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IndianExpress: HERE is no clamour for pushing the panic button as yet nor have the client calls for pullout started pouring in, but the infotech companies have adopted the age-old formula: Prevention is better than cure. Following the serial blasts in Mumbai, this IT hub — with nearly 200 software and BPO firms and over 50,000 employees — is out to ensure that it is business as usual.

‘‘I don’t think it will have a significant impact either on the business flow or on the demand for companies coming to Pune. If in 2002, after the escalation of tension between India and Pakistan there were panic calls by clients asking whether they should pullout their business from Indian firms, after the Mumbai blasts there has not been a single call for pullout,’’ global consultancy major Gartner Inc’s research vice-president Partha Iyengar said.
 

IndianExpress: Environmental issues have gained much more importance in business than before, said Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) member secretary Dr. D.B Boralkar. Boralkar was addressing students and environment professionals at ‘Disha’ - a workshop on Careers in Environment Management organised by the Environmental Management Centre (EMC) today.

“Industries today need to comply with certain stringent environmental standards in order to market their products nationally and internationally,” said Boralkar. This had given rise to a large requirement of sophisticated environmental infrastructure and investment. Boralkar said that processes like treatment and recycling of electronic, biomedical, metal and municipal solid waste was much below par. For example, he said that though over 95 per cent of electronic waste (plastic, metal and glass) could be recovered through recycling, this was not being done. “The performance of local bodies is dismal, given the lack of technical expertise, sufficient funding and guidance,” he said.

IndianExpress:  ADMISSION lists for the XI standard would be released next week, said AR Phadke, SP college vice-principal and co-ordinator for admissions, although he said the exact date was not yet clear. The first phase of admissions to vocational colleges was completed on July 11. ‘‘The vocational admissions were slightly delayed due to some glitches,’’ said Phadke. A computerised system will prepare the merit lists and process the admission forms according to the preferences filled in by the students. After being reviewed and finalised by the Central Admissions Committee, the list will then be given for printing. Printing will require at least three days, Phadke said. ‘‘The admissions process should be completed by July 27. All colleges would resume the academic year latest by July-end.

IndianExpress: SQUARELY blaming to an absence of political will and support to strengthen the city’s public transport, Kumari Rajshree Parmar Memorial Foundation along with the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Agriculture and Industries (MCCIA) has approached the State government with a proposal for creation of a Pune Metro Transport Corporation.

The foundation has proposed that Pune Metro Transport Corporation should be an autonomous body established under the Companies act. It should have a senior IAS officer as the chairman cum managing director, alongwith the municipal commissioner and mayor of both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. It should also have transport experts, NGOs working in the transport field.

IndianExpress: TWO boys, who had gone for a swim at a building construction site near the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation headquarters, drowned in the pool on Saturday afternoon. The deceased were identified as Ajay Gautam Makasari (12) and Vishnu Kisan Waghmare (14). Both were students of a PCMC school and had apparently bunked their classes to go for the swim. They lived at the nearby Gandhinagar slums

IndianExpress: Four days after the Mumbai train blasts, intelligence agencies have come up with two more suspects - a call centre employee and a madrassa preacher. Both are residents of Mumbai, and are suspected to have provided local resources to the terrorists involved in the strike.

According to sources, information about possible involvement of the duo has already been provided to the State police, which is carrying out the investigations.

The call centre employee is said to be a history-sheeter from Kolkata who moved to Mumbai some time back. He works in a call centre in Andheri and lives with his girlfriend in Borivali. The sources said the suspect, who has not gone to college, may have obtained the job with the help of forged educational certificates.

IndianExpress: IT was a double tragedy for the Malekar family when two stepbrothers, were killed by their friends in two separate incidents on Friday night.

The victims were Sachin Baban Malekar (24) and his stepbrother Ganesh (25).

Sachin was murdered near Neelayam Theatre while Ganesh was murdered in Bibvewadi area. Both were suspects in some previous crimes.

Sachin’s friend, Sachin Shivram Gote (22) has been arrested for suspected involvement in the murder.

TechTree.com: Borland India, a subsidiary of Borland Software Corporation, has announced that it is partnering with Pragati Software to offer training programs to IT professionals and students on optimizing software development and delivery through better processes and technology. As a Borland Learning Partner (BLP), Pragati Software will run extensive training programs in several cities across India including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mysore, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram.

Course offerings span the entire lifecycle of software development, helping IT professionals learn the processes and technology required for successful project delivery and automation. Borland products that automate and enforce these processes such as the company’s CaliberRM requirements management system together with visual modeling tool will be used to train students. Courses on Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), Lifecycle Quality Management (LQM), and Borland Tempo IT Management and Governance system will be part of the training program. Specific modules will be designed in partnership with Borland

TechTree.com:  Electronic Arts has revealed that they are developing six new games for the upcoming Wii from Nintendo.

EA’s six new custom-designed titles include new releases from the Madden NFL, Need for Speed, Harry Potter, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, SSX and The Godfather franchises.

According to EA each title is being designed to maximize the power of the Wii hardware. They will take full advantage of the uniqueness and innovation of its one-of-a-kind motion-detecting controller that allows players to simulate swinging a bat, golf club or sword.

John Schappert, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EA, said “Once we started to experiment with Madden on Wii, there was an explosion of innovation. Everyone in the studio is energized by the creative opportunity afforded by both the hardware and controller. By reaching into our catalogue, we are able to bring a fresh and distinctive experience to some of EA’s most popular franchises.”

Reuters.com:  They say the only successful converged device is the clock radio. Samsung is hoping to prove that false with a combination digital camera and music player.

The NV3 is much like any other cameraphone, with 7.2 megapixels, 3x optical zoom and a 2.5-inch high-resolution LCD display. But it also can store and play back MP3 and WAV music files, as well as videoclips. It features 16 MB of internal memory, with a memory card expansion slot for additional storage. It includes a stereo headphone jack and integrated stereo speakers.

Digital camera rival Olympus last year tried and failed to market a similar device called the m:robe, which was even backed by a Super Bowl commercial. The product was discontinued after less than eight months.

Samsung’s NV3 is expected to be available in fourth-quarter 2006 for $350.