News

punetimes: Imagine this. Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, is giving a lecture at the University of Pune (UoP) and the same is being viewed simultaneously at colleges in Shrirampur and Ojhar in Ahmednagar and Nashik districts respectively. Not just that, they are also sharing ideas and interacting with him.

Cut to reality. The possibility of such an interactive session may seem remote at this juncture, but that precisely is what the UoP has set out to achieve by March 2008. Speaking to TOI on Tuesday, Vice-Chancellor Narendra Jadhav, who completes a year in office on August 24, unveiled details of an ambitious project of raising an audio, visual and data ‘triple’ connectivity between all the UoP-affiliated colleges, recognised institutions and the university - using information and communication technology (ICT) tools.

The university has 443 affiliated colleges and 220 institutions spread over Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik districts. Collectively, it caters to 5.25 l akh students. Once commissioned, the triple link will enable the UoP to organise lectures by eminent professionals from different walks of life for simultaneous viewing and interaction by teachers and students at all colleges and institutions.

punetimes: As actor Sanjay Dutt, prime convict in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, spent yet another day behind bars in Pune, a 14-year-old boy selling tea and ‘pohe’ saw an opportunity to make a fast buck by catering to the crowd outside the jail.

In the last three days, Asif Shakeel Shaikh, a resident of Yerwada, made a profit of Rs 200-300 per day by serving tea and pohe to the about 1,000 people, including journalists and crew members of news channels.

A Std. VIII student, Asif told TOI that his father was unemployed and mother worked as a casual labourer. “I saw the crowd gathering in front of the jail when I was returning home from school three days ago.”

He told his mother about the huge crowd and immediately spotted a business opportunity. “My mother and I decided to sell poha and tea to the crowd,” he said.

They prepared tea and pohe at their residence and Asif took it to the ground in front the jail, where the crowd gathered to see media persons and Sanjay Dutt. “I sell tea for Rs 3 and a plate of pohe for Rs 7,” Asif said.

When asked what profit he was making, he replied innocently, “I am earning something between Rs 200 and 300 per day thanks to Sanju Baba.”

Asif has seen a few films of Sanjay Dutt and specially liked Lage Raho Munnabhai . “I like the film because it is a comedy and has Gandhigiri.”

punetimes: It was an unlikely reunion of two unique witnesses of the early stages of India’s freedom struggle. Exactly a century ago, when Madam Cama unfurled the first-ever Indian national flag at the International Socialist Congress at Stuttgart in Germany, there was another freedom fighter present by her side - Barrister Sardar Singh Rana, who also had a replica of the same tricolour flag.

Rana had kept the replica safely. And Rana’s grandson Rajendra Singh Rana brought it from Bhavnagar to Pune on Tuesday.

“These two flags are coming together exactly after a century. On August 22, 1907, Madam Cama and Barrister Rana had made three replicas of the same flag so that if the British destroyed one, they would still have two spare flags. We do not know what happened to the third flag,” Rajendra Singh Rana said, when the two flags were placed next to each other at a function organised by city-based Janmada at the Balgandharva Rangmandir on Wednesday.

“The original flag was made by Madam Cama herself on the eve of the Socialist Congress. It is an emotional moment to see these flags together exactly on the same day after a century,” said Rana while looking at the green, saffron and red coloured flag has symbols of the sun, moon and stars on it.

punetimes: The district administration would take a decision on reverting the ownership of mega star Amitabh Bachchan’s land in village Pale in Maval taluka to the government after thoroughly studying the legal aspects, said Sanjaysinh Chavan, sub-division officer (SDO) of Maval.

The SDO has received copies of the order given by the Allahabad high court, staying cancellation of Bachchan’s farmer status by the additional commissioner of Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. “We received copies from the district collector of Barabanki also,” Chavan said.

Bachchan’s farmer status in Barabanki was accepted as proof by the Pune district administration to validate his land purchase in Maval. Chavan said, as the matter was subjudice, the administration would study all the legal aspects before taking any decision about reverting the ownership of the land to the government.

punetimes: Following orders from Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale, the civic administration assured the general body here on Wednesday that Deputy Municipal Commissioner Anil Gaikwad would be suspended for allegedly harassing women civic officials in the Pune Municipal Corporation.

Bhosale gave the instructions after elected members created a furore in the general body meeting demanding the suspension of Gaikwad and alleging that civic officials were shielding him.

When Additional Municipal Commissioner M.N. Kerkatta failed to give satisfying answers to their queries on the action taken against Gaikwad, the women elected members refused to allow the meeting to continue till the mayor issued orders.

The issue was raised in the House by Nationalist Congress Party corporator Balasaheb Bodke, who asked the civic administration what action was being taken against Gaikwad.

Women civic officials had alleged in December 2006 that Gaikwad was harassing them. An inquiry committee under Kerkatta prepared a report, which was sent to the state government.

