News

indianexpress:  THE Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has proposed the appointment of a Special Officer on Duty (SOD) who will review the 1987 Development Plan and make recommendations for changes to be incorporated in the new DP.

The PMC’s General Body (GB) meeting in June last year declared its intention to prepare a new DP for the city to be implemented from 2007. The DP for the old limits of the PMC, excluding the fringe areas that were merged with the PMC in 1996, was passed on January 5, 1987. A separate DP for the fringe villages is pending for approval with the State government.
 
Section 38 of Maharashtra Region Town Planning Act 1966 had a provision whereby it is mandatory to revise the DP once every 10 years. The civic administration skipped the exercise in 1997 after the amendment to revise the DP once in 20 years was made in 1992.

The DP, a critical tool for managing the city’s growth, is drawn up by the city engineering department every 20 years. It defines the land available for providing amenities like schools, playgrounds, hospitals, roads, sewage treatment plants, residential, industrial and commercial areas, market places, marking of hilltops and slopes, green patches and water bodies.

As part of the review, the civic administration has to carry out a survey of the city with a focus on population density, present use of land, social and economic situation of the area, environment and transportation facility.

Now, the PMC has forwarded the proposal to appoint architect and town planner Ramchandra Gohad on a Rs 25,000-per-month contract for six months to the Standing Committee. Gohad has helped prepare the city’s DP in 1983-87

indianexpress: THE All India Bank Employees Federation (AIBEA), Maharashtra State Bank Employees’ Federation (MSBEF) and All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) on Thursday jointly launched a signature drive as part of a national campaign to highlight issues relating to poor access to banks in rural areas, low rates of interest in savings accounts and term deposits, high rates of interest to the agricultural sector, recovery of non-performing assets and high service charges.

The campaign is aimed at securing one crore signatures from the public. Delhi’s bank employees will stage a protest to this effect on August 31.

In a press note issued by AIBEA joint secretary B S Muley, MSBEF general secretary S D Dhiopeshwarkar and AIBOA general secretary S Nagarajan, its alleged that around 30 million people in the rural areas do not have access to the banking facilities. The present branch network of 48,000 public sector banks is insufficient to cater to the need of citizens. The present population per branch which is around 11,000, should be brought down to around 6,000-7,000.

The organisations also argue that while the individual banks have preferred to give a higher rate of interest for a shorter period to the corporates, a similar treatment should be given to the savings accounts and term deposits of the citizens providing substantial small savings to the banking system. The corporate sector also gets cheaper credit, below the lending rate approved by the individual bank boards, while a ceiling of Rs 2 lakh is imposed on the loans borrowed by agriculturists. The federations demand reduction of rate of interest to the small agriculturists, small and retail traders, who form the ‘backbone of our country for the growth of the GDP.’

indianexpress: HEAVY rain has eventually forced the police to move their dilapidated Kondhwa chowki about 100 metres from the existing structure. The new arrangement though is only a makeshift one.

It has been a year since the police submitted construction plans for the approval of a new chowki at the Director General of Police (DGP) office. At the time, the Kondhwa-based Kausar Baug Trust even donated a guntha of land for the new structure. Unfortunately, the police still wait for that approval.

Ramesh Biwal, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) for the Wanavdi division says their shifting was inevitable. “We moved into the new place a month ago as the other structure was making it difficult for us to function. Inundation followed heavy downpours while speeding trucks and excessive dust were posing a serious threat to our staff,” Biswal says. “Besides, our force is in possession of the property papers of the land donated by Kausar Baug trust.”

The new structure is rectangular and made of tin sheets.

It may be recalled that Newsline in a report dated May 27, had highlighted the dilapidated condition of the chowki since the sanction plan for a new chowki had not been approved by the DGP office. The chowki had no proper space for complainants to sit or proper toilets. The only solace came in the form of exhaust fans and coolers.
 

indianexpress: RESIDENTS of Vijaynagar, Kalewadi, who have been up in arms against the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)’s proposed move to demolish a church and 250 houses in the area to build a road, can heave a sigh of relief. The civic administration has shown its readiness to find a solution to the issue.

