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indianexpress:  It could well have been taken out of a chapter from the many written about forest brigand Veerappan’s exploits. But the scene is not Satyamangalam forest but the serene urban spread of Koregaon Park. Palatial bungalows in Pune have of late become soft targets for sandalwood thieves. Residents say as many as 20 sandalwood thefts have taken place in the area over the last six months.

While Govind Thakkar of Metro Estates found his house burgled last Sunday at 4 am, with the thieves making off with two full-grown trees, the residence of Forbes Marshall managing director Naushad Forbes witnessed a break-in two weeks ago. Thakkar in fact thwarted another attempt on Wednesday when the watchman created a din on sighting the gang. That’s not all. The bungalows of Air Chief Marshall (Retd) H Moolgavkar, the Khataus, the Garwares, Brig Shinde, Vivek Lalwani, Dongres, Dalals and Dubhashes — all in Koregaon Park — have been the target of the sandalwood thieves.

“Their modus operandi is the same — a gang of 8-10 come in a vehicle and cut the trees with an electric saw that makes absolutely no noise. It’s all over in less than half-an-hour,” says Moolgavkar, whose house was broken into early this year with the thieves making off with a 25-year-old sandalwood tree.

“Despite having watchmen, most of us are vulnerable when it comes to such thefts because these robbers operate in groups and are armed,” says Thakkar, whose watchman was held at knife point when the robbery took place at his house last Sunday. The Garware’s watchman was blindfolded and tied up by the thieves when they struck some weeks ago, while at the Dubhashes bungalow, watchman Nitin Rokde says a gang of 10 broke into the compound and made off with two sandalwood trees in the garden last year. “They had knives. I couldn’t do anything,” says Rokde.

indianexpress: Shortage of space at the University of Pune (UoP) ladies hostel has caused panic and insecurity among over 50 girls residing as ‘temporary guests’ paying Rs 20 per day, as they now face the possibility of being turned away from the hostel to accommodate others who have been secured admission to the hostel. While the students have threatened to take out a protest rally on Friday, the hostel administration maintains that it would accommodate as many girls as possible.

Hostel admissions are granted on the basis of a merit list determined by the individual departments where the girls are pursuing their courses. Apart from this some students studying under the Earn and Learn scheme are also to be accommodated. Those girls who are not admitted through these two lists are allowed to stay on a temporary basis, provided they are able to find girls willing to host them in their rooms.

“There are many girls from rural areas who are forced to cancel their admissions and discontinue their education because they do not have hostel accommodation. This temporary guest scheme at least gives them some reprieve till they make alternate arrangements,” said Dhammasangini Shinde, a hostel student who has taken up this issue.

Now the students claim they have been asked to clear out. “Some days ago a raid was conducted, and we were asked to leave before Friday as the temporary guest scheme had been cancelled,” said first-year MA student Shirin Shaikh, who has been staying as a temporary guest for the past month.

Denying that any such instructions had been given, Chief Rector AV Chakranarayan said that no action would be taken till the merit lists from the departments and the Earn and Learn scheme list were received. “We have not yet received these lists, so we have given the students time till September 10. After this, we will review the situation and see how many students can be accommodated. Till then the girls have been allowed to stay,” said Chakranarayan.

indianexpress: Call it a candid admission or blatant assertion. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in the Environment Status Report (ESR) 2006-2007 says that though six-seaters are causing pollution in the city, this mode of transport has gained popularity. It’s another matter that these minidors ply illegally within Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad city limits. The report goes on to add: “People are opting for autorickshaws as waiting for Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) buses gets too long.”

In 1999, based on a High Court ruling, the six-seaters were banned from PMC and PCMC limits. Till date, there’s no court ruling to the contrary that sheds any trace of legality on these vehicles. But the city traffic police seem to be turning a blind eye to this reality.
 
Says advocate Nana Kshirsagar, president of Maharashtra Rickshaw Sena, “Sure they are unauthorised, but we have no choice as they are high in demand.” He attributed the proliferation of these vehicles to the ineffective public transport system in the city.

“These vehicles have infused unhealthy competition into the transport arena. While the six-seaters are given the permit to take on only three passengers, they take double or triple the number,” points out social activist and leader of the Rickshaw Panchayat, Baba Adhav citing the example of Bhor in Pune district where jeeps stand outside the public bus stand and divert most of the PMT passengers.

It is in the fringe areas of the city, where bus service by PMT and PCMT is almost invisible, that one finds hundreds of jeeps plying the roads, while for the city-dwellers six-seaters rule supreme.

indianexpress: With Ganesh mandals across the city beginning to dig up city roads to erect pandals for the 10-day festival despite an appeal against it by Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday said it will take action, that included penalty, against those found flouting the mayoral directive.

“The PMC will take legal action against the mandals for damaging public property if they fail to immediately repair the damage caused due to digging of roads and do not abide by the direction to not to dig up roads,” Municipal Commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi said in a press statement.
 
The technical committee for roads has concluded that the PMC will have to repair roads in the city if they get damaged due to digging up during the Ganesh festival, Pardeshi said.The PMC is providing all possible assistance to Ganesh mandals so that they can erect pandals that would not damage the roads, he said.

However, it has been observed that mandals are still resorting to digging up of roads despite the appeal from the PMC, Pardeshi said adding that those mandals that have already dug up the roads should immediately repair them and use iron angles to erect pandals.

According to Pardeshi the PMC had taken up extensive road repair and construction work in the city this year to ensure good quality roads and this has been appreciated by the public.

indianexpress: Global hedge fund, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, has got into a JV with automated super luxury apartment maker, Marvel Realtors, for a Rs 500 crore residential JV project in Pune.

