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"The 24x7 water supply is the only answer to the situation likely to develop with the monsoon playing truant," said an NCP leader. "Keeping politics aside, all parties need to support the proposal. The civic administration is of the same view." He added that if the BJP and Shiv Sena continue to oppose the proposal, the NCP would go-ahead with the help of the Congress party.

Congress leaders, earlier staunchly opposed to the proposal, have mellowed after the recent affinity between the two parties. MP Suresh Kalmadi and his team had extended an olive branch to the NCP after the ruling party and the BJP drifted apart over allegations and counter-allegations between Gopinath Munde and Ajit Pawar. "We were never opposed to the scheme," said corporator and city Congress unit Chief Abhay Chajjed. "We had objections to the procedure. If the proper procedure is followed, we will support the NCP on the 24x7 water project."

At the general body meeting on Tuesday, municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi called for a "comprehensive" plan to tackle water scarcity and a technical way to repair leakages in the distribution network.

The scope for the 24x7 water projects comprises water audit and leak detection of the entire water supply system, complete metering for water audit study in a phased manner and zone-wise investment plans for rehabilitation for reduction in leakages and implementation of 24x7 water supply.

The civic administration's proposal to appoint a consultant for the 24x7 water supply is mired in controversy after civic groups and political leaders objected to the tendering process where various companies have come together to form a consortium and work on the project plan. Allegations were made that the consortium had not purchased the tenders at all but were still allotted them by the civic body. Also, questions were raised regarding the fees paid to the consultant.

A fortnight ago, members of mohalla committees, under the aegis of the NSCC, had launched a campaign to save Dhanori lake from being filled with rubble, allegedly being dumped in it by a builder.

"The signatures of 451 citizens from Dhanori, NSCC and nearby areas, supporting the campaign, have already been handed over to municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi. But we want to reach out to more citizens and inform them about what is happening and how insensitively a lake in our city is being destroyed," president of NSCC, Satish Khot said.

The online petition -- http://www.petitiononline. com/DHANORI/petition.html -- is addressed to Pardeshi requesting that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) preserves and conserves Dhanori Lake for the sake of all Punekars.

"Dhanori Lake is a 26-acre reservoir of freshwater. Water from the lake is used by housing societies around it since they are located in a water scarce area. The lake is also home to ducks, fishes and is visited by migratory birds," the petition states.

Two different complaints had been lodged by the bank's manager Janardan Shetty in the incidence which took place last year.

Inspector Nandkumar Pinjan of Pimpri police station said that fake documents of residential proof, pan card and other papers were submitted to the Pimpri branch of the bank from where Rs. 47.53 lakh was obtained for buying twowheelers. All the proposals for the loan were made through one Rahul Kothari, who worked as an agent for the suspects, Pinjan said. The bank gave out the money in July last year.

After realising that the loan repayment was not being done even after a year, the bank initiated an inquiry, it was found that all the documents submitted for the purpose were fake.

Investigations revealed that all the cheques were drawn in favour of `Bora Auto' in Akurdi. However, it was found that no such auto dealer existed in Akurdi, Pinjan said. The suspects had opened a bogus bank account in the name of Bora Auto. The deposited money was withdrawn later from the account.

Crime branch to probe BoM case

Apparently, the offer from the foreign company has various conditions attached and PMPML authorities are still mulling over whether to accept them or not. PMPML authorities will meet with the firm next week to negotiate the conditions, after which a clearer picture will emerge.

The Malaysian offer came in the first week of June, one of six in reply to PMPML's proposal of `buses for ads'. The other five bidders were from India. PMPML had chosen the Malaysian offer, saying it was the `best' offer it has received.

"The 24x7 water supply is the only answer to the situation likely to develop with the monsoon playing truant," said an NCP leader. "Keeping politics aside, all parties need to support the proposal. The civic administration is of the same view." He added that if the BJP and Shiv Sena continue to oppose the proposal, the NCP would go-ahead with the help of the Congress party.

Congress leaders, earlier staunchly opposed to the proposal, have mellowed after the recent affinity between the two parties. MP Suresh Kalmadi and his team had extended an olive branch to the NCP after the ruling party and the BJP drifted apart over allegations and counter-allegations between Gopinath Munde and Ajit Pawar. "We were never opposed to the scheme," said corporator and city Congress unit chief Abhay Chajjed. "We had objections to the procedure. If the proper procedure is followed, we will support the NCP on the 24x7 water project."

At the general body meeting on Tuesday, m u n i c i p a l commissioner P r av i n s i n h Pa rd e s h i called for a "comprehensive" plan to tackle water scarcity and a technical way to repair leakages in the distribution network.

Every year, the PCMC gives a grant of Rs 5,000 to widows or divorced women for self-employment under the scheme of women and child welfare committee. This year, the committee has received 3881 applications for the same.

