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indianexpress: A Group of IT professionals under the banner of Pune Nagrik Manch (PNM) has joined hands to campaign against electronic waste in and around the city. Some 2,500 tonnes of electronic waste is generated in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, according to a Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) study released in March 2007.

Generated from electronic equipment like computers, mobile phones, televisions and refrigerators, electronic waste can pose a major health hazard since it contains toxic chemicals and metals like mercury and lead. Even during the breaking down of these waste products, hazardous effluents are released.

“Disposal of this waste is a major problem. While there are pollution control laws for mandatory disposal of waste by companies, there are no specific laws for e-waste,” said PNM member Madhukar Mazire. As part of its campaign launched this week, PNM will make an appeal for a more effective system for disposal and recycling of electronic waste.

“We will issue appeals to IT companies in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad to carry out more effective disposal of the electronic waste,” said PNM founder-president Sujeet Shilamkar. PNM will also invite innovative suggestions for disposing and recycling the waste.

The PNM will also approach the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) with a proposal for e-waste management. Apart from suggesting that the PMC set up a committee comprising IT professionals and other experts, PNM will also advocate a special depot for dumping e-waste.

indianexpress:  Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday called for a hike in development charges as basic infrastructure in urban areas was under tremendous pressure due to centralised industrialisation.

Pawar was speaking at a function where he and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh inaugurated the 250-bed Nobel Hospital in Magarpatta city, Hadapsar.

“To bridge the gap between development charges and cost of infrastructure provided, development charges must be raised,” said Pawar. He said Pune’s rapid industrialisation was not decentralised and hence the urban infrastructure was falling short.

“At Centre, we are planning a policy which will provide various concessions to the industries that move away from the urban centres. The State Government should also work on such a policy to maintain the development balance,” Pawar said.

He said people from various states were migrating to Pune and other cities of the State and this was building pressure on the local bodies as the available infrastructure was insufficient for the increasing population.

Replying to Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale’s demand to approve the proposed development plan (DP) for 23 villages merged in the PMC limits, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that the State Government would immediately approve the DP paving the way for development of 23 villages.

indianexpress: Pune-based Square Engineering Pvt Ltd (SEPL) has got a manufacturing license from South Australian renewable energy company Green and Gold Energy (GGE) to produce Sun Cube Solar Appliances.

Speaking to reporters, SEPL directors Deepak Kelkar and Sambhaji Patil said the Sun Cube Solar Appliance is a powerful and cost effective tool. “It fights climate change by lowering CO2 emissions, lowering electricity costs and providing an alternative to costly investment in conventional solar photovoltaic plants, and conventional wind solar hybrid systems,” Patil said.

Kelkar explained that the appliance is a radically new solar PV technology that can deliver kwhs or electrical units from home or business rooftops at less cost than if the kwhs were bought from the grid. The appliance is the world’s first solar PV module that is low enough in cost so it does not need taxpayer-funded rebates to achieve below grid cost.

indianexpress:  Prof M G Dhadphale was on Friday removed from the post of honorary secretary of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Centre (BORI) by its Regulatory Council (RC), which has also constituted a four-member committee to enquire into the financial irregularities of the Mahabharata CD-ROM project and other matters pertaining to BORI. The project was commissioned in the first term of Prof Dhadphale. G T Panse has been appointed as the acting honorary secretary.

Another RC resolution passed on the same day stated that Vijay Bhatkar, chairman of the RC for 2005-06 and 2006-07, was unwilling to contest for the post, the third time. Hence, he has been invited as the chief mentor of BORI.

The RC had alleged financial irregularities of Rs 30 lakh with respect to the Mahabharata CD ROM project. The resolution passed by the executive board of the BORI said, “In view of the colossal fiasco of the Mahabharata CD-ROM Project, omission of duties, negligence and alleged financial irregularities relating to it causing a huge loss of Rs 30 lakh as well as non-fulfillment of certain constitutional obligations acting beyond powers without sanction of the EB, non-provision of important information to the EB and absence of transparency, the EV requests the RC to ask Prof Dhadphale to refrain from working as honorary secretary of BORI.”

Speaking to Newsline, Prof Dhadphale said, “All charges against me are motivated. I completely deny all charges against me. I am ready to face any legal enquiry and even go to jail if the charges are proved. They have removed me merely on the basis of their brute majority. They will face the music.” Out of the 25 elected RC members, 21 were present at the meeting on July 6. Seventeen voted to remove Prof. Dhadphale from the post.

indianexpress: Angry activists from Cantonment-based Indian Muslim front (IMF) stopped the screening of Awarapan at Victory Theater, East Street on Saturday afternoon. Around 150 IMF activists barged into the theatre premises and demanded the movie screening be stopped on grounds that it contained imagery, dialogues and a song which were defamatory to Islam.

Moments later, the screening was stopped and the audience asked to leave. The activists even tore off the display and promotion hoardings of the movie put outside the theatre.

