The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 08/10/2016

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

PUNE

CITY&MUMBAI Bias against AIDS patients to land people in jail for two yrs P8

“To ask for proof of surgical strikes is not only ridiculous but this would help the enemy country as they would benefit by knowing our warfare tactics and might employ counter strategy to defeat India.”

-Ujjwal Nikam, Special Public Prosecutor

Automation may hit 69% jobs in India P 10

MPDA invoked against black marketeer Social activist gets justice as police arrest black marketeer and send him to jail after invoking MPDA against him

BY GUNWANTI PARASTE @gunwantiparaste Social activist Ram Palke of the Bheemshahi organisation has finally got justice but it has taken a long time. The Pune Police has taken action under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act (MPDA), 1981, arrested Gokul Sable, 33, of Hadpasar, and sent him to Amravati Jail for a year.

Sable and his gang was involved in the black-marketing of public distribution system (PDS) foodgrains meant for economically backward people for about four years. The police seized 16,750 kg of rice and 9,800 kg of wheat, totally worth Rs 15.11 lakh from the accused.

MPDA can be applied if police

have reason to believe that the accused has been influencing people.

Once charged under MPDA, it becomes difficult to get bail and the person can be Gokul Sable detained for up to one year without trial.

Palke who had been working to prevent the selling of foodgrains on the black market, was attacked by Sable in June 2014. Palke called the police number 100 for help, but he was told to report it to his nearest police chowky.

He also requested protection which the police refused. Two months later he then applied for a licenced revolver but his application was turned down.

Cabinet minister Girish Bapat helped him acquire a licenced revolver after a year.

For the first time Pune Police has taken action under MPDA which can

be applied to those disturbing public peace and the foodgrains mafia.

Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla told TGS that Sable had been Ram Palke terrorising ration shop owners. He would purchase foodgrains from ration shop owners at low prices and then would sell them in the open market at higher rates. He had assaulted a social worker who had informed government authorities about his black-marketing operation.

DCP (zone1) Sudhir Hiremath and PI (crime) Sambhaji Shirke chalked out a plan to invoke the MPDA against Sable, as people were scared to file complaints against him.

Maharashtra Pradesh Karyakarini member Subhash Kisan Sarode lauded the Pune Police for action against Sable. gunwanti.paraste@goldensparrow.com

Ram Palke (fifth from left) along with the van containing the seized foodgrains

Parents cry foul over exorbitant Maha govt looking fancy-dress costume charge to sell leased land to generate revenue St Joseph’s primary students’ parents made to pay Rs 2,600 for costume for the school’s musical programme in September

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 The parents of standard I to IV students of St Joseph’s School for Girls, Pashan Road,have alleged that they were made to pay Rs 2600 on a bird’s costume, for the annual two-day Cinderella musical programme held in the school in September. The parents claim that the costumes could have been acquired on rent,but the school authorities forced them to buy them, which are now not of any use.

The Cinderella musical programme featuring dance, drama, and musicwas held in St Joseph’s School for Girls on September 23 and 24, in which all 480 girl students of standard I to IV participated. The school authorities collected Rs 2600 each from all the parents for the purchase of the bird costumes. Some parents said that the costume was too expensive. “The costume is too expensive and of no use in future. The school should have rented it for two days,” said a parent on the condition of anonymity. Another parent said that they really could not afford to pay for the costume. “We cannot afford to spend Rs 2600 on a costume which

St Joseph’s School for Girls, Pashan Road

is used for only one or two days. We are going to complain about this to the school,” he said.

St Joseph School principal Sister Flory said, “If the standard quality costume was purchased individually, it would have cost more than Rs 3000 each. We purchased it in bulk for the parents’ sake and it cost each around Rs 2600. There was around Rs two lakh

expenditure on the stage, lights and rent of the auditorium, which was sponsored by two parents. We charged the other parents for only the costume, and not for other things.” She said that they held a parents-teachers meeting where the issue was discussed.

“The programme was not compulsory for parents. If any parent had complained before, we would have given their child another role. We basically encouraged their wards to participate on stage. Around 90 per cent parents are happy with this. Some parents met me regarding this and I am going to take precautions,” said the principal.

Asked why the costume was not taken on rent, she said that the rent was Rs 500 for one day and we would have to pay Rs 1000 for two days. The students can now use the costumes for parties. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

Maharashtra government is working of 691 properties has expired. on ways to transfer leased land “Mumbai collector has appealed into free hold, which would enable to these lessees to renew (the it to generate revenue by way of agreement) or the government will selling these plots that are currently take their properties back. We will registered under the Lease Act. either make these lessees permanent A committee, owners or take possession headed by state Revenue if they are not interested in department Principal the properties,” the official Secretary Manukamar said.

Srivastava, has been set up The government will to fi nalise a formula for the fi rst decide which lease transfer. properties should be Mumbai city collector transfered as free hold, he has also appealed to the said. owners of land whose lease “There are some has expired to renew their Eknath Khadse hospitals to which the state agreement or else their has given land for a social properties would be taken purpose. If we transfer the back by the government. land of these hospitals to free hold, we The state government had will loose our 20 per cent free beds approved the amendment in Section quota that is meant for poor patients,” 29 of Maharashtra Land Revenue he further said.

Code-1966 on February 17, 2016, The state’s former revenue minister and the bill was passed in the Eknath Khadse, who took the decision previous Budget session of the state on amending the Revenue CodeLegislature.

1966, claimed that this reform will According to the amendment, help the government garner revenue the state has obtained the power to of about Rs 50,000 crore. transfer lease land into free hold after “I took several decisions during imposing certain penalty charges on my tenure that will change the the lessee. scenario of the department. However, A revenue department official said the Government Resolution (GR) of there are 1,291 properties in the island many decisions that had been taken is city that are given on lease for 33, 66, yet to be published,” Khadse said.

99 or 999 years, out of which the lease PTI

Brookfield to acquire Hiranandani offices, retail space Global private equity fi rm Brookfield Asset Management has signed an agreement with the Hiranandani Group to acquire its offices and retail space in Powai in the megapolis for a whopping Rs 6,700 crore.

Confi rming the development, sources from Hiranandani said discussions were on since quite some time and they will close the deal in the next few months.

At Rs 6,700 crore, this is one of the largest deals in the commercial space and also of the year.

Hiranandani Group, a partnership between brothers Niranjan Hiranandani and Surendra Hiranandani, owns 4.5 million sqft of office and retail space in Powai, including Hiranandani Business Park and Hiranandani Gardens.

According to experts, the deal is a strategic move especially after the government eased norms for creation of real estate investment trusts.

“Brookfield has been active in the Indian real estate market for many years. Th is deal can be viewed as a strategic move by both the parties especially after easing of norms by the government and SEBI regarding creation of REITs,” the expert said.

The Toronto-based fi rm had recently said that it would invest over USD 2 billion in the next 2-3 years as part of its strategy to buyout upscale offices and commercial towers, stranded roads, power and utilities infrastructure as it aims to double its existing asset base in the country.

PTI

The Warekar massacre case has reached closure THE GOLDEN MARCH 5, 2016

Police bring down the curtain on the case involving the massacre of 14 family members by Hasnain Warekar

BY SANTOSHEE MISHRA @TGS WEEKLY On Thursday, the police put the lid on the sensational mass murder of his 14 family members by Hasnain Anwar Warker, 35. The deceased included children and even infants, and the gruesome nature of the crime had put a chill in the minds of even the most jaded of newspaper readers.

The Kasarvadvali police in Thane registered the First Information Report on February 28 against Warekar, for slaughtering 14 of his family members with a butcher’s knife on the night of February 27-28 in Kasarvadavali village, about 12 kilometres from

Thane city. The deceased included Hasnain’s parents, wife and sisters. The culprit then hanged himself.

The deceased had been identified as Zubin Hasnain Warekar, 28, Mubashira Hasnain Warekar, 5, Humera Hasnain Warekar, two months, Anwar Ismail Warekar, 60, Asgari Anwar Warekar, 55, Batul Anwar Warekar, 30, Shabina Shukat Khan, 36, Sadiya Shukat Khan, 17, Aatal Shukat Khan, 12, Ali Hasan Shaukat Khan, 9, Maria Arfat Fakki, 28, Umer Arfan Fakki, 10, Yusuf Arfat Fakki, 6, and Alfiya Sojab Bharmar, five months.

On the fateful day, Hasnain had invited his three married sisters, Shabina and Maria from Kopar Khairane in Navi Mumbai, and Subiya from Bhiwandi. He had ordered food including chicken, prawns and bombil from outside for the family get-together. Th is kind of dawat was routine in the Warekar family.

Subiya had declined the invite owing to water problems, but Hasnain

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les instead of encourages private vehic rise to traffic gives is an example which “The Eastern Freewaye number of private vehicles on roads only Larg port. trans s.” c level publi ase in the pollution congestion and an incre bai Environmental Social Network — Ashok R Datar, Mum

Himachal may urge Centre to declare monkeys as vermin P 11

Puneri Peshwas sign off with a win P 16

for intent to crime ok lo e ic ol P e: id ic il m Thane fa

did not take the Zubin and Sobiya were breast-feeding drink as they be the reason mothers. That could rs got up while two family membe these the killing mission,” a all possibilities of Hasna in was on his “We will look into was shocked the small police official said. brutal crime that has Hasnain Warekar samples have e accused Th drink . and adavali The food village Kasarv c science laboratory heavily in debt but and had loaned huge been sent to forensi seem to be in debt r is awaited. mortgaging the ‘gold (FSL) and its report his principled fathe amounts, besides had refused to start his own money Even though Sobiya that water ornaments’ of his family declined to give him saying ’ to attend the ‘dawat business. gating team available only on from Pardesh Baba in his village is A member of investi behaviour in’s Sundays, the accused and Hasna ays t that Saturd Trus claims Dargah g an autorickshaw changed after his forced her by sendin five-month-old towards his family her up and suspect and she came with recent visit to Bhand the influence was also murdered).

E MISHRA under infant Alifiya (who

BY SANTOSHE that he was acting pre-determined to he met there. @santosheemishra Hasna in was so of the person whom g the social one of crime that when probin the also out are carry Police s husband’s relative are probing all ts of Hasna in as his sister Maria’ networking accoun The Thane Police Kopar Khairane he the crime of vated his accounts, had reached from he had also de-acti possible angles behind 14 members Whereas Shabina’s Crime Cell. killing asked her to leave. with the help of Cyber 35-yea r-old man Batul was was asked to come his parents, (17) ng sister Sadiya includi er in’s daught “Hasna of his family, ‘dawat ’. Shabina’s Even if children before hanging immediately for mental ly disturbed. wife and sisters had dropped their s she thought it to The victims also husband Shaukat played with cracker himself to death. in was also killed) ira Patel decided to remain and babies. Hasna Sufiyan Mubash daughter Sadiya (who as be a bomb blast. She included children mother-in-law me and left for home some medicines r and Hasnain’s tted the grueso at Kasarvadavali Sobiya Sojab Bharma unmarried. We found Warek ar commi r but are r, lone survivor to attend another r’s knife on disorde Wareka asked butche a mental were Hasnain d with all men used to treat familicide Titan From left: Accuse noon. of Februa ry 27doctor that treated a were admitted to Sunday the night on ’ Shabin trace ning to ‘dawat sister interve unable the alleged food t Waghbill lity of Hasna in village about 12 al for three days for adavali and adjacen Hospit Kasarv l Batul. The possibi t 28 in Kasarvadavali city. be hospita suppor e to Th DS t Khan. tion cannot wanted 1, 2012. ane RELATIVES, FRIEN poisoning in July area in Thane. He brother-in-law Shauka going through medica adavali senior kilometres from Th inform the police in but the latter been identified CONF USED authorities did not his grandson Hasna The deceased have ruled out,” said Kasarv now seized the Hasna in’s friend led father would HIS FATHER Tele. in Warek ar (28), Asrar Warek ar, but the latter have knew that his princip DISPU TE WITH police inspector DD as Zabin Hasna in incident.

“I am still unable benefits. He agreed Anwar is known in Warek ar (5), and relative said, papers related to the not approve of such Hasna in’s father Mubashira Hasna in can do this did not accept a man of his word in Warek ar (two NCIA L STAT US his father’s view but to believe that Hasna to Kasarvadavali as FINA Humera Hasna of also simple (60), a relative is ar a was a very shy said Warek who led agency heinous crime. He was never seen THE CRIME it wholeheartedly,” and ‘farishta’ (angel) The investigating months), Anwar Ismailar (55), Batul er in and Hasna in t, manag details a inciden and as bank g fateful in’s and polite person On the day of Wareker family. life. He was workin examining Hasna Asgari Anwar Warek a Shukat three married father to give . “He dealt away his time. If Kasarvadavali. his g his in Shabin papers all whilin (30), wanted factory ar in related al invited streets Hasna on had a chemic bankruptcy Anwar Warek have survived, no d to trust so that show that he is dominated by and Maria stayed Shukat Khan (17), Sobiya would not sisters: Shabina him the money donate Anwar was of Village Kasarvadavali in shares and records his family that Khan (36), Sadiya d it.” Hasna in’s in Navi Mumbai but (12), Ali Hasan and Warek ar’s name told one would have believe at Kopar Khairane he recover the loss Kokani Muslims incurred loss. He Aatal Shukat Khan yan Mubashira ndi. “He invited Ki Amanat Hain Gazette from 1917.

Maria Arfat Fakki in fi ling income –tax mother-in-law Sufi and Sobiya in Bhiwa view that “Ye Trust appears on the he was assisting Shaukat Khan (9), my daughter and had even ordered s to the trust),” land in Thane city fi rm and operated Fakki (10), Yusuf Patel said, “He killed am still unable all on ‘dawat ’ and (the money belong relative Altaf Anwar owns a huge is also a trustee returns for a private (28), Umer Arfan but I Mumbai. Our for the family geter He and Alfiya Sojab Navi hildren Anoth outside areas.

(6) and t from grandc Jafar. ane Fakki two food said and adjacen from Th Arfat in could go to included chicken, said, “Anwa r uncle offices mentioned Dargah in Anand s). to believe that Hasna together. The menu Bashir Warek ar of Pardesh Baba team found that the Bharmar (five month 14 members of his a few items made respected in his adavali in Thane. not exist in Navi this extent and kill prawns, bombil and was so popula r and Nagar near Kasarv by the accused do organised ‘dawat ’ shakka r’ (sugar), of dawat is routine reached APMC ntly lost his civil family. He usually at house. Th is kind village that ‘khadi “Anwa r had appare and reportedly Mumbai. The team THE MOTIVES ars,” the accused ds. It is a myster y ge ceremonies in that the accused address and found at home on weeken in the family of Warek a ritual at marria dispute with a builder to pay him a market at the given Investigators suspect An official from handed over by d to this stage where warehouse that the soft drinks was said. r rcial agreed reache nity, he had spiked membe comme why a commu is have latter that family our the . that it could d gators reveal that ne and later killed trusted him blindly but Anwar decline the family during he killed everyo the team of investi him only. People ‘lucrative’ amount is closed,” said Singh. that was served to to Islam, killing said that the chemical was seized in to be like him. a relative Jafar Ali before slitting their himself. According ng. He was a a bottle of some Police officials He wanted Hasna to accept,” said the dawat (feast) was not like him. start a business of TGS, Thane Police does not yield anythi from the murder spot. liquid served Probably Hasna in Kotkar. accused wanted to throats. Talking to the family lived ir Singh said and introvert but was (areca nuts) and had “It seems that the devout Muslim.”

The house where He looked simple om dealing in supari Commissioner Paramb of accused ’s ’ the family party ” ra@goldensparrow.c ents village was a ‘gift’ amount of money during things. statem ee.mish adavali ‘huge drink) many the ed santosh Kasarv (cold from hiding in borrow that that Anwar and ly Hasna in’s wife r Sobiya Sojab maternal family. al aunt. To recover Police also found was spiked. Probab from Hasna in’s from his matern sister and lone survivo Hasnain had grandfather and his eldest , Hasna in also that maternal his wife Zubin, Asgari Hasna in’s the loss in share market sister Sobiya’s Bharmar it is evident in r s with a butcher’s owns huge land Gulzar Warker mortgaged his younge loan’ from his executed the killing when hand left ‘soft his in took jewellery and knife that he held that was hanging. people found the body

n w cops treat their ow ho is is Th t ur co e 5 March 2016 Than Youth assaulted in end bikes s riding their highad group of youngster number plate. Inste complained about a rted bikes had a fake A senior ACB officer out that one of the impo di cops collected a fine and let them go found also He y. rashl offenders, Kapurbaw the st again FIR of filing

sent an autorickshaw to bring her and her five-month-old baby Alfiya.

Hasnain asked sister Maria’s husband’s relative from Kopar Khairane to leave. AShabina’s heddaughter Sadiya was 24-year-old was thras

ICES

TGS NEWS SERV @TGSWeekly

asked to come immediately for the dawat. Shabina’s husband Shaukat had dropped their daughter Sadiya at Kasarvadavali and left as all the men were asked to attend another dawat on

g about cops burkin We have heard the common man. compla ints from crimes are made Often victims of to post to merely to run from pillar ane police Th But ints. register compla recently when they hit a new low compla int from one didn’t heed to a Mohite, a deputy of their own. Sanjay police in the Anti superintendent of ered multiple injuries in a court and suff , Thane gave a lawyers several Corruption Bureau ly thrashed by int to Kapurbawdi student was alleged law compla a i, d detaile Jayesh Motwan by a aggressive, so I nuisance caused about police were getting really l room for help. ters racing on their group of youngs called police contro thrashed Jayesh. ed on Montoo far from his ground floor and The incident occurr Jayesh had imported biked not They took me to the g out that one when out of the buildin in house. He also pointeda fake number before I could get day at around 2 pm in Ulhasnagar me,” he said. by a group of lawyers using was Court a beating bikers Chopr started the to of they gone he around 25-30 ed swift action. order. “My cousJayesh claims that Ulhasnagar court after plate. Mohite expect collect copy of an a fortnight cops sat around him and ni, has been fightsmoke to However, for over lawyers gathered in, Sunil Motwa told one of them to not d up repeatedly, Each time he tried in court over a civil tight. When he followe youngsters to kept hitting him. ing a legal battle to t the them they would gone to the court inside the premises they merely brough getting away from dispute. We had d them under order in his case. him. “I had been charge , the hit of and station copy a him police nab collect Vehicles times. fi rst floor provisions of Motor and punched several beer I walked up to the milder slapped When WANI rs picked a fines. g, I saw a lawyer Act and collected

BY YOGESH SADH One of the attacke of the court buildin Mohite spotting r. I told him and lunged at It started with @ yogeshsadhwani of bottle lying around smoking in the corrido g there as racing their and injured The two residents ters ew fl smokin youngs glass be of of of Rs 2,000 each. a group me. Shards that he cannot in t Meadows in Thane He explained been issued to any ment building is in a residential area after JNU studen Jayesh. sly ht govern said a in reckles fortnig so plush Hiranandani a hand,” number has not bikes my doing Barely paid their fines. should verify the 11 pm on Februa ry d at me and conlawyers who knew was thrashed inside were let off after they vehicle so far. You Manpada at around that one of the an offence. He laughe the smoke was Kanha iya Kumar inspector of bikes being used intervened and the boys and asked es by a group Sd jadhav, senior registration of the 20. He confronted him from before the tinued smoking. Since for Patiala court premis such incident ed in they it g them as but justifi rs, book blowin iately station and attacke I tried r Kapurbawdi police by the youngsters them to stop immed tried stopping the coming on my face, of lawyers, anothe really have any eye also be booked for of residents living Jayesh.. who were posted in Ulhasnagar, said Jayesh action. “We did not forgery. They should endangering lives vain. A few cops off with a paper,” has come to light A an application tally touched driving,” Mohite’s causing nuisance. intervened but Thane distric t.

The paper acciden witnesses. It was merely rash and negligent in the area and also in the court too a townsh ip in acted on it and hand. “His Kapurbawdi police away. student the lawyer ’s from Mohite. We compla int added.

In his compla int to were asked to keep 24-yea r-old law days he kept his hand under MVA,” he d only when Mohite stated that ed Over the next few cigaret te fell from charged the youth The assault stoppe on Februa ry 21, was brutally assault awdi and me. station at bikes Kapurb why stringent g the the police explain shoutin s ouring and he started said, refusing to following up with the youth were revving cops from neighb by a group of lawyer plied or the . “When I ny response hat was ulled me

Sunday noon.

During the investigation it was revealed that the drinks served were spiked. The police said that Hasnain’s wife Zubin and Subiya did not have the drink as they were breast-feeding mothers. That could be the reason they got up while Hasnain was on his killing spree.

Subiya Bharmal revealed that Hasnain was misunderstood by all but he had a heart of gold. He was allegedly sexually abusing their younger sister who had mental health problems.

Hasnain planned the killing in the fi rst week of February after his family came to know about the sexual abuse.

The lone survivor Subiya brought his sexual acts with the younger sister to the notice of her mother. She suspected that Hasnain overheard the conversation between her and her mother and then planned the heinous massacre.

Subiya survived the massacre by locking herself in a room in Hasnain’s ground plus one-storey home in Kasarvadavali, Thane.

Hasnain’s financial crisis Hasnain Warekar, who worked as a clerk for a chartered accountant in Navi Mumbai was unemployed at the time and was trying to start a business of importing betel nuts from Malaysia or Indonesia, and was in need of Rs 35 lakh.

The police investigations revealed that he had borrowed 12 tolas of gold from Subiya and was to start a business in partnership with her. He had also borrowed huge sums of money from Subiya’s husband. He had invested some money in the stock exchange and has lost the entire invested money. He had also taken loan against gold from financial corps.

Senior police inspector and investigating officer D D Tele said, “I have submitted a summary in Thane Sessions Court on the massacre killing of Warekar family. The case is literally closed now for us. Since the killer Hasnain is dead, we have submitted abetted summary today in the court.” tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

PUNE

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

PUNE

“The state government should make it mandatory for banks to provide education loans to poor students. If any student fails to repay the loan after his or her education with the institution is over, the state government should chip in and repay the bank the principal amount.”

- Vijay Shivtare, Minister of State for Water Resources and Conservation

Google’s double edge for India

Over 30% of extremely poor kids live in India

P6

P8

City municipal schools to get eye in the sky PMC the first in state to install CCTVs in schools by the end of October

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) run schools are set to go hitech after the Diwali vacation. The school education board has recently received approval from the PMC administration to install CCTV cameras in schools, for which it has allocated Rs 70 lakh. The PMC school education board will thus be the first in Maharashtra to have CCTV cameras in schools.

