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TOI : The year 2007, saw Pune in the driving seat of the Indian automobile industry.

The city sort of became a hub of the Rs 1-lakh car, which is expected to drive the passenger-car market in the country in a big way this year.

Not only were the final touches given to the Rs 1-lakh car of the Tata Motors, at the company’s Pune facility, this year, but city-based two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto went in for an exclusive collaboration with French and Japanese automakers, Renault and Nissan, to develop and sell a $ 25,000 ultra low-cost car (ULC).

In October, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, visited the Bajaj Auto’s 198-acre two-wheeler manufacturing facility at Chakan, to announce the tie-up.

It may be a tough call, but not an impossible one, feel both Bajaj and Ghosn. A view Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, also seems to hold.

“If Tatas can do it, there is no reason Bajaj cannot with the help of Renault and Nissan,” said Ghosn, who Bajaj spoke of as the “rockstar” of the global automotive industry.

The Tata car, to be unveiled in January at the Auto Expo 2008 in Delhi, is expected to be rolled out later next year. It was developed mostly at the Tata Motor’s Pune facility. The development team of the most-talked-of car in the country was centred here, and it co-ordinated with engineers working on Ratan Tata’s pet-project across Tata Motors facilities.

While the Bajaj-Renault-Nissan car is not expected to be on the roads before end-2010, the design and development of the vehicle is expected to begin in full-throttle in 2008, if the feasibility study gives the project a go-ahead. The study is expected to be completed in January 2008, after which the exact scope of the joint venture will be hammered…More

TOI : PUNE: They may seem as different as chalk and cheese but 20-year-old Rucha Joshi has made a delicious discovery - she makes biscuits from banana peels.

The fifth day of the 15th National Children Science Congress, jointly organised by Jidnyasa Trust and Vidya Pratishthan Baramati saw Rucha, who has to her credit a research paper on ‘Low calorie biscuits from banana peel pulp’ (BPP) release her book ‘Bharatiya Balvaigyanikachi Garudhjhep’ in Marathi.

According to Rucha, her invention holds exclusivity as she herself has reviewed literature at the CFTRI from 1865 to 2007. Except for a jam made in European countries, so far, she has not come across any other product made from banana peels.

Bhagwat V Patil, president of the Banana Growers’ Association of India said that he had not come across any such product before.

Originally from Nanded, Rucha’s visit to the Itwara market there in 2001 triggered off the idea of actually making biscuits using something as apparently useless as a banana peel.

Nanded being the second largest banana producer in the state after Jalgaon, Rucha saw plenty of banana peels going to waste at the market. This was a time when she was also on the lookout for a project to be presented at the National Children Science Congress in 2002.

“My visit literally proved ‘fruitful’, and I decided to find out if one could make biscuits out of banana peel pulp,” she says. With encouragement from her family, she started work. She prepared three varieties of biscuits, one without banana peel pulp, the other with 10 per cent banana peel pulp and the third with 20 per banana peel pulp.

After conducting an analysis of the biscuits, she found that as she increased the amount of pulp, the calories in the biscuits decreased, while the fibre increased….More

TOI : PUNE: Cyber security, password protection and data and information security has become the need of the hour. But it is observed that even technocrats and computer-savvy people are not aware about the importance and intricacies of cyber security.

‘Clubhack’, a recently formed group of ethical hackers, is all set to bring awareness about cyber security and password protection among lay computers-users.

The group has set a roadmap for the year ahead, which includes security events, annual conferences, awareness programmes, contest and events for common people. Clubhack also plans similar activities for the police, various government departments and business sectors.

“Making the internet world safer for everyone is a big challenge ahead. In order to make computer security a must for the common man, the club has come out with an awareness plan,” Rohit Srivastawa, founder of the club, told TOI.

“We plan to run programmes throughout the year. Seminars and events will provide latest technical information on hacking and cyber security. There will be online as well as offline programmes. We are also planning different types of security and internet contests.”

Hackers can play a major role in promoting cyber security awareness, said Srivastava, adding that the club plans to draw more ethical hackers as members next year.

Recently, the club had organised the international hackers’ convention in the city to serve as a meeting point for ethical hackers, security professionals, law enforcement agencies and other security enthusiasts. The convention stressed on reaching out to common people.

