REPORT ABOUT PUNE IN CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Hi,

Pune is emerging one of the fastes developing city in India. Its said that its oxford of the east. Forget about that but it is Cultural and Educational Capital of India. This city gives many Social Revolutionary, Freedom fighters, Educationalist and Thinkers to India.

Automobile and Mechanical Industries are the backbone of the Pune and its twin city Pimpri-Chinchwad. After that now Pune is emering as Cyber city and many companies are coming to Pune. Many international companies are running towards Pune. It includes software and Automobile industry also.

Though we have not good roads and our infrastructure is not as good as foreign countries, we love Pune and we are trying to change the face of the city. There are many obstacles in it. But many peoples are trying hard to maintain the face of the city.

Here is one interesting story compiled by foreign journalist. She spoke to only IT people and herself filed a story. Everyone should go through this story and mail ur comments to my blog and Chicago Tribune also.

Sleepy city in India goes boom

India : Once a slow backwater known as Pensioners' Paradise, this small Indian city is now bursting at the seams. It is at the forefront of India's economic boom, a microcosm of both the country's incredible growth and its struggles to overcome ramshackle roads and baffling bureaucracy.

At the same time, Pune seems stuck between old India and new India: More people here use computers than in any other city in the country, and it hopes to be India's first city with high-speed wireless Internet service for all. Yet Pune has no road rules, no taxi service, only one airport runway and signs in sleek corporate buildings that show people how to use Western toilets.

"Pune was once a sleepy, sloppy city with no growth," said Darius Buhariwalla, general manager of the Hotel Sagar Plaza, where rooms are guaranteed only by booking a month in advance. "Now, every day there's such a lot of change going on, that we ourselves don't know what's going to happen next. But we do know one thing--people are just not willing to say `stop.' "In its sheer numbers, the growth of Pune is staggering.The city is spilling over its limits, with a population that grew from 2.54 million in 2001 to an estimated 3.19 million this year.

Every day, government officials say, people register more than 400 new vehicles in Pune. About 4,000 people fly in and out daily, compared with a year ago, when only 1,800 people did.Land prices have shot up, doubling in certain neighborhoods in the past two years. The skyline is a series of construction sites, where more than 40 million square feet of building space is being developed this year, the equivalent of the space in about nine Sears Towers, according to government figures.Twenty shopping malls are now being built.

Fueled by an influx of information-technology companies with gleaming new buildings and the promise of biotechnology, Pune now has the highest per capita income in India, about $1,030 per year. With 126 small colleges, each teaching an average of 150 students, the city is described in India as the Oxford of the East, churning out thousands of information-technology graduates.

The city, near India's west coast, has developed so explosively for a combination of reasons. It's close to the major business hub of Mumbai while offering a milder climate and a qualified labor pool to fill new jobs. Unlike congested larger cities, Pune has had room and inexpensive land for companies to grow. Government incentives helped build Pune as a manufacturing hub in the 1960s and then as an information-technology hub in the 1990s.

But at certain points, Pune's identity problem is all too evident.At the Best Western Pride Hotel, under serious, sleep-disrupting renovation, clerks make the mistake of sending guests to their rooms with electronic key cards although the rooms can be opened only with actual keys.And some instruction is needed about the new Western toilets for residents more accustomed to traditional Indian ones. "Please do not use it if you are not aware of its utility," a sign says above the Western toilet at Persistent Systems, a software development company."The way I would describe [Pune] is a village turning into a bigger village, turning into kind of a town, and wanting to be a city," said Girish Wardadkar, the president and executive director of KPIT Cummins Infosystems Limited, a consulting and information technology company.

If Pune does not make improvements, it runs the risk of turning into Bangalore, the country's original information-technology darling, where traffic and infrastructure snarls have forced some companies to flee.Hotels are strapped. With an average occupancy rate of 84 percent between April and June, Pune had the highest occupancy rate in India, according to industry figures.There are only 1,100 decent hotel rooms in the city, said Hotel Sagar Plaza's Buhariwalla, also the treasurer of Pune's hotel association.

