The Golden Sparrow on Saturday 08/08/2015

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PUNE, AUGUST 8, 2015 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

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TGS LIFE

What made them fall in love with pune?

CITY

City’s oldest cinema to reopen with a new name P3

Pune is

CITY

Varsity to get eco-park P5 PICS BY ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

science central

The Oxford of the East is now home to innovators easing human suffering due to diseases, and improving lives beyond measure

See Spotlight, p08 & 09

Maharashtra’s first ever heart transplant successful

BY Gargi Verma @missgverma The first ever heart transplant in Maharashtra was successfully performed on Monday.

Family of a 42-year-old female from Pune donated her heart which was swiftly transported to Mumbai in about an hour.

The heart was transplanted in a 22-year-old patient of cardiomyopathy admitted at Fortis Hospital in Mulund, Mumbai. At the time of going to press, the transplant was said to be successful.

The chain started with the 42-year-old mother of one getting admitted at Jehangir Hospital on July 29. According to the doctors at the hospital, the woman was complaining of severe headache and dizziness. She was diagnosed to be suffering from brain aneurysm and was operated upon on July 30.

In the wee hours of August 1, her condition deteriorated and was declared brain dead.

“The patient had expressed her desire to donate her organs just before she went into surgery. After she was declared brain

dead, her family too wanted to fulfil her last wishes,” said Vrinda Pusarekar, medical social worker attached to Jehangir Hospital.

Under normal circumstances, the organ retrieval would have begun immediately after the patient’s family had given consent, but in this case it involved retrieving a heart and finding a recipient for it. A heart, once retrieved has shelf life of four-five hours.

Jehangir Hospital got in touch with Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) at Pune and informed them about

Timeline 1 pm: Plane landed at Pune and retrieval surgery began at Jehangir Hospital 2.30 pm: Retrieval complete 2.35 pm: Heart left Jehangir Hospital premises 2.45 pm: Reached Pune Airport 2.55 pm: Chartered plane took off from Pune 3.20 pm: Plane reached Mumbai Airport 3.38 pm: Arrived at Fortis Hospital

availability of a heart. “We were informed about a patient who needed a heart and was admitted at Fortis Hospital (Mumbai).

We alerted Jehangir Hospital authorities about the recipient,” said Aarti Gokhale, coordinator at ZTCC Pune. Next, the two hospitals coordinated. It was decided that the transplant surgery in Mumbai would take place on Monday, August 3.

This meant that the organ retrieval would have to wait till then at Jehangir. In the meanwhile, both sides started preparing for the elaborate process, which involved a lot of planning and precise implementation.

It was decided that the organ retrieval would begin only after the chartered plane sent by Fortis Hospital to ferry the heart, had landed in Pune. “We were in touch with the pilot. As soon as he confirmed that the plane had landed at Pune Airport, we started the heart retrieval,” said Dr Shriniwas Ambike, nephrologist attached to Jehangir Hospital.

The surgery began at 1 pm and lasted an hour and a half. In the next five minutes, the heart was on its way out of the hospital.

Dr Sanjeev Jadhav and Dr Suresh Bhalerao from Jehangir Hospital accompanied the heart all the way to Mumbai.

Contd on p2

Several cases of officers illegally occupying government quarters in Pune have come to light See p3

RAHUL RAUT

Family of a 42-year-old lady from Pune donated her heart which was transplanted in a 22-year-old from Mumbai

Babus refuse to budge from official quarters

mUMBAI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

Vet claiming allowance meant for human doctors P4

“For the time being, the one-km stretch of the expressway near Khandala tunnel has being kept closed for Mumbai-bound traffic movement as there is a likelihood of yet another landslide.”

-Anil Diggikar, Managing Director, MSRDC

Maharashtra’s first ever heart transplant successful

pics by prakash ankush rao

Family of a 42-year-old lady from Pune donated her heart which was transplanted in a 22-year-old from Mumbai Contd from p1

Traffic cops in Pune had already been alerted about the movement from Jehangir Hospital to Pune Airport.

The cops created a green corridor and within seven minutes, the ambulance carrying the heart travelled the distance of nine kms. “We responded to the request from the hospital, as it was supposed to save a life,” said Sarang Awad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). He explained that before ambulance carrying the heart left Jehangir Hospital all the signals on the route to the airport were taken over by traffic personnel. They cleared all the junctions and traffic along the route was halted. The distance was covered by the ambulance in seven minutes thanks to officers attached to Koregaon Park and Yerawada Traffic Divisions, DCP Awad said.

The chartered aircraft carrying the heart reached Mumbai Airport by 3.30 pm. Officials said that the distance between Pune and Mumbai

Medical social worker Vrinda Pusarekar (left) and nephrologist at Jehangir Hospital Dr Shriniwas Ambike

was covered in 25 minutes by the aircraft. Traffic cops at Mumbai too had been alerted about the VIP package. The distance of 20 kms from airport to Fortis Hospital, Mulund was covered in 18 minutes by an ambulance travelling at a speed of 110-120 km per hour. The ambulance carrying the heart went via Santacruz-Chembur Link Road and then took the Eastern

Two successful transplants on patients in the past Dr Vijay Surase, a cardiologist attached to Jupiter Hospital in Thane has seen two successful transplants on his patients in the past. However, both the surgeries took place in other states. He recounts the first case of 63-yearold Malathi Marathe. “She was suffering from a condition called as Idiopathic Dilated Dr Vijay Surase Cardiomyopathy (DCM) with very low heart pumping (20-25 per cent). She was managed medically but remained in pain and agony.

She received a special pacemaker implant too to boost her heart pumping up. But her agony persisted,” said Dr Surase. With her situation far from better, Dr Surase advised her family to go for transplant. The family registered her with Apollo Hospital in Chennai. On October 19, 2011, she underwent a successful heart transplant. She received a heart from a 53-year-old woman who died in a road accident on October 19.

Another case of interstate cardiac transplant was also routed by Dr Surase. The patient was 40-year-old Suryakant Mehetre from Latur. His condition too was critical and only way out was a heart transplant. Dr Surase referred him to Fortis Hospital in Chennai.

The donor in this case was from Bengaluru. The heart transplant was done on the patient from Maharashtra, with a heart from Karnataka in a hospital in Tamil Nadu on September 3 2014.

Express Highway. To ensure that the parcel reached the hospital in good time, a team of eight senior inspectors and 150 constables manned the entire route. Vijay Dhatrak, an assistant commissioner with Mumbai police personally escorted the ambulance to avoid any delay.

Once at Fortis Hospital, a team of doctors led by Dr Anvay Mulay, a

cardiac surgeon, started the procedure.

Over the next four hours they were able to complete the surgery. At the time of going to press, doctors termed the surgery as ‘successful’. The recipient, whose identity has not been disclosed by the hospital, is a 22-yearold suffering from cardiomyopathy.

Doctors revealed that the patient was suffering from severe breathlessness and could not even stand on his own.

He was under treatment for over a year and the only way out for him was to receive a heart transplant.

Dr Mulay revealed that the 22-yearold was among four patients admitted at the hospital awaiting a heart. Of the four, one of them died couple of days ago. “This is the beginning of heart transplant programme in Mumbai and hopefully we will save many lives,” said Dr Mulay.

While the doctors at Fortis were busy transplanting the heart, at Jehangir in Pune, other organs from the 42-year-old donor were being

First transplant in the world The first ever heart transplant was done in Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa on December 3, 1967. The fifth and sixth transplants in the world were done in KEM Hospital, Mumbai in 1968. However, both the surgeries failed. Since then, there have been no attempts at heart transplants in Mumbai and Maharashtra. retrieved. One of the kidneys has been given to Poona Hospital, another has been allotted to KEM Hospital. The corneas have been given to HV Desai Eye Hospital.

Authorities at Jehangir Hospital refused to reveal the identity of the donor on the grounds that she wished to remain anonymous and had said

Heart recipient is a Bhaijaan fan

After four days of first ever heart transplant in Maharashtra carried out at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, doctors said that 22-year-old Anwar Khan was stable, out of sedation and ventilation, and recuperating at the time of going to the press on Friday. The graphic designer, who underwent the heart transplant on Monday, had been kept unconscious on sedatives. The Badlapur resident is a Salman Khan fan and a fitness freak, his family said.

Anwar’s father Zameel, 47, is a small-time scrap dealer in Badlapur, 60 kms from Mumbai. Anwar, a graphic designer by profession, has four siblings: three brothers and a sister.

Till about a year ago, everything was perfect in the Khan household. Anwar would spend hours working out in a gym and raving about Bhaijaan’s films. His family revealed that Anwar wouldn’t miss a single Salman release. He had also started working for a small graphic design firm in Goregaon, Mumbai.

About a year ago, during the Eid holidays, Anwar met with an accident and was taken for a checkup at a hospital in Badlapur. During the tests, the doctors there found a problem with the functioning of his heart and referred him to Fortis. At Fortis, doctors told the family that Anwar was suffering from Cardiomyopathy, a condition in which functioning of the heart substantially reduces.

(From left) Anwar’s brother Shohaib, father Zameel and mother Shaheeda

Initially, Anwar was given medication, to little effect, and his condition steadily deteriorated. About a month ago, he suffered a paralytic attack and had to be admitted to Fortis Hospital. This time, the doctors told the family that the only way out was a heart transplant, following which, he returned home with his family. “He was bedridden and could not even stand up because of his condition,” said Anwar’s father. However, his condition did not stop him from watching his favourite actor’s latest release – Bhajrangi Bhaijaan. “During Eid when Salman’s film released we had to somehow procure a copy of the film so that he could watch it at home. Anwar was insistent that he wanted to see the film,” said Zameel.

The family revealed that since they are not financially well off, they decided to admit their son to a public hospital for a heart transplant after registering with the Zonal Transplant

Coordination Centre (ZTCC), a body that coordinates organ donations and transplants.

However, doctors at Fortis told them not to worry about finances and that they would carry out the transplant as soon as a donor came forward.

With Anwar’s condition worsening by the day and no solution in sight, the family had almost given up hope. To make matters worse, on August 1, the 22-year-old suffered two strokes and had to be rushed to Fortis Hospital again. This time around, while he was undergoing treatment, doctors told the family about a heart available for transplant. “They told us that they will first carry out some tests to check if Anwar could receive the heart. They carried out the tests till Sunday (August 2) night and told us at midnight that he was a perfect match,” said Zameel. The family revealed that when they told Anwar about the development, he was excited and scared at the same time. “We did not tell my mother about the transplant as she would freak out. When the heart arrived from Pune on Monday, my father passed out for a bit out of anxiety,” said Shohaib, Anwar’s elder brother who is pursuing engineering.

Now that Anwar’s condition is said to be stable, the family has revealed the details of the procedure to his mother Shaheeda. “Till Sunday, I did not believe that such things were possible. I had only seen it in films. I only want

so while signing the organ donation forms.

The heart transplant on Monday is the first ever in Maharashtra. In the past, patients from Mumbai and neighbouring areas have undergone heart transplants but the surgeries have taken place in other states. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com

Anwar Khan

my son to recover soon,” she said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Maharashtra Health Minister Deepak Sawant visited Fortis Hospital to check on Anwar’s health. Dr Anvay Mulay, who led the team of doctors for heart transplant said that the 22-yearold was showing improvement. He had earlier explained that for a few days after the transplant, the patient is kept unconscious on sedatives to check if his body is coping with the new organ. Only after three to four days is the sedative dose reduced and the patient brought to normalcy. The hospital started reducing Anwar’s sedative dose from Thursday. Doctors at the hospital are confident that Anwar will make a complete recovery.

The Khans say that they have spent all their savings and even taken loans to fund Anwar’s treatment. “So far, we have spent over Rs 12 lakh on his treatment. We have taken loans and even sold some jewelry to pay his bills,” said Zameel.

Retd scientist saves lives after death

TGS News Network @TGSWeekly Four days after first ever heart transplant was successfully performed in Mumbai, the city was gearing up for yet another operation on Friday. After a 63-yearold retired BARC employee was declared brain dead on Thursday night 6, his family immediately agreed to donate all his organs. In less than 12 hours, the entire process was in place.

By Friday morning, Fortis Hospital in Mulund, where the transplant was to be performed, had received the heart.

This time too all the agencies, including Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre

(ZTCC), hospitals, Navi Mumbai police, among others, put their best foot forward. The heart travelled a distance of 19 km in under 14 minutes thanks to a green corridor created along the route.

The donor K Narayanan Kutty, a retired senior scientific officer at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, met with an accident on August 2. His family revealed that Kutty was walking at Maitri Park, Chembur, at around 11 am when he was hit by a speeding bike. He suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to Joy Hospital in the vicinity. However, with his condition deteriorating, Kutty’s family shifted him to MGM Hospital in Vashi, Navi

Mumbai the same day. Doctors at MGM performed craniotomy surgery on him, which however did not help much.

Doctors at MGM revealed that from the time he was brought there, Kutty was on life support and his condition kept deteriorating. On Thursday (August 6) night, doctors declared that Kutty was brain dead. When Kutty’s family was informed about his health, they did not take too long to decide on donating his organs. “The family has been extremely strong. They have been very supportive and cooperative in this entire process,” said Dr Kalyani Sen, medical superintendent at MGM Hospital.

Kutty’s only daughter, Indu, who works with Reliance as a human resources manager and her mother Sobhana, who also works at BARC, took the call to donate his organs after initial round of counselling. “My father had expressed his desire to donate his organs much earlier. I am sure he would be at peace now, considering he has saved so many lives. His death has not gone waste,” said Indu, with tears rolling down her eyes.

Immediately after the family gave consent for organ donation, the doctors decided that his heart, kidneys, liver and corneas would be retrieved. MGM Hospital authorities alerted the ZTCC, which in turn sent out a word about availability of organs. Fortis Hospital in Mulund had a 29-year-old heart patient

pics by prashant narvekar

About K Narayanan Kutty Born in June 1952, Kutty originally hails from Thrissur. He joined Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1972. He retired as senior scientific officer in 2012. His family said that even after his retirement he continued to be a faculty member and trained juniors. He is survived by wife Sobhana, daughter Indu and son-in-law Hardik Modi.

In a rare show of appreciation, the entire staff of MGM Hospital paid respects to 63-year-old retired BARC employee K Narayanan Kutty (left) who donated his organs, after his body was brought out from the main gate in a stretcher. Generally, hospitals take out bodies from back gate of hospital

in need of a transplant and responded.

Several tests were carried out to ensure that Kutty’s heart was compatible with the potential recipient admitted at Fortis.

“None of us slept through the night after it was decided that organs would be donated. Doctors, coordinator, cops, and several others stayed up to ensure that the entire process was smooth,” said Dr Sen. Traffic cops were alerted on Thursday night about the need for a green corridor to transport the heart to Fortis the next day. The cops were on road from 6.30 am on Friday anticipating the movement. They kept an entire lane along 19 km stretch from MGM

to Fortis vacant. At 10.26 am when an ambulance carrying Kutty’s heart left from MGM Hospital, cops ensured that it reached Fortis within 14 minutes. A heart once retrieved should be transplanted within four hours, as delay can render the organ useless.

While on one hand, doctors at Forts started the transplant on 29-yearold patient, at MGM doctors were busy retrieving Kutty’s other organs – kidneys, liver and corneas. One kidney was given to Fortis, another to Hinduja Hospital, liver to Global Hospital and corneas to Laxmi Eye Bank. They would all be transplanted.

Once all the formalities were

completed, Kutty’s body was handed over to his family. Unlike other corpses that are moved out from back door of hospitals, Kutty’s was taken out through the main door at MGM, with all the nurses, doctors and ward boys lining up on both sides to pay homage to the great man who saved multiple lives even after his death. “My brother was a great man. He was extremely committed to work and always believed in being a good human being. Our mother is 84 years old. She is not here but when I told her about his death and organ donation, she was struck by grief and happy at the same time,” said Kutty’s younger brother Murthy, who is based in Kerala.

Meanwhile, at the time of going to press, a team led by cardiac surgeon Dr Anvay Mulay had completed the surgery on the 29-year-old patient. According to the hospital, the transplant was successful. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

“We have been making all efforts to deal with the garbage problem. The notice is one such move. The action intends at creating awareness among housing societies, which are not disposing wet garbage at source. The ward offices have been asked to chalk a time table for action and implement it.”

— Suresh Jagtap, head, PMC solid waste management department

‘Curb investors with dubious credentials’ P14

Babus refuse to budge from official quarters Several cases of officers illegally occupying government quarters in Pune have come to light

RAHUL RAUT

RK Gaikwad Secretary (Retd), Minority Department, Mantralay Quarters: Gulmohor, A/12

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka In wake of the recent incident where IPS officer Ajay Kumar Jain was made to vacate his government quarters, several other cases of illegal encroachments on government accommodations have come to light.

Among them are one retired and five IAS/IPS officers transferred to another districts from Pune, who have been occupying residences in the Maval and Gulmohor government quarters in Camp and Queens Garden respectively, along with their families.

Staff at the Public Works Department of Pune division, which is the caretaker of government accommodation for Group IV and V level government officers (with grade pay of Rs 10,000 and more) told TGS that last month Jain was evicted from government accommodation, while RK Gaikwad, retired Secretary of the Minority Department of Mantralaya was also asked to vacate. In occuptaion of the house since 2006, Gaikwad has finally vacated the quarters.

“Despite being transferred to Nashik, the Commissioner of Women and Child Welfare BR Jadhav and his family have been occupying

VS Bardekar (Retd) Assistant Director, Social Forestry Quarters: Gulmohor C/33

The government residential society at Queens Garden in Pune; Officers who have been identified as illegally occupying official quarters even after their retirement/ transfer

bungalow number 18, near Queens Garden for one year. District Malaria Officer Dr Salil Patil has set a new record by occupying a 627 square feet flat in Queen’s Garden since 2009,” said SD Sonawane, Executive Engineer of PWD Pune division.

Others still occupying government accommodation are Superintendent of Police, CBI Dilip Bhujbal, Retired Deputy Director of Social Forestry VS Bardekar, Deputy Collector Dilip Jagdale and Police Inspector of Anti-Corruption Bureau SN Deshmukh.

