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CityBlog is back with all fresh local news, views, opinions, jobs, food and entertainment. Do send us your blog contributions to us for publishing at cityblogpuneonline@gmail.com

Thursday, December 30, 2010

New Year wishes and resolution for Cityblog readers

Cityblog and Cityblog readers resolve on this new years day to do things which will help us make pune better place to live in. Pls press like button if you agree to this resolution. Wish you a very happy 2011.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Timeshare Holidays or Con Shops???

You are busy at your work, you get a call from smart, polite and aggressive telemarketer lady saying that your name has been selected for a free gift. Most of us by now know that nothing comes free, but its human psychology to get attracted to known perils by mention of the words ‘free’,’ gift’ etc that is exploited. You have to go along with wife else you are not allowed. Idea is to catch you and get your money commitment then and there as these people know that if you take time to think, you will not fall for their gimmicks. All this is known, but still you go there and worst buy what they force you to. Welcome to club of deceit, false promises, and waste of your hard earned money: Timeshare holidays


Con is fully on. These people invite more gullible people to sell concept without bothering about promises made to existing customers. Existing customers don’t get bookings when they need. That’s their problem and concept of vacation when you want does not exist. That is because of greed to add new onetime paying customers without expanding capacity to satisfy existing customers. This results this entire segment to be a con shop

Ayodhya: A Monumental opportunity

Last month whole India waited with baited breath for Ayodhya Verdict. Finally it came as a big surprise for many. For once law went beyond the irrelevant minor technicalities and delivered a solution, which seems to be only way out of this mess created by interested parties (say politicians , leaders cross the spectrum starting from Babar himself, followed by British, congress and BJP).


Following the verdict, it was interesting to analyze reactions to the verdict from all parties involved, armchair philosophers and usual suspect crowd. It was disappointing. No politician in country has sense to stand out of crowd and make sense to public. But the public got perfect sense of it and remained calm and peaceful. It was really an ideal situation.

Rendezvous with DSK

In this series we meet scions, trend-makers, role models of Pune . Who best to start with? DSK obliged us with blessings exclusively for Cityblog….


I enter the office full with crowd of numerable customers, depositors who had come to collect their Diwali gifts. That shows the commitment of DSK group to go extra mile for customers. I was there to interview man who started it all Deepak Sakharam Kulkarni popularly known as DSK. I was let in sharp at the appointed time in his grand office with a generous hospitality and we started.

Parvarish

Ever wondered if there was a place or a person where you could get answers to your questions about Parenting “how do I get my children to study”; “how do I make my child listen to me”; “How much discipline is important”; “Is passion more important than career”; …


Introducing The Parwarish Institute of Parenting which is committed to the creation, presentation and implementation of parenting education through interactive workshops and other programs. We intend to make parenting a more comfortable and joyful experience with parents more effectively raising healthy, happy and productive children. Parwarish Institute of Parenting has been setup to bring education and training to one of the most important and the most “experimented” aspect of our life.

Nobel Prize winners 2010

Physics


Winners

Andre Geim

Konstantin Novoselov

Topic: Graphene: Carbon's New Face.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene"

Imagine a sheet of material that's just one atom thick, yet super-strong, highly conductive, practically transparent and able to reveal new secrets of fundamental physics. That's graphene, isolated by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, 2010 Nobel Laureates in Physics

Not so frequented tourist spots

As Diwali vacations close in, you must be planning some vacations. Tired of usual and crowded destinations? Cityblog informs you about some scenic yet unfrequented tourist destination not so far off.


Saputara

This picturesque hill station is perched on a plateau in the Dang forest area of the Sahyadri Range. At an altitude of about 1000 m. It has a cool bracing climate, the highest temperature even in the summer do not exceed 28 °C. Saputara means the 'Abode of Serpents' and a snake image on the banks of the river Sarpagana is worshiped by the Adivasis on festivals like Holi.

Keeping yourself creatively busy this vacations

School vacation is the time when children can freely unleash their creative urges.