“All possible efforts will be made to see that the church is not demolished, and a minimum number of houses are brought down,” Band told Newsline on Friday, adding however that he will declare their position only after visiting the spot. “I will visit the area to find a way out of the problem. If residents are ready to provide us the land required for constructing the road, we will acquire it.”

The PCMC is looking to construct a ‘world class’ 10-lane road from Kalewadi Phata to Kudalwadi that will result in several demolitions. Office-bearers of St Paul’s church meanwhile met Abraham Mathai, vice-president of the State Minorities Commission at the district collectorate where PCMC officials and charity commissioner secretary Ahmed Ansari were also present.

Godwin Jose, a church office-bearer, said the PCMC officials gave an assurance to Mathai that an amicable solution would be found to the long-pending issue. “It also became clear that the PCMC officials were presenting the wrong picture to the municipal commissioner. We have been saying that the PCMC was trying to deviate from the original development plan, but the officials don’t agree,” he said. “The reality is that if the PCMC implements the 1996 development, the church would be left untouched while the 250 houses would also survive,” he said.

indianexpress: SLOWLY but gradually, the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT)’s Pune Darshan is picking up speed. With additional destinations, the air-conditioned darshan buses have showcased Pune’s glory to around 18,000 people in the last fiscal and fetched Rs 23 lakh in PMT’s booty.

PMT officials said the Pune darshan buses used to cover five to six destinations in two shifts few years ago. “The attractions included Raja Kelkar Museum, Shaniwarwada, Aga Khan palace and Shinde Chattri. Later, we increased the number of destinations by adding Rajiv Gandhi Zoo, Osho Ashram and Jog Bird Park on public demand,” one official said.

The 76-km darshan, which begins from Pune Railway Station and Deccan, covers Ambedkar Bhavan, Savarkar Memorial, Jog Bird Park, University of Pune, Chattuhshrungi Temple, Ambedkar Library, Kesariwada, Shaniwarwada, Lal Mahal, Dagdusheth Halvai Ganapati, Phule Wada, Kelkar Museum, Sarasbaug/Peshwepark, Parvati, Mahalakshmi Temple, Rajiv Gandhi Animal Zoo, Shinde Chatri, War Memorial, Tribal Museum, Osho Ashram, Aga Khan Palace.

PMT officials said two air-conditioned buses have been plying each from Deccan and Pune Railway Station. General manager Subrao Patil said it is ensured passenger demands are met with to ensure a comfortable journey.

The darshan has been running for over 20 years.

indianexpress: THREE-time corporator from Pimpri Amar Mulchandani was attacked by sword -wielding persons in the parking lot of his apartment in Pimprigaon on Wednesday night. While Mulchandani, an advocate, escaped unhurt his watchman Bhavarlal Yadav (26) was injured and has been admitted to Yeshwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital in Sant Tukaramnagar. Two employees of the Mulchandanis were also injured in the incident.

Minutes after the attack, the Pimpri police arrested the alleged attacker Ravindra Gaikwad (29) from the Balu Waghere gang from Pimpri. He was caught by the crowd that had gathered following the commotion. A sword has been seized from him and he has been remanded in seven days’ police custody by a Pimpri court. The police have also booked Balu Waghere and his associate Daniel Paul for masterminding the attack. Both are absconding.

According to the police, Waghere had contested the February 1, PCMC election as an independent against Congressman Mulchandani from Ashok theatre ward in which Waghere was humbled. “The attack seems to have been carried out by Waghere to avenge his loss,” said police inspector Dattatray Gadhve investigating the case.

Mulchandani said he had returned from a family outing around 12.30 on Wednesday night. “I was chatting with our employees in the parking lot when a man with a sword tried to attack me. My watchman shielded me and was badly injured. Two other employees who intervened were also injured,” he said. Mulchandani said the attack was sudden and brutal.

