News

IndianExpress: Going the hi-tech way the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) has decided to scrap the old traditional way of punching its coloured tickets and introduced e-tickets instead. The trials of e-tickets have already begun at the Swargate depot and commuters travelling on Swargate- Hadapsar, Swargate-Alandi, Swargate - Sangvi, Swargate-Kothrud and Swargate-Malwadi routes are being handed the e-tickets.Currently two computerised ticketing machines have been provided to PMT by city based Tapi software.
Manager traffic and personnel, Shivraj Rane said that the new system would help in immediate calculations and solve the problems of maintaining store inventory, ticket blocks etcetera. ‘‘The calculations of the amount of tickets issued and amount deposited by a particular conductor monthly takes atleast 15 days. But with e-ticketing, it is possible for us to conduct the daily calculations in minutes,’’ he said.

IndianExpress: THIS is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. Kolhapur-based Maharashtra State Federation of Cooperative Credit Societies (MAFCOCS) has rolled out Maharashtra State Cooperative Deposit Guarantee Corporation (MSCDGC), a body that will give cover to thousands of members of Cooperative Credit Societies (CCS)— mainly farmers and small-time traders.

The scheme that began ticking this April, will provide guarantee on deposits up to Rs 50,000 to CCS members, more or less along the lines of the cover provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation to bank depositors in the country. Incidentally, MAFCOCS is the parent body of CCS in Maharashtra

IndianExpress: NATIONAL paraplegic swimming champion Anthony Pereira, confined to a wheelchair ever since he was hit by an enemy shell in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, will soon cheer for the Tata group of industries.

For, a Rs 30 lakh-donation from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust will give an international standard, state-of-the-art indoor sports complex by this year-end to Pereira and 100-odd fellowmen at the Khadki-based Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre (PRC).  
The centre, which rehabilitates Armed Forces personnel with spinal injuries, will soon have a 64,000 sq ft sports complex that includes basketball, throw ball and tennis facilities besides a 20-metre heated swimming pool. Construction will begin in a month after tenders are issued.

IndianExpress:  IT was the true story of a lad who made a plea for euthanasia, which gave Saillesh Dupaare the idea for his diploma film for his final year of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) course. The film has won acclaim from the faculty and professionals alike.

The facts about K Venkatesh were all in a newspaper cutting: This lad from Hyderabad was suffering from muscular dystrophy and pleaded for euthanasia, while offering to donate his organs. His request was rejected. Dupaare made the film alongwith three other FTII students.

The response to the team from the FTII faculty and personalities like Jabbar Patel was positive. “They all said that the film didn’t look like a students’ film, but as one made by professionals,” says Dupaare. The team maintains that the film is not trying to sway opinion in favour or against euthanasia — it merely portrays the struggle of the patient and the family.

IndianExpress:  WHEN five visually-challenged girls, barely twelve years old, decided to write a book in Braille on social reformer Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve, they hardly expected it to bring them widespread appreciation.

As they walked hand-in-hand in a single file and clambered onto the stage to thunderous applause and a pat on the back from Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar who released the book Stree Shikshanache Pranete recently, they flushed with happiness.
Spurred by their love for reading, the girls decided to take up writing. “They would spend a lot of time reading at the school’s Braille library reading all kinds of books, especially inspiring stories of Kalpana Chawla or books by Abdul Kalam,” says social worker Savita Waghmare, who works at the school.
 

IndainExpress: The number of sparrows has declined by 70 to 80 per cent in coastal areas. The decline is even sharper in a city as concretised as Mumbai,’’ said Mohammed Ismail Dilawar, who has been researching the status of the House Sparrow as project officer with non-governmental organisation Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) since 2004.
‘‘The issue is not getting the attention it deserves. Only the decline in the number of big animals like tigers is getting noticed,’’ he added.

ComputerWorld.com: Microsoft Corp. today denied speculation that it plans to cripple copies of Windows XP for users who refuse to install its controversial antipiracy tool, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA).

But the software company confirmed that for its upcoming Windows Vista operating system, companies will be required to activate their software differently than they do today in order to prevent the leakage of volume licenses that are the source of most Windows piracy.

A ZDNet.com blogger reported earlier in the week on a conversation between a Windows user and a Microsoft support staffer, who allegedly admitted that users who refused to install the WGA update would be given 30 days before their copies of Windows would stop working

BetaNews.com: To accompany the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft is preparing what it calls the “Ultimate Keyboard,” which blends a modern design with advanced features such as proximity sensing and a 30-foot range. Microsoft has also moved the Windows key to below the spacebar and added a Media Center button.

Like Apple’s laptops, the Ultimate Keyboard detects the amount of light in the room and turns on backlighting when needed. It can additionally detect when the user leaves the room. Both the keyboard and its partner mouse utilize Bluetooth for connecting to a PC. Microsoft has given no timeframe for release or pricing for the new hardware.

TechTree.com: To address the growing demand for high-capacity storage, Toshiba Corp has announced the Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) 4-gigabyte (GB) memory card. Toshiba says it is the first SDHC card introduced by the company.

According to Toshiba, the new memory card conforms to the SD memory card ver 2.00 standard introduced by the SD Card Association (SDA) that enables achieving capacities greater than 2GB, and features minimum SD speed-class ratings to achieve optimal performance for FAT32-enabled hosts.

The SD speed-class ratings specify a minimum sustained write speed for SDHC cards: Class 2: 2 MB/s; Class 4: 4 MB/s; and Class 6: 6 MB/s.
Toshiba says it is initially announcing a 4GB SDHC card that exceeds the Class 4 minimum write speed of 4MB/s. However, the company hopes to develop cards up to 32-gigabytes that conform to this standard.

BetaNews.com: Google on Thursday launched its highly-anticipated payments service, dubbing it Google Checkout. While at first glance, the Mountain View, Calif. company’s new offering may look to compete with PayPal directly, it differs from the popular payment services in a few key ways.

Instead of acting as a depository for funds, Google Checkout aims to speed the checkout process by acting as a method to send personal and financial information to participating merchants. The customer does not need to enter any information in order to make purchases.
The service is available only to businesses that advertise through Google’s network. To inform users of which advertisers are supporting the program, a green shopping cart icon would appear by the advertisement in Google’s pages.