News

IndianExpress: Violence erupted in parts of city and the twin industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad after reports of alleged desecration of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue in Kanpur reached here on Wednesday. At least 30 vehicles were burnt in Pimpri, while another 40 vehicles and 22 PMT buses were damaged in heavy stone pelting in other pockets of Pimpri-Chinchwad and the city.

The police fired teargas shells to disperse a mob of over 300 people that had gathered in Pimpri. Shops and commercial establishments downed their shutters, while residential societies closed the gates to ward off angry protestors. One policeman was injured in the violence and has been admitted to the hospital.

Police commissioner D N Jadhav said one company of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) and nine columns of Striking Force have been deployed in the affected areas. “All the 18 police stations in the city have been put on alert. The situation is tense, but it is coming under control,” Jadhav said.

IndianExpress:  The Central Steering Committee of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) on Tuesday approved funds of Rs 160.36 crore for Pune Municipal Corporation’s projects for slum rehabilitation, constructions of night shelters for people coming to Pune in search of jobs and rehabilitation of hawkers.

Speaking to the reporters here on Wednesday, Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said Rs 111.36 crore was approved for slum rehabilitation, Rs 21 crore for construction of night shelters and Rs 28 crore for rehabilitation of street vendors.

This brings the funds approved for PMC under the JNNURM to Rs 1,260 crore. Of this, Rs 820 crore is meant for non-housing projects and accounts for 12 per cent of the money approved for this sector under JNNURM across the country, Kareer said.

However, of the total approved amount, Rs 62 crore has been disbursed so far to the PMC.

IndianExpress:  With just a day to go for the November 30 deadline set by the Bombay High Court to fill up the potholes on the city’s roads, most thoroughfares in Aundh, Pune Railway Station, Gultekdi Market Yard, Karve Road, Sarasbaug, Katraj-Ambegaon Road and those near Bharati Vidyapeeth, the Mumbai-Pune highway near Engineering College, were still in bad shape.
However, Pune Municipal Corporation development engineer (roads) Madhav Latkar. who refused to reveal details, claimed that all the roads in the city had been repaired. ‘‘We are collecting information on the repairs from the 14 ward offices,’’ he said on Wednesday

IndianExpress: The flyover at E-Square on Ganeshkhind Road was opened this week — without a formal inauguration — almost as soon as it was completed. The flyover, constructed under the Integrated Road Development Project (IRDP) by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), was scheduled to be ready by October 15.

Construction of the other two flyovers on the road, at the Agriculture College and University Chowk, has been delayed, yet again. 
 
“The flyover at Agriculture College chowk will be ready by December 12. The flyover at University Chowk has been delayed due to the shifting of utilities like telephone and cable wires and drainage lines,’’ said MSRDC Executive Engineer Pramod Tagare. The Agriculture College flyover was to be thrown open for traffic by November 30.

TechTree: Epson has developed inkjet equipment for manufacturing color filters compatible with 8th generation large LCDs. This equipment has been installed at Sharp Corporation’s Kameyama Plant No 2, and is in operation for production of color filters destined for Sharp’s latest large-screen LCD TVs.

The inkjet-based color filter manufacturing technique grew out of research into industrial applications for inkjet technology conducted by Epson over many years. Through its participation in the Future Vision Project to develop next-generation displays, the company worked this research into a method for manufacturing large-screen LCD TVs.

Epson will continue to develop its inkjet-based manufacturing equipment business including color filter applications to contribute to the widespread introduction of next-generation manufacturing processes that save on both energy and costs

TechTree: Users of multiple 3D applications have now reason to smile as they now have a device in hand that unifies navigation systems of each application into a single easy-to-use device.

3Dconnexion, a Logitech company, has introduced the SpaceNavigator, a three-dimensional navigation device that offers 3D designers and enthusiasts intuitive and powerful 3D navigation control.

Logitech and Google worked together to develop native support for the SpaceNavigator with Google Earth. It is compatible with Google Earth and Google SketchUp, as well as with most other 3D design applications.

The SpaceNavigator has six optical sensors that continuously communicate multiple threads of navigation data to 3D applications. It enables users to move naturally and fluidly in 3D environments; without repetitive mouse movements or multiple keyboard commands.

TechTree: At an event in New Delhi yesterday, Motorola announced the global availability of its “Motofone”. This makes India the first market globally to launch the “Motofone”.

The company said that Indian consumers would be the first ones to own this game-changing handset, which is set to redefine the mobile phone market place, and strengthen Motorola’s drive to connect the next billion mobile phone users.

Based on Motorola’s evolutionary new SCPL design platform, Motofone is the first of a new breed of handsets designed to disrupt today’s communications landscape by cutting across price tiers, product segments, and international markets.

IndianExpress:  While the State education department is toying with the idea of making mathematics an optional subject at the secondary school level, efforts are on in other states to boost mathematics learning.

At least 15 state boards in the country are taking up the initiative to switch to a practical, activity-based approach to mathematics by setting up laboratories to dispel the fear and generate interest in children.

Concerned, officials of the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) have called upon the State to follow other states to promote the subject. With the National Curriculum Framework 2006 highlighting maths and science as a crucial component of futuristic learning, there is a growing emphasis across the country on the need to move away from the chalk and talk method of teaching to a more constructive-activity based approach.

IndianExpress: Three days after first lot of five Volvo buses for Pune Municipal Corporation’s Rs 65 crore Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) pilot project arrived in the city, the Pune Municipal Transport on Tuesday carried out a trial run on one stretch of the Pune-Satara corridor.

Another 15 buses are expected by December-end, which is the deadline for beginning regular BRTS service on the 5.9-km Swargate-Katraj stretch on the Pune-Satara Road.

The trial run on the 2.5-km BRTS corridor between Hotel Panchami and Dhankawadi was far from smooth as a group of vendors who were evicted from the dedicated corridor to facilitate the BRTS work stopped the bus near City Pride theatre for nearly half an hour.

IndianExpress:  The convocation ceremony for the 278 graduating cadets of 111th course at the National Defence Academy was held on Tuesday morning at Habibullah Hall. Gurbachan Jagat, chairman, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conferred the BA, BSc and BCS degrees from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to cadets.

A total of 87 cadets received BSc (Computer Science) degrees while BSc and BA degrees were conferred upon 136 cadets and 55 cadets respectively. Cadets, their parents and the officers of the Academy were present during the formal convocation ceremony prior to the Passing-Out-Parade on Wednesday.

Jagat, who has served as the Jammu and Kashmir DGP and the DG BSF prior to his appointment with UPSC, stressed on the importance of cohesion among the Army, paramilitary forces and the civil administration in tackling internal security situations in the country