COMPANY THAT DEFAULTED ON DAIRY TENDER HAS SHUT DOWN -- by Mid-Day

INVESTIGATIONS into the 2010 procurement of glycolchilling machine worth Rs 60 lakh for Aarey Dairy, Goregaon, which hasn’t yet been installed, has taken a twist. This paper has learnt that the firm that was to supply and install the machinery after bagging the tender floated by the dairy, has been shut since a month.

On Monday, when a MiD DAY team visited Hammersmith Industrial Estate, Mahim, where Premier Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Pvt Ltd occupies an office at unit no 215, the unit was found locked. Inquiries with other occupants in the complex revealed that a month ago, recovery officers from NKGSB bank had sealed the said unit over non- clearance of their debts.

People who witnessed the premises being sealed told MiD DAY, “ The bank sealed the premises and pasted a notice on the shutter, mentioning that the property was being sealed because of non- payment of a sum of over Rs 1.80 crore ( which includes an interest compounded loan amount of roughly Rs 73 lakh).” But no such notice was seen on the shutter on Monday.

Eyewitnesses said the notice and the seal was missing since day two of the bank action and that someone had removed it without the bank’s permission.

Inquiries revealed that the company was floated by Rajendra Thosar, managing director and CEO, a decade ago.

Thosar is also secretary of Hammersmith Industrial Estate.

A businessman who has an office in the building said, “ Thosar and his family would run the business from the office unit here. We were unaware of his debts until the premises were sealed.” Another occupant said, “ Apart from the bank debt, Thosar has not cleared the society dues of Rs 35,000. He hasn’t even paid the tea vendor for the last few months.” The tea vendor in question said, “ I am yet to be paid Rs 8,000. The shutters on the office went down one fine day, just like that.” Society manager Deepak Tawde said, “ Since Thosar’s office has been shut, unknown people have started visiting our premises asking us about his whereabouts. They say his phones are not reachable and that they had to recover some dues from him.” Meanwhile, the Dairy Development Commissioner’s office has started an extensive probe into the tendering process of the glycol machine and the subsequent allotment of tender.

Dairy officer’s defence

Veerkar told MiD DAY that the reason for procuring the machine was to ensure that the chilling of milk is maintained at two degrees Celsius, which would reduce other overhead expenses. But till now, the machine hasn’t been installed and milk is being chilled at 8 degrees Celsius. Moreover, milk production at Aarey has fallen drastically over time. The existing production at the Goregaon unit is between 27,000 and 30,000 litres per day.

When we tried to get some answers from officials who were part of the tender process and are under probe, namely S R Veerkar, D D Kulkarni, controller ( transport), N T Badgujar, deputy engineer, G D Rakhunde, Aarey dairy engineer, C B Kajale, deputy engineer, P K Rajput, retired dairy manager, Aarey Goregaon.

Almost all claimed they had no role in the tendering process.

Some officials blamed their superiors. Veerkar further said, “My role was limited. Officers who were responsible for ensuring that the machine was procured within stipulated time should have done their job.” As reported earlier, senior Mantralaya officials have been instructed to monitor the probe and detailed reports on the tender have been asked for.

Rutuja smashes Jr Sania’s record

The young Puneite betters Sania Mirza’s record to become the second youngest girl to win a national tournament after Prerana Mythri Appineni

    Pune’s tennis sensation Rutuja Bhosale served notice by beating veteran Rushmi Chakravarthi in the semifinals of the National Tennis Championships. But what caught everybody’s attention was her title triumph on Saturday where she overtook Sania Mirza’s record and received the winners trophy from her as well.
    This feat helped Rutuja become the second youngest player to claim the nationals after Prerana Mythri Appineni from Hyderabad, who won it when she was 14-year-old. 