PMC runs 310 Marathi, English and Urdu medium schools that provide primary education to more

Pollution threat looms over Katraj lake

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar The rampant construction work in the fringe villages of Bhilarwadi and Mangrewadi, which come under Purandar tehsil, has resulted in the release of the entire drainage into the historic Katraj lake, which has no become a hazard for the marine species in the lake.

Katraj lake and PMC’s Rajiv Gandhi zoological park are a favourite destination for tourists as well as the citizens of Pune. There has been rapid urbanisation of the fringe villages of Bhilarwadi and Mangrewadi, which actually falls under Purandar tehsil. But for the last few years the villages panchayats have not been able to provide civic amenities in these villages, and their drainage water is now being released into Katraj lake. The drainage has resulted in the lake water emanating a foul odour and posing health hazards for the residents of the area.

Recently, local MNS leader and Katraj corporator Vasant More installed Maharashtra’s tallest and India’s fifth tallest flagpole for the Indian tricolour, which is 72 metres tall (236.22 feet) at Katraj lake.

More said, “Since the last couple of years, there is rampant construction work going on in the villlages of Bhilarwadi and Mangrewadi. The gram panchayats of these villages do not have control over the illegal construction. But the

panchayats are not providing civic facilities like drainage to these buildings, and therefore 100 per cent of the drainage water from the two villages is released directly into Katraj lake. The colour of the lake water has now turned black, and the fish in the lake are beginning to die as a result. I met the sarpanches (heads of gram panchayat) of these villages and requested them not to release their drainage into the lake. I also met minister of state for water resources and conservation, Vijay Shivtare, as Mangrewadi and Bhilarwadi villages fall under his assembly constituency. But Shivtare has not acted upon it.”

Mangrewadi sarpanch Bhanudas Mangade said, “Our village is situated on the hill slopes of Katraj ghat, so rainwater along with drainage are going directly into Katraj lake by natural flow. The gram panchayat does not have the finances to build its own sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the village to process drainage we generate. So the best option is to construct drainage lines in the entire village and connect it to PMC main drainage lines.

The gram panchayat has already written a letter to our MLA and minister Vijay Shivtare to give us funds for drainage line construction.”

Water resources and water conservation minister of state Vijay Shivtare said, “Mangrewadi and Bhilarwadi villages will surely get allocations from my constituency development funds to construct drainage lines very soon.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

than one lakh students. The PMC school education board looks after the operation and running of these schools.

In view of the security concerns, as well the cases of molestations and kidnappings, the Supreme Court has directed schools to install CCTV cameras on their premises. But very few private schools are following the SC directive, as not a single public school in Maharashtra has installed CCTV cameras yet.

School education board members Narendra Vyavahare and Balasaheb Janrao put up the proposal to install CCTV cameras in PMC run schools, during the September 2, 2016 meeting.

Later school education board chief Vasanti Kakade and vice chairman Naruddin Ali Somji approved the proposal to install CCTV cameras in schools.

Elaborating on the issue, Janrao said, “Today security is one of the

most important factors for parents while enrolling their wards in schools.

Most PMC run schools are in slum areas or in remote areas, where local goons and road Romeos are known to make trouble on school premise.

Along with students’ security, it also will make it possible to keep watch on late comers of the school staff.

Therefore I placed the proposal to install CCTV cameras in schools during the board meeting a month ago. Now the PMC administration has also given permission to install CCTV cameras, and all schools will have CCTV cameras by the end of this month.”

PMC school education board chairman Vasanti Kakade said, “After a detailed study, the board made the proposal to install CCTV cameras in the front of every school run by the board, in September. Later we sent this

proposal to the PMC administration for their approval, and we received a positive reply just yesterday. We have allocated a budget of Rs 70 lakh to install CCTV cameras in schools.

The administration also has promised additional funds if required for the installation of CCTV cameras. By the end of this October, all PMC schools will have CCTV cameras.”

PMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Prerna Deshbhratar said, “This is one more step of initiate taken by the school education board to install CCTV cameras in its schools.

This is a step towards modernising and making PMC schools hi-tech. We will be the first local body in state to have CCTV cameras in schools. The PMC will definitely support the board financially if they require additional funds for CCTV installation work.” tushar.rupanavar@ goldensparrow.com RAHUL RAUT

MIDC to re-auction 131 industrial plots

NOT REPAIRED FOR 25 YEARS

BY VICKY PATHARE @Vickypathare2 The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has served notices to 131 industries and business establishments in Pune district, asking them to surrender their respective plots. MIDC is expected to seize back 26.56 hectares (65 acres) of land in various industrial zones of Pune district for remaining unused and to put them up for reauction. The MIDC has been facing shortage of land to cater to increasing demand from investors. Some of the eligible investors can still take benefit from the novel ‘Udyog Sanjivani Yojana’ till end of the month, said MIDC officials.

Globecom Infotech Private Limited, Askme Software Pvt Ltd, Opus Software Solutions Pvt Ltd, GEA Ecoflex India Pvt Ltd, Samruddhi Enterprises and Goel Industries are amongst the defaulters who have been slapped with notices. The plot holders have to respond to the notices within a month. If they fail to give valid reasons, action will be initiated to take back the plots.

The MIDC has issued notices to 80 plot holders in Pimpri-Chinchwad, 23 in Chakan Phase I, 22 in Baramati, 11 in the Pandhar industrial area and ten in Ranjangaon industrial area.

“We have a huge list of investors lined up for Pune and many other parts of the district. Shortage of land has always been an issue. These unused plots can help us provide space for new investments and creating more development and employment opportunities to the youth,” said Santoshkumar Deshmukh, regional officer MIDC. Pune falls in the category where investors are given three to four years to develop the industrial plot depending on the zone of the land. “After conducting a survey, we found that there are many plots which have been lying vacant for more than 8-10 years. Some of the plots from these investors have already been taken back by MIDC. Next month a final list of plots will be displayed online for re-auction. We have served notices and are awaiting reply to take back the land as it will help other investors who are keen to start their projects immediately,” said Deshmukh. vicky.pathare@goldensparrow.com

The shirking and not sharing of responsibility between Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) and Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB) has left this bus stop at Khadki Bazaar in a deplorable condition. It has not seen any sign of repair for the past 25 years. PMPML recently issued an e-tender for reconstruction of this bus stop and renovation work is expected to start soon

They play parents to these special home inmates

Staff of the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Udyog Kendra Special Home, Yerwada, has willingly taken up a parental role in the rehabilitation of juvenile inmates

BY VICKY PATHARE @Vickypathare2 The Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Udyog Kendra, Yerwada Special Home provides care and shelter to 14 inmates currently, 16 to 18 years of age, and an environment conducive for their longterm rehabilitation, to give them a new lease of life. Some of these parents are ready to take care of them, even after they leave the home.

It’s a protected environment for these children convicted of various crimes and misdemeanours to develop to their potential. There are 30 of these juveniles at the observation and special homes of the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Udyog Kendra. The observation home has 16 under trial inmates, while the

remaining 14 have been convicted under section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and Amendment Act 2006.

The children at the special home are sentenced to terms of six months to three years. The needs and demands of the children in special homes are different from those of the inmates in the observation home, so the staff at the centre has decided to take up the parental duties and care of the children from the special home.

“Most of these children are single parent boys, underprivileged children and those from poor economic backgrounds lost their way in raw age and detained for involvement in crimes including rape, murder, robbery, rioting, theft, etc,” said

Sharad Kurhade, Superintendent of the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Udyog Kendra.

“The officials of the centre have read all the files and knows the history of the children and can spend time and take care of these inmates as their own children. The foster parents will ensure that their child will have equal opportunities for overall development and no custom or traditional practice will prevent the child from enjoying their rights and developing. Positive measures and affirmative action will be taken by the foster parents to eliminate situations that cause injustice, discrimination, and inequality to this child in the society,” said Kurhade.

“As per the J.J Act and District

Child Protection Officer, the foster parents along with the other social organisation and non governing organisation will develop a ‘comprehensive care plan’ as per the requirement of the child. The child will be provided an opportunity to have the right to grow in a nurturing family environment, in an atmosphere of care, protection, love and affection.

These children will be provided opportunities, quality education, positive outlook, ideals, skills and social values so that they can grow up into adults who can preserve the social values and helping in social, economic and cultural development of the society after they step out in the special home,” said Kurhade. vicky.pathare@goldensparrow.com

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TGS LIFE In the rapidly expanding urban zones in India, with the overwhelming volumes of traffic and the ensuing congestion, the alarming increase in noise pollution is an issue that is largely ignored, both by the common man and the relevant authorities. But this has also led to a situation where the silence zones around hospitals are by and far completely ignored, so it is time to assess just how hazardous are the effects of noise pollution on recuperating patients See p04-05

Govt order on privatisation of hospitals flouted by PMC

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

PUNE

“The site is around 15-20 km away from Pune. The proposed airport will be connected with six routes including national highways 4 and 17. There will be a special ring-road connecting major industrial establishments with the proposed airport from Hadapsar.”

- Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister

No tendency among youth to get heart diseases: study P7

The lives of these kids hang by a slender thread Is writing to the PMO the last ray of hope for these 48 children awaiting heart surgeries?

AWAITING TREATMENT

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1 The Pune collector and district health officials had been on their toes since they received the letter from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to trace seven-year-old Vaishali Yadav, and arrange her surgery as soon as possible. After two days of searching, the collectorate officials identified Hadapsar resident Vaishali, who was suffering from congenital heart disease, and the surgery costing Rs three lakh was done for free promptly at Ruby Hall Clinic on June 2, despite not having identity proof like ration card. This miracle has happened because she had written a letter to the PMO, quoting her parents’ inability to finance the surgery.

But what about those 48 poor children from Pune district awaiting heart surgeries, whose families neither have the money for treatment nor required documents. If they are not operated upon, some of them will die, and who will be responsible for their deaths?

All of them deserve to be treated like Vaishali, if they write to the PM. According to statistics available with Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) officials, as many as 48 poor children identified by 73 RBSK teams in Pune district are in need of urgent heart surgeries. Some of them have waited for five years, but their parents are unable to raise the money for the surgery. These parents along with the doctors have made countless visits to government, charity and private hospitals in Pune and Mumbai, but to no avail.

According to sources, there are more than 200 children awaiting surgeries in Pune district, but officials are downplaying the number to just 48.

Teams of RBSK doctors identified these children from PMC and ZP schools and Anganwadi centres in districts, and refer them for further treatments to Aundh Civil Hospital. After conducting various tests like 2-D echo and cardiac catheterisation, it is the responsibility of the civil surgeon to facilitate heart surgeries in their own hospital, charity hospital or through Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana (RGJAY), free of cost, as these patients are from weak economic backgrounds. Some children are not treated under RGJAY as some diseases are not covered under the scheme for the poor to avail of the treatment for free. So these children are still waiting for the surgery. Even charity hospitals in Pune are not ready to operate on them free of cost.

Tejaswini Rale Tejaswini Sunil Rale, 9, of Jawalake Khurd (Khed) was detected by a RBSK doctors team in 2013. She has complicated heart problem as her aortic valve is not working. Her father Sunil Rale visited DY Patil Hospital, Ruby Hall Clinic, Budhrani and NM Wadia Hospital but they refused operation citing her as a high-risk patient. “I have given my consent to these hospitals but they are not ready to operate on her,” said Sunil, who is a farmer. Tejaswini has a nine-month-old sister Shriya who underwent surgery for Atrial Septal Defect.

Yash Nivrutti Kamble Yash Nivrutti Kamble, 9, of Bhatnagar in Kalewadi is suffering from Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), a congenital heart disease that causes inadequate flow of blood to the lungs for oxygenation, which requires ‘Biventricular Repair’ surgery. Though Yash was identified by the Pimpri-Chinchwad RBSK team’s Dr Umesh Jaiswal last year, he has been suffering from the heart problem for the past five years. He is in need of surgery but his parents are unable to afford the cost of the surgery. Yash’s father Nivrutti is a daily wage worker, and his mother works as housemaid. Yash is now in serious condition and unable to walk. His parents are tired of visiting hospitals and requesting politicians for help. The surgery is not covered under RGJAY so they are helpless. Hospitals are refusing to treat Yash as it is a high-risk operation.

Tejaswini (right), baby sister Shriya (centre) with their mother

Varsha Popat Pawar, 14, of Daund died two and a half years ago as she was not operated on in time.

Maharashtra RBSK Doctors and Employees Association (DREAMS), an association of the RBSK doctors in the state, wrote a letter to the Civil Surgeon of Aundh hospital, reminding him to facilitate heart surgeries of these high risk children, but nothing has happened yet. “We are following up the issue since last three years with several reminders but nothing has happened yet,” said Dr Pranali Vetal, president of DREAMS. “Now all of these children have written letter to PMO like Vaishali to get health aid,” said Dr Vetal.

Deputy Health Director (Pune division) Dr Hanumant Chavan said that they are going to facilitate these surgeries through RGJAY. The new amendment is being made by RGJAY to include these pending surgeries. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

Durva Sudhakar Dhavare Durva Sudhakar Dhavare, 1.5, lives in a slum in Chinchwad. Her father is a daily wage worker and her mother is a housewife. They lead a hand-to-mouth existence. Durva is suffering from a ventricular septal defect (VSD), a congenital heart defect in the ventricular septum, the wall dividing the left and right ventricles of the heart. She is underweight and suffers from severe malnutrition (SAM). She was identified by doctors in 2015, but is unable to avail of the surgery as her family is unable to raise the Rs three lakh needed for the surgery. The couple also has a six-year-old son Kishor.

Poorva Sunil Badhe Poorva Badhe, three and a half years old, who lives at Davadi Nimgaon of Khed tehsil, is suffering from high risk heart disease. She requires surgery which costs Rs 2.5 lakh. Her father is a farmer and has spent almost Rs 50,000 on tests to diagnose the disease. Doctors are refusing to perform surgery on her as it is complicated. Her parents are awaiting surgery at a camp in Mumbai, as advised by RBSK’s Dr Pranali Vetal.

Vaibhav Dashrath Rathod Vaibhav Dashrath Rathod, 4, of Nanekarwadi in Chakan, has a hole in his heart (ventricular septal defect).

His father works in a company. He has taken Vaibhav to Sahyadri Hospital, and other charitable hospitals, but they have refused to operate on him.

Govt order on privatisation of hospitals flouted by PMC

PMC rents out Shahu Hospital to private player Orakas at just one rupee a month

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR @tusharrupanavar Despite the state government stay order on privatisation of hospitals under local bodies,the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) run Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Hospital in Wanowrie, which falls under Mayor Prashant Jagtap’s ward, has been recently given to Orakas green acres private hospital to run for the next 30 years, on the rent of just one rupee per month. The mayor has thus violated the state government stay order. Congress and Republican Party (RPI) corporators strongly opposed the privatisation of Shahu Hospital, but the mayor forcefully passed the proposal thanks to his majority in the house.

Orakas hospital offers orthopaedic, diagnostic care and treatment and has a trauma centre. According to the agreement with PMC, Orakas hospital will give just one per cent concession on bills to Pune patients for orthopaedic treatment under the central government health scheme. PMC administration has cited lack of patients at Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Hospital as reason to give this hospital to Orakas Hospital on public private partnership (PPP) basis for 30 years at just one rupee monthly rent. Shahu Hospital was constructed

by PMC on land reserved under R-7.

According to current market rates, the property is worth Rs six crore. But it was given to the private hospital with just a Rs 30 lakh deposit and one rupee monthly rent, on the flimsy premise that they are giving modern medical treatment to the citizens of Pune. There was only one tender from Orakas for the tender process of giving Shahu Hospital on PPP basis.According to the MRTP act, PMC must float a second tender by minimising terms and conditions, so that more private players can participate.

But PMC has violated this rule as well

and granted tender to Orakas without falls under Mayor Jagtap’s ward, and he implementing tender procedure for a was determined on giving it to a private second time. player. They passed this proposal in PMC opposition leader Arvind the general bodyon majority basis. But Shinde said, “The state government tomorrow if anybody goes to court, this had already given stay order to privatise entire procedure court may be scrapped.”

PMC run Rajiv Gandhi Hospital in PMC RPI house leader Dr Yerwada, because the Siddharth Dhende said, government had already “Politicians in power at taken a policy decision PMC do not care a whit to restrict local bodies about citizens’ health. from privatisation of It is a myth that good their hospitals. Providing medical facilities are health care facilities is the provided only by private responsibility of any local hospitals. I am an MBBS body, according to the doctor and I know this as MRTP act. But in this a fact. Thirty per cent case, the mayor himself of Pune’scitizens live in has violated the state slums. How can they government’s orders and afford to pay bills of given PMC property of private hospitals? There ARVIND SHINDE Shahu Maharaj Hospital are Pune hospitals that worth more than Rs six demand a Rs 15,000 crore on rent to a private deposit before starting a player, by promising that the hospital will patient’s treatment. So this is a serious provide specialised medical treatments. matter.How many common people can The standing committee decided to give afford treatment at Orakas Hospital? It is Shahu Maharaj Hospital on rent to a our responsibility to provide health care private player, saying that the hospital facilities free of cost, or provide modern will provide modern specialised medical treatments at fair and minimum costs. treatment to citizens. But the general We strongly opposed the privatisation of body is above the standing committee.

Shahu Hospital in the house but mayor They sidelined the general body and passed the proposal on the basis of their gave the tender to Orakas. This hospital majority in the house.”

“The mayor himself has violated the state govt orders.”

PMC health chief Dr S T Pardeshi said, “Orthopaedic treatment is only available at PMC run Kamla Nehru Hospital, so there was a need toextend this facility to other PMC hospitals as well. Orthopaedic and trauma care machinery is expensive, and we did not have adequate staff for trauma care, so we had no option but to take the help of private players. Since there were only 7/8 patients at Shahu Maharaj Hospital, there was no question of running an OPD. It was Mayor Jagtap’s wish to start a specialised medical treatment centre at Shahu Maharaj Hospital. The health department executed orders according to elected representatives’ wishes.”

Mayor Prashant Jagtap said, “This is misunderstanding among many honourable corporators that we have done privatisation of the PMC run Shahu Maharaj Hospital. It is just a joint partnership with Orakas Hospital to offer modern medical treatment like orthopaedic and trauma care to the citizens of Pune. We followed the tender procedure as well while giving Shahu Hospital on rent to Orakas Hospital, so there is no issue of favouring anybody here in tender procedure. This hospital falls under my own ward and there was a demand from people to set up trauma care and orthopaedic treatment in Shahu Hospital. It takes substantial investment to set up a trauma care and specialised orthopaedic surgery.

So the best option was to give it to a private player, because PMC does not have need to invest money in it. It requires a minimum investment of Rs three crore to set up a trauma centre.

Orakas has to invest this amount on its own. As per our agreement with Orakas, they have to treat 60 per cent patients recommended by PMC and 40 per cent private patients. Orakas has agreed to give one percent concession on bills to patients under the central government health scheme. Most importantly, Orakas has agreed to give free orthopaedic and trauma care medical treatment facilities to sitting corporators, PMC officials and former members as well.” tushar.rupanavar@goldensparrow.com

Women-exclusive rickshaw plan stalled

BY VICKY PATHARE @Vickypathare2 The state government’s dream project of an exclusive autorickshaw service run by women for women has failed to take off six months after its announcement. The state government has reserved a five per cent quota of autorickshaw permits for women drivers. The project envisages women autorickshaw drivers who will cater to women commuters only. It has been held up owing to the colour issue.

The women have demanded that the autorickshaw colour should not be changed to pink from the standard black and yellow, so that the vehicles can be given out on rent. But the Regional Transport Office thinks this is unethical and action will be taken against such a practice.

As per the state transport ministry decision, 3000 autorickshaw permits were distributed in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) limits. Of these, 160 autorickshaw permits were reserved for women. Fifty-eight women had applied for autorickshaw permits, of which 29 were found to be eligible for the permits, and the remaining applications were rejected owing to errors in the forms and lack of eligibility criteria. Regional Transport office (RTO), Pune has issued permits to 18 women but not a single woman autorickshaw driver is to be seen in Pune driving a pink autorickshaw.

To speed up the process, the Pune RTO had issued notices in August to all this autorickshaw permit holders to complete the colouring work and bring out the pink autorickshaws on the roads.

“The state government had allotted a five per cent reservation of permits to these women as a move towards women empowerment,” said Anil Patil, deputy regional transport officer, Pune.

Earlier, the colour of the womendriven autorickshaws was not finalised.

The RTO has taken declarations from all the permit holders that any colour which would be decided by the state transport department would be followed.

“The statement about the colour

issue was agreed to, so why are they now not ready to make changes to the autorickshaws? Most of them want to give their autorickshaws to others on rent and earn money, but as per the rules it is not ethical and cannot be done. Action will be taken if any of the autorickshaws are found to be driven by male drivers,” said Patil.

“These pink autorickshaws will be given more preference by the women commuters as they find it safer to travel in these autorickshaws especially at odd times,” he said.

Indira Nagarkar, 58, who received the autorickshaw permit through a lottery, said, “I have applied for this permit stating that the vehicle would be driven by my son as he is jobless.

I am too old and at this age it will not be possible for me to drive an autorickshaw,” she said.

Pushpa Narsale, is another woman who has suffered losses. “I have bought the autorickshaw on loan and have being paying the EMIs for the last two months from my own pocket. I have not earned a single penny from this autorickshaw,” she said.

“The RTO authorities have told us that the autorickshaws cannot be driven by any male. This is wrong.

Family members of the permit holders should be allowed to drive the autorickshaws,” said Narsale.

Autorickshaw permit holder Rupali Rawade is not sure if she will drive the autorickshaw. “We have not given any declaration about the change in colour to the RTO. What difference will the autorickshaw colour make?” she said. vicky.pathare@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

“India can inflict pain and hurt if Pakistan continues to bleed India with cross-border terrorism. That was the message sent out through the strike.”

— Lalit Mansingh, Former Foreign Secretary

PUNE

“Our entire country should take a moment to really look at what’s going on here and across America to imagine how young people view tensions between police and minority communities.”

