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indianexpress: The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is working on a model rehabilitation policy for Ranjangaon and Chakan Phase IV land acquisitions. By January, MIDC is likely to unfold the policy which is aimed at making the land acquisition process a smooth affair.

MIDC official said a model rehabilitation has become a mandatory requirement in view of the resistance from farmers for giving up their land and the increasing demand for land from the industrial sector. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh during his recent visit to Pune had also expressed concern over the “stiff resistance from farmers.”

As the one-time payment policy has not found favour with farmers, MIDC has decided to offer the rehabilitation package whose basic thrust will be helping farmers get sustained income life long. A senior MIDC official said the land acquisitions were getting difficult and it was the need of the hour to acquire the land with least resistance.

“Four villages had come forward for the Khed Special Economic Zone by Bharat Forge Ltd which has acquired 2000 hectares of land. We had given the farmers a special package which was well received. For MIDC acquisitions at Ranjangaon and Chakan Phase IV where there are 71 hectares and 400 hectares respectively, we want to work out a rehabilitation package which will benefit the farmers life long,” the official said. “MIDC already has a rehabilitation package in place. The package, which includes a 15 per cent buy back policy for the farmers, has encouraged farmers to establish a company to buy back a larger chunk of land. These and many other policies will be kept in mind when we frame the ideal rehabilitation package for farmers for these two acquisitions,’’ the official said.

indianexpress:  Walchandnagar Industries Limited (WIL) chairman Chokor Doshi said the company was looking at the market of the construction of nuclear power plants after the nuclear deal goes through. Doshi was addressing the media at the 125th birth anniversary of Seth Walchand Hirachand and the 100th anniversary of the Walchandnagar Industries Limited, 125 km away from Pune, where Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar was the chief guest. Kakodkar said Indian industries would get big businesses when the market opened.

The company is into making components of nuclear ships especially nuclear gearboxes with 24,000-horse power. In the past, it has devised gearboxes for the Indian navy’s submarines, work for which is still underway. Business through nuclear power comprises 12-14 per cent of the company, Doshi said.

Meanwhile, Doshi said the company had registered a growth in the past three years. The turnover for the year ending September 2007 was Rs 637 crore, which is 75 per cent higher than the last year. “All our divisions have done much better that before. These are typically in infrastructure space such as factories, large equipment, for wealth producing activities,” he said.

Doshi said all divisions would see an expansion and the capital expenditure of Rs 50 to Rs 100 crore in the Walchandnagar plant and the foundry division in Satara. Doshi said to mark the centenary year, dividends had been increased from 45 per cent to 100 per cent and the company has declared one-to-one bonus to its shareholders. To make share prices accessible to the common person, shares had been brought down to Rs 10 to Rs 2, Doshi added. While the company was best known for sugar industries, Doshi said WIL was into thermodynamic and related co-generation as well

indianexpress: The Pune Municipal Corporation is vying for honours at the international level. Pitted against the likes of Los Angeles and Lagos civic bodies, PMC has staked claim in the civic category awards — instituted by the London-based World Leadership Forum. The awards are considered a benchmark honour for civic bodies across the world.

“PMC had sent project entries in three categories and has been short-listed in two - architecture/ civil engineering and science and technology. We have a tough competition to face,” Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale said.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Kishore More, who is the officer-in-charge of the PMC initiative to contest for the global award, said the PMC will battle it out with Los Angeles and Lagos in the architecture and civil engineering category and in the science and technology category, it faces competition only from Lagos.

Based on the invitation of the forum, PMC had sent its Unwire Pune project in the science and technology category, automatic scrutiny of building proposals in the architecture and civil engineering category, and self help groups programme in the employment category.

“A team of four civic officers, led by the mayor, has been set up for making a formal presentation about our entries in London on December 5 and 6,” More said.

The civic administration team is going all-out to make its presentation. “The municipal commissioner has decided to prepare a short film on the automatic scrutiny of building proposals project,” he said.

In the architecture and civil engineering category, Los Angeles city will present its Griffith observatory that offers shows in the Samuel Oschin planetarium, public telescopes, and observing and astronomy exhibits, while the Lagos city will display Bar Beach Waterfront project, development of reclaimed land along the beach into a multi-purpose tourist gateway.

indianexpress:  Anticipating a boom in floriculture, big players in Indian market are eyeing Pune region that accounts for 90 per cent of floriculture exports from the State. The exports from Pune are pegged at Rs 100 crore. And ready to lock horns with big players are small farmers who have joined hands to form societies — the objective is to put in combined efforts for cultivation of flower varieties and market the produce globally.

