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indianexpress:  The Pune division of Central Railways (CR) has collected Rs 1.03 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal from ticket checking drives. While the revenue collection from ticketless travelling has witnessed an increase of 7.32 per cent in accordance with the target set by Mumbai headquarters for the quarter, the collection has risen by 31.06 per cent in comparison with last year.

The amount has been recovered from 27,779 people under several cases of ticketless travelling. Cases have been registered under ticketless travelling, unbooked luggage, travelling with invalid tickets etc. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2006-07, the division had managed to collect Rs 78.61 lakh as fine and book 23,366 people.
 
With this, the Pune division has exceeded the target set by CR headquarters by 7.32 per cent. The CR headquarters had fixed a target of Rs 96 lakh to be collected from ticket checking activities.

Perturbed with the increasing trend in ticketless travelling, the railway authorities have urged commuters to purchase valid tickets before they proceed for a journey.

They have also requested commuters to not litter in the railway circulating areas. “Railway provides amenities like benches, waiting and retiring rooms, drinking water, lights and fans from the money paid for tickets,” Pune division spokesperson Y K Singh said in a press release.

indianexpress: The district administration along with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Wednesday began a survey of Ram river in Baner that came to life after Monday’s heavy rainfall.

“The demarcation of Ram nadi (river) is in full swing and structures blocking or diverting its flow would be identified in the extensive survey being carried out by the district administration along with PMC staff,” municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi said.
 
The survey would be completed in the next few days and notices would be served to structures that have encroached upon the river.

The decision to conduct an extensive survey of all the nallas was taken by the administration in a meeting called by divisional commissioner Nitin Kareer on Wednesday.

Pardeshi said the PMC has served notices to 40 more structures for encroachments on nallas. This is in addition to the 105 notices served till Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Aundh ward office in whose jurisdiction the Ram river falls, has reported encroachments on four more nallas in the area. A site visit has revealed that a nalla has been blocked on Sus Road near Priyadarshan Society by dumping debris. Similarly, another nalla has been blocked near Shivalaya Society and Swami Samarth society, Aundh ward officer Vijay Dahibhate said.

The PMC has also discovered that two nallas in Baner had been diverted by the builders by reducing their width, he added.

Meanwhile, the PMC has demolished 75 huts in Hadapsar, 20 huts in Pashan and 40 huts near K K Market in Bibvewadi in the last two days. Compound walls of societies in Warje and Kalas were demolished and encroachments in the nallas’ course in Viman Nagar, Somnath Nagar, Borade Vasti and Kharadi were cleaned up.

indianexpress: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Pune Municipal Corporation to submit a report on the present condition of roads in the city within three weeks categorically stating that if the court is dissatisfied by the report, then municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi would be asked to remain present during the next hearing.

“The PMC should now wake up and provide good roads to citizens,” Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar said while hearing the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by citizen Madhav Ghate on the issue.

The bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Ranjana Desai further directed the PMC to submit an affidavit regarding the immediate measures taken by the PMC to improve the road conditions.

If the court finds it unsatisfactory then the municipal commissioner and development engineer would be asked to remain present during the next court hearing and give an explanation to the court, the bench said.

Passing strictures against the PMC, the bench asked, “Are people not entitled to smooth roads.” The PMC machinery has failed to provide good quality roads and the administration has not been able to understand the gravity of the situation, the court observed. The court has been compelled to look into the matter because ‘monsoon has not come in Pune for the first time’, they added.

indianexpress: When a record 95.2 mm rainfall pounded the city in 24 hours on Monday, low-lying areas of Pashan, Aundh and Baner reported unprecedented flooding. A sudden gush of water transformed major roads including D P Road and Sus Road into virtual rivers.

The water actually came from Ram Nadi (river), once a rain-fed tributary of Mula river, that was almost wiped out as the area began to accommodate townships and housing colonies.
 
A study by the University of Pune (UoP) has pointed out that over 52 per cent of the 20-km tributary has been destroyed by rampant construction in Aundh, Pashan, Baner and Bavdhan areas, through which the river runs.

The river, which originates from Warpewadi near Bhukum, northwest of the city, meets the Mula at Baner.

It has an elevation ranging from 560 to 800 metres above mean sea level, and includes, in its watershed, the areas of Bhukum, Bhugaon, Bavdhan, Aundh, Pashan, Sutarwadi and Baner.

Of the 52 per cent urbanisation in its basin, 40 per cent is in the area below 650 metres elevation, while nearly 12 per cent is on the hill slopes at 650 to 800 metres. This hill slope includes restaurants and other commercial establishments at Chandni Chowk.

indianexpress: To ensure that stray dogs in the cantonment area undergo vaccination at regular intervals as well as sterilisation, the Pune Cantonment Cantonment Board (PCB) will soon embark upon a project to create a databank of such dogs. And to do so, the dogs will be inserted with smart microchips on the lines of similar measures in European countries.

This was decided at a recent meeting of PCB officials and members of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Said S K Sardana, CEO, PCB, “Timely vaccination and sterilisation of stray dogs is the need of the hour and the Board has decided to undertake the project. It is a practice in all European countries to insert stray dogs with computer microchips, whereby the minutest data about the dog can be kept in a digitised format. This will include data like the day the dog was inoculated etc.”

The health department has been entrusted with the task of collecting data on the total number of stray dogs under PCB limits.

“Strays cannot be killed and the only option before the Board is sterilisation and vaccination for curbing the spread of rabies,” Sardana said.

The Board will be roping in veterinary doctors to help in the execution of the plan which will be put across in the forthcoming general body meeting for final approval.

indianexpress:  To save school children from the hassles of visiting the centres to collect their monthly passes, the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) will now make them available in schools.

