for Rs 11.12 crore. The duo paid stamp duty of Rs 67 lakh each for their houses.

The family is also redeveloping their bungalow KrishnaRaj on Pali Hill. Rishi and Neetu Kapoor bought the bungalow way back in September 1980, after they got married in January the same year. They purchased the bungalow from Chandru Raheja of K Raheja Corporation and one Rajendra Kumar Kapur, chief promoter of Pali Hill Co-operative Housing Society, for Rs 11 lakh back then. The bungalow with three outhouses has been home to the couple and their son Ranbir since 1980.

A good 35 years after they bought KrishnaRaj bungalow, actors Rishi and Neetu Kapoor have decided to bring it down to make way for a 15-storey highrise.

The new structure will have seven flats, of which two are super luxury triplex apartments. The new building will have six floors for parking 45 cars. The liveable floors will begin from the seventh floor and will have open to sky decks. The Kapoors have planned for a lounge and a swimming pool on the terrace. The building, when complete will rise up to 69.88 metres.

Nadia or Zareena Moidu. Moidu, who has done several Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil movies, owns the house on the same floor. Interestingly, Moidu and her husband Shirish Godbole, an investment banker, also paid a bomb

Navi Mumbai police chief blames ‘rape victim’ for filing multiple FIRs After an armyman exposed the rape victim and got his brother out on bail, police chief has submitted a report stating that she filed similar complaints against several men on her own. He has given clean chit to his men and stated that they had ‘no vested interest’

BY SANTOSHEE MISHRA @santosheemishra Two months after a techie accused of rape was released on bail after his brother exposed the victim using Right to Information Act, Navi Mumbai police commissioner has fi led a report stating that cops had no role to play in the fiasco. Anand Kumar Singh’s brother Satish, who works with the armed forces, was able to obtain documents under RTI stating that the victim had fi led similar complaints in several police stations in Navi Mumbai. In each of them she claimed she was raped in 2007-08 and the accused had taken money from her. After going through the documents, Bombay High court not only let Anand out on bail, but also sought a report from the police commissioner.

Navi Mumbai police chief, Prabhat Ranjan recently submitted a report which stated that cops were in no way involved with the victim and did not help her to fi le the complaints with various police stations. In an inquiry conducted assistant police commissioner Nitin Kausdikar attached to Navi Mumbai crime branch, it was found that the victim went straight to senior officials of the rank deputy commissioners and urged them to fi le complaints. The 41-yearold victim, according to police chief, did not approach the police station.

The police chief, relying on the inquiry done by ACP Kausdikar, stated that the victim in all fi led five complaints of rape - two with CBD Belapur police station, one with Vashi APMC, one Nerul, and one with Kamothe (against Anand Kumar Singh). All the complaints were fi led in the year 2015.

At CBD Belapur Police Station she fi led an FIR on March 11, 2015 alleging that one Nitin Kohli raped

her from 2007 to March 2015 and also took Rs 14.15 lakh from her. She fi led another complaint with Nerul Police Station on June 19, 2015 against KK Anna and Amit Sharma alleging that the two raped her in 2007-08. Th is time, she alleged that they took Rs 3.25 lakh from her. Th ird complaint was fi led with the Vashi APMC Police Station on October 21, 2015 against Avdhoot Jadhav and Pappu Sharma.

She alleged that the duo raped her between 2007 to 2013. Like the two previous complaints, she alleged that the duo had taken Rs 5.5 lakh from her. In Anand Kumar Singh’s case she alleged that he was her gym instructor and used to go to her house to coach her. Sometime in Janury 2011, when her parents were away for two days, she alleged that Anand raped her. Her complaint stated that Anand recorded the entire episode on a camera and threatened to circulate the video if she squealed. She also claimed that the accused suggested that they start a gym together and took Rs 2.20 lakh from her. She fi led the FIR on January 15, 2016, good five years later. Kamothe cops

booked Anand on charges of rape, extortion, defamation, intimidation and also for capturing the video under the Information Technology Act and arrested him on January 21.

Police chief has now stated that in CBD Belapur cases, chargesheets have been fi led, whereas in case of APMC and Nerul police stations, the victim withdrew her complaints.

Navi Mumbai police chief has given a clean chit to his men and put the blame squarely on the complainant. The report states that she fi led the complaints only to settle her financial disputes with the accused. It states in all he cases she conveniently approached senior officers and asked them to instruct police stations to fi le FIRs. It also states that the investigating officers did not connive with her while fi ling the cases. The report goes on to state that since chargesheets have been fi led for FIRs fi led in CBD Belapur police station, the cases need to be reinvestigated after seeking legal opinion.

When TG contacted Prabhat Ranjan, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner, he said, “The matter

is in the court. We have submitted a preliminary inquiry report and will be carrying out a detailed investigation.

If necessary, action will be initiated on the rape victim. Preliminary inquiry reveals that she fi led complaints of rape and extortion to settle her financial issues with alleged accused.”

About the case Anand Kumar Singh, an IT professional working in Bengaluru was in for a rude shock early this year when he was asked to appear before Kamothe police station in Navi Mumbai. On January 21 when he went to the police station he was arrested and told that a rape case had been fi led against him. He spent the next two months behind bars till he was released on bail in March. His elder brother, who works with armed forces, turned sleuth and found out that the girl who had fi led the rape case against Anand had done so to several others in the past. She had fi led several complaints with Navi Mumbai cops and in fact withdrawn two of them. The documents, when produced in Bombay High Court by senior counsel Ashok Mundargi, helped him in getting bail. Not stopping at that, the HC sought a report over the alleged nexus between the cops and the victim.

Anand, who used to live in Navi Mumbai and later joined a reputed IT company in Bengaluru, was accused of raping a 41-year-old resident of Kamothe. His father retired from the armed forces, and his elder brother Satish too is in the army. Realising that something was amiss as the victim had fi led the complaint good five years later, Satish decided to dig deeper. He obtained all the documents pertaining to the FIR against his brother and later fi led RTIs seeking information about other cases fi led by the victim in Navi Mumbai. Satish was stunned when he got the information.

Armed with these papers, senior counsel Mundargi moved Anand’s bail application in HC. He told the court that ‘the complainant along with some police officers of various police stations (in Navi Mumbai) has been indulging in extortion activities’. He added that ‘it is the modus operandi of the complainant, to fi le such cases which are identical in nature, only to extort money’. Advocate Mundargi also pointed out that Anand was a qualified engineer working with an IT company and never a gym instructor as claimed by the victim. Anand’s lawyer also argued in court that his client was receiving threats from unknown persons to pay a certain amount or get implicated in a ‘false case’.

Justice Revathi Mohite Dere, who was hearing the bail application, found substance in senior counsel Mundargi’s arguements. “Prima facie, there appears to be some substance in the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the applicant (Anand), that the complainant had fi led similar cases for extorting money and possibly the same was done with the connivance of the police,” Justice Mohite Dere observed. The HC ordered Navi Mumbai police commissioner took into the three identical complaints fi led by the victim in other police stations. The Justice noted that of the three previous complaints, the victim withdrew two and fi led an affidavit that she had settled the dispute with the accused. HC released Anand on bail on March 11 on the condition that he would not tamper with the witnesses, or contact the complainant.

Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai police chief has been asked to submit a report within four weeks.

In all this, Anand is out on bail and did not wish to speak about the case. santoshee.mishra@goldensparrow.com

for their house when they bought it in May 2012. They paid Rs 23.75 crore for the flat, which was valued at Rs 8.32 crore as per the ready Reckoner rates back then yogesh.sadhwani@goldensparrow.com

Bribe-taking official faces suspension 2014 video clip comes back to bite Customs officer who is seen asking for and taking a bribe

BY ROMIL KOTHARI The video clip of a custom officer taking a bribe from Puneite Meghraj Sonavane has gone viral on the internet, and now the Commissioner of Customs has assured disciplinary action against the errant officer.

On May 9, Sonavane uploaded the clip on his Facebook page. The customs officer asked for Rs 4000 to release the gold. “If you want your goods to be handed over to you, you have to pay,” said the customs officer.

He refused but then a subordinate persuaded him to pay, which he did in a secluded room.

Commissioner of Customs (Prevention) A P S Suri said, “The incident depicted in the video clip of a customs officer taking a bribe, occurred between March and September 2014. The officer was immediately shifted to Customs house and later to Nhava-Shiva port. Disciplinary action will be initiated against him by a competent authority, which is the Principal General Commissioner. The minimum punishment is suspension in such a case.”

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

“I have instructed all depot managers and the chief engineers to increase the maintenance hours of buses as well as employees who are working at the workshops. They should ensure that the buses are in good condition while leaving the depot.”

— Abhishek Krishna, PMPML Chairman

Suspended JD(U) MLC’s house sealed P12

‘Hospitals are an industry and patients are the raw material’ Senior city doctors expose rampant malpractices in the medical filed in their book titled ‘Dissenting Diagnosis’

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 Two senior doctors have written a book titled ‘Dissenting Diagnosis’, which exposes the rampant malpractices in the medical field in the country, and the nexus between hospitals, pharma companies and doctors. The book, released in Delhi on May 4, documents the experiences of 78 general practitioners as well as super specialty doctors in metro cities, including Mumbai and Pune. Th irtyfi ve of the 78 doctors, voiced extreme frustration at the brazen malpractices in hospitals. The authors claim that theirs is fi rst book of its kind which dares to expose malpractices in the medical field.

Dr Arun Gadre, a senior gynaecologist, and Dr Abhay Shukla, public health physician are both associated with SATHI, a Non Government Organisation specialising in policy advocacy related to health care in India, blew up the truth.

Gadre said, “If this continues, in the coming 10 to 15 years you will not get any practitioner without following ‘percentages practice, as it is very difficult to practice honestly these days.” Gadre had been running his own hospital at Lasalgaon in Nashik for 20 years. “Private

PUNE

practitioners ask for a 40 per cent cut for referring patients to my hospital.

I detest such commercialisation, so I shut down my hospital ten years ago and have been working with SATHI for three years,” said Gadre.

There are honest doctors who aim to serve the poor of society, but the corporatisation of hospitals has turned them into ‘hospital shopping malls’. Younger doctors are forced to make ‘cuts’ as well as perform unnecessary operations on patients to make money. Targets are set by hospital administrations.

“Normally 14 per cent of cardiac patients need angioplasty surgery, but now cardiologists in private hospitals are told to raise the number up to a whopping 40 per cent. Young doctors

can’t refuse or they will be out of a job. Hospitals are an industry and patients are the raw material these days,” Gadre said.

Gadre said that he wished to express the agony of conscientious doctors. The rampant corruption has turned the setting up of a hospital akin to starting a business. The sky rocketing real estate prices, the entry of politicians and industrialists are other factors of this scenario.

The duo interviewed 78 practitioners from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune, as well as villages and districts.

They plan to release their book in Pune and Mumbai.

“The doctors approved of our motives and shared their experiences

openly,” said Shukla, who has offered solutions to tackle the situation. The Indian government spends only one per of GDP, while individuals spend four to six per cent on health care.

“In the name of liberalisation, the World Bank gave entry to private hospitals.

Governments should increase the budget to curb commercialisation and improve the public health system,” said Shukla.

A small town general practitioner performed an unnecessary angioplasty on a farmer under Rajiv Gandhi Jiwandai Yojana (RGJY), a health scheme fully funded by government. The farmer was shown to be suffering from a cardiac ailment when he was not. The farmer was given some money and the doctor pocketed Rs 1.5 lakh.

A city pathologist contacted 150 doctors and asked them to refer the patients to him but did not offer them any commission. Only three doctors send patients to him.

A general surgeon said that a hospital had a deal with a labour leader regarding health packages for workers. The 5000 workers go to other hospitals for minor treatment and to the contracted corporate hospital for surgeries, as their medical expenses are reimbursed by the employer tied up with the corporate hospital. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

Operating sans valid licenses As many as 215 hospitals and nursing homes in the city do not have licenses. PMC dithers on taking action owing to political pressure

BY VICKY PATHARE @TGSWeekly More than 215 medical establishments, or over 30 per cent of the 615 hospitals and nursing homes operating within Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits are operating without valid licenses.

This organisations are yet to complete the renewal of their registrations with the PMC. In spite of the deadline which ended in March, no action has been taken. PMC officials avoid taking action against these errant organisations due to political pressure. If they issue notices to any hospital, corporators and local political leaders of the area bring pressure to avoid action being taken.

PMC Assistant Health Officer Dr Narendra Thakur, who handles registrations and renewal of licenses, said, “Some organisations renew their licenses for periods of one year to three years. PMC can take legal actions against hospitals and nursing homes which fail to comply with the norms.”

The renewal duration depends on reports of the survey conducted by the PMC zonal medical officer, divisional sanitary inspectors and sanitary inspectors. If they fail to fulfill the fundamental norms, PMC can even deny renewal or cancel registrations.

Yash Hospital, Deccan Gymkhana, Jabade Hospital, Kasba Peth, Manu Eye Hospital, Wanowrie, Sabne Prasutigruh, Kothrud and Rao Nursing Home, Model Colony are some of the hospitals yet to renew their licenses.

“PMC has not decided to refused renewal of any establishment this year,” said Dr Thakur. For two years no action has been taken against such organisations. “PMC only charges a nominal penalty of Rs five per day to an establishment with a capacity of ten beds and Rs ten per day for organisation with more than ten beds.

The staff should possess mandatory and valid license from an authorised institute. Records should be kept of the patients received into a nursing home, and in the case of maternity home, of miscarriages, abortions or still births and of the children born therein and of the children so born who are removed from the home otherwise than to the custody or care of any parent, guardian or relative. Every clinical establishment should arrange display of the fees, costs and rates of all kinds of services to maintain transparency. They must perform statutory duties in respect of disease surveillance, non-communicable and communicable diseases to prevent the spread of the disease and report the same to the concerned authorities immediately. PMC should be notified of any death occurring in the nursing home. The clinical establishment should also follow all applicable rules for waste management, drugs and medicines, employees, building safety norms etc. vicky.pathare@ goldensparrow.com

Pune AFMC to store DNA profiles of all armed forces personnel PRESENTS

IS BACK!

REGISTRATIONS OPEN FOR JUNE 5, 2016

DNA profiling centre set up at AFMC, Pune, which by 2020 will cover personnel of all three services

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan Knowing the identity of each soldier, especially those deployed in the forward and high-risk areas, is critical in case of deaths in the battlefield or in action. The Armed Forces DNA Profi ling Centre & Repository was established at Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. Blood samples of all Armed Forces personnel are to be preserved in the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Repository. The Director Generals Medical Services of the Army, Navy and Air Force have identified Nodal Officers who are planning, controlling and monitoring the process in the Army, Navy and Air Force. The actual process of sample collection has started from September 2015.

According to AFMC, the collection of blood samples has started and will be carried out in a phased manner. The Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) has set 2020 as the deadline for completing its ambitious project of DNA profi ling and creation

of a repository of all Indian armed forces personnel.

In a written reply to TGS, AFMC stated, “Blood samples from those members of the Armed Forces who are at the highest risk are being collected fi rst. Medical Officers are being specially trained in sample collection, preservation and transportation of DNA samples by the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AFMC. These Medical Officers have been assessed and certified as qualified to carry out the task by an independent agency.”

The blood samples of all personnel who are employed on active duties that carry the highest risk of death and mutilation are being collected by these specially trained and certified Medical Officers. The sample collection is being carried out for all personnel whose job description is regarded as being hazardous, irrespective of their rank.

The initial experience gained through a pilot project has been analysed. A detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been formulated for the creation of the fi rst DNA Repository in the country.

According to officials, “AFMC has been entrusted the responsibility for executing this ambitious project.

Actual collection of Blood samples has started in all three services. DNA

samples preserved on FTA Cards have started being received in the Armed Forces DNA Repository. The entire system is controlled by the Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services.”

The official said, “DNA profi ling provides the most reliable method for identification of such mutilated bodies and body parts. Blood samples of Armed Forces personnel are being collected in a phased manner, barcoded and preserved in a specially designed storage system in the Armed Forces DNA Repository. At a future date, when required, the DNA profi le generated from mutilated body parts recovered from the site of a fatal incident will be matched with DNA profi les generated from the blood samples of those individuals who are feared killed, which are already preserved in the DNA Repository to establish the identity of deceased Armed Forces personnel.”

The Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AFMC has a DNA Profi ling Laboratory which will carry out this process. The project, covering over 1.13 million soldiers from the Indian Army, will include Indian Air Force and Navy personnel too as per risk and priority factors. A DNA profi ling centre and repository, costing Rs 2.5 crore. sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

“Improving public transport system by increasing BRTS corridors, energy conservation, safety of the people, environment protection and improving cleanliness in the city will be my top priorities. I will take efforts to make this city a green city.”

— Dinesh Waghmare, Commissioner, PCMC

Now get gourmet food made exclusively for you at doorstep P10

PMPML’s losses continue PMC, PCMC have not paid dues to PMPML which has shown an operational loss of Rs 318 crore

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar In its audit report for financial year 2014-15 submitted to the standin.g committee of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) shows an operational loss of Rs 318 crore. The PMPML has a revenue of Rs 558 crore and expenditure of Rs 876 crore. PMPML Chief Auditor Y K Hole made the final audit report.

