News

TOI : PUNE: Noble laureate George F. Smoot will speak on ‘The history and fate of the universe’ and interact with students at the College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) on March 4.

Smoot is the co-winner of the 2006 Nobel prize in physics for discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of cosmic microwave background radiation.

Smoot has authored more than 200 science papers and is also co-author (with Keay Davidson) of the popularised scientific book, ‘Wrinkles in Time’, which elucidates cosmology and the COBE discovery.

Currently, Smoot is engaged in research in astrophysics and observational cosmology, and is most famous for his research on cosmic background radiation. This radiation is thought to be a relic of the intense heat of the early Big Bang.

The Nobel laureate will be on a two-day visit to the city, beginning on March 4 and will address the lecture at the CoEP as part of the Honeywell-Nobel Laureate Lecture Series, a global education initiative designed to connect students across the world with Nobel laureates in the field of physics and chemistry.

Smoot will also deliver a colloquium on ‘The Cosmic Microwave Background’ during his visit.

The idea behind the lecture series is to inspire and motivate thedevelopment of leading scientists of the future. The India initiative was launched in December, 2007, with the visit of Sheldon Glashow, the 1979 Nobel Laureate in Physics, to the Visveswarya Technological University in Belgaum, Karnataka. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: A major fire broke out at Pradeep Polyprint Company on Talegaon-Chakan road on Thursday morning. There was no casualty reported as the company was closed, Thursday being the weekly holiday.

Fire engines from the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad fire brigade and the Bajaj company took five hours to put out the fire. Fire officials suspect short-circuit to be the cause for the fire.

The company was involved in printing on food-packing pouches. Raw materials and machines worth Rs 4 crore were reportedly gutted in the fire. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided to seek help from ragpickers to implement its ambitious scheme of garbage segregation in the township.

Speaking to TOI , Nagkumar Kunchagi, chief of health department, PCMC said that a meeting was held with representatives of the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), an organisation of ragpickers, to discuss the matter.

Kunchagi said the PCMC as well as the ragpickers would benefit from the project.

Garbage that has to be lifted and dumped at the Moshi garbage depot will decrease and the ragpickers will get dry waste at the source itself rather than taking it from garbage bins.

The civic body will obtain an area-wise list of ragpickers from the KKPKP and allot sources to the ragpickers. They will also be given an identity card.

The residents will segregate garbage into dry and wet and put it in different coloured bins. The ragpickers will then collect the garbage, dump the wet garbage in the bins and take the dry garbage.

Kunchagi said the KKPKP would be given space for godowns in each of the four municipal zones. Here, the ragpickers will sort the garbage and take whatever they wan. The KKPKP has been asked to identify spaces in these zones for the godowns.

“The PCMC will hold medical check-ups for the ragpickers and provide them with protective equipment like gloves and masks,” said Kunchagi.

“The civic body will also repair the godown space provided to ragpickers near the Indira Gandhi flyover at Pimpri,” he added.

Tenders will be invited for the purchase of bins, at an estimated cost of Rs 3 crore, for the garbage segregation. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: State marketing minister Harshvardhan Patil has recently said that enquiries have been ordered against 43 private companies based on complaints made to agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) for allegedly not upholding their part of the contract with farmers.

Since the APMCs have received complaints of cheating and non-payment of dues from farmers, Patil hinted that the state government could even cancel the licences of these private companies if found guilty.

“Contract farming has been allowed under a model act. But, some of the APMCs have received complaints against parties and companies involved in contract farming. We have ordered enquiries into such cases,” said Patil.

He was in the city to address the one-day state-level workshop of officers from APMCs across the state. He added, “The report is expected over the next seven days. Action will be taken on the basis of these reports.”

Contract farming was benefiting farmers, said Patil. It had, at least, assured them good prices for their farm produce, especially for cotton and soyabean. He said private companies must pass the benefits to farmers on a priority basis.

“We have demanded the exclusion of APMCs from the income tax net, as these bodies provide service to farmers,” said Patil. “Though the demand was raised some years ago, no action has been taken by the finance department. We are planning to meet the finance minister over this.”

He stressed that the state marketing department was interested in professional management of all the APMCs, and many new initiatives were on the cards.

“The state government is planning a pension policy for the employees of the APMCs and the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board. These bodies have more than 4,000 employees and the scheme will be applicable to all of them,” he added. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get…More

TOI : PUNE: Members of the Muslim community showed the way to an amicable resolution of a potentially sensitive situation by volunteering to demolish part of the two-century-old ‘Manusha’ mosque at Nana Peth to facilitate road-widening and development work being undertaken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

The mosque was established by Fakir Hazrat Manusha, a Muslim saint who had settled in the city 200 years ago. The mosque was last renovated in 1948 while its dome was redone in 1940. On an average, the mosque draws 1,000 people from Nana Peth and adjoining areas for daily congregations and namaz (prayers).

The demolition work was executed on Sunday morning. On Saturday evening, the Manusha Masjid Trust authorities led by Shaikh Abdul Hussain and PMC officials held a meeting to work out a plan that was acceptable to all. The road-widening is necessitated in view of the growing volume of traffic on the road linking the railway goods yard and the Gultekdi market yard.

As many as 50 Muslim youths volunteered to participate in the work to bringing down the front portion of the mosque soon after the morning namaz.

The demolished portion was occupying 360 sq ft of prime area. Against this, the PMC has agreed to grant additional floor space index to the trust to facilitate vertical development of the remaining portion of the mosque.

This move was the first of its kind by Muslims in the city and came as a slap on the face of the politicians who incite people in the name of religion to stall development initiatives.

The PMC’s demolition squad was barely required to work as the mosque trustees and their supporters brought down the minarets, the dome and the archway at the entrance. Following this, the PMC squad was summoned to remove the debris.

The trust…More