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indianexpress:  After shelling out Rs 30 lakh as annual premium for a year, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has now decided to discontinue its insurance scheme for property tax payers who were early birds. The reason: Not a single citizen benefitted from the scheme.

“Only four citizens have claimed insurance during 2006-07. However, all the four claims were rejected by the insurance company. If citizens are not benefitting then there is no need to continue with the scheme,” said deputy commissioner, tax assessment and collection, Dnyandeo Thube.

The PMC had paid an annual premium of Rs 30 lakh to Bajaj Allianz for implementation of the scheme. The insurance scheme was for Rs one lakh for a family in case of death— with a benefit of Rs 25,000 each for a maximum of four members irrespective of the family size. The family that paid its property tax on time was eligible for the scheme introduced in 2006-07 after its successful implementation in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). The civic administration claimed a good response to this initiative from citizens as the property tax collection figures showed marked improvement.

The scheme enabled the administration to achieve the target collection of Rs 250 crore. “The property tax collection last year was Rs 272 crore compared to Rs 246 crore in 2005-06, despite 1 lakh defaulters from among the 5.8 lakh property tax payers in the city,” said a PMC official.

“The insurance company rejected two claim applications raising technical queries while the other two claims were turned down on grounds that they were not submitted within the stipulated two months,” Thube said.

indianexpress: City-Based National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) has developed an enzyme that makes the processing of leather, which now uses toxins that are highly polluting, more eco-friendly.

“The enzyme will replace lime and sulphide, which are highly toxic for the environment, but are used in the conventional de-hairing operation,” NCL director Dr S Sivaram said.
 
Pre-tanning operations involve soaking, liming, dehairing, bating, degreasing and pickling which contribute to the pollution load, with around 55 to 60 per cent, coming from dehairing operation because toxic chemicals like lime and sulphide are used. Therefore, if the chemicals are substituted with enzymes it can substantially reduce pollution, he added.

The residue — sludge and solids — from the use of lime are dumped as landfills and the effluents are discharged into rivers and streams. Stringent pollution control norms are being imposed by the state pollution control boards, forcing tanneries to adapt cleaner and eco-friendly technologies for leather manufacture. The use of the enzyme would only create an ecologically conducive atmosphere for workers, Sivaram added.

The enzyme will have the advantages of improving quality of end-product, reducing pollution and is biodegradable, being a protein, said Sivaram. Besides, the hair, which is not damaged in the process, stands to be used as a value added by-product.

indianexpress: Twentyfour-year-old Ketan Bandekar wanted a domicile certificate. For almost a week, he had been doing the rounds of the Citizens’ Facilitation Centre (CFC) at the collectorate to get the mandatory document that would help him enrol for a course in architecture.

When he did not see the certificate coming on Thursday, Bandekar took out the sickle he was carrying, jumped over the counter and held it to the throat of clerk Poonam Bhorde and demanded that the certificate be issued immediately.
 
The other staff quickly surrounded Bandekar, requested him to release Bhorde saying that the document would be processed. Bandekar held on for some time but was overpowered by the security personnel and beaten up. He was then taken to the Bund Garden police station where a complaint was filed by Niranjan Mahila Vividh Sahakari Sanstha which runs the CFC. The police have arrested Bandekar and charged him with criminal intimidation and carrying a weapon.

Witness tehsildar Jyoti Kadam said Bandekar was a first timer and her staff had told him to get the necessary document. “The application form lists the documents. Bandekar had only his school leaving certificate and passport with him. He was asked to get his father’s school leaving certificate,” she said.

This demand triggered the attack, said the police. Police Inspector Dilip Surve of Bund Garden police station said Bandekar, a resident of Somwar Peth, wanted the domicile certificate to pursue architecture. “He had cleared the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) recently. He was asked to produce his father’s school leaving certificate. He has severed all ties with the man who allegedly murdered his mother 13 years ago. He is currently working in a private firm and had recently been to the United Kingdom on official duty,” said Surve

indianexpress: Thyrocare Technologies Ltd (TTL), has bought a 10 per cent stake in city-based geneOmbio Technologies Pvt Ltd (GTPL) to offer DNA diagnostic services across its network of 550 franchises in India.

