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Maharashtra News Archive: October 2006
Microsense to deploy Wi-Max networks
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 | AY
Leading WAN & WiFi solutions provider, Microsense has announced its readiness to offer end-to-end WiMax solutions across the country. At present, Pune and Bangalore are front-runners in providing citywide broadband wireless access, launched by respective government authorities. Microsense has successfully completed a RF Blueprint for WiMax and Metro Wi-Fi deployment in Pune along with Intel and the Pune Municipal Corporation. The company says that it has been short-listed by the Govt. of Karnataka as the top vendor for its Unwire Bangalore initiative. Microsense claims to be the only Indian company having capabilities for offering end-to-end solutions in the WiMax space: designing, planning, equipment supply, deployment and management.
Buddha relics enshrined in Mumbai
Monday, October 30, 2006 | AY
The holy relics of Gautam Buddha were on Sunday enshrined in a 90-foot pagoda, built entirely of stone, at Gorai Island in the northern end of the city. The relics were enshrined atop the dome of the global Vipassana pagoda. The relics were given to the Vipassana foundation by the Maha Bodhi Society in 1997. The pagoda has the capacity to seat 9,000 people, and the vibrations of the relics will help in meditation. The first phase of the pagoda was completed at a cost of Rs 65 crore and another Rs 35 crore is needed for completing the second and third phases.
Mahajan's daughter ready to join BJP
Monday, October 30, 2006 | AY
BJP is now set to welcome Poonam Rao(daughter of Pramod Mahajen). Both Rahul and Poonam, who have vast resources at their command, are politically ambitious and they plan to make Maharashtra their political turf. Sources in the party said Poonam is more articulate and capable than Rahul and more importantly she is free of any controversy.
Studio worth Rs.5 bn in Mumbai
Saturday, October 28, 2006 | AY
Vashu Bhagnani has some big plans - an acting school, a film to launch his son and, most ambitious of all, a Rs.5 billion studio in Mumbai on the lines of Universal Studios. He met the chief minister of Maharashtra (Vilasrao Deshmukh) for land for a fully-equipped film studio that would become the pride of the Mumbai film industry. Bhagnani said the studio would hold auctions to raise money for needy people.
Indian Panorama at IFFI-2006
Friday, October 27, 2006 | AY
Selection of feature and non - feature films were announced by the Juries for the Indian Panorama 2006 today. The two juries have recommended 20 films each for the two sections of Indian Panorama. The juries have also recommended that the Tamil film Sringaram directed by Sharada Ramanathan and Sonam a film directed by the upcoming filmmaker Ahsan Muzid in an Arunachali dialect Monpa will represent India in the Asian, African and Latin American Competition section of the IFFI-2006. This year the feature films Jury was headed by the noted filmmaker Shri Saeed Akhtar Mirza and had its members noted Tamil filmmaker Vasanth S M, renowned Actress from Marathi Cinema Aditi Deshpandey, veteran filmmaker from Assam, Pulak Gogoi and film festival organizers George Mathew from Kerala and U Radhakrishnan from Delhi as members.
Rs 476 cr for Pune BRTS project
Friday, October 27, 2006 | AY
The Centre today approved Rs 476 crore for the first phase of developing the Bus Rapid Transit System on 12 Pune roads under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The allocated Rs 476 crore would be used to develop BRTS on a road length of 55 kms spanning 12 corridors including the Shivane-Kharadi road along the Mula-Mutha rivers and Sinhagad road. The other roads on which the BRTS would be implemented include Vishrantwadi-Dhanori road, Alandi road, Baner road, Paud road and Karve Road. The BRTS project aims at solving city’s traffic problems and strengthening the public transport. The BRTS will comprise two continuous lanes dedicated to motor vehicles and buses, running in both the directions.
Vision Mumbai project
Thursday, October 26, 2006 | AY
The World Bank could lend up to $ 5 billon to Maharashtra for modernising and developing infrastructure in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Besides the finance, the World Bank was willing to supply its technical expertise and share its experience for such projects. Maharashtra has prepared a plan document, Vision Mumbai, which seeks to transform the metropolis and adjacent urban areas in the neighbouring districts of Thane and Raigad, into a world-class mega city at the capital outlay of $ 60 billion.
