Frustrated Fort Lovers Start Repairing Fort Themselves

Frustrated over the inaction by authorities, the fort lovers and history enthusiasts took the repairs of the Sinhgad fort into their hands. They claimed that parts of the fort’s Kalyan Gate were collapsing continuously putting a question mark on the stability of the fort. That is why a group of the volunteers went up the fort and carried out the repairs of about 2 feet of the wall.  

About 50 members of Sahyadri Pratishtan had warned that it will rebuilt relics at the Sinhgad fort, about 30 kms from the city. The actually did the same on Thursday even as the state archaeological department opposed the act. Shramik Gojamgunde, founder of the organization claimed that the campaign was successful and the members repaired the tower at the Kalyan Gate. They also reported that a major portion of the tower along the door has collapsed fighting with monsoons.

“A major chunk of the tower collapsed last year and since then 10-15 stones are falling time and again. This has happened this monsoon also. All the stones which fell off from the tower were lying near the wall and steps going down to the Kalyan village. We removed those stones and piled them in a side so that they could be placed in their original place,” said Gojamgunde.

A team from the organization visited the fort on July 11 and found that outer wall and towers  at the forts are either fallen off or in the danger of falling off.

However, V N Kamble, assistant director of the state archaeology department, blamed the police for inaction. said, “The Sinhgad is a protected monument. The organization had given me a letter to repair the tower within 7 days but it could not have been done. A certain procedure has to be followed and our headquarter has to be conveyed. I had conveyed to him not to do this agitation and don’t harm the structure. I had informed the district collector as well as police officials but they didn’t take any action.”

The archaeological department has sent a team of experts on Friday to the fort to assess the situation. Kamble said the team will submit its report and then action will be taken against the organization for ‘vandalizing the monument’.  “I will first get the report and will talk to my seniors. By Monday, we will decide the future course of action. They could have adopted the fort which is legal way of conservation and approved by our department,” he said.

Kamble had told earlier that a tender of Rs 1.21 Crores has been floated and sent to the state government for approval. That tender includes the works of restructuring the Kalyan Gate, cleaning and desilting of the wells found on the fort and weeding out the bushes grown on the outer walls of the fort.”

The plans for the renovation of Sinhgad were in pipeline since 2005. The proposal was approved in 2005 and the actual work began in 2008. The budget allocated was Rs. 3.76 crore however most of the that budget has been  spent in making roads or other works rather than maintaining the monuments. The state archaeology department had prepared a plan for the renovation of Sinhgad Fort at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The work was to be completed by this May.

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Professor of English Sues Publisher For Infringing Copyright

A former reader of Goa University, who is settled in the city, has filed lawsuits against two publishers and claimed Rs 25 lakh each in damages over copyright infringement after he allegedly found books written by him being sold without his permission at high prices.


Prof Anand Patil, former head of the English Department, Goa University, claims that he has not received the royalty amount for his books Western Influence on Marathi Drama published by Rajhauns Vitaran, 1993 and The Whirligig of Taste: Essays in Comparative Literature published by Creative Books, New Delhi.

He said that the academic books are also available online. Patil has also filed cases against Google Books and Amazon.com.

Patil, a resident of Dahanukar Colony, learnt about the piracy last month from his US-based daughter who told him that his books were available on Amazon.com.

“Western Influence on Marathi Drama was based on my thesis on which I had worked for 12 years. When I found that it was sold online for about Rs 4,000, I was shocked,” Patil said adding that after browsing further he found The Whirligig of Taste: Essays in Comparative Literature was also on sale.

“Both of these publishers did not pay a single penny. When I demanded an explanation, one of them denied having published the book. Rajhauns Vitaran has offered me a cheque of Rs 10,000 but my counsel advised me against encashing it,” he said.

“Since there is no authoritative work available in English on Maharashtra’s language, culture and traditions, my books are sought by researchers. My essay is included in Cambridge Sourcebook of Comparative Literary into Comparative Literature,” he added.

Patil said that he was not worried about recovering damages from Google Books or Amazon.com because they have a better Intellectual Property Rights policy and will settle the dues. “It is these two publishers that I want to teach a lesson,” he said.

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Martyr's Nephew Extends Hand For Martyr

Kiranjeet Singh, nephew of Bhagat Singh, wrote a letter to district collector of Pune on December 6. In the letter, he reminded the administration that during the same time of Rajguru's birth centenary, the nation celebrated Bhagat Singh's birth centenary in 2007-08. To commemorate it, a national memorial at Martyr's Samadhi at Ferozpur and a memorial costing Rs 18.50 Crores at Khatkarkalan and a 18 ft high statue in the premises of Lok Sabha were erected. A museum is also in the making. It contrasted with what was going on at Rajgurunagar.

"Recently I am shocked and pained to see the news reports that proposed memorial of Rajguru has been delayed due to many controversies and red tapism. So I wish to offer our services to build a befitting memorial of Hutatma Rajguru. We (Bhagat Singh's family) would like to complete this task with our efforts and public co-operation with social organisations and like minded people,” the letter said. Singh has also asked the permission to “undo the injustice done to the memory of a martyr of Rajguru's stature.”

Sanjay Nahar, president of Sarhad, who referred the issue to Kiranjeet Singh told Pune Mirror, “Bhagat Singh's brother Sardar Kultar Singh went to Rajgurunagar some years ago. Then he expressed his wish to erect a memorial. But he was told that government is building it. Then he donated Rs 25,ooo to Rajguru College's library. After his demise, Kiranjeet Singh, was shocked to know the sorry state of affairs. He then showed readiness to contribute to building the memorial with Sarhad and other organisations.”

Story in Pune Mirror

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It can tear the enemy tanks, destruct these tanks and kill persons sitting in them. This indigenously developed weapon does away with expensive metals. Highly praised for its effectiveness, this weapon was designed and developed here. 

The Fin Stabilized Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FSAPDS) was developed in the Pune based Armanent Research and Development Establishment (ARDE). It was presented in the exhibition at ARDE, Pashan on Friday on the occasion of national Conference on Advances in Armanent Technology. FSAPDS is especially designed for firing from Arjun tank. What makes it special is it is made from Combustible Car-tridge Case, instead of the metal case in the old weapons. This anti-tank ammunition is of 120 mm diameter variety while its other variant 125 mm is designed to be used in T-72 tanks.

