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indianexpress: Kharadi will not grow closer to Warje although the Pune Municipal Corporation has approved a Rs 105 crore tender for constructing a riverside road from Shivne to Kharadi.

The new leadership in the civic body— it is now ruled by the NCP with support from the Shiv Sena— now has a change of plans. They now want an elevated road instead of a riverside road. In other words, the existing tender is likely to be cancelled till a new tender is called for and approved, which is bound to delay the construction.

In February, the civic standing committee had approved a tender of Rs 105 crore to SMS Infrastructure. The proposed 21.6-km-long and 30-metre-wide road, was to run along the banks of the Mula and Mutha rivers and link the Bangalore-Mumbai highway to the Pune-Ahmednagar highway.

However, newly elected Standing Committee chairman Bapu Pathare said an elevated road was a better option. “The construction material to even out the banks for construction of the riverside road and to erect columns for the elevated road will be same,” he claimed. The civic administration, if it changes the plan, will have to cancel the contract with the SMS Infrastructure and call for a new tender. The elevated road will also be costlier.

The riverside road was proposed in the 1987 sanctioned development plan. However, it ran into trouble after environmentalists opposed it. Later, SMS Infrastructure officials said the actual construction will be delayed as all the land required for the road has not been acquired by the PMC. They said work will begin only after a sufficient stretch is available. Dumping and delay in giving the work orders were other reasons cited. The irrigation department did not give a No Objection Certificate for the construction to begin.

Pathare said the elevated road was the right solution. “Construction of a riverside road will obstruct the river’s flow which an elevated road would not,” he added

indianexpress: Ajit nimbalkar, chairperson of the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) on Tuesday said that MWRRA would soon crack down on the various municipal corporations for allegedly polluting rivers along the private factories. He also called for the need to exercise control over these corporations.

“We will take steps to effectively control the corporations and will go ahead with our plans through MWRRA as our objectives are good,” said Nimbalkar while delivering his inaugural address to a gathering of over 100 water experts and stakeholders from all over the country during the two-day conference on ‘Negotiated Approaches to River Basin Management at Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF), Warje’, organised by the Gomukh Environmental Trust.

Nimbalkar further stressed the need to prevent the excessive exploitation of water resources in the state. Spelling out the state government’s role in regulating these resources, Nimbalkar added that MWRRA acted as a watchdog for each project in Maharashtra — as to whether the norms were being conferred. He also said that water as a subject should be looked into from all angles possible, before adding that steps like ‘water auditing’ would usher in accountability.

Meanwhile, noted water resources expert and Stockholm Water Prize laureate Dr Madhavrao Chitale said the need of the hour was to think beyond the village-level watershed development programme. “These programmes have proved to be successful over the years, but their success rates have not been satisfactory beyond the villages. This is emerging as a concern,” said Dr Chitale.

He added that a ‘culture’, based on the theme of collective consciousness pertaining to watershed development, would pave way for a grand success in the coming future.

indianexpress: There were three separate incidents of fire in the city on Tuesday. Two sheds storing gunny bags containing dry supari, leaves used to serve food and furniture were destroyed in the fire on Tuesday morning.

According to the central fire brigade officials, the sheds bearing the name ‘Sunil Kumar and Santosh Kumar and Company’, located in lane number 37 at Gultekdi in Market Yard, caught fire at about 6.45 in the morning.
 
Four fire tenders and two water tankers were rushed to spot and the fire was brought under control in 30 minutes.

The total damages have been estimated at Rs 17 lakh. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained.

In the second incident, a Prasanna Travels office located at Dnyaneshwar Paduka chowk on Fergusson College Road caught fire at about 10.30 am on Tuesday. Four fire tenders and one water tanker were rushed to the spot to douse the flames. The fire was brought under control in thirty minutes, officials said.

In the third incident, an electric meter at Panchratna Building on Karve Road caught fire and spewed thick smoke.

The incident took place at about 4.30 pm on Tuesday. According to fire brigade officials, there was a shortcircuit.

A lone fire tender was rushed to the spot,officials said.

Acting deputy chief, Central Fire Brigade Suresh Sagwekar said: “The cause behind the fire at Market Yard could not be ascertained,” he said.

We are still investigating. However, the fire at the Prasanna Travels office and the electric meter was because of short circuits,” he also said

indianexpress: One look at the historic Bhidewada in Budhwar Peth — the place where social reformer couple Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule started the country’s first girls’ school in 1848 — and there are hardly any signs that indicate its seminal role in history. And even as the city celebrates Jyotirao Phule’s 80th birth anniversary on Wednesday, save for one small plaque on the footpath outside, the structure is otherwise almost neglected.

