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TOI : PUNE: In a gruesome incident, a decomposed body of a senior citizen was found at his bungalow in Mundhwa on Friday morning. The police identified the deceased as Navneet Ramchandra Tare, aged between 55 and 60 years.

Tare’s neighbours and the local corporators informed the Hadapsar police that his bungalow was open and lights were on. “A team was sent to the bungalow, where the decomposed body was found on a bed,” the police said.

The police found Tare tied to his bed. “His neck was tied with a black duppatta to the bed’s iron rod. His legs were also tied with a cloth. The post mortem report cited strangulation as the reason of death.”

The police said Tare has been murdered a month ago. “His viscera has been preserved, which will shed light on when the murder really took place.”

According to his neighbours, Tare had retired from the merchant navy and was the vice-president of the Rashtriya Janata Mahasangh. “Neighbours said that he used to be on Mumbai tour most of the times and hardly stayed at his Mundhwa bungalow,” police said.

Tare never socialised with his neighbours. Moreover, his bungalow has a high boundary wall. “No one could actually check whether he was inside or not. However, for the past few days, the neighbours found his bungalow open and lights switched on, which made them suspicious,” the police said. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : Medical science has started realising the potential of music as a form of treatment, called music therapy. In short, it is the use of music to treat people with special needs in physical and mental health.

At the recent National Conference of Music Therapy in Hyderabad, the state was represented by city lad Sarang Vaidya. Vaidya (22) is a classical singer training under Hema Gurjar. He is also a Reiki grandmaster and it was this association with Reiki that had him thinking of music as therapy.

“Music is my passion. So, doing something in the field of music came naturally,” says Vaidya. “Music therapy is an automatic process of inner healing set in motion through the right combinations of sounds that resonate within and fill the space around us.”

The conference was organised by the Nada Centre for Music Therapy, Chennai and held in Hyderabad on July 6 and 7. Vaidya was chosen on the basis of his research paper that was based on his treatment of people using music therapy, along with other forms of treatment.

His paper, he says, is an attempt to find if music therapy, combined with counselling, can cure hypothyroid disorders and associated psychological problems.

In his paper, Vaidya also names ragas which he says can be used in the treatment of some illnesses. “For example, the raga Bhairavi for rheumatic arthritis and sinusitis.”

As for the conference, he says, “The experience was great. My paper was well received and now the organisers will include my paper in a journal on music therapy,”

“I don’t think that music therapy can cure a patient by itself. My paper says that it should accompany some other form of recognised therapy. But I think that music therapy ensures the patient’s peaceful recovery,” says Vaidya. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Call it superstition or desperation. With the rain playing hide and seek, villages in western Maharashtra are looking for strange ways to “please the rain gods” by taking out processions of donkeys and parading naked kids. Amid all this, anti-superstition activists are blaming the government for failing to address the issue effectively.

“It is mid-July and every year by this time, sowing of kharif is over. But this year, we are still waiting for the rain. Now, it’s too late and a good rain won’t help much,” says Raju Chougule, a farmer from Shirol in Kolhapur.

Villagers in Shirol taluka took out a procession of donkeys. The hapless beasts were painted with colours and paraded in the entire village. The womenfolk performed ‘puja’ of the donkeys and while praying for rain.

In some villages kids are being paraded naked with neem leaves tied around their waist. “There is also a tradition of taking out a procession of the village deity and dispel evil out of the village. In many villages, temples is filled with water,” says M.B. Jadhav of Sangli. Such practices are gaining moment in the drought-affected areas of Sangli, Satara and Solapur.

“We desperately need the rain. If the monsoon showers don’t hit the region within eight days, the situation will worsen and it would be difficult for us to survive. The government is taking its own time to announce drought,” says Satara farmer Mohan Patil.

Narendra Dabholkar of the Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Committee for eradication of blind faith) blamed the state government. “Farmers can’t be blamed for the rituals they are performing. It is the responsibility of the government to make provisions to face adversities. The state has faced similar situations before. It has discussed ways to combat drought, but all that remained on paper,” he said.
“I hope the government plans long-term water…More

TOI : PUNE: In a major relief to students ahead of this year’s admissions to engineering and health science courses, the Supreme Court-assigned Shikshan Shulka Samiti (fee fixation panel) has directed all private unaided institutions to charge an interim fee at 80 p.c. and 60 p.c. of last year’s fee for engineering and medical seats, respectively.

