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indianexpress: Paintings will speak now. After Disney and Pixar it is now the turn of Auryn Inc. to redefine the world of animation. Bringing alive the painting styles of world class painters like Monet and Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Modi Gleave and others, this Los Angeles-based company has come up with a software that can mimic the original style of painters — in water colour and oil colour — to come alive in 3D.

With the company opening its first office outside the US in Pune early this year, it has now trained its sights on the versatility of Indian painters. City-based Milind Mulick has been signed as the first Indian artist whose paintings will be put to life.

A US based author, Jane Yolen, is writing the 20-minute animation film titled The Girl Who Cried Flowers in the Painted Tales Series for which Mullick’s painting will be turned into animation. The series that has earlier come up with two films ‘In Winter Still’ an adaptation of O Henry’s The Last Leaf using Monet’s works and Almond Blossoms — an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Selfish Giant with Van Gogh’s paintings.

“Yolen is considered to be the Hans Christian Andersen of the US,” says Samir Bose, the Head of Operations India of Auryn Inc founded by Umesh Shukla, a former Walt Disney computer graphics supervisor and one of the four visual artists for Oscar- winning Titanic.

Auryn Inc was set up in 2004 along with Amit Agrawal and Rob Kalnins. While Shukla is the Creative Lead of the studio; Amit Agrawal takes care of Technology management and Rob Kalnins is the Chief Software Architect.

indianexpress: With community sentiments coming to a boil about religious structures being razed for widening roads, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is facing a daunting task in moving some 14 structures that create traffic bottlenecks and stand in the middle of 12 key roads in the city. Despite the administration agreeing to offer alternative sites and bear the construction expenses, many religious bodies are adopting a rigid stand and with political parties also intervening the situation is getting aggravated, say PMC officials.

On Thursday, police had to lathi-charge a mob that gathered to protest the demolition of centuries-old shrine by the anti-encroachment squad of the PMC for widening of the Pune-Ahmednagar highway. Earlier, in May, a group of about 25 youths had ransacked the office of PMC deputy commissioner Dnyandev Thube and damaged three PMT buses and a car after razing of the Mangirbaba Devasthan Samadhi Smarak Mandir at Wakdewadi to facilitate widening of the Pune-Mumbai road.

“Widening of 10 to 12 major roads stands halted because of these religious structures. The PMC has formulated a policy to offer alternative sites and in many cases the PMC has agreed to bear expenses of the new structure,” said deputy commissioner (land and estates) Suraj Mandhre who has initiated shifting of 9 religious structures in the last few months. “The PMC is aware of the religious sentiments and before resorting to shifting of religious structures the community leaders are taken into confidence,” he said.

indianexpress:  With a new initiative by the Vigyan Ashram, Pabal, rural entrepreneurs will soon click their way to useful services. To mark the fourth death anniversary of its founder Dr S S Kalbag, Vigyan Ashram will launch www.renindia.in that is a result of the $ 10,000 Youth to Youth innovation fund award that the institution had received in October 2006. Made in collaboration with the Pune-based Shardiya Systems Pvt Ltd, the website is a one stop destination for rural entrepreneurs hoping to find information on training programmes, getting bank loans, locating the right machinery and design for their respective projects and to reach out to the consumer market.

“We have been working on this since last October after the funds were sanctioned. The unique aspect about this website is that the members are all alumni of Vigyan Ashram who are scattered all cross the country. To start with, we have around 100 alumni and once the site launches on July 30, we will add an equal number of names to our data,” says Yogesh Kulkarni, executive director, Vigyan Ashram.

The Rural Enterprise Network (REN) will act as a forum for rural entrepreneurs working in areas as varied as fabrication, poultry, construction, computer repairs, agriculture, ground water prospecting among others. The rural entrepreneurs can network among themselves to look for investment opportunities, take advice on their business and to learn about the latest trends.

It will also serve as a data house for customers looking for various services in their respective areas. “For instance, a person from Junnar can log on and search for a plumber in his area. Since we have a wide network of students in Maharashtra, we hope it will benefit the common man by helping them locate small service providers in their areas,” adds Kulkarni. While the website currently houses data pertaining to its alumni, it will also upload information about other rural information.

indianexpress: The four-tier water tax plan that was passed on Friday by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) general body may prove to be a hurdle for securing over Rs 270 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), said Municipal Commissioner Dilip Band.

The PCMC had placed a Rs 358 crore proposal on water supply to the Central Government under the JNNURM. “Of this, the PCMC is expected to get Rs 270 crore. We have already received Rs 35 crore. The future installments will depend on how much we recover from the water tax,” said additional city engineer Vishwas Gaikwad.

According to Band, the administration’s efforts to provide 24 hours of water supply to the town from March next year could remain a non-starter. “The PCMC won’t be able to adhere even to the mandatory norms for securing central funds under the JNNURM,” Band told Pune Newsline on Saturday, a day after the general body approved the plan.

According to this plan, homes using up to 30,000 litres every month, will pay Rs 2.50 per litre; those using 30,000-50,000 litres will pay Rs 7 per litre; while those using 50,000-75,000 litres will pay Rs 10 per litre; homes crossing the 75,000-litre mark, will shell out Rs 15 per litre.

indianexpress: For individuals wishing to obtain the licence to drive heavy vehicles and private and public buses, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) now will ask for a certificate proving they have passed at least their std VIII examinations. The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways have made it mandatory for submitting a std VIII passing certificate in wake of accidents.

Deputy regional transport officer Amar Patil said they have started implementing this new law. “A government resolution directing the move was issued month ago. We have started the proceedings accordingly,” he said, adding however the existing drivers have been spared.

Earlier, the Central Government’s Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways had sent a notification draft to all the RTOs across the country for an amendment of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1989. The Department of Road Transport and Highways had sought suggestions and objections for implementation of the amendment.

Senior officials from Pune’s RTO said the proposal was mooted in 1989 when the MVA was being drafted.

But it was not incorporated due to flak from drivers and related unions. The Ministry implemented the benchmark in the wake of increasing road accidents on the highways.

indianexpress: When Dr H B Prasad went to get his child’s monthly pass made at the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) pass centre in Pulgate, he was asked to come later. And when he returned, a picture of his child’s existing photograph was taken.

Recalls Dr Prasad, “Employees at the centre told me work was being done manually as there was no power at the time,” he said. He was also shocked when they asked for his child’s passport size photograph. “The webcam installed was used to click a picture of an existing passport size photograph. It was disgusting,” he said.

The PMT’s computerised pass centres — kicked off with a bang in 2006 — are now in a state of despair, with complaints mostly about the lack of any proper infrastructure. General manager Subrao Patil admits the house is not in order.

“During my visit to the Bibvewadi centre, I found people being asked to stand near the webcam as the clarity of the photographs clicked from a distance was poor. We will issue instructions to the company responsible for the maintenance of the systems to make necessary improvements,” Patil said.

Though officials maintain the Pulgate centre has been rehauled, hundreds of frustrated students queue up at the Tadiwala Road centre.

Patil has asked his officers to make regular checks to address grouses. The PMT may also increase the number of pass centres.