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indianexpress: THE Central government is aiming for a complete reduction in chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) production by the year 2010 for protection of the ozone layer, said Ministry of Environment and Forests Joint Secretary B P Neelratna. He was speaking at the launch of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) education pack for primary teachers developed by the UNEP Ozone Action Branch. The education pack in four languages Marathi, Hindi, Bengali and Urdu was inaugurated by Mayor Rajlakshmi Bhosale at the S M Joshi Hall on Wednesday .

Neelratna said that India was a signatory of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, an international treaty for phasing out production of ozone-depleting substances, from 1992. Since then, he said the government had taken many measures to curb production of substances like carbon tetrachloride, CFC, and so on.
 
“As of January 1, 2002, India has succeeded in freezing production of halons (haloalkane). From 2005, the production of carbon tetrachloride has been reduced by 85 per cent and of CFCs by 50 per cent. As per the Montreal Protocol, it is now binding on India to implement complete removal of CFC production by 2010,” said Neelratna. Apart from this, he said that customs and excise duty was being waived for companies that invested in ozone-friendly technology.

indianexpress: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here on Wednesday that he was going to make a special appeal to the state government that the Akurdi plant of Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) should not be allowed to be used for any other purpose, other than for industrial use as that was the rule under the MIDC Act when BAL acquired the land. The 2,700-odd workers of BAL will now have to wait till September 8, the date scheduled by Pawar for a meeting between the managing director of the company and representatives of workers that he also would be attending at the Sahyadri guest house in Mumbai.

Pawar, who was in the city to help solve the Akurdi plant imbroglio, held a preliminary meeting with representatives of the management including vice president (corporate finance), CP Tripathi as well as representatives of the two unions — the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena and the Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghtana. Labour Minister Ganesh Naik, Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar, representatives of the BAL management, PCMC Commissioner Dilip Band, mayor Vaishali Ghodekar and other elected representatives attended the meeting at the new Circuit House.

“The last three years’ figures of the Bajaj production show only a rise. There seems to be no recession,” said Pawar, further adding that the whole country was poised at a 9.4 per cent GDP growth.

He quashed the claims of BAL that there was an “acute drop in demand”. In the last labour settlement of September 5, 2003 it was agreed that only in the event of an acute drop in demand for the products produced at the Akurdi plant, a 5-day working week would be observed and that for the sixth day of the shutdown workmen would receive 50 percent of their wages.

Pawar, who met representatives of the two unions, said the “company should have taken the workers as well as the labour commissioner into confidence before deciding their move.’’ In a closed door meeting he urged the unions to work towards finding a solution and not to “politicise the issue” and strive for “industrial peace”.

indianexpress:   KEEPING up with its 15-year-old tradition of starting citizen-centric initiatives during Ganeshotsav, Kothrud’s Akhil Bhusari Colony Vikas Mandal (Trust) plans to start its “service, not donation” programme that will address Puneites’ day-to-day problems on one hand and in the process provide employment to many of the city’s unemployed youth.

After surveying the umpteen problems faced by the citizens, the mandal struck upon the idea of starting a ‘household and day-to-day facilities’ service. Mandal president Sachin Dhankude emphasised on their solely altruistic motive saying the only aim was to relieve the citizens of their daily share of hurdles.

The mandal will rope in workers to provide services in the fields of construction, household, sales and repair, bill payment and cash counters, ticket-booking centres, financial services, vocational training classes, event management initiatives, vehicle services among others.

A Pune-centric helpline will also be activated to address the citizens’ queries pertaining to addresses, transport, medical services, etc. Citizens can call 25285019, 25285730, 9890310818, 9822567525 to reach the helpline service.

Dhankude said many workers like plumbers, pest controllers and painters do not have shops of their own but get work through word-of-mouth.

indianexpress: TEACHER’S Day ushered lessons of a different kind for the students as well as the teachers of NMV High School and Junior College for girls, who attended a screening of Kachra Kondi, the documentary on the lives of Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) conservancy staff on Wednesday. Over 100 students and six teachers watched the film in shock and disgust at the plight of the workers, the students even pledging towards contributing to bring a change in their situation.

“Earlier, I hardly thought before throwing chocolate wrappers or papers around. Moreover, we all blamed the PMC and the sweepers for not clearing the filth on time. Now, we respect and thank this section who have to work in such gruesome conditions owing to our negligence and ignorance,” said Pooja J, a student.
 
The students were sympathetic to the worker’s conditions and suggested ways to extend support. Said Nupur Madhe, another student, “Usually discussions like these never result in decisions and are forgotten soon. However we promise to start the process of bringing about a change by keeping our houses and schools clean and disposing off waste in an organised way which would make their jobs easier.”

The school’s co-ordinator Neha Pendharkar said the screening of the movie was an attempt to show students the cost that lay behind the city’s cleanliness. Vibha Mule, a teacher, said, “The responsibility to keep the city clean is as much the citizens’ responsibility as the worker’s and the younger generation should participate in spreading awareness about the same.” Echoing Mule’s sentiments, Prakash Jadhav of Pune Municipal Workers Union’s (PMWU) said that students all over the city had responded in a similar way after watching the movie.

indianexpress: THE Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Wednesday suspended three security guards who were on duty at the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park at Katraj when 12 peacocks and four sandalwood trees were stolen, even as four peacocks were found in the park premises.

“The three guards on duty when the peacocks were stolen have been suspended,” PMC Additional Commissioner Mohan Adtani told reporters. He said a departmental enquiry has been ordered into the matter. He ruled out any immediate inquiry against senior officials in charge of the park, saying there was no corroborative evidence against them so far.
 
