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PUNE, DECEMBER 20, 2014 | www.thegoldensparrow.com
TGS LIFE
Why Pune cinema screens are constantly a-glitter
NETIZENS
SPORTS
Driven by local news, portal creators win Manthan Award P -6
Maiden title for Karad girl Shital P-16
Improve PMPML for the sake of our children
ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR
Paucity of teachers hits PMC’s English medium schools
Proposal for recruitment of 100 teachers has been pending with the state government since 2012. Thermax Foundation has adopted four schools, which are run with a high degree of commitment and professionalism BY ASHOK BHAT @ashok_bhat
Students clinging to an over-crowded moving bus thus risking their lives on the busy Karve Road
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has hand-picked 41-year-old IAS officer Shrikar Pardeshi as the chairman-cum-managing director of Pune’s public bus service, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML). Neglected for decades on end, the PMPML requires firm leadership to steer it on the road to efficiency. TGS wishes Dr Pardeshi the very best in this endeavour See Spotlight, P 8 & 9
Students win award for innovative business idea Symbiosis students Dinesh Kumar and Surabhi Mishra won the first prize at the LEAP Innovation Award for their idea to export chicken feet BY ANJALI SHETTY @shetty_anjali Dinesh Kumar, a second year student of Agribusiness Management (MBA-AB) at Symbiosis Institute of International University, Hinjewadi, is normally rather introverted and shy. DEMAND AND SUPPLY US exported $677m worth of
chicken to China with chicken feet, amounting to a 85 per cent market share in China. In 2013, China imported 250,900 tonnes of chicken feet, a trade worth around £410 million In 2012, Britain rendered 1.7 billion chicken feet into pet food, along with other unwanted poultry offal.
But Dinesh is transformed into an outgoing eloquence when he talks about his current project. “Today in India, there is wastage of chicken paws and feet in the poultry industry. We worked out a plan to convert the poultry waste into a profitable export product. We estimated that there is around one lakh metric tonnes of wastage of chicken feet in India. There is potential market of five billion rupees, that is wasted every year,” said Dinesh. He is being assisted by another student Surabhi Mishra. In his first year of college Dinesh’s survey showed that the Indian poultry industry was one of the fastest growing segments of the Indian agricultural sector. Contd on p 10 Dinesh Kumar Singh and Surabhi Mishra (Symbiosis Infotech Campus) receiving the LEAP Innovation Award from actor Atul Kulkarni (centre) for their business idea ‘Export of Chicken Feet’
In face of the growing demand for English medium schools, the Pune Municipal Corporation School Board has taken steps to raise the number of its English medium schools in the city, from 12 in 2003, to 52 in 2014. The board has been under pressure in this regard, from politicians and corporators, who want to please the citizens who form their vote banks. At present, there are 21,787 students from slums and economically backward sections of society, on the rolls of PMC’s English medium schools, which do not avail of government grants, and whose tuition fees are significantly lower than privately-run schools. However, the quality of education in these schools leaves a lot to be desired, primarily owing to the acute shortage of teachers. Moreover, the PMC’s proposal for recruitment of 100 teachers, has remained embroiled in bureaucratic tangles of the state government, since 2012. Although the PMC has been funding the running of these schools on its own, its officials say that will get progressively
difficult. They have therefore, suggested the handing over of these schools to charitable trusts or CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives. An ideal example in this respect, is the Thermax Foundation that runs four PMC English medium schools, with an admirable commitment and professionalism, under its CSR initiative. The PMC has 306 schools located in 110 buildings across the city. The PMC School Board’s budget for 2014-15 was Rs 292 crore. The PMC introduced 12 English medium schools in 2003. In 2014, this number has gone up to 52 schools, with 21,787 students from KG to Class VII. In keeping with government norms, English medium schools are not given grants and PMC has been funding the running of these schools since their inception. School Board chairman Baba Dumal told The Golden Sparrow on Saturday, that , “At least 100 teachers need to be recruited for these schools and after approval from the PMC General Body, a proposal to this effect was sent to the state government.” Contd on p 10