Dr Salil Patil has set a new record by occupying a 627 sq ft flat since 2009

“Officers can stay for the first three months at a nominal rent, but from the fourth month the district administration charges Rs 35 per square feet per month as penal rent,” said Sonawane. The district administration recovered Rs 44 lakh from Jain as penal rent for staying illegally in a 1510 square feet flat in the plush Maval society. The officials are entitled to two extensions of three months each.

While these retired and transferred officials are not ready to vacate the places, 13 class one officials including two judges and an IPS officer have been on the waiting list for accommodation since 2013-14. “As soon as they vacate their places we will allot the accommodation to the officials on the waiting list,” said Sonawane. There are as many

City’s oldest cinema to reopen with a new name

PICS BY SHAILESH JOSHI

Kibes of Indore all set to reopen Prabhat Talkies as Kibe Laxmi Theatre

By Shailesh Joshi @TGSWeekly Pune’s iconic theatre Prabhat Talkies off Appa Balwant Chowk that entertained Puneites for 80 years before closing down in 2014 will reopen soon as Kibe Laxmi Theatre.

CURTAIN DOWN In December last year, the theatre was shut down owing to a dispute between the owners of the premises and the tenants. Eventually the tenants had to hand over possession to the original owners in January this year. Thus, came to an end 65-year agreement between the Kibe family, who own the theatre, and Prabhat Talkies director Vivek Damle. After the last show in December 2014, there were rumours that the heritage building would be razed. However, barely eight months later, the theatre is all set to reopen.

Ajay Kumar Jain DIG Quarters: Maval, A/3

FIRST STAGE The theatre was built in 1934 after the residence of the royal family of Sardar Ramchandra Mukundrao Kibe from Indore was gutted in a fire in 1926. The place housed Marathi daily Dnyanprakash.

Kibe built the theatre in his mother’s memory, naming it Kibe Laxmi Theatre.

After the famous Prabhat Film Company moved to Pune from Kolhapur, legendary film-maker V Shantaram and Fattelal left the company, and management of Prabhat Talkies changed hands.

Mumbai-based distributor Baburao Pai and Damle families looked after the day-to-day running of the theatre, which initially screened English films. Owners of Prabhat Film Company and its distributors, Famous Pictures of Mumbai, then changed the name to Prabhat Talkies from Kibe Laxmi Theatre.

The theatre has hosted iconic stage actor Bal Gandharv and had MG Rangnekar’s musical Mulvadhi performed by late Jyostna Bhole in the

Renovation work at the theatre is complete and only requisite permissions area awaited; (Inset) Theatre manager Bhalchandra Patil

lead. It started screening Marathi films exclusively after 1997. Blockbuster Maherachi Saadi ran for 128 weeks at the theatre that saw RSS chief Rajjubhayya attending the screening of a film on Veer Savarkar. The ceremony for the foundation of Jansangh in Pune was held at Prabhat Talkies.

Separate cry rooms made of glass, where women shushed their crying children, were the talk of the town during the earlier days. Love Me Tonight was the first film screened on September 21, 1934 followed by Amrutmanthan on October 17, 1934. Over 40 Marathi films and 11 Hindi films celebrated silver jubilee at Prabhat Talkies. The theatre’s last show was Love Factor in 2014.

Many actors, directors and producers used to consider the theatre ‘lucky’ with the common belief that a movie that releases at Prabhat will do very well.

SHOW MUST GO ON With around 50 per cent of Marathi movies taking place in Pune and some patrons even missing movies if they were not screened at Prabhat, the theatre’s followers hoped for it to once again find its glory.

By the end of August, Prabhat Theatre will reopen as Kibe Laxmi Theatre with renovated interiors. The facelift includes new sound system, big screen, new fans, comfortable foam-filled seats, fresh paint job, water purifiers, renovated toilets, fire extinguishers and spruced up ticket counter. Bhalchandra Patil, the theatre’s manager said, “We will decide the ticket rates once licence is obtained.

The inauguration is likely to be held in the fourth week of August.” tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

as 81 government quarters in Pune city.

Tug of war between PWD and Collector The judicial powers to send notices and eventually to seize government accommodation lie with the Resident District Collector (RDC). According to PWD sources, no action has been taken against the illegal encroachment on government accommodation since the last few years. The PWD can send a proposal for taking action but the actual power lies with the RDC. RDC Suresh Jadhav meanwhile said that he has not received any proposal from the PWD. “Action will be taken only when PWD sends me the list of officials occupying government accommodations illegally.” priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

Dilip Bhujbal Superintendent of Police Quarters: Maval, B/13 Deelip Jagdale Deputy Collector

Quarters: G-8, 18, Queens Garden

Dr Salil Patil District Malaria Officer Quarters: E-78, 17, Queens Garden BR Jadhav Commissioner, Women and Child Welfare Quarters: Bungalow no. 18, Part 3, Main Bungalow SN Deshmukh Police Inspector, Anti-Corruption Bureau Quarters: A/9, Queens Garden

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

“The corporation has to respect the SC order and remove debris from the river bank. Recently, civic organisations and activists met to discuss the matter and we have requested the PMC to take action immediately.”

— Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, Activist

City gets a ‘melting pot’ for minds

Patent bid foiled for ayurvedic mix

P10

Vet claiming allowance meant for human doctors

P12

Mere Rs 70K a year for de-addiction drives State de-addiction drive hampered by measly allotment of finances

Activists have filed complaints against PCMC vet for drawing Rs 13,419 NPA every month since 2003

BY RAJIL MENON @RajilMenon Dr Satish Gore of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), is the only veterinarian in Maharashtra, who draws a Non Practicing Allowance (NPA), amounting to Rs 13,419 besides his salary. The veterinarian has been claiming the NPA since 2003, which only doctors treating human beings are entitled to, vide a Government Circular of August 7, 2012.

This came to light when activist Sharath Shetty stumbled upon information in an RTI reply, and asked for details. He found that veterinarian Gore was indeed getting NPA since 2003 or earlier. He wrote to the commissioner about the NPA received by the veterinary doctor.

“The Government Resolution nowhere states that the NPA is for veterinary doctors and how is it that the accounts department never noticed this? Even if the accounts department missed it, how did it

Dr Satish Gore at his office in PCMC

get missed in the audit? When was the last government audit of the PCMC conducted?” said Shetty.

Meanwhile, Dr Gore said, “I joined the PCMC as a sanitary chief. I have worked as a medical officer, and now I am a veterinarian.

I have followed medical rules and medical circulars. Since 2003 I have considered myself a paramedic. I applied for and have

been receiving NPA from my parent department. If my request for NPA was wrong, the accounts department would not have approved it in the first place.”

“Dr Satish Gore draws his own payment and is his own signing authority for both his department and himself. No other paramedics like lab technicians or nurses get NPA. Then how can

a veterinarian doctor get NPA by claiming he is a paramedic?” asked Dr Anil Roy, the PCMC medical officer health (MoH).

Vishwas Patil, a class I livestock development officer of the state government, said, “I am surprised that a veterinarian is getting NPA. We have been fighting for NPA for veterinary doctors. Secretary Mahesh Pathak told us that we won’t get it. When we told him that doctors who treat human beings are claiming NPA, he said that they were planning to stop that.”

PCMC Commissioner Rajeev Jadhav told The Golden Sparrow, “The veterinarian has been claiming an NPA. He must have been guided by the erstwhile commissioner. The doctor is not at fault because the accounts department must have verified the facts. I have not looked into the Government Resolution and will have to go through it to confirm.” rajil.menon@goldensparrow.com

1,800 missing kids reunited

State police’s Operation Muskan succeeds in reuniting missing children with their parents

The police personnel along with the happy parents reunited with their missing children

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke Operation Muskan, a state police initiative, has succeeded in reuniting 1,800 missing children with their parents. A month long operation was conducted by the Maharashtra Police, in line with the orders from the Supreme Court (SC). Orphan

street children, those taking shelter on railway platforms, and housed in observation homes were questioned about their origins, and accordingly sent back to their parents.

The Pune city police have returned 20 children to their parents. Nine children from Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi were also sent back to their homes. The State

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was the nodal and monitoring authority for the state.

Special Inspector General of Police, CID, Anant Shinde told this newspaper that after tabulating statistics from all the police units in the state, it was found that 1800 children had been reunited with their parents.

Shinde said that CID officers

spotted

are still tabulating the number of children from other states found in Maharashtra, as well as the children from Maharashtra found in other states. “Units of Navi Mumbai, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur police have reunited children from other states with their parents,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) P R Patil and Police Inspector Rajkumar Wakchavare of social security cell (SSC) reunited 20 children with their parents in the city. “We have reunited nine children from, Jharkhand, Delhi, Bengaluru, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh with their parents,” Patil said. Missing children from Yavatmal, Karmala, Daund, Parbhani and neighbouring districts were also reunited.

Since 2010, the city police have registered 1079 missing persons complaints (457 boys and 622 girls), where children below 16 years of age have been reported missing. The police have reunited 200 children with their parents in the last five years. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka

Budget for de-addiction programme

The state government has been allotting a measly Rs 20-30 lakh annually for the de-addiction campaign covering the entire state, over the past five years. This amount is distributed among 36 districts, whereby they can fund three events in a year, which are restricted to rallies and lectures.

Hampered by such financial constraints, the district administration is unable to spread awareness of the hazards of addiction among the masses effectively or innovatively. “Of the annual funds earmarked for the campaign, we often receive even less money than what is actually due,” said Sanjay Kadam, the District Social Welfare officer. The Pune district gets Rs 70,000 per year for its de-addiction programme.

“Addiction assumes a much larger connotation than just liquor and tobacco use in Pune district. Technology would enable us to reach out to a broader cross-section of youngsters and wean them away from substance abuse, but this would entail a much bigger allotment of money. Our programme are too limited in scope and it becomes an exercise in futility owing to the lack of resources,” said Kadam. “The scope and ambit of the de-addiction programme has not changed in the last 20 years,” he said.

Kadam had recently suggested a diversion of funds from excise duty revenue towards the deaddiction programme. “Three events in a year

Year

Amount

2011-12

Rs 30 lakh

2012-13

Rs 19.60 lakh

2013-14

Rs 30 lakh

2014-15

Rs 21 lakh

2015-16

Rs 21 lakh

are just not enough. A follow-up is crucial for each event. I urged the state exercise department officials to divert one per cent of their excise duty revenue to us to bolster our programme effectively,” he said.

World No Tobacco Day on May 31 and International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26 are occasions when the administration receives funds from the state government. An awareness programme is also in the first week of October to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

“The programme generally involves students rallies, lectures about de-addiction in schools and colleges, and signboards with deaddiction messages,” said MM Attram, the Additional Commissioner of the state Social welfare Department. He admitted that the state government budget for the de-addiction programme was far from adequate. priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

Officials involved with de-addiction drives across the district operate out of this tiny office

Engineering students suffer as varsity site develops technical glitch Many had to visit Savitribai Phule Pune University to fill application forms for winter exam

BY PRIYANKKA DESHPANDE @journopriyankka

Dressed in a crisp white chudidar kurta, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader, Raj Thackeray was in the city last Thursday. He was seen enjoying a hot and steamy lunch at the famous seafood and coastal cuisine restaurant Fish Curry Rice on Law College Road. Post that, he immediately headed to his house which is just a few minutes away from the restaurant. He was ushered out of the restaurant by his guards to his car parked across the street. The traffic at that junction reached at a halt with everyone hoping to get a picture and catch a glimpse of him. Thackeray was also seen earlier that day outside the Nike showroom on J.M. Road.

A technical glitch while filling online application forms for winter examination on Savitribai Phule Pune University’s (SPPU) website left many engineering students a worried lot. Students of all branches of engineering would be appearing for the winter exam conducted by the university in October.

Even as the form-filling process was started last week, many students were unable to duly complete all details till August 6, the last day of registration.

“I just managed to submit the form on August 6 as after this deadline the varsity will only accept forms with late fee. Whenever I logged on the university’s website and entered my user ID, it did not show a backlog in one subject for which I will be appearing for the exam in October,” said Pranali Deole, a final year computer engineering student from Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering, adding that she was trying to fill the online details for four days. “Finally, I had to approach the college authority to get my form accepted,” she said.

MIT College of Engineering third year electronics and telecommunication student Ajit

Waghole said that he had to make four futile attempts before he could fill the online form well. “I generally complete these academic procedures well in advance as last-minute rush sometimes could crash the website. Still I could fill the details only

after four attempts. First time when I logged in, the fee column was blank in the form. I had to create user ID three times,” he said.

Final year information technology student of Genba Sopanrao Moze College of Engineering Amey Deshpande had to make frequent rounds to University to get his form filled before the last date of submission. “The site always showed error when I was filling up the form. Even the varsity examination centre officials were helpless and told me to keep trying the entire day,” said Amey.

Amey had to go to the university for three consecutive days. “The examination centre staff was able to update my data only on the fourth day and I managed to submit my form just a day before the last date of submitting form without paying late fee,” he said.

SPPU Vice-Chancellor WN Gade said that any technical glitch in the varsity’s website would be fixed immediately.

“As per my knowledge, the website is running smoothly. If students are facing problems in filling the online forms, I would alert officials to get the website glitch fixed,” Gade said. priyankka.deshpande@goldensparrow.com

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

“Currently , the BRT tickets will be available only in the bus but there are plans to make them available off board too.The tickets will be computerised and the aim is to make the system user-friendly and tamper-proof.”

— Kunal Kumar, PMC Commissioner

Varsity to get eco-park Savitribai Phule Pune University to build eco-science park on campus

BY GITESH SHELKE @gitesh_shelke An eco-science park is coming up near the lake on the campus of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU). The brainchild of Vice Chancellor WN Gade, a life-sized model of giraffe has already been installed in the thick woods near the water body. Speaking to TGS, Gade said that the area surrounding the lake, a water quarry, is ideal for making the garden. “It will have a track circumambulating the upper brim of the lake passing through the woods and a short track near the quarry,” he said.

Natural aquatic plants will be grown in the lake and local trees will be planted in the surroundings, besides putting up life-size models of animals to give the surroundings a jungle feel.

The quarry was dug during the British Raj to facilitate construction of the varsity’s main building.

Stones from the quarry were used for construction and water collected in the lake was used for gardens.The varsity plans to restore the water pump that was set up near the late in the 1890s. “We are looking for spares. If we are unable to repair the pump, we will properly showcase it,” Gade said, adding that he saw a similar water pump in working condition during a recent visit to Canada.

Efforts will be made to restore the old tea house located at the centre of the lake. “As it is a heritage structure, restoration work will be carried out with the permission of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI),” he said. The

ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

PUNE

GST finds majority support in RS Select panel

Climate: No ‘Plan B’ for oceans, states study

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Aundh civic hospital docs can’t handle ‘high-risk’ cases A pregnant patient was made to wait for hours only to be referred to Sassoon Hospital even after filling consent form

BY RAJIL MENON @RajilMenon

Site for the eco-science park (above), and a water pump, a relic from the British era

university authorities have decided to builda boat from waste collected from the lakeside. Waste like plastic bottles, cardboard or papers will be used to make the boat,” he said.

“The park will not only educate students on environment conservation but also add to the beauty of campus,” Gade said. gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

The doctors at Aundh General Hospital run by Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) prefer to ‘shrug off ’ complicated cases.

A recent incident has just added weight to the unfortunate reality. A pregnant woman and her family had to haggle with the staff at the municipal hospital for over five hours on Thursday before she was admitted. But very soon the doctors asked her to get admitted at the Pune’s Sassoon hospital.

After a daylong gruelling ordeal, nine-month pregnant Sonali B Bhillare (25) delivered a baby boy via caesarean at Sassoon General Hospital on Friday (August 7) morning. The patient’s family had a tough time getting the medical history updated at the Pune hospital as Sonali was a patient of Aundh hospital.

Sonali of Survey 12, Spicer, Sangli Road, was seeking medical attention at Aundh General Hospital for over a month. Along with her 21-year-old brother Tushar Kabare, XI standard commerce student of Shivaji Vidya Mandir College (Aundh) and their old mother, Sonali visited the municipal hospital on Thursday morning as she was getting birth pangs. After waiting

till 1 pm, the doctors admitted the pregnant woman. But Sonali’s joy was short-lived as doctors after examination tried to ‘persuade’ her family members to shift the patient to Sassoon General Hospital in Pune. Despite getting a handwritten consent form signed by the patient’s family, Sonali was left with no alternative but to leave for Sassoon hospital around 2.30 pm.

“Our 280-bed hospital is a small medical centre. We have 1-2 consultants for each department and conduct around 125-150 deliveries, including 40-50 caesarean section, in a month. Even though we try to take as many cases as possible, patients under high-risk category are referred to higher medical centres like Sassoon Hospital. As Sonali had a history of two caesarean deliveries, doctors asked the

Posters still dot city skyline

patient’s family to sign a consent paper,” said civil surgeon SA Deshmukh who heads Aundh General Hospital.

When confronted with the fact that doctor make the patient’s family to sign the consent form, Dr Deshmukh that Sonali was shifted to the Pune hospital as her family members refused to sign the form. “The doctors told me that Sonali’s family refused to sign the form,” he said.

Dr Deshmukh’s claims fall flat when TGS found doctors at Aundh General Hospital ‘referring’ many patients that require round-the-clock medical attention to Sassoon General Hospital. The medical authorities even ‘scare’ the patients’ family that the latter is solely responsible for any unfortunate eventuality. rajil.menon@goldensparrow.com

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Pune Mayor’s order banning illegal posters and advertisements in public places yet to take effect RAHUL RAUT

Dattatray Dhankawade

No action has been instituted against those who have put up such posters

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When beauties take on the stage

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Mayor Dattatray Dhankawade recently ordered zonal ward officers to impose a blanket ban on posters/ advertisements put up in the city and take strict action against offenders, with immediate effect. But despite this order no action has been taken against the posters that are seen in on every street all around the city.