Traffic Signal
Thursday, October 26, 2006 | AY
Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, known for his real-life dramas and unconventional storytelling, said the film, titled "Traffic Signal", would portray 60 characters from the mean streets of Mumbai. Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, known for his real-life dramas and unconventional storytelling, said the film, titled "Traffic Signal", would portray 60 characters from the mean streets of the sprawling metropolis. "Traffic Signal" is expected to be released in January and Bhandarkar said he planned to show it at national and international film festivals.
Punjab beat Maharashtra 2-1
Thursday, October 26, 2006 | AY
Punjab scripted a fine rally to pip Maharashtra 2-1 and book their place in the final of the 61st Santosh Trophy national football championship. The final would also provide an opportunity for Punjab to break their nearly 20-year title drought in the national championship. Skipper Abhishek Yadav had put Maharashtra ahead in the 43rd minute when he tapped home a superb centre from the industrious Paresh Shivalkar. The goal came against the run of play as Maharashtra was clearly the better side till then.
Maati Maay
Sunday, October 22, 2006 | AY
Although her debut venture "Maati Maay" has been critically acclaimed overseas, Marathi director Chitra Palekar is facing difficulties finding distributors for the movie in her own country. Palekar's "Maati Maay" starring Nandita Das and Atul Kulkarni was recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and received an overwhelming response. The film has been released in a limited way in Pune and similarly it is to be released in Mumbai Nov 17. Maati Maay" is based on a story by Mahasweta Devi and tells the tale of a woman who works in a graveyard. Her job is to bury the bodies of small children.
ICC awards shortlists to be announced
Sunday, October 22, 2006 | AY
ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed will tomorrow announce the shortlists for this year's ICC awards at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. The short-lists for men's seven individual awards and the ICC spirit of cricket award will be revealed based on votes submitted by members of the 56-member voting academy. The academy members were asked to vote for players nominated by a selection panel chaired by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.
IFFI in Mumbai
Friday, October 20, 2006 | AY
The 10-day International Film Festival of India (IFFI), starting here from November 23 and showcasing films from 40 countries, would open with Volver, a Spanish film directed by Pedro Almodovar starring Penelope Cruz and Carmen Maura. Babel directed by Alejandro Gonzalez (Mexico), starring Kate Blanchett and Brad Pitt would be the closing film for the festival. The highlight of this festival would be Asian, African and Latin American competition section which will be screened before five-member international jury chaired by Olf de Heer, an award winning Australian director.The golden award will be given to the best film while the silver peacock will be given to the most promising director.Special Jury Award will be given to the director of a film for his individual artistic contribution. IFFI 2006 has nominated five curators for various sections of the festival— Ms Malti Sahai (Country Focus), Uma de Cunha (Film India Worldwide), Deepa Gehlot (Indian Premiers), Sudhir Nandgaonkar (Foreign Retro), and Vijay Singh (Master Classes).
HC asks Sushmita to pay Rs. 2.16 lakh
Friday, October 20, 2006 | AY
The Bombay High Court today directed actress Sushmita Sen to pay octroi duty of Rs 2.16 lakhs on her Toyota Landcruiser to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) within three weeks. The court also directed that as regards the penalty for not paying octroi, which is ten times the octroi amount, the Corporation will give a hearing to Sushmita. The court also directed the actress to give a bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakhs in favour of the Corporation. Sushmita had challenged the levy of octroi and penalty by MCGM in the High Court.
Website for marathi cinema
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 | AY
www.marathitaraka.com, a first of it kind website dedicated to Marathi Cinema was launched on 12th Oct at MIG club Bandra, Mumbai. The site was launched at a gala event by the Icon of the Marathi film industry Nilu Phule & Ace photographer Gautam Rajadhyakshya along with Hon. Minister for Co-operation, Relief, Rehabilitation of State Shri. Patangrao Kadam. Website has three main segments viz., Maratahi Tarka Athvanitil ( In Memories ). Marathi Taraka Hridayatil (In Hearts), Marathi Taraka Aajchya (Current Actresses).