    The 15-year-old Rutuja is now also the second youngest Indian to make it into the WTA rankings at that age. “Sania shook hands with me and congratulated me before awarding the trophy. We didn’t speak beyond that but nevertheless it was a great feeling to overtake a popular tennis star like her,” Rutuja said. Sania held the record for the second youngest player to triumph at the nationals earlier.
    Rutuja, who is coached by former Davis Cupper and Arjuna awardee Sandip Kirtane at the Deccan Gymkhana, said she worked on her game after losing to Prerna in the quarterfinals of the ITF women’s tournament in June. “While playing in the women’s category, I was a little low on confidence as this was my first tournament. I never expected to win the title. It was after defeating top-seed Prerna Bhambri that I decided to go all-out. My cousin had accompanied me to Delhi and motivated me in every match,” she added.
    Interestingly, Rutuja will be participating in all junior Grand Slams and will also be awarded a wild-card entry into the $25,000 and $10,000 ITF tournaments lined-up in Pune in the next two months.
    “My aim would be to improve my ranking in the international as well as Indian circuit and get an entry into the main draw,” said Rutuja, who won the Asian Closed Junior Championship in Chennai earlier this year.
    Known for her fluent groundstrokes and solid first serve, Rutuja said no Indian tennis player has inspired her game. “I have always idolised Venus Williams and Roger Federer. Though their games have no similarity, I like Venus for her aggressive style and at the same time like Federer’s cool and calm attitude on and off court,” she pointed out.
    She owes the win to her parents, her father especially who got her into tennis as he wanted her to play an individual sport. Rutuja who wants to continue playing in the junior as well women’s circuit, will head to South Korea next week to play in the Grade-II ITF circuit.

AGAINST THE TIDE (India vs England 1st ODI)

Starting today, Dhoni & Co will look to overcome their nightmarish experience in England

    An idol of Lord Ganesha welcomes you at the main entrance of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in the outskirts of Hyderabad. The officials at the Hyderabad Cricket Association have turned to seeking divine intervention to bring about a change in luck for India at this venue. India are yet to win a game here; they have lost two ODIs and drawn a solitary Test. The idol was installed a day after Dussehra festival and a special pooja was done on Wednesday to invoke divine blessings.
    Like the HCA, MS Dhoni too is in an uncomfortable position. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if he too turns to almighty for help. The man with the Midas touch, the one who could do no wrong, suddenly finds himself under intense scrutiny after the nightmare that his squad endured in England for 66 days.
    The Indians, without many of their star players, who are missing the series owing to injuries, underwent a rigorous nets session under the watchful eyes of coach Duncan Fletcher, with Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwari and the skipper himself batting for prolonged periods. Gautam Gambhir, who was part of the India Red squad in the Challengers Trophy too enjoyed a outing in the middle.
    The fresh-looking bowling attack was not far behind as the likes of Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, S Aravind, Praveen Kumar and R Ashwin ran in with a lot of enthusiasm. Some might say they have little to offer apart from enthusiasm. Such is the big question mark that hangs over this inexperienced attack.
OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUTH There is no doubt that India’s bowling lacks the fire-power that’s essential to face up to an opposition which enters the series extremely high on confidence. Nevertheless Dhoni chose to look at the brighter side of things, saying, the forthcoming matches provided an ideal opportunity for the youngsters who fancy a regular place in the squad. “For the young bowlers, this series is an opportunity to figure out what international cricket is all about,” he said. It’s an eminently sensible approach to take for there isn’t much wisdom in panicking or feeling negative about the weak attack.
    The series, though, offers the greatest chance to one individual in particular. The cricketing fraternity will eagerly follow the progress of R Ashwin, in the absence of Harbhajan Singh. Dhoni too felt the five matches provide an opportunity for Ashwin to stand up and be counted, now that the selectors have chosen to look beyond Harbhajan. 