— Hillary Clinton, US Presidential Candidate

Uncover the world of books Go green, the TiGO way RISO libraries set up in villages across Pune are kindling the imaginations of underprivileged children

BY EKTA KATTI @Ektaak Books are the greatest gift on earth. And Vaibhav Mogarekar, 29, blindly believes in this saying. Reading and only reading books can broaden anyone’s imagination, he feels.

And in an effort to provide the pleasure of reading to the young minds living in villages across Pune, Vaibhav and his team are setting up libraries.

Vaibhav started volunteering at an early Vaibhav Mogarekar age. A software testing professional, Vaibhav formed Rostrum India Social Organization (RISO), Pune in 2009. Since then, his only aim has been to provide a better living to the underprivileged. Volunteering gave him a chance to travel to the remote villages in Pune. “I realised that villagers are willing to take chance but they fail to spot the opportunities. I have observed that reading can transform a person’s life, hence we started putting up RISO libraries in villages across Pune,” he said.

The seeds of starting a RISO library was sown around May this year. Soon, a recce team was formed and 50 villages were shortlisted.

The team set up their main storage office in Shivne, Warje where within a couple of days, the team received around 700 books as donation. The library which will be put up for kids of all ages will have books related to history, Marathi educational books, spiritual and health novels and comic books. Some of the villages where the libraries will be set up include Lonikhand, Khed, Shivapur, Shirur, Wagholi and Kasnand.

the impact will certainly help them grow and succeed in life. “This could be a big movement if taken in the right direction,” he said.

“Work at some villages has already begun.

I am inspired by the kind of response I have received from the people in Pune. They surely love to do their volunteering work. So far we have received thousands of books,” Vaibhav said, adding “our team made the most of the social media. A message sent earned us several responses.”

THE IMPACT During the recce, Vaibhav was intrigued by the response of villagers. Sharing his experience, he said, “There were kids who came running to us and asked us to get comics for them. This shows how reading can change someone’s life. For them even getting the basic education is difficult.

Imagine how happy would they be if given a chance for leisure reading,” he said. He feels that

JUGGLING TWO PASSIONS Work is worship for him, and Vaibhav makes sure that he utilises his time the right way. An IT tester on weekdays, Vaibhav gives most of his time for volunteering. “Earlier it wasn’t easy to juggle between work and volunteering. But once you set your eyes on a goal, everything is possible,” he said. He started volunteering just with a basic thing in mind. “It is time for me to return something back to the society,” he said.

Over the years, he has worked on several projects for the upliftment of society but RISO library is dearer to him. “It is simply because it involves reading. And I want each and every one in our country to develop the habit of reading,” he said. Some experiences had greater influence on him and changed him as a person. At RISO centres across Pune, people often come to celebrate the birthday of their loved ones. Watching them spread the joy with the underprivileged kids motivates him to strive harder. Happy with the response of the RISO library, Vaibhav resolves to set up as much libraries as possible across Maharashtra.

“RISO’s ultimate aim is make every Indian read,” he said.

FOR A BETTER CAUSE RISO, Pune was set up by Vaibhav and his friends in 2013 with the mission to take up initiatives for the betterment of society. The NGO spreads social awareness, empowers the rural as we well as urban community.

They hold events to mobilise the Indian youth and gather active public support with the cooperation of other social bodies. RISO founders include Gautamee N Bidkar and Diwakar D Mogarekar. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

Door-to-door pickup facility collects dry waste from households in societies TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly A small positive thought can bring a big change.

And Pune’s Sourav Patwari, the co-founder of Trust in Green Only (TiGO), justifies this saying. On a Sunday afternoon, rather than lazing around, Sourav, 26, thought of how to reuse the waste material. TiGO are working towards dry waste management at household level in Pune.

Talking about the initiative, Saurav said, “I had months of waste consisting of newspapers and plastic material. A waste output for us might be an input for an industry. Th is thought in turn gave rise to TiGO.” The facility provides doorto-door pickup facility at societies to collect dry waste like plastic, newspapers, clothes, cardboard and electronics waste on weekly and monthly level from households. Before launching TiGO, he had many brainstorming sessions with people involved in waste management. The launch of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ (Clean India Mission) by the Centre only bolstered his mission.

Hailing from Rajasthan, Saurav has been in the city for more than eight years. He completed his engineering from Symbiosis College.

The team set up by Saurav started their cleanliness project in September 2015. Over the period of two months, the team got in touch with 200 customers and recycled around eight tonnes of waste. “In this pursuit, tie-ups were established with various recycling factories in and around Maharashtra for e-waste, metal, paper, clothes and plastic to provide authentic recycling,” he said. The team soon focused on technology solution and regulatory requirements. “We have a team of four and volunteers also extend support. Over the years, the response has been good as we cover over 1,000 housing societies across the city. We have started providing trays to societies to help them store the waste and send it to us,” he said.

By January 2016, to ensure scalability, many

Sourav Patwari (right) taking survey at one of the housing societies in Pune

backend processes were automated and upgraded via technological advancements which resulted is better equipped field personnel. What followed thereafter was exhaustive debottlenecking of operations. The pickup van running in Pune to collect waste has shot up from 7 pickups a day to 20 pickups a day. At present the company is recycling two tonnes of waste per weekend. Now, backed by just-in-time operational efficiencies, TiGO is geared up to target 80 tonnes of waste per month.

For Saurav, this is just the beginning. “We want to spread across the city. There is a lot of work to be done. The movement now is at the ground level. As TiGO plans to scale up the operations and increase its efficiency, the team aims to rope in strategic investments to fasten the pace of growth trajectory towards a greener and cleaner India,” he said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

DEADLY DECIBELS G

enerally, hospitals and a 100-metre area around them fall under the silence zone. The noise levels in hospital premises should be 50 decibels during the day, from 6 am to 9 pm, and 40 decibels in the night, from 9 pm to 6 am. But the ground reality at hospitals in Pune is quite different, as the noise levels in a majority of hospitals are far higher than the prescribed levels for hospital areas. This is a cause for serious concern, as such high levels of noise are giving rise to countless health related problems for all patients, and specially for those with heart conditions or sleep disorders.

The rapid urbanisation of Pune and surrounding areas over the last decade has caused an exponential rise in the numbers of private vehicles.

The days when Pune was a city of bicycles is long gone, and now Pune boasts one of highest number of motorcycles in the country. There are nearly 35 lakh two-wheelers and eight lakh four-wheelers registered with Pune Regional Transport Office, and the number of vehicles keeps increasing by the day. The unreliable state of the public transport system in Pune leaves no option for the public but to use their own vehicles to commute. These overwhelming numbers of vehicles on the roads is a major cause of the uncontrollable noise pollution.

TGS has taken the time to survey the situation at hospitals in the city, and their general wards, to gauge just how hazardous the issue of noise pollution has become for patients and their recuperation, and what the hospital administrations can or are doing to counter the threat.

‘We have large numbers of patients and their relatives, so it is possible that the noise levels are higher’ The noise pollution levels at the Sassoon government run Sassoon General General Hospital

Hospital are no less than alarming.

In terms of decibels, the hospital premises noise levels exceed 86 decibels, way higher than the prescribed 50 decibels. In fact, they are high enough to damage the auditory system and cause hearing loss among small children. Sassoon MIN MAX hospital has nearly 1200 beds and hundreds of new patients from all across the state are admitted to the hospital for treatment. Even the general ward records a noise level of 79 decibels which is enough to patients’ sleep, while the hospital premises have a noise level of 86 decibels.

Sassoon General Hospital medical superintendent Ajay Taware said, “The noise level at Sassoon is slightly higher than the prescribed noise level for hospitals and their premises. But nobody has complained to us about the noise. The hospital premises are a silence zone, but we have large number of patients and their relatives visiting daily, so it is possible that the noise levels are higher than the prescribed noise levels for hospital premises.”

79 86

‘Being situated in the heart of the city, these kinds of noise levels are to be expected’

Poona Hospital is located on the bypass road which connects LBS Road and Karve Road, premises have 90 decibels of noise and its general ward 88 decibels of noise in the afternoon. These figures are alarming, being much higher than the ideal 50 decibels threshold. The ambulance arriving at Poona Hospital from LBS Road have to deal with the bottlenecks and have to resort to using their sirens, which adds to the noise levels around the hospital. About the rising levels of noise pollution in

Madhukar Hospital

PUNE

In the rapidly expanding urban zones in India, overwhelming volumes of traffic and the ensuing congestion is causing an alarming increase in noise pollution. The issue is largely ignored, both by the common man and the relevant authorities. This has led to a situation where the silence zones around hospitals are completely ignored. It’s time to assess just how hazardous the effects of noise pollution are on recuperating patients

BY ASHISH PHADNIS AND DNYANESHWAR BHONDE

Poona Hospital

the hospital premises, the Poona administration says, “It is actually Hospital the traffic congestion that is responsible for the alarming noise levels on the hospital premises. But it is beyond our powers to control the traffic. The traffic department should deploy a traffic policeman at Poona Hospital to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. This will MIN MAX definitely reduce the noise levels on the hospital premises. No patients admitted to our hospital have complained about the noise level. Being situated in the heart of the city in an extremely busy location, these kinds of noise levels are to be expected. But it does not create a disturbance to our patients, otherwise they would have complained about it.”

88 90

In the general ward on the second floor, the noise level is much lower Situated next to Paud Road, Jog Jog Hospital is known for its orthopedics Hospital

and gynecology departments. They have a general ward and special rooms too. There is no signboard declaring the hospital surroundings to be a silence zone. TGS visited the hospital on Thursday afternoon at around noon. The noise levels at the hospital ranged from 65 to MIN MAX 75 decibels. These increase in the evenings when there is much more traffic on the road, going up to 8085 dB. In the general ward on the second floor, the noise level is much lower, between 45 and 65 dB, which is still higher than the ideal level.

65 85

The noise pollution is a serious hazard for heart patients TGS team visited Star Hospital Star in Akurdi, on the Pune Mumbai Hospital Expressway at around 4 pm. The noise level was 55 to 65 dB, and in the general ward it was 55 to 70 dB. During peak hours it increases many fold. The noise level is lower in the general ward, thanks to the closed windows. But when the windows are opened for some ventilation, the noise pollution rises alarmingly, and it is a serious hazard for the heart patients.

traffic police, and roadside vendors hawking their wares. levels exceed 85 decibels on any given day. The hospital have a designated parking area and the noise level is al same in the reception area. In the general ward it is lower decibels.

Human beings including the patients’ kin the hospital office staff add to the noise MIN

MAX

55 70

There are traffic jams galore near the hospital during the rush hours

A couple of decade ago, Sinhagad Road was a narrow and curvy stretch, dotted with trees and there was far less traffic.

But with the massive settlements at Wadgaon-Dhayari, the connection to the Mumbai-Bangalore highway, and the lack of an alternative road, has made Sinhagad Road very noisy indeed, and the hospitals here have to cope with the ever increasing noise pollution.

Madhukar Hospital in Anand Madhukar Nagar is a prime example. Earlier Hospital the hospital was at a distance from the main road, but now after the road-widening and concretization, it is almost touching the road.

There are traffic jams galore near the hospital during the rush hours of 9-11 am and 7-9 pm. There is like a free-for-all on the road, with MIN MAX impatient drivers honking their horns to add to the sound of the heavy traffic, the whistles of the

60 85

Sahyadri Hospital, Hadapsar is located in the busiest of junctions Sahyadri Hos of Magarpatta chowk. It is a multiHadapsa specialty hospital, offering facilities like Higher Secondary Care. It was established in the year 2009, when the place was far less crowded. The noise level at the entrance of the hospital ranged from 91 to 97 dB in the evening. The ever busy roads with high volumes of traffic round MIN MA the clock add to the noise level. It is an area dotted with hotels and shops, which is another factor that contributes to the noise levels.

The noise level in the general ward ranged from 55 t Human beings including the patients’ kin, and the hosp staff add to the noise levels. The sounds from the main parking area of the hospital are audible in the ward thr open windows and doors.

55 9

The noise generated by the people inside was higher than that outside

The 202-bed Sahyadri multi-specialty Hospital, o Road, does not have any signboards proclaiming it to silence zone. In fact, it seemed to be a really noisy pl TGS visited the hospital on Wednesday at 12 noon. aggravated by the sounds of traffic from the nearby Kar including the honking and blaring of horns, as well as from the vehicles in the hospital parking lot.

Recorded from one to five minutes’ duration, t levels shot up to between 63 and 74 decibels (dB), 25 decibels more Sahyadri Hos than the prescribed 50 dB limit in Karve Roa silence zones in which hospitals fall. The noise level was found to be as high as 80 dB on the ground floor of the hospital, where the Out Patient Department (OPD), drug store, reception and waiting areas are located. The level of noise generated by the people speaking MIN MA loudly in this area was higher than that outside. The staircase and an open window were adding to the

63 8

The hubbub of patients’ relatives, television sounds etc, make the ward generally noisy

Krishna Hospital in Kothrud offers the best in ICU and ICCU care. TGS team visited Krishna Hospital at mid-day. The noise level was 56 to 72 dB near the main gate, and it was almost the same in the general ward. Along with the outside noise, the hubbub of patients’ relatives, television sounds etc, make the ward generally noisy.

Krishna Hospital

MIN

MAX

56 72

The noise l does not lmost the r, at 60-65

n, and e levels

spital, ar

AX

91

to 70 dB. pital office road and rough the

on Karve o be in a ace when This was rve Road, the noise

the noise

spital, ad

AX

80

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

PUNE

Sancheti Hospital

WHAT AUTHORITIES SAY ‘Noise can also cause an increase in blood pressure and other complications’ Eminent cardiologist Dr Dnyaneshwar Gaware says that there is not much noise pollution in hospitals these days, as soundproofing materials are used and other precautions are taken to prevent it. But exposure to noise pollution is a hazard for cardiac or seriously ill patients. “If a serious or emotional patient faces noise pollution, his heartbeat rate increases, and he needs more oxygen,” said Dr Gaware, who has 25 years of experience in cardiology. Noise can also cause an increase in blood pressure and other complications in a normal patient.

- Dr Dnyaneshwar Gaware Cardiologist, NM Wadia Institute of Cardiology ‘The police can create awareness, advise vehicle users not to honk near hospitals’ Vivek Velankar, an RTI activist and president of Sajag Nagarik Manch, blamed the police and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for the noise pollution, for ignoring the issue and their responsibility.

“These two authorities are not doing anything to curb noise pollution. The police have their hands full just managing the traffic, while the MPCB is not serious about taking action. The PMC does not bother to install signboards in silence zones, and no monitoring is done. The police can create awareness, advise vehicle users to slow down and not to honk near hospitals,” said Velankar.

-Vivek Velankar President of Sajag Nagarik Manch

decibel levels.

The pediatric general room on the sixth floor of the hospital was no different. The ten beds in the children’s ward were all occupied. The TV sets telecasting movies and such were escalating the noise levels, which ranged from 51 to 60 dB. Even the nursing staff seemed to be ignoring the silence zone as they spoke to each other in loud voices. Through an open window, the noises of traffic were filtering in. The noise level was high even in the general ward but it was 10 dB lower than the rest of the hospital. The whir of the air conditioning system was adding to the noise.

Star Hospital

‘We have covered the hospital with sandwich glass which eliminates 90 per cent of noise’

Sancheti Hospital happens to be situated in one of the busiest traffic Sancheti intersections in the city, owing to Hospital which the decibel levels are really high here. There is no signboard set up here signifying it be a silence zone. It is a busy hospital and from the hospital premise one can see long lines of traffic on Sancheti bridge and on the road from Shivajinagar to Pune station. With MIN MAX the congestion, there is no regard for the hospital, and the cacophony of horns is a fact of life, no matter what time of the day it is.

TGS visited the hospital on Wednesday at around 1 pm. The front of the hospital was the noisiest, with decibel levels being between 80 and 90 dB most of the time. Most of the noise was from the road.

The noise levels inside the hospital were slightly lower, at between 75 and 85 dB. The noise level was 70 to 75 dB in the OPD and waiting area. The cutting of tiles by construction workers on the hospital premises was adding 10 dB to the noise.

The noise level in a room on the second floor was 50 to 60 dB, ten dB higher than the prescribed 50 dB limit.

Sancheti Hospital medical superintendent Dr Madhav Borate said, “We have covered the entire hospital with sandwich glass which can eliminate 90 per cent of loud noise. Sandwich glass is made of two glass layers with an open space in between.

It cuts out noise which is why we don’t face any noise problem despite being so close to the road.”

70 90

Sahyadri Hospital, Hadapsar

Traffic department initiates action against offenders in silence zones Pune Traffic DCP Dr Pravin Mundhe said that the traffic department did not take any action against offenders in the silence zone in 2014-2015. But from January 2016 to October 7, 2016 the traffic department initiated action against 322 offenders and collected Rs 64,400 in fines.

The department is also making efforts to create awareness among citizens about maintaining silence in the specified zones.

-Dr Pravin Mundhe Pune Traffic DCP ‘We don’t take any action on noise pollution as it does not fall in our ambit’ The onus of controlling noise pollutiondoes not fall on the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), and other concerned organisations have failed to monitor or control the noise levels in Pune city. MPCB regional officer V N Munde retorted that they did not have anything to do with noise pollution. On being contacted by TGS,Munde asked who had givenus his contact number, and then hesitated before replying to our query. “We don’t take any action on noise pollution as it does not fall in our ambit,” he said. He did not have any record of the silence zones in the city. “We don’t have any record of how many silence zonesthere are in the city. Ask the PMC, they will tell you,” he said.

-V N Munde MPCB Regional Officer (Pune City) Guidelines regarding hospital noise standards  Signs of ‘silence zone’ should be placed around hospital buildings by the local body

 No honking, playing loud music; bursting firecrackers is a crime  Violation of rules can lead to police taking action as per Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000

 Windows or other infrastructure of the hospital should be sound-proof

 No noise emitting works should be allowed on hospital premises  Speak softly on hospital premises  MPCB should have regular check of the silence zones (hospitals) to curb violations

The noise level at the hospital was around 57 to 67 dB

 Hospital sites with high degree of sensitivity to outside noise should be avoided

Hardikar Hospital, Shivajinagar, specialises in orthopedic surgeries, joint, hip and knee replacements. TGS team visited the hospital at just past 1 pm. Though it wasn’t peak hour, the noise level at the hospital was around 57 to 67 dB, while in the general ward the noise level recorded was 54 to 71 dB. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

PHYSICS TOOLBOX SOUND METER APP

Krishna Hospital

This sound meter app measures and displays a graph of Sound Intensity (dB) vs. Time (s). Minimum and maximum sound levels that can be accurately measured are dependent upon the device (usually no more than 80 or 90 dB), and are generally within the range of human voice production of frequencies 3003,500 Hz and sound intensities 40-60 dB. The app is developed

by Vieyra Software.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

PUNE

TECH/START-UP

“A red panda is an animal native to the Himalayas and southwestern China.

The English word for red panda is ‘Firefox’ which is where the browser gets its name from – so the Firefox logo is actually a red panda, not a fox!”

— http://www.thefactsite.com/

World court rejects Marshall case P8

Google’s double edge for India

While making a foray into hardware globally, the Net giant announces a slew of India-angled software goodies

BY ANAND PARTHASARATHY

The ancient Chinese had a benediction: ‘May you live in interesting times!’ If you are a Google user—and who isn’t—this has been a week packed with more-than-average interest. To start with, Google hosted an event in Delhi to announce a slew of Indiaspecific software and service initiatives.

Then in San Francisco on Tuesday, it announced its long expected foray into hardware—after dominating the other two infotech sectors, software and services, for decades. It unveiled the first Google-branded smart phone, seemingly aimed at the end of the market that is dominated by the iPhone.

To begin in the beginning: On September 27, Google announced several new products, platforms and programmes to increase India’s participation in the Internet: l YouTube Go, is a new mobile app to load and play YouTube videos smoothly across various connectivity situations, and to provide users control over their data consumption. The app also has a new feature that lets users share videos easily with friends and family nearby, without using any data.

The app is currently India-only. To try it out, one has to sign up at youtubego.com. l Building on its partnership with Indian Railways and RailTel to provide Wi-Fi at 400 railway stations in India, the company announced Google Station, which gives partners an easy set of tools to rollout Wi-Fi hotspots in public places. Google Station will provide software and guidance on hardware to turn fibre connections into fast, reliable and safe Wi-Fi zones. Users will get a fast Wi-Fi experience with a simple and unified login, while making it much easier for venues to manage their networks. More info on how to get WiFi to your venues here:

station.google.com. to 2-times faster, saving l Included in more than 9 percent of Google’s recently user data. Chrome for launched messaging Android also adds a new app Allo is a preview Download feature that edition of the chat-based lets users save web pages, Google Assistant. In videos, music, and pictures the app, you can ask the on their phone. All Assistant questions and downloaded contents can let it help you get things be accessed in Chrome’s done directly right in your new Downloads tab, even chats. This is currently when the users are offline. available in English, but And if they go offline later in the year, will before downloading is be available in Hindi. complete, the process What’s more, when Allo will automatically resume suggests responses to the next time they’re Google Pixel messages so you can respond connected. quickly in English and Hinglish. l Starting last week, the Android app l In India where connectivity is Google News and Weather has added a sometimes a challenge, the Google Chrome new feature called “Lite mode” for people browser now offers an expanded Data Saver on low-bandwidth connections that keeps mode, to reduce the amount of data the the headlines and trims the rest of the browser uses on Android mobile devices, components down to their essentials so that computers, and Chromebooks. This new the app loads more quickly. This mode uses update will support MP4 videos, saving less than one-third the data. Slower networks up to 67% of video data. Also, Chrome on will trigger Lite mode automatically.

Android will automatically optimize pages Some made-for-India solutions have to their essentials when 2G-like networks gone global: India inspired Google to make are detected. These simplified pages load up Maps Offline—a way to download a map

Autoyaar comes to Pune

Autoyaar co-founders (from left) Sunil Gupta, Bharat Ostwal, Abhishek Gupta and Amisha Shah

For just over a month now, Puneites who know about it, having been using a convenient web portal to locate and book a reliable neighbourhood agency to service their two or four wheeled vehicle, have the battery or tyres attended to—or just to use the services of a car spa.

After a successful opening in Ahmedabad, Autoyaar (www. autoyaar.com) came to Pune with the expectation that the tech-savvy people here would welcome a service that takes away a perennial worry: How can I get my car or bike repaired without a lot of hassle— having to locate a reliable garage, bargaining over the cost, delivering and collecting the vehicle on a working day?