S. P. Durwas, technical officer and who was instrumental in designing FSAPDS told Pune Mirror, “We were using brass cartridge cases in earlier ammunitions. FSAPDS utilises combustible cartridge cases which burn out totally in the tank’s rifled gun. It is made from aqueous pulp of cotton waste, TNT (Trinitrotoluene). What is more, it has 10 years of shelf life. This makes it much more affordable for us.” It is es-timated that 125 mm FSAPDS ammunition could save the country foreign exchange of around Rs Two crores annually.

FSAPDS is used to attack heavy armoured vehicles. It can damage the  single heavy target i. e. 150 mm thick at 60 degrees upto 3500 meters.

Lightweight Launcher

An another feather in the cap of ARDE is 84 mm Lightweight Launcher. This gun is built on the hybrid composite technology for gun barrel. It is a lightweight, man portable anti-tank gun. This gun weighs only 8 kg. which is only half compared to an anti-tank infantry system.  

K. D. Deodhar, who headed the team of designers of this gun said, “This gun was successfully designed in record time of 30 months and the same technology has been handed over to ministry of defence for indigenous bulk production.” 

According to Deodhar, composite barrel technology 

has been established first time in the country through the 84 mm lightweight launcher. The technology has been validated by various users, troops at varied terrains. The technology has been transferred to Ordnance Factory Board for mass production.

Meanwhile, Shekhar Dutta, deputy national security advisor of India inaugu-rated the conference. He said, “Today the private sector has a good technological base that can link with the public sector. The focus of ARDE will move from na-tional laboratories to industry and the IITs and basic scientific research will then be undertaken by the universities and other national and regional institutions and laboratories.”

(Published in Pune Mirror on 22 Nov. 2008)

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It was a very minor story, the ones that we care not to go into detail. But days after we carried it, it made an impact and paved the way for migratory birds to flock together.

The banks of Mula-Mutha river are home to various species of birds. The site was marked for a bird sanctuary by Pune Municipal Commissioner. Srikant R. Shinde, personality development and motivational trainer and a nature lover as well, had noted how PMC was dumping the garbage and debris there. Pune Mirror had carried the report on November 9, 2008. Srikant also sent a mail to municipal commissioner referring to the report.

It did have the effect. Pune Municipal Corporation corrected its mistake. The garbage and debris dumped near Mula-Mutha river has now stopped by PMC on the personal instructions of municipal commissioner Pravinsingh Pardeshi. The breeding ground for migratory and native birds could be saved by an initiative of an alert citizen.Commissioner Pardeshi sent letters to the concerned officer warning of suspension and show cause notice. He also ordered to remove all accumulated garbage by 25 nov and plant all trees and put up boards for no dumping and post permanent nuisanve detection squad for removing garbage.

Many a brids among Great White pelican, painted stork, wooly necked stork, spot billed duck could be spotted there. As the smoke coming out of burning garbage has resided, the birds are flocking in large numbers. Even a big pipe has been laid near the entrance of sanctuary so that dumping vehicles can not come there.

Still there is scope for more. As Srikant put it, "I am pleased that PMC has acted fast and cleared the site. The gate should also be such that no buffalo enter the sanctuary as majority of the migratory birds lay their eggs on the ground. Buffalo destroy the eggs and birds cannot nest. Deep inside the sanctuary there is growth of sagwan saplings by the droppings of birds. But the people using this sanctuary as shortcut are so greedy that they cannot allow these saplings to be trees and taking them away. Some action is necessary also on these things."

(Pictures by Manoj Bidkar)

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Tracing the French-Maratha Steps

· Chhatrapati Shivaji gave the territory of Pondhicherry to the French traders on annual lease of 10,000 Chachars (a South Indian currency prevalent in 17th century) on the condition of neutrality.

· The careers of the two nations in India i.e. the Marathas and the French ran concurrently. Chhatrapati Shivaji was crowned as King in the June 1674 while the French under the able leadership of Francois Martin founded Pondicherry in April 1674 as the capital of French India. The period 1690-1699 was the darkest period for both the nations as the Mughals overran the Maratha territory while the Dutch, capitulated Pondicherry. The period 1750-1754 brought the two to the zenith of there glory in India while both were crushed in 1761.

·  Shivaji’s son, Chhatrapati Rajaram offered to sale Pondicherry to French but the French representatives in India could not pay the required amount. That is why is was forced to pay the province to Dutch.

These are some of the interesting facts unearthed from an extensive research work done by a city based researcher. Umesh Kadam, senior lecturer in the history department of University of Pune has studied the relations between Marathas and French spanning over 150 years. Kadam, who is originally from Kolhapur had originally done the study for his thesis submitted over four years ago. After a stint in Shivaji University of Kolhapur and University of Pune, he made further research work in this direction. Now it is being published in book form very soon.

This is only the second attempt to study relations between Maratha empire and French and it has noted some very striking facts hitherto unheeded. Just take a look:

According to Kadam, the relations between the two were purely commercial on the side of the French and politically and commercially motivated on behalf of the Marathas. The commercial policy of the Marathas related to the Europeans clearly states that political issues of the state should be given importance and due recognition when ever there is a clash between the two policies. The French first came into contact with the Marathas in 1668. 

The Shivaji Connection

The French were granted permission by Shivaji to establish a factory at Rajapur. Shivaji was in constant conflict with the Siddi of Janjira and he needed arms and ammunition. He wanted help from the European nations and he was ready to give any place on the Konkan Coast to the nation which would supply him with arms and ammunitions. The English and the Portuguese preferred to remain neutral due to their relations with the Mughals and Bijapur, while the Dutch asked for Maratha help against the English in return for their co-operation. Shivaji at this point was not interested to arouse the English hence he turned down the Dutch offer. The French were the only nation which supplied Shivaji with guns and lead without and pre-condition. Shivaji in return gave them permission to settle at Rajapur. Shivaji with French arms was able to arm a notable fleet against the Siddi of Janjira and keep a check on the activities of the English and the Portuguese. 

Shivaji second son Rajaram had to flee to the south due to the Mughal invasion. As Marathas controlled both Jinji and Pondicherry the French came in direct day-to-day contact with the Maratha Court at Jinji. The relations between the two further worsened due to the prejudice of the French officers against the Marathas. The Marathas had demanded money, arms and ammunition, and French help against the Mughals, but the French preferred to remain neutral. The financial constraints of Rajaram forced him to sell Pondicherry. At first he gave priority to the French but they followed delaying tactics to have a better bargain. Finally Rajaram sold Pondicherry to the Dutch arch rivals of the French only because they were ready to pay a better price.