    Dhoni was confident that Ashwin is a type of character who will not put himself under pressure. “I have known Ashwin for more than four years now, as he’s also my colleague in the Chennai Super Kings. He’s an exciting character and knowing him, I don’t think he will be under any sort of pressure even though there will be a lot of expectations from him.”
    An interesting point to note here is that India have not lost a series to England at home since 1984 when Sunil Gavaskar and David Gower were the captains of their respective sides. And Dhoni was keen to keep the record intact. “It’s difficult to predict the outcome of the series, but it’s good to be back at home. It’s important that we start positively,” he said.
    England on the other hand have been in terrific form throughout the summer, and are faced with a problem that every captain and coach craves for. All their players have managed to deliver consistently in the recent past and skipper Alastair Cook conceded that they would find it difficult to choose the playing XI from the 15-member-squad. How Dhoni would wish to find himself in a similar predicament!

Jagjit Singh lives on in his rare LPs

Ramesh Dev, a 65-year-old Jagjit Singh fan, has two rare LPs with ghazals by the artiste and his wife that he recently got autographed. He reminisces about his brush with the star

    Amusic lover in Pune has a rare remembrance of ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh — two rare Long Plays (LP) from the seventies that feature duets by Singh and his wife Chitra. Ramesh Dev, a 65-yearold, who owns a workshop, even managed to flummox Jagjit Singh when he asked him to sign them at a concert organised on September 5 this year.
    The two LPs are titled ‘The Latest’ and ‘The Unforgettable’ and he doesn’t even know how the two came into his possession. Recounting his encounter with the artiste, Dev said, “On the night of September 5, Jagjit Singh performed at the Pune Festival. I was in the first row. I took the opportunity to meet Jagjit Singh and asked him to autograph the two LPs. Jagjit Singh was surprised to see these LPs, he signed them and asked me, ‘Itna purana record aapko kahanse mila’”. To this the fan replied that he did not know where he got it from.
    Dev then informed the ghazal singer that the Pune Municipal Corporation’s Pt Bhimsen Joshi Art Gallery in Sahakar Nagar had a rare collection of records which Singh said that he had to visit. “However that will never happen now,” Dev rues. 

    Telling Mirror about the records, Dev said, “The records are about 24 minutes each. ‘The Latest’ has 8 songs out of which 3 are duets. ‘The Unforgettable’ has 10 songs that include 2 duets. While ‘The Unforgettable’ had a price tag of Rs 42.64, the records were dated back to the 70’s as companies that made classical music LPs shut shop between 1978 and 1980.
    The LPs feature songs such as Baat niklegi to fir dur talak jayegi (Najm), Ek na ek shama andhere me jalaye rakhiye, Bahut pehlese un kadmoki aahat jaan lete hai, Teri aankhome humne kya dekha and Us modse shuru kare.
    Dev started to collect records in 1956 and he now has a collection of 9,500 records some of which rare gems such as a speech of Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi, poems by Rabindranth Tagore’s and speeches by Theodore Roosevelt and Robert F Kennedy.
    Dev also has a German music player that was manufactured by Grundig in 1952. He bought the player in 1980 at a cost of Rs 20,000. He has 7 rare music players including a radiogram.

Toll Free Numbers

Airlines
Indian Airlines - 1800 180 1407
Jet Airways - 1800 22 5522
SpiceJet - 1800 180 3333
Air India - 1800 22 7722
KingFisher - 1800 180 0101


Banks
ABN AMRO - 1800 11 2224
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Corporatin Bank - 1800 443 555
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HDFC Bank - 1800 227 227
ICICI Bank - 1800 333 499
ICICI Bank NRI - 1800 22 4848
IDBI Bank - 1800 11 6999
Indian Bank - 1800 425 1400
ING Vysya - 1800 44 9900
Kotak Mahindra Bank - 1800 22 6022
Lord Krishna Bank - 1800 11 2300
Punjab National Bank - 1800 122 222
State Bank of India - 1800 44 1955
Syndicate Bank - 1800 44 6655


Note: Previously all the toll free numbers were 1600 and now they all changed to 1800.