Speaking to TOI on Monday, Balaji Kamble, assistant commissioner, PCMC, said the department had invited applications from widows and divorced women for getting a grant of Rs 5,000 each. According to the eligibility criteria, the applicant should be a resident of the PCMC limits and her family income should be below Rs 40,000 per annum.

Kamble said duplication of the applicants' names is avoided by recording finger prints of each applicants. Cheques of the grants are likely to be distributed in August and September after the approval of the standing committee.

The PCMC also distributes sewing machines to needy women. For this, the applicants need to complete a three-month course in tailoring from a government-recognised institute and her family's annual income should be less than Rs 40,000 and she should be a resident of the PCMC limits.

A proposal will be tabled before the standing committee on Tuesday seeking approval for purchasing a total of 3,539 sewing machines, at a cost of Rs 1.37 crore. The cost of each sewing machine is Rs 3,885. The machines are to be purchased directly from the company, Kamble said.

The CNG supply would be from the Chinchwad mother station initially to about eight to ten retail outlets (petrol pumps) in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. But for this to happen, the pipeline has to be laid. The work has been pending for want of necessary permissions from the defence authorities.

Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) authorities are optimistic that the work would be completed within a month, following which they would be able to charge the supply line.

The MNGL, a joint venture of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Bharat Petroleum Company Limited (BPCL), has its mother station ready at Chikhali, near Chinchwad.

CNG would be transported in vehicles to the retail outlets. The names of the outlets have been finalized and work of installing the necessary compressors and dispensers at the outlets has already begun, MNGL authorities told TOI.

Sopan Shankar Jagtap of Belsar village -- known for its tomatoes -- in Purandar taluka usually sows the vegetable in June and July on a part of his nine-acre land. But with rain disappearing this year, he did not bother with the sowing. His land is lying barren, as is the condition of nearly 300 acres where tomatoes are grown in this village.

This does not augur well for Pune's tomato supply. Narayangaon, the other tomato-growing hub, is fighting water scarcity as well. Everyday, around 200 tonnes of tomatoes land at the Agriculture Marketing Produce Committee (APMC) market at Gultekdi, which may well stop arriving two weeks down the line because of the present break in the monsoon.

Dealers at the APMC market informed that the price line of Rs 5-6 per kg in wholesale (around Rs 10 in retail) for tomatoes will not hold for long. This may well be the story for other vegetables as well as sowing of crops, including vegetables, has not really succeeded in most parts of the district with no dam releasing water for irrigation purposes.

"The tomato crop, which is sown by June in some parts, begins arriving from the first week of August. Because of the water scarcity this year everywhere, including Koregaon and Kumte in Satara, there will be a shortage in the coming months. Pune is dependent on parts of Satara, the Narayangaon-Manchar-Chakan-Rajgurunagar belt and Shikrapur on Nagar Road for tomatoes, none of which have had much of rain this time around," said APMC market tomato and onion dealer Ganesh Shedge. He said that the prices of onions have already increased in the past 15 days to Rs 11 per kg in wholesale and Rs 15 per kg in retail.

Pune depends on Purandar taluka for peas as well, the supply of which is expected to be affected, said former APMC President Shekar Kunjeer. "However, even if there are rains in the next fortnight, some amount of sowing can take place although it will take three months for it to harvest," he explained.

Some vegetables like potatoes and cabbage may come from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively and help meet demand. If there is supply from these states in future, cauliflower prices may increase, Shedge said. "Green chillies, too, may come from Indore.

During the kharif season, some amount of beans also comes from outside. However, it depends on supply and demand conditions a couple of weeks down the line, when we will know," said another APMC market dealer Ramdas Gaikwad.

The bilingual portal in Marathi and English will provide accurate information to Internet users through news on crime, politics, city, infrastructure, entertainment, culture, business, sports and features. It also has sections like kids zone, real estate, and shopping among others. To compete with time, this portal is updating the information and photographs, daily with 11 to 12 updates.

The site will carry information of not only from Pimpri and Chinchwad, but also will cover areas from Khadki to Lonavala.

The web-portal aims at focussing on locals, migrants, businessmen, students and other media organisations.

"The bilingual portal is the first of its kind in the world," says PCIPL managing director Yogesh Wani. He adds, "The best thing about the portal is that it is very informative in the sense that it allows net users to send in their valuable comments, grievances, photographs and even articles. We want to give the best content and other allied information to the end users. "

The website has been designed aesthetically and is sure to appeal to the users. The web portal is user-friendly and will provide information to the target audience at the click of a button.

This expansion in the hospitality business is taking place on account of the massive growth that India is likely to witness in the coming years. Currently, India's travel and tourism industry is estimated at 6.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) -- below the world average of 9.9%.

