TOI PUNE: Be it the thrill of pushing the limit while driving or simply the convenience of the route, the Pune-Mumbai expressway has indeed been the toast of travellers between the two cities. Over the last three years, the number of vehicles using the expressway has gone up by a whopping 17 lakh, a figure that includes 14 lakh cars alone.

According to statistics available with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), a vehicle passes on the expressway every five or six seconds. Five years back, one would see a vehicle go by every 12 to 15 seconds on an average. The number of vehicles using the expressway had crossed the one-crore mark in 2008-2009 — 1,04,56,892 vehicles to be precise. In 2009-10, this number shot up to 1,15,20,696 vehicles. In 2007-08, as many as 98,04,815 vehicles had used the expressway. The total increase in vehicles taking the expressway stands at 17,15,881 over three years. Cars constitute the biggest chunk of vehicles on this route. As many as 57,67,023 cars used the road in 2007-08, which went up to 63,57,408 in 2008-2009 and 71,43,237 in 2009-2010.
On the other hand, the number of trucks on the expressway has actually witnessed a decline over the last three years. In 2007-08, as many as 14,59,805 trucks used the road. This number fell to 13,24,193 in 2008-2009 and improved marginally to 13,42,607 in 2009-10.

A senior MSRDC official said the increase in the number of vehicles using the expressway was reflective of its importance as a major route in the state as well as in the country.

However, experts say safety measures need to be enforced stringently to prevent the frequent mishaps on the expressway caused by factors such as speeding, rash driving and old vehicles. "The number of vehicles in India has been increasing but the road length has not increased correspondingly. In the last year, the number of vehicles in the country has gone up by 11.5 crore," said Chandmal Parmar, advisor to the National Highway Authority of India.

TOI NEW DELHI: With investigators closing in on former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi's links with an alleged payoff in terms of a facilitation fee paid to the Mauritius-based World Sports Group (WSG), the fallen T20 czar seems to be avoiding repeated income tax summons.

Modi has left for London and is staying out of reach of a probe that could be getting too hot for him. His non-compliance may have been triggered by the questioning of his close associates, including secretary Deepa Palekar in Mumbai last week. Palekar was asked about a payment of nearly Rs 80 crore made in the purchase of a private jet.

Sources said an I-T probe has been able to link the aircraft purchase - extensively used by Modi as his private transport - to the Rs 425 crore "facilitation fee" paid to WSG by Multi Screen Media (MSM), formerly Sony Entertainment TV, for media rights of IPL matches. It is understood that Sony has given evidence of a payment it believes should have been made to BCCI.

The "payoff" was part of renegotiation of IPL's TV rights contract with MSM. WSG was given the rights for 10 years with a bid of $918 million. Following a dispute, WSG's contract with MSM was scrapped. The question arose as to why after renegotiation, MSM paid $80 million or Rs 425 crore to WSG.

The I-T probe found WSG had only $1 as share capital. It had entered into a back-to-back deal with MSM where Modi allegedly played a vital role in negotiation.

This is a major breakthrough in IPLgate probe with first links of an alleged payoff of Rs 100 crore being sourced to the beneficiaries.

Sify.com  New York:  Andy Murray sent an ominous warning to Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal about his intentions to win the U.S. Open when he cruised through his first match at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday after Victoria Azarenka sent a shiver through the tennis world when she fainted on court.

Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams, both two-time champions, also dazzled their opponents and the packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowds but it was an early morning tumble on one of the outside courts that sent pulses racing at the year's last grand slam.

Azarenka, in a black dress and playing when temperatures were at their hottest, was rushed to hospital after collapsing in a heap at the baseline during her second round match against Argentina's Gisela Dulko. The Belarussian had succumbed to scorching heat at last year's Australian Open and there were fears she had been a victim of the extreme temperatures that had forced U.S. Open organisers to invoke their rarely used Extreme Weather Policy.

She later revealed that she had been diagnosed with a mild concussion and her frightening crumble was a delayed reaction to a fall suffered earlier in the gym while warming up.

"I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring," she said.

"I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy. I also started having trouble seeing and felt weak before I fell."

Murray showed why he is regarded as a serious contender to capture the men's title as he crushed Slovakia's Lukas Lacko 6-3 6-2 6-2.

The perennial hope of British tennis, Murray succeeded in escaping the worst of the roasting heat by racing to victory in under two hours.

"I managed to get through in straight sets so I'm pleased, but it was a lot tougher than the score suggests," the fourth-seeded Scotsman said.

"Everyone in my (supporters) box always tells me it's a lot tougher watching in the heat than playing but I'm not so sure. It was brutal conditions."

Although the weather was slightly cooler than the previous day, it was still hot enough to leave players drenched in sweat and calling for ice packs to drape around their necks at the change of ends.

BEAT THE HEAT

New York's hottest summer in decades has spilt on to the courts at Flushing Meadows and contributed to a high dropout rate among the seeds. Another seven seeds made early exits on Day Three, giving the main contenders with extra incentive to kill of their opponents quickly.

Clijsters, who charmed the crowds last year with her infant daughter watching from the stands, showed no mercy in her match against Australian teenage qualifier Sally Peers, who grew up with a photo of the Belgian on her bedroom wall.

"I'm just trying every match to grow so I'm ready when the opponents get tougher," Clijsters said after thumping her inexperienced opponent 6-2 6-1 in less than an hour.

