Creating a competing and city friendly ganesh festival

With the new format, the city would benefit in many ways other than the obvious traffic benefit. The police would have a far easier time securing a few grounds. Adequate security will also get families and women actively participating in the event. Citizens can choose to be a part of the festival and not have the festival forced on them. Mandals will have to be creative to be able to stand out and shine. The city could generate employment and revenues in many direct and indirect forms. Some portion of revenues should be ploughed back into improvement of infrastructure at the grounds that are used. The event could become a major tourist highlight not just for Maharashtra but for India.

Call For Speakers For The IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology Closes Tomorrow

IndicThreads.com invites submissions for the IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology 2007 to be held on 26th and 27th October 2007 at the Symbiosis Infotech Campus, Hinjewadi IT Park, Pune, India. The conference is the premier independent conference on Java technology in Asia and is the place to be, to learn the latest in the Java world while meeting with like-minded individuals from across the industry. You can find details of last year’s conference at http://conference.indicthreads.com

Searching For A City In CyberSpace

Herald Column - Using Interent For City ManagementAn article about how and why city administration should use new age mediums like the internet to communicate with citizens and manage the city.

Also a quick look at the recent PMC scheme about including citizen suggested projects in the city budget for 2007-08.

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The PMC recently invited development project proposals from the public. These projects were to be considered for inclusion in the PMC budget for the year 07-08. I checked the PMC website egovpmc.com for the necessary form, but the site was a disappointment. I later attended a meet on the topic organized by the Grahak Panchayat. The team of enthusiastic oldies volunteering work for the Panchayat provided more information and the requisite form.

The art of grabbing public spaces

Parking In Indian Cities - Pune - Herald ColumnArticle about improper use of parking spaces and builders tricking the city administration by just converting public parking into private parking spaces.

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As per construction rules in cities, all buildings need a certain parking capacity to be approved by the corporation. Even these standards seem inadequate to handle the traffic mess in cities like Pune. However builders have found a way to make it appear as if they are conforming to the law without doing anything of that sort. They just convert public parking into private parking and supposedly comply with parking capacity rules.