No action has been instituted against those who have put up such posters nor against those taken down by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officers. So has the Mayor’s order fallen on deaf ears? Ironically, even posters are in the Mayor’s own ward have not been removed, which how much importance the PMC is giving to the ban.

Dhankawade had called a meeting of zonal officers, ward officers at the PMC last Saturday regarding the posters issue. He ordered the removal of all advertisement posters at public places in the city. Those who put up posters in public places, government offices, bus stops, on buses, public

toilet walls, trees, DP boxes should be punished, he said. Businessmen who disfigure the city environs by putting up posters at public places should be penalised, he said. He instructed the PMC staff to call the phone numbers listed on posters before removing

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AJAY RUPANAVAR @TGSWeekly

With this issue

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8, 2015 AUGUST PUNE,

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Bus stops across the city have been defaced by ugly posters

them, and make the guilty parties pay the cost for cleaning the area.

“Over the years, the number of advertisement posters in public places, at PMPML bus stops, government offices has increased greatly, disfiguring the city. We are taking preventive action according to an action plan,” Dhankavade told reporters.

He said that the phone numbers on the posters will be used to locate the advertisers and if necessary, criminal action would be taken against them.

The Golden Sparrow team found that not a single poster had been removed by PMC officers, not even in the wards where the PMC top brass live, nor in Dhankawade’s ward number 73, Deputy Mayor Aba Bagul’s ward number 67, nor standing committee chairman Ashwini Kadam’s ward. In fact, in the Mayor’s own ward there is his own poster about the inauguration of Shri Shankar Maharaj flyover near the K K vehicle stop. The poster has pictures of the Mayor, former deputy minister Ajit Pawar and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. Th is poster is barely 200 metres from the Mayor’s public relations office. Another poster on Daulat Nagar bus stop in ward number 74 features corporator Vishal Tambe and Mohini Devkar, claiming credit for the new bus stop.

The poster on a bus stop in ward 67 is regarding Deputy Mayor Aba Bagul and standing committee chairman Ashivani Kadam’s birthday wishes for a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA).

Even more posters are put up on the public toilet wall at Navi Peth in ward number 51. The corporators of the area are Dhananjay Jadhav and Manisha Ghate. Many classes are in this area and they all put up advertisements in public places.

Dhankawade told The Golden Sparrow that, “We will mainly take action against small ads or posters for the next eight days. I have no information about how many we have taken action against but I will give you the information when I receive it. We will also take action on printing flex according to the Supreme Court order.” tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

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Depression a major issue: Deepika

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

A perfect blend

“They (Congress) have been talking about the murder of democracy. Murder of democracy happened when innocent people were massacred in 1984 in Delhi.”

— Prem Singh Chandumajra, Leader, Akali Dal

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Gujarathi, Datar walk the honour lane

BY Ekta Katti @EktaaK The illustrious and inspiring lives of two distinguished Punekars and their work for society were recognised and appreciated.

Veteran Olympian Suresh Gujarathi and littérateur Dr Aarti Datar were bestowed with Krida Maharshi Haribhau Sane Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar for their valuable contribution in the fields of sports and arts, at the SM Hall in Pune on Monday, August 4.

The Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar ((Lifetime Achievement Award) was constituted in the memory of Pune’s Haribhau Sane, who passed away at the age of 99 in 2006.

Sane had a lifelong connection with arts and sports, and the award is conferred on those who have distinguished themselves in these fields.

Aba Mahajan was conferred the first Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar for sports, in 2011. Mahajan had accomplished the feat of paragliding at Sinhagad Fort at the age 93. Gujarathi, 85, had represented India at the Asian and Olympic Games.

Dr Datar, the first person to get the Puraskar in the arts field, for her contribution to Marathi literature.

Standing tall

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ven at the age 85, his legs bear him with strength and confidence as showed us his javelin. Pune’s Suresh Gujarathi showed us his medals and accolades, before heading to the gymnasium, where he is coaching a nine-year-old tennis player.

A proud recipient of the Krida Maharshi Haribhau Sane Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar for his work in the world of sports, Suresh says, “Sports is my first love. It is my passion. This is what keeps me going even at this age.”

“I am just 85 years old young,” he laughs.

family business. Gujarathi refused pointblank, as he wanted to pursue a career in sports. “It was my passion. I was given an option; either take care of the business or leave home. I chose the latter,” he reminisces.

Behind the successful man there is a woman. And this adage is very dear to Suresh. “To walk over a pile of money in those days wasn’t easy. I did not take a single penny from my father while leaving the house. It was my wife who supported me through my thick and thin,” quips Gujarathi, who set a university record in javelin throw.

My way or the highway Born into a wealthy Gujarati family, he had all the luxuries while he explored the world of sports in his college days.

After getting married in 1954, he was handed the reins of the

Games that mattered Bagging five out of the 12 medals which were won by the Indians at the Tehran Asian Games in 1974, Suresh’s students had indeed made him proud. “I had tears in my eyes. It was a moment of pride to see our flag

fly so high in Tehran. I was proud of my students as half of the medals were won by us,” says Suresh, dwelling on his proudest moment.

Some events leave their mark on our lives forever. One such event which left Suresh, who was heading the Indian Athletics contingent,

The Jill of all trades

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er living room is filled with medals and accolades, which truly define the way she has lived her life. Pune’s Dr Aarti Datar was honoured with the Krida Maharshi Haribhau Sane Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar for her invaluable contribution in the arts field.

“This is not just any award. Getting an award in the name of Saneji means the world to me,” says Aarti. Smiling from ear to ear, she adds, “Having grown up under the guidance of Saneji, I feel privileged to have known him. He has played a pivotal role in shaping my life.”

Against the odds Dr Datar found true love in her friend Dr

Arun Datar, and they took the vows of ‘until death do them apart’ in 1970. However, things took an unexpected tragic turn when Arun meet with an accident in 1972, that left him completely paralysed.

“He was bedridden for more than two years.

However, his indomitable will power got him back on his feet. This incident strengthened our bond,” says Dr Datar, who proudly says that her husband is her biggest inspiration.

In 1975 Arun started his own gymnasium.

Invigorated by Arun’s miraculous recovery, Dr Datar decided to follow in his footsteps and fill the world with positivity.

Dr Datar published her book ‘Shunyatun

gripped with fear was the Munch Olympic Games, 1972. “Fortunately, by the time we woke up, the massacre was over. It was a terrifying moment.

The roads were empty and we heaved a sigh of relief as we were returning home safely,” informs Suresh. The massacre which was an attack on the

motivated by this story to live a better life,” she says. The book brought along several awards for Dr Datar, even as it sold over 6000 copies, and was translated into English. Since then, Dr Datar has published a number of her books.

Surya’ in 2012, which tells the story of man who survives a fatal accident.

“I did not want sympathy by talking about his accident. I wanted the world to be

Multi-faceted Aaarti, who has constantly kept educating herself, earned her PhD from Pune University in 1973. “I was always inclined towards spirituality. Hence I did my doctorate in Science and Saints,” Dr Datar said.

Growing up in a wada, Aarti has always excelled in studies and extra-curricular activities. “Sports is a field very dear to me.

I represented my college in all sports,” says Aarti, who is a retired lecturer.

The multi-faceted Dr Datar was also drawn to the stage and won the best actor

What lies within… the world of tattoos

By Sudheer Gaikwad

With a tattoo studio popping up every now and then in the city, we take a tour and meet some of the popular tattoo artists to hear about their journey. And although every studio would vouch for adhering to safety measures, it’s essential that you run a background check on the artist/studio before getting inked

Inkalab Tattoo Studio

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e use natural colours. These are extracted from plants and do not contain any harmful chemicals,” said Sumit Khatri, Manager of Inkalab Tattoo Studio on North Main Road, Koregaon Park.

These premium inks are available in a wide and complete spectrum of colours and shades.

“We order from the US but we also have local Indian suppliers who cover the A to Z of our requirements,” Sumit said.

Emphasising the safety aspect, Sumit elaborated on how all their tattoo kits and

colours are stored hygienically, that needles are opened in front of the client and disposed of after a single use. “Our apprentices are trained in keeping the studio scrupulously clean first, and it’s only after a year or so that they get to work on tattoos themselves,” he added.

Sumit has handled the business affairs of the studio for seven years or so, leaving his partner Anand ‘Andy’ Haqq to concentrate totally on the art. “Tattoos have always been trendy and they still are. But if they were a fashion statement earlier, today a tattoo is just art,” said Sumit. Tattoos today are more personal and the profile of the customers has changed radically. “We have people in their 60s coming in, who are not averse to coping with the patience and pain associated with getting inked,” said Sumit. He asserted though that the high-cost machines they use reduce pain by a large extent. “Andy has soft hands,” Sumit said, as Andy works on a chest tattoo for a young man named Inderjit.

In a little while, Andy takes a break from tattooing to chat with us. “A childhood friend introduced me to the world of tattoos,” said Andy, who has inherited a love for art from his mother. “Tattoo artists are like doctors. When you feel comfortable with someone, you will always go back to him,” he said. Nine years after moving to Pune from Mumbai, he feels that things are getting better. Andy is also an accomplished scratch artist, if the portrait of Osho on the studio wall is anything to go by.

“I’m still learning,” Andy says, and that he is an admirer of Anil Gupta of New York.

They even have tattoo conventions in India, which started five years ago in Kolkata.

Where: North Main Road, Koregaon Park, opposite Lane 6 Cost: Starting from Rs 2,000, the cost can go up to a lakh of rupees for extensive tattoos.

Sabby’s Studio

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une-born Saurabh Pardeshi aka Sabby, who studied at Modern High School and Fergusson College, was always drawn to drawing and painting and did well in the school elementary/intermediate drawing exams. He was introduced to tattooing purely by chance, by an artist who he met in London. Sabby gave up his regular job when he realised that a weekend of tattooing was fetching him more money than his salary. “It’s a hobby that has turned into a profession,” he says.

Way back in 1998, though, tattoo art in Pune was in a very nascent stage and has evolved greatly since then.

Body art being extremely personal, Sabby and his team devote unwavering attention to individual preferences, as well as to the immaculate execution of the tattooing process, to ensure that the wearer of the tattoo takes pride in it.

They cater to all kinds of clients, those who know exactly what they want, and others who have no concept in their minds.

“We use the approved equipment and colours that are used by tattoo artists in the US. We have distributors affiliated to world renowned brands,” said Sabby, asserting and vouching for the safety standards they adhere to. His assistants Vrishali and Evan are trained to maintain impeccable sanitation and hygiene in the studio.

Underlining the value of experience, he says that tattooing is an involving and complex art. “One cannot just follow methods in the west. Knowing what colours to use and what will stand out and look good on Indians’ brown-pigmented skin comes through experience,” he said. They have to constantly keep ourselves updated on innovations and styles. “A good tattoo artist is like an experienced doctor who is able to give a painless injection,” Sabby says about the pain factor. “It’s the skill

Israeli Olympic squad, left 17 dead.

Moving around Gujarathi was placed in Tata Company, Jamshedpur as a Sports Officer in 1958. While working in Tata, he was sent to the United Kingdom, to attend a course in Sports Administration.

“It was a great learning experience,” says Gujarathi, who was chosen as the best student during the course.

After his stint at the Tata Company, he joined Telco in 1960 as Sports Officer and Coach till 1986.

Having worked with Larsen and Toubro for two years, Suresh decided to move to Pune in 1988.

“His love for sports is immense.

I am his second love, of course, the first being sports,” smiles Kamal Gujarathi. “In this house, you wouldn’t find our marriage album. All you can see are my husband’s pictures related to sports,” she proudly says, pointing to a picture in which Suresh was felicitated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

award for her role in the play, 30 Minutes, at Purushottam Karandak in 1967.

Learning has no age limit, Dr Datar believes. In 2005, she completed her second doctorate in Complementary Medicine from Sri Lanka Open International University.

Serving society Dr Datar and her husband have had their share of problems and hurdles, but these have only made her stronger and more positive.

“There is a lot of negativity amongst people these days. Blame it on the style of living or their upbringing,” Dr Datar says.

To change this thinking and to make the society a better place to live in, Dr Datarconducts spiritual classes which emphasise self-belief and channelising energy in positive directions

Guns Artwork tattoos

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itesh Lalwani set up Guns Artwork in 2008. They stick to an elaborate ultrasonic and autoclave steam sterilisation process at Guns, just like in hospitals. “We source our colours from the US and needles from Germany. A basic knowledge of pathology is essential for a good tattoo artist. He/she will also follow sterilisation scrupulously,” Hitesh said.

Hitesh was initiated into tattoo art by Andy Smith, who has been practicing his craft in Anjuna beach, Goa since the late 90s. The tattoos on his arms and body were done by his ‘guru’ Andy, whose apprentice Hitesh was for two years.

“People should take tattoos seriously. That is why the tattoo world can be divided into people who know and those who just want to make easy money,” Hitesh said. It takes hard work, he says. ‘No respect, no tattoo’, is a sign stuck on the Guns studio wall. It highlights the intensely personal process and interaction between a tattoo artist and his/her client, he feels.

“Hygiene is so important,

as is the sterilisation and cleanliness. A good tattoo artist must be completely familiar with the tattoo kit,” Hirtesh’s protege Vikram says.

“A tattoo is permanent and a tattoo artist must have the vision and experience before transferring a computer image on to a person’s skin,” he says.

Guns Artwork also supply tattoo machines, inks and accessories which are from premium brands like Micky Sharpz of the US/UK. The company website states, “Sharpz Platinum Range inks conform to all current legislation regarding tattoo inks.”

Where: German Bakery Lane, Koregaon Park Cost: Rs 750 per inch, but costs vary according to complexity and size of the design.

Dos & Don’ts that matters,” he says. It is a very vast industry today and it is still growing.

People are getting smarter and more creative in accessorising the body, he feels. “Now everybody wants to get a tattoo,” he says about the changing times. “It is very happening to have a tattoo,” he says, adding that tattoo artists like him are helping the younger generation to discover their own style.

Where: North Main Road, Koregaon Park, opposite Lane 3, FC Road & MG Road Cost: Rs 1,500 onwards

• Make sure the tattoo artist is certified, licensed, maintains the highest standards of safety and hygiene and has autoclave and ultrasound cleaners • Ensure that the colours are approved and devoid of chemicals or hazardous metals etc

Ambiguous Indian tattoo scene There is an absence of governmental guidelines or regulations regarding tattoo studios in India. It is, therefore, easy for anybody to open a tattoo studio and register it as a business.

Countries like UK and US follow stringent rules to ensure safety in the tattoo trade and it is illegal to conduct the tattoo business without formal approval and procurement of health permits. In the US, there are inspections every four months and results have to be mandatorily displayed at studios, failing to do which could cost studio owners their businesses

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

“Suzuki sales continue to show double digit growth despite a slight downturn in the automobile market. Access and Swish scooters continue to remain very popular choices in a segment which is seeing good growth.”

— Atul Gupta, Executive Vice President, Suzuki Motor Corporation

Coding for a social cause Anita Borg Institute hosts an all-woman hackathon today in Pune to help the needy

BY SALONEE MISTRY @Sal0412 The unbalanced ratio of men to women in technology sector poses challenges that the latter faces each day in the workforce. There are a few female employees vying for respect and position in a company full of men. In India, cultural conventions make it hard for women to break into what have traditionally been male-dominated fields.

Anita Borg Institute’s (ABI) all-woman hackathon is an effort to break any stereotypical qualms the society might have about the kind of work women should be involved in.

The Bengaluru-headquartered NGO that works in the field of advancement of women in computer science and engineering will hold its second consecutive event in Pune on August 8. In the event titled ‘Tech for Good 2015’, the NGO has kept the contest open for professional and student women techies.

UNITING FORCE As the event encourages women of all ages and skills in technology fields to come together and participate, the Pune event attracted 100 registrations in no time. Divided into two rounds, the contest shall be held in five cities —Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Madurai and New Delhi. Post-registration, five random teams shall be formed from participants by ballot system. The selected groups will work to create solutions to the issue given by the NGO that can help the less-advantaged overcome common issues, such as the lack of financial literacy, and do social good.

The women will concentrate on using their skills to help empower the needy through technology. The teams will be given around three months to present their solution to a jury in November. One team from each city will qualify for the finals to be held during the ‘The Grace Hopper Celebration India’ (GHCI) in

Bengaluru. GHCI is the largest gathering of women techies in India.

LEARNING AND GROWING While the event is technically a competition, there really are no losers. Participating in the hackathon is a way for women in technology to feel they are creating change and performing social good in the area. It can also help them make connections with women in similar fields and learn new skills. “ABI is pleased to have create a platform for women technologists to come together and code. With the country focussing on developing technology solutions, we hope women get their deserving share,” said Geetha Kannan, Managing Director of Anita Borg Institute India. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

WOMAN POWER ABI is a non-profit organisation started by computer scientist Anita Borg 21 years ago. Focusing on the development of women technologists from over 50 countries, ABI believes that women are in fact a crucial part of any technological development and must be included in the process right from the grassroots level. ABI has been hosting all-woman hackathon in different cities across the country for the past four years. A hackathon is an event where developers, designers and entrepreneurs work together to develop new ideas centered around a theme or product.

Glorious past, present perfect CoEP’s main building completes 150 years of igniting minds

PICS BY ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Students put up elaborate collage and charts to celebrate the sesquicentennial of CoEP’s main building

TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly The main building of College of Engineering Pune (CoEP), one of the pillars that gave Pune its sobriquet ‘Oxford of East’, completed 150 years on August 5. Only a few turned up to attend the programme organised to celebrate the historic moment. College authorities said that Acting Director BB Ahuja could not attend the programme as he was holding an emergency meeting.

The Victorian-Gothic structure, designed by WS Howard and foundation stone laid by the then governor Sir Bartle Frere on August 5, 1865, was decorated with flowers and lights on Wednesday. A huge collage canvas prepared by students depicting the various facets of college was put up at the Central Hall besides charts displaying the history of the structure.

