Pune Apr 20 PTI At least 12 shops were gutted in a fire that broke out in Kharadi are in Maharashtras Pune district on Wednesday morning officials said No casualties were reported in the incident said Fire Brigade officials The blaze erupted in Ubale Nagar locality around 930 AM and soon engulfed nearby shops Six water tankers extinguished the fire by 1030 AM an official said The cause of the fire is under investigation PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Mar 28 PTI In order to save lives on roads in Pune Tactical Urbanism Trials TUL were launched at the Undri Chowk and Khadi Machine Chowk on the citys outskirts an organisation said on Monday These trials are being conducted by the Save LIFE Foundation in association with the Pune Municipal Corporation and the Pune traffic police branch A release issued by Save Life Foundation said that these two black spots- Undri Chowk and Khadi Machine Chowk- had collectively witnessed over 90 road crashes between 2017 and 2019 Tactical Urbanism TU trials are temporary quick and relatively low-cost interventions that test out urban design transportation planning and infrastructural changes for improving road safety for all road users especially the most vulnerable like pedestrians cyclists and other non-motorised transport NMT users the Foundation said in a release Once the interventions are proven the relevant government agencies are expected to make them permanent Tactical Urbanism trials TUL at these two blackspots were done with the support of Mahindra and Mahindra The Pune trials include reclaiming spaces to create a wider more continuous public realm including safer walkways traffic islands pedestrian refuges and shorter safer and more comfortable crossings The other interventions include orienting and pre-informing users through wayfinding and signages and geometric correction through T junctions to streamline traffic Vikram Kumar Municipal Commissioner Pune said For pedestrian safety Save LIFE Foundation and Pune Municipal Corporation are jointly working to improve the black spots in Pune The purpose of this pilot Tactical Urbanism project at Undri Chowk Pune is to make this intersection safer for both pedestrians and cyclists PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Mar 28 PTI Maharashtra education department has stated that schools for classes 1 to nine and 11 of the state board will function full day till April 30 to compensate for the academic loss caused to students due to COVID-19 a decision that will affect the summer vacation schedule of students Generally annual exams of classes 1 to 9 get over by April 15 and vacation starts thereafter The GR issued by I M Kazi joint secretary Maharashtra government has directed schools to function full day on Saturdays instead of half-day and voluntarily on Sundays It also stated that exams of classes 1 to 9 and 11 should be taken in the third week of April and results declared by May Harishchandra Gaikwad president of the Pune District Principals Association said the government should have issued this GR by February-end Schools have already completed preparations for conducting exams and released a timetable he said adding that many parents have planned their summer vacations accordingly In this GR the education department has asked schools to declare results by May but no date has been given Had there been a deadline it would have been easy for schools to plan Gaikwad said In the normal course exams for schools under the Maharashtra state board get over by April 15 and thereafter vacations begin Now with this new GR students will have to come to schools till the end of April he added Terming the GR ambiguous Gaikwad said that instead of issuing a GR the state education department should have advanced school opening dates to June 7 or 8 instead of June 15 for the new academic session PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Mar 27 PTI MPs from various parties are on a two-day visit to Baramati in Pune district of Maharashtra to study various development works Baramati is the home turf of Nationalist Congress Party NCP president Sharad Pawar MPs from various parties came to Baramati on a two-day study tour to see various development works executed by Ajit Pawar and the Baramati model which was put forth by NCP chief Sharad Pawar said Baramati MP Supriya Sule daughter of the NCP chief on Sunday The delegation of MPs visited various works in the fields of education agriculture artificial intelligence innovation and investment in MIDC areas she said The MPs deliberated on various aspects of these projects and their implementation PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Oct 25 PTI A 54-year-old man was arrested by the police for allegedly faking his death by killing a mentally unstable man in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra with a snakebite to claim insurance money worth USD 5 million from a firm in the USA where he used to live earlier an official said on Monday Police have arrested four persons for helping the main accused in planning and executing the killing of the mentally unstable man 50 The alleged incident had occurred in Rajur village in Akole tehsil of the Ahmednagar district in April this year The main accused Prabhakar Waghchoure had lived with his family in the US for the last 20 years He had taken a life insurance worth USD 5 million from an American firm said Manoj Patil Superintendent of Police Ahmednagar The accused came to India in January 2021 and started living at his in-laws place at Dhamangaon Pat a village in the Ahmednagar district he said Waghchoure allegedly hatched a conspiracy to kill a mentally unstable man and involved Sandip Talekar Harshad Lahamage Harish Kulal and Prashant Choudhary by promising them money Waghchoure then moved to Rajur village and started living at a rented accommodation He along with other accused procured a venomous snake and made the reptile bite the deceased