Coca Cola rolls out new strategies
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 | AY
Coca Cola company will launch several premium products in Mumbai. These include its Minute Maid fruit juice and mineral water Aquarius. The company will test market the products in Mumbai before it takes them national.
Power shortage in Mumbai
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 | AY
The state energy minister Dileep Walse-Patil asked Tata Power Company (TPC) and Reliance Energy Limited (REL) to sort out their differences on the issue of signing transmission agreement in two days so that additional power can be supplied to Mumbai and the city is spared of power cuts. The Mumbai's demand for power is around 2,600 Mw and both TPC and REL together are able to supply only 2300 Mw at present. Both TPC and REL claimed that, additional power is available and it can be brought into the city as well provided transmission agreement is signed and both the parties are blaming each other for non signing of the agreement.
Busiest US visa processing post in Mumbai
Monday, October 16, 2006 | AY
With US Consulate General here initiating steps to eliminate backlog of visa applications, Mumbai is all set to become the leading non-immigrant US visa processing post in the world. Mumbai is at present the 12th busiest non-immigrant visa processing post in the world with Mexico and Seoul being the leading posts. The US consulate would shift to a new building at Bandra-Kurla complex in 2008. The Mumbai Consulate has added over 8,000 appointment dates to the schedule for the next thee months and would continue to add appointments on a daily basis.
Film on Ambedkar to be released
Sunday, October 15, 2006 | AY
Director Jabbar Patel's film on the architect of the Indian Constitution Babasaheb Ambedkar is all set to hit cinemas in nine languages in two phases on October 27 and November 3. The lead role of Ambedkar has been played by Mammootty, the superstar of Malayalam film industry, while Bollywood actress Sonali Kulkarni, Sushant Kumar and Mohan Gokhale are the other actors of the film, to be released in English, Hindi, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, Gujarati, Bangla, Telugu and Kannada.
Mumbai-bound Air India flight stranded at the airport
Sunday, October 15, 2006 | AY
More than 300 passengers of a Mumbai-bound Air India flight have been stranded in Heathrow, for three days after the Boeing 747-400 was grounded at the airport following a bird hit. The New York-London-New Delhi-Mumbai flight with 434 passengers returned to Heathrow within 20 minutes of taking off on Thursday night following what officials said was a "technical fault" that forced the pilot to dump fuel before landing. Air India sources in Mumbai said the aircraft was grounded due to heavy ingestion in one of its engines after it was hit by a bird.
Congress, NCP alone in local body polls
Sunday, October 15, 2006 | AY
The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, partners in Maharashtra's ruling alliance, will contest forthcoming elections to local self-government bodies in the state independently. The Congress has authorised local units in places where polls are due to take a decision on poll alliance. The opposition Sena-BJP alliance is in power in the BMC.
World GameMaster Tournament
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 | AY
Mumbai will host the Grand Finale ‘World GameMaster Tournament’ one of the largest PC gaming competitions in 2006 to be held over 20 countries, on October 14 and 15. Nine teams were chosen from the qualifiers to compete in the National Finale in India. The theme for this event is rightly called ‘Let’s Game’. The WGT preliminaries took place in four cities in India and ASUS provided its latest gaming solutions to the country’s elite players.
Google earth rescues Maharashtra farmers
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 | AY
Roughly 140 kilometre from Mumbai, farmers are turning to technology to fight for their rights. Four months ago, the farmers of Pen taluka in Raigad district were told the state government was acquiring their land to help build the 25,000 acre Maha Mumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Initially state authorities claimed that only a small portion of the earmarked land is fertile and that some parts of it is submerged by salty creek water, meaning lower compensation for the farmers. But Google Earth has come to the rescue and its satellite pictures clearly indicate crop areas. This has helped farmers back their claims for higher compensation.
Mumbai ATC to be relocated
Monday, October 9, 2006 | AY
The Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at the Mumbai international airport will be relocated in the next few years. There will be no parallel runway in addition to the existing runways. Instead, the cross runway operations will be strengthened. Three gates designed for the double-decker A-380, the world’s largest and yet-to-fly aircraft, will be in place by 2010. Dubbed as the ‘‘toughest airport assignment’’ in aviation circles, the modernisation and upgradation of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) will be done at a cost of Rs 5,800 crore over the next seven years by MIAL.