The policy of Dupleix to build a French Empire in the south of India with the help of puppet Princes brought the French in direct conflict with the Marathas. This conflict with the Marathas in real sense brought the downfall of the French in India. The French trade in Bengal was ruined due to the Maratha invasions in Bengal carried out by Raghuji Bhosale from 1741-1748. This paved way for British to establish their control in Bengal as the French evacuated their trade from Bengal and shifted their interest towards the trade on the Coromandel Coast.

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I Learned French for this work

Dr. Umesh Kadam has come from Kolhapur. After completing Master of Arts from Shivaji University, Kolhapur in 1998, he did his Ph.D. from Shivaji University, Kolhapur.

To complete my study in the relations between French and Marathas, he completed certificate course in French. He visited Biblitheque Nationale, Archives Nationale in Paris and British Library and India Office Library in London under Research Scholarships provided by Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, Masion de Sciences de l’Homme, Paris and Charles Wallace India Trust, London. 

After this work, he is working on a project titled “Relations between the French and the Marathas with special reference to the French diplomatic projects in India proposed during 1761 to 1818”.  

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Vihang Netra Soars to New Heights

(Photos: Yogesh Jadhav)

Vihang Netra, the spy plane made for the Indian army for surveillance purpose is going to be used for the radiation detection. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the premier atomic research centre in India is thinking in this direction. The spy plane will have to carry laser altimeter for this task to be performed.

On the occasion of Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) golden jubilee celebration an exhibition of various defence related products was inaugurated on Friday. Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, director, BARC inaugurated the exhibition at the Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), Dighi. While visiting all the stalls at the exhibition, Dr. Banerjee had a look at the Vihang Netra being displayed at the site.

After he was briefed about the plane, Dr. Banerjee asked how low can it fly? When he was told that it can fly at any height, he said, "We want the plane for the detection of radiation, a field wherein humans can not be deployed." He also enquired about the payload carrying capacity of the plane.

Vihang Netra
Vihang Netra is a unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by city based DEMA in association with Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) a DRDO laboratory. The plane has payload carrying capacity of 20 Kg which is mostly comprised of sensors and cameras. It can fly at 17,000 ft. altitude and has one way range of 10 Kms. Its maximum air speed is 100 Km/hour.
Dr. R. N. Sarwade, director, SASE informed Pune Mirror that the design of the next version of Vihang Netra is ready. Vihang Netra 2 will be able to fly at higher altitude and it will have more features in it.

Y. P. Jahagirdar of DEMA said, "The aeroplane can fly at any height but the problem is that normal altimeters show the altitude from sea level. Laser altimeter shows the altitude from the ground level according to the terrain of surface. If we fly the plane at very low and any obstacle comes in between, then accidents will happen. That is why we told Dr. Banerjee that laser altimeters are required."

(published in Pune Mirror on 8 Nov. 2008)

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Sergey Bubka on a High

Sporting legend Sergey Bubka, the greatest pole-vaulter of all time, today launched the Bubka Podium Sports Foundation Scholarship to promote the spirit of sport at Community Aid and Sponsorship Program (CASP), an organization that supports under-privileged families and children in India.

Bubka, a recepient of Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to grassroots sport earlier this year, launched the new initiative with CASP Project Manager Mr Ramesh Gorwadkar.

The Sergey Bubka Podium Foundation Award, which will be implemented in 2009, will support young people who show outstanding sporting potential and best display the spirit of sport over the course of the year. The award funds will be used primarily to support nutrition with additional help with equipment, coaching fees and entry fees.

Addressing a press conference, Bubka said, “Creating this award for CASP means I can give children from this area a chance to really pursue their sporting dreams. These awards are not only about sporting prowess, but also seek to promote the values of sportsmanship and respect which I consider to be particularly important."

Bubka, who also attended the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune during his visit to India, is chairman of the Coordination Commission for the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010. He makes regular trips to charitable sports establishments around the world to encourage more young people to take up sport and to offer his support to sporting initiatives worldwide.

The Tsar
Having set world records 35 times, 18 times indoors and 17 times outdoors, Sergey Bubka is better known as the Tsar. Overall, Bubka is widely regarded as a living legend of sport.

Bursting on the international scene as a 19-year-old he scored an upset victory at the inaugural World Championships of Athletics in 1983 - A victory that built his career into one of the most remarkable domination sport has ever seen. A World Champion for 16 years (1983 to 1999), Bubka has won 6 consecutive gold medals. He is still the only athlete in any event to win at six world championships.

To top it all Bubka's transition in life reveals a great sport administrator, politician and businessman, a story not many have to boast about. This is his first foray in the social field and Pune has got the distinction of hosting the event.

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Booked to Literature

"This is the third time that Culture House of Iran is participating in the Pune Book fair. There is huge community of Iranian students in Pune and I am one of them," said Ebrahim Aghajari.

"I always wanted to write whatever it may be. So I have become a writer. I am first time in Pune and I met three people here who spoke with me in French," said Frederic Mari. Frederic was sitting at the stall of Libre Edition publications from Pondicherry and was signing every book bought by the visitors.

Ebrahim and Frederic were among those who added international look to the seventh edition of Pune Book Fair which is currently on at Ganesh Kala Krida Mandir. Frederic is living in Pondicherry since 1990. He writes in French but Shine, his first translated novel in English is available at the fair. Told through the medium of an Eagle Owl, this novel speaks about the eternal quest of the humanity.

"This is mostly a fictional work but to certain extent, there is personal element in it," he said. About India, he said that he felt he was destined to live here. "I had visited Mumbai earlier but am in Pune first time. I have written plays, film scripts earlier and is currently writing a bulky novel," he said.

Ebrahim has completed his B. E. and is pursuing M. Sc. in Instrumentation in University of Pune. He was managing the stall of Culture House of Iran. "There are 100 to 200 visitors here daily. I think there should be more people. The city is considered as the culture capital of India. It is my opinion that the venue of the fair should be changed. If it was near University, then probably there could be larger crowd," he said.

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Astrologers Fail the Test

Almost four months after issue was raised, results have come that astrology has failed to pass the first scientific test in India. In this first statistical test, just 45 percent of the predictions by astrologers proved right. The test has given credence to the theory that astrology can not termed as a science.

