Narayan Rane is a disappointed and enraged person today. He has missed out on a post which he was staring at for the last two and half years. After Ashok Chavan was given the chief ministership, Rane hit out at Congress leadership.

On Friday, Rane slammed the Congress party for delaying its decision in choosing Vilasrao Deshmukh's successor. Targetting congress president, Sonia Gandhi and ousted chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, he had put a question mark on Chavan’s stature saying that Chavan was not worthy of his competition. He also said that Chavan did not have the experience to be the chief minister of a state.

Congress leadership retaliated today by suspending Rane from the party’s membership. "It has been observed that after the announcement of the new leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Maharashtra, Narayan Rane is making public statements deliberately with a view to lowering the prestige of the Indian National Congress," said AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

"The party has taken a serious view of his utterances and considering this as a case of gross indiscipline, Narayan Rane has been suspended from the party with immediate effect," he added.

This however has not dettered Rane as he has dared Congress of exposing more and more scams. According to PTI, Rane claimed that he holds key to the survival of soon-to-be-formed Ashok Chavan led Congress-Nationalist Cognress Party Government in Maharashtra.
"If I wish, I can prevent the new government from taking charge or topple it when it is formed. The new government is not in a majority and I can prove it on the floor of the house, even if the opposition does not demand a trust vote," Rane was seen saying this on various TV channels.

Rane refused to divulge his future course of action when the winter session of the legislature would be convened in Nagpur this month. "I will be going to Nagpur," he said. He said he could provide a letter of 30 MLAs to the Governor saying that they were not supporting the new government.

Referring to his suspension from the Congress, Rane said he had been expecting the action.

"I consider this as a good omen. In 1997, Vilasrao Deshmukh was suspended from the party for six years and in 1999 he became the chief minister," Rane added.

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Ashok Chavan, new Maharashtra CM

He is from Nanded, as me

Finally the word is out. Maharashtra, the state which has withnessed much bloodshed in the past week has a new Chief Minister. Putting an end to the controversies and debates, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee announced Ashok Chavan's nomination in New Delhi on Friday evening. Of course, he and other leaders deliberated on the matter with their boss, Sonia Gandhi.

Vilasrao Deshmukh  was eased out of office in the aftermath of the audacious Mumbai terror attacks last week. He behaviour after the attacks was severly criticized by media. Chavan was in charge of the Industry portfolio in the Deshmukh cabinet. He is the eldest son of late Shankarrao Chavan. The family is associated with Nanded from where I have come.

Shortly after the nomination of Chavan, Narayan Rane, revenue minister in the outgoing ministry and a strong contender of CM's chair, hit out at Gandhi, Deshmukh and Chavan questioning the process of election of the new leader.

Rane, who had come to the Congress a few years ago from the Shiv Sena, was pipped at the post by Chavan, a party loyalist and a Maratha, like Rane.

Chavan represents Mudkhed constituency in the Assembly. He was a Member of Parliament for two years from 1987-89 and was elected to the Assembly from 1999. Names of Union Ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan had also done the rounds as chief ministerial contenders.

Chagan Bhujbal will be the new Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister in the new cabinet. This is his second stint in both the capacities.

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A Million Smile Man

He gave the world Mickey Mouse and has since been making world laugh through various cartoons and stories. Even 42 years after his death, Walt Disney continues to mesmerize the people world over. Even two world wars and threat of the terror has not diminished the power of Disney characters to entertain the audience. Today marks the 43rd death anniversary of Walt Disney.

As happens with most children, I came across Mickey Mouse early in childhood. I might be five or six years old. Mickey’s 50th anniversary was to be celebrated in that year. Thereafter, Donald Duck and Goofy also came in without any resistance. That delight lasted more than average as I found myself observing the cartoon characters for hours.

I was myself a cartoon lover and an aspiring cartoonist, though I did become one. Therefore I would try to imitate the drawings. I have not seen enough Disney movies in recent times nor do I watch cartoons anymore. But I still adore them. Still, I salute the man who created this wonderful fantasyland.

I think we need more these fantasies than all those extremely sophisticated sci-fi movies or disaster movies. I am sure those terrorist who fed on killing humans like rats have never seen Mickey, Donald or his three nephews. Had they seen it, world could have been much different.

(The Obituary Appeared in New York Times on 6 DEc. 1966)

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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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Tremors after the Quake

Tremors are still felt here in India even as the worst terrorist attack of the country has ended about 30 hours ago. Two key personalities in the union government has offered to leave the post while in Maharashtra, where actual drama took place, state government seems on its way to ouster.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil Chakurkar, who was often derided for his inaction and insensitive approach towards the law and order situation in the country, put in his papers today. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, a trusted lieutenant of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has been appointed Home Minister in his place.

