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Archive for March 15, 2007

Cong steps up mayor bid with MNS support

March 15, 2007 at 7:38 am

· City · Politics

indianexpress:  On the eve of the elections to the prominent posts, including that of mayor and deputy mayor in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the Congress sprung a surprise on its rivals by announcing a tie-up with Raj Thackeray’s party and putting itself as the front-runner for the mayor’s post. In a joint announcement made on Wednesday, Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) city chief Deepak Paigude said they had come together for the city’s development.

The Congress, that won 36 seats in the February 1 civic polls, also claimed that besides the eight corporators from MNS, it also had the backing of eight independents taking its tally in the 144-member house to 52. While its archrival Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has 41 members, the saffron combine of BJP-Shiv Sena has 45 members.

Justifying his stand to align with the Congress, Raj Thackeray, in a note read out by Paigude, said: “We are supporting the Congress on five points: Repairing potholes, improvement in road connectivity, water supply, slum rehabilitation and construction of electric crematorium in all wards.”

Paigude also clarified that there was no understanding on sharing of posts. “There are no financial considerations in this tie-up. We have come together for city’s development and expect a time-bound programme on the issues by May,” he said.

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Panel wants proof of unjust fee hike from engg students

March 15, 2007 at 7:35 am

· City · Education

indianexpress: Faced with heated protests from students in engineering colleges across the city over the hike in fees, the Supreme Court-appointed Shikshan Shulka Samiti (SSS) has a message for students: ‘Show us facts, and we’ll look into your grievances.’

Students of Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT), Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology (VIIT) and Sinhgad College of Engineering (SCOE) began a protest on Monday against the increase in fees from the interim amount paid at the beginning of the year. Apart from protest rallies outside their college and on the streets, the students have also been on strike since Monday.

“All the fees have been determined on the basis of audited statements submitted by the colleges, and there is no reason to doubt the veracity of these statements, unless concrete evidence is furnished to show that they are false,” said SSS office secretary I A Kundan.

The procedure for determining the fee structure is based on the estimated fees projected by the colleges, which is supported by audited balance sheets showing income and expenditure of the college over three years. These are then scrutinised by the SSS, to determine whether the hike is justified, or if the college is indulging in profiteering. “The fees are revised accordingly, and in many cases, the fees are also brought down,” said Kundan.

Kundan said students were free to avail of these documents either by going to the SSS office or by applying under the Right to Information Act. “If they can show us facts to prove that the college claims are false, we will investigate the matter. This has been done before, and the Samiti is open to it,” she said.

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Pilot study in city to curb road accident injuries

March 15, 2007 at 7:34 am

· City · Mishaps

indianexpress: With over 1 lakh people dying in road accidents every year in the country, of which Maharashtra is close to the 10,000 mark and Pune registering over 1,000 deaths, a collaborative project has been undertaken by hospitals, city police, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research and World Health Organisation to prevent injuries.

The Pune Injury and Road traffic injury surveillance programme along with pilot projects in Bangalore, New Delhi and Lucknow will collect systemic data on specific aspects of road traffic accidents and formulate injury prevention programmes across the country.

“The surveillance programme as a pilot project will be undertaken in Pune by WHO, ICMR, B J Medical College and Lokmanya Hospital. It is important in view of the increasing road crashes and injuries in Pune,” said DCP(Traffic) Mahesh Ghurye.

Principal investigator of the programme Dr Murlidhar Tambe, associate professor, department of preventive and social medicine at B J Medical College said the aim was to develop, implement and monitor the general interventions for efficacy and effectiveness. “Every year, 5.8 million people die because of some injury. Nearly 1.2 million people are killed and about 50 million injured each year in road accidents. In India, there are one lakh road accident deaths, 1.5 million hospitalised and seven million sustain minor injuries,” Tambe said.

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Convergys offers computer education on wheels to Purandar

March 15, 2007 at 7:33 am

· City

indianexpress: It is a van full of promise. Starting from a glass and steel IT office in Pune, it will travel through 60 km of roads and dirt tracks to show children and farmers in Purandar taluka something they have never seen before — an internet- enabled computer.

A joint effort by Pune-based Convergys Corporation and local NGO, Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarash Mandal (MASUM), this mobile technology van is all set to spread computer literacy and connectivity in the technologically-starved region for a period of one year beginning May. While Convergys will provide the technology and financial backing to the tune of $ 18,000 as part of its corporate social responsibility, MASUM will look after day-to-day implementation of the project at the grassroots level.