In what was touted as the first scientific test of astrology in India, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Statistics Department of University of Pune and Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANS) joined hands to verify the veracity of astrology. Dr. Naralikar alongwith Dr. Narendra Dabholkar of ANS, Prof. Sudhakar Kunte from University of Pune declared the statistical data related to the test in a press conference yesterday.

The project involved collecting and verifying, analysing of a particular data. In May 08, an appeal was made to the astroloher communities to participate in this event. Dr. Naralikar had appealed to the astrologers to come forward for the experiment. The announcement was received with much debate and controversy. Many astrology organisations condemned the initiative under one or another pretext but astrologers in Marathwada and Vidharbha responded to the project.

Those astrologers who came forward, were provided a set of about 40 horoscopes of student. These students were mentally challenged as well as normal one, but their identity was not revealed to anybody. Astrologers were told to analyse the samples and tell exactly which students are mentally challenged and which are not. An important presumption of the test was that if astrologers manage to differentiate the horoscope with an accuracy of more than 90 percent, astrology was proved to be a science. If they could reach the accuracy of 70 percent, then further tests were to be carried out. About 50 percent accuracy was expected to be achieved on the basis of random sampling.

Prakash Ghatpande, convenor of the test said, "Major astrologers decided to boycott the test objecting to the stands of ANS. Majority of amateur astrologers decided to participate in the experiment and they have relied on the data provided by us. ANS activists collected the horoscopes from all over the state. We gave it to the participants. After their replies were received, the encryption was done and thereafter all the data rested with Prof. Kunte. Nobody else, not even Dr. Naralikar and Dr. Dabholkar were aware of it. We can't declare the exact statistics of the experiment right now."

According to the data provided by organisers, 51 astrologers asked for the set of horoscopes but only 27 of them responded. Those not responding did not furnish any reason either. Among those who participated, 15 were amateurs and 8 were professional ones.

Among the 27 participants, the right guesses range from 8 to 24. On an average, 17.25 out of 40 predictions were accurate. It means generally 45 percent predictions are right.

Meanwhile, astrologer community reacted sharply to the findings of the experiment. Siddheshwar Maratkar, director of Jyotish Vidya Prasaraka Mandal addressed a press conference challenging the results. He said that astrologers had boycotted the test citing the wrong method of conducting the tests. "We had demanded that ANS should not be a part of the experiment, there might be 60% or more accurate results but they will not have any bearing on the scientific basis of astrology and the horoscopes with wrong predictions should be given to us for the verification. Even after agreeing to conditions, the results were declared. This is an attempted attack on the foundation of astrology. So we will not take part in any future tests as well."

Meanwhile, Dr. Dabholkar put forward a proposal for one more test. The test will involve analysing the horoscopes of adults and accurately 'predict' the past incidents or trends of a human being.

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Rains in the city

Due to a cyclonic circulation in Central Maharashtra, city alongwith many parts of the state witnessed rains on Friday. The situation is expected to continue meaning in effect that city is to witness more rains in coming days.

Usually, the monsoon starts withdrawing from 1 September. The month of October is known for summer like heat. The weather in the city looked going on the track till yesterday with maximum temperature touching 33 degree celsius. But on Friday, the weather took another form and there were rains in many parts of the state like Marathwada and Central Maharashtra.

Medha Khole, director, India Meterological Department, Pune said, "The cyclonic circulation over east central Arabian sea off south Gujarat-north Maharashtra lies over Madhya Maharashtra and neighbourhood. Which is the reason for this unseasonal rain." In the last 24 hours, the city witnesse 7.2 mm of rains upto 5:30 PM.

According to Khole, the southwest monsoon withdrawal this year started since 29 September which is almost a month late than normal. The met department expects the rain to continue for three days.

Even though heavy rains are not normal after the withdrawal of monsoon, there have been many instance of rainfall exceeding the normal. Nine years ago, on 14 October 1999, Pune witnessed 200.5 mm rainfall. Last year also the withdrawal of monsoon was started on 30 September and was complete on 15 October. At that time, 3.2 mm rainfall was recorded.
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Wagh Nakh to Return to Land of Shivaji

Maharashtra, land of the Chhatrapati Shivaji, was missing it for the last two centuries. But Wagh Nakh, a famous weapon belonged to Shivaji Maharaj is to come to Maharashtra very soon. Maharashtra government has proposed to Victoria and Albert Museum, London in this regard. The museum has asked security to be provided and once it is cleared, the weapon will come in Mumbai first.

Wagh Nakh or Tiger Claws is one of the irregualr weapons used by Chhatrapati Shivaji. It is famous in the popular folklore of Maharashtra because of its use in killing Afzal Khan by Shivaji himself. After the fall of Maratha Empire, it was taken outside India by British officers and landed in Victoria and Albert Museum.

This weapon is being brought to Maharashtra for an exhibit and government has forwarded the proposal to the museum. Museum also has approved the idea but its decision hinges on the security aspect. Also the file for the security arrangements is doing round in Mantralaya, Mumbai.

Meera Hindocha of Press Office, V&A Museum informed Pune Mirror through a mailed reply, "I can confirm that we have received a loan request for the tiger claw weapon that may have belonged to Chhatrapati Shivaji. However, we have not yet agreed to lend the object and our decision will be dependent upon the confirmation of a suitable venue for the exhibition and the necessary security arrangements being cleared."

Asked about the developments, R. R. Patil, deputy chief minister and Home minister of Maharashtra told Mirror, "Yes, we have given the proposal. But they (the museum)want security to be arranged by us. The file has come to me some days ago and a decision in this regard will be taken soon."

Historians Speak Babasaheb Purandare, who is known for his dedication for history of Maratha Empire could not be contacted as he is is in US now. But he has described the travel of Wagh Nakh to Britain in his previous writings. According to him, Grand Duff, who was political representative of East India Company in the court of Satara might have taken this weapon to Britain. He served in the court from 1818 to 1824. He also wrote the first book on Maratha on history. He befriended the then Maharaja of Satara Chhatrapati Pratapsinh and took the weapon with him while returning. His descendants donated it to the V&A museum.