PMPML buses operate on 369 routes, 11 of which are loss-making owing to the scanty numbers of passengers. Service on these routes was started under the urging of politicians.

In 2007, the PMPML fleet had 950 buses. Since then the populations of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have crossed the 35 lakh mark, but the number of buses has risen to only 1400, an increase of 450. But breakdowns are frequent, and PMPML need 1200 more buses. In 2014-15, PMPML had an 80 per cent income target from ticket sales but it remained at 65 per cent. PMPML earned Rs 58 crore from advertisers, but because of dead kilometre increasing, PMPML suffered a Rs 318 crore operational loss.

Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations have not paid Rs 80.50 crore and Rs 69.50 crore respectively, which they have to pay to PMPML for bearing its operational losses.

PMPML Joint Managing Director D P More said, “Our dues, which PMPML gets from both corporations to fulfill operational losses of Rs 150 crore is still pending. Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation paid two installments of Rs 6.5 crore for March and April, but PMC has not paid anything. But the loss is so huge that even after both corporations pay their dues, we will sustain Rs 150 crore loss. We earn more than a crore of rupees per day but rising diesel prices and maintenance expenses are higher than our income. We are keeping aside six per cent of our daily income for maintenance and

Major routes on which PMPML is suffering from losses • Kivale – Adarshanagar • Bhosari – Gharkul Vasahat • Vallabhnagar ST stand – Bhosari • Gharkul Vasahat – Pimpale-Gurav • Hadapsar – Mhatobachi Alandi • Vishrantwadi – Munjabawasti • Vishrantwadi – Charoli • Swargate – Dhanori/Lonikand • Hadpsar – Loni Kalbhor • Vishrantwadi – Vahulgoan • Indrayaninagar – Manapa Bhavan

Profitable routes spare parts purchase. That is how we manage to keep 1400 buses operational. The dead kilometre figure is increasing so routes where there were few passengers have to be revived and routes with no passengers have to be shut. Route rationalisation is very necessary.”

PMPML Chief Executive Officer Mayura Shindekar said, “To curb PMPML operational loss, both corporations have to pay their dues immediately.

Last year we earned 65 per cent revenue from ticket sales, which can improve with more ticket checkers to keep tabs on conductors. Another revenue option is more advertisers. We will switch from diesel to CNG as CNG costs less and it is environment friendly. We urgently need 1200 new buses as more than 300 buses will be scrapped soon.”

PMC Mayor Prashant Jagtap said, “It is high time we cleared PMPML dues. PMPML is the only public transport system in the city. We decided in the May 3 standing committee meeting that we will pay Rs 7.50 crore in 11 monthly installments.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

• Pune Station – Vishrantwadi (Via Bhosari) • Kothrud Depot – Katraj • Katraj – Mojhe Vidyalaya • Dhankawadi – Na Ta Wadi • Appar Depot – Kondhwa Gate • Pune Station – NDA Gate • Bharati Vidyapeeth – Shivajinagar Station • Manapa Bhavan – Warje Malwadi • Hadapsar – Katraj • Pune Station – Swargate • Katraj – Hadapsar • Warje Malwadi - Wagholi • Nigdi (Via Aundh) – Pune station • Hadapsar – Warje Malwadi • Upper Depot/Lake Town – Shivajinagar Station • Upper Depot – Shivajinagar Station • Katraj – Lohegoan • Manapa Bhavan – Balewadi/Mojhe Vidyalaya • Narhe gaon – Shivajinagar Station • Hadapsar – Wagholi (Keshnand Phata)

Autorickshaw driver’s son goes on to become India’s youngest IAS officer

Ansar Ahmad Shaikh cleared UPSC exams in his first attempt

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar Ansar Ahmad Shaikh, son of an autorickshaw driver, cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in his first attempt. The 21-year-old went on to become the youngest candidate to have cracked the civil services exams.

In the UPSC results that were declared on Tuesday, Ansar ranked 361. He is from the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, and is certain of getting into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

Ansar, who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on June 1, hails from Shelgaon village, Jalna district in the drought-hit Marathwada region. His father Ahmad is an autorickshaw driver. Ansar explained that his father is an alcoholic and often physically

Congratulating Ansar Shaikh on his success

abuses his mother.

Despite adverse circumstances, Ansar focused on his studies – went to Shelgaon Zilla Parishad School and secured 76 per cent in 10th standard, opted for arts in junior college and cleared 12thstandard with 91 per cent. He then came to Pune for further studies. Ansar took admission in Fergusson College for his BA.

Simultaneously he started studying for the UPSC exams.

Ansar put in 13 hours of study every day for UPSC. He passed BA with political science as special subject, with 73 per cent in 2015. In the same year he appeared for UPSC exams and opted for political science.

“I am happy to see my name in the final list of UPSC and told my parents

Joshi goes missing, alleges harassment

the good news. My brother, who works in a garage, has supported me through it all. Without his help, it would have been impossible for me to achieve this,” said Ansar. He added, “I am marginalised in three categories - I come from a backward region, I am a Muslim and am from a poor economic background.”

As for his future plans, Ansar wants to focus on some key areas once he joins the services. “I want to work for religious harmony, women’s empowerment and rural development.

As an administrator, I will be able to work on these issues. I want to work for Hindu-Muslim harmony as I have seen religious tension in my village.

My sisters were married off at the ages of 14 and 15. My father beats my mother. Therefore I have decided to work for women’s empowerment.

Farmers’ suicides are a serious and administrators can do a lot to solve this issue. I want to serve the people of my country honestly. It takes patience to clear competitive examinations,” concluded Ansar. tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

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City cops just do not co-ordinate One police station searches for a missing man, while another cremates him

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 The police are always accused of shirking their duties and now a man was unable to perform the funeral rites for his father owing to police apathy.

Mehboob Shaikh, 53, of Sayyednagar, Hadapsar was missing since January 3, 2016. His son Asif Shaikh, 32, filed a missing complaint with the Kondhwa police station on January 4. Asif had submitted all the required documents, details and photographs to the Kondhwa police, who assured him that they would inform him when they found his father.

Eight days later all the Kondhwa police said was they were searching.

Asif contacted all his relatives and went to Mumbai, Gulbarga, Kolhapur and Osmanabad to look for his father.

Four months later there was no trace of the missing man. Then Asif was shocked when he saw his father’s photo in the register of ‘unknown dead bodies’ on April 21 record at the police commissionerate.

He was told that his father was brought dead to Sassoon General Hospital by Sangvi police on January 10. Asif was then told by the Sangvi police that the woman police official was on leave for two days.

The Sangvi police took eight days to record Asif’s statement that the dead person was his father and he did not have any complaints against the police. On April 29, Asif submitted documents of identity proof of his father after which the police assured them that they would change the name of ‘unknown’ to the real name in the catalogue and the post mortem report. But after 15 days there was no communications from Sangvi police.

“Despite constant follow ups, the police didn’t inform me of my father’s death. Due

to this, I could not perform the final rites on my father according to our religion,” said Asif. The Sassoon hospital forensic department records show that Mehboob was found by a passerby in an unconscious state at Pimple Nilakh Gaothan near old octroi post on January 10. An ambulance brought him to Sassoon Hospital as an unknown patient. The doctors informed the Sangvi police. “Post mortem showed that he died of natural causes,” said Dr S B Punpale, head of the forensic department.

Mehboob’s body was preserved for three days to validate his identity. As per the rule the body was taken by PMC for cremation on the fourth day.

Kondhwa police station senior police inspector Rajendra Mokashi said that Sangvi police should have checked for missing person complaints registered with police stations after finding Menboob’s body. “We had sent photos of missing people to all police stations. It was the duty of Sangvi police to ascertain is there was any missing person complaint lodged with any police station when an unknown body was found,” said Mokashi.

Sangvi police station senior police inspector Prabhakar Dhage said that they had put the body for 21 days in Sassoon Hospital but his name and address was not found. “We broadcast all the details to the police stations and conducted searches. We have just come to know that he was a Muslim.” dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

Pune ranks second in eyeball donation

BY VICKY PATHARE @Vickypathare2 Pune has seen more than 1417 eye donations in 2015-16, under the centrally-aided National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), which puts the district in second place among the 35 districts in the state.

Health department statistics show that Pune contributed to over 19 per cent of the 7,301 eyes collected from all over the state.

Officials expect donations for 2016-2017 to be higher. Mumbai tops the list with a total of 2,139 eyes collected, followed by Pune with 1417, Thane with 781 and Nagpur with 452. The target for April 2015-March 2016 for Pune was 1,900, of which 74 per cent was achieved.

Deputy director of health services Dr

Hanumant Chavan said, “The demand for eyeballs is much higher and there is gap between demand and supply. There are ten eye donors for every 100 patients. There is a rise in awareness about eye donations among common people but the demand is also rising. Considering the population of Pune district compared to Mumbai, Pune is doing well.“ District programme manager Dr V N Shirshikar said, “There are 23 centres in Pune district in the city and in tehsils. The officials conduct programmes at colleges, schools and even stage street plays to create awareness amongst the people.”

Eyes can be donated by anyone from the ages of two to 70. They can be stored for almost four days and are to be donated within four to six hours of a person’s death. vicky.pathare@ goldensparrow.com

Malin survivors will have to wait another year for their homes Malin landslide survivors are not sure they will have a roof above their heads before the monsoon arrives

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka District Collector Saurabh Rao’s assurances to rehabilitate the 34 families who were victims of the Malin tragedy before the monsoons, have been shown up to be in vain, by local MLA Dilip Walse-Patil. The former speaker of the state legislative assembly, who visited Malin on Thursday, said that the district administration will take another six months to complete the rehabilitation.

Malin village in Ambegaon taluka, 110 miles from Pune, was wiped out of existence by a landslide on July 30,

2014, claiming 151 lives. Of the 67 houses, only 16 may be ready before the monsoon.

“I went to Aamde village on Thursday to inaugurate the construction work of the first house to be built under the rehabilitation plan. I do not think that the construction will be completed by the time the monsoon arrives. It is possible that the construction of houses will take another six months. I hope the villagers will get their houses by Diwali,” Walse-Patil said. The district authorities consider his views and opinions on the rehabilitation work.

The survivors of the landslide were rendered homeless. Several committees were appointed and after several surveys and reports from environmental experts, the state government announced a rehabilitation plan for them. But the process of relocating them has been going on for a couple of years.

Rao visited the site on May 10

and expressed his satisfaction over the progress of the work. “We want to ensure that the 34 affected families can shift to the new homes before the coming monsoon,” Rao said. He also asked the government departments to work in a co-ordinated manner to complete the work before the monsoon.

His staff though have completely different views of the situation and blamed the local residents for the delay. Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Junnar, Ambegaon, Kalyan Pandhare said that the governmental machinery was already at work, but it was the local residents who were responsible for the delay. “The residents had a difference of opinion regarding the locations of the houses, so the work got delayed. It is not easy to set up an entire village.

We have been facing shortage of water for construction but we will have 16 houses ready before the monsoon,” Pandhare said. priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

The construction of the houses at Malin has been dogged by delays

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

YOGESH WAGH @YogeshWagh1857 There are 29,000 prisoners lodged in the jails in Maharashtra, of which 8000 are serving their sentences, and 21,000 are undertrials. Some 2200 prisoners work in the prison industry, and in 2015-2016, the profits from their work have jumped up a whopping 53 per cent over last year Most production happens at Yerawada Central Jail, Pune, but Nashik Road Central Jail and Yerawada open district jail have shown remarkable progress. Compared to a revenue of Rs 30.82 lakh in 2014-2015, Yerawada open district jail’s revenue has soared to Rs 210.23 lakh in 20152016. Nashik Road Central Jail revenue of Rs 264.16 lakh in 2014-2015, has risen to Rs 435.12 lakh in 2015-2016.

The fabrication departments of both the prisons are at the forefront of this growth.

Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Dr Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay put it down to innovative ideas of young prison officers and the new government policy that are the

catalysts of change. Decentralising the buying raw materials has slashed production costs.

Superintendent (Industries) Prashant Matte said that the decision to decentralise was taken in 2013 but was implemented from 2015. Earlier, the purchase of raw materials handled by the central office at Pune led to delays and increased costs, as well as added transportation costs. Now the local office handles purchases of raw materials by issuing necessary tenders, resulting in an efficient and cost effective process.

This has also resolved the demand and supply ratio as raw materials according to the demand. Raw materials are purchased at local rates, reducing costs and raising profit margins significantly.

The police department is a prime client, with their orders for kit boxes, bunk beds, mosquito nets, barricades etc.

Another source of revenue is private

customers. The diversity of products is also bringing in more revenue. The bakery that only produced bread, now offers cakes, nankhatai and biscuits.

Prison products are also sold at shopping malls for festive occasions like Diwali, when lamps, greeting cards and embellished gift covers are in great demand.

In the outlets outside the jails, there is a variety of goods on sale, from bedsheets, towels, shirt and suit pieces, furniture, wooden toys and household decor items.

Superintendent (Textile) Saiprsad Kasegaokar said that the textile sector has also flourished. Previously yarn was purchased through tenders, but in 2015 the state government issued a GR to buy yarn directly from the National Textile Corporation. Yarn worth Rs 11 crore was bought so the prisons do not lack raw material and can ensure growth in production.

To boost the prison industry, the Maharashtra government has reserved

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It is boom time for prison industry in Maharashtra Prison industry profits soar in current year, with Nashik Road Jail and Yerawada open district jail being at the forefront of progress

Indian girl’s dream comes true in NZ

Solar-powered cement developed

70 products, and government and semi-government agencies wanting these goods have to procure it through the prison industry. This has proved to be a winner.

The prison industry is now looking for new avenues of growth. Matte said the department wants to start the production of LED bulbs on an experimental basis at Amravati Central Jail. If it succeeds, the next phase would be launched at Nagpur and Yerawada jails. This would provide work for a large number of prisoners. With 70 products reserved, the LED bulbs would be the 71th product.

Another project is the production of plant growth regulators (PGR) which stimulate plant growth, said Matte.

Human hair, rich in nutrients, would be used as raw material. The prisons have a big stock of hair as prisoners are made to have regular hair cuts.

The State Government GR of Department of Industries, Energy and Labour dated October 30, 2015 states that any requirement for goods by government agencies for the 70 products reserved for prison industries, should be brought from the jail department. If the GR is followed, the prison industry will grow by leaps and bounds.

In Maharashtra, the prison industry is spread over seven central jails, two open district jails and one district jail.

The industries include textiles, tailoring, fabrication, carpentry, paper, bakery, chemical, leather and laundry. yogesh.wagh@goldensparrow.com

Another case of rash driving by PMPML driver

On duty woman traffic constable knocked down by speeding PMPML bus, leaving her with a fractured hand

BY YOGESH WAGH @YogeshWagh1857 A woman traffic constable was left with a fractured elbow, after she was hit by a PMPML bus in front of Bund Garden police station on May 11.

Raziya Fayyaz Sayyed, 29, of Swargate police line, is attached at Bund Garden police traffic division.

On May 11 she was manning the traffic signals in the chowk, when the PMPML bus hit her. “As Commissioner of Police Rashmi Shukla was expected, I was working the traffic signal manually. All the vehicles follow my instruction except for the PMPML bus that hit me,” said Raziya.

Razia fell on her right side, suffering a fracture, and she was rushed to KEM Hospital by constable Jaiwant Bhalerao in an autorickshaw.

Owing to the compound elbow fracture, she was referred to Hardikar Hospital, Shivajinagar, where she was admitted. She underwent surgery and was discharged on May 12.

Bund Garden police have registered a complaint against PMPML driver Dipak Tambe, 40, under sections 279 (rash driving), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 333 (grievous heart to public servant),

RAHUL RAUT

“With the poor water levels in the dams and overall groundwater level depletion in the district, the decision to acquire private wells as source of water is necessary. These private wells will be acquired so that the water can be used for the affected regions.”

— Saurabh Rao, Pune District Collector

PUNE

337 (causing heart by endangering life) and 338 (causing heart) of the Indian Penal Code and 119/177 (disobey the traffic signal) and 184 (drive vehicle with dangerous speed) of Motor Vehicle Act. yogesh.wagh@goldensparrow.com

PMC’s water, energy saving plans yield flimsy returns Y 14, 2016

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In view of the severe water shortage, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been granting ten per cent subsidy and f ive per cent concession on property tax, to those who set up rainwater harvesting plants on their properties, since 2015. PMC is also granting f ive per cent concession on property tax to those who set up vermiculture plants on their properties, and ten per cent subsidy to those who install solar panels on their rooftops. But of the 8,50,000 registered properties in PMC limits, only 4687 have installed rainwater harvesting systems to date. This lukewarm response is a setback to PMC’s initiatives to save water and energy.

Water collected from rooftops during the rainy season can be stored with the help of rainwater

garbage volume. Despite the five per cent concession on property tax for those who install vermiculture plants, the response is lacklustre, and citizens are not aware about this scheme. Corporators should be able to promote vermiculture plants more efficiently.”