Srivastawa said that the programmes will keep the cyber security motive alive. Nearly 200 hackers attended the convention. “We are expecting more hackers to participate in awareness programmes,” he said…More

TOI : PUNE: New Year’s eve is a time for resolutions. And Pune’s district collector has already made one - to crack down heavily on pubs, hotels and private firms, who make huge profits from new year’s eve parties, but evade the entertainment tax.

Last year, the entertainment tax collected from December 31 parties was about Rs 35 lakh. Considering the rising number of parties here, the district administration is expecting a 10 per cent increase in tax collections from the impending New Year’s eve parties.

To achieve the target, the district collector’s office for the first time has chalked out a plan to ensure that party organisers don’t evade entertainment tax.

At a meeting held recently, district entertainment tax officials decided that 20 per cent of the total coverage charge of party tickets will be entry fees. As per earlier rules, the tax was charged on the entry fee rather than the coverage charge and this gave party organisers an opportunity to exploit the loophole.

“To avoid paying more tax, party organisers would keep the entry fee to a minimum and have heavy cover charges. For instance, if the cover charge was Rs 1,000, the entry fee would be only Rs 10,” S.V. Naik, district entertainment duty officer, told TOI.

He added that with the district collectorate deciding that 20 per cent of coverage charge should be the entry fee, there is no option left for the organisers but to pay the tax.

“About 60 hotels and pubs have sought permission for a party till date and more are expected in the next couple of days. Party tickets are stamped and we will be closely monitoring parties to check whether there are more people attending parties than there are tickets sold,” said Naik.

The district collectorate has also formed a 20-member squad…More

TOI : PUNE: New Year is here, which is stating the obvious! Now, the million dollar question is how are you planning to see the old one off? There is no dearth of options to make your day a special one. What with hotels and restaurants gearing up for a unique New Year eve bash - special themes, special entertainment, special menus et al. Amidst all these, you are guaranteed your share of fun. As the phrase goes - ‘ paisa pheko tamasha dekho ’.

Yet, there are people for whom the year-end is an occasion to plan something new, to begin the New Year on a high note.

“This year, we are going to Matheran on the new year’s eve,” says Rajeev Madan, a software professional. “Going to restaurants and gulping a drink or two is common. The year-end should be different. That’s why I want to have some quality time with my family. Taking a quiet walk in the wood sounds perfect.”

There are others like Madan for whom the idea of celebration does not mean doing the regular stuff.

Author R Raj Rao plans to celebrate the night “in a queer way.” He explains, “Probably have some close friends over…” Shikha Singh, a senior HR consultant in Mumbai, came to Pune on Christmas eve itself, away from her hectic schedule, to spend some quality time with her sister.

“My sister is working on the 31st, so, no plans for a party. I just wanted a break from my routine life, and will probably do introspection about the year gone by while spending the evening alone at my sister’s flat.” That’s a big plan indeed! Anil Pathak, who owns a hardware shop in the city, refuses to go out.

“There are so many people on the road that I get claustrophobic, and I…More

TOI : PUNE: Looks like people are ushering in the new year by indulging in safer sex. Medical shops in the city registered 10 to 50 per cent rise in the sale of condoms on December 31.

Rahul Medicals, a medical store on Fergusson College road, witnessed a rise in condom sales from Saturday onwards. According to proprietor S. Indani, since a weekend followed December 31st this year, condom sales began to pick on Saturday itself. The shop remained closed on Sunday but on Monday again they registered good sales, especially in male contraceptives.

“We normally sell 30-40 units everyday, but have sold over 150 both on Saturday and Monday,” said Indani. For Dnyaneshwar Mandhre of Kalyani Medicals, although high sales occur mostly on Sundays, Monday too saw sales of male contraceptives going up. He witnessed a 40 per cent increase sales on Sunday. “Monday too has not been bad,” he said stating that he saw a 10 per cent rise than usual.

While Navratri is the time for high sales in male contraceptives, Pushpa Chowdhury of Manav Medico said, sales typically increased by 100 per cent on December 31st. Normally the sales were limited to 20-25 units daily. “We have already sold half of these early morning on Monday. I am sure it will go up to 50 by evening,” she said.

