Grief stricken family of 21-yr-old accident victim opts for organ donation

The parents of 21-year-old Smith Patel (name changed) chose the offbeat path of organ donation when their son met with an untimely death after a truck ran over him at Kurla flyover yesterday.

Explaining the decision of donating the skin, Smith's cousin, Mitesh, said, "We were taught by our family to help others. Donating Smith's skin and eyes is in accordance with our morals."

On Thursday, Smith was on his way back home on his bike when a taxi collided with his bike on the Kurla flyover. While struggling on the road, a truck ran over his thighs. He was taken to Sion Hospital by Nehru Nagar police officials but was declared dead on arrival. His postmortem reports stated that he died due to shock and trauma. Smith's skin and eyes were donated to Sion Hospital after consulting the doctor. Mitesh also added that Smith was preparing to take his Chartered Accountant final exams, which were due in November.

"Mitesh was a good student and would have definitely become a CA this November. He also wrote articles for a global network of profe-ssional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services."

Smith's mother, who lost her husband last year broke down and said, "It is very tragic. My parents have always taught me to help others and I try to do my best."

A single mother to Smith she told MiD DAY that when her husband had died too, he had donated some of his organs to Sion Hospital.

Hospital officials reported that the formalities for the donations were completed and the family had received the papers also. Dr Madhuri Gore, head of surgery department, said, "We really appreciate the spirit of families who decide to donate at such critical times when the family is grief stricken. This is truly inspiring and also makes us go a step ahead with our profession."

Skin bank
Dr Gore began the first skin bank in Mumbai 10 years ago at Sion Hospital. She said that the awareness about skin donation had improved considerably. "In the last three years, we received only 70 skin donations per year but for the past two months, we are getting one donation a day. So the awareness has really improved."
 

(malathi)

92-year-old has 'miraculously' survived without a single drop since she was 14

Could a woman who claims to have had no water for the last 78 years hold the solution to manage water shortage better? Unlikely, but what could be only termed as a miracle unless medical science proves otherwise, 92-year old Narasamma from Hanamant Nagar has been doing just that.

Narasamma told MiD  DAY, "I haven't had water since childhood. Even today, I don't feel the need for it, and my body has always responded well. I only have coffee twice a day.
 
 
Since the last 78 years, Narasamma has never met doctors. In case she falls sick, she relies on Ayurvedic medicines. Also, she fasts for at least 10 days a month.
 

Maybe, it's unbelievable for a lot of people, but this is how I have been living. Until now, only my family members have known about it. I never talked about it because then doctors and researchers will start investigating me, and I will be an object of scrutiny for everyone, which I don't want."

It was not always like this.  In 1932, when Narasamma was 14, she developed a peculiar problem. Her throat would go dry, and she would feel thirstier than ever. In order to combat that, she started to have large quantities of water, sometimes up to 10 litres. This continued for two months.

Too much of water

But then, she developed a new ailment. The excessive water bloated her body, resulting in swelling of limbs. At one point, Narasamma had no control over her limbs. Her condition became worse, and her parents took her to Ayurvedic doctors.

At first, the doctors said that she will not live long, but after her parents appealed, they agreed to try harder. They suggested a 48-day steam therapy. They would put medical herbs in boiling water, and ask her to sit in front of it. Gradually, the accumulated water got out in the form of sweat, and she became better. But after the same ailment struck again, ,  she vowed never to have water again.

Since the last 78 years, she has never met doctors. In case she falls sick, she relies on Ayurvedic medicines. The reason not to take allopathic medicines, she says, is that they require more water. In the summers, she wears wet clothes to beat the heat, and maintain the water level in her body.

When asked how she remains active, Narasamma said that she eats dry fruits, and nuts throughout the day. For food, she prefers to have rice meals, which she cooks for herself. She gets up at 7 am everyday, washes her clothes, and prays for five hours a day. She also fasts for at least 10 days a month.

This is not all. In 2000, she went on a 36-day tour to North India and South India, but didn't have any food ” she sipped only three cups of coffee throughout the tour.

Now, she wants to fly Singapore, where her grandson lives.

Aruna A, her youngest grand daughter, a TCS employee said, "I have never seen her drinking water. She never asks for it too. She doesn't even sip juice and buttermilk but she is still very strong and healthy." 

(malathi)
 

A bakery in Banashankari 2nd Stage was gutted in a fire that broke out because of a short circuit, last night.

Three fire engines from Jayanagar and Banashankari rushed to the spot at 1.40 am and doused the fire in
20 minutes.

According to fire offficer KR Veerabadrinath said that goods worth Rs 6 lakh were destroyed in the fire.