PMC’s water supply department head V G Kulkarni said, “One rooftop of 550 square feet can collect about 15,000 litres of water every rainy season, but property owners must install rainwater harvesting systems on their rooftops. This water can be used in gardens and toilets, and enable saving of PMC water. More property owners should install rainwater harvesting units.”

PMC Deputy Mayor Mukari Anna Algude said, “Citizens are not aware of the subsidies granted to those who install rainwater harvesting systems and vermiculture plants. PMC must broadcast these schemes via hoardings, and other means, so that more people can benefit from them.”

Five per cent concession granted

by PMC property tax department on solar panels, vermiculture and rainwater harvesting systems chart (Source PMC Property tax dept.

Data till April 25, 2016) tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

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BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar

harvesting systems, and this water can be useful for gardening, in the kitchen and toilet, leading to substantial saving of PMC supplied water.

Residents of Phursungi are not allowing PMC to dump garbage on their land. PMC has sought state government help for land for garbage disposal. Dumping garbage is not a permanent solution, so PMC advised citizens to segregate wet and dry garbage, and use sericulture. Vermiculture yields compost which can be used in gardens and there is huge demand for compost from farmers. PMC is granting five per cent concession on property tax to those who install vermiculture plants. But till date only 932 property owners have set up vermiculture plants, and only 5280 have installed solar panels on their rooftops.

PMC head of solid waste management, Suresh Jagtap said, “Garbage is a big problem PMC is facing. We have not got land from state government for a garbage dump, and residents of Phursungi do not want us to dump garbage on their land. We have appealed to housing societies to set up vermiculture plants which will absorb garbage at source and reduce

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Citizens turn deaf ear to PMC subsidies for rainwater harvesting, vermiculture and solar panels

Love knows no limits

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Bring on the rains

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

“BRTS is a complex system comprising of simple, low cost elements as compared to any other mass transport system. It appears that the implementation of BRT projects is being done half-heartedly without understanding the real comprehensive concept of BRTS.” — Prashant Inamdar Convenor, Pedestrians First

Rescued son of Pak exPM returns home after three years in captivity P 13

No mercy even at Mother Theresa School?

RTE and delayed school admissions

Mother Theresa School refuses to admit students under RTE owing to outstanding fees dues unpaid by the government

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma The aim of the Right to Education Act was to ensure that children from economically poor backgrounds could get quality education while the government paid the expenses. So what happens when the government doesn’t fulfill its promise? Well, Mother Theresa School in Wadgaon Sheri, Pune is refusing to admit more students under RTE as the government has not paid the school the total fees.

Run by the charitable Jai Jawan Education Society, the school had admitted children under RTE in the previous academic year, but has refused to do so this year. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Education Department says that the school has refused to participate in the procedure though its name has been allotted to quite a few parents in the lottery.

The school has taken this step allegedly because of financial tussles it has had with the state government.

“They had admitted students last year, but their fees had not been received in time. So they are demanding fees before admissions now,” said Vaishali Pandhare, an official at the PMC Education department. Department

sources put down the pending fees at around Rs 2,23,000. Of this, Rs 1,45,000 was paid to the school by the end of the academic year 2015-2016.

“The outstanding amount is because the government hasn’t cleared funds,” Pandhare said.

The school authorities are firm on not negotiating with the education department. Parents say that the school has denied them even the forms, and refuse to admit more children. They wonder why students are made to suffer since the school has issues with the authorities. “The aim of RTE is that our children from poor families do suffer because of their economic status.

The parents have written numerous letters to the education department.

“We have received one letter daily for a week,” said Pandhare, who attends to parents’ grievances. She and higher have spoken to the school authorities but they refuse to budge.

The education department sent supervisor Mandakini Sonawane, who threatened the school with strict action. But the school insists on clearing the dues before starting the admission process, and that the fees are paid in the beginning.

On its website, the school claims that “The Mother Theresa School was set up to fulfill the long felt need for education for economically weaker

section of the society.” Set up in 2002, the school has a pre-primary and secondary wings and junior college.

It was one of the few schools which had taken in a mandated number of students last year.

Principal Mrs Jayarani J was unavailable due to summer vacations.

An office staffer without disclosing her name confirmed the school’s stand.

“We are not a government funded organisation. Whatever we earn in way of fees is what we spend on our infrastructure and staff. We don’t know who is at fault, but we will not admit students until the government clears all our dues,” she said. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

Pune airport awaits land for expansion Airport authorities resort to survey to pinpoint cause of traffic bottlenecks at main entrance

BY SUSHANT RANJAN @sushantranjan The Pune International Airport authorities claim that the main entrance to the airport is free of traffic bottlenecks. But in April, they decided to do a survey to pinpoint the root of the problem. Airport authorities are awaiting the grant of land announced

by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and after getting the land, the airport will be expanded, which will resolve the issue of traffic at the main entrance.

Airport administration had given the contract to conduct a survey on traffic jams, to Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS), which concluded in April. The extra charge for vehicles that wait or are on the move for more than five minutes near the airport premises has led to traffic congestion outside the airport gate. They duration has been extended from five to seven minutes.

Airport Director Ajay Kumar said that there are more traffic snarls near the main entrance during peak hours.

“More than 1400 vehicles pass from the main entrance. We have given contract to DIMTS to conduct a survey to check how many vehicles enter the premises

and how many vehicles use this road to go somewhere else,” he said.

“They took more than one and half months for the survey. They foresee 5262 vehicles passing this area in peak hours in 2020, which will increase to 10,351 in 2030. We are awaiting Ministry of Defence’s final approval for 15.84 acres of land announced by Union Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari in August 2015. After we get the land, we will expand the terminal and parking space which will ease traffic congestion at the main entrance.” he said.

Airport officials said that the paperwork has been done and that the documents of final proposal have been submitted to Air Force officials.

According to Defence Estate Office (DEO) of Southern Command, Pune, those papers have been signed by both

sides on December 16, 2015.

DEO Dr D N Yadav said that the papers have been sent to MoD and final approval was awaited. “The 15.84 acres of land of Air Force has been signed from both sides. Total cost of land value is Rs 121.15 crore. The defence land is given to AAI on lease. The normal rent of land will be charged by 2.5 per cent and for commercial purpose the charge will be doubled. We have submitted all documents to MoD,” he said.

Aviation Expert & Analyst said, “The AAI has not been able to find an effective solution to vehicular traffic problems at the airport. This said to be quite chaotic especially during peak flight times.

The recent decision of AAI of levying charges of minimum Rs 85 on vehicles which took more than five minutes for dropping or picking up passengers from

the airport did not go down well with the passengers. The passengers were unhappy at this charge as not only was the time of five minutes insufficient but it was being charged by AAI without creating any additional facilities for them.”

“While a new airport is required to cater to the demands and fast paced growth of Pune, the situation of Pune’s air connectivity will ease up with the recent decision of the government to allot additional 15.84 acres of defence land to AAI for expansion of the Lohegaon airport. However, it must be ensured that 15 acres is strictly utilised by AAI only for creating infrastructure and facilities for the general air passengers, airlines and cargo movers” he said.

“There is a need at Pune Airport for separate terminals for domestic and international flights, sufficient passenger facilitation areas, a full-fledged, well equipped cargo complex with custom clearance facilities for import/export of cargo, cold storage facilities for perishable cargo like vaccines, agri products, a bus bay etc. Proper space as per their demand must also be provided to the airlines primarily for their engineering setup and storage of critical aircraft spares amongst other requirements” he said.

On Wednesday, a meeting was held in New Delhi with Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Pune Airport Director Ajay Kumar. The next meeting will held on Sunday in Pune. sushant.ranjan@goldensparrow.com

There seems no end to the Right to Education act imbroglio, what with the abysmally low admission rates across the state in the past year and delayed procedure this year. The admission process will be delayed further and the deadline for online registration extended as the school principals are on vacation.

The admission process began late April, unlike in February last year. The initial delay has disrupted the schedule.

“When the online application and form submission started, vacations had already begun. Getting the principal’s signature requires several visits,” said the mother who wants admission in a Kondhwa school for her five-year-old boy.

“The vacations have begun so

Girl abandoned over dowry demand?

Social worker finds pregnant Nanded girl in a semi-conscious state near Chakan police station

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka Anita Jadhav (name changed), 20, had been going to Chakan police station to register a complaint against one Gajanan Rathod, 26, who had raped her under the pretext of marriage. The five months pregnant girl was found in a semi-conscious state under a tree at Chakan police station by Sangeeta Wankhede, Stree Shakti Sanstha, who admitted her to a government hospital in Chakan.

Anita, a science graduate, hails from Nanded. She met Gajanan a couple of years ago when she was working in a private company. Both of them are from the Banjara community, but Anita’s family was opposed to her marriage to Gajanan.

Gajanan brought Anita to Chakan seven months ago and raped her under the pretext of marriage. He told her that he had registered their names for a court marriage. Then he took her to a temple where they were married.

National Green Tribunal’s Pune bench faces staff crunch Staffers at NGT bench in Pune are paid lower salaries than workers in other benches

BY GARGI VERMA @missgverma The National Green Tribunal is reeling under a shortage of staff at its western zonal bench. The Pune bench of the National Green Tribunal has only seven permanent and 20 contractual staff who handle 20-30 cases a month.

While the numbers are steep, their biggest resonance is felt by the litigants and lawyers who have to wait days for simple and routine official procedures.

The NGT is a centralised quasijudicial body funded by the Ministry

of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The principal bench of the Tribunal is in New Delhi and four other zonal benches work together to pass judgments on violation of environmental laws and creation of pollution. The Western Zonal Bench in Pune was set up as late as 2012, while the Central Zonal is in Bhopal, Southern Zonal in Chennai and Eastern Zonal in Kolkata. None of the benches have enough staff but the situation is dire in Pune.

“I am a new employee and my seniors wanted me to prepare for a case.

I came here to collect the literature.

Since it is close to 200 pages, I have been asked to wait for a month as they don’t have manpower,” said a lawyer requesting anonymity. “At least here we are talking about a bulk of pages.

In my case, it was just a sheaf of five papers. They turned me down stating the crunch of employees as an issue,” said another lawyer.

The NGT Pune bench does all the filing work manually as only the Principal bench uploads the orders and does the online filing. This puts additional strain on the limited staff, some of whom are attached to the judges, and thus not pre-disposed to other work.

“We rely heavily on contractual staffs who are employed for six months only. Even then, they are not exactly trained. So it’s a never ending cycle of people coming and learning their jobs. By the time they have learnt their tenure gets over and they leave. This delays our work tremendously,” said an office staffer on the condition of

anonymity.

A few weeks ago the Supreme Court Chief Justice T S Thakur had commented on how the judiciary needs around 70,000 more judges.

This indicates that all the judicial and quasi-judicial bodies are facing a shortage on all fronts. But the Pune bench crunch is because of the low salaries in comparison to other benches. While the salary for permanent staff is more or less same in all the benches, the contractual staff salary is variable. This is somehow lower for the Pune bench than all the other benches. While a consultant appointed on a contractual basis in Chennai is paid Rs 27,000 per month, a consultant in Pune gets only Rs 20,000 per month. Similar pay variations exist in all grades. A

school principals are hard to find,” said another parent. This has stalled the form filing process. The Pune Municipal Corporation has decided to extend the deadline for online registration.

“The May 4 deadline was forwarded to May 7 and then May 14. It will be extended by at least a week as principals would join duty after May 15,” said an education department official requesting anonymity.

But the department refuses to take any blame. “Parents do not fill the forms correctly, or fill in different details in different forms. This has delayed the process,” said the official.

If the initial steps take so much time, what will happen when the admissions begin.

Data Entry operator in Bhopal gets paid more than, almost double than one at Pune. “The work is the same, if not more. But the pay variation exists hugely. So, not many people wish to come and work here, even on contractual basis,” said an office member.

The Registrar of the Pune Bench, Suresh Karhale, believes that it is the government’s prerogative to provide or take away staff. “The central government provides us with staff.

They decide if we have enough staff or not. It is not right for me to say anything about it. The government has given us enough and we are managing fine. We are one of the most active tribunal benches in the country,” he said. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

When she got pregnant, Gajanan said that he was taking her to his village, but abandoned her at a bus stop in Nanded.

Gajanan’s parents told her to live with her parents and later told her to bring Rs eight lakh as dowry. Anita then went to the police in Nanded who told him to contact Pune police.

But the Chakan police station staff ignored her. After Wankhede insisted on an FIR, police registered the case under section 498 (domestic violence) of the IPC against Gajanan.

“He should be charged with section 376 of IPC (commits rape) as he sexually assaulted her under the pretext of marriage,” Wankhede said.

Chakan Police Station Assistant Police Inspector Mahesh Dhawan who is investigating the case, said that Gajanan can be charged under section 498 as they were in a relationship and marriage was proposed. “We have registered her complaint and our officials contacted Gajanan who is presently in Waki village in Parabhani. The girl also called him but he refused to come to Pune. Our officials will now take further steps to bring him to Pune,” Dhawan said. priyankka.deshpande @goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

“I hope that the queer rights movement can bring social change and, with it, the understanding that everyone regardless of their age, gender, race, appearance, sexual orientation, or disability have the right to be free of discrimination.”

— Xiaogang Wei, Director, Beijing Gender Health Education Institute

PUNE

“If we continue to adopt double standards in dealing with terrorism it will have serious consequences not just for our own countries, but the international community as a whole.”

— Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister

BY SALONEE MISTRY @SaloneeMistry

Shubhangi Koparkar, 57, opted for early retirement from her microbiology professor post at Garware College. She wanted to devote herself to social work, and she embarked on her mission to work for welfare of the needy. Her scope of work ranged from rehabilitating women from red light areas, the welfare of orphans and rural children by providing them education.

Shubhangi Koparkar She has been associated with Ahmednagar-based Snehalaya for a few years.

About five years ago, in her travels to villages in and around Pune, she noticed the glaring lack of the absolute essentials at the rural schools. Village schools are provided textbooks by the government, but there is no provision for notebooks. The children had the desire to study, but not having a notebook to write in, was a big handicap and hindrance to progress. She set her mind on finding a way to do what she could to provide these deprived village children with the essentials for their education. Her solution was to ask close friends and family members to donate unused notebooks, which she would then pass on to the needy children.

“I’m a teacher and it was painful to see that these children who really wanted to get an education were being hampered by a lack of notebooks. While we in the city discard and throw away notebooks that are not used without a second thought,” she said.

In the fi rst year she collected 1000 notebooks, and the numbers have been rising ever since. In 2015 the number went up to 5000 plus, and her target for 2016 is 7000.

It sounds easier than you think, and Koparkar has to put in a great deal of effort to accomplish what she has. From connecting with prospective donors

RAHUL RAUT

College professor quit her job to start Gift a Notebook drive Military tourism with ‘Veer Yatra’ to collecting the notebooks, sorting them out and distributing them to the village schools, there is lot that must be done.

Initially Koparkar had to visit the schools personally and find out how man notebooks they needed. Now that they know of her, the schools that need her help approach her and inform her about how many and what books they need. “It gives me immense joy and satisfaction when I am able to provide the notebooks for these village children who really need them. Their faces light up when they receive brand new notebooks and their smiles speak a thousand words. It spurs me on to gather even more notebooks for them next year,” she said.

To donate to Koparkar’s cause, donors must buy the notebooks and donate them. The notebooks can be full scape, half scape, 100 pages, 200 pages, hard bound, soft bound, and with any type of lines. The notebook collection centres are in Navi

Peth, Kothrud and Bibwewadi. If a donor wants to contribute five dozen or more notebooks, Koparkar and her colleagues will collect them from your place, and you will also be informed about the names of the schools who receive the notebooks, including receipts and thank you letters. It is such a transparent process.

Neena Inamdar and Faeq Kazi are Koparkar’s comrades-in-arms, who are by her side in this mission. Inamdar, who runs a fabric business, is ever willing to help in the collection of notebooks from all corners of town. Kazi, who owns Aqsa, a stationery shop, near Garware College, helps her finding the most economical notebooks.

Koparkar’s recent notebooks collection drive continues till the end of May, and you can also contribute by dropping into any of the Papillon Salons at Ganesh Nagar, Navi Peth and Erandwane, where you can buy the books and donate them. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

Families of construction workers need not be deprived

BY RASHMEET TALUJA @rashmeet_taluja

Petronella Eates, a city based school teacher and social worker started ‘Mitr - A friend indeed’, a non-profit organisation, two years ago. Mitr works towards imparting informal education and providing nutrition and counselling to children of construction site workers, who were her primarily focus, until it came to her that the mothers of these children were hugely lacking in confidence. ‘Confident mothers make confident children’, was the thought that spurred her next actions. She wished to instill in these women a sense of identity, and empowerment. Thus it came about that Mitr’s self-help group for women was launched on July 1, 2015, on the auspicious occasion of the organisation’s fi rst anniversary. The group’s base is a community centre hall at a Magarpatta construction site.

“We currently have eight active members, who are the wives of migrant construction workers. It is a joy to have the group making such progress. The women are eager to learn new skills that include quilling, jewellery-making, stone art on paper and an acrylic base, and simple techniques for dyeing cloth, stitching and painting diyas. The

women are of course, taught free of cost, and all the materials are provided

by Mitr,” said Eates.