Autoyaar’s USP is that it provides a one-stop-shop for all your vehicle worries—especially after the warranty or free service period is over and you have to fend for yourself. “Many owners prefer to get their services from third party agencies after the warranty period

IT is like that...

Startup brings ease of online booking, to automobile servicing

which is typically 3 years”, explains Autoyaar co-founder Amisha Shah, “It is usually cheaper that way”. But finding a reliable and trustworthy garage is always a challenge. Autoyaar solves that problem by auditing and signing up a large number of such third party servicing agencies after rigorous checks of their work quality. Once you go to the website and enter what you want done, Autoyaar will locate the best and nearest agency and arrange for someone to come to take your vehicle and return it—mostly on the same day. It will provide an estimate of the charges it has negociated with the garage. “Our rates are usually 20-30 percent lower than what you would encounter on your own”, Amisha adds, “ Many office goers prefer to have their car or two-wheeler collected after they get to their workspot and to have it delivered in time to them before they leave for home”.

The customer has to deal only with Autoyaar who will manage the repair or service and facilitate online payment—unless you prefer otherwise. Pune has been an encouraging experience for them, says Amisha. A B.Com and an MBA in marketing, she gave up a lucrative professional career after six years, to join three other co-founders.

Bharat Ostwal is a BE in Mechatronics with an MBA in Marketing; Abhishek Gupta is a BE Mechanical who worked earlier with Tata Motors and Mahindra. Sunil Gupta is an MSc statistics and an MBA in marketing who, like Amisha, used to work for the Gujarat-based Kalthia group with interests in engineering and automobiles. Together they brought enough subject experience to venture into the uncharted territory of automobile services, married to the Web. They quickly ramped up to over 1600 customers in Ahmedabad, but indications are, Pune will be even better.

IndiaTechOnline

Credit card-sized supercomputer is here The launch in India of visual computing leader NVIDIA’s Jetson TX1, opens the doors for developers here to build solutions around the world’s first supercomputer that fits in the palm of your hand. The TX1 module with 256 processing cores delivers, 1 tera flop or a trillion computer operations a second.

It can handle 4K or ultra high definition video. It comes with 16 GB of onboard storage, can be programmed in Linux

and has networking capability via WiFi, Bluetooth and Ethernet.

One of the first applications it is fueling, is the guidance and control of autonomous drones and robots. it is also the first embedded computer designed to process deep neural networks, that mimic the human brain. For developers, the Jetson TX1 is available as part of a Rs 79,000 kit, which enables them to smoothly transition from development to manufacturing and production.

IndiaTechOnline

to your phone so you can navigate around town even without a data connection. But now people around the world, especially in the U.S. and Europe, are using offline maps to get seamless navigation in mountainous areas or patches in urban centers where connectivity is cut.

Now, back to the Google launch in San Francisco on October 4 about which the media is going ga-ga. Having dominated the web software-n-service space with its Google search engine, Chrome browser and Android operating system for phones, the company has entered the only remaining arena in IT—hardware. It unveiled 2 models of a new Google-branded smart-phone— Pixel—completely designed and developed inhouse. The phones will be manufactured

by Taiwan-based HTC. Pixel and Pixel plus as they are called sport 4GB RAM, and the storage is 32 GB or 128 GB. The front and back cameras on both models are 12.3 MP and 8 MP— claimed to be the best in the industry. Pixel is a 5 inch full HD screen. Pixel Plus is larger at 5.5 inch. Both are single SIM devices in an era of twin-SIM phones. They come with the new Type C USB, though they still helpfully sport a 3.5mm audio jack and also the older standard USB 3 port. The phones are fueled by the upcoming Android 7 nougat version of the OS. The phones come built-in with a new Google Assistant, similar to iPhone’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Windows’ Cortana, and runs on Artificial Intelligence, making it cleverer, more intuitive. Pixel’s batteries are 2770 mAh and 3450 mAh respectively, and they promise all-day working. Pixel will cost Rs 57,000 in India. Google has also launched a Virtual Reality headset, Daydream View, for $ 79 (Rs 5500), a new 4K version of its video streaming dongle, Chromecast ($ 69 /Rs4800), and a smart Google Home speaker for $ 129 (Rs 9000). That makes four hardware items from the world’s biggest Internet software company! Clearly a turning point for Google!

IndiaTechOnline

APP WORLD Click and you shall find!

The camera on your phone can do more than shoot pictures. Here are some useful phone camera apps

BY VISHNU ANAND

Make your phone burglar proof ‘Kanoon ke haath lambe hote hain’ – your smart phone will be laughing with this popular Bollywood line, because it has much longer hands now. With the iGotYa app, you can identify the ‘thief’ who is attempting to hack into your phone. The app snaps a picture of anyone trying to access your device with an incorrect security code and sends it to your email ID. The iGotYa app is available for Android at Rs. 79.99.

Dress up your living room

Urban Ladder, an Indian online furniture mart, has created an app that uses your phone camera to bring alive furniture in your home. Using a complex algorithm, the Living spaces app requires you just to place a downloadable ‘marker’ at the space of your choice and envision how a piece of furniture will look at the particular spot. Once you zero in on your preference, you can of course, proceed to place an order. The app leverages Augmented Reality and 3D modeling, on the input captured by your phone camera.

The app is available for download on Android and iOS.

Scanning on-the-go

The CamScanner app turns your phone into a portable scanner.

You can scan and share your documents on the go with this app. It also lets you crop, edit, and enhance picture quality.

The app also lets you passwordprotect your docs, much like your document editing software on the desktop/laptop. The app also extracts texts from image using OCR (optical character recognition). You can a share the document as PDF/JPEG Files and instantly print out docs with a nearby printer. Not all these functions are available in the free version. CamScanner is available for download on Android and iOS. A similar app called Office Lens is available for Windows Phone users.

IndiaTechOnline

Cool laser measuring tool from Bosch There’s more to Bosch than spark plugs! The company has launched the GLM 50 C, a professional laser measuring tool, that is simple enough to be operated, by lay users.

You just click the main button and point at a wall—up to 50 metres away—and the bright red white and blue display tells you the distance in metres, accurate to 1.5 - 3.0 mm. A function button lets you select different measurements-- area, volume, inclination, wall surface (useful for estimating how much paint to buy!). It is also clever enough to do

rough indirect measurement if there are obstacles in the direct path. It weighs just 320 grams and runs for days from two AAA batteries.

Bosch has created a mobile app to go with the GLM 50C where the measurements can be ploughed into different projects or reports. A great tool for the handyman who will love it. And so will the rest of us who are used to using steel tape and foot rulers for measurements in the home, but aspire to do it like the pros. The price is Rs 9,500 at Flipkart or Amazon.

IndiaTechOnline

‘We’ll help you channel the change!’

Their roots lay with Tata Consulting Services—albeit in different spheres. L.C. Singh was a Senior Vice President looking after TCS operations in UK, South Africa and the Middle East. Minoo Dastur headed the company’s corporate banking group. In August of 2000, having helped TCS successfully ride the Y2K challenge, Singh and Dastur left to start their own company in Pune. They started from scratch, which is probably why they named their new entity, Nihilent Technologies, after the Latin word ‘Nihil’ which means ‘nothing’.

But everything emerges from nothing and pretty soon, ‘nihil’ morphed into something substantial: bringing a holistic approach to solutions management, where they prepare for change reaction with every solution, then fill the gaps that will inevitably manifest.

To do this Nihilent has crafted a suite of proprietary tool, of which the flagship is called MC3.

(Nihilent’s logo takes the theme that something can be ‘created’ out of ‘nothingness’ even further.

It is an egg, cracking open with ideas) Today, that company has been assessed at the highest level 5

of SEI CMMI (Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration, a method to evaluate and measure the maturity of the software development process of an organizations).

Its diverse portfolio ranges from consulting to enterprise IT services and products. Its footprint spans 5 continents and its clients include the Mothercare brand in the UK and the South African Nedbank. Indeed for historical reasons, a lot of Nihilent’s clients are based in Africa, particularly South Africa. In recent months the company has acquired other entities like Intellect Bizware, a leading SAP practitioner to ICRA Techno Analytics, an analytics expert.

Having carved a niche and a name for itself in the enterprise solutions space, Nihilent has also ensured that its name will be familiar to thousands of innovators and developers working towards Digital India. From inception, Nihilent is a title-sponsor of the annual Computer Society of India-Nihilent awards for e-governance... their way of giving something back to society.

IndiaTechOnline

Co-founder-CEO LC Singh (Pink Shirt) with some Nihilent staffers. The company has heavy presence in Africa

ENVIRONMENT “If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts or in science. And therefore, in my humble opinion, you should not be allowed to hold public office.”

-Leonardo DiCaprio, Hollywood Actor

People can be classified into four basic personality types: optimistic, pessimistic, trusting and envious, a new study on human behaviour has found.

Envious, is the most common, with 30 per cent compared to 20 per cent for each of the other three groups, researchers said. The study, including researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in Spain, analysed the responses of 541 volunteers.

“Those involved are asked to participate in pairs, these pairs change, not only in each round, but also each time the game changes,” said Anxo Sanchez, one of the authors of the study.

“The results go against certain theories; the one which states that humans act purely rationally for example, and, they should be taken into consideration in redesigning social and economic policies, as well as those involved in cooperation,” said Yamir Moreno, from Universidad de Zaragoza in Spain.

The researchers developed a computer algorithm which set out to classify people according to their behaviour. The algorithm organised 90 per cent of people into four groups: the largest group, accounting for 30 per cent, being the envious - those who don’t actually mind what they achieve, as long as they’re better than everyone else; the optimists - who believe that they and their partner will make the best choice for both of them - on 20 per cent. Also on 20 per cent were the pessimists - who select the option which they see as the lesser of two evils - and the trusting group - who are born collaborators and who will always cooperate and who do not really mind if they win or lose. There is a fifth group, which the algorithm is unable to classify, researchers said.

PTI

OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

FAO of the United Nations leads international efforts to end the hunger in developing countries

As many as 95 per cent households in the country are vulnerable to earthquakes in different degrees, Building Materials Technology Promotion Council (BMPTC), a government sponsored body for promoting appropriate building technology said in its report.

The report ‘earthquake hazard zoning maps’ was shared by BMPTC Executive Director Sailesh Agarwal.

These colour coded maps which have tehsil level details and convey the location in five different zones of earthquake intensity were released by the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, according to an official statement. “..out of the 304 million households in the country, about 95 per cent are vulnerable to earthquakes in different degrees,” Agarwal said.

BMPTC has prepared the maps on the behest of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), using the data available with the Survey of India, Geological Survey of India, Meteorological Department and Census of India, the statement said.

Appreciating their efforts, Naidu has asked both BMPTC and NDMA agencies to ensure digitisation of these maps so that they could be used by the public.

He also suggested the agencies to develop a mobile application based on these maps.

“These maps would be of significant help to architects, engineers, land use planners, insurance agencies and those involved in disaster mitigation, emergency planning and management,” Naidu added.

PTI

agriculture and food systems will need to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and become more resilient, productive and sustainable.

This is the only way that we can ensure the wellbeing of ecosystems and rural populations and reduce emissions, according to a report of the FAO, Rome.

Growing food in a sustainable way means adopting practices that produce more with less in the same area of land and use natural resources wisely. It also means reducing food losses before the final product or retail stage through a number of initiatives including better harvesting, storage, packing, transport, infrastructure, market mechanisms, as well as institutional and legal frameworks.

The objectives of World Food Day are to: encourage attention to agricultural food production and to

Chess skills may depend on your intelligence

CARS, BIKES, TRIPS, GEAR HONEST, FUN REVIEWS TECHSPEC TANK PADS

TGS LIFE

Regardless of what bike you ride, your knees and thighs are typically going to come into contact with the fuel tank/airbox cover, which is usually made of painted metal or plastic. The problem is that metal and plastic don’t stick very well to textile, nylon or any material that you’d typically wear as pants on a motorcycle ride. Anchoring to your bike with your knees and thighs is critical for safety and confidence.

Most sport riders are familiar with grippy stickers that you can put in place on the sides of your tank to alleviate this.

Techspec is one such brand, which makes a unique ‘snakeskin’ pattern rubber material that can be applied to your tank with adhesive.

Unlike some other brands of grip pads that look like organic globs or some sort of acupressure surface, the Techspec item is a fairly basic,

AUGUST 6, 2016 PUNE

THRILL OF DRIVING

TGS LIFE JULY 9, 2016 PUNE

THRILL OF DRIVING

By Tushar Burman

Road-tripping in Thailand

MOTORCYCLING THROUGH

THAILAND If you’re a motorcycling enthusiast, or have become one in the recent past, you’ve probably known or heard of someone who’s ridden a bike around our ASEAN neighbour. In fact, there is now a land route from North-East India through Myanmar into Thailand. Heck, you can go all the way to Singapore before you hit the inevitable shore. There are many reasons to this, not least of which is the incredible road network. You’re very unlikely to see a badly potholed section of tar. In terms of distances, the country is about 1600km long and 1000km across, so there’s plenty to explore. Of particular note car” is the Mae Hong What else do you call a vehicle that the term “pony was coined for?Son loop -- a long circuit

THOROUGHBRED

By Tushar Burman @tburman

T

here are many legends surrounding the birth of the Ford Mustang, one of America’s most well-known performance cars. I will avoid the word “iconic” because it’s so overused in this context that I challenge you to find a launch or drive report without it. One such legend has its name inspired by the legendary P51 Mustang fighter aircraft used by the USAF, which makes sense seeing its “aviation inspired” interior on this 2015 model we drove. Other stories tell of how the entire allocation of the original run of the Ford Mustang sold out in just a few months. It has been an immensely popular vehicle since its birth in 1964-65, and this is its 52nd year in continuous production, despite the challenges of the ‘70s oil crisis, various downturns and such. Other muscle cars have come, gone and been resurrected, but the Mustang has been a constant.

The model Ford has launched in India is the Mustang GT and it wears all-new bodywork compared to the outgoing model. The previous generation started the “retro-futuristic” craze back in 2005 and has served the company well, spawning innumerable special editions and variations on performance and body style. This new model bears the same basic shape, but has a much more stylish, swoopy visage. The front is more aggressive with a wider grille and three slashes in each headlamp, while the rear looks more old-school with the same three-segment design following through.

The classic long bonnet and short boot with a fastback roofline remains, covering a 2+2 cabin and a surprisingly roomy boot! It’s all very well executed, betraying no irony or cheesy nostalgia. This truly does look like many decades of progress have been made to get to this handsome shape.

The Mustang is only available in the V8 engine option for India, which makes

TGS LIFE

Perfect roads as far as the eye can see

niceties of the rest of Thailand. Think perfect 4G connectivity, AirBNB and the most incredible gourmet burger I’ve ever eaten on the street. The Pai river itself is popular for white water rafting at various skill levels, and you can even take a slow boat to Laos, which takes two days and costs just 1750 baht, or about 3500 rupees. In fact, our overnight stay and jaunt in the night market ended up costing less than Rs 2000 for the two of us. Try getting that deal in Panchgani any night of the year.

And that, in essence, is a microcosm of the type of experience you’re likely to have on any road trip in Thailand — it’s cheap to the point

@tburman

W

that Himachal Pradesh is likely to make more of a dent in your bank balance. Food, boarding and infrastructure are organised and consistent, typical of a nation that takes tourism seriously, and with pride. You never pass a street stall without a sing-song “Sawatdi-khaaaa” (Thai for namaste, quite literally), friendly smiles and a disarming lack of guile. Thailand also has strong cultural connects to India, having a Hindu and Buddhist history. It occasionally surprises the uninformed when encountering names and iconography from the Ramayan and other Hindu mythology. There is, in fact, a Thai version of the Ramayan on TV, with Ram played

Chiang Mai is your jump-off point for motorcycle adventures

Our Honda CB500X proved an able, fun and comfortable ride for our trip

TANKED-UP JUNE 11, 2016

By Tushar Burman

The TUV300 urban SUV gets more punch with a 100hp motor

MOTORS IN THAILAND Riding or driving in the country is bound to feel familiar to an Indian tourist. For one thing, they drive on the left side of the road — a colonial vestige similar to ours. They accept International Driving Permits issued in India.

Being part of the ASEAN region with a large contract manufacturing industry also means Shima a recently-released Polish brand of that vehicles tend to be similaris to what you’ll see on Indian roads. Toyota Innovas and Corollas,far less known than the typical motorcycle apparel, Suzuki Swifts, Nissans and familiar European gear you’ll see on your mates on a Sunday ride. luxury cars in urban areas. What you’re likely to they aren’t be unprepared for However, is the automotive culture of scrimping on their debut. customisation that If seems the is country. theto pervade catalog anything to go by, the lineup is It’s ridiculous! On my first day in Bangkok, I was thorough and top-notch betraying no cost-cutting. passed by a courier delivery truck with massive tested the D-Tour WP (waterproof) gloves oversize rims and We’ve tyres. Even cabs — whether licensed or Uber —and are seldom seen without an have come away impressed. To begin with, obligatory level of customisation. the price isis right: Rs 4800 for a pair of this kind Automotive enthusiasm even more is a good the dealThai indeed. evident in the two-wheelers ride. There are several things to Unlike in India, where culturally, we’re about Key is the fused liner, which like about the gloves. “bigger is better”, the Thai have a different take Shima calls NextFit/NextDry. What this means on their commuter vehicles.

Step-thrus and

SHIMA D-TOUR WP GLOVES

TGS LIFE

JUNE 25, 2016 PUNE

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MOTO GEAR

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hen we last drove the TUV300 shortly after its launch, it was a pleasant surprise in its package, refinement and general ability around the city. At the time, we didn’t really take it on an extended highway jaunt and probably just as well; you see, in it’s previous guise, the TUV300 came with a modest 75hp output motor, which was fine in urban environs, but didn’t really have punch anywhere in the rev range.

That has now changed with Mahindra calling this iteration the mHawk100 motor -- essentially the same thing but now putting out considerably more power and torque, up to 100hp and 240Nm. If you’ve read our previous assessment of the TUV300, not much has changed, save for our experience with other, more recent SUVs in and around the same segment. The TUV300 crossover/hatchback which was globally unveiled in is surprising in its nice interior accoutrements. A great AC, Out back are the jump seats that make this he SUV,urban technically, a very decent infotainment system with Bluetooth and iPod a 7-seater. It’s doable, but not comfortable for long journeys.

Then April, Datsun’s Redi-GO finally makes its way to Indian roads. connectivity that works flawlessly, a nice two-tone Dash that again, have you seen how many passengers tourist cabs can pack The Redi-GO runs on a three-cylinder i-SAT engine mated looks contemporary and a quiet cabin that belies the intrinsic into a Scorpio these days? The jump seats fold 799 up andccrear seats nature of a three-cylinder Diesel engine. It should sound and feel fold down to liberate a lot of extra cargo room, you need it.manual transmission. It produces 53 hp, 72Nm of to ashould five-speed rough, but it doesn’t. Nothing in the SUV does.

Call us picky but this author is not a fan of the TUV’s torque and delivers a fuel efficiency of 25.17 kmpl. The top speed Of particular interest to us in this new 100hp guise of the aesthetic. I’d prefer the front of the NuvoSport with a squat stance is 140 Kmph and the ground clearance is 185mm. The vehicle on TUV, was the suspension. You see, the Mahindra NuvoSport, instead of sharp corners and the face of Bane, Batman’s formidable which we also recently tested, uses the same engine, but has a foe. That said, with a top-end model, you do get at a nice display thefinish, press launch looked solid, with most details standing up problem with considerable body roll. Not so much with the TUV, decent looking alloys and wheels that fill their wells properly. to scrutiny. While it may be built to a cost, it looks good in the flesh which is controlled and feels more secure at highway speeds. It There are even some nice extras like a start-stop system (well, not andextends doesn’t also feels a bit firmer, but that’s a trade-off we’re willing to make: really nice in our traffic), an eco mode that rangebetray while it’s budget category. some more jerks to the spine in exchange of careening off a cliff sacrificing power, and static cornering lamps, Safety which are aisboon courtesy “Datsun PRO-SAFE7” which includes on a sharp bend. Engine performance is also on par with the when turning the wide vehicle in darkness. In fact, we’re confused braking NuvoSport, but after using the TUV’s manual transmission, we about why these features don’t make it toshortest the NuvoSport, whichdistance, high strength body shell to absorb impacts, ended up missing the AMT of the NuvoSport, which somehow gets cruise control as consolation. But thegood TUV doesn’t.

Strange. visibility and wider view of the road, high bolster support while managed to keep things feeling sprightly.

Still, it’s evident from the quality of thecornering, interior that the TUV absorbing steering and a driver airbag. energy With the benefit of hindsight and experience, we can also is meant to be a bit more upmarket. But it costs between 10 and Five personalized kit options are available: Urban, Style, Kool, say that the current TUV300 feels a bit heavy to steer compared 16,000 rupees LESS than the NuvoSport. Confused?

So are we. to peers like the Vitara Brezza and NuvoSport, but retains the On our extended time with the TUV300, urban and Easy Kit - Premium. Colour options available Easywe’ve Kit done - Sporty surprisingly, far better than the NuvoSport practical turning radius we enjoyed previously. It’s squared-off commuting, Mumbai-Pune highway runs, multi-passenger are: White, Silver, Interior Grey,is,Ruby and Lime. The Datsun Redi-GO design (tank-like, according to Mahindra) has the benefit of outings and cargo runs, and we were unable to run the comes with warranty of 2 years/unlimited km andandthe car allowing excellent visibility while squeezing into tight tank dry, so anecdotally, the mHawk100 engine ais also with follow-me-home lamps, parking sensor other bellscan and be spaces, which the TUV can do despite its width. The quite efficient. Highway runs were usually whistles one expects in a India modern App’. vehicle. Mahindra is churning Verdict booked via cruising mobile app called ‘Datsun breadth manifests in internal space as well, with the between 100 and 120, which is where the vehicle out vehicles rapidly based on what are fast turning out to be + Refinement, front passenger having plenty of shoulder space. feels most comfortable. We’re sure the 240Nm is proven platforms. Perhaps at some point they will also consolidate performance, The rear seat is wide enough for three passengers capable of more sprightly performance, but the vehicles to be less confusing. As a parting googly: you can still buy price as well, though we did hear the odd complaint TUV300 weights 2.2 tonnes, so there’s only so the old, less powerful engine with the TUV300, but the new one - Heavy steering much it can do. The rest of it is up-to-date. Dual costs just Rs 8,000 more, so why would you? about jerks being transmitted up into the spine from rear passengers. airbags and ABS are present, as are keyless entry tushar@goldensparrow.com TGS rating ;;;`2

Datsun Redi-GO launched, starting at Rs 2.38 lac

VW launches Ameo compact sedan Sub-4m three-box starts at Rs 5.14 lac

the palm area and a reinforced, soft pad on the knuckle. There’s a rubber screen wiper on each thumb, which worked very well on our rainy rides.

