Mumbai: Tanishka’s first conclave concluded on Thursday with a road map to women’s empowerment and gave members confidence for economic stability.

Pravin Pardeshi, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Manisha Mhaiskar, Principal Secretary of Urban Development Department, Ashwini Deshpande, Joint Director of Elephant Designs, Vijaya Rahatkar, Chairman of State Women’s Commission, Pradnya Sarvade, Additional Director General of Police, Rajendra Holani, water expert, Ashutosh Rathod, former officer on special duty of the State government’s skill development programme, Vishwas Mahajan, global trustee of Tycon, Revati Roy, owner of the first women-driven cab company ‘For She’, Barbora Stankoviva, Kuwait country head of Palladium Consultants, Shweta Shalini, adviser to the CM, Sangeeta Pendurkar, MD of Kellogs and Anjali Devkar participated in the conclave.
Tanishka Forum, established by the Sakal Media Group, organised the first two-day conclave of its woman members at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in Mumbai. During the meet, experts from various sectors discussed issues regarding women’s empowerment, leadership development, along with business development.

In the past four years, Tanishka Forum has started many social projects in rural areas. Now, it is going one step ahead to train women to enter the international market as entrepreneurs. The Tanishka members thanked Sakal Media Group and Tanishka Forum for giving them the opportunity to do so.

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Mumbai: “Dignity of women is important for the progress of a country and society. To make this possible, four years ago, Sakal Media Group launched the Tanishka Women’s Dignity Forum for an overall leadership development of women,” Abhijit Pawar, Managing Director of Sakal Media Group said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a two-day state-level convention of women who were elected recently from across the state, Pawar stated that the role of Tanishka Forum would be very important in building a modern and progressive nation. The convention is being held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan here.

Pawar interacted with all assembled after the dignitaries inaugurated the convention. Present on the occasion were Sakal Media Group’s Chief Editor Shriram Pawar, Chief Executive Officer Pradeep Dwivedi, head of Maharashtra Women’s Commission, Vijaya Rahatkar, head of Elephant Designs Ashwini Deshpande among others.

Speaking on the occasion Abhijit Pawar said, “For efficient social and nation building, the financial and social progress of every family is
important.”

“Women are the power centre for this progress. So every woman must get social and financial dignity to build a strong nation,” he further added.

He added, “A family is the main component of a country, state or society. In a family where a woman is strong, it is a happy family. It is the aim of Sakal Media Group and Tanishka Women’s Dignity Forum to help women achieve a dignified status.”

If the women’s strengths are recognised and the participation of women in progress of the society is ensured, then the country can progress faster, emphasised Pawar.

“Participation of people, especially women is of utmost importance for the eternal success of a democratic nation. Tanishka Forum has been working for the same. In the last four years, Tanishka Forum has organised several programmes to create success stories which will make the nation proud,” he said.

Sakal Media Group, which is the voice of the common people, has started conducting women’s leadership and development programmes as a social commitment through the Tanishka Forum, Pawar said.

“Our endeavour is to provide world class training to the Tanishka Women’s Dignity Forum members as it will give them the right direction to their progress,” he said. He said this forum is open to all and also appealed to all to work together for a brighter future of women.

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Mumbai: The Tanishka Women’s Dignity Forum, experienced glimpses of ‘women power’ at the convention organised by Sakal Media Group (SMG) in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Women from various strata of society across the State such as housewives, doctors, farmers and nurses, among others participated in a large number in the event. The convention was held to develop qualities such as leadership, will power and industrial knowledge among the Tanishka members.

The various sessions conducted by experts, officials and entrepreneurs enlightened and inspired the elected representatives of Tanishka to work harder towards the development of the State.

Sakal Media Group Managing Director Abhijit Pawar, Elephanta Design’s Ashwini Deshpande, State Women’s Commission Chairman Vijaya Rahatkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police Pragya Sarode, social activist Rajendra Holani, Urban Development Department Chief Secretary Manisha Mhaiskar were among the dignitaries, who shared their life experience with members of Tanishka.

Sakal’s Editor-in-Chief Shriram Pawar appreciated the unconventional work done by members of Tanishka.

He said, “People have willingly approved the efforts and initiatives taken by Tanishka.” Sakal Media Group’s CEO Pradeep Dwivedi said he expects the same determination and dedication shown by Tanishka members towards social reforms and it should remain forever.

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Students from Maharashtra, who are a part of the Youth Inspirators Network (YIN), have formed the Mahamandal in Pune. They formed four groups of 30 students and discussed problems related to water, health, education and tourism.