The workshops are planned at such times so that Petronella Eates they do not disrupt their household chores, including preparing and serving the husbands their mid-day meals. So the workshops are held in the evenings and last an hour or two.

For the women, it is a cathartic experience to be able to use their new found skills and abilities to create beautiful products, not to mention the sense of empowerment. The fi rst time they see their creations wrapped, packaged and put up for sale, is a big thrill. “They are amazed to see how good the things they have made look, as well as the people who come to their stalls and buy these articles. It is a glowing sense of achievement. For once they are able to do something other than the drudgery of cooking and cleaning, something artistic even.

Chitra (name changed) felt an immense feeling pride and achievement, when she took a set of

acrylic diya holders she had made to her village. To her joy, she heard words of praise from her mother-in-law’s lips, and this in the presence of all the neighbourhood women. Her motherin-law now sees Chitra as a different person almost, and their relationship is all the better for it.

The women’s group received bulk orders for lavish parties and weddings from the city’s elite, and what they make ranges from diyas, torans for doors and acrylic tea holders to embroidered handkerchiefs, bandhini scarves, sling bags and bookmarks.

Part of the profits from the sale of these products is distributed among the women, while some of it is invested in procuring raw material for future projects. Their work was exhibited at the 8th Yellow Ribbon Fair at Ishanya Mall in 2015, and their seasonal collections have been exhibited at various venues during holidays.

And rightly enough, the attitude of these women’s children towards their mums has undergone a sea change, since now they are able to earn a living from their newly acquired skills.

“The children call their mothers entrepreneurs, and it invariably makes the mothers smile,” said Eates. Mission accomplished. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

A state-run body of ex-servicemen from Maharashtra has initiated ‘Veer Yatra’, an effort to showcase the military might and glory to people.

Maharashtra Ex-servicemen Corporation (MESCO) has envisaged to give a boost to ‘military tourism’ in the country through the Veer Yatra, Col (Retd) Suhas Jatkar, Managing Director of MESCO, told reporters here.

Different tours are designed for different age groups, he said. “The project will showcase the institutions such as National Defence Academy, Armed Forces Medical College, College of Military Engineering, war memorials, military posts, Army workshops, Naval bases, warfare centres, war museums and certain spots including Sino-Indian border at Nathu La Pass, Indo-Pak border, that would instill patriotism in the civil society,” he said.

Asserting that the military, its heroic feats, pursuits and wars form an important part of the world history, Jatkar said, the yatra would help to generate people’s interest in the armed forces.

“Military tourism is a wellestablished concept worldwide but it has not been dealt with in a structured way in India so far,” he said, adding the various facets of defence mechanism and its evolution need to be explored in detail.

“The project not only aims to give people the opportunity to experience the valour and glory of the military, but also would be instrumental in inculcating a sense of patriotism among the citizens, in particular the children and youth,” he said.

The initiative would also provide meaningful and gainful employment to ex-servicemen and army widows, he said

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

How ca

wast

when s go hun

Employees queueing up to get their food at Tata Technologies and an employee depositing a clean plate at the counter after his meal (right)

Every time someone at our table wastes food, they have to pay a fine

Aditya Joshi, the team manager of corporate planning at Tata Technologies, Hinjawadi, and his colleagues have their own rules about not wasting food. “Every time someone at our table wastes food, they have to pay a fine. It started with just Rs 20, and though not very often, the numbers of food wasters were still high back then. Now the fine has been increased to Rs 100, and in the last year we collected only Rs 700. It may not seem like a lot, but it is a start,” Joshi said. The money thus collected, is donated to an NGO that provides food to the poor.

Other company employees have devised different ways of dealing with food wastage. Like a person who wastes food has to pay for

everyone’s meal the next day.

Yogesh Bhalerao is the canteen manager at Tata Technologies, and he is aware of the responsibility to reduce or avoid food wastage. He keeps close tabs on the amount of food that the employees waste, as well as the wastage at the counter.

“The numbers were huge when we started off. There was a lot of food wastage by the employees as well as from the counter. We then started monitoring the consumption and the numbers are decreasing. We even ensure that there is minimal wastage in the kitchen, and also make sure that the food is palatable to everyone. There is still a long way to go, but we are headed in the right direction,” Bhalerao said.

Food is wasted when people do not like what they are eating

So many Indians The food wastage board at Tata Technologies displaying the amount of food wasted per plate at the counter and how many people could have been fed

Persistent Systems Limited, associate general manager Arvind Indalkar said, “We ensure that the food that we serve is just like what one gets at home. This makes people believe that they are eating at home, and we never waste food cooked by our mothers. Caterers or companies need to understand that food is generally wasted when people do not like what they are eating. Getting rid of this is a great start. There is a big process and lots of work before you are able to eat a meal, beginning with the farmer and ending with the chef or waiter who serve you the food. When you waste food, you disrespect and put down the efforts of all these people. It is not just about practicing this in the boundaries of your work space, but the vision is to make it an unconscious effort, a habit.”

Persistent has set up a tab in their

canteen which allows employees to rate the food and offer suggestions. This data is gathered every fortnight, after which the admin staff meet with the caterers and sort out issues if there are any. The company that serves meals to its 2100 work force, and the daily wastage of food is a mere 12 kg.

“I joined Persistent two and a half years ago. Even then the practice of putting up food wastage details on a whiteboard was in place, and I think it has had a positive impact. It makes us cautious every time we eat which is important. Everyone in the office is certainly careful in the portions to begin with, and they serve themselves the amounts of food they can finish. I think this is the ideal way of minimising wastage,’’ said Varun Parundekar, software engineer, Persistent.

Food wastage details entered on the board placed righ

An employee at Persistent entering her suggestion on the tab placed in the canteen for feedback on the quality of food

“Every time someone at our table wastes food, they have to pay a fine. It started with just Rs 20, and though not very often, the numbers of food wasters were still high back then. Now the fine has been increased to Rs 100, and in the last year we collected only Rs 700. It may not seem like a lot, but it is a start” - Aditya Joshi, Team Manager Corporate Planning, Tata Technologies

Star hotels would rather dump excess food than give it away to the poor Star hotels in the city don’t seem to care much about food wastage. They lay out buffets every day for their high-end clients, and at dump what is leftover. Most star hotels in the city have grand buffets, believe in dumping the food than giving it away to the poor. We took a trip to most of the star properties and found their staff dumping the food once the buffet was over.

When TGS confronted them, management of most hotels were tight lipped

about the food wastage. Off the record they told us that it is their policy to dump as they do not want complications involved with giving away food. A common answer was that if a person to whom the excess food has been given away for free falls sick after eating, then their brand would get a bad name.

The big names like the JW Marriot, Taj Vivanta, Westin and Conrad refused to respond when team TGS asked them about the excess food made daily citing administrative

reasons and stands, many others said that they do not prepare excess.

There were, however, a few who have found a way across the narrow path of food wastage, or so they claim. One of them is Courtyard by Marriot, Pune city centre located in Camp.

The chef over there, Mihir Kane believes in using everything to its extent, with recycling being the prime concern. He says, “In the kitchen, our aim is to make the best possible use of the entire vegetable; once the main

parts are used for cooking, the roots and stems of vegetables make an excellent stock and also once thoroughly cleaned, these parts can be used in making pastes and marinades too due to their strong flavours. What’s more, the skin of few vegetables makes excellent manure for our in-house potted plants.”

Talking about the cooked food that once made can’t be used for much, he says, “We try and minimise food wastage by cooking quantities based on the occupancy level at the hotel.” However, the hotel policy doesn’t allow them to give away the food to the needy. He explains, “If the food is taken out of the hotel, we do not have control over all external factors such as weather, storage, transportation of the food which can lead to

contaminat dispose of t away and r do they disp can make a generally d anonymity.

Anoth food wastag Chinchwad they feed th the buffet d as possible b controlled b of food. W in the coffe what goes in

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

an we

In India, around 194 million people starved in 2014-15 as per a UN report. The number is on the rise. In a bid to turn things around, several corporate houses in Pune are now stressing on the need to minimise food wastage and have come up with innovative methods. Then, there are those who are taking from the rich and feeding the poor

te food

BY SALONEE MISTRY GARGI VERMA AND RASHMEET TALUJA @TGSWeekly

so many ngry?

PICS BY RAHUL RAUT

I

ndia stands out in the world for its shocking statistics on food wastage.

One third of all food produced in India is wasted. We waste as much food as is consumed by the UK, and according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation’s report of 2014, 17 per cent of Indians are actually undernourished.

Be that as it may, you would not be to blame if, in the corporate sector’s multi-storeyed, air conditioned corridors you never had a thought about people who do not get even one meal a day. And it is also a high-pressure environment, where you must be able to deliver results that justify your six-figure monthly pay cheque. Caught amidst the daily whirl and extended work schedules, subscribing to charity or social causes may never cross your mind. But there are corporates who believe in giving back to society, who are aware of and are willing to take up the yoke of social responsibility, and for a start, are changing mindsets within the boundaries of their own work premises. They are resorting to innovative ways to change the attitudes of their employees towards the basic human needs of food, which we seem to take for granted in urban zones. This involves putting up signboards detailing the amounts of wasted food, suggestions to reduce the wastage, and more. Then there are posters, statistics on television screens and tabs, and mailers sent to employees, to underline and spotlight the message and endeavour to curb food wastage. The message has trickled down to the caterers who supply food to these firms, who have not only seen a striking change in terms of the food consumption, but are themselves taking measures to reduce the wastage of food.

TGS visited the cafeterias of some IT companies in the city and spoke these people who are taking the lead in making people aware about how precious a commodity food is, when there are millions and even billions across the globe who are unable to get three square meals a day. It is easy to forget this in a city like Pune, where common people are now splurging on eating out, the food and catering sector is flourishing like never before, and entrepreneurs are devising high-end gourmet menus for those who have both the yen for food and are willing to pay exorbitant prices to pamper their taste buds. The ‘waste not’ initiative of these conscientious IT firms is beginning to pay dividends, and the statistics on the curbing of food wastage are heartening in more ways than one.

Besides the conscientious corporates, there are some aware and concerned people in the city, who are in the company of like-minded individuals, are thinking of constructive ways whereby the food that is wasted so uncaringly, in such gargantuan amounts, could instead be collected and transported to those who would otherwise go to bed hungry, night after night. These Samaritans collect food which would otherwise be thrown away from highend restaurants and five star hotels, and deliver it to the hungry.

There is still a long way to go, and the curbing of food wastage in corporate set-ups, and the efforts of a handful of groups of people are the first baby steps in a scenario that, broadly speaking, concerns each one of us.

s are unable to feed themselves and their families

ht above the counter where you deposit your plates by an employee. The food is weighed everyday and fresh statistics are displayed daily

tion by harmful bacteria. Hence, we the leftover food rather than giving it risking contamination.” How exactly pose it off is not explained, but anyone a guess. The food, mixed with trash is dumped, said a hotel staff requesting . her restaurant that claims to minimise ge is Double Tree by Hilton located in d. According to their chef Japvir Vohra, heir staff from the food left over from dinners. “We try to waste as little food by cooking in batches. Wastage is also by proper storage and transportation What we have left over from the buffet ee shop is fed to our team to minimise n the bin,” he said.

Cybage launched their ‘Save Food Campaign’ to stop food wastage about two years ago, and over this time the wastage of food has reduced significantly.

There is a signboard above the canteen counter, reminding employees not to waste food.

“These boards generally show the amounts of wasted food and how many hungry people it could have fed. The hope was that these numbers would strike a chord with our employees, and the good news is that they have had a great impact. We hand out badges of appreciation to those who deposit clean plates at the counter, which are an incentive to continue with the practise so that it becomes an involuntary habit,” said Elston Pimenta, head of the human resources department at Cybage.

“Wasting food is not an option in my dictionary any more. Being a part of the CSR team, I know the importance of the issue and how there is still a long way to go. We are trying to come up with more solutions and options that will give people an incentive to not waste food. So many people sleep on an empty stomach since they don’t earn enough to feed themselves and their families. Having access to surplus food, this is the least we can do,” said Mandar Pophale, CSR Executive, Cybage.

“I joined Persistent two and a half years ago. Even then the practice of putting up food wastage details on a whiteboard was in place, and I think it has had a positive impact.

It makes us cautious every time we eat which is important. Everyone in the office is certainly careful in the portions to begin with, and they serve themselves the amounts of food they can finish. I think this is the ideal way of minimising wastage. Charging fines for wasted food could be another option to curb reckless dumping of excess food.”

Varun Parundekar, Software Engineer, Persistent

Leftovers from the lavish wedding reception could have fed 5000 hungry people

Ankit Kawatra, the founder of Feeding India, happened to attend a grand wedding, with 10,000 invitees, and where more than 35 varieties of cuisines were offered. It set off a train of thought, and Kawatra was curious about how the excess food would be dealt with.

He lingered on till the end of the reception, and then to his dismay saw loads of leftover food dumped into garbage bins. The leftovers could have fed 5000 hungry people, he thought. That was the moment Kawatra was stuck with the notion to do something about such conspicuous waste of food, in a country like India. He quit his cushy job and a promising MNC career, to set up Feeding India.

“What is food wastage for one is food security for another.

Feeding India focuses on providing food to children, women, the handicapped and the elderly. We have partnered with shelter homes and donation centres which cater to such people. We also track their nutrition levels to check how far they have come from malnutrition to a healthy state,” Kawatra said.

Feeding India is raising money for India’s first refrigerated food truck in Pune. The ‘Magic Truck’ will run 24x7, and serve 2000 meals a day, 365 days a year. In the last year, more than 1000 student volunteers have joined Feeding India, serving meals to 6,00,000 people, across 23 cities in India.

A Feeding India volunteer with the children after they have had a meal

During a festive season, they have delivered 300 kg of food to the hungry

The non governmental organisation (NGO) Beyond Self is the brainchild of Madhu Thakur, Mahesh Mulchandani, Sainath Shetty, Dhiraj Chhabria, and Tanvi Saxena.

They too were motivated to launch their endeavour by the obscene wastage of food at lavish wedding receptions.

Beyond Self has been extended supported by the alumni of Maharashtra State Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Panchsheel Foundation and Bindra’s Hospitality Services. Their aim is to mobilise, harness and empowering children, youth, women and people at large to combat hunger and poverty. There are huge amounts of excess food that is generally thrown away at lavish weddings and large gatherings. Beyond Self volunteers collect such food that would otherwise go into the garbage bin, and deliver it to the hungry and needy people, such as the residents of slums.

They are also connected with caterers, who inform them about excess food, and during a festive season, they have been able to deliver 300 kg of food to the people who need it the most.

Taking from the rich to give to the poor

Neel Ghose who handles the international operations for Zomato and Anand Sinha, CEO of PressPlay, had a simple objective in mind when they set up Robin Hood Army in Delhi in August 2014, based on Robin Hood’s notion of taking from the rich to give to the poor.

“A few weeks ago, a small boy walked up to me and asked me for food, saying that he was utterly famished. He said that his mother was a beggar and that he was dying of hunger. I gave him some food, his eyes lit up, he smiled, thanked me and ran off,” said Hena Chandan, a volunteer with the Robin Hood Army.

Such little incidents are what motivate the volunteers. The Robin Hood Army volunteers have established contact with city restaurants like Foodies at NIBM, Terttulia and High Spirits at Koregaon Park, from where they collect excess food and deliver it to the hungry, near Pune station, Koregaon Park and slum areas. RHA volunteers are known ‘didi and bhaiyya in green clothes’ by the poor children they feed.

A RHA voluntter serving food to the street children in Pune

tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

TECH/START-UP

PUNE

“Motorola’s has developed an edible password pill which once digested, is activated by the acid in your stomach emitting an 18 bit signal which is strong enough to communicate and unlock all your devices and is also FDA approved.”

— http://crazyfacts.com/

Amended Draft of Anti-Torture Bill ready: Govt P 12

Now get gourmet food made exclusively for you at doorstep Hauskhaas delivers home-made gourmet meals at customers’ doorsteps, with a new app

BY RASHMEET TALUJA @rashmeet_taluja Fifteen years after founding and running a software company called Calsoft, city based entrepreneur Sharmila Bhide has launched a novel concept, which will ensure for her customers authentic home-cooked meals prepared by skilled chefs. She has curated an aggregator online food platform called Hauskhaas, with the aim of delivering fresh, home-made dishes to a customer’s doorstep.

She has handpicked her chefs, and also planned a menu that changes every day, which offers a choice of 15 Indian and ten international cuisines. Bhide’s app will allow food lovers to order meals that they can relish in the comfort of their homes, with friends and family.

“Our menu is not run-of-the-mill, and is nothing like a regular restaurant menu.