"We received a message at 1.30 am and immediately sent fire engines to the spot . Since the bakery was closed, we had to break the lock to get in," he said.

 
The fire at the bakery broke out because of a short circuit.
 

Fortunately, police constable Indra Kumar spotted the smoke coming out from the bakery and immediately informed the fire brigade.

Thus, a major tragedy was averted, as the fire could have spread to the adjoining shops and offices.

Kumar said, "I was on night patrol when I saw heavy smoke coming out of the bakery. I instantly called the fire brigade and the local police station."

BP Sajeevan, owner of the bakery, said, "I had locked the door at 10 pm and left for the day. Around 1.50 am, I got a call from a neighbour who informed me about the fire." 
 

(malathi)

Accused, an ex-staffer, wanted to get some papers signed. He was arrested, released on bail

Some recent surveys have pointed out the vulnerability of women employees at work place. And it becomes all the more dangerous when the attacker is a colleague.

Unsafe? The police say that the accused pushed, molested and abused
the victim, a Batra Hospital staffer. The hospital is one of the most
renowned medical institutions in the city.

A 24-year-old assistant HR manager with Batra Hospital - one of Delhi's most renowned private hospitals - was molested, thrashed and held captive in her own office at the hospital.
Though the exact date of the incident could not be ascertained, a complaint in this regard was registered with the Ambedkar Nagar police station ten days ago.

Acting on the complaint by the hospital on behalf of their staffer, the police arrested three people - one of them an ex-employee of Batra hospital - under section 509 and 354 of the IPC.  It was alleged that Bishambar, the ex-employee, had gone to the HR office to get some papers signed along with  two friends.

"The trio had to get some court papers signed. They went to Sheela's (name changed) cabin and asked her to put the hospital stamp on their documents. When Sheela refused, saying she was not authorised to sign the papers, the accused passed lewd comments, made obscene gestures and assaulted her. They manhandled her and did not allow her to escape," said a senior police officer requesting anonymity.

Only Bishambar Nayak was arrested in this regard. However, he was let off later on bail. "They pulled me holding my ID card and assaulted me. I wanted to go outside but they pushed me and did not let me escape. They outraged my modesty," read the statement of the victim given to the police.

Police said Sheela had recently joined the hospital as an assistant HR manager and asked the accused and his associates to approach other officials of the hospital for their work. "For the sake of investigation we can't disclose the name of the other two accused who are said to be inside cabin when the victim was being molested," said a senior police officer.
 

(malathi)

Victim claims the theft occurred at a high-profile new Delhi bar

A few drinks too many cost Abhas Bhatt dear. The Delhi-based businessman was having a party at the F Bar and Lounge at The Ashok hotel on Tuesday night. Next morning when he woke up with a hangover, he saw 20 SMSes from his bank regarding withdrawals of Rs 2 lakh in total. Bhatt immediately got his ATM card locked and approached the police to get an FIR registered.

Speaking with this reporter Bhatt said that someone snitched his wallet containing his Standard Chartered Bank ATM card, his I-card and some cash.

"I came to know about the incident in the morning when I received messages from my bank. The person who stole my wallet has withdrawn cash 20 times. Each time he withdrew Rs 10,000. Police is examining CCTV footage to know who the culprit is.

I may have put my wallet on the desk at the bar while having a soft drink after which I left for home. It was late in the night. I didn't check for my wallet. In morning when my cell phone rang I noticed that I had 20 new messages and each one from the bank. I checked one of them and realised that I had lost two lakh rupees," Bhatt said, who didn't wish to be photographed.

A police officer working on the investigation said that an FIR had been lodged at the Chankayapuri Police Station after Bhatt gave them a written complaint. Police said that they have approached the F-Bar representatives to access CCTV footage to get a clue about the culprit.

"Senior police officers are looking into the matter as the incident took place inside a reputed hotel. No one has been arrested in this connection. We are trying to discover the identity of the culprit through CCTV footage," said the officer.

Abhas Bhatt reportedly runs a financial firm and has his office at Connaught Place. He said he rarely visits F Bar.

"First time anything like this has happened to me," he added
A police officer said the case was being investigated and the media would be informed as soon as any arrests were made.
 

(malathi)

Asaram Bapu's followers seek action against SpiceJet crew for unruly behaviour with their leader on board

Followers of spiritual guru Asaram Bapu, who always imparts lessons of peace and harmony to his supporters, do not seem to follow his teachings. Bapu's supporters created a ruckus at the Jaipur airport on August 22 over the alleged mistreatment meted out to him by the airline crew, including the pilot.

The guru and his supporters were travelling from Jaipur to Ahmedabad on a SpiceJet flight on August 22, when it got delayed by five hours. This led to an argument between the  followers and airline crew. They have now demanded that the airline authorities initiate action against the pilot and the other crew.