Automobiles
Mahindra Scorpio - 1800 22 6006
Maruti - 1800 111 515
Tata Motors - 1800 22 5552
Windshield Experts - 1800 11 3636


Computers/IT
Adrenalin - 1800 444 445
AMD - 1800 425 6664
Apple Computers - 1800 444 683
Canon - 1800 333 366
Cisco Systems - 1800 221 777
Compaq - HP - 1800 444 999
Data One Broadband - 1800 424 1800
Dell - 1800 444 026
Epson - 1800 44 0011
eSys - 3970 0011
Genesis Tally Academy - 1800 444 888
HCL - 1800 180 8080
IBM - 1800 443 333
Lexmark - 1800 22 4477
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Microsoft - 1800 111 100
Microsoft Virus Update - 1901 333 334
Seagate - 1800 180 1104
Symantec - 1800 44 5533
TVS Electronics - 1800 444 566
WeP Peripherals - 1800 44 6446
Wipro - 1800 333 312
xerox - 1800 180 1225
Zenith - 1800 222 004

Indian Railway
Indian Railway General Enquiry 131
Indian Railway Central Enquiry 131
Indian Railway Reservation 131
Indian Railway Railway Reservation Enquiry 1345,1335,1330
Indian Railway Centralised Railway Enquiry 1330/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9


Couriers/Packers & Movers
ABT Courier - 1800 44 8585
AFL Wizz - 1800 22 9696
Agarwal Packers & Movers - 1800 114321
Associated Packers P Ltd - 1800 21 4560
DHL - 1800 111 345
FedEx - 1800 22 6161
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UPS - 1800 22 7171

Home Appliances
Aiwa/Sony - 1800 11 1188
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Bose Audio - 1800 11 2673
Bru Coffee Vending Machines - 1800 44 7171
Daikin Air Conditioners - 1800 444 222
DishTV - 1800 12 3474
Faber Chimneys - 1800 21 4595
Godrej - 1800 22 5511
Grundfos Pumps - 1800 33 4555
LG - 1901 180 9999
Philips - 1800 22 4422
Samsung - 1800 113 444
Sanyo - 1800 11 0101
Voltas - 1800 33 4546
WorldSpace Satellite Radio - 1800 44 5432

Investments/ Finance
CAMS - 1800 44 2267
Chola Mutual Fund - 1800 22 2300
Easy IPO's - 3030 5757
Fidelity Investments - 1800 180 000
Franklin Templeton Fund - 1800 425 4255
J M Morgan Stanley - 1800 22 0004
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LIC Housing Finance - 1800 44 0005
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Tata Mutual Fund - 1800 22 0101

Travel
Club Mahindra Holidays - 1800 33 4539
Cox & Kings - 1800 22 1235
God TV Tours - 1800 442 777
Kerala Tourism - 1800 444 747
Kumarakom Lake Resort - 1800 44 5030
Raj Travels & Tours - 1800 22 9900
Sita Tours - 1800 111 911
SOTC Tours - 1800 22 3344

Healthcare
Best on Health - 1800 11 8899
Dr Batras - 1800 11 6767
GlaxoSmithKline - 1800 22 8797
Johnson & Johnson - 1800 22 8111
Kaya Skin Clinic - 1800 22 5292
LifeCell - 1800 44 5323
Manmar Technologies - 1800 33 4420
Pfizer - 1800 442 442
Roche Accu-Chek - 1800 11 45 46
Rudraksha - 1800 21 4708
Varilux Lenses - 1800 44 8383
VLCC - 1800 33 1262

Insurance
AMP Sanmar - 1800 44 2200
Aviva - 1800 33 2244
Bajaj Allianz - 1800 22 5858
Chola MS General Insurance - 1800 44 5544
HDFC Standard Life - 1800 227 227
LIC - 1800 33 4433
Max New York Life - 1800 33 5577
Royal Sundaram - 1800 33 8899
SBI Life Insurance - 1800 22 9090