Out of the two variety of packs available (three and 10 units each), according to Chowdhury, three-units pack ranging from Rs 16 to Rs 18 are the most preferred. Buyers typically belong to the age-group of 18 to 30 years.

While claiming that he has seen condom sales go up to more than 100 per cent, not just on December 31 but even on other days, S.K. Rekhi, proprietor, Rekhi Medico, said the trend disturbed him. More and more youngsters were indulging in pre-marital…More

TOI : PUNE: The new year may bring no cheer to the 280 youths who were part of the infamous rave party held at the foothills of Sinhagad fort in March 2007.

The Pune special court for Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has fixed January 9 as the date to frame charges against the revellers. However, lawyers representing the accused have moved applications to transfer the case to a magistrate court, arguing that the alleged offence was punishable for upto a year and hence the special court has no jurisdiction to conduct the trial.

An international drug racket was exposed in a night raid on a rave party at Donje village on the foothills of Sinhagad fort by the Pune rural police on March 4, 2007. An international disco jockey, his Chennai-based counterpart, air-hostesses, IT professionals, call centre employees and students from Mumbai, Pune, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana were nabbed during the raid. Some five months ago the Pune rural police chargesheeted the 280 revellers for their alleged involvement in the rave party.

While the special court has fixed January 9 as the date for framing charges, defence lawyers argue that their clients have not yet even received copies of the chargesheets. “We need to get the copies of the police chargesheet before the court fixes the charges on January 9,” advocate Raju Mate told TOI.

Also, to frame charges in a case, the presence of all the accused is essential. Mate pointed out that some of the accused have sought exemption from appearing before the court. “We need to know how the charges can be fixed on January 9 if some accused are allowed to remain absent,” Mate said.

Reacting to the developments, district government pleader and public prosecutor Sadanand Deshmukh told TOI that the special court has not yet asked his office to…More

TOI : PUNE: In a bizarre incident, a young couple staying near Dnyaneshwar Paduka chowk, committed suicide on Sunday night.

Assistant police inspector V.S. Tikole said the reason why Hemaram Chaudhary (24) and his wife Manju (20) took the extreme step is not known yet. Even the relatives were shocked and do not know the reason behind such an unreasonable decision.

Chaudhary owned Kailash Super Market, a grocery shop at Dnyaneshwar Paduka chowk and got married two years ago. The couple have no children. They owned three flats in Anand apartment behind Hotel Sheetal near Dynaneshwar Paduka chowk where they stayed with Hemaram’s brother Kailash. On Sunday morning, Kailash’s wife tried calling them.

After getting no response, they forcibly opened the door to find the couple hanging from the ceiling…More

TOI : PUNE: Pune-Mumbai rail connectivity was affected on Monday after a goods train derailed between Vikroli and Bhandup in Mumbai around 4.50 am.

Railway spokesperson Y.K. Singh said, “The Indrayani Express was allowed to pass, but the Intercity Express — a favoured train of office-goers — was cancelled.

Later, the Deccan Express and the Udyan, Koyna and Hyderabad trains, which pass through the city, ran two hours behind schedule,” Singh said.

According to Singh the derailment was cleared after 10.30 am. “Evening trains bound for Mumbai came on time except for cancellation of the Intercity,” Singh said.

Many people had to go home disappointed after the train was cancelled. “I wanted to take the children to their grandmother’s place in Pune. However, I think it is better to cancel the trip,” said Aneeta Naik of Badlapur.

Regular travellers, however, had to resort to other means to travel between the cities. There was a rush to get to the state transport buses and share auto-rickshaws.

Sheela Pawar, who works at Shivajinagar, took a share auto-rickshaw till Khopoli and then a state transport bus to Shivajinagar. “We cannot wait for the Deccan Express as it is running two hours late. We have to make it to the office, anyway,” she said…More

TOI : PUNE: The 19th ‘Road Safety Week’ will be kicked off on Tuesday by divisional commissioner Nitin Kareer at RTO. District collector Prabhakar Deshmukh and additional superintendent of police (Pune rural) Pravin Patil will be present.

During the week, there will be awareness programmes on pollution check of petrol vehicles, fitting of reflectors on vehicles and street-plays by students of Bharati Vidyapeeth…More