Technical snag
Spicejet flight SG913 from Jaipur to Ahmedabad on August 22 was scheduled to depart at 2.10 pm when it got delayed due to a technical snag.

After a five-hour delay, when the flight was ready for departure at 7.30 pm, an argument ensued between Bapu and the pilot on board Captain Phusilo.

A co-passenger, requesting anonymity, said, "Asaram Bapu instigated the passengers to fight for their rights. Then, his supporters started behaving in an arrogant manner with the crew."

Bapu's supporters insist that the airline should have informed them about the delay. 

"A bird hit the flight while landing at Jaipur. Bapuji was made to wait in a VIP lounge, but other passengers were not taken care of properly. This hurt Bapuji. We were not even informed about the flight's status, else we would have asked Bapuji to return to the ashram, which is just a 15-minute drive from the airport," said Uday Sanghani, a senior ashram official.

"Moreover, the captain was very rude when the passengers complained about the delay. Later, when Bapuji interfered, the captain, who was a foreigner, asked him to either sit quietly or disembark. He even shouted at other passengers who raised an objection to this statement."

Complaint lodged
The passengers lodged a complaint at the Jaipur airport and also sent a fax and an email to SpiceJet, after which the airline employees apologised to Bapu. 

"Three people from the airline came to our ashram in Ahmedabad and apologised personally to Bapuji. Also, the airline has assured that it will take appropriate action against the pilot in a day or two. If they do not keep their promise, we will take up the matter with the top authorities," added Sanghani.

The deputy commandant of Jaipur airport, who was on duty when the incident took place, said, "The authorities concerned were informed about the delay. Everything was normal at the airport. I don't know what happened inside the flight, as it does not come in our jurisdiction."
 

(malathi)

IT professionals in troubled marriages are hacking into  spouse's email account for proof of extramarital affair or salary, say lawyers and cyber experts
 
IT professionals who are queuing up for divorce in the city are now said to be tapping their knowledge of technology to stick dirt on their spouse and extract the maximum alimony.

Cyber experts say a growing number of cases have come to light where couples are hacking into each other's email accounts to collect evidence for divorce. And some are going a step further by fabricating electronic evidence for early separation.

Techie tricks
In one case, an IT professional sent a fabricated email to an unknown person from his wife's account to prove that she was in an extramarital relationship. The forgery came to light during cross-examination.

In another case, a woman got irritated by her husband's attitude of ignoring her emails demanding alimony and found a way of monitoring his account. The smart techie wife registered with a website which provided her the exact time when her husband opened her email. This made it impossible for him to deny that he had not read her mails.

In yet another case, a man managed to get a fake salary slip to show a lower income so that he would not have to pay high alimony, but the wife hacked into his account to get the printout of his original salary slip.

It has been observed the cheated partner often seeks the advice of cyber crime experts.

Niranjan Reddy, founder and CTO of NetConclave Systems, has handled a couple of such cases.

"In most cases spouses just forget to change the password when the process of separation starts, and in many cases even if they change it, the other partner manages to hack the password," said Reddy.

Lawyers' experience
Lawyers claim that couples on the verge of separation are increasingly resorting to hacking techniques to score on each other.

"No good lawyer would advice the litigants to hack into each other's accounts, but we are coming across many litigants who come to us already in possession of sheets of conversation wherein it becomes clear that the other person is having a relationship outside of marriage that goes beyond mere friendship," said Advocate Ajit Kulkarni.

According to lawyers in the city, 30 per cent of all divorces that happen in the city every year are among couples working in the IT sector, and 50 per cent of them use hacking techniques to collect electronic evidence against each other.

"Gen Next relies on the Internet for almost everything it does, right from online banking to shopping, so when it is time to gather electronic evidence there are growing cases where in couples are also relying on Internet," said Advocate Abhay Apte.

Advocate Pratibha Ghorpade said, "In many cases people meet on social networking sites and choose to marry without checking each other's background, and when it is time for separation they once again resort to the Internet and submit sheets of conversations between their spouse and the man or the woman who has allegedly jeopardised the marriage."
 

(malathi)

Restaurant will have take-away counter on ground floor and separate seating area on first floor

The German Bakery has started its renovation work. The bakery will be a two-storey structure with a take-away counter on the ground floor. Those who want to sit and enjoy the food will have to take a spiral staircase to reach the seating area on the first floor.

Owner Smita Kharose wanted to keep the renovation plans under wraps but MiD DAY lensman Nikhil Ghorpade sneaked inside to get a sense of how the bakery will look like.

Kharose said, "The reopening of the bakery will take at least a month-and-half."