There were 200 students from 36 districts including Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nanded, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Baramati, Jalna, Parbhani, Mumbai, Raigad, Nagpur, Jalgaon and Latur.

Each group had to find out a solution to a particular problem.

Anuradha Bhosale from Baramati, coordinator of a group, said, “Talking about health issues in Maharashtra, every individual spoke about the situation in their district. Some spoke about corruption in hospitals, medical stores and lack of medical facilities in remote areas, no proper sanitation and so on.”

“I feel sex education should be given to people, especially youngsters. People living below the poverty line should be educated on this topic. Sanitary waste that is not disposed of properly can lead to pollution, so this should be taken care of,” she added.

On the other side, a group discussing water issues explained that there is no proper water purification done in many areas, which is leading to health issues with many citizens, almost all the wastewater is going into the rivers, making the rivers impure, and so on. Komal Dange from Mumbai, the representative of a group, said, “As discussed by the group members, the basic problem is that the citizens living above the poverty line or the people who are living in the big societies are getting water supply 24 hours a day, while a common man or the people who are living in remote areas or below the poverty line are getting water supply every two-three days.”

Education, being the most important part of all, was discussed by the third group. Shrikant Kendre from Pimpri-Chinchwad, a group member said, “Without education, there is nothing an individual can do. So, education is an important part, each and every person should get an opportunity to study at least till the college level.”

Abhishek Shriram from Kolhapur, the representative of tourism group, said, “Tourism is an important factor, considering all the issues which we all are talking about. If there is no proper water supply, no educated people in that particular city, no proper health facilities, tourism will get disturbed and because of that the revenue of India will decrease.”

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Puneites experienced a perfect family weekend outing at ‘MH 12 Khau Galli,’ a two-day festival that concluded on Sunday at Mahalaxmi Lawns, Karve Road. It was a unique food festival, which had food stalls along with other shopping and entertainment options.

The visitors treated themselves from a wide range of food stalls, which included biryani (veg and non-veg), burgers, sandwiches, chaat, rolls, Thai cuisine, Kolhapuri dishes and spices, Nagpur dishes, modak, dairy products, tandoor, paratha, mutton kheema, misal, cold drinks, ice creams, jalebis and much more. Jyoti Shinde, who was eating at the tornados food stall, said, “This is a unique dish. My daughter loved it.”

Also, there was a stall of Kesari Tours and Travels, electronics stalls, Lokmanya Multipurpose Co-operative Society stall, eco-friendly plates stalls, which were made from Erica (supari), leaves which can be decomposed. Harshal Saklecha, the owner of the eco-friendly plate stall, said, “There are plates, bowls and spoons, which can be decomposed. Basically, these are made of Erica leaves. If thrown on the ground, it will itself get decomposed. It is not harmful even if eaten by any animal. The response for this initiative is very good as people are purchasing the products in bulk.”

Harshad Jhodge, Assistant Regional Manager of Lokmanya Multipurpose Co-operative Society, said, “We are in collaboration with Sakal from last many years. We deal in banking sectors, tours and insurance. We have also kept a discount coupon for the visitors. Any visitor, who comes here for an enqiry, we write down their name on a chit of paper and put it into the lucky draw box and after every 30 minutes, we announce the name of a person winning the lucky draw contest. In this contest, the person winning the coupon will have to choose a stall where we will be paying the bill for the food that the person eats.”

The area of the lawn was fully crowded with people enjoying various cuisines. There were also sitting arrangements made for the convenience of people. Food lovers were continuously visiting the stalls and tasting all the variety of food, which was available at the stalls. At many stalls, people were also paying the money by Paytm. The stall owners said, “Not all foodies are paying through Paytm but 10 per cent of the visitors are making the payment by an electronic mode of payment.”

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The Sakal Media Group’s ‘MH 12 Khau Galli’ is all set to take off on February 25 and 26.

The two-day food festival, which would offer Puneites a treat to a variety of lip-smacking dishes, would be held at Mahalaxmi Lawns near Rajaram bridge from 11 am to 9 pm.

Puneites gave an overwhelming response during the last three festivals. This year too MH 12 Khau Galli will have stalls with a variety of food delicacies including pizzas, burgers, cakes, jalebis, milk products, puran poli, pani puri, chat, cold coffee, south Indian rice, chocolate sandwich, basundi, biscuits, rolls, fish, kebabs, kheema pav, biryani among others.

Kesari Tours Pvt Ltd is the travel partner for this event, while Log House is the biryani partner. The banking partner is Lokmanya Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Limited and restaurant partner is Bhairavee Pure Veg. The entry fee for this festival is Rs 25.