Williams had no room for sentiment either as she romped to a comfortable 7-6 6-3 victory over Canada's Rebecca Marino, who gave the third seed a brief scare in the opening set before succumbing to the American's power. Williams is only playing singles this year after her sister and regular doubles partner Serena pulled out with an injury and said she was loving the lighter workload.

"So far I feel good. I made a quick turnaround this summer to try to get ready for the Open," she said.

"I'm glad that I'm just in the singles. That way I have the opportunity to recover between rounds and to get ready to play the next one."

Italy's French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Australia's Samantha Stosur, the woman she beat in the Paris final, both advanced to the third round in straight sets while the most notable casualty was the men's Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych. The Czech stumbled at the first hurdle, outclassed 7-6 6-4 6-4 by France's Michael Llodra, who is better known as a doubles specialist.

"I don't know whether I played well or not today," Berdych said. "I need to sit down with my coach who saw the match from the stands."

TOI PUNE: The ministry of environment and forests has constituted a Western ghats natural heritage management committee, which will deal with matters relating to inscription and management of the Western ghats serial sites.

Serial sites are a group of sites which represent the same cultural or natural type even though they are not in one area. The Western Ghats' nomination consists of sites spread across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The committee will ensure successful inscription of 39 Western ghats sites on the World heritage list. Of the 39 sites, four are in Sahyadri and known as: the Kas plateau, Koyna wildlife sanctuary, Chandoli national park and Radhanagri wildlife sanctuary.

The newly-formed committee will provide guidance for effective conservation, protection and management of natural heritage of the Western ghats. It will also oversee the management systems, including protection and integrity of the serial sites included in the Western ghats nomination dossier.

Vinod B Mathur, dean, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and also member of the Western ghats natural heritage management committee, told TOI that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Switzerland, is sending a team of experts to India in October, 2010, to evaluate India's proposal to inscribe the Western ghats on the World heritage list. It is as per the decision taken during the 34th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in July-August 2010 in Brazil.

"It would be a big feather in India's cap if the 39 sites in the Western ghats are inscribed on the World heritage list in 2011. All the 39 sites are biologically very rich from biodiversity conservation point,'' he said.

According to him, the committee will basically strengthen co-ordination and co-operation between states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, in which the 39 sites are located.

Most of the serial sites are national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and reserved forests. These are under legal protection of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Indian Forest Act, 1927 and also under provisions of other relevant policy guidelines and advisories issued by the ministry of environment and forests.

India's tentative list of Natural Heritage Properties to be inscribed on the Unesco world heritage list, was submitted to World Heritage Centre Unesco, Paris, in 2006 by Mathur, who was the task co-ordinator, and by other team members.

Jagdish Krishnaswamy, senior fellow, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), and member of the committee said the committee will look into matters pertaining to natural heritage management of Western ghats. It will look at long term framework management of these sites. The committee will also ensure that the World heritage attributes are conserved and not changed.

"Once these sites are inscribed on the World heritage list, it will help in protection from land use change and other developmental activities. It will be a prestigious issue,'' he said.

Monuments inscribed on the World heritage list attain international status. This increases visitors' flow, both domestic and foreign, which contributes to the economic growth of the region and the monument receives special attention in terms of management, conservation and protection.

Presently, this list has 704 Cultural sites, 180 Natural sites and 27 Mixed sites from 151 countries. India has 25 Cultural sites and 5 Natural sites on the World Heritage List.

TOI PUNE: Can one get the swine flu infection twice? Yes, says the National Institute of Virology (NIV). The reason being, 15 to 20 per cent of the people who have encountered the infection do not develop antibodies needed to protect them. Hence the chances of catching the contagion twice is quite likely. However, the infection caught the second time will not be serious, A C Mishra, director of NIV told TOI on Wednesday.

"After being infected with the swine flu virus, one usually does not catch the infection again. Like any flu virus, once a person is exposed to the swine flu virus, his immune system develops antibodies and memory cells unique to that virus. The human body can then defend itself if it is exposed to the virus again. However, as per studies, 15 to 20 per cent people do not develop antibodies even after being exposed to the virus. Hence, this small number of people can catch the infection twice," Mishra said.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta also shares the view expressed by NIV. According to CDC, getting infected with any influenza virus, including 2009 H1N1, should cause your body to develop immune resistance to that virus, so it is not likely that a person would be infected with the identical influenza virus more than once. However, people with weakened immune systems might not develop full immunity after infection and might be more likely to get infected with the same influenza virus more than once. Besides influenza tests can occasionally give false positive and false negative results so it is possible that one of the test results were incorrect, says CDC.

Of the total number of throat swabs received for testing at NIV from June end 2009 till August 11 this year, a total 31,366 samples were from Maharashtra alone. While the remaining 5,000 samples were from other parts of the country. Of the total samples received from various parts of the state, 6,889 samples have tested positive so far, with an average 22 per cent infection rate over the year.

"One usually develops natural immunity after being infected with the virus. This system of defense is known as acquired immunity. One can also acquire immunity to swine flu virus when he or she gets a flu shot or takes the nasal flu vaccine. However, it is seen that 60 to 70 per cent people develop antibodies after vaccination. While the remaining 30 per cent may not even develop the vaccine induced immunity in adequate amount which is needed to protect against the H1N1 infection. Such people may catch infection despite being vaccinated. Hence, precaution continues to be the key," said Mishra.