Tag: pune

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Kharcha paani

Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane on Smart Cities list

Maharashtra Government announces 10 cities from State on the country’s list, allots Rs 100 crore per city for the initiative.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

On the last day of the Monsoon Session of the State Legislature Friday, July 31, the State Government announced the names of Maharashtra’s 10 Smart Cities to be set up in the next 5 years. Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai are on the list, apart from Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kalyan-Dombivali, Amravati, Nashik, Solapur, Nagpur and Aurangabad.

The Smart Cities initiative envisages the setting up of, or creating, 100 Smart Cities in India. It aims at upgrading existing infrastructure, using technology to improve processes and quality of life, and ensure progress of each city so that more investment is attracted. The bigger plan is to create satellite cities around each Smart City to absorb rising population and set up new industrial and commercial districts.

The Centre has set aside a corpus of Rs 48,000 crore for this purpose. The plan is to spend Rs 100 crore each year in a phase-wise manner per city. An equal sum of money will be set aside by each State in the country.

‘Special Purpose Vehicles’ are to be set up in each city to monitor the progress of work, as also a Smart Cities Experts Forum to chart out a roadmap for the initiative in each State.

(Picture courtesy computer.financialexpress.com. Image used for representational purpose only)

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Read

RK Laxman: An uncommon cartoonist

Presenting tributes in words, pictures and cartoons for the country’s most inspired and inspiring cartoonist, RK Laxman (1921 – 2015).
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Though he wasn’t drawing his famous series of pocket cartoons in the daily The Times of India lately, cartoonist RK Laxman’s presence was indelibly linked to the publication. The famous cartoonist passed away at age 94 in Pune yesterday; on a day when the country celebrated its 65th Republic Day, Laxman took the nation’s leave after severe illness – but not before making millions of us chortle for decades.

There is hardly anything to be said about a personality as great as his, and on his passing, all one can do is reminisce about how his work touched one’s life, directly or indirectly. Here’s presenting five tributes in word and caricature to India’s greatest cartoonist.

The Times of India, a collection of RK Laxman’s best works

The Indian Express, cartoonist Unny’s pictorial tribute

Scroll.in, Rajdeep Sardesai fondly remembers the uncommon man

The Hindustan Times, a tribute 

Mid Day, a recent RK Laxman exhibition 

(Featured image courtesy www.thehindu.com)

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Trends

Your office could be checking you out

Companies have started verifying employees’ credentials in the wake of several crimes –  existing employees are included in the checks.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The recent spurt of crimes, both economic offenses or otherwise, is spurring several companies to quietly check out the antecedents of those in their employment. And it’s not just the ones that companies are hoping to employ that are being given the once-over, a lot of companies are conducting background checks on those working for them already.

Details such as education, residence and personal information are being cross-verified to see if employees have given wrong data on any of these counts. Any misinformation is a potential red flag – companies then probe if the person has a past criminal record.

Employee verification is a routine practice among corporations in the West. Our country has only recently woken up to the threat that a ‘wrong’ employee can pose to the company, in the wake of several crimes being committed by supposedly ‘suitable’ individuals.

A recent survey by the Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) found that nearly 52 per cent corporates in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Dehradun and Hyderabad have been verifying their current and prospective employees at all levels. The verification was conducted by the Human Resource departments of small, medium and large businesses, the survey found. “Companies are fast realising the benefit of doing background checks of prospective employees or risk hurting their brand image in a fraud case. Screening of job candidates at all levels, and even vendors and contract staff is preferred. Previous employment details, academic and professional certificates, identity, criminal records, and credit risk, among other information, are checked thoroughly for authenticity and veracity,” the survey says.

Corporates are certainly becoming more careful and cautious when they are recruiting for the junior, middle and senior level positions, highlights the ASSOCHAM survey. “Many companies hadn’t done any background checks before hiring an employee, mainly at junior levels. The horrendous rape case in Delhi has certainly led to the need for carrying out a comprehensive scrutiny of employees at all levels.”

The survey majorly focused on broad sectors such as BPO, IT/ITes sector, financial and other services, construction, real estate, hospitality, tourism, FMCG and infrastructure, media and advertising, manufacturing and textiles, logistics, transport operators etc. Those companies that cannot conduct checks on their own are outsourcing the work – nearly 25 per cent of the companies surveyed had outsourced the verification work to specialised third party agencies. Under the most intense scanner were jobs that entailed working with children, or in healthcare.