Hobby classes apart’ they would love more to color their hands with paint at home. So why not use this time and desire to paint in a useful and fun way. Select such activities which involve not only creativity and paints but which decorate your house too children feel proud when their art works are displayed for people to see. And if their work is part of their own home décor it gives them a sense of achievement and responsibility.


Now and Then: Diwali Down the memory lane

Diwali brings about a special ambience, happiness, peace, camaraderie within each of us. We are sure that readers of Cityblog are excited about upcoming Diwali festival. In special theme of Now and Then where we look upon what are the key points we remember Diwali throughout our memories since childhood.

It happens only in India

Bollywood Diwali

Bollywood producers are doing all they can to woo filmgoers ahead of Diwali, hoping to rev up a lacklustre box-office in time for the industry's most important moviegoing season.


Publicity budgets have soared as the Hindu festival of lights draws near, with film producers hoping to tap the increased spending power of Indian audiences.

When it is a festive release, you will go that extra mile, you will increase your budgets and you will tie up with a lot more brands," said filmmaker Vipul Shah, whose film "Action Replayy" is set for a Diwali release.

Diwali Worldover

We highlight Diwali celebrations all over the world highlighting importance of India and Indians in world scene


Diwali 10 at madam tussauds

World famous Madame Tussauds kicked off the UK’s season of Diwali celebrations this year by hosting its very first weekend of celebrations which included music, dance and culture the mark the Festival of Lights.

Visitors to the iconic attraction were treated to the classical traditions of India with musicians entertaining crowds on the sitar, flute and the traditional Indian drums, the tabla.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Diverse problem

The map of newly merged villages and the Development Plan (DP) is becoming more and more complicated by the day. Since Pune Municipal Corporation announced the area of hill slopes and hill tops of 23 merged villages as a Bio Diversity Park, genuine plot holders have been in a quandary.


Even though BDP reservation sounds sweet to environmentalists, it spells burden for some people and their voices are not being heard. Manvendra vartak, 70 year old retired employee of a Sugar mill is feeling total loss when he came to know that he can't built his dream house on his small piece of land that he had bought 28 years ago. He has been filing application for the permission to build his dream house at the plot situated near Chandani Chowk. But his applications were turned down repeatedly by the building permission department.

Death On Wheels

If one goes by the scenes on Pune's road, there is no such thing called traffic sense in the dictionary. There is hardly any day when city's roads do no witness accident. Many unfortunate people lost their lives on Pune's roads. Rash and senseless driving is foremost of the reasons behind these hitherto avoidable loss of lives.


The latest incident involved 22 year old architectuere student Aditi Jagtap as one that of rash driving. Her Mercedes car on the Salunke Vihar road on Sep 14 evening, hit down four motorcycles, a rickshaw, a car and a PMPML bus. Aditi is daughter of noted cardiologist Ranjeet Jagtap.

Asterix

Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. After Goscinny's death in 1977, Uderzo also took over the job of writing the series. The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959. As of 2009, 34 comic books in the series have been released. This October, the series will complete its 51 years.


The series follows the exploits of a village of ancient Gauls as they resist Roman occupation. They do so by means of a magic potion, which gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonist, the titular character, Asterix, along with his friend Obelix have various adventures. In many cases, the stories have them travel to various countries around the world, though other books are set in and around their village.

A Thrilling experience on fort BAHULA

By : Salil Kulkarni


Maharashtra is blessed with the Forts…Every fort is different in its own way…

Likewise decided to visit an absolute offbeat fort called BAHULA in Nasik region…

Heard a lot about this fort, about its giant structure, the deadly stairway to top, a tiring hike, etc. but the point that amazed and convinced me to climb this fort was the bombarding that happens regularly on the fort walls…

St Josesph and Kasturkunj

Value education with Quality


St. Joseph High school situated near the NCL (National Chemical Laboratory) Pashan is one of the prestigious school in Pune, The school was established by the Provincial Society of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, a Christian Minority Institution, and aims primarily at the Education of the Catholic Faith and all round development of the child.

Skin Polishing and enhancement

New Treatments offered.