GTPL is a start up company into its first full year of operations with seven Indian patents already in its kitty. The company is into genomics, nuclear molecular diagnostics that is an alternative to conventional testing methods and does nucleic acid testing directly on DNA. At present it is operating as a contract research organisation for various pharma companies and veterinary genetics.

Thyrocare is a diagnostic giant offering basic diagnostic services at a low cost. However these services do not entail DNA-based tests, P N Mukhopadhyaya, CEO, geneOmbio Technologies said. “This is a totally different area and Thyrocare has partnered with us for it,” he said.

With this picking up of stake, Thyrocare will now also cater to DNA-based diagnostic across the country using the same network and all DNA tests will be handled exclusively by Genomebiotech, Mukhopadhyaya said. The new advanced form of test services will be launched by end of this month.

indianexpress: The decision by Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society (MCES) to introduce a co-educational wing at its all-girls Abeda Inamdar Senior College has invited the wrath of some conservative Muslims, who feel that the concept of boys and girls studying together does not suit Islamic culture, and will act as a deterrent for parents reluctant to send their daughters for higher education.

“This was not new as 24 of the 26 MCES institutions were already co-ed,” maintained MCES president P A Inamdar. The college, founded in 1989, first introduced co-education in 2006-07 for professional courses like Bachelors in Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelors in Computer Application (BCA).

But the latest move to introduce co-ed at the all-girls college has raised the hackles of the conservatives, who are part of a signature campaign led by businessman Ahmad Sayed. “Abeda Inamdar Girls College was ideal for girls, which is why many parents send their daughters there. With this new move, the ratio of girls will drop down,” said Sayed, whose three sisters are graduates of the college.

“We believe in liberalism and secularism, but there are many families who send their daughters here for higher education only because it is exclusively for girls. Not just Muslims, many Hindu families also prefer an all-girls college,” said builder Bilal Parihar.

Inamdar said the State government had granted permission for starting professional courses on the condition of introducing a co-educational section. “This will not be compulsory for girls. There will be a separate all-girls wing for the same courses (BBA and BCA) for those who do not want to join the co-ed section,” he added.

indianexpress:  Unaccounted income amounting to more than Rs 10.40 lakh in cash, and valuables worth Rs 44.32 lakh were seized by the Investigation Wing of the Income Tax (IT) department as part of the ongoing raids conducted on leading businessmen in the city.

Additional director of Income Tax Rahul Karna on Thursday said that searches were being conducted on leading businessmen working as commission agents for arranging loans and permits for the purchase of autorickshaws. These loans were being arranged through credit societies and private lenders.

“FDRs valued at Rs 4.5 crores were made out of unaccounted income and were kept in the bank as collateral security for loans,” said Karna. According to preliminary estimates, apart from the Rs 10.40 lakh in cash, valuables worth Rs. 44.32 lakh were seized, which included cash of Rs. 24.66 lakh.

Another raid on a legal and consultancy service provider specialising in real estate revealed incriminating documents in the form of MOUs showing the real value of transactions. “The initial enquiries reveal that MoUs have resulted in admission to suppression of the real value of the transactions to the extent of Rs 4 crores,” said Karna. The team seized cash generated from undisclosed receipts amounting to Rs 43.50 lakh, along with demand drafts and pay orders to the extent of Rs 5.76 crore.

techtree: Kingston Technology recently announced shipping HyperX 1375MHz and ValueRAM 1066MHz double-data-rate three synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR3 SDRAM) modules.

Hailed as successor to existing DDR2 memory, DDR3 promises significant performance gains at lower voltage levels (HyperX 1.7v versus 1.8v with DDR2 and ValueRAM 1.5v versus 1.8v with DDR2), resulting in lower power consumption.

Kingston also announced shipping ValueRAM 1333MHz DDR3 modules to coincide with the X38 motherboards to be launched later this year.