In a press release issued by the PMT, it has stated that the transport body has been providing monthly passes at a concession of 50 per cent. At present, the passes are being provided at 36 centres across the city. The release said, students have to wait in long queues to take their passes. PMT, on an average, has been giving around 14-15,000 passes to students per month.

The PMT is now planning to provide these passes in the schools. It has called for cooperation from schools to save them the problem of standing at centres in queues.

The schools can contact Vikram Shitole, in-charge of the pass department, on 24440417 extension 236 or 9881495567.

Users of Nokia GPRS-enabled handsets such as Nokia 2626, 6233, 6300, 6131, N72, N80, and N95 can download the vernacular news portal icon on their phones. All they need to do is send ‘MM’ as SMS to 5555. They will subsequently receive a URL on their handsets, clicking upon which will help them download the news portal icon onto their phones.

techtree: In an industry first, Nokia, in association with leading news publication, Malyalam Manorama, has announced the launch of a “vernacular news portal”, what the company calls a ‘mobile newspaper’.

Courtesy this portal, users of Nokia GPRS-enabled handsets in Kerala will be able to get both national and international news in their native language and across categories such as sports, travel, music, astrology, and movies.

Speaking at the launch, Devinder Kishore, marketing director of Nokia India, said, “Ease-of-use is a key Nokia proposition. We have once again launched a path breaking application - ‘vernacular news portal’, a mobile newspaper in the palm, that enables users to view news updates in their native languages at their convenience”.

“Currently Internet penetration is very low, especially in smaller cities & rural areas. Services such as the ‘Mobile Newspaper’ will ride on the larger penetration of mobile phones, and bring the Internet Revolution to the masses.”

Adding to it, Miss Mariam Mammen Mathew, chief operating officer of Manorama Online, said, “As the industry leader in our category, we are pleased to partner with Nokia, India’s number one leading consumer-technology brand for this initiative.”

In addition to the launch of this ‘vernacular news portal’, Nokia said it has partnered with various media houses in the country to bring value added services in 10 languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada in association with leading media houses across India.

techtree: Google has reportedly acquired California-based GrandCentral Communications, a company that provides Web-based services for managing voice communication.

GrandCentral’s Web services allow users to integrate all of their existing phone numbers and voice through one simple interface.

In its blog post, Google said, “We think GrandCentral’s technology fits well into Google’s efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users.”

GrandCentral’s Web services complement existing phone services. For instance, users with multiple phone numbers can get one phone number programmed to ring all/some/none of the numbers, depending on who is calling.

The services also feature a central voice mailbox, where calls can be recorded and then accessed online or from any phone, as well as forwarded to other phones.

GrandCentral’s Web services have been in beta testing since September 2006, and Google says it will continue to support current beta users who are accessing the service for free. And, a limited number of users will be able to sign-up for new invitations for continued beta testing.

A post on the GrandCentral site said, “The service will remain operational as will the site while we integrate with Google. Google will continue to support uninterrupted service for all current GrandCentral customers.”

bbc: The growing popularity of hi-tech devices, such as flat-screen TVs and digital radios, threaten to undermine efforts to save energy, a report says.
UK consumers spend £12bn a year on electronics, much of which is less efficient than older technology, a study by the Energy Saving Trust found.

By 2020, the gadgets will account for about 45% of electricity used in UK households, the organisation projected.

It said flat-screen TVs and digital radios were among the worst offenders.

See how the energy costs of different TV types compare

Paula Owen, author of the report called The Ampere Strikes Back, said household appliances currently consumed about a third of an average home’s electricity.

But she warned this was likely to increase as a result of people buying more energy-intensive devices.

  The simple message to people is switch things off when you have finished using them

“Your old-fashioned, bulky cathode ray tube TV on average consumed about 100 watts of electricity when it was switched on,” Dr Owen explained.

“What we are seeing now is a trend for much bigger flat-screened TVs. On average, we are seeing a three-fold increase in the energy needed to power these TVs.

“Pretty much in every other sector [such as fridges and washing machines], we find that as the technology moves on, the products get more and more efficient.

“Consumer electronics does not work like that.”

pcworld: Canon U.S.A. on Monday introduced two new photo all-in-one inkjet printers and a new compact photo printer. Prices range from $79.99 to $99.99 depending on features.

The Selphy CP740 Compact Photo Printer sports a two-inch color LCD display, built-in red-eye correct and multiple direct printing options. It prints borderless 4×6 inch images in about 58 seconds, according to Canon. It’s coming this fall for $99.99. The CP740 features built-in memory card slots, works with USB and supports PictBridge-compatible cameras. Bluetooth is also available as an option.

The Pixma MP470 and MP210 Photo All-In-One (AIO) printers are general-purpose all in one devices that can copy, print and scan. The $99.99 MP470 features a 1.8-inch LCD flip-up display and a two-cartridge four-color printing system that can output at 4800 x 1200 dots per inch (DPI) with text print speeds up to 22 pages per minute (PPM) in black and up to 17 PPM in color. It comes with a USB 2.0 interface and memory card slots. It’s compatible with PictBridge-compatible cameras and also works with an optional Bluetooth wireless connection (the Bluetooth module costs $49.99).

The MP210 is aimed at college students and homo photo printing customers on a budget — it costs $79.99. The device features the same output speed and printing resolution but doesn’t use a display and doesn’t have built-in memory card slots, either.

Canon’s Web site had not been updated with information about the MP470 and MP210 models as Macworld posted this article.