Kharose said the renovation was delayed as the loan procedure took longer than expected.

Kharose's daughter Snehal said, "Many waiters went back to Nepal as they didn't have any work. They will come back once the bakery reopens." 
 
 

(malathi)

The Shivaji Nagar police released around 40 members of the Shiv Premi Jan Jagram Samiti after they were arrested at 9 pm last night for carrying out an agitation outside the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) office.

Approximately 5,000 members and other supporters of Shivaji Maharaj had called for the Dadoji Hatao Gherao Andolan at the PMC office.

The samiti demanded that mayor Mohansingh Rajpal remove the statue of Dadoji Konddeo, after the state government mentioned that he was not Shivaji Maharaj's teacher as mentioned in history.

Mukand Kakare, president of the samiti said, "We want the statue to be removed from the Lal Mahal, as it is official that he was not Shivaji Maharaj's guru. We have demanded that the corporation and mayor get the statue removed immediately."

Despite the demonstration being peaceful, protestors told MiD DAY that they were arrested by the police. "We fail to understand the reason behind it. Though we were released around 10.30 pm, why were we arrested in the first place?"

Soon after the incident security was beefed up at Lal Mahal and the PMC office.

Around 30 police officials from Shivaji Nagar and Faraskhana police station, SRP and CRPF officials were stationed at Lal Mahal at the time of going to press. 
 

(malathi)

City filmmaker held for carrying jihad literature in Houston is a scholar on the subject and wants to discourage youth from taking to violence in the name of religion, say friends       

Malad-based filmmaker Vijay Kumar arrested at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental airport last Friday for carrying jihadi literature has been undertaking an anti-jihad campaign and was in the United States for the same, say friends.

At 40, Kumar, a native of Rajasthan, has donned many roles -- that of a social worker, an anti-jihad preacher, a real estate businessman and a documentary filmmaker. MiD DAY does a background check on Kumar only to learn that he is a man who wears many hats.

Family background
Kumar moved to the city from Gurgaon four years back to make a foray into filmmaking. He purchased an office in Oshiwara and a flat on Link Road, Malad where he has been living for the past six months.

Kumar originally comes from the Aggarwal family of Sardarsehar village in Rajasthan, but his ancestors have been living in Delhi for a long time now. His brother still lives in Gurgaon. While his mother passed away 18 months ago, his father died a long time back. Kumar is a bachelor, and those close to the family say that he did not get married as he wanted to take care of his ailing mother.

A patriot 
Kumar is not connected to any Hindu organisation or political party, but is associated with the Patriots' Forum, a voluntary group in Delhi, that came into existence in March 2006 to promote patriotism.

A former special director of the Intelligence Bureau, D C Nath, is now the president of the organisation. Kumar has been an active member of the group for the last four years. 

"He has been fighting to protect the Indian civilisation from Islamic assault -- population explosion and jihadi sentiments. He has been travelling across the country and is now in the US to educate people on this subject. He has also used his filmmaking skills to spread awareness about jihad," said Nath. "I appeal to Indians in the US and others to support Kumar; he is far from taking to terrorism or jihad."

Anti-jihad work
According to friends, Kumar is a scholar in jihadi fundamentalism and has read a number of books and literature on Islamic jihadis and the reason youth are drawn towards it.      
 
"Through the Patriots' Forum and independently he has been conducting seminars across the country, explaining to the youth the correct fundamentals of the Quran and how it is misinterpreted. He has been doing this to help the youth avoid using wrong means in the name of jihad," said I G Khandelwal, a close friend of Kumar's.

In his films, Kumar has spoken to former Punjab DCP K P S Gill, DGP (law and order) Mumbai K P Raghuvanshi, a former Indian ambassador for Pakistan. Experts such as the ex-chief of CBI and IB officers also appear in his documentaries, say Kumar's friends.

"While he has made a number of documentaries, he also made a commercial film on jihad, but it was not cleared by the Censor Board," said Khandelwal.

Kumar is said to be a spiritual person. Nath said, "Yes, he's spiritual and has been to the Himalayas a number of times to meditate."

Religious teachings
Kumar has also delivered religious preachings after his close interaction with sadhus from the Himalayas. He has also been invited by several organisations to give lectures on the subject, said his close aides.

Business
Before Kumar moved to Mumbai, he ran a real estate business in Delhi.

Khandelwal said, "He was a good real estate businessman, but he incurred some losses and then turned to film-
making."

Personal life
Friends and people know Kumar as a humble and well-read person who always wanted to do something for the country.

"He would never ever think of doing anything wrong and being arrested in a 'jihad' case is far beyond our imagination," said his friends, requesting anonymity.
 

(malathi)