“Pune district has witnessed an increase in land under floriculture in the last couple of years. Today, the district has 50-60 small, medium and large floriculture firms spread over more than 100 hectare, the majority of them are in Talegaon belt,” said Dnaneshwar Bodke, joint secretary of the State Flower Growers Association (SFGA) which looks after the farmers’ interest.

“With big firms planning to set up their units in Pune and retailers making deep inroads, the flower grower farmers have been a worried lot. Due to this scenario, we have decided to form societies,” said Bodke. These societies, comprising flower grower farmers, will put up joint efforts to purchase the required farming material, fertilisers and saplings. “If we bargain together, we can purchase with discount and it will leave no room for cheating by agents,” said Eknath Patil, a farmer.

In the last few months, Maval, Mulshi and Haveli talukas have seen formation of societies with 600 members. Bodke said that societies have made provision for transportation of its members, and will facilitate export. “Pune, Mumbai and Delhi are big market for Pune flowers and we want to sell our product in the market without any company or middle man gobbling margins,” said Patil. “Though it will be a daunting task for farmers to take their produce directly in the global market, we will give it a try.”

indianexpress: Three persons from the city were killed and six injured when a Tavera car and a luxury bus collided on the Pune-Solapur National Highway at Sardewadi near Indapur, about 145 km from here, around 4.30 am on Sunday.

The deceased have been identified as Amol Laxman Pardeshi (28), Nikhil Deshkar (24), both residents of Ravivar Peth and Javed Pathan, a resident of Hadapsar.

The injured include Vikram Dnyandeo Lagad, Vicky Deokar, Manish Shankar Pailwan, Sunny Madhukar Deshkar, Khandu Dimikar and Dinesh Prakash Jhivakhane. They have been admitted to a rural hospital in Indapur.Doctors at the hospital said their condition was serious.

According to the police, the accident took place early this morning when the car which was heading towards Solapur collided head-on with the luxury bus.

The impact of the collision left the tempo driver and businessman Deshkar dead on the spot. Pathan, the driver of the ill-fated car, was rushed to the nearby hospital, but succumbed to his injuries in the evening.

indianexpress: The Joint Action Committee on Pension, an umbrella organisation of pensioners, trade unions and pensioners association held a day-long seminar on pension and a public meeting at Sonal Hall, Karve Road recently.
 
Over 75 leaders and activists representing central, state, municipalities, banks, insurance employees, teachers and pensioners attended the workshop.

The speakers said the existing benefits should not be tampered with. “ In fact with sixty years of economic development, the situation should have improved. However, the government is talking about taking away what exists,” the speakers said. The meeting was unanimous about scrapping the pension scheme which has been effective since January 1, 2004 on grounds of not being approved by Parliament and cited reasons — it takes away the existing benefits, throws pensioner’s fate to the fickle share market, discriminates between employees and pensioners.

The meet adopted three resolutions— scrapping of the new pension scheme and retaining the existing one in the act, demanding pension and affordable medical facilities to all citizens over 60 and an appeal to all employees to fight against the attack on pension.

The workshop was inaugurated by socialist Mohan Dharia. Also present were chairman of International Longevity Centre Sharadchandra Gokhale former Supreme Court judge Justice PB Sawant, comrade N M Sundaram, former vice-chancellor of Goa University P R Dubhashi .

indianexpress:  Barely into his teens, the boy was walking with a packet of vada-pav, sharing them with his friends, on the roof of a train even as it chugged out of Malad station.

Clearly, the death of 16-year-old Dheeraj Sharma after he accidentally touched overhead electricity cables while travelling atop a Kasara-CST local along with three of his friends earlier this week hasn’t driven home the message.

“Presently, one overhead electricity line (up and down) between Borivali to Virar is of 15,000 volts (AC), which can pull anything close to it. Earlier, the line was 25,000 volts (DC), which was less dangerous. In two years, the entire section from Churchgate to Virar will be converted from DC to AC and the people should not travel atop trains,” said Satyaprakash, divisional railway manager of Western Railway (WR).

Between May and October this year, two people were killed and 10 others injured after they accidentally touched overhead electricity cables or fell down while travelling atop local trains in the city on the Western line.

Awareness drives and penalties slapped by railways and police have failed to stem the problem. Even the plastic nails fixed to deter youngster from climbing on to the roofs of the trains haven’t proved to be of much help.