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– Event: MH 12 Khau Galli, Season 4
– Venue: Mahalaxmi Lawns, near Rajaram bridge
– Dates: February 25 and 26
– Time: 11 am to 9 pm

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The two-day Sakal Auto Expo organised by Sakal Media Group concluded on a high note on Sunday, with Puneites flooding in huge numbers to see the variety of luxury and pre-owned cars displayed at Pandit Farms, Karve Nagar.

Leading dealers of Maruti from across the city participated in the expo with around 100 vehicles for people to check out and test drive. There was also a range of pre-owned cars available for those interested in buying a second-hand car.

Shrikant Vidhate, who is a government official, said he was quite satisfied with what the expo had to offer. “I visited the Sakal Auto Expo for the first time, and I must say that it was quite impressive. There is genuinely a great variety of Maruti vehicles here. I took a test drive of Swift, and I am planning to book it soon. I loved the expo,” he added.
People from all age-groups, youngsters as well as elderly, were seen taking rounds of the expo, observing the cars, discussing features and prices with the dealers.

Vaibhav Sali, an animator by profession said, “There is a good range of vehicles here, which is good because you get to see different cars offered by different dealers, all under one roof. This is certainly a great place for Maruti lovers. The dealers too are very helpful and have skilled staff, who guide us in our choices.”

Along with the customers, dealers too were satisfied with the kind of response shown by the public and were happy to get a good number of bookings, expecting more to come within the next week or so.

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“People’s participation is pivotal in Maharashtra’s transformation. Delivering Change Forum (DCF) will make it possible. All stake-holders should cooperate to achieve this,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Wednesday.

He was speaking on the last day of the two-day conference organised jointly by DCF and Sakal Media Group (SMG), in cooperation with the State government and many prestigious institutions from across the world. DCF Founder and Chairman and SMG MD Abhijit Pawar listed the key takeaways from the conference.

Tata Group’s Ratan Tata, superstar Amitabh Bachchan, industrialist Anand Mahindra, social crusader Popatrao Pawar, ICICI Chairperson Chand Kochhar, Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde, Atomic Energy Commission’s former chairman Anil Kakodkar, State Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya, actor Preity Zinta and others were present on the occasion.

Pawar announced that the Chief Minister’s Transformation Council has been formed in the conference. He suggested that the State government should consult Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, who has transformed Malaysia through PEMANDU.

Pawar said over one lakh members of Mahan Rashtra Network have joined hands for the cause. He said DCF emphasised on people’s participation in understanding and solving their issues. “DCF has reached out to 2.5 crores of people through Mahan Rashtra Network, YIN and Tanishka. Quick transformation is assured through ‘Big Fast Methodology’.”

DCF believes in the constructive use of people’s power rather than fighting for issues through agitations. Collegians and women from across the State are trying to achieve this through YIN and Tanishka, respectively, said Pawar.

Fadnavis said medicines, education and earning have been added to the basic needs of food, clothes and shelter. He said these issues needed to be solved. Fadnavis thanked the members of the audience for supporting efforts being made by the State government.

The conference was attended by Winfried Krestshmann, Minister of State of Baden-Wurttemberg, Minister President Dr Rolf Gramm, Ministry of Trasnport of State of Baden-Wurttemberg, Policy Advisor Winfried Hugo Josef, Minister of Transport of State of Baden-Wurttemberg Dr Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Housing of State of Baden-Wurttemberg.

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Delivering Change Forum’s (DCF) Founder-Chairman Abhijit Pawar addressed a special session following the two-day conference organised jointly by DCF and Sakal Media Group in cooperation with the State government here on Wednesday
evening.

Founder-Chairman of Delivering Change Forum Abhijit Pawar (third from left) and CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis (C) are seen along with Germany’s Ambassador in Mumbai Jurgen Morhard, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Housing of State of Baden-Wurttemberg, Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of State of Baden-Wurttemberg Winfried Krestshmann, actress Preity Zinta (second from right), Maharashtra Minister of Rural Development, Women and Child Welfare Pankaja Munde (second from right) and Vital Capital’s Co-Founder Eytan Stibbe.

Abhijit Pawar, Delivering Change Forum’s (DCF) Founder-Chairman addressed a special session following the two-day conference organised jointly by DCF and Sakal Media Group in cooperation with the State government here on Wednesday
evening.

The session was attended by Tata Group’s Ratan Tata, superstar Amitabh Bachchan, industrialist Anand Mahindra, social crusader Popatrao Pawar, ICICI Chairperson Chanda Kochhar, Women & Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde, Atomic Energy Commission former chairman Anil Kakodkar, State Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya and actress Preity Zinta.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan said, “It is necessary to stress on clean villages. The open defecation-free villages movement should be strengthened. Planning should ensure that rural development should be of a permanent nature. The rural development movement launched through joint participation of the government and corporates will certainly be successful.”