THE PAST Started as a training school ‘Poona Engineering Class and Mechanical School’ for officers involved in public works such as buildings, dams, canals, railways and bridges, the institute’s popularity as a centre of knowledge over the years transformed it into an autonomous institute. The main building with its sixty-foot tower and designed garden is the centrepiece of the campus and one of the architectural

We have a targeted to have 40,000 wi-fi hotspots in course of next three years. We will be investing Rs.6,000 crore for that.

— Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman, BSNL

Getting fit in a fun way

First fitness social of Danzo-Fit hip-hops to give a healthy bod in eight Sunday sessions TGS NEWS SERVICE @TGSWeekly When was the last time you danced with your family? When was the last time you danced to become fit?

With the first session on Friendship Day (August 2), city-based dance fitness brand Danzo-Fit launched its fitness social. Two hours of crazy dancing on Bollywood numbers saw a large number shaking a leg with friends, family and fellow Punekars on the Sunday morning.

Trampolines for children and a health brunch at the end of the twohour workout just added spice is the Sunday madness. Classic Rock Coffee in Kalyani Nagar will be reverberating with healthy music for the next seven Sundays.

Anita Borg Institute’s all-woman hackathon is an effort to break any stereotypical qualms the society might have about the kind of work women should be involved in

landmarks of the city. The institute’s illustrious alumni include Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvarayya, Padma Bhushan Professor Thomas Kailath, CKN Patel, Vijay Kelkar, Professor Suhas Patankar, Padma Shri BG Shirke, HK Firodia, Madhavrao Chitale, PS Deodhar, Professor Haresh Shah, Harish Mehta, Padma Shri Lila Poonawala, Ibrahim Mamdani, Ramesh Raskar and Freedom Fighter Mahadev Vinayak Ranade.

When the Grade I structure fell into dilapidated state, the members of Board of Governors (BOG) passed a resolution in 2008 to restore/renovate the heritage structure from institution’s funds. The consultant was appointed on October 27, 2009 and the contract was awarded on January 28, 2011. The restoration

work began on March 24, 2011. New fittings, fixtures and furniture keeping the old charm, elegance and grandeur in mind were part of the restoration work that was carried out at a cost of Rs 5,52,96,761, and completed in 2012. The restored Main Building was inaugurated by former Union Minister Sharad Pawar on March 24, 2012.

THE PRESENT The autonomous university has introduced Liberal Learning Courses (LLC) for third-year students to give them the opportunity to pursue nonengineering subjects. CoEP Deputy Director BN Chaudhari said, “Students can choose from 14 credit subjects, including music, dance, painting, pot making, photography and film appreciation. Experts will hold classes throughout the year. With Mathematics being the core of engineering, we have introduced the subject for third and fourth year students. To give students hands-on experience, internship is compulsory from second year and will carry credits.”

THE FUTURE According to Dean Academics MS Sutaane, the college is striving towards transforming itself into a one-point centre of excellence. “We want students to graduate from this place and do their bit to society. Our aim is to provide all necessary infrastructure and experts to ‘ignite’ these young minds. Each small step in that direction matters to us,” he said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

PUNE

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE While people are willing to spend money to party, not everyone shows a thumbs up when asked to chip in for fitness regimen. Danzo-Fit partners Nikita Mittal (32) and Jaspreet Singh Gurudatta (35), fondly known as Micky, decided to combine the two.

“The fitness social is not only a place for people to get fit through dancing but also a forum to interact.

Since the idea of fitness is not ingrained in us like it is in the West, only a fun approach can pull the crowd,” said Micky.

Targeting anyone and everyone, the entry to the social is priced at a mere Rs 100 per person inclusive of brunch. While the atmosphere resonates a fun-filled party experience, the main intention of

First session of Danzo-Fit fitness social saw huge participation

fitness is never forgotten. “Our instructors are spread throughout the crowd to correct postures and make sure you do the routine correctly,” said Nikita. ‘Fit dad’, ‘fit mom’, ‘fit kid’, ‘fit friends’ and the ‘fit Danzo-thoner’ of the day titles and gift vouchers are added attractions.

NO WORRY Being yourself and embracing everything that the social has to offer is the key to having a good time. Trampolines leave the excited

kids asking for more. The diverse crowd allows participants to shed their inhibitions when it comes to dancing.

BODY CHECK Started two years ago with a single student, Danzo-Fit was aimed at making fitness a religion. With regular fitness and zumba classes throughout the week, the social was an attempt to get the whole of Pune involved. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

ORGANISERS Nikita Mittal (L): A physiotherapist and dance therapist by profession, Nikita loves to dance.

She did her graduation in physiotherapy from Sancheti Hospital, Pune, and masters in dance movement therapy from Kinections Institute in Rochester, New York. She focuses on using dance as a tool to not only help people rejuvenate but also get fitter.

Jaspreet Singh Gurudatta: A business developer and an entrepreneur, among many other things, Jaspreet is a partner at Donzo-Fit. He manages the business development, human resources and promotional aspects of the studio. He ownsa studio ‘State of Shoonya’ at Camp and a boutique in Kalyani Nagar.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

PUNE

AUGUST 8, 2015 PUNE

PICS BY ANIRUDDHA RAJANDEKAR

Mandar Wajage, 19

M

andar Wajage, a 19-year-old from scenic Narayangaon village nestled in the Sahyadris, has built a robotic arm that works using pressure sensors and helps in mirroring the actions of the other,

natural arm. Mandar explains, “Th e arm is for doing simple work, where both hands work simultaneously.

As the natural hand works, the artificial hand copies it and does the same. It will enable people with amputated limbs to perform basic

functions like holding, picking up and such tasks where both hands are required.” It’s a simpler and cheaper alternative to arms that must tap into nerve endings to get their signals. Mandar’s robotic arm won him ‘Aavishkar’, the Pune

University innovators’ competition.

He developed the arm independently after his class 12 exams and refi ned it with what he learned at college. He says, “I had been reading about robotics developments around the world, and I longed to build something of my own. So I thought of the robotic arm. I had used wires to sense pressure, but after learning about pressure sensors, I changed to them in my prototype.”

Mandar, who studied at his village school, has always loved to tinker about the house. “I used to make small cars and such, and fi x broken household articles. So my family were not greatly surprised when I developed a robotic arm.

In fact, they expected me to do something like that,” he says with a smile. His parents earn Rs 60,000 a year from farming. His elder brother, an electrical engineering diploma holder, works in a Pune company. Mandar is doing a BSc course at Garware College, and lives in the college hostel. “I want to do research and will only know in what field, after higher education.

But I know it will be related to physics and robotics,” he says. Not surprisingly, he is a favourite of his college faculty. “Pune has a lot of scope. Coming here has helped me grow,” he said.

D

r Abhyankar and his students have secured as many as 20 patents in various fields of technology. Of these, 12 patents have been granted by the US patent office, while the remaining eight have Indian sanction. An additional 12 patents are under review with various agencies across the globe. Five patents of these 12, have been executed in collaboration with different companies.

In the last two years, Dr Abhyankar (who has secured four individual patents) and his PhD students have worked ceaselessly in the fields of medico-engineering and technology to secure these patents.

Last November, the University Department of Technology fi led 11 patents and all were sanctioned.

A patent describing a method for 1used.standardising fingerprint images in Biometric Authentication

Systems was developed by Abhyankar with Dr Shubhangi Kelkar. He also holds a further four individual patents relating to methods of detecting human fingerprints and irises.

Abhyankar said that the security features of these systems can be inducted in UID cards (Aadhar cards) to make them safer.

Some patents describe methods to ascertain perspiration from fingers or sweat from palms, fingers etc in the duration of less than a second. One of them describes a method to scan the iris of an eye through different infrared frequencies to ascertain the identities of humans, even during different weather conditions.

Hrishikesh Mungi, 25

H

rishikesh Mungi has extraordinary endurance and stamina. At times, he has worked non-stop for 72 hours at a stretch, building what he calls a “revolutionary strain of probiotics”.

He has founded ‘Abhiruchi’,

named after his grandfather’s fi rm, a company in which he plans to delve deep into probiotic drugs.

“Our current focus, however, is to develop a drug, using this strain, that reduces cholesterol levels,” he says. The prototype that has

received a provisional patent, reduces cholesterol levels by 50-60 per cent.

How the innovation came about is interesting. “It started with my being accepted at the National Chemical Laboratory for a fellowship. I was the only one to be selected from 63 candidates, though they didn’t need a biomedical engineer. While working on the fellowship, I was doing Bile Salt Hydrolysis when my guide and I chanced upon this strain of probiotics that has brilliant medicinal properties. After culturing and testing it, we decided to use it as an anti-cholesterol drug and quickly patented it, once we saw that it was working.”

Hrishikesh was born and brought up in Belgaum, where his grandfather had a cashewnut business, and his father an electronics fi rm. Hrishikesh wanted to be an entrepreneur, but ultimately chose differently. “Our family tradition is to never inherit a business. My father didn’t do what my grandfather did, and I am not doing what my father does,” he laughs. He thinks it will take him seven years to get the product to market from his lab. “My grandfather was the fi rst to move out of his village and he was successful.

I hope the same for my venture,” he said.

However, the BTech graduate does not live on hope alone, backing

it up with hard work. “I wanted to do mechanical engineering, and I was sure of getting a seat in a local college. My father and I had even a friendly wager about it. On the day of counselling, I was the last in line.

Nearing the admission counter, there was just one seat left, and I was about to win 100 bucks from my father, when the person in front of me took the last seat, and I had to settle for Biomedical engineering. The stream was not very popular, so I made it a point to do my best to outshine rivals from other streams in academics and extra-curricular activities,” he recounts. “Once I started understanding the subject, I realised it was a goldmine. I started taking fellowships every summer, helped out seniors with their projects, and discovered things I liked,” he said.

The hard work paid off once he was selected at NCL. “Now it seems like that was just the start. After we discovered the strain, I practically lived in the lab, slept on tables, and worked for months without realising what was going outside the lab,” he said. He even turned down an MTech opportunity.

“I have a long list of people to thank. I’d just like to tell future students to drop the idea of being born for something. With hard work and patience, everything can become your life’s goal,” he said.

India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan.

He has been in Pune for ten years.

“After a home sciences degree, I did post-graduation in Biotechnology from Pune University,” he said. While he was doing his PhD from National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), he

decided to focus on cancer detection.

“With the technology I am working on, detecting cancer becomes as easy as testing for diabetes. By using saliva and blood, certain types of cancers and their severity can be detected,” he said.

The pioneering idea struck him at the regional centre for Cancer Detection in Bikaner where he had gone for a fellowship. He met people from far-flung places who had come there to test for cancer. Some had symptoms that indicated advanced stages of the disease. Th is made him think of devising means to reduce the hardships of the cancer-affl icted, by early detection and immediate treatment. With this in mind, he returned to NCCS, where he started experimenting to develop new detection and treatment methods. “At that time, a close friend’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the side effects of chemotherapy made us to look for alternatives. We came up with targeted chemo, wherein, by using the blood culture of where the tumour is located, targeted chemo can be used, which would have no side-effects. The shorter duration of the course of administration, helped tremendously,” he said.

Aman’s father is a doctor and his siblings work in fields other than the medical. “I wanted to work on tumours and my thesis was on brain tumours. I almost live in the lab,” he says with a smile.

Aman Sharma, 32

C

an a casual conversations change your life?

A conversation with a friend changed Aman Sharma’s, drawing him deep into an idea that could revolutionise the treatment of cancer.

Exocan, Aman’s company, is on the

verge of developing novel methods of cancer detection and treatment.

“It may be saying a lot, but once Exocan’s products come into the market, cancer will seem like just a fever, and not at all scary,” he said.

Aman hails from a village at the

Dr Aditya Abhyankar, Dean, Faculty of Technology, Savitribai Phule Pune University

PUNE IS SCIENCE CENTRAL The Oxford of the East is now home to innovators easing human suffering due to diseases, and improving lives beyond measure

. A patent “Towards Scalable 2 Video Coding” describes a “wavelet-based error-resilient

probabilistic approach”. Simplified, it deals with encoding resolution for different screen sizes without distorting images. Video quality on screens ranging from small mobile interfaces to large TVs could potentially see big quality gains using this development.

3

. Another patent: “Design of a spatio-temporal neural network

M

up healing. Milind says, “Standard bandages are not effective as they offer no protection from the simplest bacteria. For more serious injuries, regular dressing is necessary, which is a chore and also there’s danger of a stronger germ build-up. If the bandage or dressing has a mixture of two or three drugs that fight

. The patent: “A system and 4 method for homography based hybrid mixture models for rehab

engineering” is a 3D visualisation system. It can be used for complex ortho-surgeries and for sports purposes – often seen to determine on screen whether a ball is in or out of bounds.

For ortho-surgical applications, a hybrid voxel and homography system -- the kind used to aid referees in tennis and cricket matches -- is used. Th ree-dimensional (3D) images or fi lms are created with the help of the system which can be used by orthopaedic surgeons to measure the depth of bones and the screws/ bolts to implant in the bones during

an operation. In sports medicine, it gives more accurate results for referral purposes. The project has been taken up by a city-based hospital for implementation, to aid ortho-surgery for their patients. . The sound produced by Indian 5 musical instruments like flute, tabla, sitar and others is difficult to

reproduce accurately via synthesis. A project, “Towards characterization and synthesis of Indian Tonal Musical Sounds through framework of analytical modelling”, was undertaken by Abhaynkar and his student, and patented. Under the project, the sounds of tabla, sitar and flute were produced accurately through a synthesiser.

. Another patent that developed 6 out of one of Abhaynkar’s projects, deals with the identification

of individuals using biometric markers such as fingerprints, even reconstructing the face of an individual.

The project, “Towards bringing out connectionism amongst biometric modalities through intelligent framework for extended biometric application” aims to reproduce the face of an individual. This has applications in forensic sciences, and will help to identify persons who were killed or murdered with an intention to destroy their identities. . The identity of an individual can 7 also be established with the help of the iris of the eye. The project, “Conjunctival Vasculature based liveness detection for robust iris recognition” aims to save the features of the iris, which can be later used to ascertain identity of a human. Th is patent was developed in association with Dr Y H Dandavate.

Professor W N Gade, Vice Chancellor, Savitribai Phule Pune University

P GARGI VERMA AND GITESH SHELKE @missgverma

Pune, known as the Oxford of the East, has become home to a gamut of innovators who are channeling their passion into the service of society, devising innovative treatments for diseases . Dedication, a capacity for untiring effort and a never-say-die attitude are driving these people to make unique contributions to healthcare. gargi.verma@goldensparrow.com and gitesh.shelke@goldensparrow.com

Anupama Engineer, 33, and Milind Choudhary, 31

ilind and Anupama are to be married, but their late night conversations over the phone are not just sweet nothings. Instead, they talk about their work in the field of Biological Nanotechnology -- bandages that besides protecting a wound, fight bacteria and speed

for non-modular high content pathological screening” describes a method to detect cancer tissue and the type of cancer.

off infections, there is no need to change the dressing. With nanotechnology, we can actually do that,” Milind said.

Milind from Nagpur and Anupama from Andheri, Mumbai were doing their PhDs at Agarkar Research Institute at the same time.

“I was doing molecular biology, while he was

into medicinal nanotechnology. But when this idea came along, we started working together,” says Anupama, who is the Production and R&D Manager at Thomas Baker. Milind is devoting all his time to their project. “Two of my ventures have already been commercialised.

One of them was a quick test for Urinary Tract Infections, which reduced the time of result from 48 hours to eight hours. The other is a one-step DNA test mechanism. I also worked for the company who bought these and provided them with technical support,” says Milind.

Milind was not a standout student and his parents used to worry. However, the change came in standard 12, when a biology teacher took him under her wing. “She was kind to me, she became my favourite and biology became my favourite subject. I got into college because of her, and to make her proud, started working hard,” he said. The hard work paid off when he understood the subject. “Th is venture has given me something I had never felt before,” he said.

Milind and Anupama are confident about their venture. “We have already fi led for a patent. Once the clinical trials start, we will start getting capital. Th is field is unexplored and thus economically viable. There’s a huge market and we believe that our technical acumen will be appreciated,” says Anupama.

They are currently performing medical tests before applying for clinical trials.

rofessor Gade believes that SPPU is motivating students to think independently by supporting their ideas through resources and guidance.

Students across streams: engineering, science, arts and commerce are encouraged to come up with ideas. Guidance will be provided and the university will even fund such projects and secure patents for the ideas. The ideas and projects will be assessed and evaluated by university authorities before sanctioning of fi nance.

Such patents, when granted, will be in the name of the student, but their ownership will remain with the university, while the students reap the fi nancial benefits.

Gade said that the university already runs an innovation cell where students submit their projects for assessment. A yearly competition is held at the university level.

Many industries are located in and around Pune which sponsor projects, students or ideas.

Government colleges, institutions, and research institutions are based in Pune, which need ideas and innovations. Private institutions also promote students to do research and generate ideas for their businesses. All these factors contribute to an excellent innovation environment for students, Gade believes.

Professsor Gade has had four notable patents granted to him in the last fi ve years, with another in the pipeline.

Acid – It is not an 1eyes..acidHyaluronic but the fluid found in the It has high molecular weight

and it protects and lubricates eyes.

During surgery, eye fluid is often lost and a supply of this fluid is required to protect the eye. Generally, doctors use methyl cellulose which is foreign to the human body. It has sharp and risky reactions. Often, vision is lost due to methyl cellulose.

A safe fluid was developed and patented by Gade. An indigenous component was found and enzymes were developed naturally to mimic the fluids found in the human eyes.

The component was found in the crest of the common Cock and was 100 percent purified. It was then tested on rabbits and then on monkeys. Human trials were then conducted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which were successful. A pharmaceutical company has now taken up the project and has successfully developed medicines which can be injected during surgery. . LH (Lutanising Hormones) 2 and FSH (Folical Stimulating Hormones) – used for animal

breeding. Embryos are formed after injecting these hormones into animals. The components for these were found in the pituitary glands of buff aloes, which were purified for breeding purposes.