Skin Polishing and enhancement –

This treatment is done to make skin glow and to make it smooth and supple. The treatment removes dead skin from all over the body giving it much fresher look and glow. It also helps rejuvenate the skin. It is done by two ways:

Herbal Polishing – This includes natural/ ayurvedic products. They are specially made by our expert (In naturopathy and Ayurveda) Mrs Shashi Chavan.

Cosmetic Polishing – Uses Spa products for different kinds of skin according to requirements of an individual.



Snakes in Menu at Pune City

Shimla Office, Jai Bharat and Shrusti Mitra Award

Living Witness Of Modern History



Besides many a significant witnesses of history in the form of buildings, the Pune boasts of many a living tradition of knowledge and science. Even the modern science has a historic flavour. One such living monument is Simla House or the Indian Meteorological Department headquarter, situated right in the middle of the city.

The IMD headquarters were originally in Simla. The transfer of headquarters from Simla to Pune was approved by the British Government in 1926. It was thought that the IMD office should be situated in a plain rather than in a hilly area. Pune was chosen for its favourable climatic conditions and proximity to the west coast. IMD shifted base to the scantily-populated suburb of Bhamburda (Shivajinagar) in 1928. This is the reason why the building came to be known as Shimla Office.

MIT at Robocon and become Facebook superhit



MIT students to represent india at Egypt ROBOCON


The students' team of MAEER's Maharastra Institute of Technology will represent India at the International Robocon-2010 to be held at Egypt. The MIT team beat Vishwakarma Institute of Technology's team by 43 to win the National Robocon -2010. IIT Mumbai came at the third spot. The national level competition was organised jointlyby MAEER's Maharastra Academy of Engineering, Alnadi and Doordarshan.

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FTII Film Festival, Actors First Cheque

Student Film Fest In FTII


Veteran filmmaker Govind Nihalani inaugurated the International Students' Film Festival at the Main Theatre, FTII on 24th September at 6.00 pm.

The Festival is to be held between 24th and 28th September as a part of golden jubilee year celebration of the Institute.

The inaugural function followed the screening of five outstanding FTII student films. Deccan Queen (1966, dir : K. S. Raju), Turbulence (2009, dir : Gulam Shaffi Khan), Jugni (Playback Exercise, 2007, dir : Dipti Gogna) and The Solitary Sandpiper (2005, dir : Ajita Suchitraveera).

While the Signature Film has been made by the current students of animation course, Deccan Queen has a special significance as this train, one of the most popular trains in

Thursday, October 21, 2010

All is not well with Continuous Evaluation

For reducing the burden on students of examination and bringing radical changes in the education system, Kapil Sibbal, Minister for Human Resources Development has introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). The system was introduced last year for the students of class IX and same has been introduced for class X students. Recently, Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) has, in fact, prescribed that CCE should be implemented in classes VI, VII and VIII as well, which many schools have adopted. The CCE takes into account both the scholastic and non-scholastic aspects and students are given grades instead of marks.


In order to relieve students from stress they were undergoing due to year end board examinations, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) which will help schools to evaluate students at school level itself.

Now Running - Making Of Deaf Ears

The yearly Dahi Handi celebrations force local residents to temporarily vacate their houses and live at their relatives’ houses outside the locality. The residents of Worli in Mumbai are facing same nuisance by the Dahi Handi celebration by the minister of state environment department Sachin Ahir's Mandal. The noise pollution forced local residents to approach court. One can imagine how people are fade-up with the pollution during festivals if people even approaching courts to get respite from noise. People in Mumbai approached court but there are many in this city also who are facing the same problem. Nobody cares about them.