IMF president Munawwar Qureshi said the movie depicted their religion and Prophet Mohammed in wrong light and hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the country. “We have sought a blanket ban on the movie as it incites hatred,” Qureshi said.

The activists later met Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Anil Kumbhare, currently holding additional charge of Special Branch, and apprised him of the situation. Following the meeting, Kumbhare issued directives asking local police stations to beef up security around the 12 theatres in which the movie is being screened. “Security has been tightened at the theatres. It is up to to the owners to decide whether to screen the movie or not,” Kumbhare said.

The protest had a cascading effect on other city theatres as tension mounted at Inox Multiplex when some activists raised Sogans.

indianexpress: The Pune division of Central Railways has planned a four-hour mega block on Sunday on the down-line of the Chinchwad-Pune section for maintenance of the Engineering and Over Head Equipment (OHE) wires.

To facilitate work, the L11 and L13 locals, leaving Lonavla at 11.50 am and 2 pm respectively, will be terminated at Chinchwad. The L18 up-local, which normally leaves Pune at 1 pm, will only run between Chinchwad and Lonavla. The T6 local leaving Pune at 3 pm will also be cancelled.

bbc: Welcome to Digital Planet, the weekly BBC World Service programme that reports on technology stories from around the globe.
This week the Digital Planet team reports on cheap environmentally friendly methods to recharge your mobile phone, software to prevent online child abuse and a group of ingenious TV engineers in New Zealand using kitchen utensils to keep their television network on the air.
 
Crisp belives its software can help prevent online grooming

Around the world, parents agonise about their children’s online safety.

Parents are especially concerned about the dangers of adults attempting to “groom” their youngsters by masquerading online as other children. The groomers coax them in order to befriend them and possibly abuse them.

Now, there is new software about to be launched that its inventors believe will go a long way to re-assuring parents that their children are safe to surf online.

The claim comes from Crisp - the firm behind a new “anti-grooming engine”.

Adam Hildreth, CEO and founder of Crisp, joins Digital Planet to discuss online child protection.

bbc: Car manufacturers around the world are working on vehicle-to-vehicle technologies to help make driving safer. How will they work? And what difference will the technology make to our experiences on roads?

The car in which I am travelling is moving towards a T-junction at speed, with the driver seemingly oblivious to the need to brake.

Out of the corner of my eye I spot a second vehicle heading along the road to our left on a collision course. Seconds before an almost fatal accident is set to occur the vehicle-to-vehicle system sounds an alarm and an in-car display warns of the need to stop.

The driver hits the brakes and we come to rest before the junction. The second car has also slowed after receiving a warning about a potential collision and passes by without incident.

The near-collision warning is a demonstration of technology that is expected to be rolled out to all shapes and sizes of cars in the coming years.

It is being developed by the European Car-2-Car consortium and is backed by General Motors, Audi, BMW, Fiat, Honda, Renault and a range of in-car hardware manufacturers and several universities.

pcworld: Nearly half of all Americans have broadband Internet connections in their homes, largely because of increasing use among minorities and the poor, according to an annual survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The number of home broadband users nationwide now equals the total number of Americans with any type of Internet connection in 2000, the first year the survey was conducted. Four out of 10 African-American adults have broadband access at home, compared to 15 percent two years ago. Nearly one-third of rural Americans have home broadband connections, compared to about one-half of Americans living in urban areas and the suburbs.

“Income and race are becoming less important differentiators in U.S. broadband adoption,” states the Pew Internet Project, a nonprofit research center that examines the social impact of the Internet.

There still is work to be done to address all the barriers that prevent many poor people and minorities from obtaining high-speed Internet access, says the Internet Innovation Alliance, a coalition of nonprofits and businesses devoted to universal broadband access.

reuters:  Ford Motor Co and power utility Southern California Edison will announce an unusual alliance on Monday aimed at clearing the way for a new generation of rechargeable electric cars, the companies said.

Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Edison International Chief Executive John Bryson are scheduled to meet with reporters at Edison’s headquarters in Rosemead, California, the companies said.

The two chief executives will announce a “joint initiative” that represents a first-of-its-kind tie-up between a major automaker and a major utility in the area of “plug-in” hybrid vehicle technology, representatives of both companies said.

Further details were not immediately available, but environmental advocates said the tie-up showed the momentum building for developing rechargeable hybrid vehicles as a way to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental advocates, particularly in California, have been pressing automakers to roll out such plug-in vehicles that would be capable of running on electricity for short distances and recharging at a standard electric outlet.

“I think they’re all realizing that the handwriting is on the wall,” said Sherry Boschert, a plug-in vehicle advocate and author.

Southern California Edison, which supplies power to some 13 million people in the area around Los Angeles, has been a vocal advocate for the development of electric vehicles and proposed tax incentives and rebates to speed their development.