“Presently this is a project specific JV with Marvel having a 55 per cent stake and Och-Ziff picking up 45 per cent. But we will do more deals with them and are open to all possible business ideas,” Vishwajeet Jhavar, CEO, Marvel Realtors said. The investment in the project will be Rs 350 crore with Rs 100 crore being the investment in land.

The Marvel-Och-Ziff super luxury residential real estate project will come up in Kharadi. The project will have a built-up area of 1.10 million sq ft on a seven-lakh sq ft plot. The project will have a mix of 400 different sizes of luxury apartments.

Jhavar said the demand for super luxury homes in Pune was increasing with demand outstripping supply by many times. Marvel has been able to sell projects even before formally launching them, he said.

Marvel already has ongoing projects in Pune in the super luxury range with Rs four crore plus price tags. It has completed five super luxury projects and 12 regular projects covering 4.40 million sq ft worth about Rs 2,000 crore.

At the Kharadi super luxury project, apartments will have specifications like exclusive swimming pools, spas in every apartment, extensive use of advanced home automation technology, Italian marble flooring and the latest VRV central air conditioning systems. Construction begins in three months and the project will be completed by 2010.

indianexpress: Alarming but true. Pimpri Chinchwad area has a high number of cases of dog bites: at least 5,000 persons are bitten every year. On this World Rabies Day (September 8), a mass awareness campaign has been organised at 320 schools. Environmental science teachers will make power point presentations to drive home the message about the fatal disease.

The motto is to create awareness on control and prevention of rabies, says PCMC veterinary surgeon Satish Gore. Every bite is not fatal, Gore says. However, the number of fatal cases has increased in Pune rural areas. According to statistics from the infectious diseases department at PMC’s Naidu Hospital, 10 men and four women died of rabies in Pune rural areas in 2006 and three in Pune urban areas. In 2005, nine men and three women died in Pune rural and three men in Pune urban; in 2004, 24 men and four women in the Pune rural and three men and two women in Pune urban.
 
The PCMC vaccinates and sterilises over 2,000 dogs every year. The focus is on slum pockets and rural areas. In PMC area, approximately 2,400 persons are bitten every year. The number of rabies deaths has come down from 13 in 1996 to three in 2006, says Blue Cross Society and Animal Rescue Centre veterinary surgeon Arun Aher. He says an aggressive campaign has been launched in Pune: 2,000 dogs are vaccinated and sterilised annually.

Society members feel that more dogs should be vaccinated and sterilised. The dog population in Pune is around 40,000 and multiplies quickly in slum areas, Aher said. Rabies is a dreadful zoonotic disease. It spreads fast through animal bites, in particular through dogs — community owned or strays. The disease claims 55,000 lives annually worldwide, of them 20,000 in India, says Dr S Kilare, head of the research and development unit of Intervet India private limited — a multinational working in the field of animal health.

indianexpress: Mitcon Consultancy services along with Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association have organised a two-day workshop on Nanotechnology in the city on September 26 and 27. Industrialists, entrepreneurs, production engineers, industry executives, R&D specialists, scientists, research scholars and innovators are the target group for the workshop. The workshop will cover topics such as surface chemistry of nano particles, application of Nanotechnology in electronics, bio world, polymer, packaging and other industrial sectors, effects of radiation on nano particles and so on.

Eminent faculties from various institutions would be sharing their knowledge in this field during the workshop.

For registration, contact Pramod Patil 9823401030

techtree: Putting an end to all the speculation of these past weeks, Apple Computer yesterday launched its all new iPod, the iPod Touch.

The reported whoops and hollers might go to justify Apple CEO, Steve Jobs’ claim that ‘the seventh wonder of the world’ had just been unveiled. Also dubbed as ‘the God machine’, the newbie iPod looks a lot like the iPhone — except that it is no phone.

A sleek looking touch-controlled iPod, the iPod Touch sports a 3.5-inches color screen, built-in WiFi Internet access, and Apple’s Safari Internet browser.

The iPod Touch will come in 2 versions: an 8GB version priced at GBP 199; and a 16GB version costing GBP 269.

techtree: Gigabyte has launched its Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC), the U60, in India.

The light weight U60 features a 6.5-inch LCD touch screen, and a sliding QWERTY keyboard among others.

U60’s wireless network enables instant emailing and video conferencing. A satellite navigation module is available as an optional accessory to serve as an automobile navigation system.

The U60 includes an optional media base docking station equipped with complete I/O interfaces comprising IEEE1394, USB, D-SUB, RJ-45, and speaker ports. There is also an optional TV-tuner module to offer DVB-T programs.

The U60 is available through retail outlets and lifestyle stores. It can be ordered via Gigabyte’s regional sales offices at www.gigabyte.in. Watch this space for the pricing…

msnbc:  Imagine cramming 30,000 full-length movies into a gadget the size of an iPod.

Scientists at IBM said on Thursday they had moved closer to such a feat by learning how to steer single atoms in a way that could create building blocks for ultra-tiny storage devices.

Understanding and manipulating the behavior of atoms is critical to harnessing the power of nanotechnology, which deals with particles tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair.

“One of the most basic properties that every atom has is that it behaves like a little magnet,” said Cyrus Hirjibehedin, a scientist at International Business Machines Corp.’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California.

“If you can keep that magnetic orientation stable over time, then you can use that to store information. That is how your hard drive works,” Hirjibehedin said in a telephone interview.

“What we are trying to understand is how this fundamental property works for a single atom.”

Hirjibehedin and colleague Andreas Heinrich studied this property — known as magnetic anisotropy — in individual iron atoms using a special microscope developed at IBM.

“What we’ve been able to do is to look at an iron atom on a copper surface and to move that magnetic orientation around,” Heinrich said.