Sasoon Hospital

Guardian of Pune's Health

Sassoon General Hospital is a largest state-run hospital in Pune, Sasson has capacity of 1500 beds and it is one of the largest capacity holding government hospital .The B. J. Medical College and a Nurses training School is attached to it which among the prestigious Medical education i India. The Hospital was inaugrated on October 8,1963, The area where hospital was open and well ventilated in earlier years.The greenery in the campus gave the Hospital Picturesque setting. Therefore it was the favorite subject for artist of the time and so it was appeared on even greeting cards! The Jewish philanthropist David Sassoon from Mumbai made a generous donation to make the construction of the hospital possible in 1867. A Famous civil engineer of the time K Wilkins designed this structure which still remains one of the Most elegant structure of the City and Importantly has cared for the good health of the People of city.

Lovable Bear, Making Ganesha Idol and Quiz

A Lovable Bear


Winnie-the-Pooh is a fictional bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children’s verse book When We Were Very Young (1924) and many more in Now We Are Six (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard.

Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin. His toys also lent their names to most of the other characters, except for Owl and Rabbit, as well as the Gopher character, who was added in the Disney version. Christopher Robin's toy bear is now on display at the Main Branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

Vikhe Patil Memorial school

Going Beyond the Academics



Vikhe Patil Memorial School (VPMS) is an institution that believes in all round development of a child’s personality, going beyond academics and text books. The school Located at Senapati Bapat Road, the school is affiliated to CBSE board. It addresses the varying needs of students in all possible fields and provides them with the highest quality of education.

The school is a part of educational and co-operative empire founde by Padmashri Dr. Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil, the pioneer of Sugar Co-operative movement. Besides co-operative factory in pravaranagar Pravara institute of Medical scinces and other institutions has started the efforts of Legendory Padmashree Vikhe Patil. VPMS is also running on the footprints of Padmshree Vikhe Patil

3D game TV and IP thefts

3D game TV
Marking a new development, Godrej Appliances announced on Tuesdat the launch of its Game LCD TV with Motion Sensing Technology. The TV combines the features of an interactive gaming console along with an LCD TV introducing this technology for the first time in India.


The Game TV boasts of a huge variety of 25 pre loaded games. And for the ones with an insatiable appetite for gaming, the television also allows loading extra games through SD Card or USB.

Sushmita's marraige, Ajay fined and sallu's small films


Sushmita Ready For Marriage
IANS

Even most of her contemporaries are married and settled with kids, Sushmita Sen is still in the news for her relationships and break-ups. But the actress says she definitely has plans to tie the knot one day.

'Well, I will get married. It was just that I didn't feel like getting married at 23-24 which is considered to be marriageable age,' said Sushmita, 34.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

13 Years of Non-Planned Existence

• Development marred by indecision and inaction


• 9,785 sq. mtrs of land under question

• Half of planned period is over yet no sign of implementation

Intro

Five successive government in state and three in civic body could not bring about a planned development in the merged villages. Even as Baner-Pashan flourish with posh localities, the infrastructure suffers because of vested interests.





The infrastructure in the city is backbone for the any new growth for the city. Therefore it is one area where any local administration or government is supposed to fix its eye on. However, the city of Pune has another fate. On the one hand it was thrust on the super-speeding highway of developments in the field of information technology and bio-technology as well as other burgeoning industry sectors.

Leading To Success Through Innovation

The Pune police department is fortunate to have many officers who have contributed immensely in bringing honours. This Independence Day saw two officers being honoured with the president’s medal. Incidentally, one of those two officers featured in this section of City Blog just a week ago. Another one is Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration), Pune.




Ranked at par with Deputy Inspector General of Police, Singhal is an officer of 1992 batch of Indian Police Service. Having qualified as Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics and Telecommunication) through University of Roorkee with distinction, he completed his M. Tech. through IIT, New Delhi in May 1990. He completed his Master degree in Police Management through Osmania University. Hyderabad in Police Management.

Whose House is this anyway?

Who is the owner of the Pune Municipal Corporation? The corporators elected by the voters whose credentials are always under the shadow of suspicion? The public who is supposed to be king in a democratic system? Government turns a Nelson’s eye whenever the question of public welfare is put in front of it but is ecstatically active whenever some sort of fodder visible in the deal? This is the questions few enlightened souls in the city are asking to the functionaries who taken upon them to unquestioningly assume all authority and skip the responsibilities involved therein.




