News

IndianExpress: Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, arguably among Asia’s richest civic bodies some time in the 1980s, is set to have a memorable Diwali. It stole the thunder from the Pune Municipal Corporation by raking in Rs 225 crore Central grant under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission for slum rehabilitation, a good Rs 100-odd crore more than its neighbour. With the State Government giving in principle approval for 70-metre height plan for buildings under PCMC jurisdiction, it seems there will be parity of the realty kind

IndianExpress: The civic elections are just four months away and politicians — both seasoned and wannabe ones — are leaving no stone unturned to garner votes and for a share of the limelight. And what better opportunity than Diwali to show off?

So, thousands of greeting cards are being sent to residents, banners of corporators wishing people a `Happy Diwali’ adorn every nook and corner of the city and ‘Diwali pahat’ and faral functions being organised.

IndianExpress: Police Commissioner D N Jadhav on Friday said the Pune police had solved 25 burglaries and recovered booty worth over Rs 31.28 lakh after taking into custody a gang of five persons involved in committing Statewide burglaries.

The police said while two of them — Rajendra Shivaji Babar and Hitesh Sushil Nagori — are from Satara, Ramesh Mahadeo Kumbhar is from Kolhapur and Rajaram Baban Chavan and Jayendra Nivrutti Lonare from Khed taluka of Pune district.

IndianExpress: In order to facilitate free movement of vehicles on MG Road during the festive season, the PCB has decided to discontinue walking plaza for two weeks. The road will remain open to traffic this weekend and the next (October 28 and 29) on the request of the Pune Camp Merchants’ Association. PCB has also decided to make parking free of cost on both weekends, PCB president Brig N M Rasquinha said in a statement.

IndianExpress: The country’s first open air WiFi Internet zone, started on a trial basis at MG Road, has finally come to a grinding halt. With the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) failing to take a firm stand on the issue, technology provider HOL Infosolutions discontinued services earlier this month.

This comes even after the WiFi trials were extended by three months on PCB’s request for more time to decide on the issue. Earlier, PCB had requested BSNL to provide free Internet connectivity for the 2 mbps WiFi zone for a period of three months, while it carried out a feasibility report on making it a permanent feature. But no report has been presented before the board .