The panel, appointed by the state government as per the apex court directives, has set this arrangement until it finalises the fees for 2008-09 for all private unaided engineering and medical colleges.

Post-finalisation, students will have to pay the differential amount, but the instant orders (issued on July 4) provide a relief considering the huge sums charged for professional courses.

For instance, the medical course fee is upward of Rs 3 lakh per annum and varies from college to college vis-a-vis costs incurred. On the scale of Rs 3 lakh, students will have to pay Rs 1.80 lakh as an interim fee for 2008-09. The relief is a cool Rs 1.20 lakh per student till the finalisation of the fee amount.

The panel’s decision is also a departure from the practice over the last two years, of allowing the colleges to effect a 7.5 p.c. ad hoc hike in the fees. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: A former Dehu cantonment member and estate agent Nanasaheb Nagu Dhavare (42) was shot dead in his car by unidentified people at Big India chowk in Nigdi Pradhikaran around 11 am on Friday.

Police suspect property dispute as motive for the murder. Three suspects - Krishna Viran of Sainagar (Dehu Road), Avinash alias Aathwan Arana of Gahunje and Deepak Saisar of Paradhi chawl (Dehu Road) -were detained by the Nigdi police.

Brother of the deceased, Bhausaheb Dhavare, has lodged a complaint in this regard.

On Friday morning, Dhavare was proceeding towards Dehu from Chichwad when an unidentified person seated on the back seat of his car fired two rounds. One bullet pierced his neck and the other his waist. The police suspect that there was one more person sitting alongside the assailant in the car.

On hearing the gunshots, people soon gathered near the car, by which time the two assailants had fled, leaving Dhavare in a pool of blood, the police said.

Dhavare was taken to a private hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. A post-mortem was done at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital in Pimpri. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Four incidents of burglary have been reported from various parts of city, including two in daylight on Wednesday.

According to complaint lodged by Deepika Vadke of Kasba Peth, Some unidentified people broken into her flat on Wednesday morning and fled with gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 87,000.

Meena Jhanvar of Navi Sangvi also had a similar experience. According to her complaint, unidentified people broken into her flat on Wednesday morning and took away cash and ornaments worth Rs 74,000.

In another incident, ornaments worth Rs 1.35 lakh were looted from the flat of K. Shivakumar of Kondhwa road between Sunday afternoon and Wednesday morning when he was away.

Yerawada resident Rajendra Jagtap complained that his flat was burgled between May and July when he was out of
station. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: A magistrate court here has rejected the bail applications of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporator Ravindra Dhangekar and 11 others for allegedly ransacking the Income Tax office at Sadhu Vaswani chowk on July 14.

The MNS activists had prevented candidates from appearing for an examination for the post of a peon at the I-T office and had obstructed the government officials from performing their duties, besides damaging public property. The activists filed bail applications after they were remanded to magisterial custody.

Opposing the bail pleas, the assistant public prosecutor Shilpa Mahatekar told the court that the MNS activists had allegedly conspired the attack on the I-T office as they were armed with sticks.

Mahatekar submitted that the activists had created law and order problems in the city by attacking educational institutes as they were giving admission to candidates from north Indian.

She argued that the activists had prevented the candidates from exercising their constitutional right, that is, appearing for an exam.
Mahatekar also contended that the activists had not extended any co-operation during investigations and said that they may again create problems after bail.

The prosecutor informed the court that the police have invoked section 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code against the activists for criminal conspiracy by planning an attack on the I-T office and prayed to reject the bail applications.
However, defence lawyers appealed to the court to release the accused on bail.JMFC first class S.J. Ansari rejected the bail applications. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: In the backdrop of recent attacks on city colleges, prominent education barons came together on Thursday asking the government to enact a law banning attacks on educational institutes, on the lines of a similar move in Andhra Pradesh that banned attacks on hospitals.

Recently, several colleges were allegedly attacked by supporters of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) demanding priority to Marathi students in admissions.

