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indianexpress: After the State Government failed to meet numerous deadlines to establish the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told The Indian Express on Monday that he would personally ensure that “technical snags” in the process are cleared immediately.

Admitting that formation of the PMRDA is vital for the development of Pune region, Deshmukh said, “The formation of the PMRDA was discussed in detail in the State Cabinet many times. I will personally ensure that the process is not delayed further and technical snags are cleared.”

In August 2006, Pune Newsline had carried a 14-part series on why the formation of PMRDA was necessary for the integrated development of the region. The same month, Congress MLA Chandrakant Chhajed and Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe raised the issue in the State Assembly and Legislative Council, pointing out that since 1997 the State Government had set quite a few such three-month deadlines for the formation of the PMRDA. Minister of State for Urban Development, Rajesh Tope was then quoted by Pune Newsline assuring Puneites that there would be no dilly-dallying and that the PMRDA would come into existence in three months’ time. “This time the State Government has announced the deadline of October and I am 100 per cent confident that the PMRDA will become a reality by October 2007,” Tope had said.

However, the State Government and the minister failed to keep the promise made to Puneites. “But now there will be no further delay anymore and PMRDA will become a reality,” Deshmukh assured. He added that he will immediately ask all concerned departments to put forward the report on the status of the PMRDA.

indianexpress: The new automated cleaning machines unveiled by the railway authorities at the Pune station on Saturday are currently being used only on platforms 1 and 7. The other platforms — 2, 3, 4 and 5 — have surfaces that are unsuitable for the machines. The two German-made machines — ‘ride on scrubber’ and ‘ride on sweeper’ — were procured at a cost of Rs 17 lakh. “Work is going on at the other platforms to improve their surface. The machines will be used thereafter,” said Railway PRO Y.K. Singh.

“These machines will not work on the other platforms as their infrastructure is bad. We run the risk of damaging the machines on rough surfaces,” said Chief Medical Superintendent Mahendra Lakde.

Further, the authorities are also pondering over how to carry these machines to the other platforms. The machines work only up to an elevation of 15 degrees while the slopes connecting all the other platforms are greater than 15 degrees. Singh said that plans were afoot to construct a new slope at the end of platform 1 so that the machines could continue working after the resurfacing work is over. However Lakde said that the machines could be taken down the platform slopes and also down the connecting bridge. “They will however not work on these slopes, which will need to be manually cleaned,” he said.

Meanwhile, the cleaning staff at the railway station expressed satisfaction over the arrival of the new cleaning machines. Out of the 22 cleaning staff, nine (6 men and 3 women) are currently undergoing training to be able to operate the machines. “It saves time, is easy to use and efficient,” said Irfan Shabirmir (46).

indianexpress: With the pressure mounting from the state and central governments to speed up the implementation of the various projects under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has begun to put in place the project implementation team.

This comes even as the PMC has succeeded in notching up second place after Mumbai in the October progress card that keeps track of the physical progress of JNNURM, an initiative by the Urban Development Department (UDD). However, the municipal body will face a tough task in the months ahead as the countdown for Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) 2008 has begun and some of JNNURM projects will have to be completed by then.

The PMC team of experts to facilitate the process of project implementation will comprise an information technology officer, municipal finance officer, public health engineer, social and community development officer, urban planning officer, procurement officer and a human resource development officer. After concerns being raised about the environmental implications of the JNNURM projects, the PMC also plans to environment officer.

All the posts will be on contract basis and the PMC plans to carry out a training of PMC staff so that the project work is implemented without any hitches. PMC that was ranked first for the month of July in the premier edition of the progress card, slipped to third position in the very next month.

In September the PMC climbed to second position, implementing 97 per cent projects and getting A+ grade. It may be recalled that the state government officials recently had said that the PMC is keeping achievable targets to keep the pace.

indianexpress: Expressing concern over the delay in infrastructure development work for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) by the NCP-ruled Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), MP and senior Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi said, “the Centre might intervene in speeding up the development work with less than eleven months left for the international event.

“It has been more than eight months since the NCP-Shiv Sena combine came to power with the help of BJP, but no major work has been carried out by the ruling party as per their announcement,” Kalmadi said in a press conference. The ruling alliance has not initiated any new projects and is busy inaugurating projects started during Congress rule, he added.

He said the CYG is approaching and the delay in development work to be carried out under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is worrying him as the focus of the entire world will be on the city during the games.

“The Union Government has already expressed concern about the slow pace of work and the State Government has conveyed the same to the PMC. I will also raise the issue with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on December 12,” Kalmadi added.

indianexpress: National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), that was set up following the merger of Air India and Indian on March 30, is planning to tap the unutilised cargo capacity of the direct Pune-Dubai flight for exporting perishable agricultural items. The plan is to set the ball rolling with export flowers to the west Asian market. The first consignment of exports are tentatively scheduled for the first week of January, said deputy general manager of the State Agricultural Marketing Board, Santosh Patil.

A meeting of the aviation company officials, floriculturists, horticulturists and the State Agricultural Marketing Board has been scheduled on December 13 at the Inland Cargo Depot (ICD) at Dighi near here to chalk out a detailed action.

The direct Pune-Dubai flight was started way back in December 2005 by Air India. However, it was after getting taken over by Indian in September 2007, that it was decided to tap this export potential.