By 2012, there will be 4,500 rooms, if all the planned construction happens. At least 13,000 new hotel employees will be needed. "I don't know where they're going to come from," Buhariwalla said. Amritaksha Chatterjee, the front office manager for Le Meridien, one of Pune's two nicest hotels, said he was shocked by one run-down hotel that was charging up to $150 a night."Forget it, we won't talk about such rooms," he said.

The Pune Airport, one of the only ones in India shared between the public and the Indian air force, has only one runway, which served about 10 passenger flights a day four years ago and now juggles more than 30. The airport is being renovated, but it's unlikely the government will be able to find land nearby for another runway. A second airport may have to be built.

Traffic on the city's narrow roads is occasionally at a standstill. Hand-painted trucks with "Horn OK Please" painted on rear bumpers play chicken on crowded roads with new SUVs. Chaos rules. On a Wednesday evening at 7:30, driving 1 mile took 40 minutes.

Pune Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said traffic is the worst problem. Three years ago, the city spent almost $11 million to build and repair roads. This year, it will spend five times as much, Kareer said.Huge bureaucracy Change here, as in much of India, often happens in spite of government, not because of it.That's not necessarily because officials lack vision. Kareer, the area's top official, is well-regarded in the business community.

Instead, this is largely because of the huge Indian bureaucracy and the glacial pace it takes to accomplish anything.For instance, in October, just when the city's wireless project was about to start, the central government announced new rules for going wireless. But these regulations have not yet been approved. Meanwhile, the project waits.Private companies paid for the expressway between Mumbai and Pune in 2000.

After the increasing demand on Pune's power system, leading to power cuts of five hours a day, 20 top companies agreed last summer to generate their power for six to eight hours a day, lowering the demand on city power." Anything here that is private is among the best in the world," said Kerman Kasad, the head of corporate communications for Symantec Corp. in Pune. "But whatever the government tries to do is among the worst in the world. ... The moment you talk about government, the first thing that comes to mind is run away."

Financial Controlling of Soccer

Soccer Premier League : Ultimate Toy for Rich Boys

English Premier League clubs are being bought by overseas investors because they offer potentially huge returns thanks to their large regular incomes, lucrative television revenues and international brand values.

Despite FIFA president Sepp Blatter saying this week that the biggest threat facing the game was foreign investors wanting football to serve them instead of them serving the game, English clubs continue to prove attractive to men with large sums to spend.

West Ham United became the sixth Premier League club to be acquired by overseas interests this week with Icelandic Eggert Magnusson, 59, a member of UEFA's Executive Committee, leading a consortium backed by billionaire compatriot Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson.They have paid 161.5 million dollar to acquire the club whose major, but sporadic, successes since they were formed in 1900 have come in cup competitions.

West Ham have never been champions of England but famously did provide three players -- Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters -- to the England side that won the World Cup in 1966.Whether West Ham will ever be able to challenge the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea and establish themselves as serious contenders for major honours is open to doubt but there is no questioning the potential of the club whose home at Upton Park in east London holds 35,000.That capacity could double if they were to move into the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 London Games.

BOYS' TOYS Analyst Bill Gerrard of Leeds University Business School says that a club's past history does not really have a bearing on its future potential for a big-money investor.''The English Premiership is the top domestic football league in the world,'' he said.''It's got the best international coaches and players. It attracts an international audience and is the ultimate toy for the very rich boy.''

Analyst Alan Switzer of Deloitte & Touche said the financial and promotional lure of the Premier League could not be ignored.''The top 20 Premiership clubs generated combined revenue of 2.59 billion dollar in 2004-05, with its nearest rival the Italian Serie A at 1.73 billion dollar,'' he told Reuters.''English clubs benefit from modern stadiums with extensive corporate facilities hence higher ticket prices than elsewhere in Europe. The clubs are very successful at extracting value from their stadia.''