The project will be implemented in four villages— Vaghapur, Pargaon, Pisarve and Naigaon- in the eastern drought-prone belt of Purandar. As part of the initiative, a van equipped with 10 computers, internet facilities and printers will tour the villages everyday to spread computer literacy among school children. The technology would also be deployed to enable farmers to access timely weather and market information through the use of the internet.

“Even though some schools in these villages have computers, they lie defunct for want of manpower, finance or electricity. Moreover, the way education is imparted to students in these areas is staid, boring and of poor quality. Through CDs, we can deploy standardised, high quality education that is centered around the students’ existing curriculum, besides which the children can also access information through the web,” explains MASUM founder Ramesh Awasthi.

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IRICEN all set to ‘Go Green’

March 15, 2007 at 7:32 am

· City · Environment

indianexpress: The Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering (IRICEN) is all set to design its new building at Koregaon Park building in an environment friendly manner. “The new building will be spread over a sprawling area of 7,500 sq metres. We will be using bricks made out of flyash. Even the paint, which will be used will be environment friendly,” IRICEN director Shiv Kumar said.

The building’s foundation stone was actually laid last year. The Railway Board had sanctioned a budget of Rs 4.7 crore for the phase I of the new building that was designed by Mumbai-based architect M/s Shashi Prabhu & Associates. As per the earlier plan, the building was to come up on a 5,050 sq metres space with an expenditure of Rs 3.84 crore. “However, after we finalised the expenditure, there was an escalation in the cost. So, we sent another draft for phase II to the Board,” Kumar said.

Buoyed by the sanction of Rs 4.9 crore for phase II from the Board, the IRICEN is now pitching for completion of the building in the next two years when the institute will complete 50 years of establishment. “We have requested the Chief Administration Officer to finish the work on the building when the institute completes fifty years,” Kumar said.

Kumar added that the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)—who have received a platinum grade for their green building—have conveyed their satisfaction on the IRICEN building green project.

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Sub inspector caught red handed accepting a bribe

March 15, 2007 at 7:31 am

· City · Crime

indianexpress:  Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths nabbed a police sub inspector (PSI) from the Shivaji Nagar Police Chowki for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 on Wednesday afternoon. The accused has been identified as Kashinath Vishwanath Chaudhary.

A team of ACB officials, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police CG Kumbhar, caught Chaudhary red handed at 2.35 pm on Saturday while taking a bribe from Sudheer Ramchandra Alhat, a resident of Nar Veer Tanaji Wadi, Shivajinagar, to clear the latter of charges.

Alhat’s wife Pramila had contested the recent PMC polls on a BJP ticket and on January 31, Election Officer Nitin Pawar registered a case against Alahat on the charges of causing hurdles for the official machinery during the polls. Chaudhary was appointed as the investigation officer in the case.

On February 2, Chaudhary called Alhat to the chowki saying that a criminal case had been registered against him and threatened to arrest him if he did not pay up Rs 10,000.

However, Alhat questioned Chaudhary’s stand to arrest him. On March 6, Chaudhary again made a number of calls to Alhat, threatening him, and on March 14, said he would arrest him. Following this, Alhat promised to deliver the money at the police chowki on Wednesday

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New HP Mouse Fits in PC Card Slot

March 15, 2007 at 7:27 am

· Technology

techtree: HP India has introduced a new Bluetooth PC Card Mouse that connects via Bluetooth, and charges using the notebook’s PC card slot.

The new Bluetooth PC Card Mouse has a compact 5mm lightweight design that fits conveniently into the notebook PC card slot. It coordinates seamlessly with the notebook via Bluetooth, and features a rechargeable battery that charges automatically when stored in the PC card slot.

According to HP, the new product offers comfort that is comparable to a traditional USB optical travel mouse, and is compatible with all notebooks and Tablet PCs with a PC card slot and embedded Bluetooth wireless technology.

Commenting on the new Bluetooth PC Card Mouse, Deepak Jagtiani from HP, said, “With this new designer mouse, a user gets complete hassle free wireless mobility without any worry of battery replacement. It conveniently stores inside the PC card slot of the notebook, and charges automatically through the integrated rechargeable battery.”

