Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths on charges of trying
to sneak in foreign currency and other valuables at the International
airport here, sources said on Sunday.

Avinansh Bhosale, who arrived here on Saturday night from London, was
being interrogated by a DRI team after he failed to declare the goods,
the department sources said.

Bhosale, who owns a five-star hotel in Pune, is known for his palatial
bungalow there and use of a Beel helicopter, for which he has a helipad
at the bungalow.

Singh Kohli, the endless wait for rectification of discrepancies in his
pension seems to be finally over.

Kohli, who retired from the Army on July 29, 1949, has been drawing a
pension of Rs 2,373, including a basic of Rs 1,275, which is less than
that of a sepoy. Among the oldest surviving soldiers to have served in
British and later Indian Army, controller of defence accounts pensions
(CADP), Allahabad, has assured Kohli that his pension discrepancies will
be sorted out.

Zilla sainik welfare officer Pune, Lt. Col. Shirish Karasgi (retd), who

Institute reserves 7% OBC seats this year (235 candidates), will reach
27% target by 2009-2010; 825 OBC applications already in for PG courses

NEW DELHI, MAY 26:Its law stayed by the Supreme Court, the Government
hasn’t been able to implement 27% OBC quotas in its higher-education
institutions, including IITs and IIMs. Its law on OBC quotas for private
institutions is also on hold pending the court’s decision. And yet a
private university has gone ahead and implemented the quota plan from
this academic year itself, showing the way to voluntary affirmative action.

Pune, June 15: Maharashtra has added one more feather to its cap by registering an overall growth of 62.32 per cent in Information Technology (IT) sector during the last financial year 2006-07, the highest in the country.

This was stated by P Venugopalan, Director (Maharashtra) of STPI Department of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

New Delhi: About $12,000 was all it took JS Bhasin, the owner of Pune-based Preet Mandir, to break all Central Adoption Resource Agency guidelines and offer babies to dollar-rich NRIs.

"Well, earlier it was $6K, $7K, $8K, but now it's $12K." These were the rates Bhasin had quoted for children in a CNN-IBN Special Investigation, which had exposed the rot in inter-country adoptions from India. After the CNN-IBN investigation, there was public outrage and cover-ups.

Pune, June 16: Discussions on topics as varied as censorship and citizen’s journalism, ‘Blogcamp Pune’ — Pune’s first blog unconference held at Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology (SCIT) — was attended by over 120 bloggers — both the recent converts and the veterans — from Pune, Mumbai and Goa.

The one-day unconference being the city’s first blogger-targeted event, there were informal discussions peppered with tech-talk. It also provided a platform for unmasking new-age concepts aimed at the net-savvy generation.

Pune, June 16: Infosys Technologies has emerged as the biggest software exporter from Pune in 2006-07. The company has recorded exports of Rs 2,519 crore from the city in 2006-07 as compared to Rs 1,419.96 crore in 2005-06. “Infosys is the No 1 company in Pune and has been the largest contributor to the city’s exports year on year for the last four years,” P Venugopal, director, Maharashtra, STPI said. “The top-20 companies account for 60 per cent of the total exports from Pune in 2006-07. Out of the top-20 ranking IT service companies in India, 11 have presence in Pune.

PUNE: A five-year-old boy, who fell into a borewell while playing at a village in Shirur taluka of the district on Sunday, died in a hospital after being rescued, official sources said.

Sonu Shivaji Deshmukh was trapped at about 20-feet inside the 150-feet narrow borewell since 1030 hours after falling into it.

He was rescued after a seven-hour ordeal and immediately taken to a hospital in Shirur in an unconscious state where the boy died at about 1800 hours, Tehsildar Udaysinh Bhonsale said.

PUNE: All students in the six primary schools run by the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) will henceforth be provided with free uniforms, books and medical check-up twice a year and reference to special treatment if needed.

This is part of a new policy on education and schools introduced by the board with effect from this academic year.

The PCB has six primary schools functioning under its education branch besides four high schools in Pune Camp. Around 2,500 students in the primary schools, who are mostly from poor socio-economic backgrounds, will benefit from this scheme.

Pune, June 17: NOTED water expert and former chairman of Maharashtra State Water Commission Madhavrao Chitale on Sunday called for immediate control of unplanned urbanisation that was resulting in cities like Pune encroaching upon the surrounding irrigated land, which he described as a ‘social sin’.

Chitale was speaking to the media during a field visit to Panshet-Varasgaon dams vicinity organised by Pune Union of Working Journalists (PUWJ).