Net Access still a difficult task

Pune: Sandeep Kotrekar is a manager working in a private IT company. He wanted an internet connection on shifting to his new flat two months ago. But this proved more tedious than purchasing the flat itself. “No internet service provider (ISP) was available, as my flat is close to the National Defence Academy. Citing security reasons, officials there objected to laying the cable. I managed to get a connection only after coercion and interruption...

Read More

Log in — the desi way

Domain Names In Indian Languages To Become A RealityPune: The web is set to reach new heights in India as use of several Internet Domain Names (IDN) got a thumbs up at an international meet held at New Delhi recently.Internet Corporation on Assigned Numeric Names (ICANN), the apex body, which controls domain names, discussed the subject at ICANN’s 31st public meeting in the capital on Friday. Mahesh Kulkarni, the programme head of Punebased Centre...

Read More

Pune-the foreign visitors’ hub

Pune: After hosting a large flock of foreign students over the years, the city is now seeing an increasing number of foreign visitors who are not students. Records show that foreigners who come to the city for non-academic purposes are growing in the last five years. Known as the Oxford of the East, the city boasts of a large number of foreign-national students. The number has been on the rise. Yet, the growth seems to be downwards on percentage...

Read More

CYG ahead, it’s boom time for hospitality industry

Pune: With the number of people visiting the city on the rise, the hospitality industry in Pune is striving hard to cope with increasing demand for rooms. This has also resulted in new luxury hotels coming up in and around the city. The number of business class visitors to the city are also on the increase and hence the average occupancy rate of hotels in the city now is 80 per cent. A substantial increase in this number is anticipated with the approaching...

Read More

When Mahatma called himself Farmer

Pune: The irony could not have been more severe. In a country where farmer suicides are a daily occurrence, the Father of the Nation professed himself a farmer.When Mahatma Gandhi said, “True India lies in villages and its countless farmers,” he was not just mouthing meaningless words. Though the world recognised him as a barrister, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi counted himself as a farmer. Gandhi visited the Bhandarkar Oriental Reasearch Institute...

Read More

Lost in translation!

PUNE: When Durga Dixit, director of the Aikyabharati Pratishtan gets requests for translation jobs, she just has to call up her regular translators and get the job done. For, Dixit has a group of trusted people who can translate documents into target languages. When the quantity of the work increases and she faces a deadline, however, she feels the crunch. There are just not enough people to go around. Many agencies have the same story, a dearth of skilled translators in the city. As Pune grows into an international industry and IT centre, translators...

Read More

Chinese learners dwindling in Pune

Pune: Chinese may be the buzzword in kitchens, shops and businesses, but when it comes to the language, there seem to be few takers. Institutes teaching the Chinese language are seeing a fall in the number of students opting for the course.Though there are few establishments in the city that offer such a course, their enrollments were rising until a couple of year ago. Anagha Natekar, co-ordinator of the course in Symbiosis Institute of Foreign...

Read More