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Maharashtra News Archive: June 2006
Sports therapy system introduced in a hospital
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 | AY
Former India cricket captain Dilip Vengsarkar inaugurated a modern therapy rehabilitation system that can perform a variety of tests on sportspersons. PrimusRS, installed at Saifee Hospital, enables physiotherapists to accurately measure the performance, recovery, and fitness-levels of sportspersons. PrimusRS is currently being used by the Beijing Research Institute of Sports Science to train their athletes for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Intel, Mafcocs signs MoU
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 | AY
The Maharashtra State Federation Co-operative Credit Societies Limited (MAFCOCS) and Intel India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly deploy 10,000 Community PCs across 80,000 co-operative societies in the country. As per the MoU, the two will jointly campaign to increase IT awareness amongst the 80,000-odd co-operative credit societies that cater to approximately 30 million people in the country. Intel will help MAFCOCS to set-up a datacenter in Pune that will cater to the future needs of co-operative credit societies. Also according to the MoU, Intel will advice MAFCOCS on various aspects of technology including selection and deployment, and will readily share its experience both in consumer premise equipment and connectivity infrastructure. In return, MAFCOCS will help enable the software content of co-operative credit societies' on Intel architecture.
Marathi willl be compulsory from Std 1
Monday, June 26, 2006 | AY
Marathi may well be made a compulsory subject from Standard I onwards in all schools across the state. The School Education Department is currently mulling over the proposal. The sources, who are dealing with the proposal, said there was a gap between the education system and social norms as a result of not using the local language. They say that as per the three language formula, besides English the state’s official language should be taught.
A different Marathi film
Sunday, June 25, 2006 | AY
Ultra is one of the leading companies in the field of Audio, Video and Film Distribution and is now making its foray in film production. It is now coming out with two films (Direct-to-DVD) Labad Kuthali and Abhaas. These two Marathi films will not be released in theatres but will be available for the audience in VCD and DVD format for home viewing. Labad Kuthali,” a comedy,boasts of actors like Arun Natawade, Vijay Chavan, Atul Parchure, Ashok Shinde, Puskar Shruti, Suhas Paranjape, Niyati Rajwade, Rajshree Nikam and Sanjay Kapre. Written and directed by Bhagwat Deshpande, it has lyrics by Anil Hardikar and music by Tyagraj Khadilkar. Abhaas, a thriller, has been written and directed by Subhash Phadke. The dialogues and songs are penned by Viju Mane, with music by upcoming music director duo Chinar-Mahesh. The film stars Shweta Bhosle, Pradeep Velenkar, Smita Dongre, Anjali Amdekar and Vrishali Bhate.
New tourism strategies
Sunday, June 25, 2006 | AY
Maharashtra will transform number of its old forts and palaces into hotels, providing a fillip to heritage tourism. Maharashtra has a total of 258 forts in various stages of disrepair, some of them as old as 800 years. Mumbai-based Orchid Hotel, Kamat Hotels India (KHIL) is already developing heritage hotels in Jhadhavrao Ghadi (fort), and Goa Fort in Konkan. Maharashtra is anyway blessed with a huge coastline and picturesque scenery. It also has the luxury train operating with some success. If we add palaces to our portfolio, then we offer the foreign/Indian tourist one more reason to come to Maharashtra.
Hi-tech dabbawalas
Saturday, June 24, 2006 | AY
Mumbai’s ubiquitous dabbawala has just gone hi-tech. Call him directly or send an SMS to 3636 and you can as well book a dabbawala’s service for yourself. The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust now also has its website, wherein you can book services, register a complaint or even get access to information like unavailability of services during a specific period. Via the website, the association has also received interest from hospitality industry players who intend to use the services of the 5,000 member-strong association to deliver food. The dabbawalas have developed their own coding standards for delivering the right box to the right person at the right time, again without the help of any professional consultant.
Cipla plans new project in Pune
Saturday, June 24, 2006 | AY
Cipla Ltd is planning to set up a Rs 384-crore manufacturing facility at Kurkumbh MIDC. The new facility, with a capacity to produce 320 tonnes of API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and 200 crore formulations per year, will produce antiretroviral, anti inflammatory, anti diabetic, anti bacterial, antipsychotic and anti hypertensive drugs. The turnover of the existing plant was about Rs 1,000 crore. The new plant, a 100 per cent export-oriented-unit, is expected to add another Rs 1,000 crore to the annual turnover. Cipla has already submitted the project report to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for approval.