Waterproofing is good, with light showers being repelled entirely. The D Tour WP do seem to run a bit large, so you might need to order one size smaller than your typical glove. Recommended.

Shima D-Tour WP gloves PRICE: Rs 4800 BUY AT: Kombustion Imports & Exports Pvt Ltd (+91 87938 84215)

is that there’s no inner lining flapping about behind the exterior shell. Those can be infuriating to put on and take off.

Shima’s solution is to fuse the waterproof liner with the exterior shell. This makes for a slightly stiff feel, but far more comfortable in the long run.

Fasteners are good, with a velcro cinch at the wrist and a larger velcro pad to secure the cuff, which is extra roomy to accommodate your sleeve, should you choose to wear the gloves over them. The velcro Hondapads themselves are CB500X not the typical sort, with the + Refinement, base (hooked) part being Fueling, practicality a - much Bland flatter, smoother material that catches less on TGS rating dri-fit material. Protection ;;;;2 is adequate for this sort of glove, with some leather in

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MIDDLE CHILD Hardcore performance is great for track days. Audi has a more everyday option @tburman

Minimal badging on the sides and at either end

W has finally put a price tag on its sub-4m sedan — the Ameo, and it’s very competitive. Evidently, the company has taken steps to address its reputation in making cars that are costlier to own than the competition.

In this case, the Ameo ends up being cheaper than their own Polo hatchback, Currently, the Ameo is availabel only with a petrol engine — the same 1.2l MPI three-cylinder motor we’ve seen before in the Skoda Fabia and VW Polo.

A diesel is promised soon. Volkswagen is touting several segment-firsts: rain-sensing wipers, static cornering lamps, cruise control and a centre armrest up front, but the kicker for us is that two airbags and ABS are standard on all variants, which is a big step forward at this price point.

Visually, the Ameo looks very similar to its Polo and Vento cousins, with a slightly stubby-looking front and

back. The rear boot is expectedly short, but allows a bit more cargo volume than the Polo hatchback. It’s not the Large plenty prettiest integration of a boot thatboot we’vestores seen, but VW and is easy to access have been understated in their styling of the rear. In a front three-quarter view, the boot does not draw attention to itself, which is probably a good thing.

Watch for a detailed review of the made-in-India Ameo next week. Prices:

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udi’s S line of cars don’t get the recognition they deserve. Sitting in between the standard models and the totally performance-oriented RS cars, they sit as the middle child, often overlooked. We have, on occasion, driven the RS5, RS7, even the R8 and come away impressed by the raw power they pack into seemingly standard body styles. But let’s face it: a wolf in sheep’s clothing isn’t likely to make you a nice wool coat. It’d rather eat the coat with you in it. Not so much the car on this page: the S5, which is what Audi calls a “sportback”, basically a sedan with a hatchback rear and more rakish roofline. In terms of size, it sits somewhere between an A4 and an A6 but ends up feeling surprisingly compact.

Even in terms of performance potential, you could consider the S5 the middle child. There are sportscars in the lineup that make less power.

Why then did Audi feel the need to paint the media car in this lurid yellow, we have no idea. It’s a unique shade for sure, akin to pure printer’s ink

R is equipped with Brembo monobloc callipers, Showa big piston forks, Öhlins rear suspension and Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa Tyres.

The Thruxton R is priced at Rs 10.90 lac ex-showroom, Delhi. That’s a lot of bike for the money, and should appeal to a wide swath of motorcyclists with it’s “modern classic” vibe. This rounds out the new Bonneville platform with the Speed Twin, Bonneville T120 and Thruxton R coming in at attractive prices and all immediately available. Triumph continues to push aggressively forward in terms of models and marketing.

There are more than a few lessons for some other manufacturers to learn.

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MERCEDES-BENZ GLC LAUNCHED AT RS 50.7 LAC JUNE 18, 2016 PUNE

JUNE 4, 2016 PUNE

expanse of nice, flat luggage area and very easy to access thanks to the hatch opening. It’s a bit like THRILL the Skoda Octavias of old -- looking like sedansOF DRIVING with hatches hiding huge boots.

On the go, the S5 is a refined experience. The 7-speed dual-clutch transmission is quick and smooth, and shifts gears with digital efficiency.

Press the throttle with aggression and the gearbox quickly shifts down, releasing a nice V6 roar from the quad pipes out back. It’s a chatty car in that it likes to make nice growly noises when provoked, but never overpowers. The sound is enough for feedback and kicks, but does not cause discomfort.

High-rev gearshifts release a nice crackle from the exhaust. Paddle shifters are present for those times when you think you know better than the car’s electronics. Driving modes can be chosen Dash is usual Audi fare. Dark two-tone upholstery between comfort, dynamic, efficiency or tailored and carbon trim look sporty to your individual tastes. Ride quality is where the generally luxurious experience breaks, with than anything else and it drew attention wherever the large wheels and relatively low profile tyres it went. Though, we suspect, it would pass under transmitting road imperfections to the passenger. the radar in a more sedate paint job. Few, if any Setting the car in ‘Comfort’ mode didn’t do much external features stand out. You have a typical in this regard.

Audi front grille, headlamps and design language On our favourite, winding hill road, the S5 tweaked slightly to accommodate the curvaceous shone with its Quattro permanent all-wheel rear hatch. The red ‘S’ badges are also discreet on drive system. There’s always more grip than you the front and the back. need, and it works well with the performance of Step inside and the treatment is typical Audi. the motor. The specifications will surprise you if “Butat mom! my friends have SUVs with lower and the GL-class). Mercedes provides two If you’ve been in a recent A-type sedan, everything you drive the car before looking theAllbrochure: coefficients!”. IsV6! this a common refrain in engine options: the diesel GLC 220 d outputs is familiar. There’s the MMI screen, central console 329hp and 440Nm from thedrag supercharged your household? Tired of doing the school run 170hp and 400Nm of torque while the petrol and ergonomics as expected, but with a small, We’ve driven much angrier-feeling carsright angles? Mercedes GLC 300 outputs 245hp and 370Nm of torque. in an SUV that has only beendelivers listening tothis you and your burgeoning Officially, Mercedes has launched the fiddly jog dial. The steering wheel also with less power. Thhas e S5 ilk and is readyDespite to address this sticky problem.

GLC ‘Edition 1’, which is their traditional was doesn’t have explicitly labelled phone capability with little drama.

Verdict One is no longer stuck with the BMW X6 as of saying ‘first batch’. As they’ve done before, controls, which is something that being 4.7 metresthelong, the that S5 slices feelsthrough the air rather the Edition 1 cars come into the country as only SUV + Refinement, bashes itfootprint into submission.

CBUs (fully imported). This is Mercedes’ sixth will confuse those coming from a small compact with than performance, The Mercedes-Benz other car brands. Upholstery is in is good andGLC class of vehicles luxury SUV in the country, making their lineup width-wise. Visibility was launched on 2 June, conveniently slotting the most comprehensive among the luxury car unique black and dark brown and there the flat-bottomed feels into thesteering sliver of space left between the GLEpurveyors.

- It’s just “nice” class and GLS-class (previously, the ML-class Expectedly, equipment levels are high. is much leather on display. There nice to till around good surfaces. are some lacquered carbon fibre The ORVMs could have done a TGS rating trim pieces along the door and other better job showing the sides and rear ;;;`2 surfaces as well, though we’re not sure if of the vehicle, but that could be down it’s the real thing. The seats are comfortable to personal preference. and supportive one-piece units for the front, lending The Audi S5 has plenty ofIn performance a surprise move, Mahindra launched vehicle from 0-80% charge in 1 hour and an all-electric feeling version of its Verito sedan, 45 minutes, is reserved only for the top (D6) a sporty look without being uncompromisingly potential, but keeps everything the eVerito, on 2 June. Mahindra variant. Fast charging needs to be done an odd, middle hardcore like the near-race seats you’d find in a comfortable and luxurious. It isdubbed claims that the sedan can go 110km on a at one of Mahindra’s designated charging child and we imagine it will have takers than sports car. fullless charge.

The manufacturer is claiming stations, while a standard full charge takes costsbecause as low as Rs 1.15/km.

8 hours and 45 minutes using a 15-amp sedans Rear legroom is good for a person of my size more overt sportscars or luxuryrunning e eVerito also phones home home plug. Other features include opportunity (5’9”) but then, few grown men are actually my of the niche it occupies. That’sThan with a variety of information regenerative braking and a Claims a diff erent. size, so we’d suggest a seating capacity of four for for the buyer who wants something (Telematics).

Fleet sales seem feature called REVIVE, which range of to becomes a likely target, especially is basically an 8km power in this maximum comfort. At least one passenger we rode Certainly no other car we’ve seen considering the aging Verito/ reserve for emergencies. You 110km on a ex-showroom, with commented on how his i20 felt more spacious shade. At just north of Rs 69 lac Logan platform. The eVerito don’t get airbags in any variant. full charge can buy more in key in the back. Again, apart from the “sport” theatre, the price will give you pause. You is available immediately Performance is about New Delhi, adequate for city use, which is more overt sports Mumbai, there is little else to talk about. Open the hatch spacious luxury cars for less, or cities: Bangalore, Kolkata, where Mahindra is pitching the again. Pune, and it’s another world. Literally! Audi claims 480 cars for as much. Stuck in the middle Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and eVerito. Top speed is claimed at 86kmph tushar@goldensparrow.com litres of cargo space, and we believe them. It’s a vast Nagpur. and the 110km range is dependent on load.

THRILL OF DRIVING

Marks the sixth luxury SUV that Mercedes sells in India

AMEO=POLO PLUS

By Tushar Burman

bottomed steering wheel which feels nice to manipulate.

If we were to nitpick, we’d say that the touchack in 2009, when Volkswagen introduced screen infotainment system is a bit smaller than the Polo in India, it was a breath of fresh on the hatch, but it serves the purpose perfectly air. At the time, the go-to car for the well and doesn’t end-up looking aftermarket like segment was the Maruti-Suzuki Swift, and some recent cars we’ve driven. You get steeringwhile the Fabia did exist to represent a European mounted controls, cruise control and a cooled contender, it was deemed too odd and expensive glove box for beverages on hot days. A centre for what it offered. Volkswagen was reeling from armrest is available for the driver which is a slim problems with the Skoda brand’s service and unit much like in the Vento. You don’t get rear cost complaints and didn’t want to repeat the AC vents behind it, however. same mistakes with VW. Fast-forward to 2016 Rear seat accommodations are quite and anecdotally, VW cars are still considered comfortable, and the extra knee room over the expensive to run (they’re not; this author owns a Polo hatch is apparent. Headroom at the rear is petrol Polo). VW has taken specific note of this at a premium, much like the Polo hatch, so those sentiment with the Ameo compact sedan, and with long torsos (or generous behinds) may hit has launched it for a very competitive price, even their heads on the roof. slightly undercutting the Polo hatchback!

If you’ve read so far and are wondering where How they’ve achieved this was not the masala begins, well, it doesn’t. The Ameo immediately apparent to us on our long-ish test is striking in its anonymity. Even viewed from drive. The car is fundamentally the same inside the front 3/4 angle, one can barely discern the and out, save for the added boot. We drove the boot sticking slightly out of the rear. It’s a tiny Eighteen-inch alloys areHighline standard.

Mercedes sunroof, lighting switchable petrol variant (the diesel motor will ambient extension of the body, to bewith sure, since the idea during Diwali) and fit, finish and quality and is to fit a sedan within fourbehind metres tothe qualify will provide an optionalcome off-road engineering colours levels, cargo bars rear to be on par with the hatch. Plastics for lower taxes. We’ve always liked the practical package that raises the appeared ride height by 20mm seat that liberate another 30 litres of luggage are just as pleasing to the touch, with no hollow, depth of the Polo boot, and this remains useful in and offers three additional ride modes: - find.space what an up EASYplasticky-feeling spots we off could The two-and the Ameo. Mercedes Only now, the calls volume goes from dashdrive and beige interior remain,PACK and make tailgate.

294 litres inDO the hatch to 330 in the sedan.

It’s a road, incline and slippery.tone Five modes are WE HAVE YOUR the cabin feel airy. Bonus points for the flatminor bump, but it’s there. @tburman

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standard in the GLC: Comfort, Eco, Sport, ATTENTION YET? Sport+ and Individual. Hill descent control Safety is typical Mercedes fare: ABS, ESP, is standard as well. We also see the use of Crosswind-assist, PRE-SAFE, Attention Verdict Mercedes’ new 9G-TRONIC nine-speed + Safety,auto price Assist, Active Parking Assist, 7 airbags, LED transmission. headlamps and adaptive tail lamps.

- Marginal enginethe Slotting in below their range-topper, All this could be yours at Rs 50.7 lac for the rating diesel GLC 220 d, and Rs 50.9 lac for the GLC GLC understandably gets plentyTGS of comfort ;;;22 and convenience features. There’s a panoramic 300 petrol, ex-showroom, Pune.

It’s finally here: the Polo with a boot

The exterior of the boot itself is reasonably well integrated, and not as much of a tack-on like you’d find on the Swift Dzire. Not as good as the Ford Figo Aspire, but not bad. The tail lamps are simple and don’t draw attention to themselves.

Styling seems to be borrowed from the Skoda design language, with a crease running across the otherwise slab-like boot lid. Everything seems to be designed to be anonymous. VW have had to adjust the front and rear overhangs accordingly, and the car ends up looking a bit stubbier than the hatch.

The Ameo at present is only available in a petrol variant, utilising the venerable 1.2l MPI three-cylinder motor that does duty in the hatch.

It generates 75PS and 110Nm of torque, which felt inadequate six years ago, and continues to be. It’s a flexible engine, to be sure, with useful low-end grunt that allows you to have a load of passengers and navigate inclines with grace rather than amateurish slipping of the clutch. However, there’s no getting around the rough sound of the three-cylinder and this author continues to field the same questions he’s had to with his own car: “is this a diesel?”. Once at highway speeds, it’s okay, but overtakes take effort. You do get cruise control, however, so that sort of balances things out a bit. The stiff suspension makes the car fun

Engine and interior mimic the Polo hatch

to drive, but is hard on all passengers. We really wish VW would do something about this.

Perhaps the most important thing about the VW Ameo is the fact that it comes in at such a competitive price, and that it does so with two airbags and ABS as standard across variants.

There are some segment-firsts such as rainsensing wipers, cruise control and auto up/down power windows with anti-pinch all-round, but that’s about it. The Ameo is a competent car at a competitive price about in the middle of the pack. You can get more features for more money with a Hyundai, but you get the secure, Teutonic feel of a well-built car with the VW. The petrol engine is a mixed bag, and we suspect many will wait for the diesel this Diwali. tushar@goldensparrow.com Watch a video overview here:

Mahindra launches all-electric eVerito

Triumph Bonneville Thruxton R launched for Rs 10.90 lac

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while remaining lightweight.

Features are basic but thoughtful.

There’s a water-resistant pocket within the shell at chest level for your phone, and a felt pocket above the waist for your glasses.

Unfortunately, this pocket is unusable when the rain liner is in place. Zippers are of high quality as is the neck fastener, which uses velcro and has a soft pad where your neck meets the textile.

The jacket comes with CEapproved armour in the shoulders, elbows, and along the back. Fit appears to be European, which will work well for slimmer riders.

There are button fasteners on the sleeves to get a more snug fit, and velcro on the cuffs and waist. The RST mesh jacket will be available in this black/red combo, or the inverse: red/black.

RST mesh jacket Price: Rs 9500 Buy at: Bay City Speed Shop (baycityspeedshop@gmail.com)

TGS LIFE

JULY 30, 2016

By Tushar Burman

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RST MESH JACKET

RST is a British manufacturer of motorcycle apparel that has recently become available in India. The distributor pegs them as a mid-tier brand, but we were impressed with the thought behind this jacket and its features.

This is a basic textile/mesh jacket with a supplied, removable rain liner. Some background: it’s very hard to stay entirely dry in motorcycle gear unless you use an impermeable rain jacket over your kit or invest in much more expensive stuff. Rain liners are nice to have, but rarely foolproof.

Thankfully, this RST jacket comes with a liner that zips into the shell using a long U-shaped zipper. Sleeves are held in place with small elasticated loops holding onto buttons on the liner.

It’s a snug fit and doesn’t move around much. This design allows the jacket to be quite resistant to rain in light to medium rain,

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wo months after the release of the Bonneville T120, Triumph has rolled out Thruxton R in the Indian market.

The 1200cc Thrurxton R runs on a high power, 8-valve, parallel twin engine generating just over 95hp and 112Nm of torque. This is a higher output version of the mill that powers the T120.

The Thruxton R carries feature like ABS, ride-by-wire, traction control, torque assist clutch, LED DRL, LED rear light, an engine immobilizer and a USB charging socket. The bike also has riding modes to choose from: road, rain and sport.

The equipment list continues; the Thruxton

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Riding your motorcycle in the monsoon is a necessity for many, but it also brings out the adventurers. You’ve almost certainly got that Facebook friend who takes his bike to impossibly wet and dirty locations just because she can. If you’d like to follow suit but prefer to stay a bit drier, we have some kit you might want to consider

Mustang, but the saving grace was that those were around the lauded Buddh International Circuit, India’s only F1 track. As you’d expect, the Mustang is pretty fast in a straight line. This time round, it isn’t too bad around the corners either, having an independent rear suspension instead of an ancient liveaxle type found in most generations of the car. This is clearly a grand-tourer sort of car.

The suspension feels quite plush, there’s perceptible body roll when you’re hustling around the corners and things are generally smooth at speed. I suppose we should be pleased as consumers that we’ve come to a point where we can actually buy much harder-core performance cars in this price bracket.

The V8 soun

west of Chiang Mai which is considered one of the best riding roads in Asia. Among the first stopovers on this route is a popular, but still tiny town called Pai, which we visited. If Chiang Mai were Pune, think of Pai as Wai, except 140km away.

Nestled in a valley replete with waterfalls and lush greenery, Pai is a small town with a growing tourist population, pioneered by backpackers. It’s close enough to the border with Myanmar to have cultural influences of the hill tribes in terms of food and clothing, but significant enough to have all the infrastructural

MONSOON

So close yet so far. Perfect reasons to take off for a motorcycle trip

by a Gujarati. He has a huge fan following!

Having been (and motorcycled across) the country twice, I almost tend to take it personally when people refer to the country and its sex trade, as if the nation is one giant red light district. It isn’t, and you should definitely avoid visiting it with someone who holds that belief.

This author travelled the length of the country with his spouse, feeling perfectly secure despite being a nervous traveller. It truly is a place where you can hit the road without any specific plan and come off the bike feeling like you’ve explored and seen something new.

@tburman

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till buzzing from what must have been thousands of curves across just over a hundred kilometres of road, it occurred to us that perhaps we should take a break and refuel our bodies, since the Honda CB500X we were riding showed no signs of using any significant quantity of gasoline. We were at Pai canyon, a small lookout point for tourists along the highway with four food and one coffee stall.

My spouse enjoys the occasional coffee, so she requested one. The beans were promptly ground in front of us, mixed with condensed milk, ice and water, and served in a convenient plastic container. All this while, I bit down on a prepackaged Tuna sandwich knowing full well that the nearest fresh tuna was at least 1200km away.

Both the sandwich and coffee were fresh and delicious. If this was roughing it on a road trip, it’s exactly my style.

black rubber piece. We think it goes rather well on our “modern classic” Ducati Scrambler. Grip is excellent, whether seated or standing, and it doesn’t rip up your pants or cause discomfort. Also useful is the fact that the adhesive allows you to remove and reposition the pads a number of times before losing efficacy. It also comes off without leaving residue.

Grippy tank pads are one of the cheapest mods you can do to you bike to allow you to ride safer and more confidently. It certainly helps in the rains to make sure you stay on the bike. The Techspec pads are available for most popular bikes, or you can buy them in self-adhesive panels and cut them to suit your vehicle.

Techspec ‘snakeskin’ tank pads PRICE: Rs 4000 - Rs 7500 depending on application BUY AT: Bay City Speed Shop (baycityspeedshop@gmail.com)

VISHAL KALE

Intelligence - and not just relentless practice - may play a significant role in determining your chess skills, a comprehensive new study has found.

The study by researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) in US provides some of the most conclusive evidence to date that cognitive ability is linked to skilled performance and refutes theories that expertise is based solely on intensive training. “Chess is probably the single most studied domain in research on expertise, yet the evidence for the relationship between chess skill and cognitive ability is mixed,” said MSU’s Alexander Burgoyne, lead author on the study.

“We analysed a half-century worth of research on intelligence and chess skill and found that cognitive ability contributes meaningfully to individual differences in chess skill,” said Burgoyne.

“When it comes to expertise, training and practice certainly are a piece of the puzzle,” said Zach Hambrick, MSU professor of psychology. “But this study shows that, for chess at least, intelligence is another piece of the puzzle,” he said.

For the in-depth study, known as a meta-analysis, the researchers considered nearly 2,300 scholarly articles on chess skill, looking specifically for studies that included a measure of cognitive ability (such as IQ score) and objective chess skill (such as the Elo rating, which ranks players based on game performance).

The final sample included 19 studies with about 1,800 total participants.

The meta-analysis represents the first attempt by researchers to systematically investigate the best available scientific evidence for the link between intellect and chess skill, said Burgoyne, a graduate student in the Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience programme at MSU. The study found that intelligence was linked to chess skill for the overall sample, but particularly among young chess players and those at lower levels of skill. This may be because the upperlevel players represent a winnowed distribution of cognitive ability - in other words, they all tend to be fairly bright.

“Imagine that a genius can become a skilled chess player relatively easily, whereas a person with average intelligence may take longer. So the idea is, as you practice more and develop more skills and knowledge about the game, you may be able to circumvent limitations in cognitive ability,” said Hambrick.

PTI

Legroom is decent at the back. Headroom is a bit tight for taller passengers.