While the Centre has turned a blind eye towards the place, even the state government and the Pune Municipal Corporation have done little to give it recognition. The monument is neither a part of the Center’s, the State’s nor the PMC’s heritage list. The civic general body had passed a resolution declaring Bhidewada a national monument, though its been seven months and no action has been taken in this regard.

The authorities’ ignorance towards the structure was also evident when in 1998, the PMC sanctioned permission to construct a shopping arcade by demolishing the wada.

The Nationalist Congress Party’s member and Mahatma Phule Rashtriya Smarak Samta Bhumi Bachav Kruti Samiti’s founder Yogesh Pingle said that it is due to carelessness on part of authorities that Bhidewada is in a state of neglect. “A gambling den and a cards’ club was being run in the same room where classes for girls were held once,” he said

techtree: Asus India has introduced a new graphics card, “EN8800GTX AquaTank,” featuring an innovative water cooling technology.

With an all-in-one watercooled module, the EN8800GTX AquaTank/HTDP/768M graphics card is able to push performance by 11 percent, and still remain 12″ C cooler than generic GF8800GTX cards, Asus says.

According to Vinay Shetty, Product Manager of Component Business, Asus India, “With the increased power of the GeForce 8800GTX graphics processor, comes an increasing need for good cooling. A GeForce 8800GTX video card with stock cooling can reach temperatures around 80″ C at full load, something that isn’t ideal in the long run, especially if you want to overclock the GPU.”

“Asus has chosen another route when it comes to finding a good cooling solution for an overclocked card. The Asus EN8800GTX AquaTank has combined an 8800GTX video card with a Water cooling device. So sit back and enjoy the gaming performance you dreamt about,” Shetty said.

According to Asus, pre-sorting and stringent high quality checks on boards ensure that the EN8800GTX AquaTank/HTDP/768M can bear higher clock speeds. Throw in new sets of overclocked configurations that are stable yet surpass conventional settings, and users can enjoy up to 11 percent faster graphics performance as compared to standard GF8800GTX graphic cards.

Besides, the AquaTank all-in-one watercooled module allows the GPU to run at temperatures 12″ C lower than reference thermal module design. Plus, the module fits perfectly into standard PCI slots inside the chassis that saves precious PC interior space, unlike conventional external water cooling solutions.

The Aqua tank has a tiny liquid cooling module with an 8mm thick waterblock. The liquid flows in the card using a tiny pump of DC 12V and has a life of 40,000 hours, while liquid refilling is required after every 10,000 hours of use.

techtree: APC has announced the launch of its Touch Biometric Pod Password Manager (BIOPOD).

About 2-inches tall, 1-inch wide, and weighing 0.11 Kg, the BIOPOD features a 3-Step Plug and Play Setup, AuthenTec TruePrint Sensor Technology, ability to register multiple users, compatibility with Windows 98/ME/2000 and XP, among others. The design is compact and portable, and allows for accurate finger verification.

Pankaj Sharma, Country Manager of APC India, said, “the number of passwords that people use on daily basis are on the rise, and it is getting difficult for them to remember all their passwords. A study says that most people have an average of seventeen passwords. The Biometric Password Manager provides users a convenient and secure way to manage and access multiple security phrases and codes. This product biometrically identifies users, and gives them convenient access to password protected applications and web sites. It recognizes the users’ finger prints to enable access to the computer, and other web pages.”

The device packages with it a CD with software, USB cable, and a User Manual.

BIOPOD is priced at an MRP of Rs 3,628, and the other model, the BIOM34-EC or the APC Biometric Password Manager with Mouse (built-in mouse features) comes for Rs 4,904. Both products carry a standard 2 years repair or replace warranty

techtree: SatNav Technologies will provide state-of-the-art GPS turn-by-turn navigation software for all Windows Mobile devices across the country.

The new Satguide software is developed using a Software Development Kit (SDK) provided by Destinator Technologies.

The navigation software can be installed on Pocket PCs, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), O2, Dopod, and other Windows-based mobile devices.

Users can easily install the Satguide software on mobile devices, and instantaneously start using the devices for finding correct routes, ATMs, hospitals, medicine shops, cinema halls, and other locations across the country.

For those without a GPS-enabled phone, there is an option of purchasing the GPS receiver separately.

Amit Prasad, Founder and MD of SatNav Technologies, said, “The potential for navigation devices is increasing significantly every year. With over 300,000 Windows-based handheld devices in the country, we are confident that we will be able to tap a significant portion of the market.”

Further, an all India database is being launched that will enable users in 33,000 cities to use the SatGuide software, and navigate from one city/town to another. SatNav said this would practically allow driving from Kanyakumari to Jaipur, without having to ask for directions.