The trend of non-British businessmen buying English football clubs started when Egyptian businessman, and owner of top London department store Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed bought Fulham FC in 1997 for 49 million dollar. In 2003 Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea for 99.50 million dollar.Texan oil billionaire Martin Glazer paid 1.41 billion dollar to acquire Manchester United in 2004, while Aston Villa's new owner is another American tycoon, Randy Lerner, who bought the club for 119 million dollar.Russian-French businessman Alexandre Gaydamak bought Portsmouth in 2006 for 58.46 million dollar from its former owner and another overseas investor, Milan Mandaric.

BUSINESS SIDE The number may rise as Liverpool, previously approached by ex-Thai Prime Minister and telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, continues takeover talks with American entrepreneur George Gillett.Of Europe's top five soccer-playing nations, German clubs had the largest average league match attendance last season at 40,800 per game.England were second with an average of 33,800 followed by Spain, 28,500, France, 21,700 and Italy, 21,500.

However, English clubs generate the highest television revenues at an estimated 1.08 billion dollar per season from 2007-08.''Premiership club brands benefit from their great exposure,'' Switzer said.''The global appeal of the Premiership is illustrated by the expected 50 per cent increase in overseas TV rights for the new deals from 2007-08.'' English clubs are also more accessible to foreign businessmen than their European counterparts because a number of them are publicly-owned companies listed on the Stock Exchange.

''The largest Spanish clubs are owned by their members which makes them more difficult to take over than the listed clubs.Some Italian clubs are listed but others are held by powerful Italian figures or companies who to date have not wished to sell,'' Switzer added.The trend has been welcomed by Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson who said that although clubs were not run on a break-even basis and businessmen risked losing millions, owners ultimately wanted returns on their team's performances.

(Thanks to REUTERS)

A Mighty Actress, Angelina

Hollywood Actress and Shooting in Pune

Hollywood’s famous actress Angelina Jolie was in the Pune for last one and half month. During these days all the media persons and punites were following Angelina where she goes. First few days she kept herself aloof and no one got her pictures. But one day Angelina and Brad Pitt were caught in Auto. They were going to see the prominent places in Pune and take the ride of city.

At that time Media persons take as many as photos they can and publish the stories about Angelina and Brad. Next day one newspaper published the interview of the auto driver in which both were traveled. After that many stories regarding ‘Brangelina’ and `A Mighty Movie` came in Media. Shooting of the movie was taking place in Sindh Society near Aundh in Pune. Many stories related to shooting and shopping of Angelina get place in Media. But everybody did not know stories, which give some extra information about A Mighty Heart. No one is allowed at Shooting and Media persons were strictly kept away was the main reason for that.

There is one interesting story regarding `A Mighty Movie`. It is heard that in that movie one House worker from slum is acting with Angelina. She is from Pune’s suburb and she is an Urdu Speaking woman. She and her 3 years old girl child is in the movie as per the information we get. After abduction of Angelina’s Husband that woman and Angelina are shown together in many scenes. That woman is caretaker of Angelina’s child and child is nothing but that woman’s own daughter. That woman is working as cleaner in homes. Director of the movie searched many slums and they choose that girl child first and then her mother to act in movie.

Those people were living in just 10 by 10 house in slum and they are real fortunate to get acting job with Angelina in movie. Every one want to take one photograph of Angelina and Brad but many of them didn’t get success. But the woman from slum who did not pronounce Angelina’s Name properly is the co artist with Angelina is nothing but the luck. Those people are also happy when they knew the greatness of Angelina and Brad. They are thankful to ‘Allah’ and all the crew of the movie as they co-operated well. But now mother and daughter are facing another problem as the media persons are going to their home for interview and they do not want to entertain the media. Movie men have told mother and her husband not to talk with any of media person. That’s why they not in the mood of giving interview.

On Urdu Theatre organization has also got good opportunity in this movie. That organization is working in Pune from last few years and they have performed in Most of the cities in India and in Pakistan also. Members of this organization are well aware of Urdu speaking and because of that they got job in the movie. They were shown in Mob and few of these artists were acted as neighbour of Angelina. They were also enjoyed the job and very excited when they were contacted by some media persons. All the crew including Angelina and Brad were present before time for the shooting and many times they didn’t take lunch because of the busy schedule. This thing is more important when we look towards Bollywood artists.This information was not published before anywhere. We have confirmed all the information and it is true according to us. Some of this information is also published in Pune’s local newspapers including some Marathi and English.

