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indianexpress: It happens with fair regularity at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), where the professors take a sabbatical to go and work in the industry before returning all charged up to the classrooms. For scores of professors at government colleges of engineering, pharmacy and polytechnic in Maharashtra it was a maiden experience as they were called upon to put in two months each at companies such as Siemens, Tata Motors and Greaves Cotton.

Girish Vasudev Sonone, has been a professor of medical instrumentation for 10 years, of which the last three have been at the Government Polytechnic in Pune. But it is only now that he gained fresh insight into the subject, thanks to a two-month stint at Pune-based instrumentation company Bionics Ltd., where he gained hands on experience working in the servicing and repair section. “My technical skills are now much more advanced, and most importantly, I have learned what not to do. I can now pass on this knowledge to my students,” said Sonone.

Sonone is one of some 60 college professors from government engineering, polytechnic and pharmacy colleges in Maharashtra, who recently traded in their books and chalks to work in the shop floors, production and design workshops of a clutch of companies. They all have now returned with a new perspective on the industry needs, which should go a long way in improving course curricula and teaching methods.

indianxepress: Now that the picture about the contestants for the February 1 civic poll is clear, it is time for the crowd pulling star campaigners to descend on the city to woo voters. The next few days in the run up D-Day, a host of leaders will use their gift of the gab to convince voters to make the right choice.

Prominent among them will be Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh rallying for the Congress while his deputy RR Patil will do the same for the Nationalist Congress Party.

However, sitting in Mantralaya, Patil, seems a little out of touch with the happenings in Pune and the other cities that will go to the polls. So when the city NCP unit decided to call Patil for a rally next week, the deputy CM, it appears, had little idea about the contents of his speech. To get a grip over the situation, an urgent letter has been dispatched to nine municipal corporations including Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Mumbai and Nagpur, seeking information to decide upon the agenda of the speech.

The Pune Municipal Corporation also received the letter on Friday at 4.30 pm from the office of Pubic Relations, Deputy CM, Mantralaya. The letter was signed by Patil’s PRO Vasant Pitale demanding the information within 24 hours for the Deputy CM.

The letter wants details on how much water is supplied to each individual every day, number of public toilets in the city and how many more are required, what improvements are required in the drainage system and garbage disposal, number of gastro, lepto and jaundice cases, amount of funds used to curb the spread of the diseases and so on.

Indianexpress: The allotment of symbols has provided a clearer picture of who will be contesting against whom. It has also revealed that in atleast 33 wards, prominent sitting corporators will be contesting against their colleagues in the PMC and in some cases even against former corporators. In such a case only 50 per cent of the prominent candidates will be able to score over their colleagues and secure a seat in the PMC. While, a total of 726 candidates have withdrawn their nominations, 1136 candidates are at the moment in fray for the 144 seats of the PMC. Sitting corporators Dnyaneshwar Tapkir, Tanaji Nimhan, Meenakshi Kadagi, Nandlal Dhivar and Uday Mahale have taken back their nominations.

However, many of the rebels who haven’t withdrawn will be contesting as independents. This list includes Congress’ Vilas Wadekar, Hulgesh Chalwadi, Meenakshi Makhmale, BJP’s Shyam Satpute, NCP’s Sanjay Nande among others.

Wadekar who will be now contesting as independent with a ‘gas stove’ as its symbol said that the absence of the Congress’s symbol makes little difference. “I have won three terms and people recognise me by my name. I am confident of getting atleast 3,500 votes,” he said. Similarly BJP heavy weight and now rebel Shyam Satpute who is contesting against BJP leader Vikas Mathkari is also sure of winning the election. “I have not withdrawn but will continue to contest as independent,” he said.

Indianexpress:  Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik, four cities which have emerged as targets of terror threats in the region in a survey conducted by the state police, will get full-fledged Anti Terror Squad (ATS) units by March. “The ATS would have trained policemen prepared to tackle any eventuality and would not be caught unaware,” said Director General of Police (DGP) PS Pasricha who was in Pune on Saturday for the inauguration of the cyber lab at Shivajinagar.

“The city is expanding quickly and is ninth in the country in terms of growth. It is the among the prime targets for those engaged in urban terrorism supported by the crime mafia. Anti-social elements especially terrorists wouldwant to target Pune since it is one of the major IT hubs in Maharashtra,” Pasricha said.

He has advised the Pune Police to gear up to tackle issues that would impede the smooth growth of the city. Addressing a gathering after the inauguration of the cyber lab, Pasricha said there was a need to sensitise the police force in cyber crime investigations. “Future policing lies in cyberspace with increased incidents of bank frauds, threatening mails for extortion purposes, sending obscene messages and MMS clippings,” he said.

technewsworld: Storm Worm” is the name that seems to have stuck for a massive malware attack that spread Thursday and Friday by teasing e-mail  recipients to open infected messages supposedly about European wind storms.

The attackers use of the subject line “230 dead as storm batters Europe” was an effective way to lure careless computer users into opening mail infected with the Small.DAM Trojan. Fierce winds were battering Europe simultaneously with the release of the messages.

The Trojan was launched when users clicked on attachments to the messages that said “Full Clip.exe,” “Full Story.exe,” “Read More.exe” and “Video.exe.”

Different Variations
However, the perpetrators also sent similarly infected, but differently titled, messages to thousands of other inboxes. These messages titillated readers into clicking the attachments by suggesting they would see videos of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice kicking German Chancellor Angela Merkel which, unlike the storm, did not actually happen.

Others offered information or video pertaining to “British Muslims Genocide,” “Naked teens attack home director” and “A killer at 11, he’s free at 21 and kill again!”