Page 3 - Pune

Pune Porsche crash: Accused gets 3-day temporary bail after father's death

The Bombay High Court has granted three-day temporary bail to an accused in the Pune Porsche car crash case on account of his father's death. Aditya Avinash Sood was granted bail from August 2 to 5 by Justice Ashwin Bhobe on Friday. The case dates back to May 19 last year when a speeding Porsche car, allegedly driven by an inberiated minor driver, ran over two motorcycle-borne IT professionals in Pune's Kalyaninagar area. Aditya Sood was among the 10 arrested in connection with the swapping of blood samples to nullify alcohol tests of the juvenile driver. As per police, Aditya Sood's blood samples were replaced with that of his father. Among those arrested are doctors and staff of Sassoon General Hospital in Pune who allegedly played an active role in the blood swapping process. Advocate Abid Mulani, representing Aditya Sood, on Friday moved a 'praecipe' before the court seeking interim bail for his client for three days so that he could attend the funerary rituals of his father.

Five FIRs filed over communal violence in Pune's Yavat; around 500 booked

Police have registered a total of five FIRs against more than 500 persons in connection with the communal violence in Yavat village of Pune district that broke out over an alleged objectionable post on a social messaging platform, officials said on Saturday. While the youth who uploaded the objectionable post has been arrested, 17 others have been detained for indulging in arson and damaging property during the clashes at Yavat in Daund tehsil, they said. The communal tension erupted and incidents of violence took place across Yavat village on Friday afternoon in which groups of persons, angered by the social media post, vandalised and set ablaze properties. "So far, we have registered a total of five cases in connection with the violence. Four of the cases are against more than 500 people who were allegedly involved in arson and damage to property. Of these, more than 100 people have been identified and 17 of them have been taken into custody," an official of Yavat police station .

'Dadagiri' biggest hurdle in Pune's industrial development: CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said growing "dadagiri" (bullying) by certain elements to exert pressure on industries to hire particular persons or to award contracts to them is the biggest bottleneck in Pune's development. If this mentality is not eradicated, Pune, the state's second largest city and one of the country's premier economic hubs, will not be able to achieve its true development potential, the CM warned. He was speaking at the inauguration of Pune Metropolitan Region Growth Hub (PMR G-Hub) initiative on Friday. "Merely ensuring a hassle-free environment at the government level is not enough. The larger social and political ecosystem must also be conducive for businesses. Today, some people are pressuring industries to employ their recommended candidates, buy raw material from them, and allot contracts only to them. This kind of interference has become a major hurdle in Pune's progress," he asserted. "If there is any bottleneck in the development of .

Here's why Gen Z, millennials are opting for co-living spaces in big cities

More Gen Z and millennials in cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai are choosing co-living spaces over PGs for flexible stays, affordable rent, better amenities, and a built-in community

Bombay HC restrains Pune auto rickshaw unions from disrupting Uber services

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday restrained rickshaw unions in Pune from obstructing the services of app-based aggregator service Uber during their protest, and asked police to provide protection to its vehicles if necessary. Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd has moved the HC fearing that its operations across Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad cities would be disrupted during a protest announced by Baghtoy Rikshaw-wala Union and others. The protest was supposed to start from Wednesday. Justice R I Chagla said the company had made out a "strong prima facie case for grant of ex-parte ad-interim relief". An ex-parte order is an order passed in the absence of one of the parties to a litigation. The court restrained the unions and their members from stopping, blocking, or assaulting Uber's driver-partners or passengers, and from interfering in its business. The HC also directed the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) to provide immediate police protection to Uber's vehicles if any complaint is ..

Pune Porsche crash case: 17-year-old accused to be tried as juvenile

The Juvenile Justice Board on Tuesday said the 17-year-old boy accused of driving a Porsche car in an inebriated state and mowing down two persons last year in Pune will be tried as a juvenile. The incident, which hit national headlines, took place in Kalyani Nagar area on May 19 last year, resulting in the deaths of motorcycle-borne IT professionals Anish Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Costa. The Pune police had last year sought that the accused be tried as an adult, saying he committed a "heinous" act as not only were two persons crushed to death but there were also attempts to tamper with the evidence. On Tuesday, the Juvenile Justice Board rejected the police's plea to treat the accused boy as an adult, as per the defence counsel. The accused teenager got bail hours after the accident on May 19 last year. The lenient bail terms, including asking the minor to write a 300-word essay on road safety, triggered a nationwide firestorm, following which he was sent to an observation

