News

IndianExpress: AFTER cracking the whip on the stray cattle menace last week, the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has collected Rs 10,300 as pound fine and rounded up 23 stray animals from the cantonment roads. While PCB’s Nuisance Prevention Squad is working to round up cattle, officials have appealed to unemployed youth to lend a hand and earn some money.

‘‘Our staff has been rounding up the cattle, but we need help of the local people. This is a good opportunity for youth to earn some money,’’ PCB CEO, S K Sardana said. To make sure that its operation to clear roads of cattle didn’t lose steam, PCB had announced an incentive scheme for citizens who brought in stray cattle to its pound.

Earlier this month, the board had announced that citizens who brought in stray cattle to PCB’s cattle pound at Babajan Chowk would be rewarded Rs 200 per animal. PCB had decided to rope in citizens for the job to supplement its under manned nuisance prevention squad.

IndianExpress: A 100 HIV uninfected women from Pune will enrol for the phase II trials of the 1 per cent Tenofovir vaginal gel, approved by the US Food and Drug Agency as a drug for anti-HIV treatment.

The trial will be conducted by the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) which has joined the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Centre in New York and University of Alabama in the effort.

It will be launched in August at NARI’s clinic in Jehangir hospital, Dr Smita Joshi, research officer at NARI and project in-charge told The Indian Express.

This multi-centric study is part of the HIV Prevention Trial Network (HPTN) project and funded by the National Institutes of Health, USA. Basically, vaginal microbicides will help women protect themselves against HIV and some sexually transmitted infections when they cannot negotiate condom use by men, Joshi points out.

IndianExpress:  IT may be one of the premiere science institutes in the country, but for the past 23 years, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) has not added a single laboratory to it existing infrastructure. However, all that is going to change with the approval of a new laboratory space in the NCL premises that will have a built-up area of 85,000 sq ft.

‘‘The new facility will cost around Rs 16 crore and is expected to come up by January 2008,’’ NCL director S Sivaram said. The new facility will house laboratories dealing with advanced and functional materials. ‘‘We have been facing shortage of space and the new facility will help us to address this problem,’’ Sivaram said.

The new facility will have a common building and five wings consisting of 20 modular laboratories. The front building will house meeting and conference rooms as well as a 120-seater auditorium.

IndianExpress: A DAY after the Independence Day, when nearly 70 students walk into the National Chemical Laboratory campus on August 16, it will be a new dawn for science education in the country. For, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) — touted as the IIT of science education — will start its academic session.

To begin with, it will be based at the NCL’s Innovation Park and classes and labs will be held here till the institute shifts to a permanent campus. IISER in Pune and Kolkata was formed on the recommendations of the C N R Rao-led Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister. On October 4, 2005, Pune Newsline had reported about the scope and functioning of the institute.

‘‘The institute is at an embryonic stage and NCL will provide support in the form of administration, finance, engineering services as well as infrastructure,’’ IISER project director and NCL chief S Sivaram said.

IndianExpress: PUNE Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) General Body on Friday gave its approval for the merger of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal transports after imposing ten conditions. The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) General Body has already gave its approval to the merger. However, Leader of Opposition Anil Shirole proposed that ten conditions be imposed for the merger. Shirole’s proposal was readily accepted by all party leaders — Abhay Chhajed of Congress, Rajlakshmi Bhosale of Nationalist Congress and Ramesh Bodke of Shiv Sena.

The most important condition is that the State Government will give one time grant to pay off all existing dues. Moreover, the State Government will have to give financial grant to the new body to overcome losses even after the merger. The State Government will have to waive off the stamp duty expenses, which would incur on completing formalities of the merger. A committee will have to be appointed to review the functioning of the new transport body after every couple of years and decision on whether the PMC and PCMC should give financial assistance to the new body would be taken on the basis of the committee

IndianExpress: CASES of dengue have started increasing again. Just two weeks ago, general practitioners had informed the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) about cases of dengue from Wadgaonsheri. Now cases are being reported from Kondhwa, Lohiyanagar, Ghorpade Peth and Nana Peth areas as well.

‘‘Seven patients from these areas are admitted to KEM hospital,’’ Dr Rajesh Gadia, chief intensivist at KEM hospital said.

Last year a total of 300 patients had tested positive for dengue and there were eight deaths, says Gadia. Most of the cases of dengue hailed from Bhosari last year.

IndianExpress:  EIGHT live cartridges of a 12-bore gun were recovered by a youth near MG road on Thursday evening. Police sources say that while they have not received any complaints of missing cartridges, the recovered ammunition was of a kind commonly used by security guards, specially those guarding banks and financial institutions.

The cartridges, stored in a white plastic bag, were found by Shaibaz Gulam Sadik Punjabi (17) near the Good Luck Hotel, off MG Road while he was on his way home from Poona College. ‘‘I was looking for some money I lost on the road when I saw the objects that I recognized as bullets. I took them home and showed to my father who took me to the nearby police station,’’ said Punjabi.

IndianExpress:  STUDENTS who wish to cancel their standard XI admissions will be refunded the entire college fee except for the admission charges, provided they notify the college before start of term on July 26.

Ten per cent of college fee will not be deducted, as was announced when admissions began on July 19.

Advocate and social activist Saleem Shaikh had contested the deduction, saying it was arbitrary and illegal. ‘‘The Secondary school code clearly states in Annexe 70 (1) 5 (A) that only the admission fee must be deducted, and this admission fee must not be more than one month’s fees for the college,’’ he said.

BBCNews.com: A super computer, considered one of the most powerful in Europe, has been given a boost in its brain power for the UK’s fight against bird flu.
Blue C, based at Swansea University, has been made 20% more powerful so it can work out more quickly the best way to tackle a possible disease outbreak.

The flu’s H5N1 strain has killed 133 people worldwide and the UK had one confirmed case in a swan in April.

Blue C aims to predict where a UK outbreak would start.

By modelling bird flight patterns, experts hope the machine will work out how best to confine the disease, through culls and quarantines, should more birds carrying the disease migrate to the UK in future.

DailyTech.com: Samsung has unveiled three new LCD displays. Two of the new LCD displays are catered towards the commercial and business markets. The new SyncMaster 740BX and 940BX are 17” and 19” LCD monitors, respectively. The 740BX and 940BX are virtually identical with the exception of size. Specifications of the 740BX and 940BX include a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time and 1280×1024 resolution. Both monitors have 15pin D-sub and DVI connections.

A height adjustable pivot and swivel capable stand is used on the 740BX and 940BX, though it doesn’t support rotating features. The LCD is also compatible with VESA 75mm wall mounts too.

In addition to the SyncMaster 740BX and 940BX announcements Samsung also has a new 21” LCD monitor. The new 215TW sports a 1680×1050 resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 8ms response time. Multiple video inputs are supported such as DVI, 15pin D-sub, S-video, composite and component video inputs. Picture-In-Picture and Picture-By-Picture are also supported by the 215TW, allowing users to view two video sources at the same time. The 215TW is also HDTV-ready too, though it doesn’t say if it is HDCP compliant.