The project has been now taken up for implementation by the NDRI (National Dairy Research Institute) for animal breeding.

enzymes. The enzymes are helpful in the diagnosis of different health issues. They have wide medical applications.

. Peroxide Enzymes – these have . Nano-particles – Professor 3 4 bio-chemical applications for W N Gade and Dr D P medical purposes. The components Amalnerkar of C-MET jointly for this research were found in the Radish, which were developed into

secured a patent for this project. The research facilitates drug delivery to

a specific organ in the human body.

If oral medicines are required for treatment of an ill organ (like the lungs, liver, kidney or pancreas), medicines are directly supplied only to that specific organ. There is a slow discharge of medicines to a targeted organ. Th is has helped reduce doses of medicines required for treatment.

PUNE IS A HOTSPOT FOR INNOVATORS Nishant Kumar, the co-founder of Embryo Technologies, thinks that Pune is the best place for innovators. “Factors that helped us grow are Pune’s proximity to bigger cities, while the costs are far less than Bengaluru or Mumbai. There’s an endless brain

pool from all the colleges, an ease of acceptance and a strong buyer-seller relationship. These benefit every innovator and start-up,” he said. An innovator himself, his company has helped bring in engineered devices into the health sector, which he’s

been interested in since his time at IIT Powai. “My classmate and I decided to start our own project of implementing engineering in the health sector,” he says. “The city is amazing for anyone who wishes to go out of the box,” he said.

tECH

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

Spammer get 1 response to every 12 million emails they send (yet it still makes them a small profit).

— http://didyouknow.org/

Pashan residents battle daily traffic snarls P 15

City gets a ‘melting pot’ for minds Kruttika hopes her new co-working space ‘Idea Mil’ on Prabhat Road will be a modest office-home blend Aniruddha Rajandekar

BY SALONEE MISTRY @Sal0412 In a diverse city such as Pune where students, IT professionals, entrepreneurs, artists and artistes exist in harmony, a common working space for all is definitely a must. Kruttika Nadig (27) of Bavdhan will launch such an informal workstation on Prabhat Road on Monday. A national level chess champion and freelancer, Kruttika now decides to embrace her entrepreneurial side. Since past six months she has been working towards creating a space and environment where everyone can come together to share, learn and grow.

OFFICE-CUM-HOME Kruttika’s will start her office ‘Idea Mil’ at Flat No 9, Sai Sadan, 43/4 Income Tax Lane on Prabhat Road on August 10. She promises that the space will be a modest office-home blend.

“The flat is the house I grew up in. I am re-designing the place to create a space that I feel will appeal to all. Not only will the office have unlimited 4G Wi-Fi and comfortable office furniture, it will also have a home-like environment,” she said. There are ample convenient stores around the

‘Idea Mil’ is national level chess champion and freelancer Kruttika’s entrepreneurial venture

office for quick breaks as well as unlimited tea and coffee in the office itself. Kruttika has spruced up the interiors to avoid glossy

ISRO to launch 9 nano/ micro American satellites during 2015-16 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launching nine nano/micro satellites for United States during 2015-16 time frame.

This will be the first time that ISRO will launch US satellite.

“As on date, Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO, has signed agreement to launch about nine nano/micro (US) satellites during 2015-2016 time frame,” ISRO Director Public Relations Deviprasad Karnik told PTI. These satellites will go as piggyback on PSLV’s (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), officials said.

So far, 45 satellites belonging to international customers from 19 countries have been launched successfully by ISRO’s satellite launch vehicles.

Meanwhile Dr K Sivan, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said that the first Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) would be held during the end of this year.

“The first RLV technology demonstration will be held in the end of 2015,” Sivan told reporters in Thrissur.

RLV-TD is a series of technology demonstration missions that have been considered as a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle. Sivan also said that the fully indigenous developed Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D6 would be launched by end of this month, adding the cost of the 2.5-tonne vehicle would be around Rs 250 crore.

The launch of GSAT 6 is expected to give a huge impetus to the communication sector in the country. PTI

corporate atmosphere and make the space as comfy as possible. With a dedicated desk space and a meeting room, membership to

IDEA EXCHANGE Kruttika stumbled upon the concept of a co-working space six months ago when she saw similar projects being executed in cities like New York and Boston. Being interested in doing something out of the box, she did her research and began doing the ground work.

“The city has a pool of talented people and providing a common ‘melting pot’ will benefit all,” said Kruttika. Her aim behind this initiative is to brew experimental and unique ideas that could provide simple solutions to issues faced by people.

“You never know what magic happens when an artist, an engineer and maybe an entrepreneur sit together and share their experiences. They might come up with an obvious and simple solution not only to each other’s problems but to those faced by the society at large,” she said.

Kruttika’s future plans include increasing the workspace available for such creativity and enlarge the scope, vision and reach of her initiative. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

New face recognition tech works in total darkness

Apps for a healthy pregnancy Tiny Beats

Android/iPhone: Rs 249 Are you pregnant and want to hear your baby’s heartbeat at home? Tiny Beats is a baby heartbeat monitor that uses the very latest scientific audio algorithm to enable you to listen to your baby’s heartbeat and movements. This app is designed to be used from week 30 of pregnancy, but some users are able to find a baby heartbeat as early as week.

Using your smartphone, you can now listen to your baby’s heartbeat whenever you want. No need for any specialised equipment and it’s completely safe! This App does not emit any waves, it simply filters and amplifies the sound of the baby heartbeat like a tiny version of a stethoscope – a babyscope!

iBP Blood Pressure

IOS/Android: Rs 54 iBP is a blood pressure tracking and analysis tool. Please note, it is not possible to measure your blood pressure by touching the screen. A separate device is required. iBP uses colour icons to indicate when your blood pressure values are normal, high, or hypertension. It also provides interactive graphs that allow you to display your values by weeks, months, year and time of day.

The graphs display lows, highs, averages, and trend lines using statistical analysis. The Blood Pressure Monitor and wireless Body Scale automatically record and send the data to your account.

Baby Heartbeats Pro

KIT scientists analysed many infrared images of a person’s face and compared them to images taken in daylight

Computer scientists have developed a new face recognition method that works in utter darkness, an advance that may lead to improved surveillance and security technology.

The new technology overcomes some of the limitations of the best face recognition systems available today which only work well using photographs taken in good light without shadows.

Saquib Sarfraz and Rainer Stiefelhagen from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, created a system that

analyses dozens of infrared images of a person’s face and then compares them to dozens of images taken in daylight.

The comparisons are made with a computer programme that works using a so-called deep neural network system designed to imitate the function of a human brain, ‘Discovery News’ reported. The researchers said the deep neural network analysed 4,585 images taken in both infrared and visible light, and was able to establish a match in just 35 milliseconds.

“The presented approach improves the state-of-the-art by more than 10

New headset reduces eye fatigue, nausea

Researchers have created a prototype for a next-generation virtual reality headset which could reduce eye fatigue and nausea that some wearers experience from currently available headsets.

Virtual reality headsets may leave wearers with a headache or a topsyturvy stomach because they do not simulate natural 3D Gordon Wetzstein i m a g e s , computationa l imaging experts say.

Researchers in the Stanford Computational Imaging Group at Stanford University have created a prototype for a virtual reality headset that uses light-field technology to create a natural, comfortable 3D viewing experience.

In current “flat” stereoscopic virtual reality headsets, each eye sees

the office space is priced at a monthly fee of Rs 5,000. The space can accommodate 16 people at a time.

APP WORLD

only one image. Depth of field is also limited, as the eye is forced to focus on only a single plane.

In the real world, we see slightly different perspectives of the same 3D scene at different positions of our eye’s pupil, said Gordon Wetzstein, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Stanford.

When you look through a lowcost cardboard virtual reality headset or even a more expensive headset, there is a conflict between the visual cues your eyes focus on and how your brain combines what your two eyes see, called “vergence.”

This mismatch is similar to what causes the motion sickness symptoms

some people experience. If you read a book in a car, your eyes stay fixed on the text even when the car moves on a bumpy road.

But, because your sense of gravity feels that bumpiness while you read, there is a mismatch between the cues of what you see and what you feel, thus creating the feeling of motion sickness.

The new light-field stereoscope technology - developed by Wetzstein along with researchers Fu-Chung Huang and Kevin Chen - solves that disconnect by creating a sort of hologram for each eye to make the experience more natural.

A light field creates multiple, slightly different perspectives over different parts of the same pupil. This means wearers can freely move their focus and experience depth in the virtual scene, just as in real life.

The headset design incorporates two stacked, transparent LCD displays with a spacer. The researchers’ prototype was made with off-the-shelf parts and is the first step toward a viable solution.

PTI

per cent,” Sarfraz and Stiefelhagen told MIT Technology Review.

The 4,585 images represented 82 people and although the speed of the computer was fast, it was only about 80 per cent accurate and worked best when it had many visible light images to compare with the infrared.

In cases where it had only one visible light image, the system accuracy dropped to 55 per cent.

Researchers suggest that better accuracy is possible with bigger datasets and a more powerful network.

PTI

NASA pictures a drone in every home Move over, smartphones, the latest craze in technology may be to own a drone of your own, according to an Indian-origin researcher at NASA, suggesting that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may transform aviation.

Every home may have a drone in next five to 10 years and people will use them for a myriad purposes from doing rooftop inspections to buying a screw driver, said Parimal Kopadekar, manager of NASA’s Safe Autonomous System Operations Project at Ames Research Centre in Mountain View, California.

“I see a time when every home will have a drone.

You’re going to use a drone to do rooftop inspections.

You’re going to be able to send a drone to Home Depot to get a screw driver,” he said.

“This is in five or 10 years,” Kopadekar said in a conference at NASA’s Ames Research Centre in California. “We can completely transform aviation.

Quickly,” said Dave Vos, lead of Google’s secretive Project Wing, which is working with NASA on an air traffic control system for small, low-altitude drones.

“We have 125 collaborators and it’s growing,” said Kopadekar.

An effective air traffic system will play a major role in turning drones into an engine of the economy, one affecting package delivery, agriculture, hazardous waste oversight and more, ‘USA Today’ reported.

Kopadekar said multiple companies could provide this kind of air traffic control for different needs.

Vos imagines using the same technology that allows cellphones to talk to each other and the network-systems that also decide which messages go first and ensure that everything gets through in milliseconds.

“We think everyone who wants to build one should be able to build one,” Vos added.

PTI

Android: Rs 120 Baby Heartbeats Pro is an Android app designed to record fetal heartbeat with just phone’s microphone. Baby’s heartbeat recording can be shared with your loved ones via email, Facebook, Twitter etc. With this app pregnant mother and father can listen to their baby’s heartbeat.

This application is developed for last trimester of pregnancy.

There is no magic, working of this app entirely depends on your phone’s hardware. If your phone’s microphone can record high fidelity sound (<150Hz) then you will be hearing the beats.

Pregnancy Tips Week by Week IOS/Android: Free Pregnancy is an exciting time, but with so much pregnancy information available all over, we’ve made it super easy for you to get all the pregnancy info you need in one place. This easy-to-use Pregnancy app guide you to all the changes taking place in your baby and in you. Week

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Pregnancy Test and Symptom Quiz

IOS/Android: Free Think you might be pregnant? Stop worrying and learn the answer with the Pregnancy Test! How does it work? Pregnancy Test asks you a series of straightforward questions about the date of your last period and when you last had sexual intercourse.

Then you get the chance to check off all the symptoms you’re experiencing, like fatigue or morning sickness. It’s like a quick pregnancy quiz. The pregnancy app takes the information and runs it through a proven algorithm to determine the likelihood that you’re pregnant.

ENVIRONMENT “Environment and climate change are the most important issues and pose great challenges that need to be collectively responded to by people else their existence might be in danger.”

— Pranab Mukherjee, President

H EALTH

Technology will not be able to reverse climate damage to the ocean on any meaningful timescale

Intel plan for Clean Ganga initiative

Increased acidification has ravaged coral, and several kinds of micro-organisms essential to the ocean food chain, with impacts going all the way up to humans

Research has shown that extracting massive quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere, through intensive reforestation programmes or carbon-scrubbing technology, would in theory help cool the planet.

But up to now, little was known about the long-term potential for these measures for restoring oceans rendered overly acidic after two centuries of absorbing CO2.

Increased acidification has already ravaged coral, and several kinds of micro-organisms essential

to the ocean food chain, with impacts going all the way up to humans.

Scientists led by Sabine Mathesius of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany used computer models to test different carbon-reduction scenarios, looking in each case at the impact on acidity, water temperatures and oxygen levels. If humanity waited a century before sucking massive amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere, they concluded, it

Global chipmaker Intel is working with the government on a pilot project for using sensors to collect information as part of the Clean Ganga initiative.

The pilot, which is being run in Varanasi, will run till middle of the next year.

“Under the pilot, we are using sensors to collect data, which will be then fed to a common centre to derive useful information. The pilot has just started and will go on till middle of next year,” Intel President India Kumud Srinivasan told reporters here.

The US-based firm is also engaged in other projects with state governments to help fulfil the Digital India vision, she added.

In June, the government had said it will use geospatial and crowd-sourcing technologies, among others, for pollution monitoring in river Ganga.

Intel has about 6,900 employees in India. would still take centuries, maybe even a thousand years, before the ocean would catch up.

AFP

Mean temp in India risen by 0.60C in last 110 yrs: Govt With the mercury rising across the globe due to warming of the planet, mean temperature in India has increased by 0.6 degree Celsius over the last 110 years, the government said.

Heatwave and Severe Heat Wave were also recorded more in the last decade as compared to last four decades and the phenomenon was “abnormally” high in 2015, which witnessed 2,037 deaths across the country.

“In line with the rising temperature across the globe, all Indian mean temperature has risen nearly around 0.6 degree Celsius over the last 110 years,” Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

He said the government has collected data of daily temperature date of 103 stations uniformly distributed

Heatwave and Severe Heat Wave were also recorded more in the last decade as compared to last four decades

across the country for the period 19612010 from the Indian mainland during hot weather season (March to July).

“It was observed that many areas of the country (north, northwest, central and northeast Peninsula) have experienced heatwave days of more

than 8 days on an average per season.

Compared to previous four decades, there was noticeable increase in HW/SWH days over the country during the recent decade 2001-2010, which is the warmest decade for the country as well as for the globe.

“Although no HW/SHW phenomena was found to be prevalent over the 3 stations — Kochi, Th iruvananthapuram and Alappuzah — of Kerala, significant long-term increasing trends in maximum temperature anomaly was noticed,” he said. Of the 2,037 deaths, Andhra topped the chart with 1,369 casualties, followed by 541 in Telnagana, 67 in Odisha, 22 in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in West Bengal, 10 each in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and 5 in Delhi.

PTI

‘Responsibility practices in environment syllabus a must’

A short-term focus on environmental issues is emerging from a state of partial knowledge, says management institute professor Though existing regulatory requirements mandate the inclusion of environmental studies in school curriculum, there is a need to incorporate re s p onsibi l it y practices beyond a particular subject to make it a living practice, says an expert.

Ajith Sankar A c c ord i n g to Ajith Sankar, professor at PSG Institute of Management (PSGIM) in Coimbatore, it is important to incorporate responsibility practices beyond a particular subject.

Citing the example of the

education department of a state in India disallowing the sale of junk food within school premises, he says “Th is decision is laudable. The students should be served freshly prepared meals, which are made from locally sourced ingredients that nourish their body, mind and spirit.

“Facilitating a student to choose, plant and nurture indigenous tree saplings help them to connect with the environment in a better way than forcing them to learn the definition of ecosystem by rote.”

He also says that a short-term focus on environmental issues is emerging from a state of partial knowledge and one who has experienced the pain from a needless accident will be careful to create an entire life that is free of accidents, not just a day that is free of accidents.

AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

“Prime Minister Modi has emphasised the importance of sustainable growth and ensuring that diversified, environmentally conscious energy sources are made accessible to all Indians.”

— Cory Booker, Senator, US

Climate: No ‘Plan B’ for oceans, states study Technology to drain heat-trapping CO2 from the atmosphere may slow global warming, but will not reverse climate damage to the ocean on any meaningful timescale, according to published research.

At the same time, a second study reported, even the most aggressive timetable for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions will need a big boost from largely untested carbon removal schemes to cap warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Above that threshold, say scientists, the risk of climate calamity rises sharply. Earth is currently on a 4 C (7.2 F) trajectory.

Both studies, coming months before 195 nations meet in Paris in a bid to forge a climate pact, conclude that deep, swift cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are crucial.

Planetary-scale technical fi xes — sometimes called geoengineering — have often been invoked as a fallback solution in the fight against climate change.

But with CO2 emissions still rising, along with the global thermostat, many scientists are starting to take a hard look at which ones might be feasible.

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY

His book ‘Environmental Management’, published by Oxford University Press India, attempts to inculcate the need to understand the gravity of environment preservation, on a day-to-day basis while acquiring managerial knowledge at a postgraduate level.

It tries to create awareness about our fragile ecology and ecosystem as well as our rich biodiversity, and raises relevant environmental issues such as pollution, deforestation, global warming, and depletion of scarce natural resources.

Sankar feels that there is a need for creating a facilitating environment that leads to inspiring endeavours and just thinking that reactionary legal instruments alone can contribute to the well-being of the society would be immature.

PTI

Prabhu advocates use of clean energy in railways

Railways is the single largest consumer of energy in terms of both fuel and electricity in the country NEW DELHI: Expressing concerns over the use of fossil fuel, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said there was a need to embark upon a “clean energy mission” to prevent the loss of bio-diversity as carbon emission was affecting climate change and affecting world’s biological life.

Our mission should be clean energy and not Suresh Prabhu just solar energy, Prabhu said while addressing a conference to explore opportunities for using solar energy in the rail sector here.

He said railways was the single largest consumer of energy in terms of both fuel and electricity in the country and steps should be taken to use wind and solar energy.

“Emission is affecting climate change which is causing concern for the survival of biological life of the world and we are losing bio-diversity in the process. The need of the hour is to arrest the decline of bio-diversity,” he said.

