E-Governance

CCTVs to keep an eye on debris clearance process

Wednesday, 20 November 2013 11:04 administrator

The Times of India 20.11.2013

CCTVs to keep an eye on debris clearance process

KALWA: With an aim to ensure transparency while clearing the debris, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has put up two close-circuit television (CCTVs) at the site of the collapsed Annapurna building in Kalwa.

Owing to two marriages, out of which one took place on Monday and the other scheduled for Wednesday, the families had kept gold jewellery in their houses and the TMC wanted to maintain transparency while clearing the debris to make sure the jewellery was not misplaced.

The Vasta family, where a wedding is scheduled for Wednesday, is happy that they got most of their jewellery back during the clearing drive. The wedding will take place at Bhandup. Adesh Vasta, brother of the bride, said, "Our only concern was to get our jewellery back with the wedding taking place on Wednesday. I am thankful to TMC for being so cooperating. We requested them to be careful while clearing the debris and late on Monday they found our cupboard where the jewellery and the bride's clothes were kept."

The Telange family, where the marriage took place on Monday, has recovered half of their jewellery.

Residents of the building have been moved to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's ( MMRDA) rental houses at Vartak Nagar.

A TMC official said, "The exact reason of the collapse cannot be established. Built in 1982, it was an old structure or substandard quality was used to build it. The developer of the building, identified as one Chinchankar, is no more. Our priority is to clear the debris as the residents have left behind everything."

A senior police official from Kalwa police station said that no complaint has been registered at present in the building collapse incident.A resident of the collapsed building on condition of anonymity said, "We had purchased an apartment in this building in 1982 at the cost of around Rs 80000. As that time it was under the reigns of gram panchayat. The permission was given only for two floors and the other floors were constructed illegally. Many times several minor repairs were carried out however, the structural audit was not done.

Another resident said, "We have not decided anything with the legal option against the builder as the CM who visited the spot on Monday had assured us for long term solution in terms of rehabilitation. I hope he shall keep his words."

Meanwhile, AMC official Ghanshyam Thorat reportedly fractured his left leg while he was standing besides a dilapidated wall. The rush of media persons led to the crushing of the wall and injured his leg and in now is undergoing treatment at CSM hospital.

Civic body to launch hi-tech system for waste collection

Thursday, 14 November 2013 06:36 administrator

The Indian Express 14.11.2013

Civic body to launch hi-tech system for waste collection

Municipal Corporation is set to make its garbage collection system hi-tech. A software has been developed through which garbage bins that are lifted in a day can be tracked.

Different sectors would be assigned to sanitary inspectors who would regularly update the conditions in their respective areas.

A system of cross-checking the claims would also be in place.

The sanitation system in the city is at present in a dire state. Heaps of garbage can be found at different places. There are frequent complaints about garbage bins not being picked regularly. The issue has been raised time and again in meetings of the MC house.

A software has now been developed to monitor the system. There are 483 garbage bins in different sectors. Of these around 60 per cent are supposed to be lifted everyday. The frequency of lifting is set as per the quantity of garbage that is put in a bin everyday. In some areas where the population is more the bins fill up faster than in other areas.

The driver who will lift a bin would send an SMS to a predecided number that would be with an official of MC. Once the garbage bin reaches the Garbage Processing Plant, a person designated at the plant would send an SMS acknowledging that the garbage has been received as well as the quantity. The information would simultaneously be uploaded using the software and would be available for all officers to see.

Any delay in taking the garbage bin to the processing plant would come to light after checking the difference in time of the two SMSes received. It would also corroborate the claim of the driver of having lifted a particular bin. There have been instances when the management of the garbage processing plant has complained of delay in garbage being received and the quantity being less.

Apart from this, the sanitary inspectors would have to regularly visit these areas and update information about whether the areas they checked were clean or not. This information would be cross checked by a chief sanitary inspector who would conduct checks in the areas at regular intervals.

Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Rajiv Gupta said, "The testing of the software would be done later this week. The requirements of the software were specified by us and it was developed by NIC. This would ensure that the system of garbage collection in the city is streamlined. The claims of the sanitary inspectors of keeping a tab on the areas would also be verified."

The attempts by the MC to bring about changes in the garbage collection system in the past have met with resistance from different quarters. The proposal to hire contractors for door-to-door collection of garbage had led to strike by collectors for several days and the proposal had to be scrapped. There have been complaints about there being more sweepers on the rolls than the number that is present on ground.