The eVerito will be available in three variants with marginal differences between them. Unusually, fast-charging ability, which Mahindra claims can charge the

Prices start at Rs 9.5 lac ex-showroom, Delhi, for the D2 variant after state and FAME subsidies. The D4 and D6 variants cost Rs 9.75 and 10 lac respectively.

VISHAL KALE

between 40-50 years, 1,298 (10.7); between 50- 60 years, 3445 (28.3) and above 60 years, 7075 (58.2 percent).

Th is shows that heart disease does not show any special preference for younger age groups and continues to affect older populations,” it said.

As per the study, high cholesterol or dyslipidemia (58.1 per cent), hypertension (53.2), current smoking (45), diabetes mellitus (36.9), and obesity (33.6) continue to be major factors in causing heart diseases.

“The male to female ratio was 4:1, implying more males are susceptible to heart diseases,” it added.

Cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs) are disorders of the heart and blood vessels. They are a common cause of death, disability and lost man hours in India.

“Statistics from the WHO-Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as well as Fortis Escorts Heart Institute state that non-communicable diseases in India account for more than 53 per cent of deaths in India and out of these, CVDs have a major share of 24.

“It is also fi rst among top five causes of death among the Indian population.

One-fi fth of deaths in India are due to CVDs. By 2020, India will have the largest burden in the world with onethird of all deaths in India occurring due to CVDs,” it claimed.

PTI

Migrants from border village Pargwal being offered food at a temporary camp set up in a government school, at Muthi village on outskirts of Jammu

to nearly 80 per cent of the world’s poor and hungry people.

Our three main goals are: the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition; the elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all; and, the sustainable management and utilisation of natural resources, including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

The biggest issue related to climate change is food security. The world’s poorest — many of whom are farmers, fishers and pastoralists — are being hit hardest by higher temperatures and an increasing frequency in weather-related disasters. At the same time, the global population is growing steadily and is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050.

To meet such a heavy demand,

95 per cent Indian houses vulnerable to earthquakes

stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental efforts to this end;encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing countries; encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions; heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world; promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world; and strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development.

Surprisingly, 1 in 9 people go to bed hungry every night. That is a total of around 800 million people. We already produce enough food in the world to feed everyone so why are there still hungry people?

Hunger exists for many reasons: poor people may not have the money to buy food, war can prevent people having access to food, natural disasters can cause hunger, and too much food is wasted.

The good news is that leaders around the world want to end hunger.

Ending hunger is everyone’s responsibility and all of us have a role to play, even through changing our simple.

We have to protect and care for our forests to keep our planet and those who live on it healthy.

Wasting food means wasting the money, labour and resources such as energy, land and water that go into producing the food. If we manage our natural resources sustainably, not only can we help to end hunger, but we can also fight climate change.

PTI Feature

BY DR SOM DUTT The FAO celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October to commemorate the founding of Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945.

Events organised promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. The theme for this year’s World Food Day is “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too.”

Climate change is affecting the health of our planet and changing our world. It is causing more natural disasters and environmental problems, which make it harder for us to grow food. Growing food is part of the problem too, as we have been taking shortcuts and harming our planet, with the aim of producing what we need. In order to feed a growing population set to reach 9.6 billion by the year 2050, we will have to learn to grow what we need in a sustainable way, a way that does not continue to destroy our planet.

The FAO of the United Nations leads international efforts to end the hunger in developing countries to improve their agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices, and to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active and healthy life.

Since its founding in 1945, the FAO has focused a particular attention on developing rural areas, which are home

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“We have witnessed an increase of approximately 10.5 per cent in young heart patients from urban areas and six per cent from the rural areas as compared to youngsters in western countries with about three-four per cent rise in the disease.”

-Naresh Trehan, Chairman, Medanta - The Medicity

Grow food in sustainable way

No tendency among youth to get heart diseases: study The country’s youth being prone to acute coronary diseases is a “myth”, according to a new study by a hospital which also ranks high cholesterol level and hypertension as the major factors leading to heart ailments.

The research conducted by Fortis Healthcare was conducted between January 2011 and December 2015 and a total of 12,152 patients, aged 18-100 years, were studied.

“It is generally believed that Indian patients presented with acute coronary syndrome are younger than their counterparts from the western population. Th is is a myth as proved by this study. The age levels and risk factors in our population continue to be the same as in the west,” according to Dr Upendra Kaul, Executive Director, Cardiology at Fortis Hospital in south Delhi.

“30 per cent patients included in this study were from South Asian countries,” says Kaul who led the study.

The average age of patients studied was 61.7 (+11.2) years, this included 5,850 patients with heart attacks (ST elevation myocardial infarction) and 6,320 patients with heart muscle or related ailments (non-ST elevation myocardial infarction), the hospital said in a statement.

“The number of patients below the age of 30 years was only 33 (0.3 per cent); between 30-40 years, 304 (2.8);

H EALTH

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Four basic personality types identified

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“After the telecast of the interview of the Pakistan police officer by a news channel on the surgical strikes, there is no reason left to release the video of the strike. I am happy that a TV channel worked as a detective and spoke to SP of Mirpur range in PoK.” -Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister

Bias against AIDS patients to land people in jail for two yrs Bill makes it mandatory for state, central govts to provide antiretroviral therapy ‘as far as possible’

NEW DELHI: Discriminating against people with HIV and AIDS may soon land the offenders in jail for a maximum of two years besides a fine of up to Rs one lakh, with the government approving amendments to a draft law.

The draft law seeks to protect the interests of AIDS patients and those infected with HIV virus by bringing in legal accountability and establishing a mechanism to probe complaints against those who discriminate against such people.

The Union Cabinet approved amendments to ‘The HIV and AIDS Bill, 2014’ under which those discriminating against such persons will get a minimum of three months and a maximum of two years imprisonment and have to cough up a fine of up to Rs one lakh.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda said the bill makes it mandatory for state and the central government to provide Antiretroviral therapy (ART) “as far as possible”.

The bill lists various grounds on which discrimination against HIV positive persons and those living with them will be prohibited including denial,

termination, discontinuation or unfair treatment with regard to employment, educational establishments, health care services, residing or renting property, amongst others. Under the proposed bill, organisations with 100 employees must have a complaint officer to look into the grievances of the persons with HIV and AIDS, while every state has been mandated to have an ombudsman who will look into the violations under this Act once it has been passed.

Under the proposed law, even the insurance companies cannot discriminate against an HIV positive person and deny them the facility of an insurance.

“This bill seeks to address the issue of stigmatisation towards AIDS/HIV positive cases and the discrimination meted out to them. The second motive

Indian Navy gets missile destroyer

BY SUBHASHIS MITTRA With the recent launch of INS Mormugao, the Indian Navy has got its most advanced guided- missile destroyer.

The Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL)’s second Visakhapatnam Class-destroyer, with more than 60 per cent indigenisation and increased stealth power, was launched in September ahead of its schedule.

The second indigenous warship of the Visakhapatnam-class stealth guidedmissile destroyers - Mormugao - of the Indian Navy was launched at the Mazagon Dock Ship Builders Limited (MDL). INS Visakhapatnam is the lead ship of the Visakhapatnam-class stealth guided-missile destroyers that was launched on April 20, 2015.

It is seen as an affirmation of India’s resolve that the Indian Navy should attain a size and capability that is commensurate with the country’s growing stature in the

world, its national maritime interests, and commitment to cooperation and collaboration towards ensuring secure seas for shaping a favourable and positive maritime environment.

The Indigenous Warship design and construction programme of India was achieved with the launch of the second ship of Project 15B. The warship, Mormugao, will be the fifth frontline warship, including the indigenous aircraft carrier, being launched in last six years, in addition to the delivery of three frigates, three destroyers and two corvettes during the same period.

Compared to the Navy’s Project 15-A destroyers, which are now entering service, the Project 15B ships will be less detectable by radar, use radar absorbent paint during its construction and its propellers will be more silent to make detection by enemy submarines and warships more difficult.

In fact, the Navy describes the new destroyers as a true “Network of Networks”. Mormugao has been named after the picturesque port in Goa, the home state of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. In 2011, the government had sanctioned four 15B ships at the cost of Rs 29,700 crores. The first ship of the project, guided-missile destroyer ‘Visakhapatnam’, was launched on April 20 last year. In the last 6 years, the Indian Navy has inducted 8 frontline warships and has launched 5 warships which are in the process of being constructed.

PTI Feature

Vol-III* lssue No.: 17 Editor: Tushar Burman (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.

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is to give such persons an enabling environment so that just like other citizens they can work and have the right to every facility,” Nadda said.

The requirement for HIV testing as a prerequisite for obtaining employment or accessing health care or education will also be prohibited. “As far as punitive and preventive measures are concerned, the bill seeks to ensure that no environment of hatred or discrimination is disseminated in the society.

“We have made it punishable. It will also be mandatory for central and state governments to provide ART treatment to all patients as far as possible,” Nadda said. The Bill requires that “no person shall be compelled to disclose his HIV status except with his informed consent, and if required by a court order”.

Establishments keeping records of

information of HIV positive persons shall adopt data protection measures.

According to the proposal, every HIV infected person below the age of 18 years has the right to reside in a shared household and enjoy the facilities of the household. Regarding guardianship of minors, the proposed Bill says that a person between the age of 12 and 18 years who has sufficient maturity in understanding and managing the affairs of his HIV or AIDS affected family shall be competent to act as a guardian of another sibling below 18 years of age.

This provision will be applicable in matters relating to admission to educational establishments, operating bank accounts, managing property, care and treatment. Nadda said, under the proposed law, blood testing has to be done after obtaining the consent of the person and confidentiality of information will be the patient’s right.

“Whoever discloses it will be liable to punishment,” he said.

Nadda said every organisation which has got 100 people working under it must have a complaint officer who will look into grievances. Health institutions, where there are even 20 people, will also have to keep a complaint officer.

The Bill has a provision for appointment of an ombudsman by state governments to inquire into complaints related to the violation of the Act and penal actions in case of non-compliance.

PTI

Automation may hit 69% jobs in India P 10

World court rejects Marshall case THE HAGUE: The UN’s highest court narrowly threw out landmark cases brought by the tiny Marshall Islands against India, Pakistan and Britain for allegedly failing to halt the nuclear arms race.

In majority decisions, the 16-judge bench at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled there was no evidence that Majuro had had a prior dispute with any of the three nuclear giants or sought bilateral negotiations on the issue.

“The court upholds the objection to jurisdiction” raised by each of the countries, presiding judge Ronny Abraham said in separate rulings, and therefore the tribunal “cannot proceed to the merits of the case.”

The tiny Pacific island nation was ground zero for a string of devastating nuclear tests on its pristine atolls between 1946-58, carried out by the United States as the Cold War arms race gathered momentum.

After the hearings at the tribunal

Phon van den Biesen, lawyer for the Marshall Islands, left, shake hands with India’s Ambassador JS Mukul, right, prior to the start of the World Court session in The Hague, Netherlands

PTI

READY FOR DAHAN

Effigies of demon king Ravana ready to be sold at Ravan Mandi ahead of the Dusshera Festival in Jaipur

based in The Hague, the Marshalls said it will now “study the ruling” which is final and without appeal.

“Obviously it’s very disappointing,” Marshall Islands lawyer Phon van der Biesen told reporters.

Initially in 2014, Majuro had accused nine countries of failing to comply with the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which seeks to inhibit the spread of atomic bombs.

But the ICJ already refused to take up cases against the other countries - China, France, Israel, North Korea, Russia and the United States - as they have not recognised the court’s jurisdiction. Israel has also never formally admitted to having nuclear weapons.

The Marshall Islands had argued that by not stopping the nuclear arms race Britain, India and Pakistan had breached obligations under the treaty even if New Delhi and Islamabad have not signed the pact.

AFP

Over 30% of extremely poor kids live in India UNITED NATIONS: India is home to over 30 per cent of almost 385 million children living in extreme poverty, the highest in South Asia, according to a new report by the World Bank Group and UNICEF. The report ‘Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children’ said children are more than twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty.

In 2013, 19.5 per cent of children in developing nations were living in households that survived on an average of USD 1.90 a day or less per person, compared to just 9.2 per cent of adults.

Globally, almost 385 million children were living in extreme poverty.

The report said sub-Saharan Africa has both the highest rates of children living in extreme poverty at just under 50 per cent, and the largest share of the world’s extremely poor children, at just over 50 per cent. “South Asia has the second highest share at nearly 36 per cent with over 30 per cent of extremely poor children living in India alone,” it said, adding that more than four out of five kids in extreme poverty live in rural areas.

PTI

Selfie: The bad and the very bad of it

BY ZAFRI MUDASSER NOFIL Has selfies become a dangerous trend? A big yes, going by the recent spate of incidents of fatalities and the extent of the craze behind it.

Incidentally, India accounted for nearly half of the 27 “selfie-related” deaths reported last year – with people from several parts of the country getting killed by an oncoming train, falling out of a boat, off a cliff or into a canal and drowning in the sea while taking selfies.

In June, a youth drowned in the Ganga while clicking a selfie while bathing as he lost his balance.

Six of his friends died too as they drowned while trying to save one another. Then in July, national steeplechase athlete Pooja Kumari drowned after she accidentally fell in a pond while clicking selfies with her friends on the campus of the Sports Authority of India near Bhopal.

Many people including leaders and celebrities have been criticised for their selfie craze - some taking their picture with a dried-up river as the backdrop and others taking with a rape survivor.

Team India member Ravindra Jadeja flouted rules by taking selfie with lions at Gir Wildlife Sanctuary at Sasan in Junagadh, an act strictly prohibited by law. He was let off by the Gujarat forest department after he paid a fine of only Rs 20,000.

The Oxford Dictionaries named ‘selfie’ as its Word of the Year in 2013 in an unanimous decision. “The term’s early origins seem to lie in social media and

photosharing sites like Flickr and MySpace. But usage of it didn’t become widespread until the second decade of this century and it has only entered really common use in 2012 or so. Selfportraits are nothing new – people have been producing them for centuries, with the medium and publication format changing. Oil on canvas gave way to celluloid, which in turn gave way to photographic film and digital media. As the process became snappier (pun intended) so has the name.

And now as smartphones have become de rigueur for most, rather than just for techies, the technology has

ensured that selfies are both easier to produce and to share, not least by the inclusion of a button which means you don’t need a nearby mirror.

It seems likely that this will have contributed at least in part to its increased usage. By 2012, selfie was commonly being used in mainstream media sources and this has been rising ever since,” according to Oxford Dictionaries.

“Its linguistic productivity is already being seen by the creation of a number of related terms, showcasing particular parts of the body like helfie (a picture of one’s hair) and belfie (a picture of one’s posterior); a particular activity – welfie (workout selfie) and drelfie (drunken selfie), and even items of furniture – shelfie and bookshelfie.

But all said and done, there has to be a line somewhere.

Mobile firms are also doing no good as they have come out with powerful selfie cameras to cash in on the craze that is growing dangerously. One can now be left with a selfie shoulder is he or she indulges in too much of self-shooting. Doctors say one puts too much stress on the muscle and it irritates the area where the muscle comes off the bone and he or she gets this inflammatory response and a lot of pain. However, researchers at the University of California claim that taking and sending selfies responsibly can act as a mood booster and stress reliever, and help one beat the blues.

PTI Feature

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

“The scale of terrorism and violence unleashed against Afghanistan is of a magnitude that simply does not allow for easy project implementation, efficient delivery of assistance or the rapid inflow of investments into an economy that has huge resources and obvious potential.”

- MJ Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs

Liverpool FC’s first coaching programme in Pune P 12 PTI

TYPHOON BATTERS

UK to opt out of rights laws to protect troops Law was used in thousands of cases against troops relating to wars in Iraq, Afghanistan

Vehicles are submerged in floodwaters caused by Typhoon Chaba in Gyeongju, South Korea. Typhoon Chaba slammed South Korea recently, bringing heavy rains and raging waves to Jeju Island, an island south of the mainland, and the country’s southern cities

LONDON: Britain announced plans to opt out of European human rights law during wartime, in a move to end “vexatious” legal claims against its troops but campaigners denounced it as a retrograde step.

The government wants to sidestep some of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in future conflicts, after the law was used in thousands of cases against troops relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Those who serve on the frontline will have our support when they come home,” Prime Minister Theresa May said. “We will repay them with gratitude and put an end to the industry of vexatious claims that has pursued those who served in previous conflicts.”

Signatories of the ECHR are allowed to derogate from some of its provisions in times of war or public emergencies threatening life, and France, Ukraine and Turkey have used the opt-out in the past two years. There is no derogation from the prohibition of torture or slavery, but there can be an opt-out on “right to life” in respect of deaths resulting from lawful acts of war.

May had previously called for Britain to pull out of the ECHR entirely, but abandoned the plan before becoming Conservative leader, saying it did not have parliamentary support.

“Our legal system has been abused

Law to address bullying of Sikh, Muslim students SAN FRANCISCO: Amid growing incidents of bullying and discrimination against Sikh-American, South Asian and Muslim students in the US, California state has approved a new law to provide a safer school environment for children from the minority communities.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2845 also known as the “Safe Place to Learn Act,” seeks to address bullying of South Asian, Muslim, and

Sikh-American students as well as those mistaken to belong to those groups.

“This is a landmark bill for California that will curb bullying and discrimination in the classroom,” said Harjit Kaur, Community Development Manager for the Sikh Coalition.

“AB 2845 ensures the right of every child to practice his/her faith freely in public schools,” Kaur said. “(This bill) is very important to Muslim and Sikh children because

both of our communities have seen a huge rise in the bullying of Muslim and perceived to be Muslim students,” Saad Sweilem, civil rights attorney at CAIR-Sacramento Valley (CAIR-SV), told NBC News. “Students from both communities played an instrumental role in getting this bill passed by testifying in front of Assembly members about their own personal experiences being bullied.

PTI

Colombia’s Santos meets rival in race to save peace deal BOGOTA: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said peace with the FARC rebels is “close,” but his top opponent demanded an overhaul of a “weak” deal rejected by voters in a referendum.

Seeking to salvage the peace process on which he has staked his legacy, Santos held a meeting with his predecessor and former boss, Alvaro Uribe, who has

branded him a traitor for negotiating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The tension between the two men has taken centre stage since Colombians unexpectedly voted “No” to the deal, which sought to end half a century of conflict with the Marxist guerrillas.

Santos - who also held talks with former president Andres Pastrana (1998-2002),

Students wave white flags during a rally ahead of the upcoming referendum on the peace deal signed between the government and rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in Bogota, Colombia

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another leading opponent of the deal tried to sound upbeat after the meetings at the presidential palace.

“Peace in Colombia is close, and we will achieve it,” he said in a national address. He vowed to work with the “No” camp to “find a path that allows us not only to conclude the peace accord with the FARC, but to strengthen it.”

Uribe (2002-2010), a right-wing hardliner who scored a major victory with the shock referendum result, sounded less conciliatory.

“It’s better to achieve peace for all Colombians than a weak accord for half the nation’s citizens,” the opposition senator told journalists after the meeting. He criticised the deal signed on September 26 for granting “total impunity” for rebel crimes and allowing guerrillas guilty of gross human rights violations to run for elected office.

He said he had given Santos a list of “adjustments and initial proposals” to incorporate into a new deal. He also asked for the “understanding and support” of the international community - much of which was taken aback by the referendum result. Santos will face the challenge of selling any changes to the deal to the FARC. He has already sent his chief peace negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, back to Cuba - where the peace talks were held - to see whether rebel leaders are open to revising the deal.

AFP

B’desh clears student of cafe attack charges DHAKA: A local court cleared a Bangladeshi-origin Canadian student of all charges relating to the deadly cafe terror siege here that killed 20 foreign hostages including an Indian girl.

Tahmid Hasib Khan was freed on bail after police said he had no link with the Dhaka attack of July 1 when suspected Islamic State terrorists killed 22 people, including 20 foreigners at a popular restaurant frequented by expatriates in Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave, the Daily Star reported.

The country has also witnessed a series of high-profile attacks on Hindus, other religious minorities, secular bloggers and publishers.

Police had arrested Khan, 22, under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as an instigator of the Gulshan cafe attack. He was released after a police probe report said there was no evidence of his links to the Gulshan attackers or any other militants.

PTI

Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, centre, greets troops as she visits 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment at their barracks at Bulford Camp near Salisbury, southern England

to level false charges against our troops on an industrial scale,” said Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

“It has caused significant distress to people who risked their lives to protect us, it has cost the taxpayer millions and there is a real risk it will stop our armed forces doing their job.”

The government stressed that British soldiers would continue to abide by international law, including the Geneva Conventions, and any opt-out

would be subject to an assessment of the circumstances at the time.

Hilary Meredith, a lawyer who has represented troops against prosecution, said it was “a step in the right direction”.

But human rights group Liberty condemned it as a “pernicious and retrograde step” that could end up harming soldiers, who themselves have used the ECHR to hold the government to account for failures in the field.

AFP

Tahmid Hasib Khan (L) comes out after a court appearance, in Dhaka, Bangladesh

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MONEY MATT ER S

“LAVA’s inclusion of a new series in its portfolio of affordable handsets showcases the brand’s continued commitment towards connecting every Indian.”

—Gaurav Nigam, Product Head, Lava International

Signpost Government mulls ban on celebrities for misleading ads A proposal to ban celebrities from endorsements if found guilty of being part of a misleading advertisements is being considered by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said. Paswan was however non-committal on a Parliamentary panel recommendation for jail term to celebrities found guilty. A group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in late August, asked the ministry to look at laws of other countries related to misleading ads by celebrities before finalising the amendments to the Bill based on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

New code to deal with insolvency in financial sector on anvil

Resolution Corporation will replace Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation

BY CHANDRA SHEKHAR Moving ahead with the economic reforms, the government has come out with another draft bill to deal with specific problems of insolvency in the financial sector.

As part of the new legislation, the Finance Ministry-appointed committee proposed to set up a Resolution Corporation to expeditiously deal with issues concerning insolvency of financial institutions including banks and insurance companies.

The suggestion to set up a Resolution Corporation, which will also be responsible for providing deposit insurance, was made by Finance Ministry’s committee which was set up to draft a Code on Resolution of Financial Firms.

The draft code proposes to consolidate the existing laws relating to resolution of certain categories of financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies, financial market infrastructures, payment systems, and other financial service providers into a single legislation, and provide for additional tools of resolution to enable the Resolution Corporation to maintain the systemic stability in the country.