Meanwhile, Pimpri-Chinchwad Advocates’ Bar Association has condemned the attack. Association president Sanjay Dattir-Patil and vice-president Narayan Rasal said they have urged the police to take immediate action. Around 70 advocates signed the resolution condemning the attack

techtree:  Transcend has launched its new biometric USB flash drive, “JetFlash 220″.

Successor to the ‘JetFlash 210′, “JetFlash 220″ features an in-built finger print scanner, which allows users to access protected data by scanning their fingerprint. It allows users to configure any one of the 10 digits/fingers.

With the number of stolen identities, trade secrets, and other high tech crimes on a steady rise, Biometrics has become the best way to fight back against data theft, and fingerprint recognition is the current weapon of choice.

This feature ensures complete data protection, in case of loss or theft. Only the owner of the authorized digit/finger can access the protected files on the device.

JetFlash 220 also allows users to automatically log on to any Web site for which they have a registered account. This easy plug-and-play flash drive is based on high speed NAND flash chips, and supports USB 2.0 high speed data transfer.

The JetFlash 220 comes in 8GB (Ruby Red), 4GB (Royal Blue), and 2GB (Sunburst Orange) capacities, with price tags of Rs 6,000; Rs 4,000; and Rs 3,000 respectively. It is expected to be available in the country by next week end.

bbc: Got a destination too dirty or dangerous for a person to want to go there? The day could soon come when a robot vehicle takes humans’ place as a matter of course.

Scientists are focused on developing unmanned machines that can operate in the air, on the ground and under water, doing jobs where deploying people is just too dangerous.

Some are already in use, such as the unmanned drones which fly over Iraq and Afghanistan carrying out reconnaissance for soldiers on the ground, or bomb disposal robots which disable deadly explosive devices.

Others, still in the development stage, are taking advantage of smaller, lighter components and advances in computer technology to do things never imagined a decade ago.

Some of the latest advances have been on show at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference in Washington DC.

msnbc: When NASA’s shuttle Endeavour launched into space late Wednesday with teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan and her crewmates aboard, you can be sure three spaceflyers on Earth were watching carefully.

NASA’s three space teachers yet to fly, known as educator astronauts, were either supporting Endeavour’s evening liftoff or on missions of their own when Morgan and her STS-118 crewmates left Earth to continue construction of the international space station.

“It’s very exciting to see her fly because it means that STS-118 is getting off the ground so quickly after the success of STS-117,” educator astronaut Richard Arnold told Space.com before Morgan’s launch, referring to NASA’s June shuttle flight. “We have a lot to get done on the international space station, so that part is very exciting for me.

Arnold, a former science teacher, was NASA’s only teacher-astronaut absent from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center when Endeavour blasted off at 6:36:42 p.m. EDT Wednesday. At launch time, he was working on the Atlantic Ocean floor for NASA’s Extreme Environment Operations 13 mission to the Aquarius undersea laboratory.

msnbc: A venture called Galactic Suite says it wants to open a hotel in space in 2012, but it’s not yet clear exactly how much backing is behind the design concept.

Galactic Suite’s Barcelona-based architects say guests would pay $4 million each for a three-day stay aboard the orbital equivalent of a three-bedroom boutique hotel.

Before the flight, guests would get eight weeks of intensive training at a space camp on a tropical island, company director Xavier Claramunt told Reuters. Then the tourists would ride an private shuttle into orbit. Hotel guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and use Velcro suits to crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

Claramunt said the hotel’s joined-up pod structure, which makes it look like a model of molecules, was dictated by the fact that each pod room had to fit inside a rocket to be taken into space.

“It’s the bathrooms in zero gravity that are the biggest challenge,” says Claramunt. “How to accommodate the more intimate activities of the guests is not easy.”

To take a zero-gravity shower, the guests would enter a spa room in which cleansing bubbles of water float around. When they’re not admiring the view from their portholes, they will take part in scientific experiments on space travel.