The issue came to fore when a handful of activists filed Right to Information application and unearthed data from PMC. The data clearly showed that even though the elected public representatives do not spare any attempt to scream from their rooftops on various issues in city, the same representatives more often than not skip their duty when the moment of reckoning comes.

The Naughty Superhero, First Indian Flag and Quizes

The Naughty Superhero

Ben Tennyson might seem like an ordinary 10-year-old boy — he plays video games, rides his bike and is a bit of a trouble maker - but thanks to his Omnitrix watch, he also has the ability to change into 10 different alien heroes. While the star of Ben 10 knows he must use his power for good, he still finds time for a little super-powered mischief now and then.


When ten year old Ben, his cousin Gwen, and their grandfather Max are on their summer camping trip, Ben finds an alien pod on the ground. When he examines it, he finds a mysterious, watch-like device called the Omnitrix. The device attaches itself permanently to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms, each with its own unique powers.

Towering Above The Tradition

The history of Pune is filled with all colours. It comes then as no surprise that among the plethora of buildings boasting their heritage traditions, a church also celebrates its rich and prideful past. One such place is The 'Church of the Holy Name', also called 'Pavitra Naam Devalaya'. This tall building with marked and unique features is located at Guruwar Peth. The church has planned 12-day celebrations to mark its 125th foundation day this August 7.


Attempts are also on to include this building in the Pune Darshan tour of heritage buildings. The Church of the Holy Name is an historic monument built in the Gothic Style. The work of renovating the floor of this 125-year-old church is just completed.

BioTech Schools grow 5-fold in 10 years

Competition for admission to good institutions gets intense


BioTech Industry absorbs just one-third, two-fifths go abroad for higher studies


The spiraling growth of the $3.1 billion biotechnology industry has led to a five fold increase in the education infrastructure at the graduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels in the last decade. So much so that supply now far outstrips the demand with the industry able to absorb barely one third of the graduating biotechnology students

Special Parenting Made Easy, and How childhood makes you

Special kids need special parenting. Here’s taking a look at what goes into parenting differently able children with Mukta Gaikwad


Parenting is an experience that encompasses frustrations, anger, exhaustion and rewards, which get doubled for parents with special needs children. The biggest challenge faced by such parents is the issue of acceptance. It is because most parents cannot come to terms with their child’s condition, they get into psychological moaning, often cursing their situation. “As parents never learn to deal with the situation, the child suffers more and more with each passing day”, affirms Malavika Vartak, a special educator. A family which accepts their child’s disability is in a much better place to garner hope and enthusiasm, in comparison to a family which does not.

Julia's Hinduism, Aamir's favorite and Big Stars on TV

How Julia Came To Hinduism


Oscar winning Hollywood actress Julia Roberts became interested in Hinduism after seeing a picture of the saint Neem Karoli Baba, who died in 1973.


In an interview with anchor George Stephanopoulos for the news programme Good Morning America on ABC News on August 9, Roberts said her interest in Hinduism "came from seeing a picture of a guru called Neem Karoli Baba and I was so drawn to this picture of this person and I did not know who he was or what he was about but felt a very strong interest."

Do computers reduce brain power, Corrupt Officials and benefits of running after bride

Writer and journalist Nicholas Carr has built a career covering the economy, culture and technology in numerous articles and books such as "The Big Switch: Rewiring the World from Edison to Google." Carr's latest book is titled, "The Shallows" and it's raising eyebrows - and in some cases, voices. The reason can be found in the book's sub-heading: "What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains," and from Carr's point of view, the answer isn't reassuring.


"What the 'net does, by being such a distraction machine, is it emphasizes that skimming, rapid fire approach to collecting and processing information," Carr says. "But what it de-emphasizes is all the ways of thinking that require attentiveness, concentration."

Carr says, the Internet is like a machine that does one thing very well: it pumps out information in all sorts of forms and in ever-growing volume, encouraging users to skip and skim among it for bits of information. In modern parlance, multi-tasking.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Edition 28: Toll Grows into extortion

• Social activist oppose it


• Agitators take to hunger strike

• 70,000 cases lie unresolved for just one road

• Many have overlived their license period

• Still...the toll collection continues to haunt motorists. why?