Hotel Reservations
GRT Grand - 1800 44 5500
InterContinental Hotels Group - 1800 111 000
Marriott - 1800 22 0044
Sarovar Park Plaza - 1800 111 222
Taj Holidays - 1800 111 825

Teleshoppin
Asian Sky Shop - 1800 22 1800
Jaipan Teleshoppe - 1800 11 5225
Tele Brands - 1800 11 8000
VMI Teleshopping - 1800 447 777
WWS Teleshopping - 1800 220 777

Others
Domino's Pizza - 1800 111 123

Cell Phones
BenQ - 1800 22 08 08
Bird CellPhones - 1800 11 7700
Motorola MotoAssist - 1800 11 1211
Nokia - 3030 3838
Sony Ericsson - 3901 1111

Pune air among worst in world

WHO report says city’s air pollution has hit 5 times the permissible limit

    The pathetic condition of the Pune’s ambient air has come into focus yet again, this time through a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on September 26. The report details that Pune has surpassed the permissible pollution limit by a whopping five times, which now puts it in the league of the most-polluted countries around the world.
    WHO’s report titled ‘Tackling Air Pollution’ says that an unprecedented compilation of air quality data indicates that people’s lives are now threatened by air pollution all over the world. The study includes data from nearly 1,100 cities across 91 countries, including capitals and cities with more than 1,00,000 residents. It comes on the background of over 2 million deaths globally from indoor and outdoor air pollution.
    Dr Shashikant Gaikwad, head of the chest department in Sassoon Hospital, commented, “In a minute, we breathe 14-15 times and thousands of litres of air are circulated in the body. Exposure to polluted air leads to chronic bronchitis first and can eventually turn into a cardiac problem.” 

    Dr Gaikwad said he has seen the number of asthma patients rise due to exposure to pollutants, especially children. “Children can be seen panting even after a short run — they inhale polluted air since birth! In Pune, it is like a gas chamber — a slowly developing Bhopal tragedy,” he said.
    According to WHO, Pune has an annual mean PM10 of 99 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3). PM10 is particulate matter of 10 micrometers or less, which can penetrate the lungs and may enter the bloodstream. These can cause heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and acute lower respiratory infections. WHO guidelines say annual mean PM10 should be 20 µg/m3. This makes Pune’s pollution five times more than the accepted norm.
    Among other cities in India that have been listed by WHO, only Nagpur has less pollutants than Pune, with PM10 at 98 µg/m3. Mumbai, Jaipur, Delhi and Kolkata have surpassed Pune. The national annual mean PM10 is pegged at 109 µg/m3.
    Dr Sandeep Salvi, who has carried out research on the effects of pollution on policemen, said, “A recent survey shows that lungs of Indians are the worst functioning in the whole world. This only corroborates the fact that lungs of healthy people here are 30 per cent less strong as compared to the lungs of healthy people in other countries.” His research, carried out two years ago, showed that traffic policemen have lungs as bad as those belonging to cops sitting in chowkis who smoke regularly.
    Dr Salvi said if WHO has shown the annual mean average at 99 µg/m3, we must be inhaling even more polluted air than that. “These readings are taken through a machine put on a building. But people like you and me who walk on road are exposed to air that has a PM10 of 200-250 µg/m3,” he said.
    The largest contributors to urban outdoor air pollution include motor transport, small-scale manufacturers and other industries, burning of biomass and coal for cooking and heating, as well as coal-fired power plants. Residential wood and coal burning for space heating is an important contributor to air pollution as well, especially in rural areas during colder months.
SAYS WHO ‘IDEAL’ PM10: 20 µG/M3 PUNE’S PM10: 99 µG/M3 (PM10: Particulate matter of 10
micrometers or less, which can
cause heart disease, lung cancer,
asthma, and respiratory infections)

Mumbai Indians outlast T&T in heart-stopper

Having started their campaign with victory in a game they had no business winning, Mumbai Indians nearly accomplished the exact opposite before pipping a blundering Trindad & Tobago off the last ball. In a game where neither team managed to reach 100, T&T made too many errors to back up their spirit. The mistake that sealed it came after Mumbai Indians' top-scorer Ambati Rayudu was run out off the penultimate ball of the match, leaving last man Yuzvendra Chahal needing two off the final delivery. In a move that flew in the face of logic, T&T chose to give the single and play for the tie, unmindful of the fact that they would have had to face Lasith Malinga if the Super Over eventuated.