Mahesh Bhupati’s academy in Pune

Mahesh Bhupati’s academy in Pune

Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh
are new hot spots for tennis: Bhupati

Pune: India’s legendary Tennis Player Mahesh Bhupati is planning to open a Training Academy in Pune in 2007. This academy will be run under the guidance of Bhupati’s father Krishna and it will start from 1st of April or 1st of August.

Bhupati was in Pune today for the prize distribution of NECC-ITF Women Tennis Championship. Nugnanda Wannasuk of Thailand won the championship by beating Amina Rakhim of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. This is second major title for Wannasuk. She won her first title last year in Nigeria.

Speaking with media persons Bhupati said that India has a lot of talent in tennis, but the problem is of coaches and facilities available. India has only five or six coach who can train the players at international level. India requires more number of coaches. That is the worst part of it. But good thing is that day-by-day more corporate companies are sponsoring sports including tennis.

Currently after Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi now Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh are the new hot spots in India. We are planning to start tennis training academies in these cities within one year. In Pune we are identifying proper places for academy but still no place is finalized. Within few months we will final that and also select the coach for academy. City has produced many well-known international coaches like Nandan Bal, Nitin and Sandeep Kirtane. We can utilize their experience for academy, he added.

Mahesh once again clarified that he is playing with Leander peas in doubles in Doha Asian Games starting next month. With Leander in Doubles and with Shikha in Mixed doubles, we have good opportunity to win gold in Asian games. Though Leander and Sania is also a good combination, we are little bit ahead of them. In doubles we have to beat world no. one pair of china to win the gold, Bhupati told.

Ashish Chandorkar
ashishchandorkar@rediffmail.com

What u think about it?

Champions Trophy and Pawar Controversy!!!

After all Australian players apologized the Indian Cricket Control Board’s President Sharad Pawar. They have to apologies just because theirs behavior at the presentation of champions trophy on Sunday. This controversy has some points that may not be discussed by Indian Media but someone should think over it.

Mr. Pawar is famous for the thing that, he says one and does another. In his political carrier so many times Indian especially Maharashtrian peoples have experienced this. Habit of Mr. Pawar remains in Sports also. After ceremony of Champions Trophy this thing once again noticed.
When he didn’t get respectful treatment from Australian players his first reaction was that is okay and in game this things are going to happen. Aussies were in the mood of celebration. Aussies have won the Champions Trophy for the first time. Just because of that they want to celebrate that moment. It’s without intension and that’s why Indian media should not prolong this controversy by putting oil in it.

This is the reaction of Mr. Pawar while speaking with Indian Media. Though Pawar was not taking that incident seriously his supporters were angry and they were doing protest all over the India. Obviously with greater intensity in Maharashtra.

But after two days he speaks with Australian Daily Sydney Morning Herald. While speaking with that newspaper Mr. Pawar turned in 180 degrees to take completely different position over that issue. He reacted that, Australian Cricketers are totally uncivilized!!!! If Australians players are uncivilized then how Mr. Pawar didn’t get this idea when Indian Media Persons asked this question to him. Or within those two days Mr. Pawar knew this secret? What is the reason or strategy behind Mr. Pawars 180 degree turn is interesting. He always had done such things. He never does what he speaks and he never speaks whatever is in his mind. That’s the gimmick of Pawar Politics.

Actually Mr. Pawar might have waited for the reactions of Former cricketers and other persons from all corners of India. When he knew that from Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar to CM of Maharashtra Vilsasrao Deshmukh and all the political parties have protested against treatment to Pawar. Considering those reactions he might have reacted strongly against Australian Players while speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr. Pawar is always criticized the Indian Media Persons that they don’t research more and just ask questions with no proper information. Keeping that thing in mind Mr. Pawar may have bypassed the Indian Media Persons and speaked only with Australian Media persons. This is the worst thing in this controversy. Australian players have apologized Mr. Pawar, all the protesters are happy with that and there may not be any controversy after the apology. But the treatment given by Pawar to Indian Media Persons is not only wrong but everyone should think over it. At least Journalists and Media persons should!!!!!