Highlighting the urgent need for protection of environment, Prabhu said climate change is causing unseasonal rains, cloud bursts, change in cropping pattern, as a result farmers are facing problems.

Railways consumes about 18 billion units of electrical energy per annum.

Advocating use of clean energy which is environmentally sustainable and economically viable, Prabhu said “we should work not only for reducing carbon footprint but also earning carbon credit.”

Taking note of the high demand for energy, he said alternate source such solar energy should be explored.

“Energy-consumption per capita has increased and we have to find a different source and the best source to provide energy is solar energy.”

He said rooftops of railway buildings and vacant land like desert of Rajasthan can be used for producing solar energy.

He also stressed on the need to develop technology for storage of electricity saying it is also important so that we can store it and use it whenever required.

Referring to wind energy, he said there were so much opportunities in the sector since India has a vast track of seashores.

There should be a hybrid technology developed for using both wind and solar energy, he said.

Railways, in its endeavour to counter the menace of global warming has targeted large scale harnessing of renewable energy, mainly solar and wind energy, in addition to adoption of energy efficient technologies.

Prabhu in his budget had announced a target of installing 1000 mega watt solar power in Railways in the next 5 years.

PTI

“Rooftops of railway buildings can be used for producing solar energy”

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

“There is some time left, you (ministers and leaders) should come out of air-conditioned rooms and reach out to people and make them aware of the work done by the government.”

— Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chief, Samajwadi Party

One should be kind to visitors from foreign lands P 15

Flood toll crosses 180 across the country Maharashtra remains dry with falling water levels in dams, while rain, floods wreak havoc across India

PTI

NEW DELHI: While more than 180 people have lost their lives and nearly one crore people were affected in floods in West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha, Maharashtra has received just over half the average rainfall so far.

Water levels in the state’s dams have hit a three-year low.

The toll is the highest in West Bengal where 69 people have died so far in flood-related incidents that include lightening, wall collapse, electrocution and drowning.

A total of 2,213 relief camps have been set up for about 50 lakh affected people and 234 boats deployed for rescue and relief operations.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has spoken to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and enquired about the rescue and relief operations in the wake of floods.

In Gujarat, 71 people have lost their lives due to floods in 14 districts where 40 lakh population was affected.

More than ten lakh food packets have been airdropped or distributed to flood victims.

In Rajasthan, 38 deaths have been reported during the past few days owing to very heavy rainfall and floods in many parts of the state.

More than 630 people have been rescued from various districts in Rajasthan. Relief materials have been distributed to the affected population.

In Odisha, 4,80,399 people were affected by the floods which so far claimed five lives. 1574 people have been evacuated.

PTI

Harda (MP): Twenty-nine people were killed when two express trains passing each other derailed while crossing a railway bridge struck by flash floods in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh in the dead of Tuesday night sending 17 bogies and one engine tumbling into a rainswollen river.

The twin derailment that occurred at around the same time at about 1130 pm last night involved the Varanasi-bound Kamayani Express from Mumbai, which capsized first, and the Mumbai-bound Janta express originating from Patna that was coming from the opposite direction.

Officials said 25 people were injured and over 250 passengers have been rescued. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said that a flash flood caused the swollen Machak river to overflow and wash out a section of the rail tracks, leading to the derailment of the two trains.

Locals wade through a waterlogged road after high tide on River Ganga at Kalighat in Kolkata on Monday

Bengal flood situation improves, death toll at 85 KOLKATA: The flood situation in West Bengal showed further improvement on Wednesday on account of little or no rainfall since Tuesday and a reduced quantity of water discharge from barrages upstream, even as the death toll rose to 85.

Two more deaths were reported on Thursday, taking the toll to 85, Disaster Management Department

sources said.

“Altogether, 2,546 relief camps have been set up to shelter over 4.56 lakh marooned people and nearly 667 medical camps opened,” the sources said, adding the total number of affected people was nearly 63 lakh.

As many as 1,12,235 houses were damaged and 3,78,184 houses damaged partly. Crop over an area of

Gujarat floods: Cong demands Rs 2,000 crore package AHMEDABAD: The opposition Congress has demanded that the Gujarat government should conduct a detailed survey of flood-hit north Gujarat region and announce a special package of Rs 2,000 crore for the affected region.

A party delegation comprising 10 MLAs from north Gujarat along with party chief whip in Gujarat Assembly Balwantsinh Rajput met Chief Secretary G R Aloria in Gandhinagar and handed over a memorandum in this regard. Heavy rain and flood in Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Arvalli and Sabarkantha districts has caused large scale devastation.

Aerial view of people stranded in vehicles due to Sabarmati river flooding at Panchasar village in Patan district of Gujarat on Wednesday. PTI

Patent bid foiled for ayurvedic mix NEW DELHI: India has once again foiled an attempt by a major European major dermaceutical company to take patent on a medicinal composition containing turmeric, pine bark and green tea for treating hair loss.

“India once again has been successful in protecting its traditional knowledge by preventing an attempt made by Europe’s leading dermaceutical laboratory -- Pangaea Laboratories Limited, to take patent on a medicinal composition containing turmeric, pine bark and green tea for treating hair loss,” an official statement issued by the Ministry of Science and

29 killed in MP twin train derailment

Technology said.

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), a unit of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, located the patent application filed at European Patent Office by Pangaea Laboratories Limited and filed pregrant opposition along with prior-art evidences from TKDL, proving that turmeric, pine bark and green tea, are being used as a treatment for hair loss, since long in Indian systems of medicine like Ayurveda and Unani.

The UK-based company had filed the patent application at European Patent Office in February, 2011. PTI

Vol-II* lssue No.: 08 Editor: Yogesh Sadhwani (Responsible for the selection of news under the PRB Act, 1867) Printed and Published by: Shrikant Honnavarkar on behalf of Golden Sparrow Publishing Pvt. Ltd. CIN:U22200PN2014PTC151382 and printed at PRI – Media Services Private Limited CIN: U22222MH2012PTC232006 at Plot No. EL-201, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai.

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

43 of 144 cases referred by States closed by CBI NEW DELHI: The cases referred by the state governments to CBI are more likely to end in closure than those handed over to the agency by the Constitutional Courts, data presented in Lok Sabha shows.

Between 2012 and 2015, 144 cases were referred by state governments to CBI while 557 cases were referred to by the Constitutional Courts, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said.

He said of these 43 cases referred by state governments ended in closure while 94 cases referred by the courts were closed by the agency.

The data suggests that 29.8 per cent cases referred by state governments were closed by CBI, while 16.8 per cent cases referred by Courts were not found fit for chargesheet and closed.

“In order to ensure timely investigation and better conviction rate, Government has taken various measures for improving the functioning of the CBI which, inter alia, includes modernisation of CBI, enhanced quality of training, upgradation of infrastructure etc,” he said.

“As per information made available

by CBI, four cases are pending investigation relating to naxal violence and one case under Official Secrets Act as on June 30, 2015. A total number of 114 cases pertaining to disproportionate assets to the known source of income are at different stages of investigation in CBI as on June 30, 2015,” he said.

PTI

8,20,435 hectares has been damaged.

The chief minister has demanded adequate funds from the Centre for post-flood work.

She has sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during her visit to Delhi on August 11 and 12 to place her demands for flood damages from the National Disaster Relief Fund.

Cloud seeding trial run taken up at Jalna, Beed and Latur Aurangabad: Trial run for cloud seeding was taken up in Jalna, Beed, Osmanabad and Latur districts on Tuesday afternoon, resulting in rain in three villagers in Beed district, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse said.

Speaking to reporters, he said

that trials will be conducted on on Wednesday, and by Thursday the effects would be noticed. Khadse said that 200 hours of cloud seeding would be done and 100 hours of cloud seeding would be given free of charge by the Khyati Climate Modification Company.

1784 wild animals have Flash floods affect 4 Leh died in rains and floods villages, no casualties NEW DELHI: 1784 wild animals including lions have died recently due to excessive rains and floods in the country, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar informed Lok Sabha in a written reply.

“1,784 animal have died which includes ten Asiatic Lion, 87 Spotted Dear, 1670 Blue Bull, nine Black Buck, six wild Boar, one Porcupine and one Jackal,” the minister said.

The minister said that it provides central assistance sought by the concerned state government for activities including rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, Project Elephant and Project Tiger for various activities related to habitat improvement including soil and moisture conservation and water development activities. PTI

SRINAGAR: Heavy rains in Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir caused flash floods, resulting in damage to several residential houses, police said.

“Flash floods caused by heavy rainfall affected four villages in Leh district late last night,” a police official said.

He said the affected villages were Vanilla, Shakti, Chuchut and Basigo — all falling under the jurisdiction of Leh police station.

“Several houses have been damaged due to the flash floods but there are no reports of any human casualties so far,” the official added.

An official of the MeT department said Leh district recorded a rainfall of 10.4 mm in 24 hours till 8.30 am.

PTI

Public authorities for RTI applications NEW DELHI: People can now file RTI applications online with 431 public authorities, the government said.

A RTI web portal has been started for easy filing of applications by Indian citizens, including those who are living abroad.

An Indian citizen can file RTI application online through www. rtionline.gov.in. The prescribed fee for RTI application can also be paid online through a payment gateway of State Bank of India by way of internet banking of State Bank of India and its associate banks and by using Rupay card, debit or credit cards of Master and Visa.

“This facility at present is available for 431 public authorities of Government of India,” Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

All the states have also been

requested to explore the feasibility of implementing online RTI in their respective states.

“National Informatics Centre has been requested to provide technical support such as software and source code to the state governments who desire to replicate the web portal for online filing of RTI applications at state level,” the Minister said.

Singh said the government is committed to bring the benefits of the government’s pro-poor schemes and development plans to the doorstep of each and every citizen of this country and to offer them the right of demanding accountability.

The Right to Information Act, which was enacted in 2005, mandates timely response to citizens’ request for government information. One has to pay a fee of Rs 10 for seeking information PTI

Toilet in house mandatory for poll candidates PATNA: The Bihar legislative Assembly has passed a legislation incorporating a provision making it mandatory for candidates contesting panchayat polls in Bihar to have toilets at their houses.

The provision has been incorporated in the Bihar Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which was passed by the Assembly by a voice vote amid ruckus created by the opposition BJP members.

“It has been noted that people in rural areas, including women, have to go in open areas to relieve themselves due to lack of toilets at their households which lead to pollution,” State Panchayati Raj minister Vinod Prasad Yadav said outlining the objectives for the amendment in the bill.

The candidates desiring to contest panchayat polls from January 21, 2016, must have toilets at their households, he said.

PTI

160 phones found in Bhondsi jail GURGAON: In a major security breach, 160 mobile phones were being used inside the premises of Bhondsi jail here and prisoners had access to most of them, police said.

The police last week detected 160 mobile phones working inside the premises of the jail, located in

Bhondsi village on the city’s outskirts, using its cyber technology, Police Commissioner of Gurgaon Navdeep Singh Virk said.

It was identified that prisoners had access to most of the mobile phones, he said.

“This information was passed onto

the jail authorities following which they conducted search operations and seized some phones and sim cards,” the Commissioner said.

He, however, refused to divulge further detail in view of “sensitivity” of the matter.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

‘I am not hanging up my racquet just yet’ P 16

PUNE

“Climate change is no longer just about the future we’re predicting for our children or our grandchildren, it’s about the reality that we’re living with every day - right now.”

— Barack Obama, US President

China sees India, US, Japan as threats

The long haul!

China’s Air Force Command Academy in its report last year identified the United States, Japan, Taiwan, India and Vietnam as ‘threats’ to its military airspace

BY KJM Varma BEIJING: Bracketing India along with the US, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam as “threats” to China’a airspace, the PLA in a study has sought the broadening of its air surveillance and attack capabilities with high-speed cruise missiles and a new generation of bombers.

China’s Air Force Command Academy in its report last year identified the United States, Japan, Taiwan, India and Vietnam as “threats” to its military airspace until the year 2030, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.

While the massive expansion of Chinese navy with a second aircraft carrier and a new bomber to operate from its decks attracted worldwide attention, the new study showed that the airforce has started developing a similar expansion strategy, the report said.

The study called for nine types of strategic equipment to counter the threats, which included highspeed air-launched cruise missiles,

Brigadier JKS Virk of India and Senior Colonel Chen Zheng Shan of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Ladakh

large transport planes, an airship that moves in the upper atmosphere, a next-generation fighter, unmanned attack aircraft, air-force satellites and precision-guided bombs.

It said the 2.3 million-strong People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest, needs to broaden its air surveillance and attack capabilities to the western Pacific, including the areas near Japan to ensure its command.

The PLA operates with an annual

budget of about USD 145 billion, over three times India’s USD 40-billion budget.

The Beijing-based academy, a thinktank of an air force leadership training organisation, prepared the report in November last year.

Studies by the academy have previously served as policy guidelines, the report said. he academy report proposes broadening the scope of surveillance from a “first island chain” linking Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines and one of China’s defence lines in the open ocean to a “second island chain” linking the Izu Island chain, Guam and New Guinea.

The study affords a glimpse into the Chinese military’s confidence in thwarting the US military, which is critical of China’s controversial landreclamation in the South China Sea. It mentions enhancing the ability to attack US bases on Chinese side of the second archipelago line with strategic bombers and “deter US military intervention” in the event of a operation in Chinese islands.

PTI

Internet policing on cards BEIJING: China will set up “online police stations” at key websites to strengthen internet security amid escalating conflict with the US over allegations of hacking and cyber attacks, state-run media reported today.

Online police, who are responsible for openly inspecting the operation of websites and enforcing laws governing online activities, should work hard to uncover and prevent various illegal acts online, Chen Zhimin, Vice

Minister of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said.

It will still be a tough battle to fight online crimes, such as Cyberattack, transmission of violent messages, fraud, identity theft and illegal conducts involving gambling, drugs and pornography which have become a prominent problem affecting national security and social stability, he said at a conference over security of major websites and online services.

3 Indians held for exploiting students

The Indian businessmen have been arrested in Australia for allegedly abusing visas and exploiting overseas students

BY Natasha Chaku MELBOURNE: Three Indian businessmen have been arrested in Australia for allegedly abusing visas and exploiting overseas students through their recruitment firm that supplied staff to the country’s postal services.

Baljit ‘Bobby’ Singh, Mukesh Sharma and Rakesh Kumar were arrested after Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Border Force officers carried out raids across Melbourne, following a nine-month investigation.

Bobby’s Ferrari car was also seized.

The three men allegedly ran a labour-hire firm that supplied staff to government owned Australia Post.

Media reports suggested that Bobby headed the syndicate and allegedly ran two governmentsubsidised training colleges.

Singh and his two associates Mukesh and Rakesh allegedly lured Indian students into Australia who were then sub- contracted to Australia Post on sub-standard wages as posties or delivery centre staff.

The syndicate has been suspected of providing fake student visas to workers, enabling them to obtain a security clearance to work at Australia Post.

The colleges charged up to USD 10,000 to international students as fees of but allegedly offered no proper training.

Singh, the owner of St Stephen Institute of Technology in Melbourne,

was arrested from his residence.

Rakesh, one of the directors of St Stephen and Mukesh, owner of Symbiosis Institute of Technical Education in Footscray, were arrested in separate raids.

The men were due to face Melbourne Magistrate Court in relations to the charges of conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to influence a Commonwealth official, and dealing with the proceeds of crimes.

The charge of conspiracy to influence a Commonwealth official relates to allegations from the AFP that the men used false documents to register the training organisations.

Joan Doyle, Victorian secretary of the posties’ union Communications Electrical Plumbing Union, said she believed he had about 100 workers, a number of whom were international students from India, working full-time in contravention of their student visa conditions which restrict work to 20 hours a week.

Australia Post announced soon after the men were taken into custody that it has cancelled all of Singh’s contracts.

PTI

Chen said more efforts should be made to provide online police service through “online police stations”, which are designed to learn about suspected online crimes and guide websites to increase their abilities to stay safe, state-run People’s Daily reported. Websites should have self-discipline in refraining from publicising sensitive events and vulgar information.

PTI

Pakistani labourers transport the front portion of a vehicle using a handcart at a road in Peshawar, Pakistan. AP/PTI

Fluent English to be essential for UK public sector jobs

BY Aditi Khanna LONDON: People in Britain who do not speak fluent English will be barred from public sector jobs which involve working directly with the public, the government announced as part of its new tough immigration laws.

From September, National Health Service (NHS) staff and council workers will be among those required to have language skills equivalent to GCSE grade C or above, the announcement said.

It will also include police officers, social workers, teaching staff and assistants. Managers will have to test if employees can “communicate effectively with the public”.

Minister for the Cabinet Office Matt Hancock said it was to help control immigration.

“We are controlling immigration for the benefit of all hard-working people,” he said.

PTI

US avoids repeat of Khobragade episode NEW YORK: Describing the Devyani Khobragade episode as a “painful period” in Indo-US ties, the US has said the incident has led to “important learnings” and there is a determination to avoid such instances.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal said following the episode, there are things that the US has tried to do differently in terms of its officials in India.

Asked about the Khobragade episode at her talk on US- India relations at the Consulate General of India’s Media-India Lecture Series, Biswal said the incident involving the former Deputy Counsel General was a “painful period in the bilateral relationship.

“Both governments learned some important lessons and we achieved some important understandings and

clarity in how to operate in each others’ systems, with more clarity to the expectations that we each have of the other,” she said.

Khobragade, a former Indian Deputy Consul General here, was arrested in December 2013 on charges of visa fraud. The charges were rejected by her. Her arrest and mistreatment resulted in a major diplomatic row between India and the US. India took several retaliatory measures like reducing the diplomatic privileges of American diplomats in the country and bringing it at par with what Indian diplomats get in the US. Biswal further said, following the episode, there are things that the US has tried to do differently in terms of its officials in India. “We had very important learnings that came out of that episode. There is a determination to avoid such instances,” she said. PTI

Ex-Pak generals chastised over corruption

by Sajjad Hussain ISLAMABAD: In a rare move, an army court in Pakistan has punished two former generals for illegally investing Rs 4.3 billion in the stock market and causing a loss of Rs 1.8 billion to National Logistics Cell (NLC).