Mega marathi concert by Asha
Sunday, October 8, 2006 | AY
Melody queen Asha Bhonsle is all set to woo her fans by singing in an all Marathi concert next week; The show, expected to draw a mega Maharashtrian crowd, will take place on October 28 in Thane; There is another exciting offer for Asha by maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma, an invitation to lend her voice to her late husband R D Burman's memorable song, Mehbooba Mehbooba, from Sholay, which is now being remade by the director.
Marathi news channel 24 Tas
Saturday, October 7, 2006 | AY
Zee News Ltd (ZNL), plans to invest Rs 1 billion on a new news channel. 24 Tas (24 hours), as such, will become the first channel in the Marathi news space. Zee already runs a Bengali news channel through a joint venture with Akash Bangla. The company expects to post a 33 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years to touch revenue of Rs 8.7 billion by FY 2011, up from Rs 2.01 billion in FY 2005-06.
Mumbai elephants receive microchips
Saturday, October 7, 2006 | AY
Elephants in Mumbai are to receive microchip 'licence plates' to crack down on begging and traffic problems. The plan follows concern about the welfare of Mumbai's elephants, which are mainly used in religious functions. The implants cost 200 rupees ($4.40) and will be ready to be implanted into the animals' ears over the next month. It was necessary to use the rice grain-sized implants because some elephant owners had been faking their registration certificates by taking photocopies of other owners' licences.
Energy city near Mumbai
Saturday, October 7, 2006 | AY
Energy city worth $2 billion, is coming up in Mumbai, with the Maharashtra government signing a memorandum of understanding today with Gulf Finance House, a Bahrain-based investment bank. The energy city concept involves master planning and construction of an integrated business centre that offers complete infrastructure for leading oil and gas producers, downstream refiners, producers, support services and shipping and energy trading services. The bank has identified three different locations around Navi Mumbai and is offering to buy land at prevailing market prices.
Mighty Heart
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 | AY
The city of Pune is all set to host to two high profile international celebrities, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who are scheduled to arrive in the city to shoot a film based on the life of slain American journalist, Daniel Pearl. Both the actors are expected in Pune to start the shoot of the film "Mighty Heart", the story of a journalist, Daniel Pearl, who was beheaded in 2002 in Pakistan, while he was probing the 9/11 trade tower bombings. The film is based on the memoirs of his wife Marian Pearl and trails the journey and the tribulation faced by the couple. The fact that the city bears a resemblance to Karachi and Islamabad, where the films events actually unfolded, made Pune, a preferred choice for the shoot.
FAM to decide on indefinite strike
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 | AY
The apex body of traders, Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM) would take a decision on October 13 on its proposed indefinite strike in protest against the state government's decision to implement Value Added Tax (VAT) on essential foodgrains. From October 27 the traders will stop purchasing goods and auctions at mandies while the centres of trade will halt their activities. Meanwhile a one-day token bandh was today observed all over Maharashtra by all major associatios, chambers and APMC markets to protest against VAT on essential commodities.
Umrao Jaan's music release took place in Mumbai
Monday, October 2, 2006 | AY
J P Dutta's Umrao Jaan's music was launched on Saturday night at Mumbai's Hyatt regency by Lata Mageshkar. It is a story from the 19th century being told in the 21st century, so it had to be kept in mind that it has the flavour of the 19th century music but it should have the sensibilities of the 21st century. Remake or original, JP Dutta's Umrao Jaan has already generated enough interest and hype. One of the most eagerly awaited films of the year, it's set to release on November 3.
Quake hits Maharashtra and Gujarat
Sunday, October 1, 2006 | AY
Two moderate intensity quakes shook Maharashtra and Gujarat on Saturday. The tremor measuring 2.5 on the Richter Scale, recorded at 0523 hours, was epicentred at Latitude 17.4 degree North and Longitude 73.8 degree East of Koyana region of the state, about 135 km from Pune. The second slight intensity quake measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale was recorded at 0547 hours. It was epicentred at Latitude 21.9 degree North and Longitude 69.8 degree East of southwest of Gujarat, about 517 km from Pune.
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