We want foodies to enjoy dishes they don’t find in the most authentic form in the city, preparations like Hungarian Goulash Lamb with Noodles, Fanasachi Biryani, Kolhapuri Lonche Chicken, Burmese Khowsuey, Kosho Mongsho made in the farthest corner of Bengal, fresh Alphonso mango cake, Australian dessert called

Sharmila Bhide talks about her passion for food and launching a unique app for foodies in the city

Pavlov and lots more,” Bhide said. Of the 100 chefs who had applied for the job, she has selected 25, who own hygenic kitchens, understand the portion size and importance of using authentic ingredients. She asked the applicants to sand her samples of their three top dishes. “They had to first pass the flavour test. If the flavour is absolutely spot-on, only then do I consider enrolling a hauschef on Hauskhaas,” she said.

Bhide’s passion for food developed during her travels around the world with her family. “To really experience a country and its culture, you need to drive through its villages and eat at hole-in-the-wall kind of places.

Once our rented car broke down near a small settlement somewhere in Italy. We were really hungry so we ate an authentic Italian lunch at an eatery run by a local family, who

even joined us at the table and we all got talking about our love for food. I think food is an enabler to good times, all the barriers of nationality, religion or gender disappear when people bond over food,” she said.

About her journey to find hauschefs in the city, she said, “The best part about my job is to meet different people, go to their kitchens and try the delicious meals prepared by them.

This in a way has empowered so many homemakers, because they can earn a revenue from their talent.” She met a 65-year-old grandmother with very little technical savvy but with a passion for authentic Kolhapuri food. She didn’t have a WhatsApp or email account, but now she is a tech-savvy woman working in the food tech space, which has given her a whole new purpose and an outlet for her cooking skills. Bhide also has

expats from different countries participate as hauschefs in her new venture.

What differentiates Hauskhaas from other food delivery start-ups? She said, “We understand food well, so our menu is unique and we don’t keep cooked dishes in a freezer in any central kitchen. The meals are prepared fresh as they are pre ordered and are delivered straight to the customers from the hauschef ’s kitchen.” About the challenges, she said, “We had to lay down guidelines for quality control. Standardising the portion size, ensuring the meals are delivered in microwave friendly boxes in the right consistency was cumbersome initially, but now we have that all figured out. We even have a reviews and food ratings section so every chef gets feedback on every meal, thus keeping them on their toes. ” She isn’t keen on marketing Hauskhaas with unrealistic discounts, although there are no delivery charges but good food comes at a price. She and her husband Manoj Nair have invested a couple of crores in this venture and she hopes to break even in 12-18 months.

About her plans, she said, “We hope to expand to other cities but for now one city at a time. Our pilot run in Aundh, Baner, Kothrud and Model Colony areas has been successful. We have had many repeat customers, and now we are expanding into Kalyaninagar, Camp, Koregaon Park and Viman Nagar.” tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

New ‘smart’ paper can Space mission to respond to gestures ‘weigh’ forests Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have created ‘smart’ paper with sensing capabilities that can respond to gesture commands and connect to the digital world.

The method relies on small radio frequency (RFID) tags that are stuck on, printed or drawn onto the paper to create interactive, lightweight interfaces that can do anything from controlling music using a paper baton, to live polling in a classroom.

The technology - PaperID - leverages inexpensive, off-the-shelf RFID tags, which function without batteries but can be detected through a reader device placed in the same room as the tags.

Using the technology, connecting real-world items such as a paper airplane or a classroom survey form to an Internet of Things environment may be possible, researchers said.

“These little tags, by applying our signal processing and machine learning algorithms, can be turned into a multi-gesture sensor,”

said lead author Hanchuan Li, a doctoral student at University of Washington.

Each tag has a unique identification, so a reader’s antenna can pick out an individual among many. “The interesting aspect of PaperID is that it leverages commodity RFID technology thereby expanding the use cases for RFID in general and allowing researchers to prototype these kind of interactive systems without having to build custom hardware,” said Shwetak Patel, professor at University of Washington.

PTI

A pioneering space mission to “weigh” the earth’s forests, whose 3D images can be used in future as a reference point by nations negotiating treaties to better manage forests, has moved a step closer to its launch following the signing of a contract to build the technology.

The BIOMASS mission, led by Professor Shaun Quegan from the University of Sheffield’s School of Mathematics and Statistics, will use a revolutionary radar system to create a 3D map of the world’s forests in order to improve our understanding of how carbon is cycled through the earth system.

The mission’s data will strengthen research into climate change and may be used as a reference point by nations

The mission’s data will strengthen research into climate change

World’s first holographic flexible smartphone developed The image allows users to inspect a 3D object from any angle simply by rotating the phone TORONTO: Scientists claim to have developed the world’s first holographic flexible smartphone that lets users interact with 3D videos and images without any headgear or glasses.

The device, dubbed HoloFlex, is capable of rendering 3D images with motion parallax and stereoscopy to multiple simultaneous users without head tracking or glasses.

“HoloFlex offers a completely new way of interacting with your smartphone. It allows for glasses-free interactions with 3D video and images in a way that does not encumber the user,” said Roel Vertegaal, from Queen’s University in Canada.

HoloFlex features a 1920x1080 full high-definition Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode (FOLED)

touchscreen display.

Images are rendered into 12-pixel wide circular blocks rendering the full view of the 3D object from a particular viewpoint.

These pixel blocks project through a 3D printed flexible microlens array consisting of over 16,000 fisheye lenses. The resulting 160x104 resolution image allows users to inspect a 3D object from any angle simply by rotating the phone.

HoloFlex is also equipped with a bend sensor, which

allows for the user to bend the phone as a means of moving objects along the z-axis of the display.

Vertegaal envisions a number of applications for the new functionality of the HoloFlex technology. A first application is the use of bend gestures for Z-Input to facilitate the editing of 3D models, for example, when 3D printing.

Using the touchscreen, a user can swipe to manipulate objects in the x and y axes, while squeezing the display to

negotiating treaties to better manage forests across the planet.

Airbus UK will lead the construction of the satellite that will carry the radar system in space.

This system will measure the amount of woody biomass in the world’s forests, together with their height.

BIOMASS will be launched in 2021 as the seventh mission in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer programme. The programme aims to study the whole Earth system: the interactions between the Earth’s atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the planet’s interior as well as the impact that human activity has on the Earth’s natural processes.

PTI

move objects along the z-axis.

Due to the wide view angle, multiple users can examine a 3D model simultaneously from different points of view. “By employing a depth camera, users can also perform holographic video conferences with one another,” said Vertegaal.

“When bending the display users literally pop out of the screen and can even look around each other, with their faces rendered correctly from any angle to any onlooker,” he said.

HoloFlex also can be used for holographic gaming. In a game such as Angry Birds, users would be able to bend the side of the display to pull the elastic rubber band that propels the bird. When the bird flies across the screen, the holographic display makes the bird literally pop out of the screen in the third dimension.

PTI

E-comm, tech startups to rule hiring landscape E-commerce and tech startups are likely to dominate hiring landscape in the coming months as the sector is likely to witness a 23.6 per cent growth in jobs during AprilSeptember, says a report.

TeamLease Employment Outlook Report says the increase in consumer spending and the renewed focus on market expansion will have a positive impact on hiring. However, manufacturing & engineering and infrastructure seem to be bearing the brunt of negative sentiment created by the slow progress of Make in India initiative. Sales, IT and blue collar profiles will benefit substantially from the net positive sentiment. The rush to acquire driving and delivery skills seems to be boosting the demand for blue collar jobs.

“Make in India initiative which was the critical driver of employment sentiment over the past couple of half years seems to be losing its sheen. In fact, the job market is maturing and giving way to business growth leading hiring. We are confident the buoyancy created will stabilise the market and lead to job creation,” TeamLease Services Senior Vice President Kunal Sen said. Hiring is largely clustered in metros and Tier I cities. Except for Kolkata and Ahmedabad, most cities reported positive job outlook.

PTI

APP WORLD

Stay safe round the clock VithU

IOS/Android: Free This new emergency safety application was recently launched by a TV channel company Star India Pvt Ltd. Once installed, victims just have to press the smartphone power twice to activate the applications, then the handset automatically shoots distress messages to a set of pre-defined contacts and will continue to push geography data every two minutes to the guardian to track the real-time location of the victim. The VithU app is an interactive app which also gives safety tips for the user to take while under emergency situation and if the user is a victim or a witness of a crime, they can share (or report) experiences with Channel V.

iFollow-Ladies safety, SOS

IOS/Android: Free This is one of the ‘Nasscom sponsored FameApp contest’ awarding winning safety app developed by Aucupa Innovative Solutions. Once configured, victims just have to shake the phone three times in five seconds to activate the emergency safety system, and then it will call your first contact person and wait for the person to respond the call. If he/she doesn’t respond to the call iFollow will shoot a SMS along with your geo location to select personal contacts (max 3). After the first message, on every ten meters change in location, app will send sos distress message with new location details.

I’m Shakti

IOS/Android: Free This app is developed by a Bengaluru based start-up company Notion Ink. Once installed, victim just has to press the smartphone power button five times(within two seconds) to initiate the imShakti app.

The application will then shoot emergency SMSes containing the user’s geography location data to a set of pre-designated contacts. One notable feature of the app is that, if the location data is not available in the phone, the safety application will send emergency text message and phone will continue to find the location data and once found, it will once again send SMS with geography information.

spotNsave

IOS/Android: Free This is a new app released just a few days ago and is developed by a company with the same name ‘spot N save’.

If a user faces dire situations, the victim will only need to double tap smartphone power button. Once initiated, the application spotNsave will send SoS distress to guardians (or select contacts) every 2 minutes with you current and updated location through SMS. Other mentionable feature is that the app is also compatible with wristband (company’s very own accessory) via Bluetooth. If users are not able to reach out to phone, they can click buttons twice on the band to activate applications inside the phone.

SafetiPin

IOS/Android: Free SafetiPin is a personal safety app designed to keep you safe.It has a complete set of features; GPS tracking, emergency, important contact numbers, directions to safe locations, pins showing safe and unsafe areas,and a Safety Score.It goes well beyond typical women safety apps, and provides a wide range of features, that help you proactively plan and respond to situations affecting your personal safety. They create a community that gives ratings to particular place based on the security concerns and social activities as well.

ENVIRONMENT

As many as 95 per cent of smartphone users have used their phones during social gatherings

Smartphone addicts, take note!

People who use digital technology excessively may develop ADHDlike symptoms even if they are not diagnosed with the disorder, a new study has warned.

“With the internet in their pockets, people today are bombarded with notifications - whether from email, text messaging, social media or news apps - anywhere they go,” said Kostadin Kushlev from University of Virginia in the US. “We are s e e k i n g to better understand how this constant inf low o f

notifications inf luences our minds,” said Kushlev.

Recent polls have shown that as many as 95 per cent of smartphone users have used their phones during social gatherings; that seven in 10 people used their phones while working, said Kushlev. Smartphone owners spend nearly two hours per day using their phones, he added.

R e s e a r c h e r s designed a two-week experimental study and showed that when students kept their phones on ring or vibrate, they reported more symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity than when they kept their phones on silent.

“We found the first experimental evidence that smartphone interruptions can cause greater inattention and hyperactivity - symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - even in people drawn from a nonclinical population,” said K u s h l e v .

D u r i n g Kushlev ’s and his colleagues’ study, 221 students at the University of

Owners spend nearly two hours per day using their phones

New device to rapidly diagnose bacterial infections

Traditional culture-based diagnosis can take several days and requires specialised equipment, trained personnel

Currently, the cement exists in blue or green colour, and the light intensity can be regulated to avoid dazzling drivers

Scientists have created a new lightemitting cement that could last a hundred years and illuminate roads, highways or bicycle lanes at night by absorbing solar energy during the day.

Currently, the cement exists in blue or green colour, and the light intensity can be regulated to avoid dazzling drivers. “The main issue was that cement is an opaque body that doesn’t allow the pass of light to its interior,” said Jose Carlos Rubio, from Michoacan’s University of San Nicolas Hidalgo (UMSNH) in Mexico.

Rubio explained that common cement is a dust that when added to water dissolves like an effervescent pill. “In that moment it starts to become a gel, similar to the one used for hair styling, but much stronger and resistant; at the same time, some crystal flakes are formed, these are unwanted sub-products in hardened

cement,” Rubio said.

Due to this, researchers focused on modifying the micro-structure of the cement in order to eliminate crystals and make it completely gel, helping it to absorb solar energy and then return it to the environment as light.

By the morning, the building, road, highway or structure that is made out of this new cement can absorb solar energy and emit it during the night for around 12 hours, researchers said.

Rubio said that most fluorescent materials are made out of plastic and have an average of three years of life span because they decay with UV rays. However, the new cement is sunresistant and has an estimated lifespan of 100 years. The material is made out of sand, dust or clay that becomes the gel, and the only residue of its production is water vapour.

PTI

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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 ranging between 1.5 and 20 kms. All the members came back irked and disgruntled. The autorickshaw community let us down badly, as they do with

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 Then we tried our luck with private cabforgot operators, to whomake were planners more entry and exit points. Over a decade more than were willing to oblige after saying is true. But what they andHinjewadi take us wherever we was wanted planned to house country’s best IT firms and are not telling us or willing to to go, for a price of course. talent, planners concede is that their enemy lies In some cases, the have cab fare finally woken up to the plight of citizens. within. Their enemy number one worked out cheaper than what They have now planned five alternative roads. But the authorities is not private cabs but members the auto drivers were asking us 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 Spotlight Pg 8 and 9

BHOSARI

4 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

the FIR and kept in touch with “We are feeling fitheled investigating officer and public prosecutor The director is let down by the PUNE, MARCH 14, 2015throughout. | www.thegoldensparrow.com yet to get a copy of the order. prosecution The case dates back to February when some of the students and the system. 2013 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 turn informed the principal and not how to face inmanagement.

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

CHINCHWAD

THERGAON

RAHUL RAUT

RITU GOYAL HARISH

ALANDI

AKURDI

RAVET

Sab golmal hai...

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

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

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

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

We believe we were on the right,”

CHIKHALI

KIWALENIGDI

~ Suit filed by the siblings

What a mess!

Teacher booked for sexually abusing 22 students acquitted

Parents teach them more than exams do P 10

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

~ Suit filed by the siblings

And yet no respite for commuters

DR VIJAYPAT SINGHANIA

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

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

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

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

CITY

Truly, a tree lady P4

PICS ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

DITCH THE

GAUTAM SINGHANIA

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

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

The system allows for accurate genetic testing in a simple device

Bhutan is a global role model on issues of climate change and environmental conservation as the country absorbs three times more carbon dioxide than it emits, the US has said.

Bhutan is investing in clean energy and its constitution requires the country to maintain at least 60 per cent forest cover and it now boasts 72 per cent coverage, said Indian-American Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal.

“Bhutan is a global role model on issues like climate change and environmental conservation,” Biswal told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing on South Asia convened by the House Foreign Aff airs Committee.

It actually absorbs three times more carbon dioxide than it emits, making the country carbon negative and it has pledged to remain carbon neutral in perpetuity, she said.

“Despite its small size, Bhutan also contributes to global peacekeeping operations, with a small number of personnel that serve in eight different UN missions worldwide - and it looks to expand its contributions further,” Biswal said.

While the latest State Department’s annual budget does not request any bilateral funds for Bhutan, Biswal said the US Government will continue to strengthen its educational and cultural ties and support Bhutan’s participation in international and regional forums.

“We will also encourage Congress to lend its support to our efforts to fi nd new avenues of cooperation with Bhutan,” Biswal added.

PTI

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

to specialised hospital laboratories, they said. The system dubbed PAD for Polarisation Anisotropy Diagnostics, allows for accurate genetic testing in a simple device. Bacterial RNA is extracted from a sample in a small, disposable plastic cartridge, researchers said.

Following polymerase chain reaction amplification of the RNA, the material is loaded into a two centimetre plastic cube containing optical components that detect target RNAs based on the response to a light signal of sequencespecific detection probes, they said. These optical cubes are placed on an electronic base station that transmits data to a smartphone or computer. Researchers used a prototype PAD system to test clinical samples from nine patients and compared the results with those acquired by conventional microbiology cultures.

Testing for the presence of five important bacterial species - E coli, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas and Staph aureus - produced identical results with both procedures.

PTI

Solar-powered cement developed

Bhutan global role model on climate change: US

Nature walks no boon for anxiety prone people Taking a peaceful walk in nature may not be a wise choice for everyone, according to a new study that found people who are prone to anxiety instead benefit from busy, urban environments.

“Previous literature says that natural environments tend to restore cognitive abilities better than urban environments, but we questioned whether this onesided perspective was accurate,” said lead author Kevin Newman, an assistant professor at Providence College in US. The researchers started by asking participants to perform tasks that drained them mentally, such as writing sentences without using the letters ‘A’ or ‘N’. Then participants answered questions that showed their level of neuroticism, such as whether they were a worrier, irritable, highly strung or experienced moods that often go up and down.

Then all the subjects performed tasks that exposed them to words or pictures associated with either a natural or urban environment. Surprisingly, the results showed that people with neurotic personalities had more success restoring their cognitive abilities after they viewed words related to a busy urban environment. The nature-related words, however, were more beneficial for people who were not generally neurotic.

Neurotic people may not necessarily have to go to a busy urban setting to restore themselves mentally. In fact, nature could provide frenetic, stressful cues when the participants were exposed to words like “bear,” “cliff ” and “thunder.”