Ninad Bedekar, another historian of repute from Pune, differed on the authenticity of the weapon. "Shivbhushan, the book in Sanskrit written in the lifetime of Shivaji and by his order, says that Shivaji killed Afzalkhan with sword. This is an authentic reference. As for as the claim that weapon belonged to Shivaji, it is also shrouded in mystery. We do not find any reference suggesting that Shivaji used this weapon."

Asked as to what his reaction would be once the weapon comes here, Bedekar said, "I will still tell the facts as they are."

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The LinuxChix : Spread the word

They are young, they are learning the tricks of the trade but they certainly have a mission. Charmed by the security and easiness, the girls have joined the open source movement. Pune has just woken up to the feminine branch of the Linux Users Group and as there counterparts all over the world, the girl volunteers here also have come together under the banner of LinuxChix.

Linux enthusiastic all over the world carry out their activities under the banner of Linux Users Group. Here in Pune, the group is called Pune Linux Users Group (PLUG). However to spread the message of Linux movement among women and girl students, the LinuxChix was born. Though it is about two decades old in the rest of the world, the Pune Chapter of the organization came into reality just last December. Since then, the group has conducted some four meetings and has managed to attract at least 30 members.

Still in its infancy, the group has most of the members from Symbiosis Institute of Computer Sciences and Research. Smriti Garg, Rashmi Lakhotia, Shweta Rani and Janki Purohit, four students from second year M. Sc. (CA) are the volunteers for the LinuxChix Pune Chapter. Currently they are working on the Fedora project. Besides having regular meets, of which the next is scheduled on next Sunday, they have also given lectures in other colleges.

Smriti said, “The Linux offers a more secure platform because it is very hard to penetrate. Also, there far too less viruses in the system. Therefore it has became a preferred operating system for the students as well as professionals alike. In fact, many large organizations are going for the Linux. So we also wanted to be a part of the movement.”

Curriculum Vitae

When asked why these girls were attracted to LinuxChix, Rashmi said, “Our institute, SICSR itself encourages the open source movement. We are taught about the subject in line with our regular studies. In fact, it has become a kind of a part of our curriculum.”

According to these volunteers, not many people are aware as how Linux offers more facilities and that it is secure. With most of the users still attracted to an established brand, it is their duty to teach others about the system and their movement. Helping them in their goal is PLUG which also offers technical advice as well as act as a support group.

The volunteers have taken the movement seriously and are working on the Fedora project along with Runa Bhattacharjee, who also volunteers for Fedora-India, KDE-India, Gnome-India, ilug-cal and Ankur Bangla. Fedora is a ?Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest Free and Open Source Softwares (FOSS.)

Reaching to Others

As to the need of forming a separate group of the women, the girls said that it is mainly because Linux has not reached to the majority of girls and women. Citing one of their demonstration experience, they said, “We had a session in Abeda Inamdar College where almost all of the attendees were girls. They will rarely go to any male dominated place for learning about Linux. But when we conducted the session, we got a tremendous response.”

These volunteers are also quick to refuse that they cater only to female audience. “When we conduct meetings or lectures, a part of the audience is men also. In fact, we are witness to some sessions where the male attendees have outnumbered the female audience. Our sessions are open to all and to limit them will defeat our main purpose,” said the volunteers.

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The Chick Organisation

LinuxChix is a community for women who like Linux and for anyone who wants to support women in computing. This is an international group of Free Software users and developers, founded in 1999 by Deb Richardson with the aim of "supporting women in Linux." Richardson described it as an alternative to the "locker room atmosphere" found in some online technical forums and gave LinuxChix two core rules: "be polite" and "be helpful". LinuxChix is now primarily a group for supporting women in computing, specifically in Open Source/Free Software/Software Libre computing.

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Login the Krishna Way

They are from different companies and different backgrounds. Even their credentials does not seem in tune with their inclinations. But some 300 Information Technology professionals have come forward to contribute to what they call their spiritual cause. These IT professionals are coming forward to the construction of a new ISKCON temple in Pune.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) movement is constructing a new temple at Katraj-Kondhwa road. While the religious organisation is trying to collect the money for the same through various projects, it has tapped a new and different genre : the college students and IT professionals. These people are not only contributing by monetary means but also giving different types of services without discarding their professional duties.

According to the claims of the organisation, some 300 people are helping in the temple construction project while the ISKCON centre in Camp has regular 150 attendees from the IT field. Pune Mirror managed to talk a group of the professionals.

Amol Katkar, development manager in Symatec Systems, said "The spiritual inclination and practise is rather helping us to do well in the professional life. Instead of wasting our time on partying or going to cinema, we devote that time to meditation. As Arjun was a good warrior and Krishna tought him to be same, we can also be good professionals through the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita."

Incidentally, as a unique drive, ISKCON Pune centre runs several programs foucussing on students and professionals. According to Chaitanya Charan Das, spokesman of the organisation, the centre conducts seminars and courses in IIT Kharagpur as well as other higher education institutes. Students from these institutes are attached to Pune centre which is a reason behind the contributors. Chandru Amarnani, Project Manager, Tech Mahindra, said, "Even our senior accept that being spiritual helps bettering our performance. Therefore they are also advocating conducting seminars and discourses for others in the industry." Uday Saundhankar and his wife not only gave their one month salary each for the construction but also pursued other to do tha same which helped to collect Rs 5 lakhs in donation."

As these professionals profess their devotion to their belief, they also try to spread it, even enduring taunts from others. Nitin Lavhe, Senior Engineer, Patni Coputer Systems said, "Yes, others who are not exposed to the spirituality do make fun of us at times. But ultimately, they have to admit the way we are so it never becomes an issue."

These professionals also ridiculed the idea of leaving their professional duties for the sake of the spiritual calling. "Instead, we are prepared to bear the stress and tension associated with our profession on account of this," was their definite response.

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.pune Very Soon

Very soon, you will be able to log in a site which won’t have a domain name like .com or .in. Instead, the domain name of the site, which is the electronic address of the site, will be ‘.pune’. The international body which controls internet domain names has issued new guidelines which allow locality specific domain names. Though the move has created new questions, it has also some good news for industry and businesses.

The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted on June 26 to allow more generic top-level domain names beyond the 21 currently approved names such as .com and .biz and the country domain names such as .in and .uk. A final version of the implementation plan must be approved by the ICANN Board before the new process is launched. It is intended that the final version will be published in early 2009.