(Picture courtesy www.eharmony.co.uk)

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Guest writer

How I got over my travel block

Priyanka Dalal got over her ‘travel block’ by not leaving enough time to talk herself out of a recent trip.

I have heard of ‘writer’s block’, but I have never really faced a serious one. For the last few months, however, since my Coimbatore-Mysore-Bangalore trip in February, I was not able to go on a trip despite planning five different trips! The reasons for not going were varied – viral fever, passport issues or just simply cancelling at the last minute. Even though on the face of it, it seemed that these were all genuine reasons for not going, I knew in my heart that there was something wrong. I have gone on a number of solo trips, and I had never cancelled a single one!

I recalled people mentioning writer’s block… and never having really experienced one, I figured this was some sort of ‘traveller’s block’, if something like that exists. I have never really heard of one, but I think other serious travellers may have experienced something like this, too!

I had to get over this, because travelling is really important to me. Not because of money or anything material. It is just important. As most things in life, I sat down and thought more deeply about this – what made me cancel my trips?

I realised that every time I planned a trip, it would be at least a month in advance. I would get excited for a few days, but then I would end up getting anxious…this anxiety would build up slowly until the week just before the travel date, and then I would cancel because it would get too much! How to plan, pack so anxiously for an activity that is my passion?

I realised that an impromptu trip might actually cure me of this anxiety loop-a-loop! So I just decided a day before, did some minimal packing and left for Pune. Pune being only four hours from Mumbai, I hardly needed to do any prior planning!

I had a good four days of relaxation, and being on my own in Pune at a favorite budget hotel. I know the city quite well, so I didn’t really travel much anywhere. I was considering going to some nearby places like Urli Kaanchan or Kaas Plateau, but got called back for some family reasons to Mumbai. Overall, it was a nice, relaxed trip, and most importantly, I feel that I am at least partially over my block!

What really helped me get over the block and go back on the road was,
1. Impromptu – just didn’t have much time to get anxious.
2. Proximity – Pune is near by, and yet far enough to classify as ‘travel’.
3. Closeness – I lived in Pune for many years, so I am close to the place.

I find that this block, and consequently working to get over it, has been a very interesting experience in my travel adventures! Have you experienced or heard of such a traveller’s block?

Priyanka Dalal has founded a social media marketing company, www.digiwhirl.com. Apart from this, she is a volunteer, traveller and an avid reader. She blogs at travel.priyankawriting.com.

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Learn

Congress will look after urban affairs

Maharasthra State Congress unit sets up an Urban Affairs Department to address issues arising out of urbanisation in the State.

It is known that Mumbai and Pune are not the only urbanised centres in the State of Maharashtra any more. But while urbanisation is slowly spreading even in hitherto mofussil areas, rising slum areas in the State’s cities are fast becoming a matter of concern. The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) proposes to address this situation.

MPCC head Manikrao Thakre has proposed the setting up of an Urban Affairs Department to study the process of urbanisation in the State, with particular reference to Mumbai. With more people migrating to the cities than ever before, primarily in search of work, the problems of housing the rising numbers of migrants, providing sanitation and transport, apart from job opportunities and a secure life in the city, are coming to the fore on a daily basis.

Says Thakre, “Keeping in mind the rising urbanisation and the issues arising out of it, the MPCC has set up the Department which will be headed by former legal counsel BA Desai. While all of India is rapidly undergoing urbanisation, the State Government needs to revisit the work and ideas put forward by the 10-member committee of experts put together by the late Rajiv Gandhi, on the matter of urbanisation.”

He adds, “About 50 per cent of Mumbai’s population lives in slums, in very bad conditions. This condition exists in the smaller cities of the State also. Hence, the Department we have set up will study the patterns of urbanisation in the State’s cities and suggest ways to make life easier for people. These suggestions will be forwarded to the State Government and followed up for faster decisions.”

The experts appointed to the new Department comprises such luminaries as former State Chief Secretary DM Sukhtankar, World Bank Advisor Vidyadhar Pathak and senior journalist Kumar Ketkar, among many others. Smaller sub-committees will be set up all across the State, Thakre says.

(Pictures courtesy indianexpress.com and web.mit.edu)

 

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