Similarly, people low in neuroticism may not need to seek out nature to revive themselves mentally. Cues from a calm place in a busy city - such as a bookstore or library - restored participants in this category. The researchers also discovered that restoring the mind was tied to one’s ability to exert self-control. This correlation between environment and selfcontrol could have implications related to health outcomes, Newman said.

Neurotic participants had more financial discipline when they viewed safari vacation pictures and descriptions that matched their personality type.

They were more likely to stick to a limited vacation budget when they saw safari photos with lions gnashing teeth and rhinos charging, but this was not the case when they viewed photos with leopards sleeping and rhinos grazing.

PTI

PUNE

“The incorporation of exercise is an important component of an enriched environment and its benefits have been shown to be a powerful mediator of brain function and behaviour.”

— Peter K. Thanos, lead researcher, Institute on Addictions, New York

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

A new device which may shorten the time required to rapidly diagnose bacterial infections from days to hours has been developed by researchers.

The system would allow point-ofcare diagnosis, as it does not require the facilities and expertise available only in hospital laboratories, researchers said.

“Rapid and efficient diagnosis of the pathogen is a critical fi rst step in choosing the appropriate antibiotic regimen, and this system could provide that information in a physician’s office in less than two hours,” said Ralph Weissleder from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US. While considered the gold standard for diagnosing bacterial infections, traditional culture-based diagnosis can take several days and requires specialised equipment, trained laboratory personnel and procedures that vary depending on the particular pathogen, researchers said.

Emerging genetic approaches that identify bacterial species by their nucleic acid sequences are powerful but still require complex equipment and workflows, restricting such testing

British Columbia in Canada were assigned for one week to maximise phone interruptions by keeping notification alerts on, and their phones within easy reach.

During another week participants were assigned to minimise phone interruptions by keeping alerts off and their phones away.

At the end of each week, participants c o m p l e t e d questionnaires assessing inattention and hyperactivity.

The results showed that the participants e x p e r i e n c e d significantly higher levels of inattention and hyperactivity when alerts were turned on, researchers said.

The results suggest that even people who have not been diagnosed with ADHD may experience some of the disorder’s symptoms, including distraction, difficulty focusing and getting bored easily when trying to focus, fidgeting, having trouble sitting still, difficulty doing quiet tasks and activities, and restlessness, they said.

“Smartphones may contribute to these symptoms by serving as a quick and easy source of distraction,” said Kushlev.

PTI

MAY 14, 2016

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

Dangers of excessive smartphone usage

H EALTH

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

‘‘Encroachment on forest lands has been reported by various state and union territory governments. Protection and management of forests is primarily the responsibility of the concerned governments.”

— Prakash Javadekar, Environment Minister

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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

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

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

Saath Saath

When

HUNGER STRIKES past midnight

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

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

The Kamdars

Run for…

yourself

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

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PUNE

“Hope Modiji learns his lesson - people of this country and the institutions built by our founding fathers will not tolerate the murder of democracy!”

— Rahul Gandhi, Congress Vice President

Suspended JD(U) MLC’s house sealed

Debt waiver for farmers ruled out P 14

Amended Draft of Anti-Torture Bill ready: Govt Amendments have been made in the earlier bill including replacing the word ‘hurt’ with ‘hurt and torture’

GAYA: A day after being suspended from JD(U) in connection with recovery of liquor bottles from her house, the Excise department sealed MLC Manorama Devi’s residence and also intensified its efforts to arrest the absconding legislator.

Officials of Excise department with the help of police sealed the residence of the suspended MLC in posh Anugrah Puri colony, Senior Superintendent of Police Garima Mallik said.

The sealing of the house came in the wake of a case registered against the MLC with Rampur police station last night in connection with about 18 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) bottles recovered from her house during a search on Monday. The search was made for her son Rocky Yadav, who allegedly shot dead a youth, in Gaya on Saturday night. Police questioned a domestic help and a cook of the MLC about her whereabouts.

Trouble mounted on the legislator after her suspension from JD(U) last

night in connection with recovery of liquor bottles in dry state Bihar, and charge of hiding facts about her son Rocky Yadav who allegedly killed a class XIIth student Aditya Sachdeva after the car in which he was travelling overtook the SUV of the MLC’s son.

Wife of RJD strongman Bindi Yadav, Devi became MLC from JD(U) in 2015. Earlier, she was MLC from RJD from 2003 to 2009.

Earlier, a case was registered against her husband Bindi Yadav and son Rocky in connection with seizure of liquor bottles.

Meanwhile, a minor domestic help was found at her residence during the police search.

Sub Divisional Officer, Sadar, Vikash Kumar Jaiswal said officials of labour department have been called to look into the matter. He said a fresh case would be registered against Manorama Devi and her husband Bindi Yadav for employing child labour at their home.

PTI

NEW DELHI: Government has finalized an amended draft of an AntiTorture Bill and will soon bring it before Parliament, the Rajya Sabha was told.

“I cannot give a guarantee on time frame that it will be brought in so many months but I assure the House that a full-fledged draft bill has been prepared.

The draft has been sent to law ministry,” Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary said replying to questions about bringing for passage the amended Prevention of Torture Bill 2010 before Parliament. The minister said certain amendments have been made in the earlier bill including replacing the word “hurt” with “hurt and torture”.

“A proposal to suitably amend Section 330 and Section 331 of the Indian Penal Code is currently under examination,” he said in the written reply.

In the written reply, the minister said the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 was prepared as an enabling legislation to ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on May 5, 2010. The Rajya Sabha referred it to the Select Committee for scrutiny.

The Select Committee referred the Bill for enactment with certain modifications. Comments of state governments and Union Territory

202 crorepatis in Kerala polls NEW DELHI: A total of 202 crorepatis are in the fray in Kerala assembly elections to be held on Monday, while 311 have declared criminal cases against themselves, as per a latest survey.

“Out of the 1,125 candidates, 202 are crorepatis. 43 from INC, 24 from CPI(M), 18 from BJP, 18 from Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, 2 from AIADMK, 17 from IUML, 9 from Kerala Congress (M) and 30 independent candidates have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore and above in

their affidavits,” a survey by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.

The average assets per candidate in the Kerala assembly elections is Rs 1.28 crore.

“Out of the 1,125 candidates, 311 have declared criminal cases against themselves. 72 candidates from CPI(M), 42 from BJP, 37 from INC, 13 fielded by Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, 15 from CPI, 6 from IUML, 25 from SDPI and 43 independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their

affidavits,” the survey said.

A total of 496 candidates out of the 1,125 analysed have not declared their PAN details, while 834 have not declared income tax details.

The survey said 669 have declared their education qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass, while 380 have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above, 29 have declared themselves to be simple literates and 7 have declared to be illiterate.

PTI

A BOAT RIDE ON THE HOOGHLY FOR COWS

Villagers carrying cows in a boat across river Hooghly at Uluberia in Howrah district of West Bengal on Sunday

administrations were called. Some of the state governments felt that adequate provisions already exist in the Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure and suggested suitable amendments in the existing provisions of these laws.

In the meanwhile, the bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in May 2014, necessiating introduction of a new bill in the House.

Members wanted to know the reasons for the delay in bringing the bill.

One of the members took potshots at the government saying “you bring all anti-democratic bill like on Uttarakhand

so fast. Give us a specific time by when you are bringing this bill.”

Pawan Varma (JD-U) wanted to know whether one of the five permanent members China has decided against ratifying the Convention.

Responding to another question about details of the steps taken by government to improve conviction rates in cases of custodial toture resulting in deaths, the minister said that under seventh schedule of the Constitution of India, Police and Public Order are state subjects. “And therefore, the state governments are primarily responsible

for prevention, registration, detection and investigation of crime and prosecution of the perpetrators of crime within their jurisdiction, including those causing custodial torture leading to deaths.

“The National Human Rights Commission has issued guidelines from time to time to be followed by the law enforcing agencies in cases of custodial death. Advisories have also been issued by the government to all states and Union Territories on measures to be taken on relevant issues like arrest of individual,” he said.

PTI

AAP targets Delhi University officials over Modi’s degree issue Modi’s mark sheet appears to be computer generated

NEW DELHI: Continuing its attack over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree issue, the AAP targeted Delhi University officials for authenticating “fake mark sheet” and raised fresh doubts over discrepancies in it.

Posing questions to DU Registrar Tarun Das, AAP leader Ashutosh said why is so that the mark sheets released during the same time, name and subjects of the applicant are hand written, but in the mark sheet of Modi released by the BJP, name and subject of the applicant are not handwritten.

“In mark sheets available with us the marks obtained by the student are handwritten, whereas in the mark sheet of Mr Modi the marks are not handwritten. Why? In mark sheets available with us the word ‘Passed’ is handwritten. Why the word ‘passed’ is not handwritten in Mr Modi’s marksheet?” AAP leader Ashutosh said. He said the mark sheets available with them also have signatures of the competent authorities under the heads, ‘Checked By’ and ‘Prepared By’, but Modi’s mark sheet has been signed off only under the head ‘Checked by’ and why the signatures under the head ‘Prepared by’ is missing in his marks sheet?

“In the mark sheets of Mr Modi for all the years 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978 a digit 2366 is written by hand at the top right corner. How this digit is written in all the mark sheets in same handwriting. Th is is a clinching evidence that the mark sheet has been forged. “In the mark sheets available with us ‘University of Delhi’ is written in simple font, whereas, in Modi ji’s mark sheet ‘University of Delhi’ is written in modern font. How it is possible?

“Modiji’s mark sheet appears to be computer generated.

Did the Delhi University have computers in 1975?

Modern fonts have been used in Modi ji’s mark sheet. Were these fonts

available in 1975? Did Bill Gates send a special computer at that time to print Modi’s degrees?” Ashutosh added.

The party said the varsity were “under the pressure” from the Centre as they were worried about “saving their job”.

“When we went to the university yesterday, no one met us.

But the Registrar gave an interview to a channel saying the degree is authentic. “You all are aware what happened in Gujarat and its model,” Ashutosh said.

“We are not naive players in the game. First let us get the varsity comply with the Chief Information Commissioner’s (CIC) order, but we will take the case to a logical conclusion,” AAP leader Sanjay Singh said.

PTI

Joshi goes missing, alleges harassment

Vol-II* lssue No.: 48 Editor: Yogesh Sadhwani (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867) Printed and Published by: Shrikant Honnavarkar on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 and printed at PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 at Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai.

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

Joshi said he was pressurised to give clean chit to some of the NGOs

GHAZIABAD: Anand Joshi, Under Secretary in the Union Home Ministry who was under scanner for FCRA notices to NGOs, went missing from his residence here, leaving behind a note claiming he was facing “mental harassment” and had made too many “enemies” while serving the nation.

After CBI registered a case against

him, Joshi had claimed that he was pressurised by his superior to give clean chit to some of the NGOs who were served FCRA notices, including the Ford Foundation.

He was last seen around 2 AM, following which he went to sleep, his wife Minakshi Sharma said at their residence in Indirapuram.

“When I woke up around 7.30 AM, the main door was ajar and he (Joshi) wasn’t there. I later found the note he left behind,” she said.

Police teams rushed to the senior officer’s house and his wife’s statement

was recorded. The police also took a copy of the note which Joshi left behind, a senior police official said.

In the Hindi note addressing his wife, Joshi said, “I have been going through extremely high mental harassment for the past few months but now the situation has got out of hand...

At this moment I need peace and that is not possible here.

“I am leaving home and please do not look for me. You (Minakshi) are now both a father and a mother to our children.”

“The dedication and integrity with

which I was serving the nation, I had never imagined that this would happen to me...

While serving my nation, I have probably made too many enemies.”

A case was registered against Joshi

by CBI in connection with Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, (FCRA) notices to NGOs. Joshi had claimed that he was “being pressurised and threatened by Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry B K Prasad to give clean chit to some of the NGOs”.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

Pune athletes qualify for natl’s P 16

“We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain... Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world.”

— David Cameron, British Prime Minister

China’s career women say no to second child

BY K J M VARMA

Beijing, May 9 (PTI) China’s new two child policy framed to tackle the deepening demographic crisis has evoked poor response with nearly 60 per cent of the working mothers in the world’s most populous nation saying they do not want to have a second child.

According to the report, released ahead of Mother’s Day yesterday

by Chinese job recruitment site Zhaopin.com, nearly 60 per cent of working mothers in China don’t want to have a second child. The report also found that of the 29.39 per cent of women who had not given birth, 20.48 per cent said they don’t want a child, state-run ‘China Daily’ quoted the report.

A total of 14,290 career women were questioned by the site on their work and life choices. Asked why they did not want to have a child, more than 56 per cent of interviewees cited upbringing cost as a concern. The second concern was the amount of time, energy and attention involved. Other concerns included career risks, the pain of childbirth and little faith in their marriages. More than 70 per cent said they would not consider leaving

their jobs to become mothers, while only 18.53 per cent said they would take this into account.

Wang Yixin, a senior consultant at Zhaopin, said most career women think it is impossible to live solely on their husbands’ pay checks. “Other reasons involve their own ambitions.

They fear that if they stop working, they will become isolated from a dynamic society and lose their career prospects,” Wang said.

The ageing population will swell from 16.1 to 25.2 per cent which could seriously test China’s social and economic development, said a new data provided by the Population and Development Studies Centre at the Renmin University of China.

In a bid to shore up the numbers of the younger population, China, the world’s most populous country with a total population of 1.35 billion, this year ended its three-decades old one child policy and replaced it with two child as the demographic crisis deepened with sharp rise in the population of old people. “My mother has urged me to have a child before I’m 30.

However, raising a child in Beijing is a huge financial burden,” said Peng Xi, 29, a marketing employee who has been married

WASHINGTON: An IndianAmerican public accountant is running for a Senate seat in the US state of Nevada by employing a non-conventional anti-cor r uption campaign which promises to get “dirty money” out of politics. Bobby Mahindra is Bobby Mahindra pinning his hope on the grass-roots campaign he built to replace Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, 76, who has held the position uninterrupted since 1987.

Mahindra, 42, claimed he had “achieved the real front runner status” by building a grass-roots campaign on the Facebook and, unlike other candidates, has not taken a single

penny from corrupt sources. “I am the most liked politician (on Facebook) in the State of Nevada. One of my main goal is to help get dirty money out of politics,” Mahindra told PTI. “I always wanted to be able to give back to the Community through service to country, and I knew that I would run for office one day; however, I never expected it to be right now! I looked at the candidates that were offered on the political landscape, and I didn’t feel that any candidate offered what I wanted,” Mahindra said.

Mahindra, whose father Narendra Lal Mahindra is from Gwalior and mother Sunita Mahindra from Punjab, is pitted against three other candidates including the front-runner Catnerine Cortez Masto, the former Attorney General of Nevada, in the Democratic primary seat vacated Reid.

Reid, who is not seeking a reelection, has endorsed Masto to replace him. The State primary is scheduled on June 14 and the general

N K Singh gets Japan’s top award

A family takes a “selfie” next to a boy in front of a giant basket of flowers on display at Tiananmen Square for the upcoming 65th National Day celebrations

for two years and is still undecided whether to have a child. Peng said she is worried about losing promotion opportunities, a concern shared by many women worldwide. “Chinese women shoulder more family responsibility. It is not just about maternity leave a female employee might only get back to work three to five years after having her first child. If a job requires frequent business trips, extra work and more attention to work instead of to the

Indian-American running for Senate seat in Nevada

BY LALIT K JHA

PUNE

elections on November 8. “I wanted a politician that would stand for the anticorruption movement (ie No Money in Politics), that was socially liberal, but fiscally conservative! Eventually I realised that it’s better to be part of the solution than to be part of the problem by complaining all the time,” he said.

Mahindra now has 21,000 supporters on his Facebook page as against less than 15,000 of Masto. Republican Senate race front runner Congressman Joe Heck has less than 17,000.

Mahindra, who has lived in Las Vegas since 2011, said he is running a nonconventional campaign and hopes this would yield results.

“Immediately after the release of the Panama Papers corruption scandal, which includes politicians, celebrities, and extremely rich people from all across the world our campaign literally took off as frustration with the political process is now at a breaking point,” Mahindra said.

PTI

family, a capable male candidate would be more suitable,” said Feng Lijuan, a senior expert on human resources at a job-finding platform.

“It is not about gender choice I would say this is a market choice,” Feng said. A study last month said China will face severe demographic challenges in the next 25 years as its working-age population is predicted to shrink to 56.9 per cent of the total population by 2030.

PTI

TOKYO: Bureaucrat-turnedpolitician N K Singh was honoured with Japan’s second highest national decoration for his contribution in strengthening Indo-Japan ties in the field of trade and investment over last few decades. The prestigious ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’ award was conferred on Singh by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a glittering ceremony at the Imperial Palace here.

The award citation hailed Singh’s role in boosting Indo- Japan economic ties, particularly in promoting Japanese investments into India over many years. Awards were conferred on a total of 91 eminent personalities, including eight foreign recipients. The awardees also had an audience with Emperor of Japan Akihito. 75-year-old Singh is a politician, economist and former top bureaucrat. Till recently, he was a member of the Rajya Sabha.