This has opened doors also for the .pune domain name. When contacted, Jason Keenan, Media Adviser, ICANN told Pune Mirror, “The new top level domains could include .pune. It's important to understand that the new TLDs will be ideas that come forward to ICANN. We are not suggesting what should be applied for. What has to happen is someone needs to put together an application that meets the conditions of the yet-to-be-finalised application process. The application period is expected to open in the second quarter of 2009.”

This will be a boom for the businesses in Pune as a top level domain name will give the city specific identity to the businesses and sites. According to Deepak Shikarpur, Chairman, IT committee, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, “With the growth of internet and eCommerce existing domain names are in short supply and hence .com alone was not sufficient. We started with .biz. Some countries like Singapore insist on .com.sg extension. In the same spirit we have an option of .in (India specific). Now a welcome step for Pune specific businesses is to get .pune domain name. This will boost ePresnece of Pune specific businesses. However, if one wants a national or global image then such businesses won’t gain by .pune domain name change and hence these businesses wont bother to change.”

The Double Boananza

The city specific top level domain name is not the only boon given by ICANN. It has also decided to allow these domain names in local languages. Termed Internationalised Domain Names in the cyber parlance, these will allow people to access websites and emails in their local languages. Indian languages were considered for IDNs in the conference held in January these year in New Delhi. ICANN has finally decided to give go ahead for the same.

According to Keenan, “As for Internationalized Domain Names, ICANN's goal is to have them available at the same time as the application for new top-level domains, so people will be able to apply for TLDs in characters from the language of the world.” Dengate Thrush, ICANN's Board Chairman, was reported as saying, "New generic Top Level Domains and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) will open up the Internet and make it look as diverse as the people who use it," added.

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What is ICANN

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world.

It was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interpretable.
ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It is responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure that every address is unique and that all users of the Internet can find all valid addresses. It does this by overseeing the distribution of unique IP addresses and domain names. It also ensures that each domain name maps to the correct IP address.

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Sanjay Satolekar, chairman, Regional Advertising and Marketing Association

The new .pune domain name will definitely help the city business as they will get new identity. We had earlier the attraction for .com but later .in was accepted vehemently. As the businesses are getting more localised, the new top level domain name will create affinity between the businesses and customers. As an advertising professional, it is also a welcome move as the advertisers tend to go for the more localised content and new local domain name will help them in maximizing their returns.

Deepak Shikarpur, Chairman, IT committee, MCCIA

“With the growth of internet and eCommerce existing domain names are in short supply and hence .com alone was not sufficient. Now a welcome step for Pune specific businesses is to get .pune domain name. This will boost ePresnece of Pune specific businesses. However, if one wants a national or global image then such businesses won’t gain by .pune domain
name change and hence these businesses wont bother to change.”

Amit Tripathi, MD, ID8Labs

All the domain names, whether they are top level or not, cater to particular geography. Their role is to create an identity for the company. With internet services penetrating to city and zonal level, these is a great opportunity. The new domain names will create a great revenue platform for the most of the companies as there are loads of services which are necessarily city specific. Also, it will also facilitate the easy names for companies in particular sector like calendar.pune will refer all the events taking place in city. However, the new domain name should be first promoted in the city first. After the model becomes successful, outside businesses should acquire it and thereafter only, big business should spread this domain name to outside world.

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EKA...The Story Continues

When I did the supercomputer EKA story last month, which was published on 30 June, I had no inkling that the affair will take me to places. But that has happened.

It so happened that I stubmled upon the new list of fastest 500 supercomputers in the world somewhere in June. I followed the matter because EKA, created by Computational Research Laboratory in Pune, had slided in the new list to the eighth place while it had stood at fourth place just six months ago. After communicating with the company, I managed to get some quoters. Based upon that, I gave the news report which appeared in the 30 June issue of Pune Mirror. The story run something like this :

Some generous help from US government and the theoretical calculations has taken EKA down in the world list. But the lab is determined to regain the position.

The International Supercomputing Conference held recently at Dresden, Germany unveiled new list of top 500 fastest supercomputer in the world. Though EKA has given a performance of 132.8 Teraflops, it has been ranked at the 8th position in the new list.EKA, developed by the city based CRL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd., was ranked fourth supercomputer in November 2007 in SC07, the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis at Reno, Nevada, USA.

EKA uses nearly 1800 computing nodes. Last year, it had a peak performance of 170 Teraflops (TFlops or Trillion Floating Point Operations per Second) and a sustained performance of 120 Teraflops based on the LINPACK benchmarks which are used by the world-wide community to rank supercomputers based on performance.

Reacting on this development, Harsha Ramchandra, spokesperson for CRL said, “We have improved our rating to 132.8 Teraflops solely through software upgrade. This means that our system performance has grown practically but it has not grown theoretically. We are planning to build a bigger system which will improve our ranking. While ranking is important, it is not our end-all.”

She told Pune Mirrror, “In fact, our main emphasis is on scaling applications which will effectively utilise the computing power of EKA. This is a difficult problem but we will be able to tackle it because of our proven expertise in software and our domain knowledge of a range of applications. Once we do this scaling, we will be able to solve several "grand challenge" problems in various application domains. It is this activity which will benefit users of HPC and so this is what we will focus on.”

EKA includes nodes and racks built by Hewlett Packard (HP Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c system) which uses high speed quad-core Clovertown processors from Intel Corp. and Dual Data Rate Infiniband switches from Mellanox Corp. and Voltaire Corp.

Meanwhile, industry sources attributed this slide down of the supercomputer to the active support given by US government. While all the supercomputers in the US have come from the government funded labs, EKA was a product of privatley funded lab. After scientists in the US demanded to increase the funding from government, they got it. It has resulted in the top five slots being occupied by the US supercomputer with fastest supercomputer achieving a performance of 1.026 petaflop/s.

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Now, yesterday I, alongwith other media persons of course, got an invitation that C. Ramadorai, chairman of CRL will address a media meet. It was really a very lerning meet. We got to see complicated and large structure of EKA. I again reported on that which runs like this :

The fastest super computer in Asia and eighth fastest in the world, EKA, runs on the Linux operating system. That is keeping in with the procedure followed by most of the supercomputers all over the world, including top 500 supercomputers. Officials of the Computation Research Laboratory, which has developed EKA say that this system offers more stability hence it is an obvious choice.