“We will urge the government to introduce such an enactment,” said Vishwanath Karad, founder head of the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), which was the first to bear the brunt of the onslaught on July 12.
He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh has enacted a law that bans attacks on public institutions like hospitals.

“A similar provision ought to be examined for academic institutions in the state in view of what has happened over the last few days,” Karad emphasised.

At a joint press conference addressed by the heads of various institutions, principal director of Symbiosis International University (SIU) Vidya Yerawadekar said that the institute’s representatives would meet state minister for higher and technical education Dilip Walse-Patil on July 19 to discuss the issue. “We will also move the human resources development minister Arjun Singh, next week,” she said.

Apart from MIT, the Indira Institute of Management at Tathawade; G.H. Raisoni Institute at Wagholi and the Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Dental College were attacked between July 12 and 15.

After maintaining a guided silence and mulling over a common strategy to counter the MNS campaign, the heads of these and other institutions, like the SIU and the D.Y. Patil Deemed University re-grouped and gave a collective response.

A peace march by teaching, non-teaching staff and students from all these institutions has been planned on July 18 from Rani Laxmibai square on J.M. road to the Shaniwarwada at 8.30 am to protest…More

TOI : PUNE: Former deputy commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Ramesh Botalji (60), was almost lynched by a mob after he allegedly shot at a teenager over a land dispute in Kondhwa on Thursday morning.

The former civic official was admitted to the ICU of Bharti hospital and was reported to be serious.

Botalji allegedly fired at one Ramdas Salve, but the bullet pierced through the palm of Salve’s son, Rohit (18). Rohit is being treated at the Ruby Hall Clinic and was reportedly out of danger.

According to Satish Patil, senior inspector of the Haveli police station, Botalji had purchased half an acre of land from Salve at Salve garden a few years ago to start an educational institute. Ramdas Salve claimed that he had sold the land to Botalji at a throwaway price because he was building an educational institute, Patil said.

According to Salve, Botalji later changed his mind and decided to build a residential complex instead. Salve’s opposition to his move lead to several rounds of heated arguments between the two.

On Thursday morning, Botalji had another heated argument with Ramdas, which soon turned into a brawl. When Salve started beating him up, Botalji opened fire from his licensed revolver in self-defence, the police said. However, Rohit came in between and the bullet hit his palm, the police said.

An irate mob soon gathered at the spot and assaulted Botalji with iron rods and stones. He received severe head injuries and was admitted to the hospital.

The Haveli police have booked Botalji and are yet to record his statement, following which the second case will be registered, senior inspector Patil said.

Botalji’s son filed a cross-complaint with the police against Ramdas Salve and his son Rohit late on Thursday evening. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More

TOI : PUNE: Having a toilet at home is still considered unhygienic in rural areas, leading to defecation in fields and open spaces.

The political class too is not above such practice in villages. And what better way to spread the message of hygiene than making it compulsory for a candidate to have a toilet at his residence?

The state government is planning a legislation to disqualify candidates from contesting any elections if they don’t have toilet facilities in their residences.

Celebrating the International Year of Sanitation 2008, a theme promoted by the United Nations (UN) general assembly, the state government will put in all efforts to abolish open defecation in the state.

In an effort to strengthen the sanitation campaign, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has taken keen interest to bring in a law banning candidates from contesting elections if they don’t have toilet facilities in their homes, Mallinath Kalshetti, state co-ordinator of the total sanitation campaign, said on Thursday.

“Deshmukh, while speaking to sanitation campaign activists in Pandharpur recently, assured that he would put in all efforts to bring in such a law,” he said.

The chief minister, who was in Pandharpur for Ashadhi Ekadashi, said the government was keen to enact a law which would make it compulsory for politicians to construct a toilet for their family.

Candidates will have to submit a certificate from the local authority, confirming the same, before filing nomination papers for contesting any polls, Kalshetti quoted Deshmukh as saying.

Kalshetti added that this initiative will help give momentum to rural sanitation efforts. “People imitate leaders and, especially in rural areas, this law would be more effective as even the rich there feel that constructing toilets is a waste of money,” he said. Print EMail DiscussNew B…More