Pune Apr 25 PTI Former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole died due to cardiac failure at his residence in Maharashtras Pune city on Monday family sources said He was 85 Before taking voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in March 1993 Godbole served as the Union home secretary He had also worked as the secretary of Petroleum Natural Gas and Urban Development Departments at the Centre and principal finance secretary of the Maharashtra government Godbole had also penned over 20 books on policy decisions He is survived by his wife Sujata son Rahul daughter Meera and their extended families PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Mar 30 PTI A woman from a village in Maharashtra showed exemplary grit and saved her husband from the clutches of a leopard while fighting valiantly with the feline Showing no sign of fear in such a situation Sanjana Pawade who is in her late 30s grabbed the leopards tail and pulled it back following which the carnivore lost its grip on the man and the latter got saved forest officials said on Wednesday while lauding the womans bravery The incident took place at Darodi village of Parner tehsil in Ahmednagar district on the intervening night of March 25 and 26 they said While her family members were fast asleep Sanjana sensed the presence of a leopard outside their house She woke up her husband Gorakh Dashrath Pawade who went out to check The leopard then suddenly jumped on the man and attack him forest guard Hari Athare told PTI While the leopard tried to catch hold of the mans back Sanjana rushed and grabbed the animals tail and tried to pull it back As she was trying to free her husband from the leopards clutches the victims father and their pet dog also arrived there Gorakhs father started hitting the leopard with sticks and granite tiles and the dog also attacked the leopard The leopard lost its grip on the man who then ran away from the animal Athare said Generally a leopard grabs a person or another animal by the neck But in this incident the victim also kept fighting and saved his neck from being caught by the feline the forest guard said The man suffered head and arm injuries He was taken to a hospital where he was provided treatment and later discharged he added Talking to reporters Sanjana said It was a horrific situation but when I saw the leopard attacking my husband I gathered my strength and courage I grabbed the animals tail and tried to pull it back PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Mar 30 PTI The Pune police have registered a case against a film casting director for allegedly raping a female backstage artist an official said on Wednesday The accused allegedly got into a physical relationship with the victim by blackmailing her a few years ago when she was 17 years old the official from Vishrantwadi police station here in Maharashtra said After being fed up of the continuous harassment by the accused the victim who is now 21 informed about it to her parents who approached the police Based on their complaint the police on Tuesday registered a case against the accused under relevant Indian Penal Code sections including 376 rape and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act the official said The accused has not yet been arrested the police said adding that an investigation is on into the case PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Mar 30 PTI Police have seized cash worth Rs 4 crore from a car near Lonavla hill town in Maharashtras Pune district and informed the Income Tax department after the vehicles occupants claimed the money belonged to a bullion trader an official said on Wednesday The seizure was made on Tuesday morning when the car was heading from neighbouring Mumbai to Sangli he said We had received information that cash and a weapon were being transported following which the police intercepted the car during a nakabandi blockade near Lonavla Our team did not find any weapon but seized the cash concealed in one of the car sections Superintendent of Police Pune rural Abhinav Deshmukh said When enquired two occupants of the car told the police that the cash belonged to a bullion trader from Sangli he said We have informed the I-T department to probe whether it is unaccounted money The seized cash will not be released till the I-T department gives us a clearance the official said PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Mar 29 PTI A bus conductor allegedly molested a 17-year-old girl here in Maharashtra while she was going home after school in a public bus a police official said on Tuesday The incident took place on Monday following which the police arrested the 31-year-old conductor of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd said the official who is investigating the case While the girl was on her way home after school the conductor allegedly molested her in the bus The girl then raised an alarm and informed her parents who subsequently approached the police the official said The accused was arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act the police added PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Mar 24 PTI An 11-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by an unidentified person in a private school premises here in Maharashtra police said on Thursday The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon in Shivajinagar area they said An unidentified person took the girl to a toilet in the school premises where he allegedly assaulted her sexually and then fled The girl later informed her friends about the incident The school then informed her parents and police Shivajinagar police stations senior inspector Anita More said A case was registered against the unidentified culprit under Indian Penal Code Section 376 rape and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act the official said The police were conducting a probe into the case and examining CCTV footage of the school premises the official added PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Jan 24 PTI A massive fire broke out at a chemical plant in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra on Monday morning but there was no report of any casualty fire brigade officials said The blaze erupted in the unit located in a textile industrial estate on the outskirts of Ichalkaranji city in Kolhapur district about 250 km from Pune Four fire tankers