Ciplaplans new project in Pune
Saturday, June 24, 2006 | AY
Cipla Ltd is planning to set up a Rs 384-crore manufacturing facility at Kurkumbh MIDC. The new facility, with a capacity to produce 320 tonnes of API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and 200 crore formulations per year, will produce antiretroviral, anti inflammatory, anti diabetic, anti bacterial, antipsychotic and anti hypertensive drugs. The turnover of the existing plant was about Rs 1,000 crore. The new plant, a 100 per cent export-oriented-unit, is expected to add another Rs 1,000 crore to the annual turnover. Cipla has already submitted the project report to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for approval.
Marathi schools may use English
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 | AY
Faced with flagging enrolment in Marathi medium schools, the State School Education Department has proposed that English will be the medium of instruction for maths and science from Class I. This decision was prompted after it was noticed that students from Marathi medium schools joined English medium schools. Unhappy over the decision, the managements of various private Marathi medium schools have said the move will not attract students opting for English medium schools but will only impose excess burden on the schools. Several Marathi medium schools in the city have reported that every year there is a 10 per cent decline in the number of students seeking admission to Marathi medium schools.
35 killed in rain related incidents
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 | AY
Thirty-five persons have been killed and seven injured in rain related incidents in Maharashtra during the last three days. Latur was the worst affected district, with nine people dying after they were struck by lightning, while seven were killed in Aurangabad, six in Beed, five in Jalna, three in Parbhani and four in Nanded.
Cable operators against entertainment tax
Monday, June 19, 2006 | AY
The Maharashtra cable operators are planning to launch a stir against the proposed 50 per cent increase in entertainment tax, the token strike will include a cable blackout across the state in case talks with the state government scheduled next week do not bear results. The Maharashtra government has announced its intent of hiking entertainment tax on cable connections from the earlier Rs 30 to Rs 45 per subscriber per month in urban areas. The case of the cable operators is that the Maharashtra government has lowered the entertainment tax on direct to-home (DTH) connections from Rs 90 to Rs 30 per month per subscriber. The new entertainment tax rates have been deferred till the government-sponsored survey establishes the number of cable connections provided by each operator.
Green oscar for biogas, human power
Sunday, June 18, 2006 | AY
Indian enterprises have won two of the five Ashden Awards for sustainable energy for 2006, popularly known as Green Oscars and a cash prize of 30,000 pounds each. The organisations which have won the award include Appropriate Technology Institute (AARTI), Pune, for the design of a revolutionary biogas system that generates gas for cooking from food waste and other sugary and starchy material. The other is International Development Enterprises of India (IDEI) which has been behind the manufacture and distribution of 510,000 treadle pumps — a simple device that uses human power to pump water from wells, streams and lakes up onto the fields allowing farmers to grow crops all the year round.
Jazeera Airways to Mumbai
Saturday, June 17, 2006 | AY
Jazeera Airways, Kuwait's new national airline and the first private airline in the Middle East, today announced it will start direct flights to New Delhi and Mumbai starting July 1st. With its entry into the market eight months ago, the airline changed the travel sector in Kuwait with its introduction of low-fares, 24-hour online booking and payment (through jazeeraairways.com), seat reservation at the time of booking, and sms booking - making it the fifth airline in the world and the first in the Middle East to introduce this service.
Lata Mangeshkar award for Marathi singers
Saturday, June 17, 2006 | AY
Veteran Marathi musician Snehal Bhatkar and playback singer Manna Dey have been selected for the prestigious Lata Mangeshkar award for 2004 and 2005 respectively. The two have been selected for the award, which was instituted by the Maharashtra Government nearly 15 years ago. Snehal Bhatkar is the father of veteral Marathi actor Ramesh Bhatkar, while Manna Dey is versatile playback singer, who has sung many melodious songs like 'aye mere pyare watan', 'tu pyar ka sagar hai', 'jhoomta mausam mast mahina', 'pyar hua ikraar hua' and many more.
