| 2009-07-29 | Automobile thieves arrested
Thane police have busted three gangs of alleged automobile thieves and recovered 9 cars, 15 motorcycles, 6 auto-rickshaws and jewellery from them. Acting on a tip-off the Kalyan anti-extortion cell (unit 3) intercepted Ravindra Tiwari and Prabhakar Farde-Shelar on July 21. According to the police, the duo was driving a golden Maruti Swift and was on their way to loot a petrol pump in Ulhasnagar. Their interrogation led to the arrest of Surendra Choudhary alias Balaram (35) from Thakurli. The police recovered 5 cars and 7 motor cycles from the three accused. With the arrest of these three, the police cracked nine vehicle theft cases lodged at Vitalwadi, Shanti Nagar, Badlapur, and MFC police stations.
The accused had a unique modus operandi to steal the vehicles, said the police. The gang would flick keys from the service centers and put them back after making a duplicate one. The accused would then follow the vehicle and steal it from the parking lot using the duplicate keys.
In a parallel development, Ulhasnagar crime branch (unit 4) had arrested Munj Gauda (45), a resident of Santacruz and Mahesh alias Raghunath Shetty (29), a resident of Diwa and recovered two stolen Maruti Esteem cars, one Maruti 800 and two Tavera. The anti-extortion cell busted a seven-member gang of automobile thieves and recovered 8 motorcyles, 6 auto rickshaw and 110 gram gold jewellery from them. |  | | 2009-07-18 | The right signals
Hundreds of school children benefited from the safety guidance camp organised by the Honda Company through its dealership branch in Ulhasnagar, VJ Honda. This camp was inaugurated at New English High School, Ulhasnagar on Friday, July 10.
"Shaken up by the recent rise in the figures of accidental deaths, Honda has imported CBS 50, 49 cc bikes from Japan. These bikes have been sent across the Asian zone for training children in the age group of 6-14 years," informs Manoj Lalwani, the owner of VJ Honda.
Children at this session were educated about the importance of safety through signboards and charts. They were also given practical driving lessons with the help of trained professionals. "Riding being largely associated with males, we were surprised to see the enthusiasm amongst girl students. They were faster learners and knew the basics of driving and traffic rules already," says Manoj.
Lalwani approached RTO for association in this training camp but could not get their support. He went ahead and has already taken this camp to three schools in Ulhasnagar and Kalyan. He has further approached several schools for this camp and is very positive about their response.
"The schools that have allowed us to conduct this camp in their premises have given us overwhelming response and are requesting us to repeat the session already," informs Manoj.
"Such initiatives will give a lot of exposure to the students, who are the future citizens of this nation. They will become safe drivers right from their inception," said Prakash Gurnani, Principal, New English High School. |  | | 2009-07-16 | Teachers strike enters day two
Wednesday was every bunking student?s dream come true as teachers of most Mumbai University colleges did not turn up for work due to the ongoing strike. The heavy downpour on day one of the strike had played a major role in ensuring that colleges remained shut.
On Wednesday, majority of the permanent teachers were on leave. However, lectures for unaided courses that do not fall under the purview of the government with regard to the appointment of teachers, their salary structure et al, took place as usual.
?With the exception of a couple of teachers, majority of the teachers have not reported for work. The problems faced by the teachers? are genuine. Besides the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, which has been implemented in other states, there is also lack of clarity on the qualifications for the appointment of teachers for aided courses. Why should teachers in Maharashtra suffer? asked Kirti Narayan, Principal, Jai Hind College.
Dr Naresh Chandra, former pro vice-chancellor and principal of Birla College at Kalyan said that permanent teachers in his college are participating in the strike. ?Some of the problems faced by the teachers need to be addressed immediately,? said Dr Chandra.
Dr Chandra, the president of the principal?s association, said that he had written to the Chief Minister, deputy CM and education minister asking them to look into the issues raised by the teachers with a 360 degree perspective.
?All the permanent teachers in our college have joined the strike. The government should consider the demands of the teachers,? said Ancy Jose, Principal, Nagindas Khandwala College, Malad.
HR College of Commerce and Smt CHM College at Ulhasnagar were the only two colleges where teachers did not participate in the strike. ?While the entire teaching faculty has endorsed the demands, our teachers did not want to disturb work. However, from Thursday, the teachers will wear a black band to express solidarity with the cause,? said Indu Shahani, Principal, HR College.
Dinesh Panjwani, Principal Smt CHM College Ulhasnagar said, ?We have created a different kind of initiative where the teachers are lobbying in their individual capacity with influential persons to highlight the genuine problems faced by them,? said Panjwani.
Bombay University College Teachers? Union (BUCTU), the largest body representing the teaching fraternity, had given the call for strike and was scheduled to meet the Minister of State for Education Rajesh Tope on Wednesday.
BUCTU president C R Sadasivan said that the strike will continue on Thursday when another meeting with the minister will take place. |  |
|
|