were rushed to the spot by 730 am and the blaze was doused by 11 am an official from Ichalkaranji fire station said The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained he added PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Dec 28 PTI Three pedestrians were killed after a mini-truck knocked them down on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Maharashtras Pune city on Tuesday morning police said The truck which was going towards Satara also hit two to three other vehicles on the road they said The accident took place around 9 am in Narhe area Sinhgad road police stations inspector P Waghmare said After reaching Bhumkar chowk in Narhe area the mini-truck first knocked down three pedestrians The driver then reversed the truck and it hit two to three other vehicles he said The three victims died on the spot the official said PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Dec 27 PT At least 13 students of an engineering college in Pune city of Maharashtra have tested positive for coronavirus an official from the institution said on Monday All these students currently in the third year of the engineering course are largely asymptomatic and isolated at home said Prashant Dave registrar of the MIT World Peace University to which the institution is affiliated As we follow strict measures we screen our students at the main gate of the institution During the screening one student was found to be having runny nose and he was immediately sent back and his parents were asked to get his RT-PCR test done the official said After the students test report came out positive for the coronavirus his close contacts were traced he said A group of 25 students including the index case the first student who tested positive was part of a team which was preparing for a national level competition and working together on an all-terrain vehicle at the college workshop So all the close contacts were traced isolated and subjected to the RT-PCR tests So far 13 students have tested positive eight are negative and results of four students are awaited the official said All the infected students are in home isolation and they are largely asymptomatic he said We are keeping a close watch on their health and are constantly in touch with the families the official said All the 25 students who underwent the tests were fully vaccinated he said As a precautionary measure the offline classes of this particular batch have been shifted to the online mode he added PTI SPK GK GK

Pune Dec 19 PTI Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said there are challenges like narcotics arms smuggling fake notes and infiltration before the countrys internal security but a lot of things can be done and conviction rate in crime cases can be increased with the help of forensic science laboratories FSLs He said there is a need to expand the capacity building for forensic science in the country so as to raise the conviction rate in crime cases Shah on Sunday visited the Central Forensic Science Laboratory at Talegaon in Maharashtras Pune district where he inaugurated a new campus of the facility He also visited a unit of the National Disaster Response Force where he interacted with the NDRF personnel and had lunch with the forces jawans Addressing a joint event on the NDRF campus in Talegaon Shah lauded the forces work during natural disasters like floods cyclones or a building collapse Referring to the importance of forensic science he said There are several challenges for the internal security such as narcotics arms smuggling fake notes infiltration but with the help of FSLs we will be able to do a lot of things Citing an example of a state-of-the-art forensic science laboratory in Gujarat Shah said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the states chief minister he had rigorously followed up the establishment of the FSL and as a result the facility has now become a recognised institution across the world When the expansion of FSL infrastructure was happening in Gujarat the scarcity of expert forensic science manpower was felt As there was no college or university for forensic science in the country Modiji envisaged the idea of setting up the National Forensic Sciences University and now the university is functioning in Gujarat he said The Union minister said every state should set up a dedicated college for forensic science and affiliate such institution with this university Some states have already started the work and some proposals for colleges have also come forward he noted Once there is at least one college in a state for forensic science there will be no dearth of expert manpower required for the forensic science laboratories as people who step out from these colleges will fulfill the requirement he said Shah also pointed out that the conviction rate in crime cases in India was quite less compared to elsewhere in the world Our aim should be to increase this rate If we want to control crime it is not possible till we punish the criminals The work of awarding punishment to criminals will take place when we have a place for scientific evidence in the process of investigation and prosecution and these things are not possible unless we have a chain of FSLs in the country he said There will be trained manpower with more colleges of forensic science he said With more manpower we could set up more FSLs in the country at the state and district levels which will cover police stations If we do this in next five to six years we could bring about a legal transformation in the country and we could make FSL mobile facilities available for cases having provision of punishment of six years and above Shah said If such a position is achieved the conviction rate in crime cases in the country will increase by leaps and bounds and it will help keep the crime rate in control and strengthen the internal security the Union home minister said With the help of technology it will be ensured that scientific evidence directly reaches courts through the electronic way he said We will create a system in which courts and FSLs will be connected and no prosecutor or person will say that the report from FSL is pending It will directly reach the court records and a copy will be sent to the police station concerned and investigation agencies he said Shah said a lot of delay in the legal system will be addressed when such a system comes into operation PTI SPK GK GK