Daren Ganga pushed the field back, Sherwin Ganga sent down a low full toss on Chahal's pads, and the batsman was inventive enough to nudge softly towards deep midwicket. Chahal charged back for the second, the throw from the deep wasn't accurate, but Denesh Ramdin had enough time to break the stumps after collecting it. Ramdin, however, chose to under-arm from a couple of yards away and missed to the glee of the predominantly Mumbai Indians-biased crowd.

When Mumbai Indians came out needing a paltry 99 for victory, talk was that they would go for a big win and boost their net run-rate. Ravi Rampaul and T&T's army of unconventional spinners had completely different ideas, though. Samuel Badree had Aiden Blizzard top-edging a slider, before Rampaul dismantled the top order with clever lengths delivered at lively pace. T Suman got a leading edge, James Franklin got an outside edge, and Andrew Symonds inner-edged a yorker onto his stumps - the last two off successive balls to leave the chase in disarray.

Kieron Pollard survived the hat-trick ball, but T&T kept attacking their once team-mate. Sunil Narine got the prize wicket with a flat offbreak that Pollard bottom-edged onto his pads en route to his stumps to make it 33 for 5. R Sathish and Rayudu concentrated on survival until Rayudu found release with two boundaries off Kevon Cooper. Sathish looked completely out of place, though, and whipped straight to midwicket to leave his side 65 for 6. Harbhajan Singh put the pressure right back with a lashed six, before he was run out in the 18th over while looking to keep Rayudu on strike. T&T's fielding began to lose its edge, with a number of school-boy errors in the end overs, including Jason Mohammad's mis-field at long-off that gave Malinga four. Rampaul, however, evened the game once again with a superb 19th over that left Mumbai Indians needing 11 off Sherwin Ganga's last. 

Rayudu got a single off the first ball, before Sherwin sent down a friendly full toss off the second. Malinga clattered it straight down the ground, past a leaping effort from Mohammad, for a pressure-releasing six. A single was followed by Malinga's run-out, backing up too far when Rayudu smashed a full ball straight to the bowler. That made it 3 required off 2, before Rayudu fell attempting an impossible second. And then Daren Ganga blinked, Ramdin missed, and Mumbai were home.

T&T's misery ended with a run-out that was fumbled, but it began earlier in the evening with one that should never have been. They were coasting at 41 for 1 in the fifth over, when Lendl Simmons, returning for a straightforward second, chugged into his crease without grounding his bat. His entire body was over the line, but the front foot was in the air and the back foot on the crease, with no portion of it inside, when the stumps were broken.

Until that moment of laziness, T&T's innings featured all that was good about Caribbean batting. There were flamboyant shots from Adrian Barath in the opening over, audacious pick-up strokes from Simmons, whose approach was unchanged after Barath's exit, and a couple of emphatic blows from Darren Bravo. But once Simmons handed Mumbai Indians an opening, Harbhajan barged through with attacking bowling and perceptive field placements - he operated with slip and silly point at one point.

The middle order did not have the technique to counterattack. Harbhajan enticed Denesh Ramdin into miscuing a sweep right back at him, before nailing Bravo with a yorker. He wound up his spell with Sherwin Ganga's wicket - a patent slider that pinned him on the back foot. Malinga did his business at the other end, and T&T lost wickets too quickly to last their full quota. They were bowled out with as many as 22 balls left to go in the innings, and in the end that cost them the game.