He has been among the country’s top bureaucrats and handled important portfolios such as India’s Expenditure and Revenue Secretary and as a Member of the erstwhile Planning Commission. He served in the Indian Embassy here as Minister (Economic and Commercial) from 1981-85.

Singh, while expressing his gratitude to the Japanese government for the honour, said Indo-Japan relationship is at the cusp of historical changes. The economic and geo-

political considerations will widen and deepen this relationship, fortified by the personal chemistry and new initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Abe, he said.

The Emperor on the occasion expressed his deep appreciation for the endeavour of the awardees for the development of Japan as well as for their contribution in enhancing the relationship between Japan and the international community. ‘The Order of the Rising Sun’ is a Japanese government honour established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji.

A modern version of the order is being given to non-Japanese recipients beginning from 1981, in recognition of distinguished accomplishments of an individual.

PTI

DEATH ON THE BEACH

In this Thursday, May 5, 2016 photo provided by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, researchers examine a rare North Atlantic whale calf on the beach in Chatham, Mass. The calf which was found dead off Cape Cod on Thursday had injuries consistent with being hit by a boat or ship, but a necropsy is being conducted to pin down the exact cause of death

Indian girl’s dream Rescued son of Pak ex-PM returns comes true in NZ home after three years in captivity

BY SUMIR KAUL AUCKLAND: As she walked along with President Pranab Mukherjee, Indian-born Rebecca Taylor, a ‘Guinness’ record holder, could hardly imagine that her dream will one day come true in New Zealand far away from her Bengaluru home.

“When I used to see the grandeur of Rashtrapati Bhavan during my childhood, I always wondered whether I will be able to meet any of its occupants. I never knew that it will come true thousands of miles away,” said 29-year-old Rebecca, who is doing a degree course in Event Management at Auckland University of Technology.

“The President was here on May 2. where he addressed the students during the course of his state visit to New Zealand. The President had spoken

about his ardent love for teaching and said he had accepted the invitation as “a teacher in me, which of course I buried almost five decades ago when I entered into Parliament, still remains.”

“When I meet the shining eyes, bright mind, receptive and always questioning, young men an women, sometimes that instinct arises in me and try to convert myself as a teacher, always not acceptable, may be more than of a nagging but nonetheless a teacher,” he had said. But Rebecca, who holds the Guinness world record for making the largest tealight candle, had her moment of glory when she presented her art work to the President in which she had interspersed traditional design and colour, representing the Indian National bird, animal and flower.

PTI

A dream come true in New Zealand far away from her home

American and Afghan security forces had recovered Haider from Taliban militants

BY M ZULQERNAIN

LAHORE: Ali Haider Gilani, the son of Pakistan’s former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, was flown from Kabul to Lahore, a day after he was rescued by US and Afghan forces from the clutches of Taliban militants who had held him hostage for three years. Pakistan said that American and Afghan security forces had recovered Haider from Taliban militants in a joint special operation in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province after he was kidnapped from an election rally on May 9, 2013. The Pakistan Foreign Office said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dispatched a special plane to bring Haider from Kabul.

Local media reported that the plane had landed at the Lahore airport

where his family members and close relatives were present to receive him.

Earlier, Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul Abrar Hussain received Haider at the Afghan Ministry of Defence around 10 am and thereafter he was taken to the airport by helicopter for onward travel to Lahore. The Foreign Office said that the Pakistan leadership

deeply appreciated the successful efforts of the Afghan National Army and NATO forces in recovering Haider safely and for arrangements for his immediate return to Pakistan.

“Pakistan hopes that the three nations can work together to decrease and eliminate terrorism from the region.

Terrorists cannot be allowed to hold

Ali Haidar Gilani, son of former Pakistani prime minister, centre, shakes hands with Pakistani Ambassador Abrar Hussain and Afghan Army officials at the Afghan Ministry

governments hostage,” it said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Qadir Gilani, Haider’s elder brother, rejected reports that he was released after payment of ransom. Haider’s release was the second successful instance of a dramatic rescue in a high-profile kidnapping case after slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer’s son Shahbaz, who was abducted in 2011, was found in March after spending nearly five years in captivity. Haider, believed to be in his 30s, was kidnapped by gunmen in Multan just two days before the May 11, 2013 general elections which he was contesting. Gilani, who served as premier from 2008 to 2012, had said last year that the abductors had contacted him and demanded ransom for his son’s release.

In a video message last year, Haider said the kidnappers were initially demanding Rs 2 billion for his release but later reduced the ransom amount to Rs 500 million while his father had said he was ready to pay the ransom amount.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

MONEY MATT ER S

“The biggest demand of a customer is to get maximum experience in an affordable smartphone and the Lenovo ZUK Z1 is our attempt to offer user friendly experience in one device.”

— Sudhin Mathur, director-smartphones, Lenovo India

Signpost Gold slips on reduced offtake, weak cues Gold prices slipped by Rs 100 to Rs 29,850 per 10 grams at the bullion market owing to reduced offtake by stockists and jewellers at existing levels amid a weak trend overseas. However, silver held steady at Rs 41,100 per kg on scattered enquiries from industrial users. Bullion traders said besides a weak trend overseas, sluggish demand from jewellers at the domestic spot market led to the fall in gold prices. Globally, the metal fell 0.41 per cent to USD 1,271.50 an ounce in Singapore. In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs 100 each to Rs 29,850 and Rs 29,700 per 10 grams, respectively. It had gained Rs 100. Sovereign, however, remained flat at Rs 23,300 per piece of eight grams.

Titan to conclude Caratlane acquisition KOLKATA: Titan Company said the all-cash acquisition of online jewellery portal Caratlane would be concluded within a month’s time. “Currently, valuation exercise is on. We hope to conclude the transaction in a month’s time.

It will be an all-cash deal,” Titan Managing Director Bhaskar Bhat told PTI. He said after negotiations the company would finalise the stake. “We will hold in excess of 51 per cent, but exact stake will be finalised later,” he said. Declining to share details of future plans, Bhat said, “We will share details of our future plans on Caratlane after the acquisition is complete.”

PTI

Debt waiver for farmers ruled out Rs 271.49 crore were recovered from people who were not eligible for a debtwaiver scheme

NEW DELHI: Virtually rejecting opposition demand for debt waiver to farmers, the government said Centre is continuously monitoring the drought situation and urged all parties to work together to deal with the problem.

Replying to a short duration discussion in the Lok Sabha on drought, drinking water crisis and inter-linking of rivers, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said the Modi government has done a lot for the farmers in two years and this work cannot be compared with the previous government’s work in 60 years.

On the opposition’s demand of debt waiver to farmers, he said one of the members from Maharashtra had stated that such a scheme launched earlier have many faults.

Bankruptcy code passage advocated

BY LALIT K JHA WASHINGTON: The passage of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code will add to the attractiveness of India as a destination for long-term foreign investment, a top American business advocacy group has said, hours after the Rajya Sabha gave its assent to the bill.

“The passage of this Bill will establish an entrepreneur-friendly legal bankruptcy framework for speedy, efficient and consistent resolution of insolvencies for companies and individuals,” president of US-India Business Council (USIBC) Mukesh Aghi said.

“The Bill is another feather in the cap of the Government’s drive to improve the ease of doing business for

“Given the tremendous success of the J Series, we are happy to announce the expansion of the portfolio with the addition of Galaxy J7 and Galaxy J5 2016 that will elevate consumer experience to the next level.”

— Manu Sharma, vice president, Samsung India Electronics

both domestic and global investors,” he said.

USIBC looks forward to the successful implementation of the new Bankruptcy Code in the coming months, Aghi said.

On June 7, USIBC will welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the guest of honour for its 41st Annual Leadership Summit and will recognise this significant development during the gathering of senior Indian and American leaders from the public and private sectors here, a media release said.

The Rajya Sabha yesterday gave its assent to the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, almost a week after the bill was cleared by the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament.

PTI

To buttress his point, he cited a CAG report to say that Rs 271.49 crore were recovered from people who were not eligible for a debt-waiver scheme, which was to the tune of about Rs 72,000 crore.

In about 5000 cases, action was taken against bank staff and there were also instances of tampering with the records.

“The country is fortunate that a son of poor has become the Prime Minister and that is why he thinks about farmers and village,” he said.

On the allegation that ministers are not visiting drought-affected areas and villages, Singh said several meetings have held in the Prime Ministers Office at highest levels with the Chief Ministers.

“Th is government is continuously monitoring the situation and coordinating with the states,” he added.

He also asked the states to spend the amount received from the Centre for farmers on time.

Surveys being conducted on employment NEW DELHI: Quick quarterly surveys are being conducted about employment and unemployment in select labour intensive and export-oriented sectors to assess the impact of economic slowdown, the government told the Rajya Sabha.

These selective labour-intensive and export-oriented sectors are textiles including apparels, metals, gems and jewellery, automobiles, transport, IT/ BPO, leather and handloom/powerloom, Minister of State for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said.

The surveys are being conducted by the Labour Bureau under the Labour Ministry, he added. “Twenty-eight such surveys have been conducted by Labour Bureau so far. According to the survey results, overall estimated employment in these selected sectors has experienced a net addition of 38.81 lakh jobs starting from the first survey Ocotber to December 2008 to the one of October 2015 to December 2015,” Dattatreya said.

The minister also said that as per report of the Quarterly Surveys of Labour Bureau, there has been an estimated increase of 5.56 lakh persons in eight quarters starting from January 2014 to December 2015.

Earlier, CPI(M) member Tapan Kumar Sen, He accused the government of “misleading” the House.

PTI

Enlisting the steps taken by the government for farmers, the minister said they are targeting to cover most of the area to come under irrigation.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojna, he said over 300 districts have prepared their irrigation plans and rest are expected to prepare by September, he added.

“In India if you are to make the villages prosper, you have to give proper irrigation facilities to them...even after 68 years of independence, we were not able to give proper irrigation facilities to farm fields,” he said. .

Singh said that although he favours increase in the minimum support price but whatever is fi xed that too was percolating to the farmers.

“Some states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh give 4 per cent interest subsidy to farmers, other states too think about their reponsibilities,” the Agriculture Minister said.

He said the government has increased the agri loan target to Rs

nine lakh crore from Rs 8.50 lakh crore in 2015-16.

When he was giving the allocation figures, Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge said that “you please tell us what you are going to do... you have changed the norms then the figures automatically have increased.

So please do not take credit for that.

Tell us what relief you want to give.

Will you visit Marathwada and other affected regions. Supreme Court too has directed you”.

To this, Singh said the court has directed because in the last 68 years nothing has been done. “The Supreme Court direction is a mirror to what all you did and did not in the last 68 years,” he said, hitting back at the Congress.

Giving details, he said, as per the manual drought management is responsibility of both Central and state government.

State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is available with states, he said, adding, the contribution of centre

is 75 per cent while remaining is by states.

SDRF has been almost doubled to Rs 61,000 crore for five years upto 2020 as against about Rs 33,000 crore for the previous 5-year period.

Singh further said, the government has increased compensation to farmers affected by natural calamities.

As per the revised guidelines, he said, a farmer was eligible for compensation if 33 per cent of the crop was damaged. Earlier, the compensation was granted only if damage was 50 per cent or more.

Besides, he said, farmers having more than one hectare was also not eligible but the present government has raised this to 2 hectare or upto 5 acre.

He also said the government has tripled the compensation amount to Rs 4.5 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh in case of death caused by natural calamities.

Kaushalendra Kumar (JDU) demanded scrapping of MPLAD funds.

PTI

Banks allowed to take over Mallya’s Kingfisher Villa The Villa, valued at Rs 90 crore, used to be Mallya’s base in Goa

MUMBAI/PANJIM: In a major setback to liquor baron Vijay Mallya, revenue officials in Goa allowed the lenders to Kingfisher Airlines to take physical possession of `Kingfisher Villa’ in Candolim.

“The North Goa Collector has given an order in favour of banks to take physical possession of the Kingfisher Villa,” banking sources said.

The Villa, valued at Rs 90 crore, used to be Mallya’s base in Goa and also the venue of many of the famous parties hosted by him during the `good

times’.

Advocate Parag Rao, who appeared on behalf of United Spirits, told PTI that the company had withdrawn its claim before the collector yesterday.

“We told the collector that we will not press for the objection,” he said.

Representing the bankers’ consortium, SBICAPS had sought physical possession of the property under Section 14 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act in late 2014.

However, three of Mallya’s companies -- United Spirits Limited (USL), Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries -- had objected to the move.

Last week, media reports had said that Mallya put up a “villa manager” as a caretaker to thwart the bank’s attempt to take it over.

The villa was mortgaged to the lenders while obtaining loans for the now defunct airliner, but the caretaker, who claimed to be an employee of United Breweries, and the subsequent establishment of tenancy rights would have made it difficult for the banks to take over the property.

According to reports, bankers’ attempts to take possession of the villa were repeatedly stalled by USL, which claims the fi rst right to buy the property as it is a tenant.

USL had also approached a local court, citing provisions in the Portuguese Civil Code to block auction of the property in the past.

There was a delay in allowing takeover of the property, which made SBICAPS approach the Goa Bench of Bombay High Court.

PTI

Indian economy projected to grow 7.3 pc in 2016: UN Report The estimates for India are in line with projections made in January

BY YOSHITA SINGH UNITED NATIONS: Notwithstanding delays in domestic policy reforms, India’s economy is “slowly gaining momentum” and is projected to grow by 7.3 per cent this year, a UN report has forecast.

The World Economic Situation and Prospect report, in its mid-2016 update, said India is expected to achieve a 7.5 per cent GDP growth in 2017 and the economic prospects of the South Asian region will be “contingent” on the

growth trajectory of India and Iran.

“India’s economy is slowly gaining momentum, with an expected GDP growth of 7.3 and 7.5 per cent in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Despite some delays in domestic policy reforms and enduring fragilities in the banking system, investment demand is supported by the monetary easing cycle, rising FDI, and government efforts towards infrastructure investments and publicprivate partnerships,” the report, released here said.China, which grew at about 6.9 per cent in 2015, will continue to witness slowdown in growth, with its GDP projected to grow 6.4 per cent in 2016 and 6.5 per cent in 2017.

“A larger-than-expected slowdown in China would have widespread spillover effects through trade, financial

and commodity markets, while a further deterioration of commodity prices could trigger debt crises in certain commoditydependent economies,” said the report, produced jointly by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The growth estimates for India in the mid-year update are in line with projections made in January this year, when the 2016 World Economic Situation and Prospect report had said that India will be the world’s fastest growing large economy at 7.3 per cent in 2016, improving further to 7.5 per cent in the following year.

India’s economy, which accounts for over 70 per cent of South Asia’s GDP, had grown by about 7.2 per cent in 2015. The

report added that despite the protracted instabilities and general weakness of the global economy, South Asia’s economic outlook remains favourable, with most countries benefiting from low oil prices.

Regional GDP growth is expected to accelerate from 6.1 per cent in 2015 to 6.6 this year and 6.8 per cent in 2017, owing to robust private consumption, strengthening investment demand and gradual progress on domestic policy reforms. Inflation in the South Asian region is projected to remain relatively tame, reflecting subdued commodity prices and lower pressures from supplyside bottlenecks. “Th is has increased monetary policy space, with prospects for further easing in some economies, including India,” it said.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

VOX POPULI Should Dhoni give up his captaincy in the T20 and ODI format?

KARAOKE SINGING CHALLENGE

The HomeSukh is all set to host “Karaoke Singing Challenge” this Mother’s Day. This unique competition gives you a chance to compete with some of the best talents as well as mastering the finer nuances of Karaokesinging. The funfilled evening will also allow you and your mother to bond over music by singing and dedicating songs for her peerless love.

When: May 15, 6 pm to 8 pm Where: The Home Sukh, Aracade 4, Ishanya, Off Airport Road

LEGO FEST FOR CHILDREN

Funskool is organising an exciting LEGO festival at Hamleys stores across the country. With numerous offers and thrilling contests, this festival is an excellent opportunity to engage your children in a worthwhile hands-on experience.

Children will get a chance to participate in a fun LEGO building contest that will be conducted on Saturdays. They will be provided with a set of LEGO bricks to build the given model within the specified time. Twelve winners with the best model will receive a direct entry to the finals on 28th May (Saturday) and stand a chance to win an exclusive LEGO voucher worth Rs 10,000 When: May 14 & 21, 4.30 pm onwards Where: Hamleys, Phoenix Market City, Nagar Road

HEALTH AND HEALING DAY AT OM STUDIO

Om Studio is back with a day of fun activities for all you fitness enthusiasts.

The health and healing day workshop will include a series of sessions like guided meditation, yoga, pilates and

SIZZLING SATAYS

Eat ‘em while they are hot! Indulge in various scrumptious satays from the corners of Southeast Asia, grilled live with home-made sauces. Satay, modern Indonesian and Malay spelling of sate, is a dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. These are grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings.