IIT alumni global conference
Saturday, June 17, 2006 | AY
The IIT Alumni 2006 Global Conference is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from December 23-25, 2006. The conference was held in Washington last year. The theme of the conference is ‘Inspire IITians to involve and transform India’. They expect to have participation from 4,000-5,000 people for this event. PanIIT is a global association of alumni from all the seven IITs.
Majhi Goshta
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 | AY
THE Nodal Association for Mentally Ill (NAMI) and the Bombay Psychiatric Society organised the screening of a film on World Schizophrenia Day on May 24. The Marathi film, Majhi Goshta, was screened with English sub-titles at the Russian Cultural Centre, and its a true lifestory of a college student who develops schizophrenic tendencies on paranoia that he will be arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation. So whenever he hears a fire brigade or any other siren, he panics and develops suicidal tendencies. However, the story is about the patient’s recovery and being able to lead a normal life. Globally, 1 per cent of the population suffers from schizophrenia.
TCS to set up 5,000-seat campus
Tuesday, June 13, 2006 | AY
IT consultancy and services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will invest Rs 500 crore to set up a 5,000-seat campus in Pune, even as it is planning to hire 9,000 people from Maharashtra in the current financial year. The Tata company will set up the facility at its Hinjewadi IT park and has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government. The facility would be set up phase-III development project of Hinjewadi IT Park, which is a part of MIDC-promoted Special Economic Zone. The company will invest up to Rs 500 crore in the facility to create a capacity of 5,000 seats. In the long-term, there are plans to ramp up the centre's capacity to 10,000 seats.
Malayasian govt opens visa office
Monday, June 12, 2006 | AY
The Malaysian government has confirmed that they are planning to open a visa office in Mumbai. They would also be granting multiple visas to Indians willing to travel to Malaysia for leisure and work purposes. The aim of these new steps taken by the government is to promote tourism to Malaysia, as they want more travelers from India to visit the country. These new decisions were announced by Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohammad Najib Tun Razak while he was speaking at the launch of the Malaysia India CEO Forum in Mumbai.
Tata invests in Pune
Sunday, June 11, 2006 | AY
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will invest Rs 500 crore in its new software development facility that it is planning in Pune. It has signed an MoU with the State government to acquire 50 acres of land to set up a development facility in Hinjewadi Phase III, which is part of the Special Economic Zone promoted by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The facility will initially have a capacity of 5,000 seats, which will be ramped up to 10,000 seats in the long term. Pune is emerging as promising IT hub for companies and TCS plans to play an integral role in the further development of the local economy by working with academic institutions and help train and develop talent in the region and the state.
Dombivali Fast
Saturday, June 10, 2006 | AY
A special screening of the critically acclaimed Marathi film Dombivali Fast was held to celebrate its silver jubilee week on June 2 at The Red Lounge at Cinemax, Versova. The screening was attended by Sachin Pilgaonkar, Riteish Deshmukh, Mahesh Manjrekar amongst others. Dombivali Fast was also a part of the recently concluded Marathi Film Festival at Cinemax, Wondermall, Thane. Directed by Nishikant Kamat, the film stars Sandeep Kulkarni as the main protoganist. A winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival at Los Angeles, USA, the film has also won several Maharashtra State Awards. It even completed its 25 weeks at City Pride, Pune.
Radio One reports football from Germany
Saturday, June 10, 2006 | AY
The BBC will deliver the news and excitement of FIFA World Cup in Germany to the listeners of the Mumbai-based radio station, Radio One. BBC reporter Manak Gupta will file daily regular reports, interviews and other stories from various venues in Germany. There also will be packages about World Cup history, main players and profiles of the participating national teams and the countries they represent as well as other football trivia specially produced by the BBC. For the record, Radio One is a joint venture between Mid-Day Multimedia and BBC Worldwide for operating FM radio stations in India.
Fuel price cut to be finalised next week
Saturday, June 10, 2006 | AY
Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that the decision to bring down petrol and diesel prices by reducing incremental sales tax as suggested by the Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is being considered by the state government. Deora has already requested the states to share some burden of the recent Rs four and Rs two hike in prices of petrol and diesel, by not charging or partially charging sales tax on the hiked amount of the revised price. Currently, the state charges around 30 per cent tax on these fuels. With prices being hiked, the incremental amount would also be charged with similar amount of tax.