After ensuring that he is dead they rushed him to a hospital where they posed themselves as the kin of the deceased and registered his name as Prabhakar Waghchoure said Patil They told authorities that the deceased had come from the USA and had been staying in the village with his family members They procured the death certificate and other legal documents and sent them to the USA where his son filed for insurance Back here Waghchoure and others even performed the last rites of the man the SP said He said the US-based firm grew suspicious as Waghchoure had tried to cheat them in the past as well The firm then sent investigators to India to verify the claim and approached us he said He said that during the investigation the entire conspiracy was revealed We have arrested Waghchoure from Vadodara in Gujrat Subsequently the other four were also arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code IPC including murder the police officer added PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Oct 18 PTI Police arrested four persons for allegedly trying to sell mephentermine sulphate injections used for growing muscles illegally here in Maharashtra an official said on Monday A total of 211 injections were recovered from all the four accused who were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code IPC and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act A trap was laid on a tip-off that a person was coming to sell these injections without any prescription in the Bibwewadi area on Saturday The person was apprehended and six bottles were seized from him Three others were arrested after their names cropped up during his investigation a Bibwewadi police station officer said PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Sep 27 PTI Police here in Maharashtra arrested two men in separate incidents for allegedly accepting bets on the Indian Premier League IPL matches being held in Dubai and seized Rs 92 lakh an officer said on Monday He said two teams conducted raids on Sunday During a raid conducted at a housing society Ganesh Bhutada 50 was found taking bets on an IPL match Rs 92 lakh a note counting machine and phones were found in his possession he said Separately Ashok Jain 48 was picked up for allegedly running an online betting den and was found taking bets during an IPL tie Both of them were arrested and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code IPC and the Prevention of Gambling Act Further investigation is on the officer added PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Sep 19 PTI For the second year in a row Lord Ganeshs idols were immersed without public processions on the last day of the ten-day festival here in Maharashtra on Sunday because of COVID-19 restrictions Amid chants of Ganpati bappa morya idols of the five Manache prominent Ganpati- Kasba Ganesh Tambdi Jogeshwari Guruji Talim Tulshibaug and Kesari Wada- were immersed in artificial tanks set up at their respective pandals As per the tradition the idol of Kasba Ganesh the first manacha Ganpati was placed in a palanquin which was carried amidst the chants of Ganpati Bappa Moraya It was immersed in the decorated water tank in the pandal premises Keeping the restrictions in mind and the scare of COVID-19 we simply celebrated the whole festival As Kasba Mandal believes in discipline the immersion took place in the presence of ten devotees at the pandal premises said Shrikant Shete one of the trustees of the mandal Kasba Ganapati is a gramdaivat town deity of Pune city and is thus called the first manacha Ganapati Shete said many devotees preferred virtual darshan of Lord Ganesh in the last ten days in view of curbs on social gatherings We received a huge response to the virtual darshan facility Over three lakh views of devotees were recorded on the social media platforms Shete added Besides Kasba Ganesh idols of Lord Ganesh from the other four Mandals were immersed at their respective pandals by 2 pm Meanwhile police seized dhol and other musical instruments outside the Tulshibaug mandal as some devotees gathered there started dancing and tried to take out a procession As some devotees started playing dhols and other instruments we immediately stopped them said Ravindra Shisave joint commissioner of police law and order He said all the mandals are cooperating with the administration by adhering to the COVID-19 rules and regulations In normal times big processions are taken out on the last day of the festival called Anant Chaturdashi All shops under the non-essential category remained closed in the municipal corporation limits of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad and in three cantonment areas on Sunday to avoid crowding on roads PTI SPK NSK NSK

Pune Aug 23 PTI Olympic gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and other service Olympians were felicitated by the southern command here in Maharashtra a defence PRO said Army Commander Southern Command Lt Gen J S Nain AVSM SM felicitates service Olympians including NeerajChopra at Pune and encouraged them to achieve greater success and bring more glories to the Army and the Nation the PRO Defence Pune tweeted on Monday On Sunday Chopra who is subedar in the Indian Army was welcomed on his arrival in Pune He will be felicitated at the Army Sports Institute ASI in Pune at the hands of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh According to a release issued by the defence PRO the visit of the defence minister and the felicitation ceremony at the ASI is likely to take place on August 27 Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Rajnath Singhs visit to the ASI was deferred to Tuesday due to unavoidable circumstances and any inconvenience is deeply regretted It had noted that all armed forces personnel who represented India in the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics including javelin thrower Chopra are likely to be present on the occasion PTI SPK NSK NSK