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Indianexpress: MORSE Key, the first telegraphy equipment in India, used to send telegrams during the 1857 sepoy mutiny, lies buried under a thick layer of dust at the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) in Pune.

As does the cyclostyled copy of the first telegram sent from Delhi to Ambala apprising British officers of the outbreak of mutiny in Meerut.

These are but a few of the relics of India’s communication history that have been dumped in a corner of the CTO, awaiting the clearance for the proposed telegraph museum, work of which has postponed indefinitely due to lack of manpower.

The condition of some of the other precious machines — Johnson Exchange, Stowger Exchange, Relay Machine, PCUT cables, the first Indian-made teleprinters by Hindustan Teleprinters Ltd are not better. Lying in a corner, stacked over a table or kept boxes, these instruments have been collected from telegraph offices across the country — Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Nagpur.

Indianexpress: AFTER days of uncertainty, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s State unit has stepped forward to clear the air over its alliance with the Shiv Sena for the forthcoming municipal corporation elections. In Pimpri-Chinchwad on Sunday, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde made it clear that the polls would be fought by the party in alliance with the Sena. “Not only in PCMC and Pune, but all the forthcoming civic body polls will be fought jointly by the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance,” he stressed.

Munde said that in the next two to three days, local leaders of both parties would hold discussions. “Some adjustments and compromises will have to be made by both sides. If the local leaders fail to arrive at a consensus, both me and Uddhav Thackeray will step in to resolve any disputes,” he said.

Accusing NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi of wrecking the development of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Munde said both the parties had spawned corruption .

“There is a general dissatisfaction among the masses. They are looking for a strong alternative. Both the BJP and Shiv Sena are ready to provide clean and transparent administration. We will fight the poll to win,” he said.

Indianexpress: CELEBRATION of life, an event held at a slum on Tadiwala Road on Friday aimed to spread the message that being HIV+ is not the end of life. The event, a part of the ‘Wake Up Pune’ campaign saw participation of school children, business management students and international volunteers of the NGO Deep Griha.

“We have to be conscious that we don’t talk solely about statistics and percentages. We have to put faces to numbers. We want to raise the profile of Persons Living With HIV/AIDS making people able to connect with the issue rather than talking in abstract terms,’’ says Hans Billimoria of the Deep Griha Society.

By bringing the community together, Celebration of Life hopes to do away with the stigma and discrimination connected with AIDS.

The event included talks by HIV+ persons from the Network of People in Maharashtra living with HIV/AIDS besides thematic dances performed by the members of Tadiwala Road, Sahara Aalhad Care Home Wagholi, and international Deep Griha volunteers.

Indianexpress: GOLD ornaments worth Rs 21 lakh were stolen from Gautam Jewellery Shop in Agarwal Building on the Mumbai-Pune Highway in Nigdi on Sunday.

According to the police, the thieves gained entry into the shop by drilling a hole in the rear wall and stole the ornaments. A gang of four thieves is believed to be responsible for the theft.

A complaint was lodged with the Nigdi police by shop owner Jitendra Gautam Chopra (21), a resident of Dwarka Apartments, Nigdi. No arrests had been made till late on Sunday evening.

Investigating officer Kishore Manchekar said: “We suspect the theft to be the handiwork of professional thieves.”

“They were well-versed with the area and had gathered information pertaining to the presence of the watchman before they struck. They entered the shop only after the watchmen left at about 6.30 am on Sunday. We have prepared sketches of the accused and they will nabbed soon,” he added

TechTree: Reliance Communications has now added a few more mass-market Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce) applications on the Reliance Mobile World platform.

The company has tied up with Reliance Energy to make the electricity bill payment convenient, which Reliance Communications believes would benefit 2.5 million customers of Reliance Energy in Mumbai.

In the Electricity bill payment application, Reliance Energy customers can view and pay the bills over Reliance Mobile using ITZ cash card, after registration. An ITZ Cash Card holder can pay the utility bills by click of a button on Reliance Mobile World (R World) without needing to access the internet.

In addition, Reliance Communications has also partnered with leading multiplex cinemas including Adlabs, Fame Cinema, and PVR, under which Reliance Mobile customers would now be able to book movie tickets with the click of a button, anytime anywhere.

Initially, the movie ticket booking service would be available for 57 screens across Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. The company said that more customers and ten more cities will be added to the list by end of January along with Inox and the Cinemax theatres. Customers can access it on Reliance Mobile World>MoreServices>TravelNshop>Movie Tickets

TechTree: Dopod Communication, a leading PDA phone and Smartphone provider has now officially entered the Indian market with the unveiling of three new handset models namely; C720W, C800, and 818Pro.

With this, the company promises to offer sophisticated and innovative converged solutions along with the best designs and trends prevalent internationally to the consumers here. Dopod claims to have become Asia’s fastest growing mobile communications company in just two years due to its successful partnerships with two world class industry leaders including High Tech Computer (HTC) and Microsoft

Talking about the target audience, Ajay Sharma, Regional Sales Manager, Dopod Communication India, “Our handsets are predominantly targeted at the working professionals, businessmen, and executives who need to be able to access information anytime, anywhere, while on the move. In addition, we feel that each of our device has its own unique selling points and key differentiator, hence, showing that we have different devices to cater to the different needs of the customers across all segments.”