Military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said Lt Gen (retd) Muhammad Afzal Muzaffar and Maj Gen (retd) Khalid Zahir Akhter were punished for illegally investing Rs 4.3 billion in the stock market and causing a loss of Rs 1.8 billion.

Maj Gen (retd) Akhter has been “Dismissed from Service”, which implies forfeiture of rank, decorations, medals, honours, awards, seizure of

pension, recovery of personal gains, cancellation of service benefits and all other allied facilities including medical etc, he said in a statement.

Lt Gen (retd) Muzaffar has been awarded “Severe Displeasure (Recordable)” which in essence is a disciplinary award due to an offence of lesser degree i.e. violation of procedures but no personal gains.

Another officer Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Munir Khan has not been found involved in any financial irregularity or serious misconduct and therefore stands absolved from all charges.

“Army in line with its traditions has always and will continue to maintain highest standards of accountability, justice and fair-play,” army said.

The case started in Feb 2009 when Public

Accounts Committee observed violations in implementation of Board of Directors? Instructions and rules and regulations with regards to investment made by National Logistic Cell (NLC) that allegedly caused financial losses to the organization.

Consequently, Secretary Planning & Development Division constituted an inquiry committee, which highlighted financial irregularities, lack of transparency and failure to observe rules and regulations caused by reckless decisions of chain of command of NLC. The Committee referred case of NLC to the Ministry of Defence for necessary disposal and

by November 2010, army commenced a Court of Inquiry but the case lingered for years.

PTI

Indian heads UAE’s blood donor registry DUBAI: An Indian diplomat is spearheading an initiative to make blood from rare groups accessible to those in need through a website, that has emerged as the UAE’s first and biggest donor registry.

Tiju Thomas, Consul (Economic & Education, Press & Information), who practiced medicine prior to switching his career, discovered blood shortage as a major problem in the UAE, where nearly 42 per cent of the blood units collected is required by thalassaemia patients.

“There was also a need for rare blood groups but unlike in India where we have a lot of (donor) directories, such database was missing here,” Thomas told PTI. His website www.blooddonors.ae, that had a soft launch on World Blood Donor Day on June 14 was formally launched on June 21 to coincide with the International Day of Yoga. Thomas said within two days of the launch, the

Tiju Thomas

website received as many as 50,000 hits.

When asked how did he manage to come up with the donors’ contact information to build his database, Thomas said he got in touch with some association groups who helped him and were enthusiastic with the whole concept.

So, a donor can register on the free user-friendly website and help the patients because “even if one life is saved

through this, I think the idea wins”, Thomas said.

However, to access donors’ information, one does not need to register and can directly look up a particular donor’s contact information and when he last donated. For emergency cases, such data is a great help as it provided instant access to a potential donor, nearest to one’s home.

“This website is the first and the biggest blood donor directory in the UAE,” he said, adding that some 1,250 donors have already registered in just over a month while 6,000 odd social workers have pledged their support.

Thomas said this is an effort to give back to the society as a gift from the Indian community to the UAE and aims at bridging gaps between communities.

“Blood is something universal and it can help people from all communities.

We have mostly Indians who have registered as donors besides some

Sri Lankans, few Bangladeshis and one Pakistani. And, while no local has registered as donor, I am sure there would be many who might have benefitted from donors.

“The next effort would be trying to make the local people more aware of it so that they come forward and register as donors as well,” he added.

He said the site is one step away from bone marrow donations and hopes this will eventually happen in the near future besides a mobile app that can make reaching the donors even more easier.

The site has three tiers - first, for individual donors who can register; second, registrations from organisations, associations and large groups which can be contacted to organise instant blood donation drives in case of shortages and thirdly, the administration part.

He has been invited by countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Bahrain and Kuwait to set up a similar facility. PTI

MONEY MATT ER S

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015 PUNE

“We are also trying to focus on branding. We have also introduced royalty programme. We have 4 million customers in it which we’ll take up to 20 million.”

— R Gopalakrishnan, MD, Bata Group

Signpost

“As we’ve shared, our top priority has been ensuring that everyone has a great upgrade experience, so, we are carefully rolling out Windows 10 in phases, delivering Windows 10 first to our Windows Insiders.”

— Yusuf Mehedi, Microsoft Corporate Vice-President for Windows

‘Curb investors with dubious credentials’

Cricket betting, donations to education and religious bodies to come under the scnner

BY CHANDRA SHEKHAR

Posco’s finex plant likely to be shifted Not able to take off its 12 million tonnes plant in Odisha, global Steel giant Posco is likely to shift its first Finex plant to Kalinganagar, in the state from Pohang, South Korea after a definitive pact with homegrown steelmaker MESCO, which is scheduled by August. “We have already signed an initial pact with Posco for shifting of its patented Finex technology plant at Mesco premises at Kalinganagar in Jajpur. The shifting should begin in the next two to three months post a definitive pact with Posco, which is scheduled by August,” Director Finance, MESCO, Natasha Singh Sinha has said.

Roca sees Rs 1,500 cr sales by 2020 Spanish bathroom solutions firm Roca is looking at a Rs 1,500-crore annual sales revenue by 2020 as it expects government schemes such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to boost the demand for its products in Tier II and III cities. The company, which is registering 15 per cent year-on-year growth, is investing Rs 150 crore this year to ramp up its seven production facilities. Sales of Rs 1,500 crore are expeted in the next five years.

Sun Pharma sees profit hit in FY16 Country’s Sun Pharma expects to take a hit on the profitability in the current fiscal as the Mumbai-based pharma company needs to usher in more capital for the ongoing integration with Ranbaxy Laboratories, the company it acquired in a USD 4 billion deal. As part of the integration with Ranbaxy, the company expects to incur certain integration charges.

Micromax sees 15 per cent TV panel market Consumer electronics firm Micromax is aspiring to capture 15 per cent market share in the TV panel segment by next year and planning to set up a new unit to ramp up production of budget-range models by investing up to Rs 500 crore. The company aims to sell around 1.5 million panels in 2016 and provide the latest technology of TV viewing.

Lord Balaji checks into Dalal Street Dalal Street has got its priciest member with Lord Balaji of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) opening a demat account.

Following this Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams said that it will accept shares and securities as donations from devotees. According to a release, TTD has started its account in Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL). Lord Balaji temple in Tirupati is one of the richest temples in the country.

Seeking to check the menace of black money in the country, the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in its third report came out with host of useful suggestions which should be considered seriously by the government for implementation even if they cause some pain at the stock markets.

The SIT by headed by Justice MB Shah (retd) recommended enacting tough laws to curb betting in cricket, bring donations to education and religious bodies under tax net, monitoring unusual rise in stock prices and regulating P-Notes.

It identified circular trading in shares, overseas investments being routed through P-Notes from tax havens, shell companies, mispricing of imports and exports and cricket betting as major sources of black money generation.

Stating that betting in cricket has become sophisticated with use of technology, SIT wanted “some appropriate legislative directions or rules or regulations” to curb the menace of betting. With half of the Rs 2.7 lakh crore overseas investments using P-Notes coming through tax havens of Cayman Islands, Mauritius and Bermuda, the SIT wanted market regulator SEBI to come up with regulations so as to be able to identify the final beneficiary of Participatory Notes.

P-Notes are instruments issued by FIIs to overseas investors wanting to invest in Indian stock market without registering themselves with the regulator.

It said that about Rs 85,000 crore came in through P-from Cayman Island, which has a total population of about 54,000 (in 2010). “...it does not appear possible for the final beneficial owner of ODIs originating from Cayman Islands,” the SIT said.

It further said that action should be taken under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against trade based money laundering through mispricing of imports/exports. It also suggested measures to ensure donations by cheques to prevent black money generation in education sector, religious bodies and charities, and sought prosecution of those donating and accepting unaccounted money under the

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan speaks during a press conference announcing the third bi-monthly monetary policy statement, 2015-16 in Mumbai on Tuesday

anti-corruption law.

The SIT said person accepting unaccounted money in form of donation or also donor “requires to be prosecuted under Prevention of Corruption Act”.

For this, the panel said it would require legislative change which is necessary because now–a–days donation to educational institutions, which are in demand, is rampant.

The SIT has also asked Sebi to compulsorily identify real owners of foreign funds coming through the controversial P-Note route and also prosecute those using equities for tax evasion.

According to the panel, “if holding of cash is restricted and regulated, to a large extent, it would control circulation of black money within the country and discourage stashing of money abroad”.

However, the one suggestion that created big problem was with regard to imposing curbs on P-Notes. It asked Sebi to compulsorily identify real owners

of foreign funds coming through the controversial P-Note route and also prosecute those using equities for tax evasion. The SIT also questioned the current practice of P-Notes being transferable in nature and said “Sebi needs to examine if this provision of allowing transferring of P-Notes is in any way beneficial for easing foreign investment”.

As expected the SIT suggestions on P-Notes created mayhem in the stock markets. The BSE sensex tumbled by about 550 points or 1.96 per cent and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his team had to issue statements to contain falling markets.

A similar recommendation in 2007 had triggered a major collapse in the stock market, prompting the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram to announce that no such measures would be taken by the government.

Here it may be pertinent to ask why the government should react to movements in the stock markets and commit to diluting the suggestions of a Supreme Court-appointed committee. Stock markets too are needed to be cleansed of the bad money which is finding its way into bourses through dubious means. On the other hand, government should encourage investment of clean money into the stock markets by lawabiding and tax-paying investors.

Not only P-notes but all other instruments which encourage flow of black money into the stock markets should be stopped. Indian stock markets should remain open to genuine investors whether retail or institutional but not for those who do not want to disclose their identity for obvious reasons. It is also incumbent on the Finance Minister not to be carried away by artificial volatility but give a clear message that the doors are shut for investors with questionable background. Such a move will encourage healthy growth of the stock market and not the knee-jerk reaction on the part of the government.

PTI

Anyone accepting money in form of donation should be prosecuted

FINANCIAL CORNER

Term insurance: A must for all

BY SARANSH DEY @Casaransh

Insurance is an investment that has only been looked as a tax-saving instrument. In reality it is much more.

It can be a tool to ensure future stability in your financial planning. An investor is suggested to first invest in a good term insurance, then a medical insurance and finally in income earning investments.

M a n y hybrid products like dividend paying plans, guaranteed return plans and five-year plans available in the market often confuse investors.

Term insurance is the most basic and fundamental insurance product. It’s the most conscientious investment a family man can make. The objective is very simple: in the event of your (investor) death, a lump sum amount called the sum assured is paid to your family.

Term insurance should be taken at a younger age because premium increases with age. That means if you want to cover yourself for 1 crore in term insurance, the premium you pay when you subscribe at the age of 21 will be less than when you do it when you reach 25. It is always a multiple of your age. Premium stays same for a long period of time or during the term of the policy. It is advisable to take a term insurance before the age of 18, 36 or 46considered as term insurance milestones, and the premium increases with increase in age bracket.

One of the biggest mistakes that investors do is to take a term insurance cover as a reverse calculation from the insurance premium they can pay.

The only criterion for deciding a term insurance as the only earning member should be the amount needed to give your family a decent standard of living.

Term insurance should be taken with this ratio: for every Rs 20,000 of your salary you should have a cover of Rs 75 lakhs. If your salary is Rs 40,000 per month the cover should be Rs 1.5 cr.

Selection of a company for term insurance is also an important step.

Always select a company with good track record in settlement. All these facts are available on IRDA website.

Also check the availability of branch offices in your region. Looking for a pan India service provider will always help. Always read the terms of insurance in detail. Three things to make certain before subscribing — payment of amount should be unconditional, suicide waiver should be taken and no lapse policy condition should be availed. No lapse condition can ensure that if premium is missed in a particular period the entire policy should not lapse. An investor should look beyond income tax deduction and premiums on taking a term policy.

Hybrid plans that offer some return along with term insurance are not recommended. There are a lot of hidden charges. It reduces the cover of term insurance and investors end up paying more for less. Returns are minimal. Pure term insurance is the best product available in the market. One key fallacy in taking term insurance is that the nominee will solely be entitled to the entire amount. This is false as the succession rules or the will left by you shall direct the usage of such amount. Nominee is only a trustee to that money. You can also name your banker as a nominee as the amount can then be deposited into your bank account and can be used by your family. With a simple will you can delegate its use. Term insurance is the best gift you can give to your loved ones after your demise. Some insurers also make funeral expenses available to your kin to ensure a smooth transition.

This writer recommends immediate investment in term insurance by all. saransh@goldensparrow.com

Telcos below par on GST finds majority support in RS Select panel call drop issue Only Bharti Airtel in Mumbai and Tata Teleservices in Delhi met laid-down quality of service benchmarks

BY KIRAN RATHEE Amid growing concerns over the call drop issue, sectoral regulator TRAI has said that most of the telecom companies in Delhi and Mumbai are not meeting the prescribed standards.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) further said that only Bharti Airtel in Mumbai and Tata Teleservices in Delhi met the laid-down quality of service (QoS) benchmarks for call drop rate, which as per norms should be less than 2 per cent.

TRAI has released findings of the audit of quality of service being provided by telecom operators. The service quality audit was done by an agency through independent drive tests in the two cities in June and July.

In Mumbai, Idea has a call drop rate of 5.56 per cent, Tata has 5.51 per cent, Vodafone has 4.83 per cent, Aircel has 3.19 per cent, Reliance has 2.29 per cent.

Only Airtel meets the benchmark with a call drop rate of 0.97 per cent.

The situation is not very different in

Delhi with Reliance having a call drop rate of 17.29 per cent, Airtel 8.04 per cent, Aircel 5.18 per cent, Vodafone 4.28 per cent and Idea 2.84 per cent. Tata is meeting the benchmark with call drop rate of 0.84 per cent.

“The drive test results revealed that most of operators are not meeting the benchmarks of network related parameters.

They failed to achieve the benchmarks due to high block call rate, high drop call rate, low call setup success rate and poor Rx quality,” TRAI said.

However, TRAI said this result reflects only the network conditions on the route followed by the test vehicles and as determined during the day and time of the drive test. The government has also asked TRAI to suggest a disincentive mechanism to tackle the problem.

Call drop in a network can occur due to various reasons, including insufficient coverage due to paucity of mobile towers and handover failure due to network congestion on account of more users in a particular area.

PTI

TRAI asked to suggest disincentive mechanism to tackle the problem

Being touted as the biggest reform in indirect taxation since Independence, the GST will ensure a single tax structure for goods and service throughout the country

BY JOYEETA DEY Indirect tax reform Good and Services Tax (GST) has found favour with the Select Panel of the Rajya Sabha which has accepted almost all of the 21 provisions of the Bill, while suggesting that the GST rate should not go beyond 20 per cent as higher rates could fuel inflation and erode the confidence of consumers.

The government proposes to roll out GST from April 1, 2016. Being touted as the biggest reform in indirect taxation since Independence, the GST will ensure a single tax structure for goods and service throughout the country and make India a common market.

The two clauses in which the report, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on July 22, has suggested some changes are those pertaining to the 1 per cent additional tax to be imposed by states for inter-state supply of goods and full compensation to the paid to the states for five years to make up for the revenue loss on account of GST roll out.

Even as BJP-led NDA garnered support of TMC in the provisions of the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST, Congress, AIADMK and Left parties gave dissent notes to the report.

The Bill would now be taken up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha. It has to be cleared by Parliament in current session to meet the April 2016 roll out deadline.

The major recommendation of the 21-member committee was the one relating to Clause 9 as it felt the one per cent additional tax will lead to “cascading of taxes”. It wanted an explanation to be included in the provision that would make it clear that the one per cent would be on goods sold and not on supply on inter-company inventory transfers.

It recommended that an explanation should be given in

Clause 18 that the word ‘supply’ would mean “Supply: All forms of supply made for a consideration”.

The report said GST rate should not go beyond 20 per cent as higher rates could fuel inflation and erode the confidence of consumers in a new indirect tax regime.

“To start with India’s GST rate should not go beyond 20 per cent for standard rate and perhaps 14 per cent for reduced rate,” the Committee said. The final rate, however, would be decided by the GST Council. Internationally, the GST rate ranges from 16-20 per cent. However, there are some exceptions like Japan, Australia and Germany.

PTI

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

“The use of bio-toilets has become essential because passengers use loos even when trains halt at stations. This causes bad smell. The administration will make efforts to have cleaner tracks and coaches.”

— Suneet Sharma, Divisional Railway Manager

PUNE

“The city received the Best City award in 2012 under the JNNURM scheme. It will become a smart city in 2020. The state government has done justice by selecting it for the Smart Cities Mission.”

— Rajeev Jadhav, PCMC Commissioner

Pashan residents battle traffic snarls daily Population boom has led to a corresponding rise in traffic in Pashan, and bottlenecks and jams are an everyday affair

I have been living in Pashan area for the past 20 years. We chose to live here because of the trees and greenery. Being on the outskirts of the city, it was not congested and crowded. The place was serene and peaceful then. Traffic congestion was not a problem despite the narrow roads. But over the years, numerous housing societies have come up and consequently the population has increased significantly.

Th is in turn has led to a huge increase in vehicular traffic, and now the roads here are always packed with vehicles. During peak rush hours, it becomes a nightmare, with vehicles jammed nose to tail leading to long lines of immovable traffic.

These traffic jams are an everyday

Soham Joshi

phenomenon, and it takes me at least four signal cycles to finally cross an intersection.

Driving a car in such situations is nervewracking, as we keep crawling inch by inch, so it is not possible to switch off the engine either.

What a waste of fuel and unnecessary stress for every road user. There is flyover pillar in the middle of one road, which slows down traffic even more besides being a hazard to road users.

CITIZEN JOURNALIST

Owing to this, I leave home an hour in advance, to deal with the traffic bottlenecks, which I also face on the way back home.

It is truly exhausting. The path that leads to Ganeshkhind Road is narrow too and is overcrowded during peak hours, putting pedestrians at risk. Also crossing the road becomes a risky affair for them.