Housing sales in MMR, Pune dip 30% to 42,000 units in June: PropTiger

Housing sales in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune together fell 30 per cent to 41,901 units during April-June period of this year as surge in prices dampened consumer demand, according to PropTiger. The combined housing sales in MMR and Pune, the two important property markets in Maharashtra, stood at 60,191 units in the year-ago period. On Monday, housing brokerage firm PropTiger released the data, which showed that sales in India's eight primary residential markets fell 14 per cent to 97,674 units during April-June this year, from 1,13,768 units in the corresponding period of the preceding year. "The short-term dip in home sales and new launches is more of a recalibration than a sign of waning demand. Affordability pressures, particularly in the budget and mid-income segments, have led to some cautious buyer sentiment," Sridhar Srinivasan, Head of Sales, PropTiger.com said. However, Srinivasan noted that the underlying demand remains intact. As per the data, the housing

Pune saw 65K dog bites in 3 years, over 1 lakh dogs sterilised: Minister

More than 65,000 incidents of dog bites have been reported in Pune city since 2022, and over one lakh canines were sterilised in the last two years, state Minister Uday Samant said on Friday. The state industries minister was speaking in the legislative council on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who holds the urban development portfolio. On Thursday, BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe raised the issue of canine menace and the agencies dealing with it in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Samant said in 2022, Pune reported 16,569 cases of dog bites, followed by 22,945 in 2023 and 25,899 in 2024. As many as 57,852 dogs were sterilised in 2023-24 and 56,511 in 2024-25, he said, calling for large-scale measures to tackle the menace of stray dogs, which is also witnessed in villages. The minister said the Central government's laws, guidelines and judgements of the Supreme Court must be taken into consideration while dealing with population control measures for stray dogs. The NCP's Idris Naik

Six Indian cities rank among Asia-Pacific's top 10 tech talent hubs

Bengaluru hosts the world's largest concentration of data scientists, Hyderabad leads in under-25 tech professionals, and Indian cities now account for 69 per cent of Asia-Pacific's total tech talent

Puravankara partners landowner to build ₹1K cr housing project in Bengaluru

Realty firm Puravankara Group on Thursday said it has partnered with a landowner to develop a housing project worth around Rs 1,000 crore at Balagere, in East Bengaluru. In a regulatory filing, the company informed that it has signed a joint development agreement (JDA) for a 5.5-acre land parcel in East Bengaluru, with an "estimated gross development value (GDV) of over Rs 1,000 crore." The land parcel offers a total combined saleable area of 0.83 million square feet. Puravankara did not mention the name of the landowner with whom it has signed the JDA and also did not disclose the revenue or profit sharing structure. The project, located in Balagere, is expected to be launched in the next 6-9 months. Ashish Puravankara, Managing Director of Puravankara, said, "This joint development underscores our sustained growth strategy and reaffirms our confidence in East Bengaluru, one of the city's most dynamic and promising micro-markets." Mallanna Sasalu, CEO - South, Puravankara Ltd, s

Juvenille accused in Pune Porsche case tried to swap blood samples: Police

The prosecution in the Pune Porsche case has told a court here that attempts were made to swap blood samples at a second hospital to save the juvenile accused, but it wasn't successful. Submitting additional documents under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the prosecution said that the Pune police, which first got blood samples of the minor collected at the Sassoon Hospital, suspected that there was a possibility of tampering. The police then got the teenager's blood samples collected at the Aundh Government Hospital as a pre-emptive measure, but some of the other accused, including his parents, got a whiff of it, the police informed the court on Tuesday. The accused persons approached the Aundh hospital authorities to swap the samples, but the doctors there refused to cooperate and turned them away, the prosecution claimed. On May 19, 2024, a Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy in an inebriated condition fatally mowed down two IT professionals, Anish

Pune techie rape case: Acquaintance released, told to cooperate with probe

An acquaintance detained by the police over the alleged rape of a Pune IT professional has been released after being served a notice, directing him to cooperate with the investigation, an official said on Saturday. The Pune police had said on Friday that the suspect, who was detained in connection with the alleged rape of the techie at her home, was her friend, casting doubts on the woman's claim that a stranger gained entry by posing as a courier delivery agent. Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar had said that neither was there any sign of forced entry nor any spray that could be used on the 22-year-old complainant. Moreover, the selfie in question was taken with the consent of both, and it was the woman who probably edited the photo and typed a threatening message on her phone after he left her place around 8.30 pm on Wednesday, the officer said. The 24-year-old man, a friend of the techie was released on Friday late evening. Today, he has been served a notice under the Bharatiya