The PMC has beefed up security, he said, adding that the security guard strength has been increased to six, including three armed guards on night duty.

indianexpress: WITH the Ganesh festival around the corner, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has issued an advisory to the Ganesh mandals in the city, asking them to seek authorised electricity connection instead of resorting to power thefts during the time of the festival.

MSEDCL chief engineer Rameshsinh Gautam in a press release issued on Wednesday appealed to the mandals to apply for authorised connection and ensure their usage does not exceed their lawful demand.

Besides acquiring authorised electricity connections, the mandals must ensure that the wiring for the lighting arrangements be made through a licensed contractor.

While erecting the pandals, the mandal should also ensure that sufficient distance is kept between the pandal and the wires.

High voltage bulbs should be avoided in the pandals to avoid hazards. During the digging for the pandal, care should be taken that the concealed MSEDCL wires are not disturbed, the release said. Gautam assured that while MSEDCL would provide uninterrupted power supply during the festival, any complaints will be promptly attended to.

Instructions have been issued to all MSEDCL officials in this regard.

techtree: At the ongoing IFA in Berlin, Samsung has reportedly introduced 2 home theater projector models: the SP-A800B and the SP-A400B.

Samsung claims the SP-A800B features full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution alongside 24-frame true film mode, and includes input terminals such as 2 HDMI sockets, 2 component sockets, an S-Video connecting, composite, a PC input (D-SUB 15 PIN), and RS-232C (S/W upgrade and function control).

It promises a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 with brightness of 1,000 ANSI lumen.

The junior model, the SP-A400B, is targeted at business- and home theater- users, and according to Samsung, employs a 1280 X 768p WXGA resolution with normal PC mode and various wide modes. The projector features BrilliantColor technology from Texas Instruments, and a 2,000 ANSI lumen brightness.

The SP-A800B will cost $6,818 (Rs 277,827 approx) while the smaller SP-400B will cost $2,044 (Rs 83,314 approx).

techtree: At the IFA in Berlin, two major consumer electronics companies reportedly demonstrated their dual-format HD players capable of playing both high definition formats; HD DVD and Blu-ray.

LG claims its Super Multi Blue (BH100) dual-format player supports full high-definition (HD) 1,080p playback for Blu-ray and HD-DVD, and 1,080i for playback in DVD formats, including DVD-Video, DVD+R/-R, and DVD+RW/-RW.

The BH100 offers interactive functionality on BD-Java, and handling of various encoding formats such as MPEG-2, VC-1, H.264, MPEG1/2 audio, Dolby Digital and Digital+, DTS, and DTS-HD audio.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s BD-UP5000 dual-format player, claimed to be the world’s first dual-format player, is compatible with both BD Java and HDi.

It’s features include: HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) processing, support for HDMI 1.3, a 7.1 channel speaker, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD and Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC). The dual-format player, according to Samsung, supports playback for both Blu-ray and HD-DVD at 1080p between 24 and 60fps (frames per second).

LG’s Super Multi Blue (BH100) dual-format player is now available in the UK for a price of ” 1000; while Samsung’s BD-UP500 is expected to be available in Q4 2007.

techtree: In the lead up to the launch of a new generation of integrated Windows Live Services, Microsoft has reportedly announced the beta release of a new Windows Live Suite in 58 countries including India.

The company also announced the roll-out of a unified installer to assist in the download of new global betas: Windows Live Photo Gallery beta, Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta, Windows Live Writer beta, Windows Live OneCare Family Safety, and Windows Live Toolbar.

The Windows Live Photo Gallery beta includes newer functionalities such as the ability to: share photos on Windows Live Spaces directly from Windows Live Photo Gallery beta; share videos on Soapbox beta on MSN Video directly from Windows Live Photo Gallery; import photos from digital cameras and the Windows Live Photo Gallery; create cool panoramic pictures by stitching together multiple photos; edit photos using improved cropping and color adjustment tools; and view QuickTime files in the Gallery Viewer.

The Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta includes: additional family safety functionality integration; and performance and security enhancements.

The Windows Live Writer beta expands market availability for Writer to 32 languages and 55 countries besides being available worldwide in English. It includes: easy ways to insert video from various video services into a blog entry; XHTML markup and justified text alignment;
image upload for Blogger; support of market or language specific tag providers; and other performance enhancements.

cnet: Hewlett-Packard is looking to cast a spell on the PC gaming industry with its first product developed with Voodoo PC.

The HP Blackbird 002 is the first joint effort with Voodoo, the Canadian enthusiast PC maker that HP purchased a year ago. HP is expected to unveil the souped-up PC at a special event in New York on Wednesday evening.

High ImpactWhat’s new:
HP is set to unveil the HP Blackbird 002, a souped-up, flashy gaming PC that is the company’s first joint effort with its Voodoo unit.

Bottom line:
In a computing niche that leans heavily on design, the Blackbird shows careful attention was paid to detail both inside and out, industry observers say.

The Blackbird is an all-black, all-aluminum gaming machine that can be configured however the customer wants. The BIOS (basic input-output system) is completely open, and none of the inner components are proprietary, meaning the customer can buy replacement parts off the shelf of any PC supply store.

The shape of the machine should catch some eyes too–the chassis hovers on an aluminum foot. Though it’s a flashy design, it’s actually a utilitarian measure: it’s a sixth side of the box for air to flow out of, which helps combat one of the biggest problems with enthusiast PCs–overheating. The Blackbird also uses a full liquid-cooling system and isolates each of the PC’s heat sources in their own thermal chambers to further reduce the temperature output.