Two-wheeler riders freely ride on the wrong side of the road, which aggravates the situation.

And to cross to the other side, one has to travel long distances for u-turns. That is why people ride on the wrong side. People who break rules are also responsible for the traffic jams. Now-a-days more people are using four-wheelers because of the rains.

Th is leads to more traffic problems.

We need the authorities to address this problem on a priority basis. One way to ease traffic congestion would be if more commuters used public transport, but the fact is that it is completely unreliable, and we have no option but to use personal vehicles.

More buses should be deployed, and more awareness should be created about following traffic rules.

A perfect blend

One should be kind to visitors from foreign lands

It did not take long for this city to cast its spell on me

As a foreigner I have seen both the good and the bad sides of living in Pune

Eva Boulgakav, Montreal, Canada

Dr Rakhshanda Antulay, Senior Resident, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, (MA Rangoonwala Dental College, Camp)

Pune could be the perfect example of a city that has struck the perfect balance between modernity and that of preserving culture.

It still has that old world charm, and that is what fascinates me the most about the city. I feel Pune is a burgeoning metropolis city that harbours IT hubs and several educational institutes. Living in Pune, Camp for the past two years, I realised that I began to fall in love with the city in a few months of moving here. It was difficult at fi rst to adjust with the climate, but now I can call myself a true Punekar. I am also trying to learn Marathi with the help of my friends.

The climate of Pune is to die for, compared to Mumbai my hometown. No matter what part of the day it is, or which season, the climate in Pune is not only calming but so much better than so many

LETTERS TO THE

EDITOR

other cities. Surrounded by so many tekdis (hills), the city is a perfect place for someone who wants to stay in the midst of nature as well as in the chaos of city life. On one hand where I can’t stop talking about the city’s picturesque beauty and charming climate, I also can’t stop complaining of its state of public transport.

If there is one thing that Pune needs to and must improve, it is its public transport. Neither is there a local train network nor are the buses on time. Even the autorickshaw drivers most of the times refuse to go where you want to. They even charge extra money and talk rudely, Reminiscing about home, there are two only things I miss. One of them is

most definitely the midnight meals at stalls outside my house, which are a rare sight here. Also the flea markets there were cheap as compared to those here.

Even if some say that there are many, the problem is that they are all constrained to a single locality, like near Pune Station, for example.

The second thing I miss from back home is the public transport, especially the local trains. Having said this, I truly believe that Pune is a beautiful city to live in and I shall soon be moving here permanently. While the city might have its flaws, the scenic beauty in areas like Koregaon Park and the peaceful atmosphere is worth all the troubles.

NON-NATIVE

PAROLE

FROM FOREIGN

SHORES

Dr APJ Kalam, a man of the ages for the lack of proper safety measures at Malshej. Since there is no hospital in the vicinity, medical is not readily available. Th is is a situation that must be addressed at the earliest. It is a welcome happening that the friends of those who lost their lives are working to improve the situation and are spreading awareness of the Malshej spot and the need for precautions. The authorities cannot shirk their responsibilities any longer.

— Ajay Rane

The bitter truth behind the facade The cover story on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was timely and important.

While other newspapers were dedicating pages to the Yakub Menon story, Kalam was the one who deserved to be featured prominently. It is good to know that people from every strata of Pune society, including students, teachers, and other professionals had personally met the great man. He was truly an inspiration in everything he did. Kalam has set an example for

I have been living in Pune for the past ten years.

I’m completing my BBA at the Symbiosis Centre for Management studies.

Although I love the pace of life and the vibrant culture of Pune, I have had my share of problems too.

I work part-time as a fitness trainer at my Kharadi residential society gym. I am a dance enthusiast and take part in dance shows across the city. I have five years of experience as a dancer, and also run a dance school in the NIBM area. It was very exciting initially with lots of enthusiastic students whose company I enjoyed. But I soon realised that some students had joined my class just because I was a foreigner and they were just curious about me. Th is really made me feel very uncomfortable.

There were also some neighbourhood women

who would be downright rude and ask me why I had come to live in Pune, and even advising me to go back to where I came from. On one hand, I have met people who have been extremely warm and welcoming, but there are the other kind of people who have really made me miserable. How I wish such narrow-minded people would change their attitude towards expats and treat us with more kindness and consideration. I must confess that at times I have felt so humiliated that I just wanted to run away from this place.

It’s sad because otherwise my stay in Pune has been as good as it can get. But there are a few who are very helpful. Also I get irritated when I see people spitting and littering on the streets. There should be some rule to stop and fine them for this. I miss the clean roads back in my country.

But I enjoy walking in the park in Koregaon Park. Also there are many restaurants at Camp where I enjoy hanging out. I like Malaka Spice and 108 Cafe. Also I like the Italian restaurants here.

On my weekends I like to go trekking. I have been to Sinhagad Fort, Lohagad and Torna before, and I would like to explore more of these green places in the city. Also I have been to Vetal Tekdi, the view of the Pune city from the topmost point is just amazing.

The city would be more beautiful, if cleanliness is maintained. Also public transport is a problem here, and travelling by rickshaw gets a bit heavy on your pocket. Metro should be introduced here for efficient transport. The city has given me great friends and also I met my life partner here.

everyone to look up to and emulate to the best of one’s ability. Salaam Kalam saab.

— Shobha Jagu

The tragedy at Malshej

Lives have been lost because the concerned authorities have fallen short of executing their duties effectively. It is sad that children have lost their lives

Institutions that seem to be functioning without a hitch from the outside, but have a different reality from the inside, are a cause of grave concern.

The story about the teachers at St Mira’s School ,nwho are not paid their salary or made to do extra work, is a case in point. The administration may deny any wrongdoing, but then why are the teachers complaining about mistreatment? They would resort to such means only if there was enough cause for complaint. I hope that representatives

from the education ministry look into this and things improve for the teachers.

— Sanyukta Shastri

The greatest gift The story of organ donation touches upon a vital topic. It must be heartwrenching for the families of a deceased person to donate their organs, while battling grief. Such people should be lauded for showing courage and consideration, as they may be literally saving the lives of those in need. The organ donation drive in India needs to be given a boost and more people shoud be encouraged to opt for organ donation. After all, the gift of life is the greatest of gifts.

—Naina Johakar

freely break traffic rules and set a bad example.

— Radhika Aale

A silver lining People f louting and breaking traffic rules must take a lesson from the NGO Nligten and its volunteers.

The children doing this voluntarily are doing a good job. I live in Kothrud and seeing these children every Friday and Saturday give me a feeling of pride. It is laudable that the young generation has such an attitude. If kids can show such concern, it is a shame that adults

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

SPORTS

THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2015

PUNE

“The tips and advice I got from Rahul Dravid at the early stages of the my career helped me develop into a top batsman who was comfortable at the number three position.”

— Younis Khan, Pakistan batsman

Signposts Bharati Vidyapeeth win Futsal Cup Bharati Vidyapeeth, Balewadi rode on Tejas Balwadkar’s brilliant extra time brace to be crowned first ever champions of the Godrej Properties-Pune FC Futsal Cup at the Freekick turfs in Balewadi.

In the final, Bharati Vidyapeeth registered a dramatic 2-0 win over Vibgyor High, NIBM to come out on top among over 40 Under-12 school teams, who battled hard over the course of six days.

Triple crown for Vaibhavi Kher Top seed Vaibhavi Kher annexed the junior, open and youth category titles in the 3rd edition of Sudesh Shelar Memorial district ranking table tennis tournament at Deccan Gymkhana. In the juniors category, she defeated Eesha Joshi while in youth category, she came back roaring against third seed Fauzia Meherally. In the open segment, she again beat Fauzia in another hard-fought battle.

Bhor wins intercollege cycling Vaibhav Bhor of Modern College won the inter-college cycle competition (Time trial track) held at Shiv Chhatrapti sports complex in Balewadi. He was followed by his team mate Akshay Fulambrikar and Suraj More (AIMMS).

Meanwhile, in the 15 km road race event, Raghunath Mali of Modern College finished first.

“I’m the country’s best doubles player and if I say something, what stops people from taking it as a suggestion and not as a criticism. I will never do anything to harm the sport,” — Jwala Gutta, Indian shuttler

JTL lifts city tennis to new heights

The PMDTA’s Junior Tennis League has inspired coaches, parents and players to work together in harmony, which has raised the bar for city tennis

BY ASHISH PHADNIS @phadnis_ashish Pune city is emerging rapidly as a tennis hub of India. A number of local players are making their mark in national and international competitions, while its quality infrastructure, in-demand coaches and moderate climate has made it an attractive proposition for players from other cities to shift base to Pune.

These are the fruit of efficient and painstaking groundwork and perfect execution of the plan put in place by sports associations, their parents and the players themselves. But constant effort will be necessary to maintain the continuous growth of tennis.

With just such a vision in mind, the Pune Metropolitan District Tennis Association (PMDTA) launched the novel Junior Tennis League in Pune, to bring about greater involvement by youngsters. Th is has paid rich dividends by giving tennis a big boost.

BONDING BETWEEN COACHES Rivalry between coaches is a given in any sport, and it can have an adverse effect on the growth of the sport. The JTL then is a cause to rejoice as it has united no less than 40 tennis coaches from all over the city, who are working as a team, with ongoing interactions and exchanges of ideas.

A few of them were reluctant to join the league initially, but they soon realised that it would prove beneficial to both themselves and their wards. Now they all are participating voluntarily and it is indeed a welcome experience to see the coaches, parents and players mingle, the camaraderie extending to discussions on health issues and are off-court get-togethers.

About Junior League

Abhirav Patankar and Rahul Kurwalkar of Pune Open Striking Jaguars during Junior Tennis League

“Th is is a new generation of coaches and they are open to changes and suggestions. Normally, a coach does not point out even the slightest of flaws in their ward’s technique. But another coach with a different perspective may notice it and can suggest a solution.

Th is is an important development and will play a crucial role in the long run,” said PMDTA secretary Sunder Iyer.

Senior coach Nandu Rokade also welcomed the change. He said, “Young coaches, mainly former players, have got an opportunity to witness how a player is groomed by senior, wellknown coaches. They are learning what it takes to develop a player’s career. It wouldn’t have been possible if they worked on their own.”

The development of the coaches is not limited to the city. The PMDTA is working on district coaches too.

“Several players from districts shift base to Pune. But these players

need more time to change their style and technique, as their initial training was defective. Our plan is to improve the level of coaching in these districts. We have started a coaching programme, under which 300 coaches from Maharashtra are participating in seminars and workshops. We are also conducting written exams for them to attain higher levels. Once they reach a particular level, we will provide them materials regarding the latest technologies, new rules and other aspects. If we can follow the same path in Maharashtra as in Pune, it will bring about a revolution in state tennis soon,” said Iyer, who also holds the post of treasure of Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA).

FITNESS CULTURE The league is not just about tennis and skills, but the organisers have laid equal emphasis on players’ fitness

and have devised a unique fitness test.

During the league, the player’s fitness is tested by a number of methods and points are awarded accordingly. Ten points in the fitness test are considered equal to a game in the league.

“Th is idea has been a real eyeopener for parents and players. Of the 150 players participating in the league, only 15 had the desired fitness level. The rest, even some top players are winning thanks to their skills and techniques. We are organising special seminars on fitness which have evoked a good response,” said Iyer.

TEAM SPIRIT Tennis is an individual sport and generally players prepare on their own.

The league has altered the dynamic.

Players and parents are cheering for their team-mates, who otherwise are their rivals. This bonding and team work is helping them learn and improve.

Eight teams, including Roaring Lions, Raging Bulls, Flying Hawks, Grizzly Bears, Speeding Cheetahs, Striking Jaguars, Rising Eagles and Growling Tigers are part of the league. Each tie consists of six matches, including under-10 singles (boys/girls), under-12 singles (boys/ girls), under-14 boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles. The eight teams are divided into two groups, and the top two teams from each will advance to the semifinals.

“Th is format is helping both types of players. While national level players can play and enjoy the game without any pressure, the beginners get an ideal platform to showcase for their talent.

Even us parents enjoy the atmosphere.

Some enthusiastic team owners bring snacks for the kids and they all have a party,” said Vaijayanti Marathe, mother of national level player Mallika.

“The team bonding is the best thing this league has provided. The players are in a healthy competition with each other. They help their team-mates and cheer for them. It never happened before. I am sure this will turn them into true sportspersons,” she said. ashish.phadnis@goldensparrow.com

‘I am not hanging up my racquet just yet’ Puneites set for PBP challenge Thirty-one-yearold Dhanya Nair has qualified for the World Championship in Jakarta

to go,” she said.

About the challenges in World Championship, she said, “We will face a French pair in the first match, and right now we are not thinking beyond that. We are setting shortterm goals only.”

Nair and Sahdev have participated in a number of tournaments this year, including the Thailand International Challenge, Malaysia Masters, Syed Modi International, and they have broken into the top 100 in the world (currently 94; career best 78).

“We are all-rounders and it helps in crunch situations. Mohita is more of a defensive player, whereas attack is my forte,” Nair said.

TGS NEWS NETWORK @TGSWeekly Shuttler Dhanya Nair of Pune has distinguished herself in the international arena, her track record stretching back to 2002, when she won bronze medal in the Junior Asian Badminton Championship at Kuala Lumpur. After all these years, Nair has not lost her passion or desire, and is still aiming to find a berth on the Indian squad for the Olympics.

“Most players of my age have retired from competitive circuit. But I still dream of representing India at the Olympics, and I am not hanging up my racquet just yet,” she said.

Currently training in New Delhi, Nair’s consistent level of performance at the international level earned her a berth in the Indian squad for the Total BWF World Championship at Jakarta, Indonesia starting on August 10. She will be the third women’s doubles pair with Mohita Sahdev. Though, all eyes will be on stars like Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth , P Kashyap and the doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, it’s the perfect platform for Nair to shine.

“We were aiming for a berth in the squad and tried hard over the last year. We had almost given up hope, so the selection is a pleasant surprise,” she said.

Nair and Sahdev are ranked second in India, behind Andhra Pradesh’s J Meghna and K Manisha. They are a new pairing in this championship besides Pradnya

A file photo of Dhanya Nair (R) and Mohita Sahdev

Nair and Sahdev are ranked second in India, behind Andhra pair

Gadre and N Sikki Reddy.

AGE FACTOR “I don’t think age matters to me. I was thought of as being old when I was 22, and a new generation of players was coming up. But I have continued playing.

I have maintained my fitness and I have never ever felt incapable of performing at the required level,” said the 31-year-old.

She gives credit to her trainer Siddharth Sarpotdar and her physio Ajit Mapara for her fitness.

“I am very particular, in fact I am obsessed about my fitness. That is why I have been able to carry on playing without any major injury,” Nair said.

She suffered a wrist injury in May, astride a two-wheeler, which put her out of action for six weeks.

She resumed her training on July 21.

“It was a bad tear, but fortunately it didn’t require surgery, and thanks to my physio I recovered quickly.

Right now I am fully fit and raring

TR ACK RECORD Nair’s first taste of success at the national level was in 1997, when she won the mini girls’ doubles category, at the mini national tournament in Guwahati. The following year, she won a silver medal at the school games in Patiala.

Nair dominated the 2002 season, emerging winner in the girls doubles category of ICICI Bank All India Tournament at Bangalore, the All India Junior in Thane, Sushant Chipalkatti tournament in Pune and Krishna Khaitan Memorial tournament in Chennai. She was runner-up in National Games in Hyderabad and a semi-finalist in junior nationals in Guntur.

The Symbiosis student kept winning medals in national competitions.

She won women’s doubles crown in Asian Satellite Tournament at Islamabad, Pakistan in 2004.

Dhanya emerged winner while representing Indian Railways in the World Railways Competition and repeated her performance in 2009.

In the same year, she achieved a double crown, winning both the women’s singles and doubles in the Yonex Kenya International tournament at Nairobi. She was the first Indian player to achieve this feat. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com

City cyclists are participating in this endurance event in large numbers for the first time TGS NEWS NETWORK @TGSWeekly

Paris Brest Paris (PBP) is one of the oldest endurance cycling events in the world, which is held regularly. Cycling enthusiasts from around the world participate in this 1230 km event, and this year around 6000 cyclist will be participating.

Indian cyclists, who were almost non-existent earlier, have started taking part since 2011, and almost 55 Indian cyclists will be part of the 17th edition of this quadrennial event.

Amongst them are 11 Punekars, who are all set for the challenge.

The riders include Baban Dolas, Prakash Dube Patil, Ashish Joshi, Laxmikant Kale, Dinesh Marathe, Amar Ochani, Hiren Patel, Durga Prasad Pawar, Manohar Tanpure, Arun Thipsay and Apurva Varma, who will be in action in Paris from August 16.

The Indian representative and co-ordinator of Audax India Randonneurs (AIR), Divya Tate said, “Pune Randonneurs is one of the oldest functioning clubs in India. The country’s fi rst 400 km and 600 km brevets were conducted in Pune in 2010. Since then, Punekars have taken the lead in long-distance cycling. Th is year, 11 cyclists are taking part in

The participants are ready for the challenge

PBP, which is a real boost to cycling in Pune.”

Amongst the cyclists is Kale, a 40-year-old who works as Aerospace Engineer in Eaton Corporation. Kale started cycling after being advised by doctors, for health reasons. Th is led to a passion for cycling and he started participating in long-distance events.

“My first brevet was Pune-UmbrajPune (300 km), and even after a good start I wasn’t able to finish it. Later I rectified my mistakes and then completed 200 km, 300 km and 600 km events. That gave me a real boost and I decided to take part in PBP,” he said.

Patel who recently completed Ironman in Switzerland, has also completed London-Edinburgh-London (1400 km) and eventually become the first Indian to achieve this feat.

WHAT IS PBP Paris-Brest-Paris is a 1230 km long-distance endurance event in France, that has to be completed in 90 hours. It’s a self supported ride and participants are expected to reach the control points in given times to avoid disqualification. The changing weather conditions, rolling terrain and crosswinds make the event quite challenging. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com