The new product features a wireless Bluetooth Optical Mouse with a range of up to 30 feet (10 meters), integrated battery that provides up to 10 hours of continuous battery use, and smooth, accurate optical performance.

The user has to just open the integrated “kickstand”, and the mouse is ready for use.

The HP Bluetooth PC card mouse is compatible with all HP Business Notebooks with a PC Card (PCMCIA) Slot and embedded Bluetooth wireless technology. It is available from Rashi Peripherals at approximately Rs 3,999 along with one year warranty.
 

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IBM Starts Producing 65nm Chip

March 15, 2007 at 7:26 am

· Technology

techtree: IBM has reportedly started production of a more advanced version of its Cell microprocessor, the chip it developed along with Sony and Toshiba.

The company said that the new Cell Broadband Engine is being manufactured at its factory in East Fishkill, New York, using a 65-nm (nanometer) manufacturing process, which is an improvement over the current 90-nm process.

IBM said that apart from being physically smaller, the 65-nm chip should also result in lower power consumption and reduced costs to manufacturers using the processor. The chip should provide breakthrough performance for consumer electronics, medical imaging, design engineering, and other graphics-intensive applications.

It is also learnt that the Cell chip is perhaps best known for its use in Sony Computer Entertainment’s (SCEI) recently-launched PlayStation 3 (PS3) games console, although IBM also offers the processor in a BladeCenter server model.

According to IBM, though Intel and AMD have begun producing duo- and quad-core processors, the Cell processor uses a multi-core architecture combined with ultra high-speed communications capabilities that provide greatly improved, real-time response for entertainment and rich media applications

Reportedly, IBM has also won a contract from the US Department of Energy to supply a supercomputer based on the Cell processor. Code-named ‘Roadrunner’, the computer will be capable of up to 1,000 trillion calculations per second.

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Nintendo Wii Games Get GameSpy

March 15, 2007 at 7:25 am

· Technology

techtree: GameSpy, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, will now provide its multiplayer technology to game publishers developing titles for Nintendo Wii.

GameSpy has also developed middleware technology to enable Wii titles to offer community features, such as friend rosters, advanced matchmaking capabilities, and comprehensive rankings data.

Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo America, said, “This partnership will expand our wireless community of players on Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. Millions of Nintendo DS users have already logged on using GameSpy’s technology, and now Wii owners will be able to do the same in a fun and easy-to-use environment.”

Adding to it, Jamie Berger, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and Technology for IGN Entertainment, said, “Nintendo has been an invaluable partner, and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them in the future. Our goal is to extend our ground-breaking work on the Nintendo DS to provide Wii users with the social, community, and multiplayer tools that we believe will expand the online gaming experience to the mass market.”

The first Wii game to utilize the technology will be ‘Pokemon Battle Revolution’ which is scheduled for launch on June 25. The game will incorporate multiplayer features similar to those leveraging GameSpy technology in several Nintendo DS titles.

However, this is not the first time GameSpy and Nintendo have teamed up. Earlier also, the duo have worked together to provide gamers wireless community options for Nintendo DS. Thus, providing an innovative network for portable video games and allowing people the world over to connect easily and wirelessly to play games.
 

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Slacker’s new wavelength for satellite radio

March 15, 2007 at 7:24 am

· Technology

cnet: For a company calling itself Slacker, its business plan is awfully ambitious.

Debuting this week at the South by Southwest multimedia festival in Austin, Texas, Slacker is a distinctive new Web music service and portable music player from the San Diego-based company of the same name. Slacker calls its concept “personal radio,” based on the idea that a majority of music player owners don’t organize or update their music collections as often as they might like because the process is too technical, too time-consuming or both (hence, the “slacker” moniker).

The device-plus-service combines satellite radio, standard portable music player and Wi-Fi-enabled gadget with 10,000 custom music channels that users can tailor according to their taste, covering virtually every possible genre. The end result is essentially portable radio with video instead of audio ads–or, for a price, no ads at all–with content that refreshes automatically based on personal preference.

“The current model being used today is kind of getting a bit long in the tooth–it’s a little bit dated,” said Jim Cady, president of Slacker and former CEO of Rio, which makes MP3 players. “We started shipping products at Rio in 1998. The model was virtually the same as today: user buys device, figures out how to get content. (Then they) upload it into the device and hopefully they do that on a frequent basis. It’s a lot of effort to get what you want.”

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