IndiGo Delhi-Pune flight delayed 4 hrs after pilot falls ill before takeoff

A Pune-bound IndiGo flight from Delhi was delayed by four-and-a-half hours after its pilot fell sick just before the takeoff on Friday. The airline in a statement on Saturday said that it provided "appropriate" medical assistance to the pilot and arranged for an alternative crew to operate the flight, 6E2262, on July 4. In a similar incident on Friday, an Air India commander collapsed inside the cockpit just when he was getting ready to operate the Tata Group airline's flight to Delhi from Bengaluru. "One of our cockpit crew scheduled to operate IndiGo flight 6E 2262 from Delhi to Pune on July 4, felt unwell before take-off and the aircraft returned to bay, following the standard operating procedures (SOP)," IndiGo said in a statement. Appropriate medical assistance was provided to the unwell crew and an alternative crew was assigned to operate the aircraft, causing a delay in the flight, it said. IndiGo did not share specific details. However, according to flight tracking websit

Suspect in Pune techie 'rape' was her friend; she took selfie herself: Cops

A suspect detained in connection with the alleged rape of a Pune IT professional at her home was her friend and not a stranger who gained entry by posing as a courier delivery agent, police said on Friday, casting doubt on her version of the events. It was the woman herself who took a selfie with him and typed a threatening message in her phone, police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said. "They know each other for a couple of years and belong to the same community," he said. The 22-year-old woman had claimed that a man who posed as a courier delivery agent entered her flat in Kondhwa area on Wednesday evening when she was alone, and forced himself on her. She passed out, and when she regained consciousness, he was gone, she said. Before leaving, the accused clicked a selfie using her phone in which her back and a part of his face are seen, and left a message warning that he had taken her pictures and would release them on social media if she reported the incident, she told police. But

Lucknow, Pune, Indore ranked among India's top-performing municipal bodies

Municipal corporations of Lucknow, Pune, and Indore were recognized among the best-performing urban local bodies during the first national conference of ULBs held in Gurugram, Haryana on Thursday. At the National Level Conference of Urban Local Bodies of States and Union Territories in Gurugram's Manesar, public representatives and administrative officers from these cities shared their best practices with counterparts from other states, fostering a collaborative exchange of innovative urban development strategies. Lucknow highlighted initiatives such as the use of e-vehicles for waste collection in place of diesel or petrol-powered vehicles, establishment of high-capacity waste processing plants, and transformation of dumping sites into national inspiration points. Pune showcased its ward-wise waste collection systems, electricity generation through biogas plants, and integrated waste management techniques. Similarly, Indore presented successful models involving GPS-enabled garbage

Prosecution claims Porsche crash accused using delaying tactics in court

Accused persons in the 2024 Porsche car crash case involving a teenager driver are using delaying tactics to prolong legal proceedings by moving "frivolous" applications before a trial court in Pune, the prosecution argued on Wednesday. Currently, the court is hearing arguments for framing of charges against 10 accused involved in the swapping of blood samples of the 17-year-old juvenile, who fatally knocked down two IT professionals while driving a Porsche car allegedly under the influence of alcohol in May last year. The prosecution on Friday concluded its arguments seeking that charges be framed against all accused citing it has conclusive DNA evidence to prove the minor boy's blood samples were swapped with those of his mother at the state-run Sassoon General Hospital. All 10 accused, of whom nine are currently in jail, were equally involved in the conspiracy, it told the court. Defence lawyers representing the 10 accused, including the boy's father, were supposed to begin ...

Urban Vault to invest ₹100 crore in FY26 to expand co-working footprint

The company adds over 700 desks in Gurgaon and plans to close FY26 with an annual run rate of ₹250 crore, with further expansion across Noida, Pune and Bengaluru

Maharashtra logs 13 new Covid-19 cases, one fatality; tally hits 2,462

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 13 new cases of COVID-19, which took the tally of infections to 2,462, and one death, the health department said. A 65-year-old woman suffering from comorbidities, including rheumatoid arthritis, died in Kolhapur, an official said. Since January 1, the state has recorded 2,462 COVID-19 cases and 37 deaths, the department said. Of the fresh cases, five were reported from Pimpri Chinchwad, three from Nagpur, two from Pune and one each from Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Satara, an official statement said. The health department has conducted 28,486 COVID-19 tests across the state since January 1, and 2,277 patients have recovered from the infection till date, it said. Mumbai has reported 980 cases, including 539 in June alone, so far this year. At least 37 patients have succumbed to the virus in the state since January 1, of whom 36 had comorbidities (pre-existing health conditions that can increase the risk of severe illness), the statement said.

Cabinet approves ₹3,626 cr Phase-2 expansion of Pune Metro Rail Project

The new Pune Metro corridors will cover 12.75 km, connecting suburbs like Wagholi and Chandani Chowk, with a projected ridership of 3.49 lakh by 2057

Govt approves ₹3,626 crore for Pune Metro Phase-2 to connect key IT hubs

These two elevated corridors will span 12.75 km and include 13 stations, connecting suburbs such as Chandani Chowk, Bavdhan, Kothrud, Kharadi, and Wagholi