The capacity for star-rated rooms in India is far shorter than its demand, and cities are now evolving from a single-business district to multiple-business districts, as growth spreads and cities get bigger. Moreover, new growth centres are emerging in previously untouched markets such as Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Pune and West Bengal, among others. This has greatly expanded the market for star-rated hotel accommodation in the country.

SEGMENT-WISE BREAK-UP :
 The hospitality industry is divided into four segments: luxury, leisure, business and budget hotels. Major hotel chains like Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), Hotel Leela and ITC Hotels are aiming for a presence in most of these segments.

For instance, the market leader, IHCL, is following an integrated approach to offer rooms at all price points and in almost all million-plus cities in the country. This is being complemented by setting up hotels at strategic locations across the globe. The company plans to double its room inventory to over 20,000 in 3-5 years. This includes around 3,000 rooms under the `Ginger' brand, which is IHCL's budget chain of hotels.

Meanwhile, ITC Hotels is using a mix of owned investment and franchisee model to take a shot at market leadership. The company offers a choice of over 90 hotels across 77 destinations in India under four different brands -- ITC Hotels, Welcome Group, Fortune and Welcome Heritage. It also has four properties under the Sheraton franchise, which adds up to an inventory of 6,000-plus rooms, with half of the room inventory being at the premium end.

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The website will give information for employers, pensioners and employees on the status of the their claims like form no. 19, 10-c, 10-d, form no-31 etc along with the details of the cheque / PPO.

Other details that will also be available in the website include details on the transfer of provident fund accumulations of the members from one PF account number to another PF account number, the status of pension cases, the eligibility , entitlement and conditions including documents required for claiming various advances and final withdrawals from the fund, common defects noticed while filing the claim forms, how to download claim forms like form no-19, 10-c, 10-d, 20, 5-IF, 13 and 31 from the website, pension details, statutory provisions and the benefits available under the three schemes wrt employees provident fund scheme, employees pension scheme and employees deposit linked insurance scheme.

The website also gives information on the list of all the establishments registered with the EPFO, list of major defaulting establishments, structure of filing returns in form 3-A, status of payment made by the establishments to the fund, amendments, notifications, rules etc.

The innovative initiative would be first introduced for Central Ministries and then expanded to include all Government organisations and bodies that come under the ambit of the RTI Act. Not only the applications but also the first and second appeals would be filed over phone. The facility would first begin for only applications and then expanded to appeals.

A call centre to be set up would be given a unique telephone number. The helpline is likely to be started within this financial year. It would have trained executives who would be well-versed with framing RTI applications. All that an applicant would have to do is just call that number and pose his questions. The executive would take down the questions and give the applicant a reference number to follow up his case. This application would then be forwarded to the concerned Ministry. A RTI application fee of Rs 10 would come on the telephone bill of the applicant. Apart from this, the applicant would just have to pay normal call charges for the time he has spoken over the phone to the executive.

In the workshop, the senior citizens, mostly hailing from poor families, were given talks on daily health by the husband-wife duo of Seema and Shripad Dabak, former professors at the B.J. Medical College, while Alka Wadkar from the University's psychology department spoke to them about day-to-day psychology. Later, the seniors were also treated to a variety entertainment programme.

The joy on the faces of the senior citizens had to be seen to be believed. Shashikala Kamble, a 60-plus mother of four, stitches clothes in her small home for a living.

Shashikala told TOI, "My husband, a government servant, went missing some 10 years ago. So far, there is no trace of him. The government    refuses to employ my son in his place and hence he works as a courier boy in a small firm. My older son drives an auto rickshaw in Solapur. This University workshop pulled me away from my daily drudgery and also gave me tips on how to control my temper and live happily with my daughter-in-law. I am indebted to the university."

Saying that the district is facing a scarcity-like situation, Pawar urged citizens to use water frugally and avoid wastage.

The water levels in the dams supplying water to Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad areas would be reviewed on July 30 and August 31, he said. The water cut might increase or reduce considering the rains and water levels. The water cut might rise up to 30 per cent if the scarcity-like situation continues after July 30. "At present, Pune receives 12 TMC water from four dams, namely, Temghar, Varasgaon, Panshet and Khadakwasla. All the dams have registered water levels below 30 per cent, which is substantially less than the water levels registered last year."

As per the proposal, various goods required by industries in SEZ projects were to be exempt from octroi for a period of five years. The proposal was initiated in view of the first SEZ being developed in the township. The SEZ by Syntel Corporation Ltd is coming up on a 16-hectare plot near Talawade in PCMC limits.

The octroi concession proposal states that while the PCMC framed its octroi rules in 2001, there has been no provision for allowing octroi concession for SEZ developers, and for all units which are part of that project.