When: Till May 31, 7.30 pm onwards Where: Baan Tao, Hyatt Pune Kalyani Nagar

HAZARE UNDERGOES BRAIN SCAN AT SASSOON HOSPITAL

EDITOR

MOVIE UNDER THE STARS

For the first time in Pune, Anchor Nitish Kamdar and Yellow Patch Events are hosting Movie Under the Stars. The movie is none other than childhood Bollywood favourite Andaz Apna Apna where you can come down to the Deccan Harvest Lawns with your friends and best friends like mattress, pillows and blankets and laugh your lungs out while you sip your favorite straights, cocktails and mocktails along with snacks like Anda Bhurji, Nachos, Veg Nuggets and live Pasta counters.The best

Vidyabhushan Arya Political Consultant He should be given a chance, failure in one series can’t be the reason to step down as a Captain.The poor performance of other team members proved fatal for Pune team. In fact, the selection of team should have been carefully done, it is not Dhoni alone who bears the brunt of all losses,cricket as a sport demands team effort.

TIME FOR THE SUNDAY COOKOUT

This weekend, Lafawndah and CEE will take the stage to make your afternoon a memorable one. Move along to their music with a chilled beer in your hand and some great BBQ filling your bellies.

CEE can be described as a jungle dweller, producer, jet-setter, sound designer, DJ, booking agent, Red Bull Music Academy affiliate, and all around maverick.

Globetrotting singer/producer Yasmine Dubois has only been making music as Lafawndah for a short time, but already she’s causing ripples worldwide with her futuristic take on global electronic music.

When: May 15, 1:30 pm onwards Where: High Spirit Cafe, Koregaon Park

Eesha Roy Software Engineer I think the team doesn’t have any other player who can lead the squad. He shall not quit his captaincy, but he needs to improve his strategies. Not that the team has zero potential,they can definitely do a better job. He also has to bat a little up the order.

A captain is not a person who leads a great team-as a good captain he has to lead an ordinary team to victory.

AN APPETISING SUMMER

How about trying something different this summer, not just predictable food and typical dishes? Hop into Effingut Brewerkz which has launched a new range of 50 different F&B items this summer. With a tempting array of starters, entrees, mocktails, cocktails, shooters and fruitinis; a multicuisine menu so huge and exotic, it will tempt you to try something new on every visit.

When: Ongoing Where: EffingutBrewerkz, Lane Number 6, Koregaon Park

Prathamesh Gokhale Web developer Ideally he shouldn’t. His limitations get more profound as his career is seemingly in its last laps.

But one would think he has the support of the selectors, and they favour the different captains for different formats. Though Dhoni’s position is in a precarious state now, with several younger players drastically improving their game, however with cricket fluctuations are common, Dhoni might surprise us again, who knows?

JILTED LOVER ABDUCTS YOUNG WOMAN, OUTRAGES HER MODESTY Shreyanssh Dipak Chopraa, a 22-year-old, fourth year MBBS student of Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Katraj has been arrested by the Bharati Vidyapeeth police for attempting to murder a 21-year-old fellow female student, for breaking up with him. He allegedly abducted her and kept her from May 3 to 5, at his home Anand Smruti, Chandrabhaga Chowk, Katraj, during which time he also outraged her modesty. In her statement, the victim told the police that Chopraa called her to his home on Tuesday evening, under the pretext of sorting

out their misunderstanding. But they got into a heated argument, and Chopraa hit her and tried to kill her by holding her face in a utensil filled with water and then by trying to strangle her.

Chopraa tied her with a plastic strip to the bed and told her to take off her clothes. He kept her at his home for two days, before releasing her on Thursday noon. Chopraa has been charged under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 354 (b) (with the intention of disrobing or compelling victim to be naked), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was taken to Sassoon General Hospital as he complained of abdominal pain, but was released.

MUMBAI COPS TO WORK EIGHT-HOUR SHIFTS SOON

Mumbai Police Commissioner Dattaray Padsalgikar said that police personnel are under tremendous pressure by working 12-14 hour shifts, which will be reduced to eight-hour shifts. “The 8-hour shifts plan will be completed in five phases in the city.

The first phase has begun and the next two phases will be completed next month,” he said. Thereafter a review will be done and based on that, the plan will be executed across the city police stations. “The day or night shifts in police stations do not end after completion of 12 hours, as if any major crime happens, duty hours are automatically stretched to 14-16 hours.

Bonanza for water tanker owners

Tapping into wells and borewells is PMC’s plan B to salvage the situation in drought hit areas. Water levels in the dams supplying water to the city have plummeted and some of the dams have less than 50 per cent water left. Water woes have spelt big business for tanker owners. There are 600 tankers in the city who charge exorbitant prices for their cargo. PMC and the state government must look into the matter especially in the face of water shortage.

-Subodh Verma

And they have to resume duty next day on time. At present, the eight-hour shift plan is in force at Deonar police station, and we will do a review and implement it all across city police stations.

Police stations like Marine Drive and Azad Maidan are usually engaged in police bandobast , so they will be given supplementary police to handle it.

It means all police personnel will put in eight-hour shifts as per the plan.

Give firemen the safety gear they need

PIC

OF

LETTERS TO THE

Anna Hazare underwent five tests including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of brain (brain angiography), spine, 2 D Eco, Electrocardiogram and abdomen Sonography at Sassoon General Hospital on Wednesday noon. The results of the tests were normal, except for the brain MRI which showed a brain artery to be slightly clogged. Doctors said that it was not a serious problem and prescribed some drugs to Anna. Anna has been suffering from vertigo, and decided to undergo the tests. He arrived at B J Medical College at around 4 pm. Then he was taken for a MRI test on the ground floor of Sassoon Hospital at around 5 pm. The Sassoon administration was geared up for Anna’s visit. On arrival, Anna went to the Dean Dr Ajay Chandanwale’s office and then for the tests. The security personnel evacuated the areas where he was taken for tests.

This Saturday, experience a soulful evening with one of the leading Sufi and Folk bands of the country, Nasya.

Playing a blend of Sufi, Punjabi Folk and rock influences, their music distinctly balances traditional Hindustani vocals with western elements of jazz, blues and rock. Formed in 2007, the Delhibased band is most popularly known for their performance in MTV’s Rock On, following which they moved stages across music festivals in the country.

When: May 14, 7 pm onwards Where: Paasha, JW Marriott, SB Road

RAHUL RAUT

WEEK THAT WAS

RE-DISCOVER THE ESSENCE OF MUSIC

E WE K

Come and enjoy the heavenly combination of Fahrenheit’s Custom Pizza’s with wine as they kick-off their Wine Festival. Have your healthy pizza the way you like it and have a blast at best prizes.

When: May 14 & 15 Where: Fahrenheit Custom, Baner

sound meditation which will rejuvenate your body and soul. The highlight of this workshop is the sound mediation which is a Tibetan Bowl Therapy that helps one deal with deep emotional issues, physical ailments and restores the state of oneness.

When: May 15, 7 am to 6 pm Where: Om Studio, 3rd floor, above Pashankar Auto, JM Road

Sankalp Baheti Film studies Student Yes, Dhoni should be the captain, he might not be in form but his leadership skills and his calmness on the field in any condition helps team India to bring titles! He has the guts of sportsmanship. He can manage well in pressure conditions. And is the most experienced and senior player in the team!

THE

WINE & DINE FESTIVAL

MS Dhoni and his team Rising Pune Supergiants have won only three out of ten matches. With this score card, Pune is already out of the race. Do you think Dhoni being out of form, should give up his captaincy, we ask Punekars

part is that there’s no tickets needed as it’s open for everyone.

When: May 15, 7 pm onwards (registration starts at 6.30 pm) Where: Deccan Harvest Lawns, Magarpatta opposite Tower 1, Hadapsar

ISKI TOPI USKE SAR: One the of traffic cops attached to Warje traffic branch dumped his cap right outside his chowky. Minutes later it was donned by an urchin

The feature on how ill equipped the firefighters in Pune are, makes one wonder where the cause of this lies. Is the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) so bankrupt, or is it just that they do not really care about the firefighters who have to literally lay their lives on the line in the course of their duty? Whether it is the helmets, boots or uniforms, the firefighters are really hard done by. Firefighting is not like routine 9 to 5 job, where one sits behind a desk, where probably the biggest concern is how to while away the eight hours of duty. The firemen are also paid rather meagre salaries, when one thinks of the hazardous job that they are called on to perform. A smart city should also treat its workers with due care and concern, not to mention pay them salaries and provide them all the necessities whereby they will be able to execute their duties to the best of their abilities.

- Dayanand Kale

Funky facial hair The cover story in TGS Life about quirky facial hair was cool.

My two adolescent boys also want to grow quirky moustaches.

TGS seems to have the knack to dig out interesting subjects for its features, that are never run-of-the-mill. The lifestyle features highlight so many aspects of Pune, that would remain unknown to me if it were not for TGS. Keep up the good work.

- Kavita Iyer

Dowry and the Indian people It has taken 55 years for Maharashtra to appoint dowry prohibition officers. Better late than never, as they say. Appointing prohibition officers across state to keep tabs on marriages involving dowry is a welcome move by the government. Dowry has, is and will always be a contentious issue, as it is a custom which is deep-rooted, and say what you will, most of Indian society like it so. Calling it a social evil or what you will is not going to make it disappear. Discouraging newspapers and magazines matrimonial sections from publishing ads that involve dowry may help curb it some extent, but as long as we, the people believe that the dowry system is what we want, there is not much the government can do to stop it.

- Sanaa Menon

Write to Us

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

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016

PUNE

“I don’t want to say anything more except that I wanted to run the organisation (BCCI) on my terms and conditions. I didn’t want my image be spoiled. I didn’t wish to run the board with others’ influence.”

— Shashank Manohar, Former BCCI President

“You can’t pretend it hadn’t been coming. New Castle Football Club have not learned lessons from 2009. Hard as it is for me to say, well done Sam and SunderlandAFC.” — Alan Shearer, Legendary Footballer

Teen extends family’s wrestling legacy Eighteen-year-old wrestler Adarsh Gund is selected for the World School Games

BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish Bhiwani is known as the hub for Indian pugilists, Hyderabad for badminton, and Alandi is renowned as the cradle of Indian wrestling.

The Jog Maharaj Vyayamshala (akhara) in Alandi is Maharashtra’s fi rst wrestling school for girls.

International wrestling referee Dinesh Gund, who was inspired by the performance of women wrestlers at wrestling competitions, established the centre ten years ago in Alandi.

His elder daughter Ankita has been a regular feature at the national and international level.

In 2011, she won a gold medal in the Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship in Bangkok in the 38 kg category. She became the fi rst woman wrestler from Maharashtra to be selected for the World Cadet Championship in Hungary.

And now, following the family legacy, Ankita’s younger brother Adarsh, 18, has qualified to represent India at the World School Games to be held at Turkestan this month.

Adarsh won a gold medal in the selection trials held by Indian School Wrestling Federation in New Delhi on Wednesday. In the

96 kg weight category Greco Roman style, he outplayed Karnataka and Punjab wrestlers and is all set for his fi rst ever international event.

“I am very happy with my performance, as I have lived up to the expectations of my family and Maharashtra wrestling. I always wanted to be like my sister Ankita and this is the fi rst step towards it,” said Adarsh, talking to TGS. Adarsh has been in a good nick recently as he had won a silver medal in the National School Games held in New Delhi in January, and also won an open category title during the state-level wrestling competition held in Pune last month. He has been winning school national championships for the last three years and state school championships for the last fi ve years.

Wrestling centre The Jog Maharaj Vyayamshala (akhara) in Alandi has produced several state and national level wrestlers such as Manisha Divekar, Varsha Bichkule, Harshada Sanas, Shashikala Bidkar, Yashree Khadse, Rajashree Kamble, Ashwini Borade and Rani Mane.

At the centre, girls aged between 10 and 18 years come from as far as Kolhapur, Solapur, Sangli, Dhule and Yavatmal. They stay at the centre where they have a mess facility and attend school and college within and outside Alandi.

Winning a gold medal at the selection trials was not a piece of cake though, as he had to reduce his weight to participate

Pune athletes qualify for natl’s They have to clear another hurdle before getting specialised training TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly Pune athletes Sairaj Lodha and Devesh Tambade and three others have cleared the state selection trials held by GAIL Indian Speedstar, and are undergoing for national selection trials in New Delhi started from Thursday (May 12).

In all, 13 athletes from Maharashtra qualified for the nationals during the

Jayesh, Sania get rewarded TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly International player Jayesh Pungaliya and girls’ Under-14 National Champion Sania Singh were awarded the Arun Wakankar Memorial Award for emerging as the best players of Pune District, during the Pune Metropolitan District Tennis Association (PMDTA) annual day celebrations recently.

Pungaliya, who started playing in various local events at the age of 10, got his ITF men’s points last year, making him eligible to play in various ITF events throughout the world.

He was also instrumental in Maharashtra’s team effort of winning the Inter-state Championships at Bhilai, Haryana.

Sania won the under-14 national championship in Aurangabad in last October. Despite being an under-12 player, she represented India in the Under-14 World Junior Tennis championships in Bangkok recently. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

trials held at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi last week. A total of 131 athletes from different districts of Maharashtra and Karnataka participated in the trials which included one shortlisted from wild card entrants who were selected a day prior to the state trials.

Sairaj and Lokesh Rathod impressed the selectors in the under-14 category (100m), while Tambade is 200m runner in under-17 age group.

In the same category, Vallabh Patil also made the cut.

Amongst the girls, Sangeeta Shinde is the only city athlete to qualify for the nationals. She performed impressively

during the under-17 category 800m event.

Tai Bamane (Nashik, under-14, 200 and 800m), Abhijit Hirkud (Nashik, under-17, 800m), Moksmith (Coorg, under-17, 800m), Sukdeo Bhalotia (Nashik, under-17, 800m), Pragati Mulane (Nashik, under-17, 800m), Sanika Nate (Mumbai, under-14, 100m), Michelle Fernandes (Mumbai, under-17, 100m) and Maria Karachiwa (Mumbai, under-17, 100m), are the other athletes to make the cut.

The shortlisted athletes have participated in the national camp and selection trials at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. The top nine athletes, who meet the benchmark set by the national selection committee headed by the legendary PT Usha with the other members being Olympians, Rachita Mistry, Anuradha Biswal and Asian and Commonwealth Games medalist, Kavita Raut, will be provided specialised training so as to prepare them for the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.

GAIL-Indian Speedstar is a initiative to groom young athletes. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

FC Pune City sign youngsters Zodingliana Ralte and Vishal Kaith to join club for the coming season TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly The Rajesh Wadhawan Group and Hrithik Roshan co-owned Indian Super League club FC Pune City have strengthened their home-bred options by signing much sought after winger Zodingliana Ralte and emerging goalkeeper Vishal Kaith on loan for the 2016 edition of the league.

FC Pune City CEO Gaurav Modwel said, “Both Zodingliana and Kaith are the most sought after youth talent in the country. Zodingliana is a versatile player and can play in a variety of positions. Kaith, on the other hand, is one of the best young goalkeepers in the country. We were following their performances closely and are thankful

to Shillong Lajong for allowing them to continue their development with our club.”

Zodingliana, better known as ‘Adinga’, played for North East United FC in the 2014 season and Delhi Dynamos FC in 2015, raking up as many as 10 and 12 appearances in each ISL season for his respective clubs. The 22-year-old winger joined Shillong Lajong in 2010 after the North Eastern club selected him from a U-14 football festival held in Goa. The diminutive Mizoram-born player has also represented India at the under-14, under-16 and under-19 levels.

To bolster their goalkeeping options, Vishal Kaith will join the ranks alongside Apoula Edel Bete and Arindam Bhattacharya. The 19-yearold has made 15 appearances for Shillong Lajong FC this season in the I-League and put in some impressive displays between the sticks. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

in the 96kg category.

“He normally participates in the 120kg category, but we studied the other wrestlers and decided to take part in the lower weight category.

In about one and a half months, he lost ten kg. It wasn’t easy, but he was determined and followed a strict diet regimen,” said Adarsh’s father Dinesh, who was recently honoured with best coach award by the state government.

The move paid off for the wrestler, as his fl exibility, agility and fitness improved after shedding the fat and excess weight.

The next aspect the Gund family has been working on is mental fitness. Ankita has featured in six international tournaments, while Dinesh being an international referee, has witnessed several high wire tournaments like Asian, World

and Olympics qualifiers.

“We are helping him to get mentally prepared. We have been telling him what to avoid, what are the common mistakes, what is needed to be done etc.

The wrestlers from Belarus and Ukraine are much stronger and fitter, so one has to adopt a different strategy against them. So basically we are working on his homework,” added Dinesh.

Adarsh is a standard XII student of Sayajinath Maharaj Vidyalay in Wadmukhwadi, Bhosari.

The 18-year-old pays equal attention to studies as his father is keen about balancing out both fields. Dinesh who was a lecturer in accounting at the Hutatma Rajguru College in Khed, left his job in 2006 to become a full-time wrestling coach. However, he lays emphasis on education and ensures that every wrestler at his centre goes to school and college.

“I don’t want to groom wrestlers who are not properly educated,” he says. ashish.phadnis@goldemsparrow.com