News

IndianExpress: AFTER waiting for weeks to see their gas stoves burning, the LPG consumers in the district can hope for some good news as the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has imported 1,000 tonne of gas from the Gulf. Of this, Pune is expected to get 400 tonne or around 28,000 cylinders.

The consignment has already landed in Mumbai on Thursday and is expected to reach Pune on Friday.

The representatives of the LPG companies also promised the State government that the crisis would be resolved in 10 days.

IndianExpress:  GIVING a boost to the faster implementation of the Slum Rehabilitation Schemes, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday gave ‘in-principle’ approval to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) rules and regulations which eliminate various formalities. Pune’s Mayor Rajani Tribhuvan, Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer, City Engineer Prashant Waghmare and MLA Ramesh Bagve attended the meeting.

As per the new SRA guidelines, the proposal forwarded by the developer would be directly approved by the SRA for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. This means that apart from the elimination from the bureacratic process, the project would not require consent of the slum-dwellers residing in that plot.

IndianExpress: LOCAL residents have resented the recent introduction of toll on Mumbai-Pune highway. As a result, political parties are on a spree to stage protests at various places. The demand is the same: Exclude locals from toll.

Within hours after the collection of toll began at the toll plazas at Somatane Phata, Lonavla, Kusgaon and Shil Phata from Tuesday midnight, Shiv Sena workers staged a rasta roko at the newly set up toll plaza at Somatane phata. On Saturday, it was the turn of Bharatiya Janata Party to stage a rasta roko at the same place.

IndianExpress: IN a volte-face, Shramshakti Vikas Sanghatna (SVS) and Akhil Bhartiya Janiv Sanghatna (ABJS) on Thursday withdrew their support for the Pune Municipal Corporation’s ‘no-hawkers zone’. The reason: Change of policy by the civic administration.

Withdrawal of the support by SVS came as a surprise for the civic administration. The SVS had even participated in drafting the policy for rehabilitating the hawkers.

The other two groups involved in the job were Baba Adhav’s Pathari Panchayat and Mahrashtra Pathari Sena.

IndianExpress: A RAPID assessment study has put paid to claims that injecting drug users (IDUs) do not exist in the city. In a study conducted at five slums, a total of 100 IDUs have been identified.

The findings were revealed on Thursday at a workshop organised by the Mukti Sadan Foundation working in the field of drug users and HIV/AIDS —in partnership with Sharan’s DFID Challenge Fund-supported project network. These agencies have come together to start a city-based action plan towards securing treatment for IDUs.

TechTree: Microsoft has reportedly announced that it will be launching its innovative software pre-paid cards in the country.

The company said these cards will eliminate the need for customers to purchase its software - through payment of a big one-time charge, while also tackling the problem of “illegal” copies of Microsoft wares.

Currently, these cards are being tested in Brazil under a scheme wherein customers have to pay 50 percent of the cost of a computer in order to purchase the pre-paid card from a Microsoft showroom or retailer. Post purchasing a set number of hours, the computer becomes customer property. Thus, the card allows access to computers depending on the number of hours purchased.

ITWorld: IBM Corp.’s India Research Lab has developed a location-based service for mobile phone users that helps mobile users to connect with both fixed and mobile businesses in their vicinity.

When deployed by mobile phone service providers, the business finder technology allows a consumer to find and use the nearest, most highly rated and available service vendors like plumbers, electricians, carpenters or doctors, a spokesman for IBM India Research said Tuesday.

TechTree: According to reports, Microsoft has unveiled what the company says, are the industry’s first wireless, re-chargeable, and backlit desktops: the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000, dubbed “Ultimate Keyboard” and two other sleek desktops; the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 and the Wireless Laser Desktop 6000.

The Wireless Entertainment Desktops 8000 and 7000 combine futuristic industrial design with productivity-enhancing features and are each about an inch thick. The desktops feature premium advancements, as also most of the advantages of Windows XP and Windows Vista.

They support 2.4GHz Bluetooth technology and feature Microsoft First Connect technology, which enables easy set-up. The desktop keyboards are accompanied by a navigation pad for controlling the cursor from anywhere.

TechTree: Tata Sky launched its newest interactive service, ACTVE WIZKIDS, a first of its kind interactive educational service in the world, at an event held in Mumbai today.

The company says that the service is aimed at kids, and seeks to enhance a child’s classroom learning through entertaining, yet educational games.

ACTVE WIZKIDS, which is developed for children in the age group of 3 to 6 years, makes learning an enjoyable and entertaining activity for children, through the medium of fun-filled games, audio instructions, and animated mascots. These games incorporate a variety of subjects from Mathematics to English and General Knowledge.