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IndianExpress: For over 50 years, they stood strong to see thousands of young cadets transform into tough men. But unprecedented rainfall has finally taken a toll on the National Defence Academy’s (NDA) famed structures. With the city receiving record rainfall during the past two monsoons, many roofs of the buildings on the 7,015-acre academy have cracks through which water seeps in.

The problem came to fore recently when the dome of Sudan Block — the nerve centre of the academy — began to leak this monsoon. “Many buildings have been badly hit in the past 2-3 monsoons . So much so that the dome of Sudan Block started leaking this year,” NDA commandant Lt Gen AK Chopra said. The Sudan Block, a massive three-storeyed basalt and granite structure, is 47 years old and houses the main administrative blocks in addition to the departments of English, Hindi, History, Mathematics and foreign languages.

IndianExpress: From acrylic fingers to kneeling pads, hybrid limbs to myoelectric (artificial) hands, the Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) has gone hi-tech. It will soon acquire a CAD-CAM unit for more accurate manufacturing of sockets. Arrangements have also been made for setting up a bionic eye and ear centre at the ALC, Surg Vice-Admiral V K Singh, Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) said on Thursday.

The 60-year-old ALC with its motto ‘No wheelchair, no crutches’ was set up to meet the prosthetic and orthotic needs of the disabled personnel in the Armed Forces. It has over 50,000 patients on its rolls (including civilians) and presently 26,000 visit the centre regularly for repairs and replacement of their artificial limbs and appliance. Brigadier H L Kakria, ALC Commandant told media persons on the occasion of the ‘Continuous Rehabilitation Educational programme’ . He added that it was the only institute in the Armed Forces to receive the ISO 2001 certification.

IndianExpress:  On the concluding day of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India, a leading Chinese construction machinery manufacturing company signed an MoU to set up a plant with an investment of $70 million in Maharashtra.

The MoU between Sany Group of China and the State government for a production plant near Pune was signed in the presence of the Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, Industries Minister Ashok Chavan, Finance Minister Jayant Patil and Chief Secretary D K Sankaran in Mumbai on Thursday. Industries secretary V K Jairath and Sany Group chairperson Sany Liang Wengen inked the agreement.

According to the deal, Sany’s plant would start producing 15,000 units of construction machinery from 2007. The project would come up on a 100-acre plot near Pune and would provide jobs to around 2,000 people.
 

IndianExpress: Stress is a silent killer, but the the armed forces has not recorded an increase for the last three years. Suicidal tendencies in the armed forces are a negligible 0.01 per cent, Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services Surg Vice Admiral V K Singh said. The DGAFMS however has appealed to the society to be ‘sensitive’ to the soldier’s problems that may help in reducing stress levels.

“For an Indian soldier, his weakest point is his family,’’ says the DGAFMS who tried to analyse the situation following media reports on increasing stress levels in the armed forces. “After visiting jawans in the North East, Siachen and Punjab border, I have observed that their morale is high. They are trained soldiers who have an in-built stamina,’’ Surg Vice Admiral Singh told reporters and conceded that a low intensity war situation can be stressful. He was in the city to attend the Continuous Rehabilitation Educational Programme - (CRE-2006) at the Artificial Limb Centre (ALC).

IndianExpress: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra’s Water Resource Minister Ajit Pawar and State Marketing Minister Harshavardhan Patil will now have to be careful about their political activities when they go to their hometowns. Pawar’s Baramati and Patil’s Indapur are going in for municipal polls on January 7 and the model code of conduct for the elections is in force.

The State Election Commission, on Wednesday, announced election programme for 28 municipal councils in the state including Baramati, Indapur and five other local bodies in Pune district. Other municipal councils going for polls include include Saswad, Jejuri, Shirur, Alandi and Daund.

As per the schedule, the nomination forms would be accepted between December 7 and December 13. Scrutiny of nominations would take place on December 14 while the last date to withdraw candidature is December 20. Polling would be conducted on January 7 and counting of votes would begin from January 8