Industrialist Ratan Tata stressed on the need to pay attention to enhancing the prosperity of an individual, family and the villages. “There should be planning to ensure that this prosperity should be of a permanent nature. There is need to eradicate poverty and to improve the standard of living of individuals and villages,” he said.

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The two-day conference jointly organised by Sakal Media Group and DCF, in cooperation with the State Government and many prestigious institutions from across the world, concluded on Wednesday.

The meet ended with a speech by DCF Advisory Director Bobby Nimbalkar. He said a large number of suggestions have come through Tanishka, Young Inspirators Network (YIN) and Mahan Rashtra Network, which will be forwarded to the Chief Minister’s Transformation Council. They will be sorted out after discussion in the council.

The DCF helps experts coming from various walks of life and who have been working for various strata of society to create a wise society. The DCF has taken the lead in this direction.

Experts from various countries and eminent invitees from across the State, who are active in several fields, participated in a two-day conference. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the conference on Tuesday.

“We have received many suggestions about the problems in the State. Soon, they will be discussed in the CM’s Transformation Council to find out perfect and detailed solutions,” said Nimbalkar.

Nimbalkar explained the work carried out by the DCF till date and also outlined a detailed road map for the future.
“DCF had information about the problems being faced by the residents of the State. In the next step, there will be meetings with the departments such as education, health, urban development, housing, tourism, skill development, industry, agriculture and water to sort out the issues related to these departments,” said Nimbalkar.

“In a span of one year, there will be nine meetings of each department with members of the CM’s council and officials from the respective department, who will discuss the issues and prepare a future plan,” he said.

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Thousands of shopping lovers from across the city flocked to the Sakal Shopping Festival organised by Sakal Media Group, on its fourth day, at Agriculture Ground in Sinchan Nagar on Monday.

The shopping festival is from January 20 to 29.

The ten-day shopping bonanza offers an array of consumer products such as kitchen appliances, home furniture like cupboards, study-tables of all sizes, decorative materials, curtains, bedsheets and fabric materials are all available under one roof.

“The festival has a variety of collections that makes it easy for us to choose from multiple options. We don’t have to run across the city for one or two materials. It is all available here. Also, they have reasonable rates and of course, cashless transaction is one of the advantages of shopping here,” said Chaitanya Kulkarni.

Manavi Guleto, who was enthralled by the wide range of options for kitchen appliances, said, “A great start to Monday with so much to shop here. There are three to four stalls

displaying stove gas. I visited all the stalls to compare their prices. Also, it saved me from visiting 10 shops in the city. Malls and other branded places have similar products but with a higher range. This place is indeed beneficial for us because we get quality products at the correct price under one roof,” said Guleto.

There are over 500 stalls displaying more than 10,000 products of various brands and quality.

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Event: Sakal Shopping Festival
Date: January 20 to 29
Venue: Agriculture College Ground, Sinchan Nagar

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Charitra Pratishthan honoured Sakal Media Group Chairman Pratap Pawar with the National Character Award here on Sunday.

He was presented the award by former Chief Minister and former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

Suresh Mehta, President of Charitra Pratishthan said, “Pawar has greatly contributed to nation building and community development. It is the pleasure of our organisation that he was presented the award.”

Charitra Pratishthan instituted the award in 2002-2003.

Mehta said the young generation should consider Pratap Pawar as an idol. “His efforts towards community building through Tanishka Women’s Dignity Forum, Educon, journalism, Sakal Relief Fund and many other efforts are indeed great,” he said.

During an interaction at the ceremony, Pawar said, “My mother taught me the dignity of labour and also taught me right and acceptable behaviour. It is very important to be imparted that in childhood, as it is later needed in life. There was a rule at home, that after education is completed, there will be no free lunch and no financial security from home, which affected us and turned out to be a major reason for success.”

Speaking about his teachers, Pawar said, “They were strict and hence, my maths and science were good.” Also, he remembered one teacher taught him Sanskrit without any fees and hence his vocabulary was great.

Character awards were also given to 15 children studying in Std VIII, IX and X.

Giving the message of ‘never earn through wrong ways and find time for yourselves’, Pawar advised the children saying, “The future of the nation is good and you have to work on it. Don’t give importance to religion and caste. Use opportunities.”

Praising Pawar, Sushilkumar Shinde said, “He is a great personality, who never applied for Padmashree award. He got it for his work. Pawar’s media forum is different because of the responsibility to engage and empower people.”

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