Bodke, however, alleged that the report did not mention what action should be taken against Gaikwad. He also asked Kerkatta whether she had received an anonymous letter about complaints against Gaikwad in December 2006.

When Kerkatta replied that she had received a letter but that the allegations were not of a ’serious nature’, the women corporators started shouting slogans against Gaikwad.

techtree: Toshiba Corp has reportedly announced three new memory cards; namely, an 8GB microSDHC card, a 16GB full size SDHC card, and a 32GB SDHC card.

In a statement, Toshiba said all three cards meet the Class 4 specification in the SD Speed Class.

While the 16GB SDHC card is expected to be available in October for around $350 (Rs 14,227 approx), the 8GB microSDHC and the 32GB SDHC card are expected in January next year. The 32GB card is tipped to cost nearly $700 (Rs 28,455 approx).

SDHC cards have maximum write speeds of 6MBps, and minimum sustained data write of 4MBps. Whereas, microSDHC cards can store up to 139 hours of music at bit rates of 128kbps, with minimum data write of 4MBps.
 

techtree: IBM and TDK have reportedly announced a joint research project to develop higher capacity more compact MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) chips using “spin momentum transfer”.

Sources close to the project at IBM Research and TDK Corp said it will focus on creating and demonstrating advanced magnetic materials in demanding memory chip designs. The program will broaden the application of magnetic materials.

The research will pan across IBM and TDK research centers in USA.

Magnetoresistive RAM aka magnetic RAM, uses tiny magnetic fields instead of electrical charges to store data. It is a nonvolatile memory which means it can retain data without the need for electrical power. Somewhat like flash memory…

However according to some industry sources, MRAM can be written to faster than flash memory — at speeds comparable to the dynamic RAM used in PCs to hold active programs and data.

While a potential application for MRAM is computers that can be turned on instantly without the need to load software into memory each time on start up, current MRAM chips lack the kind of capacity required for modern PCs.

Through this project, TDK and IBM are hoping that increases in capacity will make MRAM more attractive to cell phone and handheld computer manufacturers.

techtree: Sennheiser Communications has reportedly introduced the VMX 100 wireless Bluetooth headset, which is designed with the company’s VoiceMax dual microphone technology.

VoiceMax employs a unique directional system using two microphones and advanced digital signal processing so as to distinguish speech from other noises. VoiceMax works on the incoming part of calls, filtering background noise, facilitating clearer conversations.

Sennheiser claims that VoiceMax effectively eliminates sounds such as wind, traffic, machinery, or crowd murmur.

The VMX 100 is lightweight with a two-way speaker unit allowing it to be worn on either ear. With the 3D ball joint, the microphone boom can be adjusted as per personal requirements. The boom automatically powers on or off when opened or closed.

Compatible with all Bluetooth mobile phones, the VMX 100 is priced at Rs 7,490, and comes with a 2-years warranty. The package includes a compact storage case and multiple charging options.
 

techtree: Logitech has reportedly introduced its Harmony 1000 Remote.

Sporting a brushed chrome and piano black finish, the remote makes for one touch activity-based control, thanks to Logitech’s Smart State technology. The 3.5-inch color touch-sensitive screen displays important controls whenever relevant.

It displays activity icons such as: Watch TV, Watch a Movie, Listen to Music, or Play Games. Once an activity is selected, the screen reveals only those controls that are needed for enjoying that activity.

This apart, there are 9 fixed buttons placed on the right hand side of the remote, including volume up and down, channel up and down, and a directional navigation pad comprising basic controls for most activities.

Logitech claims the 1000 can remote control any device with an infrared receiver, including VCRs, digital video recorders, high definition televisions, and several household appliances. And, users can easily switch between activities using the remote.

When the remote is used in tandem with the Logitech Harmony Wireless Extender (optional and sold separately), it uses radio frequency (RF) technology to control multi room entertainment systems, and high end components hidden behind closed doors.

The Harmony remote also has an intuitive setup wizard to guide users through the process of setting up of the Internet, etc. Besides, it comes with built-in rechargeable batteries, and a convenient charging stand.

techtree: Now, users of Adobe Flash Player will be able to enjoy HD (high definition) video and audio content.

Adobe has reportedly updated its Flash Player 9 with Moviestar, which includes H.264 standard video support plus high efficiency (HE) AAC audio support.

The H.264 encoding is the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high definition video players. It is said to allow for greater compression of video files as compared to previous standards without affecting quality of content.

The support for H.264 is already available in Adobe products such as Premiere Pro and the After Effects video editing software. Besides, the company intends to add this support to the AIR platform for rich Internet applications.

With H.264 and HE-AAC support, content developers will be able to reduce costs of encoding and preparing data for distribution, since these standards are already integrated into their existing authoring workflows, Adobe said.

Apart from HD audio and video support, the update to Flash Player 9 includes hardware accelerated for most PC graphics cards. Besides, it is optimized for dual-core processors.

The public beta version of the update is available as free download at http://labs.adobe.com. The final release via update is slated for fall.