C. Ramadorai, chairman of CRL, who was in Pune to give an update on EKA, informed that CRL's performance was enhanced from 117.6 teraflops in November 2007 to 132 teraflops at present on the basis of software upgradation. This has been done on the basis of Linux operating system which offers more stability for complicated computations, which are necessary for a supercomputers. At present, CRL has ported various applications like Computer Aided Engineering, Computational Finance, Information Security, Atmospheric Sciences, Animation and Rendering, Seismic information. Linux offers most reliability for such types of applications.

N. Seetha Rama Krishna, another high official from CRL said that most of the supercomputers all over the world use Linux for their operations. All MPI enabled applications are run on this platform. There are 14,400 cores in 1800 blades in the laboratory and there are dual quad-core Intel processors in each blade. Therefore keeping with the world practise, CRL is using Linux. The management software stack of the EKA is a mix of open source and commercial software.

Giving information about the EKA cluster, Krishna said it is housed in octagonal structure which facilitates easy cooling for the super computer. It has 65 racks and server floor area is 4000 sq. ft. The air conditioning capacity is 350 ton and in terms of power consumption, EKA is 10 to 15 percent more efficient than other super computers in the world.

Animation Within Hours

CRL is also eyeing animation sector for the applications on EKA. Giving details about the move, Dr. Rajesh Lagu said, "At present, animation movies are sequence of images rendered from computer models. They are set in motion through series of frames. Using EKA, the time for processing such images can be substantially reduced. It can also be used for Rendering which means process of calculating effects in a video editing file to produce final video output. Softwares like Maya and Renderman can be used effectively for this purpose. By doing so, we can make an animation film within a month which otherwise could take one year."

Ranking Doesn't Matter

Speaking on the subject of sliding down in world ranking of super computers, C. Ramadorai said CRL is not really interested in the ranking but to put EKA for more and more into use by developing various applications. "The power of the system is not in ranking but in applications," he said.

He said that CRL did not expect that EKA will stand fourth fastest in the world. "After that, governemnt labs in US approached government and got their fundings increased. But for us, this is a private corporate enterprise. Therefore without partaking in any race for the numbers, we are focusing on applications."

EKA in a Nutshell

Peak Performance : 172 Terabytes

Sustained Performance : 132.8 Teraflops

Total Memory : 28 Terabytes

Storage : 80 Terabytes with 5.2 GB per second throughput

Interconnect : 20 GBPS Infiniband DDR

Cabling : 45 Kms (10 Km electrical, 15 Km Infiniband, 10 Km Ethernet)

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A two million Euro question

When one of the two 612 Scagliettis was going under hammer at the Fiorano Circuit in Maranello, Italy on 18 May, a city based Non-Governmental Organisation had little inkling that it will reap the widfall. But the car sold for EUR 220,000 which from that auction will be donated to the Centre for Learning Resources, run by Dr. John Kurien and to top it all, the donation has come on the recommendation from Tata Trust. Surprisingly, the NGO is tightlipped about the proceeds and does not want to react on the honour.

Ferrari had conducted a Magic India Tour of two 612 Scagliettis, the company’s flagship GT model cars which lasted from 25 February to 8 May. One of those two cars were sold in the auction conducted by RM auctions and Sothbey’s in Italy. The auction was noted for the world record it created by selling Ferrari California Spyder 1961, which belonged to actor James Coburn, for the surprising amount of 7.04 billion euros (11 million dollars). The 612 Scagliettis was at the third position and received EUR 2,20,000 (Rs. 1,48,76,868.896) as price.

When the reports of the donation surfaced, Pune Mirror had contacted CLR for the reaction. But the NGO said that they have not received any official communique from the auction house or Ferrari and as such they were unable to say anything on the subject.

When asked about the confusion, Mariella Mengozzi, spokesperson for Ferrari told Pune Mirror, "Yes, there was some miscommunication on account of which this confusion has been created. RM auctions has sold the car in auction. They are waiting for the payment from the buyer and as soon as the payment is received, the money will be given to CLR."

Giving further details, Mengozzi said, "As the trusted partner of Ferrari in India, the company had asked Tata Trust for the worthy organisations in India to donate the money. CLR was chosen on the recommendation from Tata Trust, which is headed by chairman Ratan Tata."

Mengozzi also forwarded the correspondence between CLR head Dr. Kurien and Ferrari Communication department officer Gabriel Lalli in which it is explicitly stated that CLR is to get the money definitely. Even after this correspondence, Dr. Kurien preferred to not to comment saying that they will come with official statement only after getting the money.
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About CLR
According to CLR website, the CLR is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO). It is working in early childhood care and development and elementary education since 1984 in Maharashtra and other states in India.
As a technical support organisation in the field of Early Childhood Care and Development and Elementary Education, we are committed to working in collaboration with all those engaged in understanding and meeting this challenge.
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(Published on 5 July)

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Salute to Martyrs: After 150 years

Some 200 martyrs who lost their lives without any trace in the far away waters of Andaman will now be venerated in a different manner. Through an initiative from a city based organisation, the clay of the earth where the corpses of the martyrs were left to rot some 150 years ago, will be dissolved in the waters of Arabian sea on 9 th August.

Maharashtra Pradesh Swatantrya Sainik Mahasangh (Maharashtra Freedom Fighters Federation) has organised the program in Mumbai where the Kalash bearing the earth of Rock Island in Andaman Islands will be flown in Arabian Sea. In the British Raj, around 200 freedom fighte

rs from the state lost their lives in Andaman. The bodies of the martyrs were thrown from the rock where the island is situated. Veteran socialist leader from Mumbai, Madhu Adelkar has collected this earth after an extensive research and five trips to the islands. He has also collected the information regarding the martyrs.

Adelkar told Pune Mirror, "After the unsuccessful mutiny of 1857, East India Company and thereafter British government sent many freedom fighters to Andaman. They had sent five boats carrying 700 people. These people were sent for life meaning they were never meant to return. I managed to get names of 375 martyrs who lost their lives during their imprisonment. After searching the details, I found out whereabouts of these people. They were all students and youths who were sent because government was afraid of them."

Adelkar found out that there were 211 martyrs from Maharashtra who left this world without last rites. "With the help from a Burmese guide, I could find the rock from where the bodies of the martyrs were thrown on the island. So I thought why we should not give the respect to them which they deserve. There was no information on these martyrs for 150 years and this is the first time it has brought to light. Accordingly, we have arranged this function wherein the the earth will be flown in the sea by the hands of veteran freedom fighters," said Adelkar.