CITY BLOG DESK

The issue of toll booths extorting money from hapless motorists has bounced back. The question has been raised every now and then at the city as well as state level, however, the government chose to turn a Nelson's eye towards this everyday menace.

Edition 28: Drop that counts more

Year and year again, Pune is witnessing the same situation. First, the rains create havoc before onset of monsoon, then two main months of monsoon season go dry, the administration wakes up to water problem and announces a water supply cut, later the water came down to soak city and dams and all the dust is settled down to an unfathomable depth. The scene in the month of July this year was no different from the one last year. The rains in Pune repeated last year’s feat as it poured heavily for whole of Sunday. A good rainfall for continuous three days has ensured 0.58 TMC increase in water storage in major dams. However, still more rains are needed to completely avert the water supply cut by Pune Municipal Corporation. In 2009, the pre-monsoon rains promised a good monsoon season. However, whole of June passed without any rains. Even July registered no rains at all. Then, in view of the impending water scarcity, the administration embarked on the water cut from third week of July. Thereafter, at about same date, from July 23-34, the rains started to soak the city. This year also, two months of monsoon season were absolutely dry leading to the water scarcity. Last week, PMC decided to implement a water cut and arrived at water supply on alternate day. Thereafter, since the cut came into effect, city is blessed by the incessant rains.

Edition 28: Mahadev Chavan

MANAGING THE HEART OF CITY


CITY BLOG DESK

Working in a area full of city hustle bustle has it perils. For a policeman, that is more true. Area coming under the Chatushrungi police station is one of the main centres of business as well as eduaction. The University of Pune, with its long history and vast compass, is just stone’s throw away from the police station.



Immediately in front of the station is Raj Bhavan, which houses Governor of Maharashtra whenever he is in city. Senior Police Inspector Mahadev Chavan heads the police station for last two years. The approximate population under the jurisdiction of the police station is 6,00,000. The areas under the station mainly comprise of coprorate offices, educational institutes etc. Some slums also fall in the area. The police station controlls five police chowkys in Pandavnagar, Janawadi, Poona Gate, Pashan and Aundh.


Edition 28: BEAUTY IS SKIN DEEP...PRESERVE IT and Appeal from New CP to all women

There may be superfluity of anti aging creams


that work, but you need to know which one to

use and, most importantly, how to use them. The

tips for anti aging skin care for 20s, will help you

to restore the radiance of skin, to bask in its

glow! MUKTA GAIKWAD tells you how..



Edition 28: US$35 Computer

Why $35 Joke Isn't Funny Anymore


PRASANTO K ROY

Here we go again. Indian HRD minister Kapil Sibal has “launched” a $35 computer, evidently his “dream project”. The touch-screen, Linux-based device looks iPad inspired, but we know little about how it works. It emerged from a student project with a bill of material adding up to $47, a price that the minister wants to bring down to $10 “to take forward inclusive education”. It promises browser and PDF reader, wi-fi, 2GB memory, USB, Open Office, and multimedia content viewers and interfaces.

Edition 28: Dennis the Menace and about Pets

A Little Monster Who Is 60 Now


Friends, we all are cartoon lovers. The cartoon characters give us the joy which the normal life can not give. Like all boys and girls of your age, everybody is in love with at least one cartoon. That is why you find it hard to skip even one episode of Tom and Jerry. It is perfectly okay to put aside the homework for the sake of spinach popping Popeye take on his mightier enemies. But only once in a while.

Dennis the Menace, the cute, lovable and equally dangerous kid is one such charactr. It is comic strip originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. The first time this little monster came up on the scene was March 12, 1951 in 16 newspapers. This means from 8 m o n t h s now on, this bete noire of Mr. Wilson will turn 60.


