Following a three month run, the Mumbai Police was finally able to arrest an MBBS doctor from Pune, a member of the Indian Mujaheedin (IM) module responsible for at least 11 blasts across the country since 2005. The accused is named Dr. Anwar Ali Bagwan and is 26 years old. IM was responsible for the July 11 2006 serial train blasts in Mumbai and serial blasts in Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008.

The seventh Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) will start from 8 January. Around 150 films from 42 countries will be screened during the festival. Minister of State for External Affairs and Information and Broadcasting Anand Sharma will inaugurate the eight-day festival. During inauguration, Veteran actors Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini and Sulochana will be given with the Lifetime Achievement Awards.

New Delhi, Jan 2 : The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for establishment of the Indian Grape Processing Board (IGPB) at Pune.

The total funds allocated by the Government over a period of three years for the establishment of the IGPB are Rs. 5.93 crore.

The Ministry under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, will register the IGPB as a society. The board will be autonomous from its very inception. The board, initially facilitated by the Government and managed and driven by the industry, is expected to boost growth of the sector, benefiting both the producers and the processors.

The bail application of Pune-based horse owner Hasan Ali Khan (56) was rejected by the Bhoiwada Metropolitian Magistrate R B Agarwal on Wednesday.

He was arrested by the Worli police under the Passport Act for possessing multiple passports and on charges of cheating. The court accepted plea of the prosecution that certain documents have to be seized and if he is released on bail, he might tamper with the evidence. Court has sent Khan to judicial custody till January 6.

The defence said that prima facie, no case under the Passports Act was made out against him.

Pune, Dec. 21 : Sharad Dandge of Aurangabad in Maharashtra State has developed a unique ability to generate 20 types of sounds of different musical instruments while playing various Tablas, the percussion instrument.

To the listener it feels as if Dandge is playing various types of musical instruments native to differing States or regions of the country. But he is in fact playing on a group of Tablas around him.

Sharad Dandge plays jugalbandi (fusion) of regional instruments like Pakhawaj and Dholaks (horizontal drums) of north India, Mridangam of south India and Daph of Maharashtra, and Bihu of Assam on the Tabla by his innovative style of creating sounds on Tabla.

A team of surgeons successfully removed a six feet iron rod from the stomach of a 21-year-old man. It is a miracle for Santosh Kumar, who is a construction worker and had a nightmarish experience when a six feet iron rod fell from the 10th floor of the building at the construction site and pierced his body through shoulder and abdomen before coming out through his left thigh. It had penetrated his intestines in multiple locations and made 16 holes.