Informing about the function, Prabhakar Gupte said, "We will take out a procession of the Kalash on 9th August. We will do a pooja and after offering the tributes to the martyrs, it will be brought to Goregaon Chowpaty. Veteran socialist leader and ex-minister Prabhakar Kunte and Mrinal Gore will attend this program. The main object of this program is to bring about awareness about the Andaman martyrs among students. For this reason, we have arranged competitions in the schools in Mumbai also which will go on till August."
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An Interview with Dr. R. A. Mashelkar

"I received the Maharashtra Bhushan by Maharashtra Bhushan award in 2005. Before me, Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar were the receipients. We all were Maharashtrians. But after me, Ratan Tata received it which was a noble gesture by state government. It showed the spirit of this state. But now, some people are bent on denying entry to people from other state. It hurts so much to see their limited agenda," said Dr. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, a distinguished scientist on the present conditions.

Elaborating on the uniqueness and greatness of his beloved city, Pune, Dr. Mashelkar touched on some subjects that were close to his heart. After a story appeared in Pune Mirror some two months ago, (Small Lungs Choking, 9 May) he expressed his concern publicly about the state of affairs in Pune. Still, he says the city is exploding with growth, for which he has outline 'My Dream of 'My Pune'. In an exclusive chat with Pune Mirror, Dr. Mashelkar outlined his take on some subject:

On Pollution

The extreme seriousness of pollution level in Pune was brought to our notice when I was heading the committee which prepared National Auto Fuel Policy five years ago. Originally, we had planned just seven cities but on my insistence, Pune was included the list of the cities where implemention Euro norms was prescribed immediately. I was so alarmed by the result of the study on pollution in Pune. Though the norms have been implemented, we have an issue of old vehicles plying on the road. Situation has not improved much since then. We should be worried.

This is an issue which concerns our future generations.

On Growth

Pune is not expanding, it is explosing. So much development is taking place in every sphere that we are falling short of infrastructure. The growth is taking place, the only issue is that it should take place in planned manner and after taking everybody in confidence. People in Pune are more cultured, educated and aware. Therefore even some problems like reducing greenary, water pollution have arisen, innovative approach by the people themselves it less harmful compared to other cities. In some cases, like river pollution, we have all technologies and methods with us and no new technologies are required. Only the regulatory body (Pune Municipal Corporation) should utilise those technologies fully.

On Pune Model

Pune Model, which is basically about zero load shedding, is a unique experiment. I commended Pradeep Bhargav and Shantanu Dixit, who have made it possible because for whole of India, a total of 40,000 MW of captive power can be generated. Looking at what is happening in New Delhi for getting 20,000 MW of power from Nuclear power generation, this amount assumes significance. This model will be followed all over India, only it has to be highlighted more. I am glad that this model is developed in Pune.

This model is also assumes significance because it is based on differential pricing. It is priced more to those who use more electricity. We have to emulate this basis for all the services in the country considering the diversity of consumer profile of these services.

On Team Spirit

I have always worked and thought in the trerms of Team spirit. Whether it be at Council of Scientific and Industrial search ot here in National Chemical Laboratory, I was looking to develope that work culture. It should be Team Pune, Team Maharahstra and thereafter Team India.

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My Dream of 'My Pune'-Dr. Mashelkar

• I love Pune. I have often said that I would like to have the last day of my life in this great city only.
• To me it is a city, where a glorious past meets tyhe challenging present to create a great future, like no other city in India does.
• Pune is a sacred place for knowledge pilgrimage, but it must understand the rue meaning of Knowledge Economy. We must bring knowledge (Sarawati) and Economy (Lakshmi) together and create new Indian 'Sillicon Valleys' of the 21st century in Pune.
• Pune must look at environment, enlightenment, ethics and equality. Puen must become not only the knowledge capital, cultural capital, educational capital but also the ethical capital.
• Pune should become a model of 'sustainable consumption' that the world is looking for.

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A Meeting With French IT Journalist

He is here on a mission : to find out the work culture and secrets of success of Information Technology companies in India. He is also here to find out why European companies are not a part of them as also how much chance they stand to enter the market. Besides the oft repeated reason of linguistic barrier, he also sights one reason why European IT companies are not present in large number in India : the lack of data security.

Valéry Marchive, Editor At Large of LeMagIT, a French trade magazine dedicated to European IT sector is on a study tour of Indian IT companies. he started his sojourn from Pune on Monday when he visited KPIT Cummins at Hinjwadi. After that he also visited CapGemini and Tata Consultancy Services. Valéry also has a meeting scheduled with French Economic Mission in New Delhi. He is currently visiting and studying various companies based on which a full series will appear in his magazine from around September.

When asked what he has found about the companies, Valéry said though he was impressed with the working of the companies and especially its staff, he has yet to form any substantive opinion on the same. He told what he thought was the reason for very less number of French IT companies in India. "People in France are very poor in English. That is one reason why they fail to reach out to Indian companies. As an IT pro, I know many US and British companies have set up their offices in India. Compared to it, French companies have minimal presence. Another reason is that of data security issue. India is still perceived as a potential unsafe country in terms of data security. In France or any other European country, personal data is still perceived as critical and its safety is considered a priority issue."

Express Transaction
Elaborating on this issue, Valéry gave an example of how transaction can be risky in India. The incident took place just a week ago. "When I was scheduling my travel in India, I was booking flights to and from various cities from Jet Airways and Indian Airlines company's official websites. After six of my flights were booked, seventh flight could not be booked because I was told my American Express card has been blocked. When I enquired with the card company, I got a shock when I was told that large transactions of money are being done from my card in a single day. Since the transactions originated in India, American Express thought it safe to block the card, as India is seen as unsafe by the company," he said.

Mixed Bag Pune
Asked about the impressions of Pune, Valéry said, "This city reminds me of a south Italian town two decades ago. It is slow but also it has many companies and lot of young people. Girls here seem pretty, too. But I am amazed at the contrast of the life here. In Mumbai, I visited Goregaon East where I was surprised to find computers even in small huts. Here I asked some people how can they talk of high speed Internet when they do not have electricity itself. The people answered me that for Internet, they are not dependent on computers. They get it on their mobile handsets."

Meanwhile, Valery is blogging his way in India at http://blogs.lemagit.fr/ . He is writing about the India and Indian people as also IT companies.

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