“No agriculture items were dispatched from the flight until then. Recently a meeting was held with the state Marketing Minister Harshwardhan Patil to consider the export of perishable agriculture items from Maharashtra. Western Maharashtra is a prolific producer of flowers and the number of growers is increasing by the day. So when there is a direct international flight from Pune, why not make use of it? Currently, farmers from western Maharashtra take their produce to Mumbai for exports,” said Area Marketing Manager of Air India for Pune region, Dhairyashil Vandekar.

indianexpress: The October 2007 examinations proved second time unfortunate for many repeater students in the science and commerce stream at the University of Pune (UoP) and only half of the students who appeared for the first year examination in both streams were able to clear the examination, with the passing percentage ranging from 16 to 53 per cent.

The UoP announced last week the results for the first year graduate level examinations held for commerce (B.Com) and science (B.Sc biology and B.Sc vocational). Thirty-eight per cent of the students passed in the first year B.Com, with 15 first class with distinction, 222 first class, 630 higher second class, 1474 second class and 6018 will get the advantage of Allowed to Keep Term (ATKT).

The result was slightly better in case of the final year B.Com, with a passing percentage of 51. Of the total 2940 students who appeared, five achieved first class with distinction, 81 secured first class, 227 got higher second class and 531 achieved second class.

Meanwhile, the passing percentage for the first year B.Sc (biology) was a mere 16 per cent, with four first class with distinction, 33 first class, 3 higher second class, two second class and one pass class.

In the first year B.Sc (vocational) examination, 41 per cent of the total students passed, with 51 first class with distinction, 1080 first class, 762 higher second class, 386 second class and 102 pass class. For repeater students in the FYBSc (new syllabus) the pass percentage was 53.

techtree: Logitech has introduced the newest addition — G9 Laser Mouse, to its G-series PC gaming peripherals.

Logitech claims that almost every part of the laser mouse can be modified for the best personal fit, feel, and performance.

Customizable features of the mouse include two interchangeable grips, Wide-Load grip, and Precision grip. The Wide-Load grip can be used during long gaming sessions, as it provides a fuller shape and soft touch – satin feel; while the Precision grip uses DryGrip technology, and offers compact shape for fingertip control.

The G9 mouse allows for customized weight tuning and weight distribution. The weight-tuning system enables gamers to choose from amongst hundreds of weight settings by inserting up to four additional weights in the mouse’s weight tray.

In total, gamers can choose from eight additional weights. The spring-loaded weight cartridge fits snugly at the bottom of the G9 mouse.

Using Logitech’s SetPoint software Version 5.0, up to five profiles — including specified keyboard macros, dpi settings, and LED color settings — can be stored on the mouse for on-the-go gaming.

With the mouse’s on-board memory, gamers can take their personalized settings anywhere, eliminating the need to install SetPoint software on the gaming rig every time a gamer changes the PC.

The G9 mouse can automatically identify the saved gaming profile. Else, gamers can manually control profile settings using a button located at the bottom of the mouse.

techtree: British Telecom (BT) is leading a consortium of 22 industry- and academic- partners such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to launch the India-UK Advanced Technology Centre (IU-ATC).

IU-ATC, the first ever India-UK virtual graduate research school, will support collaborative- PhD and Post Doctorate projects and research programs, and technology transfer between the UK and India.

Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT said that with the creation of the IU-ATC, Indian PhD students will now be able to collaborate on a global, virtual platform, to share innovative research concepts among an elite grouping of UK and Indian academic institutions.

Jhunjhunwala believes that the global connectivity of this virtual consortium will ensure rapid transfer of ideas and technology with the aim of creating breakthrough next generation network (NGN) and ICT research.

The IU-ATC aims at becoming a global center of excellence for NGN and ICT research by conducting research into current and next generation fixed and wireless communications.

According to Matt Bross, group chief technology officer of BT, the IU-ATC will accelerate competitive technology and knowledge transfer between the UK and India, as well as ensure stronger collaboration between industry and academia in both countries.

cnet: Apparently, fast-forwarding through commercials just isn’t enough. TiVo announced on Monday that users of select photo-sharing services are now able to access their image collections through its set-top boxes.

The digital video recorder manufacturer has partnered with two photo-sharing services–the Google-owned Picasa Web Albums and Fox Interactive Media-owned Photobucket–in order to enable users to surf through their photo albums as well as their friends’ and family members’, provided that their TiVo boxes are broadband-connected.

A release from the company emphasized the fact that photos are viewable in the highest resolution possible, which on the TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD devices means full high definition.

In addition, the TiVo interface makes it possible for users to search the overall database of public Picasa or Photobucket images by keyword.

The Photobucket search interface on TiVo

(Credit: Photobucket/TiVo)It’s yet another step in TiVo’s quest to make its equipment more versatile than the standard DVR–and to make it an appealing choice in a market that remains tepid.

infoweek: Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) on Monday introduced a batch of new tools and services designed to make it easier for Internet advertisers and producers to create more effective online campaigns and build high-traffic sites.
The products are designed to work with Microsoft’s adCenter and Live Search environments.

A new tool called adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007 lets users of Microsoft’s adCenter paid search platform more easily research the effectiveness of keywords in terms of attracting eyeballs and targeting specific interest groups.

The product effectively allows Excel 2007 to act as a front-end for Microsoft’s vast repository of keyword statistics that’s accessible to adCenter customers. It’s expected to be available on January 8th.

Another new offering, Webmaster Center, is a portal through which Webmasters and search engine optimizers can access a range of resources to help them create Web sites that get high-profile listings on Live Search queries.

The resources include information on how Live Search crawls and indexes site pages and on site map creation and submission. They also include data on Web sites currently indexed by Live Search. A beta version of Webmaster Center is now online.

Microsoft is offering the new products and services through its Advertiser & Publisher Solutions unit — a group that the company recently formed as part of an effort to establish a bigger presence in the digital advertising market.