While the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code enacted by Parliament in 2016 provides for resolution and liquidation of non-financial firms, the proposed code aims to deal with insolvency issues of financial firms in line with international best practices, the committee said in its report on the draft legislation.

“Recent experience and research have shown that resolution of financial institutions requires a special regime that is faster than any traditional insolvency procedure, where rights of the creditors and other stakeholders can be overridden in the interest of the financial system (including the consumers) and the economy,” it added.

The proposed Resolution Corporation will contribute to the stability and resilience of the financial system by carrying out speedy and efficient resolution of financial firms in distress, providing deposit insurance to consumers of certain categories of financial services and monitoring the systemically important financial institutions. It will also protect consumers of financial institutions and public funds to the extent possible. After enactment of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2016, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation will be dissolved and all its functions will be carried out by the Resolution Corporation.

As proposed in the code, the general direction and management of the body will be conferred on the Board of the

Loan against property portfolio may rise to above 5 per cent Delinquencies in the country’s loan against property (LAP) is likely to rise to over 5 per cent over the next four quarters due to stagnant property prices and risk aversion, according to India Ratings and Research.

The rating agency said the signs of early stress are clearly visible in the LAP business loan pools assessed by it, indicated by a sharp rise in 90 days past due (dpd) delinquencies for some of the large players.

“In the next four quarters LAP delinquencies may rise to over 5 per cent from 3.5 per cent in June and 3 per cent in FY16,” the rating agency’s director and co-head (financial

“Safe and sustainable construction using alternate technologies is the need of the hour. This is necessary to meet the targets under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.”

— M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister

institutions) Prakash Agarwal told reporters.

He said a combination of stagnant property prices, especially in metros and large cities, which are the primary markets for medium and large ticket LAP, and squeeze on refinancing due to risk aversion building up in some financiers is bringing the stress to the fore.

Delinquencies may even exceed to 5 per cent on a static basis for a few non-bank financial institutions (NBFCs), about 3 times of those in the financial year 2013-14, India Ratings said in a report released recently.

The report analysed the data of

5-6 NBFCs and 4-5 housing finance companies which the agency rates.

The total size of LAP market in the country is of around Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

The report said the LAP portfolio generated in the last five years, indicates that all loans, irrespective of their year of origination, are experiencing the highest level of delinquencies in 2016.

Slippages in LAP are rising concurrently across the years of origination, though LTVs of earlier vintage loans have reduced due to a secular rise in property prices and principal amortisation.

PTI

RBI Governor Urjit Patel (2nd from right) with (from left) deputy governors NS Vishwanathan, R Gandhi and SS Mundra in Mumbai after the monetary policy review meeting

Resolution Corporation “This Board will comprise representatives from financial sector regulators like RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA; representatives of the Central Government as well as two independent members,” the Committee said.

After the enactment of the Bill, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation shall be dissolved and all its functions will be carried out by the Resolution Corporation. “Thereafter, the Resolution Corporation will be the authority responsible for providing deposit insurance in the country,” the committee noted.

The Corporation, in consultation with the appropriate regulator, will specify objective criteria for

China begins 5G telecom trial runs China, the largest telecom market in the world in terms of subscribers, has started conducting trials for 5G telecommunications equipment in about 100 cities, as it aims to get a head start in the race to lead the next generation of cellular phone systems. High-speed 5G networks can theoretically transmit data 20 times faster than current 4G speed, with less than one tenth of the latency, or the time for a data request to receive a reply.

The 5G technologies tested include massive multiple-antenna systems capable of handling more users and increased capacity to support greater mobile data usage, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Bernstein Research report. China Mobile had said that it plans to roll out its 5G network service in 2020.

PTI

Festive time for consumer durable firms Companies expect sales to touch 35% on the back of good monsoon, pentup demand and the 7th pay commission payout

BY KUMAR RAHUL Consumer durables makers as Sony, LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Haier, BSH Household Appliances and Videocon, are gearing up for a bumper festive season expecting sales to spike by up to 35 per cent on the back of good monsoon, pentup demand and the 7th pay commission payout.

The different players in the consumer durables sector are estimated to have earmarked nearly Rs 500 crore to spend on marketing to push sales during the festive period. According to the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), in 2016 the industry is pinning all its hopes on the upcoming festive season wherein, “noteworthy players” have allocated anywhere between 30 to 40 percent of their budget on marketing.

“With an overall positive customer sentiment, consumer durables companies expect to increase their sales by almost 15 to 20 percent,” CEAMA President Manish Sharma said.

To woo the customers, the companies have lined up a host

of schemes, including freebies such as music system, smartphones, tablets, strolley bags, steam iron, dry iron, sunglasses, hand blenders, extended warranty and cashback on purchase of TV, refrigerator, microwave ovens, washing machine and air conditioners.

“This festive season, we are going to start with a very strong and positive momentum...with all the promotions, we expect at least 35 per cent growth in the panel business. Most of them would be driven by 32 inches and above,” Sony India sales head Satish Padmanabhan said. The company has already witnessed around 25 per cent growth in sales during the Onam in South India this month, he added.

Similarly, LG is expecting around 30 per cent growth in sales this season as it expects good demand, especially in flat panels and home appliances segment. “We are targeting 30 per cent growth this festive season,” said LG Electronics India Head, Corporate Marketing, Niladri Datta.

Panasonic, which has been receiving an encouraging response to its smartphones, is expecting the segment to do well this festive season. “The sales for smartphones is expected to grow by almost Rs 600 crore during the months

of September to November with a 200 percent growth jump from what was seen last year in the segment,” said Panasonic India Head - Sales and Service, Ajay Seth.

Samsung too is expecting a double digit growth in sales this year. “We had a healthy monsoon this year. The festive season is estimated to generate good annual sales for consumer durables and appliances.

Additionally, increased rural electrification and announcement of 7th Pay Commission will be key growth drivers this season,” Samsung India Vice President, Consumer Electronics, Rajeev Bhutani said.

BSH Household Appliances said it expects over 40 per cent growth. “During the festive season, consumers usually revamp and refurnish their homes as well as upgrade their appliances. In the consumer durables segment, the festive season marks one of the most important time of the year, owing to increased purchase activity and consumer inclination to spend,” said BSH Household Appliances Manufacturing MD and CEO Gunjan Srivastava.

“We plan to spend around Rs 150 crore in terms of ATL (above the line) spend. With this, we expect to emerge as the biggest panel player in the festive season,” said Padmanabhan of Sony. Likewise Panasonic is also ready to spend on marketing activities.

Companies are also spending a good portion of the pie on digital platforms. “Digital platform is certainly important and our 10 to 15 percent spend will be on digital marketing,” said Datta of LG Electronics.

According to CEAMA, companies aren’t losing sight of the fast growing e-commerce segment.

PTI

the classification of covered service providers into five categories, namely, low, moderate, material, imminent and critical, taking into account several features of the covered service providers, including adequacy of capital, asset quality, leverage ratio, liquidity and capability of management.

The code proposes to give power to the Resolution Corporation to transfer the whole or part of the assets and liabilities of the covered service provider to another person, on terms agreed between the Corporation and such person, creating a bridge service provider, merger or amalgamation of the covered service provider, acquisition of the covered service provider and liquidation.

The powers of the Corporation as a liquidator include, amongst others, the power to verify claims of all the creditors, take into custody all the assets, property and actionable claims of the covered service provider, sell property, access information, consolidate and verify claims, admit or reject claims and payments of deposit insurance.

“The Central Government and the Resolution Corporation, with the prior approval of the Central Government, can enter into memorandums of understanding with the governments and their regulators of other countries and exchange information with them to give full effect to the provisions of this Act,” the committee stated. It further said resolution has to be completed within two years, with the provision for an extension of one additional year, except in the case of liquidation.

The Resolution Corporation shall have three types of funds — the Corporation Insurance Fund for payment of deposit insurance, the Corporation Resolution Fund for covering resolution fees and a Corporation General Fund for meeting the administrative expenses of the Corporation. The covered service providers shall also be required to pay fees, as specified by the Corporation.

Besides updating the laws, the new Code will help in improving the ease of doing business by encouraging risk taking and providing a window to the companies who for some reason or the other want to exit the business.

PTI Feature

Automation may hit 69% jobs in India Mechanisation and technology have disrupted traditional industrial production, states WB report

World Bank predicts the figure in China to be 77% and Ethiopia 85%

BY LALIT K JHA Automation threatens 69 per cent of the jobs in India and 77 per cent in China, according to a World Bank (WB) research which says technology could “fundamentally disrupt” the pattern of traditional economic path in developing countries.

“As we continue to encourage more investment in infrastructure to promote growth, we also have to think about the kinds of infrastructure that countries will need in the economy of the future.

We all know that technology has and will continue to fundamentally reshape the world,” WB President Jim Kim said.

“But the traditional economic path from increasing productivity of agriculture to light manufacturing and then to full-scale industrialisation may not be possible for all developing countries,” Kim said in response to a question at the Brookings Institute during a discussion on extreme poverty.

“In large parts of Africa, it is likely that technology could fundamentally disrupt this pattern. Research based on World Bank data has predicted that the proportion of jobs threatened in India by automation is 69 per cent, in China it is 77 per cent and in Ethiopia, the percentage of jobs threatened by automation is 85 per cent,” he said.

“Now, if this is true, and if these countries are going to lose these many jobs, we then have to understand what paths to economic growth will be available for these countries and then adapt our approach to infrastructure

accordingly,” Kim said.

He said one child policy could have been reason of sharp decline in child stunting and malnutrition, which is now at 10 per cent.

“The one child policy could have been part of it, but anyway the point is, that if you look at educational outcomes and things like child stunting, India is at 38.7 per cent child stunting, they are literally walking into the future with 40 per cent of their workforce probably being unable to compete in the global digital economy, whereas China over the years has brought it down very, very low,” Kim said.

“In India, it is probably partly because of sanitation that children are often in a just constant diarrheal stage, because of open defecation. There is a lot of different pieces of it. But I have been saying to the leaders of these countries that have these high stunting rates, there is like an emergency for you, you have got to tackle it,” Kim said.

Mechanisation and technology have disrupted traditional industrial production, upended manual jobs and call time on the work that has been done by generations of families. It is affecting people in countries everywhere, Kim said. Great strides toward ending extreme poverty have been made by countries like China as a result of trade and openness of their domestic industries to global competition. Countries working together and especially trading together have delivered lasting progress, Kim said.

“So in the end, we have made progress. But at the same time, in most of the world, we are facing very strong headwinds, a slowing global economy hit by falling commodity prices and stagnating global trade. That is really historic,” he added.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

WATCH OUT 12 noon onwards Where: Wynkk – The Lounge, Near Pune University

HARD ROCK CAFE’S VEGGIE FESTIVAL

CREATING MAGIC IN HOME COOKING

Hard Rock Cafe India has launched its first ever month long all-vegetarian festival with delicious offerings this October. Green based beverages, Cauliflower Wings served Buffalostyle, Grilled Ratatouille Wrap featuring grilled vegetables and Sriracha mayo, a Very Veggie Tini featuring a mix of fresh vegetable juice, Greek Yogurt and Tito’s Handmade Vodka and lip smacking appetizers and mains come together to create a tantalizing spread . This month Be Edgy Go Veggie.

When: Till October 31 Where: Hard Rock Cafe, Koregaon Park

Aavaran presents its all new festive collection, Bhumiteee. This collection is a combination of the contrasting ideas of the old and the new. It combines modern IndoWestern silhouettes with geometric motifs. The fabrics are light and the colours are festive. The surface ornamentation is cut work and hand embroidery. The whole collection is designed using traditional yet feminine fabrics like Chanderi and Ghicha. Motifs used for the collection

Get ready to start your weekend with an extraordinary weekend brunch with Wynkk- the Lounge. The Brunch includes some lip smacking dishes right from golden pouches, sesame chicken to tequila prawns.

So come along and kick start you weekend with a freshly curated menu and some exotic mixes. Paired with a playlist of some of the best tracks ever.

When: October 8 & 9,

EDITOR

In Pursuit of spreading culinary experience Nikita Singh from the Aromatic Oven and Arttdinox collaborate to teach you to make some fresh bread which is not only quick but scrumptious too. On the menu is Soft roll, Fuccasia, Sandwich bread, Puffs veg, Garlic bread, Pizza base, Pita bread and Ladi pav. Nikita is a Pastry chef and baker, baking everything from fresh loaves of bread to layer cakes for restaurants, bakeries and hotel dining rooms for a decade now When: October 15, 12:30 to 5:30 Get in touch: 9620410096

GO FESTIVE WITH AAVARAN’S NEW COLLECTION

A BRUNCH NOT TO BE MISSED

LETTERS TO THE

using cut work and hand embroidery are inspired by the Art Deco period of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Where: Aavaran, Regent Plaza, Baner

A FESTIVAL TO CELEBRATE CULINARY ART JW Marriott Pune brings the biggest Food festival of the year titled, ‘Culinary Collection’. Kick started just last week the festival will delight every food lover as it certainly offers something for everyone to indulge in. This 15-day long extravaganza will witness Chefs from around the world, gathered to showcase the art

Pleasing to read bright stories too

I loved your Kumar Laxman Rathod’s story in the spotlight, ‘Walking Tall’ in your last issue. It’s inspiring to read such stories rather than only be informed about the atrocities happening in the city. Golden Sparrow does a brilliant job at bringing the positive aspects of Pune City to the forefront, which you doesn’t seem to find in papers nowadays.

-Erica Miranda THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 01-07, 2016

OCTOBER 01-07, 2016

A

jinkya Vasudev Joshi, 30, is a trainer at the Soman Health and Fitness Club, at Khajina Vihir, Shukrawar Peth. He has made a name for himself in the power weightlifting arena, having won a gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games in South Korea, and a silver medal at the 2007 Asian Games in Taiwan.

His childhood was a traumatic time as Ajinkya faced the barbs and taunts from people owing to his size. He remembers it as a humiliating experience, but he had to learn how to cope with it, the hard way. Ajinkya is 4.6 feet tall and it is his small stature that has led him to find his calling in life. “I joined a gym in Vitthalwadi on Sinhagad Road 15 years ago. What I really wanted to gain from going to the gym was to increase my height. That may not have happened, but going to the gym has enabled me to find just what it was that I wanted to do with my life. And over the years, my liking for keeping fit has kept growing, and now I find being a trainer a rewarding occupation, as I am able to teach others what I have learnt. The gym is also

TALL

the place where I became interested in the sport of power lifting,” he said.

It was when he was 15 that his parents realised that Ajinkya’s physical growth had stalled. They consulted a number of doctors to seek a remedy, but the efforts proved to be in vain. Then a chance suggestion by a friend led him to the Soman Health and Fitness Club.

“I have been inspired by my parents, and also my teacher, the late Swapnil Soman sir. He guided me and taught me everything I know about power lifting. He motivated me to improve my skills and excel at the sport.

I participated in power lifting competitions in school, and then progressed to the national and international levels,” he said. Ajinkya has won 40 district level, 16 state level, 11 national and two international championships. He would have continued his career, but a ligament injury he suffered in 2008 has forced him out of the competitive arena.

With all the experience in the gym, it seemed logical

K

Kumar Rathod at the gate of his college

Abbas Inamdar going about his newspaper rounds

‘Why should people make fun of my disability which is not my fault at all?’

‘If you give us the opportunity, we can prove that we are just as capable as others’

Maya Anvekar (right) dispenses the prescribed medication to a patient

I’ve worked with an organisation that catered to recycling garbage and I think converting waste to run buses is a lovely idea. The fact that not only will we be reducing the waste accumulation in on area, but actually transforming that that mobilize buses should actually be done in all cities. I would really like it if this particular article was sent to other regional newspapers as well so that the same initiative can be executed across the country.

-Sanjana Sharma

M

aya Uttamrao Anvekar, 47, resident of Ravivar Peth, is just 4.4 feet in height. She has been working as a compounder at general physician Dr Parag Rasane’s clinic at Sonya Maruti Chowk, Budhwar Peth, for 14 years. Everyone knows her at the clinic, and her expertise in giving injections, saline, medication and first aid, is well appreciated.

Her parents were aware of Maya’s deficiency in growth and did all they could to deal with the problem. They consulted doctors who gave her injections and prescribed physical workouts, but nothing seemed to help.

Moreover, there was the added trauma of facing society and being made fun of due to her diminutive stature. All through school, Maya learned how to cope with her handicap and put on a brave face. “I knew that if I showed any sign of being scared or angry, the people would trouble me even more, and make my life a living hell. So I learned to ignore the people who made fun of me, and concentrated on my studies. Now of course, no one teases me anymore,” said Maya.

Maya’s father Uttamrao, a goldsmith, passed away when she was in school. She was forced to leave school after standard X, as she had a younger brother and sister to look after. She did a typing course in the hope of finding a job. But her brother Suresh stepped in and lent a hand, in looking after the younger siblings. Their mother passed away 15 years ago. With her physical disability, Maya was unable to get any marriage proposals. “The proposals I got turned out to be frauds as the suitors were only interested in getting dowry,” said Maya. She started looking for a job when she was 17, but it proved to be difficult with her handicap. But then came the interview for a compounder’s post at Dr Prakash Rasane’s clinic. “I was asked if I would be able to fulfil my duties. I asked them to observe my work for two days. They did and then I was selected. Now Dr Parag treats me like his sister, and trusts me,” said Maya. Maya had some nursing experience through looking after her ailing mother.

Maya has always had a positive approach towards life. She has many hobbies and interests such as weaving, reading, and music.

“Don’t just see the physical side but try to see what’s in the minds of people like me. If you give us the opportunity, we can prove that we are just as capable of others of doing our duty,” is Maya’s advice to society. And for others like herself, Maya believes that they should not lose confidence in themselves, and to ignore the people who just want to make fun of them.

She lives with her brother Suresh and his wife.

‘I decided a long time ago not to bow before anyone and to prove my worth’

P

rofessor Dhiraj Damodarrao Nage, 40, of Bhosari, is a shining example of a human being who has not let being undersized come in the way of what he was wanted to achieve and attain in life. The four feet two inches tall Dhiraj has been working as an assistant professor at the computer science department of Fergusson College for eight years. Inspired and motivated by his father, his unwavering determination and strength have enabled him to acquire a BSc and MSc in agriculture, as well as Master in Computer Application (MCA).

Born in a farming family at Daryapur village in Amaravati district, Dhiraj’s physical handicap proved to be a burden since childhood. When he was in standard VII, his parents sought medical help, and also other means to bring about a regular physical development. The doctors however, told them that it was the genes they had inherited that were responsible for Dhiraj and his brother Prashant being undersized.

Dhiraj underwent much trauma in his growing years, and at times he would curse his fate that had led to him being small-sized, and an object of fun for insensitive people. But over time, he learned to accept his situation, and knew that lamenting his state would not bring about any positive change. He instead, as urged by his father, decided to get as much education as he could, to be able to function in and contribute to society.

“I learned how not to pay heed to the people who made fun of me. I had taken up a marketing job during my college days, which entailed a lot of travel. It was always an experience to be able to face people in different towns and villages, who were attracted more by my diminutive size rather than what I was selling. Some of them were just plain curious, while others would make fun of me, but I never retaliated. I think that 90 per cent of people are not friendly or

helpful, and only ten per cent treat us with some consideration and kindness,” said Dhiraj.

Dhiraj wanted to join the civil services and even passed the Mahararashtra Public State Commission (MPSC) exam, but he failed to be selected in the interview. He gave farming a shot, but the drought foiled his plans. He then decided to come to Pune. That was 15 years ago.

He applied for a technical post with Larsen and Toubro, but was rejected because of his size, despite all his assurances. This incident has made Dhiraj even more fearless and determined. “I decided then not to bow before anyone and to prove my worth,” he said.

He first worked as a software developer for an IT company for two years. Then he applied for a lecturer’s post in the computer science department of Fergusson College in 2008, and was selected.

As assistant professor he earns Rs 2.70 lakh annually. He is single and wants to get married. His brother Prashant is studying networking and lives with Dhiraj.

He commutes from Bhosari to Pune by PMPML buses, facing the usual hassles while boarding a bus. But he does not take injustice lying down. “If I see wrongdoing, I will oppose it and even argue.

People try to dominate me because of my stature, but I make it a point to let them know that I am a college professor. Then they view me differently, even respectfully. I like my job and try to give my 100 per cent. My students know and appreciate this,” said Dhiraj.

He loves the cordial atmosphere at Fergusson College. “I have the full support of my head of department and principal. I like working here,” he says.

Dhiraj is the kind of person who is always eager to learn something new. He is polishing up his English, and his hobbies include karate, action movies and chess.

Rajashree Andekar’s death due to such grave negligence by the hospital authorities, so much so that she has injected by the hospital compounder; rings an alarming bell in our minds PMC blamed for of our for the safety Corporator’s kin allege spread of diseases loved ones. More medical negligence than the hospital being blamed, the doctors responsible should be held responsible.

We don’t have means other than doctors to save our lives. Th is is not City-based techie develops app something we can to track premature baby’s health learn to do. So, if we have to be wary of the very people who save our lives, where should we feel safe?

- Saumitra Shinde THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY PUNE

P 11

After corporator Rajashree Andekar’s death, her family approach police seeking justice

The death of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Corporator Rajashree Andekar of Nana Peth (Panel number 48 A) at KEM Hospital on September 6 has raised many questions with the kin accusing the medical authorities of negligence and filing complaint with Samarth police station against Samarth Hospital and KEM Hospital both located at Rasta Peth.

The deceased corporator’s husband Suryakant Andekar alleged that his wife died of wrong injection given by the compounder of Samarth Hospital after which she went into a coma. He also alleged that KEM Hospital did not reveal the treatment and medicines administered to the patient. Samarth Police are inquiring the case and will take action after receiving the report prepared by the panel of Medical Board of Sassoon General Hospital.

The NCP corporator, who was elected during the Pune municipal polls in 2012, was admitted to Samarth Hospital by her husband Suryakant.

Her husband said that Rajashree’s blood report was shown to Dr Suhas Kalashetti, who said that the patient was diagnosed with chikungunya and needs immediate medical attention.

Suryakant admitted his wife at Samarth Hospital in Rasta Peth on February 5.

“After admitting her in the

Rajashree Andekar

hospital, Dr Kalashetti was absent and her medical treatment was carried out

by Shankar Mali who is a compounder.

Mali called Dr Kalashetti on phone and the latter advised him to give some injection to the patient. Mali gave the injection to Rajashree after which within 15 minutes she went into comatose state and even urinated on the bed,” said Suryakant.