Patil had drwan too much criticism for his handling of internal security matters, especially after blasts in Delhi, Banglore and Surat. Chidambaram, 63, had briefly served as Minister of Internal Security under late Rajiv Gandhi in late 1980. But his prime credentials lie in Finance Ministry having consistently given balanced budgets.

Prime Minister will himself look after the Finance portfolio now even as the country is suffering from the ripple effects of the global recession. That way, Singh is returning to original ministry after 12 years. He had held the Finance portfolio for five years under late P.V. Narasimha Rao.

The appointment also came hours before the start of the all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister to discuss the Mumbai attacks and evolve a consensus on how to combat terror.

Meanwhile, National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan has offered his resignation also owing to the moral responsibility. There are conflicting reports as to whether his resignation has been accepted or not.

In the light of these developments, call are given for the resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil for his failure to control the situation. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is also under threat as pressure has been rising for him to vacate his place. The terrible episode and carnage on one hand, local media today is beaming the reports of how Deshmukh visited Hotel Taj with his actor son Ritesh and movie producer Ram Gopal Verma.
Patil had a meeting with Deshmukh today in afternoon. After the meeting, he refused to put in his paper. "When Akshardham was attacked, the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi did not resign and when the Parliament was attacked the then Union Home Minister L K Advani did not resign. Then why should I resign after the Mumbai attack? What morality is BJP talking about," Patil was shoen asking in front of news channels camera. But we, in media, are guessing that he will be ordered to abdicate his chair in a couple of days. Keeping in view nature of Sharad Pawar of Nationalist Congress Party, whom Patil follows, it is an obvious guess.

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SCIENTIFIC AUTO RICKSHAWS LAUNCHED IN PUNE

Pune tops the country in the number of trips by auto rickshaws which stands at 4.87 lakhs currently.The new system of Scientific Management of Auto Rickshaws, which was inaugurated in the city is expected to reduce congestion in the city and buildconfidence in the public.

This information was given by Union Urban Development Secretary Dr. R. Ramachandran. Speaking after the inauguration of the Project Scientific Management of Auto Rickshaws, he said under the new system biokryptic I.D. Cards are being given to auto drivers who register under the scheme which will help curb unauthorized autos in the city. He also said that this is a pioneering scheme in the country and the components of advertisement in it had good potentials for part funding of the project.

The Police commissioner Dr. Satyapal Singh said that30 per cent of auto rickshaws in Pune are illegal and Pune lacks any auto culture and discipline. Criticizing the operation of auto rickshaw drivers,he said only 20 to 30 per cent in Pune run on meter. Dr. Singh said no action can be taken against the auto rickshaw caught by them, as this power lies with the RTO authority who complains of staff shortage. The new system would bring in discipline, order and reduce the criminal elements.

Six auto rickshaw drivers were given the Insurance Policy and the I.D. Card at the function. About 2000 auto rickshaws have already registered for the scheme in Pune.

Introducing the details of the scheme the Chairman RTO, Pune and Divisional Commissioner Shri Nitin Karir said, Pune has about 50,000 auto rickshaws which move from point to point. This needs to change as dead mileage is very high and para transit is the need of the hour. Under the new Scheme a telephone call to a Centralized Control Room diverts the nearest auto rickshaw to the passenger. It also reduces the congestion at bus stops, railway stations and other crucial locations

Dr. Karir said it is a purely voluntary scheme under which the drivers will be provided training by the police and they would get a close user cell phone and the system can be integrated into BRTS system in place in the city. A number of operator welfare measures such as uniform, insurance, medical test and setting up of a corporate welfare a fund for their family is the part of the scheme. Dr. Karir said this is a nationally replicable model and positive response from auto unions could help in making the pioneering scheme successful in the city.

Social activist and Chairman of Auto Rickshaw Union Baba Adhav said the Union still has reservation about the scheme and certain aspects need to be clarified before unified response is given by Union. The Auto Drivers should not loose revenue on the advertisement they put up on their auto rickshaws. Once the financial equation of this scheme is cleared, the social security aspect is good part of it, all benefits need to be clarified since it is a 10 year contract. There is no provision for education of children of the drivers in the scheme he lamented. Roughly 30 per cent of the auto rickshaw drivers are very honest and disciplined. However, this fact is very rarely appreciated.

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