Edition 28: St Vincent and Concord Proxima society

The Tradition Of Imbibing Values


St. Vincent's School is an English Medium School for boys which founded in 1867 and named after Vincent de Paul , a 17th century saint well known for his love for the poor and the downtrodden. The School, is recognised by the Government of Maharashtra and prepares pupils for the S e c o n d a r y School Certificate Examination (Std. X) and

Higher Secondary Certificate examination (Std. XII).



Edition 28: Celebration time at Income Tax, Governors promise to UoP, Swine Flu

Celebration Time For I-T Department


Income tax levy was introduced in India w.e.f. 24th July, 1860, thus, on this 24-07-2010, Income Tax has completed 150 years of its existence in India. The occasion of completion of 150 years in tax administration was celebrated by the Income Tax department throughout India.

On this occasion, Chief Commissioner of Income tax (CCA), Pune Region hosted a function at Hotel Aurora Towers on 24.07.2010. Top tax payers, distinguished citizens and senior bureaucrats, representatives of Bar Councils / Chartered Accountants’ Association / Business Federations, etc., attended the function. The function was presided by Manjari Kacker, Chief Commissioner of Income tax (CCA), Pune, S.K. Jha, Chief Commissioner of Income tax-II, Pune and A.P. Shrivastav, Chief Commissioner of Income tax, Nasik. A documentary film prepared for the momentous occasion by the CBDT, New Delhi was screened at the function. A film prepared by the office of the

Edition 28: Bobby Deol, Bipasha Glows and Akkis conflict

Success Comes With No Guarantee : Bobby


RUCHIKA KHER/IANS

For the first time in his 15-yearold career, Bobby Deol of the romance and action movies has attempted to do a supernatural thriller - a not-so-popular genre. But the actor is taking his chances, saying there is 'no guarantee what will work and what won't'. 'It's not only horror films that didn't work this year. There are many others that didn't either. There

is no guarantee what will work and what won't,' Bobby, the younger son of Bollywood veteran Dharmendra, told IANS.

Edition 28: History of Rupee and Swami Vivekanand in USA after 100 years

History of Rupee

MANISH DESAI

July 15, 2010 turned out to be a historic day, as the Indian Rupee got the much awaited symbol, just like other leading currencies of the world viz – Dollar, Euro, Pound Sterling and the Yen. The new symbol is an amalgamation of Devanagari –‘Ra’ and the Roman ‘R’ without the stem. The new symbol designed by IIT Bombay postgraduate D Udaya Kumar was approved by the Union Cabinet. The new symbol will not be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins, but it would be included in the 'Unicode Standard' to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media. The encoding of the rupee symbol in the Indian Standards is estimated to take about six

months while encoding in the Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646 will take about 18 months to two years. It will also be incorporated in software packages and keyboards in use in India.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Edition 27: INTO THE LAND OF SHARKS

Even as the cases of land grabbing and cheating in land deals are on the rise in the city, there are ways you can help yourself from being duped. There is no better way than to be prepared to sail safe through the land sharks. A guide to what land scams are and how to avoid them...

ROHIT DATTA

Land grabbing, encroachments, reselling the same land over and over again is something we are all aware of. In a fast growing city like Pune where land prices have spiralled beyond imagination, rising incidents of land scams only give a shot in the arm to rumours that pune is fast becoming the next ‘land scam’ capital of India. Some recent cases in Pune points out to the modus operandi of gangs operating in a well planned and schematic manner. Connivance with the authorities unfortunately seems to be just a simple part of the heist.

Edition 27: What did the last months strike acheived?

The day started as ususal for many of the employess of Pune Mahangar Parivahan Mahamandal (PMPML), but as the day inched ahead, they were seen just counting the buses damaged in a political drama. When the number of damaged Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited buses reached to 22, the transport body stopped service on some routes. All in all, 105 buses were damaged of the public bopdy which supplies, however inadequately, a mean to travel to most of the city people. Incidentally, the glasses of a buse were broken just when Neelam Gorhe, spokesperson of Shiv Sena and party leader in Legislative Council, was talking to reporters and appealing for peaceful agitation.