Rajesh Panicker, country manager (India) of Kingston Technology, said,
“Kingston has been working closely with Asus, Gigabyte, and other top motherboard manufacturers in our HyperX DDR3 testing process. We successfully screened and yielded production quantities of DDR3 memory at 1,375MHz, giving technology early adopters and gamers the opportunity to test-drive the newest motherboards at some of the highest performance levels available.”

The DDR3 modules are shipping in 512MB and 1GB capacities, and in 1GB and 2GB memory kits.

Depending on the sizes, HyperX 1375MHz DDR3 memory modules are available for prices ranging from Rs 8,380 to Rs 30,370. ValueRAM 1066MHz DDR3 memory modules are prices between Rs 7,160 and Rs 26,200. Whereas ValueRAM 1333MHz DDR3 memory modules come for anything between Rs 10,365 and Rs 38,925.

All DDR3 modules come along with a lifetime warranty and free technical support

techtree: While reports continue to pour-in from across-the-globe about Apple Computer’s newly-launched iPhone, surprisingly, there is hardly any buzz about it back home…

And why should there be any? Apple, in trademark fashion, continues to be tight-lipped about the India launch of it’s gizmo…

However, we got sources within Apple India, who wish to remain unnamed, to reveal that Apple’s futuristic phone-cum-iPod will hit Asian shores — first Japan, followed by India and China sometime in the first quarter of 2008. In Europe, the iPhone will go on sale sometime in September this year.

In India, service providers including Vodafone, Airtel, RCom, even Wipro are in the running to win Apple’s iPhone contract, the sources said.

They added that the device would most probably cost in the region of Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000.

Some Apple authorized resellers had a slightly different story. They said that the official release is in March next year. However, that some lucky customers might be able to grab an iPhone from the grey market within a week or two, and that the device would come for around Rs 25,000.

Apparently, some dealers have already ordered about ten to twelve iPhones, and should be getting them soon.

Otherwise the resellers said there are about a dozen inquiries after the iPhone on any given day. And not only that, but that the inquiries have been coming-in for the past four to five months.

A tech enthusiast said it is ‘very disappointing’ that Apple should launch its iPhone so late in one of the biggest markets. Especially when ‘everyone’s drooling over the device even without having seen it,’ he added. The biggest USP of the iPhone seems to be its multi-tap interface, he said.

techtree: Actual Tools, a provider of business productivity software, has launched the latest version of it’s ‘Window Manager’ tool for enhanced window navigation on Tablet PCs.

‘Window Manager’ is a desktop organization application with unconventional window controls, and over 40 handy tools to help in daily window manipulations.

With the latest version ‘Window Manager 4.5′, users can pin windows to keep them always-on-top, roll them up, unroll like blinds, or minimize to tray or to a small icon on the screen.

Users can also change the execution priority for applications without interrupting computations.

The company said, ‘Window Manager 4.5′ builds on the functionalities of earlier versions, and adds-on other features like ‘Copy to Clipboard’, ‘Paste from Clipboard’, and ‘Hide mouse pointer’.

With ‘Copy to Clipboard’ or ‘Paste from Clipboard’, users can copy and paste simply by tapping on the title buttons that are added to each window upon installation of the program.

‘Hide mouse pointer’ allows users to hide the mouse pointer while typing with a stylus in Tablet PC Input Panel.

‘Actual Window Manager 4.5′ runs on all Windows platforms, and is available on the company site for a price of $59.95 (Rs 2,697 approx) for a single-user license.

bbc: A tiny generator powered by natural vibrations could soon be helping keep heart pacemakers working.
Created by scientists at the University of Southampton, the generator has been developed to power devices where replacing batteries is very difficult.

The device is expected initially to be used to power wireless sensors on equipment in manufacturing plants.

The generator’s creators say the generator is up to 10 times more efficient than similar devices.

The tiny device, which is less than one cubic centimetre in size, uses vibrations in the world around it to make magnets on a cantilever at the heart of the device wobble to generate power.

Although the generator produces only microwatts this was more than enough to power sensors attached to machines in manufacturing plants, said Dr Steve Beeby, from the University of Southampton, who led development of the device.

“The big advantage of wireless sensor systems is that by removing wires and batteries, there is the potential for embedding sensors in previously inaccessible locations,” he said.