No merit list in Maharashtra
Wednesday, June 7, 2006 | AY
To reduce the performance-related stress on students, the Maharashtra state board of secondary and higher secondary education has decided to abolish merit lists for the secondary school and higher secondary certificate (SSC/HSC) examinations from next academic year. Also on cards is a grade system similar to the one used by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), from 2008. Bchairman Vasant Kalpande said taht by doing this way, it will reduce the undue importance attached to the merit list and subsequent disappointment suffered by other students.
MTDC charts out a new plan
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 | AY
The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation has tied up with foreign public relation agencies in Japan, the UK, Germany and the US for publicising the Deccan Odyssey train, abroad to get more tourists this season. The MTDC will advertise and have publicity campaigns through private operators and the Government of India tourist offices abroad to make the train available for charter-booking during its off-season months from May to September. Moreover, it is attempting a tie-up with Star Cruises for a train-cruise package. So far, the Deccan Odyssey, MTDC’s ambitious palace-on-wheels has had a dismal record. Staffed by 50 including beauticians, health instructors, attendants and a chef, the palatial, 21-coach Odyssey often has almost no Indian guests and only a few foreign ones on board for the seven-day journey that costs USD 2,450 per head.
Sahil who is accused in Rahul case, wanted in other cases too
Monday, June 5, 2006 | AY
Sahil Zaroo, the Kashmiri youth held for allegedly procuring drugs for late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's son Rahul, is wanted here for jumping anticipatory bail in a shahtoosh shawls case. Sahil, a student of Saint Xaviers College here, runs a Kashmiri artefacts shop at a hotel in South Mumbai and was booked under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act for allegedly selling shahtoosh shawls, the sale of which is banned. During the raid, police seized some shawls, but Sahil allegedly gave the slip to the police. He then moved a local court and secured anticipatory bail. However, he did not attend subsequent court proceedings, prompting the court to announce he was wanted in the case.
Pailteer
Sunday, June 4, 2006 | AY
Pailteer, which was shot at Toranto, Ontario, Naigara Falls in Canada is releasing on June 2. Produced by Atul Soman and co-produced by Anand Mundra, it has story, screenplay and direction by Shyam Joshi, dialogue by Abhay Paranjpe, cinematography by Gurjeet Man, editing by Shabaz Sheth, art by Rita Kang, music by Shrirang Aras and lyrics by Rohini Ninave. It stars Arun Nalawade, Rama Joshi, Dipali Bhosle, Atul Soman, Prakash Date and Leena Devdhre.
Rahul Mahajen in Apollo hospital
Saturday, June 3, 2006 | AY
Exactly a month after Pramod Mahajan died of gunshot injuries, it ended with an equally bizarre confession by three youths who claimed Mahajan’s son Rahul and secretary Bibek Maitra consumed a “deadly combination” of champagne and cocaine last night at 7. While Bibek died before he could receive medical attention, Rahul is battling for life at the Apollo Hospital. While Bibek died before he could receive medical attention, Rahul is battling for life at the Apollo Hospital. Later that night, the three youths—identified as Karan, Trishay and Rahul— “surrendered” at the Mandir Marg police station.
British Airways exclusive check-in area in Mumbai Airport
Saturday, June 3, 2006 | AY
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport now has the British Airways' exclusive check-in area for its premium customers. British Airways' first, club world customers, gold and silver card members, now need not stand in long queues at the airport, as they will have a facility of a dedicated 'premium check-in' area. The new check-in facility, launched on Wednesday, is not only aimed at enhancing flexibility and convenience, but also to provide its customers sufficient leisure time either at home or to enjoy the airways' lounge at Mumbai airport.
Heavy rains takes the lives of people
Saturday, June 3, 2006 | AY
The intensity of the monsoon has come down since yesterday in most parts of the State, except for Ratnagiri district in Konkan region, which recorded 118mm of rain during the period. At least 35 persons have died in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra. Due to the heavy rains in Konkan, the timetable of Konkan Railways has been modified and trains on the route were running late.
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