Seeing Rajashree’s condition deteriorating, the Andekar family shifted her to nearby KEM Hospital on February 5. Suryakant said that the doctors admitted her in ICU and started treatment. “She did not recover from the coma state and succumbed on September 6 in the hospital. During the treatment she was also taken to Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital on April 5 and the doctors said that her brain is damaged. We later re-admitted

her in KEM hospital,” said Suryakant, adding that the medication bill at the hospital during the seven months touched Rs 1.5 crore which was borne by the Pune Municipal Corporation.

“The wrong medication done by Samarth Hospital and concealing the fact by KEM Hospital took my wife’s life and the people responsible for this negligence should be punished,” he said.

Andekar has written an application through Advocate Bilal Shaikh to Samarth Police demanding medical negligence offence under the law against the doctors of both hospitals on August 28. Advocate Shaikh said that it is a clear case of medical negligence.

“Samarth Hospital administered wrong injection to the patient. When she was admitted in ICU of KEM hospital’s urology department for further treatment, the KEM doctors despite knowing she was given wrong medication by previous hospital (Samarth Hospital), did not disclose the fact. If we were told about the fact, then we would have admitted her to super specialty hospital. KEM Hospital doctors tried to protect their counterparts at Samarth Hospital,” Shaikh said, adding “We have written the application to Samarth Police that offence should be registered against doctors of both hospitals as per Sections 338 (medical negligence), 304, II (culpable homicide) and 467 (forgery of valuable security) of the Indian Penal Code.”

Samarth Police Station Senior Inspector Rajendra Mohite confirmed that they have received the application from Andekar. “We have recorded the statements of both parties. We are forwarding the case to Sassoon General Hospital Medical Board and will take action after receiving their report.”

When TGS visited Samarth Hospital, cardiologist Dr Kalashetti said that the patient was suffering from chikungunya hyperthyroid and other complications and there is no staffer by the name Shankar Mali working at the hospital. “When the patient came to our hospital I was busy treating another patient so my sister Pooja called me and asked for the injection. I suggested monosafe antibiotic to reduce fever.

After the injection was administered to the patient, she went to washroom and fell unconscious. Then we shifted her to KEM. We have given right medical treatment and gave our statement to the police,” he said.

KEM Hospital Medical Administrator Dr VL Yemul told TGS,” We have given her proper treatment. The patient was admitted in the hospital in an unconscious state.

We administered her standard line of treatment for seven months. The cause of death was known and as it was not a medico legal case we didn’t advise her post mortem after death. Police have recorded our doctors’ statement and we are cooperating in the investigation.” tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

US hospitals extensively uses ‘We3health’, founders hope to launch the facility in city hospitals soon

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1

City-based techie Gautam Rege, 37, has developed ‘We3health’ app that tracks, monitors and connects a parent, a newborn premature baby and a nurse in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The app helps parents to involve in advanced treatment care of their beloved baby. Used in San Francisco’s top child care hospital as a clinical study basis, the developer hopes to launch the app in city hospitals also.

The application creates an efficient communication channel between the parents and the medical team, and educate and enable parents to give their baby the required care. The parents also get health condition updates of their child on their mobile. It builds a connection between parents, child

and nurse by providing data through messaging and videos. “The app will guide the elders on how much and what the baby should eat and how much the child should take rest,” said Rege, who developed the app in October last year.

Rege is the co–founder and managing director of Josh Software, a web solution company based in Pune.

“We are in talks with a few hospitals in Pune and Mumbai to launch the app.

We have received positive response from KEM Hospital in Pune,” he said.

US-based couple Scott Bolick and Brittany Lothe’s son Will was born premature and kept in Intensive Care Nursery (ICN), also known as NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). They saw their infant fighting for his life and the thought of such requirement of any health app came in their mind.

Will’s Way Foundation President

Gautam Rege

Bolick sought an open source solution provider to develop a platform to track, monitor and connect a parent, a baby and a nurse in an ICN. The founders approached the team at Pune’s Josh Software to develop a mobile-based solution through the reference given by doctors based in the US. “The Foundation approached us and we developed this app,” said Rege.

The development for We3Health

solution started in May 2015 and was launched in October 2015.

“We got this project after the Will’s Way Foundation came to know that we are pioneering in child health care solutions,” said Rege. A computer graduate from the Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT) in 2000 he worked for seven years with leading companies in Pune. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

India Inc backs surgical strikes P 14

PMC’s delay in setting up Mosquito Abatement Committee has led to the spike in dengue and chikungunya cases in the city

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @dnyanesh1

The three-year delay in setting up the Mosquito Abatement Committee (MAC) by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) health department has led to the increase in vector related diseases like dengue and chikungunya, as well as mosquito breeding spots.

The state health department had set an April 2015 deadline for the PMC health department. But the MAC was eventually formed in the month of June 2016 when dengue cases showed an alarming rise.

Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme and directorate of state health department had asked all corporations and districts to set up MACs in 2013. Only the Mumbai corporation was quick to set up the MAC which is still working systematically. It has taken Pune’s PMC almost three years to set up its MAC, which includes representatives of private institutes where breeding spots were found. The committee is presided over by the deputy director of the respective district or region, and initiates measures to curb mosquito breeding spots and monitor dengue cases.

The 79 teams comprising 300 workers, formed by PMC health department, are part of MAC. They reported 1900 suspected and 390 confirmed cases, and one fatal dengue case this year. Three more suspected deaths by viral fever and a whopping 8475 breeding spots found after surveys of 13 lakh households and commercial establishments in city limits, from August 26 till date. There spurt in suspected dengue patients resulted in city hospitals being overcrowded.

There were 673 chikungunya cases in Pune.

Casting blame on the PMC health department, a senior health officer from the state directorate of vector borne control program, said, “We have been urging the PMC health officers to set up the MAC for the last three years, but they failed to take us seriously. We sent several reminders since 2013 that were ignored. We arranged several meeting at the state level and ministry to curb the mosquito menace, but PMC health officials failed to take it seriously.”

A meeting was held in April 2016 by the state health officials of the directorate of vector borne control program. Strict instructions were issued to the PMC health department to set up the MAC, but PMC continued to ignore it. Even officials from the Union health ministry’s National Vector

Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP) visited the PMC to inspect the situation regarding the mosquito menace in the city, and recommended setting up of MAC, but PMC health officials failed to comply.

The committee was formed in the first week of the June this year, after dengue cases rose alarmingly. Then on August 16 the PMC formed 79 teams and undertook house-to-house indoor survey, during which thousands of mosquito breeding spots were found.

This should have started early June.

Dr Kalpana Balivant, chief of vector borne control department by PMC, said that the committee (MAC) comprises 18 representatives from various establishments from the city.

“MAC constitutes representatives from railway, state transport, scrap godown dealers, airport, corporate offices, building associations etc.

They have been asked to keep their respective areas clean and ensure there was no dengue mosquito breeding,” said Balivant.

“These big private establishments have been asked to hire private insecticide services and prevent breeding spots, because PMC does not have sufficient manpower to look for such big establishments. This is compulsory for these establishments as per MAC rules,” said Dr Balkrishna Kamble, assistant director of vector borne disease control (state) program.

Dr Kanchan Jagtap, joint director state vector control program said that they had asked PMC health officials to set up the committee several times but they didn’t pay heed, which has led to an increase in the dengue cases. Another official from the same department said that Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) swung into action in April and formed the MAC two months before the PMC, which has resulted far fewer dengue cases are in their limits.

PCMC chief health officer Dr Anil Roy said that they have found only 79 positive dengue cases this year till date. dnyaneshwar.bhonde@goldensparrow.com

City trekker faces fine for violating sanctity of Rajgad fort

BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish City-based trekker Rahul Bulbule of Sahyavede trekking group, decided to take a dip in the pond on Rajgad fort, during his visit to the fort on September 26. On returning home, he posted his semi-clad picture on the social media.

Little had he imagined the consequences, as this picture triggered great anger among trekking community and the Shivbhakts (devotees). Bulbule was trolled on the social media, he received threats and came under heavy criticism.

Even after removing the picture from his

Archaeological department.

T h e Archaeological Act 1960, section 12, subsection 33 (1) states that whoever— (i) destroys, removes, injures, alters, defaces, Rahul Bulbule imperils or misuses a protected monument, is liable to a three-month imprisonment or a fine of Rs 5000 or both. However, as per the Archaeological Act 1962, section 2, subsection 8, the department issued a notice and a fine of Rs 500.

PUBLISHING

This is not the end Though, Bulbule paid the fine and submitted an apology, the Zunjar Samiti members are not satisfied. Rahul Paple, who registered a complaint against Bulbule with the Archaeological department, said that they aren’t done with him.

“He has done such things in the past too.

We need to teach him a severe lesson and we are going to lodge a complaint against him.

He must understand that the forts are not picnic spots or resorts. His example can lead to others doing the same and it would be an insult to the brave soldiers to laid down their lives while protecting these forts,” said Paple.

Incidentally, Bulbule filed a complaint

bbas Nabilal Inamdar, 51, resident of Rasta Peth, is heightchallenged and as a consequence, he has been used to being called names and treated with ridicule by society. Everyone in his locality knows him and with his elderly status he is not the object of fun anymore, but he cannot forget his past. “As a child I felt humiliated when people called me names like ‘butkya’ (dwarf in Marathi), and made fun of me. Initially, I would retaliate but this only made matters worse and they would tease me even more. So, I learned to ignore such people, which was the right thing to do. Why should people make fun of me for my physical disability which is not my fault at all?” he says.

Abbas works as an office assistant at B J Medical College. He also runs a newspaper stall in the Poolgate area. Abbas’s day begins at 4:30 am, when he leaves home on his bicycle, to go to Poolgate. There he collects the bundles of newspapers from the depot, and goes around on his cycles distributing the papers to around 300 households. He has a boy for company on these rounds. His wife Shahnaz, meanwhile, looks after the newspaper stall at Poolgate.

“I have been in this newspaper business since 1980, and I barely earn Rs 7,000 a month from this,” said Abbas.

At 10:30 am, he goes home for breakfast, after which it is time to report to B J Medical College, where he has been working since 1995. Abbas’s duties include making photocopies of documents, filing documents and other assorted office chores. His working day ends at around 8 pm.

Abbas’s family includes his mother Jainabi, 95, wife Shahnaz and only son Ali Jabber, 17, who is a standard XI student. Abbas was unable to pursue his education owing to the impecunious family conditions.

He has studied up to standard X. Then he was forced to earn a living by doing the newspaper rounds, in 1980. He got the job at B J Medical College in 1995, but was relieved of his job after a year. He got the job back after a court order. He earns Rs 12,000 a month as an office assistant. He likes to read, and finds some book, periodical, or newspaper to browse through in his spare time.

Abbas has had some difficult times to deal with. In 1995, he was addicted to the lottery, and found himself in debts amounting to Rs 50,000. It was a desperate situation and he ran away from home to Mumbai. His parents filed a missing person complaint with the police station, which was published in the local Marathi daily ‘Sandhyanand’.

After about a week Abbas returned to Pune. The police caught him and handed him over to his parents. He had to work twice as hard to pay off his debts.

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Professor Dhiraj Nage engrossed in guiding his students at Fergusson College

A noble thought at such a tender age

SPECIAL

Such a noble thing to do. In this day and age when all that people think about is themselves, this young boy who lost his life did something extremely heroic. A young boy who was meant to enjoy the prime of his life decided to give his organs for donation after his death. If only people understood that donating organs is not just an amazing thing to do but also has a greater objective of being able to help so many people in need. Let’s ask everyone one question, “why shouldn’t we be donating and helping others? “

Where should we feel safe?

Loneliness may be in your genes: Study

A

Ajinkya Joshi (right) with one of his proteges at the fitness and health club

Such a spectacular initiative by the PMC

BY TUSHAR RUPANAVAR AND DNYANESHWAR BHONDE @TGSWeekly

Aseem Desai Mechanical Engineer I think the issue is that the Pakistani military has too much autonomy. The multiple coups are evidence of this. But the people of any country would want economic and technological progress and I don’t think the Pakistani people would be any different. The Indian Army should continue cross border strikes against terrorists (taking a page out of Israel’s book) but breaking all ties with the Pakistani people is a bleak and circuitous way of solving this problem.

For the last two years, The Golden Sparrow has covered Pune like no one else.

for Ajikya to settle into a career as trainer. He worked with Persistent Company, Nal Stop, Karve Road for four years before joining Soman Health and Fitness Club, where he has been working for four years. Fondly known as Appa, the club has a clientele of 125 male and female fitness enthusiasts. Ajinkya aka Appa guides them in losing or gaining weight, weight lifting, power lifting, and other assorted physical fitness regimen. He is the only trainer and also manages the club, for his remuneration of Rs 4.5 lakh annually.

Ajinkya, who has a Commerce degree, was refused jobs by Emcure, MSEB and other companies, but it has all been for the best. He now wants to set up a power lifting academy. He also has other interests such as playing the dhol in a drum troupe during Ganeshotsav.

Ajinkya is unable to drive a car or ride a bike owing to his disability. He lives with his parents and brother.

can do, is to not let their handicap get in the way of making progress, and getting to where they find their niche in society, and settle into a productive way of life. It may take more of an effort than what a normal person puts in. And if they are fortunate, they will have the support of the people who are close to them, like family, friends or teachers.

Life is difficult even for people who are free from any handicaps. It is likely then to be even more difficult when you have to face everyday challenges, while coping with a lifelong handicap. It may take a little time and effort for normal people to gauge the nature and dimension of the difficulties that handicapped people face in day-to-day life.

But, rest assured, there are people, who with fortitude and strength have come to terms with their physical handicap, and are now able to face life with optimism, and the willingness to overcome what challenges may come their way.

TGS has come face-to-face with a handful of people with physical handicaps, who have emerged through their initial trauma and heartbreak, to make their way forward, get an education, find an occupation, and settle into a way of life that offers them the possibility of leading a constructive life in society, and also to attain their dreams and goals, which once may have seemed impossible.

umar Laxman Rathod, 17, is a standard XII student of Marathwada Mitra Mandal College (MMMC), Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce Road, Deccan Gymkhana. He is just 3.2 feet tall.

Life is hard for Kumar, who lives in Kasarwadi, with his parents Laxman and Sushila, who work as construction site labourers, brother Prakash, 15, and sister Sharda, 14. His day begins at 6 am, and after the morning ablutions, he does his studies. Then he commutes to college by PMPML bus. College lectures last from 11:30 am to 5 pm, when he returns home.

Kumar has been fortunate as he has not faced too much ridicule or harassment owing to his stature, in everyday life or at college. “I am fortunate that I have parents, friends and teachers at my college, who are always there to give me support if I need it. Even Principal M B Lawrence has always been supportive,” he said.

Kumar is determined to put in all the hard work needed to make something of his life. He is seeking medical help to overcome his disability but the doctors can’t guarantee success. But he has learned to come to terms with his physical handicap, and will not let it come in the way of achieving his goals.

“I want to be a businessman, make lots of money and become very rich. I have had enough of being poor and helpless,” he said.

“My government is honestly committed to providing reservation to Marathas.

We are (also) solving problems faced by the community by (promoting) financial empowerment, employment and entrepreneurship.”

- Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister

Moon Moon Jetley Historian We live in times when the nature of warfare has changed. It’s no more about blitzkriegs and bombarding cities. Hot pursuits, surgical strikes, isolations are new forms of war. In such a scenario, these actions become necessary.

In order to isolate the country it is absolutely necessary to not only restrict it to diplomacy and politics but also extend it to other social and cultural arenas such as this one. Th is is not about jingoism and out of control patriotism but a need of the hour and a new technique of warfare. It’s sad, but everyone bears the brunt of war.

BY DNYANESHWAR BHONDE & SHAILESH JOSHI

e, as a society, are monumentally insensitive towards people with physical disabilities or handicaps. Our first reaction is to make fun of them, and call them all kinds of rude, crude and cruel names. Do we realise that a person with a handicap or disability is just as prone to feeling hurt and offended by such behaviour, just like any of us ‘normal’ people? This kind of hurt and humiliation are almost an everyday experience for the disabled or handicapped people.

The causes for their handicap or deformity may be a genetic disorder, malnutrition or any other reason. But they have to learn to cope with ostracisation and ridicule from a very young age.

Schools can be very cruel places, and children with physical handicaps have a rough time indeed.

This carries on into adult life as well, but by then these disadvantaged people have learned how to cope with the stigma, and to ignore the rude behaviour of society at large.

This insensitivity of society is a fact of life for the handicapped and there is not much they can do to change it. What they

‘I want to be a businessman, make lots of money and become very rich’

OCTOBER 01-07, 2016

Atmosphere 6 is known for its beautiful set up, four different decks each with its own theme and a beautiful panoramic view of our Pune city. Experience the Epic DJ Battle between DJ Akshay Yeole the favorite Soundcloud DJ known for dropping the beats and taking patrons on a roller coaster ride and DJ Antoo who is A6 fan boy. Akshay plays everything from Commercial to High Octane EDM to Bollywood Dance Music while Antoo will make you groove to BDM and Deep House.

When: October 8 & 9, 9 pm onwards Where: Atmosphere 6, Skymax, VimanNagar

Owing to the rising tensions between India and Pakistan and fearing backlash from the political fraternity, the World Meteorology Department prevented three Pakistani weather experts from attending their weeklong international weather workshop in Pune on Thursday. We ask what Puneris think about the decision in relation to the current situation

PUNE

‘Going to the gym enabled me to find what I wanted to do with my life’

It is common for society to regard people with height disabilities as objects of ridicule. But, as all of us know or should, these people are no different from us. They have dreams and ambitions just like we do, and possess all the intellectual abilities to function as productive members of society

DJ AKSHAY YEOLE AND DJ ANTOO BATTLE IT OUT

VOX POPULI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

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PICS: RAHUL RAUT

Walking W

of culinary delight that they have perfected over years. This festival is sure to set a new benchmark for the culinary journey of Pune.

When: Till October 15, 7:30 pm onwards Where: JW Marriott Pune, Senapati Bapat Road

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-Daryl Rozario

Our safety is our own

With the spread of life threatening diseases and as per your article on medical negligence, we need to be very aware of the precautions we need to take to avoid contracting diseases like chikungunya and dengue.

Maybe y’all could do an article to make people aware of the easy steps they can take in and around their homes to prevent it.

-Ganesh Kasbe

Write to Us

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

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THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 08-14, 2016

PUNE

SPORTS

“‘We can consider a World Cup of 48 teams. The idea would be that the best 16 teams in qualifying would qualify directly for the group phase.”

— Gianni Infantino, Fifa President

“We have an edge over the Asian countries because we are playing European and Indian style of hockey, but we need to perform consistently.”

— PR Sreejesh, India Hockey Captain

Liverpool FC’s first coaching programme in Pune

Pune-based DSK Shivajians to launch player development centre in association with the Premier League Club TGS NEWS SERVICES @TGSWeekly

Liverpool FC International Academy and DSK Shivajians will be launching a player development centre at HotFut Turf, Mundhwa.

It will be the fi rst official Liverpool FC coaching programme in India, outside of the year-round Liverpool FC International Academy – DSK Shivajians residential programme.

The programme will run three times in a week in addition to experience days hosted once a month at the DSK Dream City fields.

Th roughout the course of the programme, players will get exposure to the official Liverpool FC International Academy curriculum.

Over the years, this proven formula has produced football greats such as Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

Also, it has guided the development of talented players in India at the Liverpool FC International Academy – DSK Shivajians, a group that comprises of nine international level players across various age groups,

including Lallianzuala Chhangte and Jerry Mawihmingthanga who have both scored goals with the senior Indian team and the Indian Under-23 squad respectively.

The goal of the Player Development Centre is to help kids aged 6 to 14 years learn to play ‘The Liverpool Way’ in a safe and fun environment with an aim to develop players into good human beings both on and off the pitch. The Player Development Centre will also play a vital role in improving the players’ skills with a focus on developing the technical, tactical, physical, mental and social aspects of their

game. Furthermore, the Centre will serve as the base of the DSK Shivajians FC player pathway pyramid providing talented youth footballers with the opportunity to graduate into the Liverpool FC International Academy – DSK Shivajians residential program.

“The success of the LFC-DSK Academy over the last two years along with the interest from the people of Pune has encouraged us to initiate the Player Development Centre in association with our technical partner Liverpool FC. I am confident that this project will help kids develop their football and life skills over the course of time.

Hopefully, we will also identify local talent in the process that can go on to represent DSK Shivajians FC in the future,” said Shirish Kulkarni, president of DSK Shivajians Football Club.

Experienced Englishman Chris Ochwat, an FA qualified coach from Liverpool FC, will head the Player Development Centre. Ochwat, who has previously led international coaching projects for LFC, will work with his team of coaches to bring Liverpool FC’s world class training methodology to the pitches of Pune next month. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

‘Shreeyash could have won the gold’

BY GUNWANTI PARASTE @gunwantiparaste The city’s martial arts player Shreeyash Chavan bagged a bronze medal in the recently held 5th Asian Beach Games in Vietnam. The talented player was struggling to find a sponsor just before the tournament, as he was not able to pay the expenses.

After TGS reported his plea, Lions Club, Rahatani came forward and sponsored the 19-year-old. Justifying their help, Shreeyash managed to get a podium finish. Though, his parents are happy with his performance, they feel that if proper facilities had been provided to him earlier, he would have definitely won the gold medal.

“In other countries, sportspersons are provided all facilities and exposure.

But, here in India, they are mostly ignored. Rather than spending time in training, the sportsmen are busy finding sponsors or arranging for money. That’s a sad part of our system,” said Shreeyash’s mother Sujata.

Echoing her thoughts, Shreeyash

said, “During the game, I interacted with the Iran player, who won the gold medal in my category. He told me that their government takes care of sportspersons and they don’t have to beg for money. I was amazed with the facilities these players are getting. If I had been lucky enough to have such opportunities, I would have won many medals so far.”

The family praised TGS for their support and said that now Shreeyash can concentrate on the games instead of worrying about the finances.

After TGS published the story about Shreeyash, the player received lots of calls for support. Lions Club decided to help financially and thus made his dream come true. In all, Lions Club supported 16 players, who had been selected for the games. The players bagged one silver and four bronze medals.

“The other players were also good and if they had been given proper training, the medal tally would have surely increased,” says Shreeyash. gunwanti.paraste@goldensparrow.com