Ashish Chandorkar.

ME and MY BOSS

ME and MY BOSS

• When I Take a long time to finish,I am slow,When my boss takes a long time, he is thorough
• When I don't do it,I am lazy,When my boss does not do it,he is busy,
• When I do something without being told,I am trying tobe smart,When my boss does the same, he takes the initiative,
• When I please my boss,I am apple polishing,When my boss pleases his boss,he is cooperating,
• When I make a mistake,you're an idiot.When my boss makes a mistake, he's only human.
• When I am out of the office,I am wondering around.When my boss is out of the office,he's on business.
• When I am on a day off sick,I am always sick.When my boss is a day off sick, he must be very ill.
• When I apply for leave,I must be going for an interview. When my boss applies for leave,
• When I do good,my boss never remembers, When I do wrong,he never forgets …….

Should Minorities Get Reservation?

Minorities : Look towards Indian Cricket Team

Reservation has become the one of the controversial issue in the country. After reservation for OBC's in higher education now someone minority organisations have doing demands that minorities should get reservation as they are not yet come up to the level of other majority citizens. Those who are doing such demands there is excellent example of Indian Cricket team.

Recently Indian Cricket squad was declared for South African tour. In this team there are total five Muslim Players. Zahir Khan, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel and Wasim Jaffer are those players that are from minority background get seat in Indian team. But most important thing is that those players are not there just because they are from minority religion. But they are in the team because of their quality performance.

Look towards background of these players, all these players are from poor family. Some of them are from villages and not from big cities. Zahir Khan is from Shrirampur that is in Ahmadnagar District of Maharashtra. He is hardworking and took lot of efforts that’s why he is there in Indian team. Munaf Patel is from Bharuch in Gujarat, which is also not that much big city. Irfan Pathan is from Vadodara but he also from poor family background. Same thing with Mohammad Kaif. He is from Lucknow. Nothing different with Wasim Jaffer. Though he is from India's Cricket Capital that is Mumbai, his father was for service in BEST. (Bombay Electric Supply and Transport). All these players have no cricketing background; this is one more important thing.

Just with hard work and natural talent these players get succeed to get berth in Indian cricket team. But this is not new thing for Indians. Our most successful captain till emergence of Sourav Ganguly was Mohammad Azharuddin. Who is also Muslim. But he took Indian team to new height under his captaincy. Though he caught in match fixing scandal no one can take objection to his contribution to Indian Cricket.

This starts from Mohammad Nissar who represented Indian cricket team in 1932. This year India played first test against England. Right from that the Muslim cricketers played their innings for India. Batsman Mushtaq Ali, Abbas ali beig, Gulam Ahmad, Medium pace bowler Abid Ali, Famous six hitter Salim Durrani, India's one of the best wicket Keeper Farooq Engineer and Syed Kirmani, Off spinner from Hyderabad Arshad Ayub and Wicket Keeper from Bengal Syed Saba Karim are some of the prominent Muslim Players who did remarkable job for India.

Not only that Iftikar Ali Khan Pataudi was the first Muslim Player to Captained the Indian team. He was captain of Indian team before independence. Gulam Ahmad was second minority captain of Indian team. He captained the team in 1948-49. Iftikar Ali's son Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was also becomes the captain of India team. He was the youngest captain of the world that time. After that era of Azharuddin started. He was the most successful captain of India before Sourav Ganguly.

Looking towards the history of Indian cricket team one can claim that there is quota system for players from different states of India. But there is not a single example of cricketer who registered his seat just because he is from minority. This is not the case with cricket only but the hockey and soccer have the same history regarding minorities. This is the case of sports where competition is most. If minorities can do well in sports they can rule the any walk of life if they do devotedly. That’s why there is no need of reservation for minorities.
Every one should think over it and do their best to get good results.

ashishchandorkar
ashishchandokrar@rediffmail.com