Parents to get info on students through SMS

Saturday, 09 November 2013 10:19 administrator

Deccan Chronicle 09.11.2013

Parents to get info on students through SMS

Visakhapatnam: Now, parents who send their children to GVMC-run schools can heave a sigh of relief as they would get prompt messages regarding their presence in school and academic activities.

Whenever a student enters the school the biometric attendance system would send an immediate message to the parents and vice versa in the evening at the time of leaving.

The GVMC is implementing this novel programme on a pilot basis in two municipal schools in the city, and would shortly be extending it to another 15 schools after verifying its efficacy. The KDPM School at Peda Waltair and NMCH in Seethammadhara have been selected for the pilot programme.

The GVMC has deployed software developed by Fast Forward Technologies to make the project a reality.

“The pilot programme, Campus Track, is really useful for parents who send their children, especially girls, to city schools. We have entered the data of children of the two schools along with the mobile numbers of their parents. Whenever they enter and leave the school, the biometric system would send automatic messages to the parents,” said V. Sudhir Kumar of Fast Forward Technologies.

He said the GVMC had also asked them to generate periodical reports regarding attendance, marks and other school-related acti-vity/information.

This would certainly develop a close relationship between the school management and parents, he said.

Officials who verified the efficacy of the project and the responses of parents have decided to extend the tracking to other corporation schools in the city. For tracking Fast Forward Technologies has prepared an exclusive software for sending SMSes to parents integrating it with the biometric systems installed at the schools.

Teachers also need not prepare attendance and progress reports of students periodically. The software prepares them automatically when teachers provide information regarding examinations.

A senior official from the GVMC said this would be very helpful to parents to track their children’s movements and academic activity. Teachers were also instructed to use the biometric system while coming and leaving the school, he added.

State Bank, HUDA launch gateway of payment

Saturday, 09 November 2013 09:19 administrator

The Indian Express 09.11.2013

State Bank, HUDA launch gateway of payment

The State Bank of India (SBI) and State Bank of Patiala (SBP), on Friday, launched the Gateway of Payment through website-to-website integration with the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

The website was inaugurated by A K Singh, Chief Administrator of HUDA, who said it was a great step in the world of technology banking, especially for the new tech-savvy generation.

According to a press release, customers of both banks, who are interested in booking plots under any HUDA scheme, will be able to do it directly from home. The initiative will also reduce the cost burden for users and save valuable time, stated the release. It further stated that many such initiatives like mobile banking, internet banking, and cash deposit machine were being taken up by the State Bank Group to create a niche in the young generation banking.

E-learning to be introduced in civic schools

Friday, 08 November 2013 08:00 administrator

The Times of India 08.11.2013

E-learning to be introduced in civic schools

AURANGABAD: The civic body will is set to introduce e-learning facilities the schools it runs in a bid to raise their standards of education.

Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) education officer A M Shaikh on Thursday said the facilities would be created in ten civic schools - Eight Marathi and two Urdu medium - early in December.

He said a digital projector, computers, laptops and an audio system will be provided to the schools along with subject matter for Class X. "The students will be able to understand the topics in greater detail with the help of the e-learning facility. The facility will cost us Rs 1.52 lakh for each school. The facility can also be used for the students of Classes VIII and IX," Shaikh added.

The education officer said the system would be replicated in the remaining schools based on the response it generates. Sixty six of the 78 municipal corporation-run schools are primary schools. The AMC runs only 12 high schools.

"Apart from introduction of the new facility, we have also asked all the teachers to complete the Class X syllabus by the end of December so that the students get enough time for revisions. We are planning to provide a 30-40-day window to the students for the final preparations," he said. Shaikh further said that the schools would arrange lectures of experts in the subjects in January and February.

Expressing faith in the new facility and other initiatives of the civic body, Shaikh said he was confident that of 100% results would be achieved. "In the current academic session, we hope that all the 450 students appearing for the Class X examination would clear it," he said.

Shaikh said only 56% tenth class students from AMC schools could pass the examination in 2012-13 while 52% of them cleared it in 2011-12. "The results then were not very encouraging, but this year, the teachers are putting in extra efforts to improve the standards," he said.

The civic body honours its meritorious students each year. Students scoring more than 95% in Class X are eligible for a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, while those scoring between 90-95% get Rs 50,000 each.

65 civic school students to sit for talent search exam

For the first time, 65 municipal school students will sit for the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) this year. The examination is conducted by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) every year.

He said a digital projector, computers, laptops and an audio system will be provided to the schools along with subject matter for Class X. "The students will be able to understand the topics in greater detail with the help of the e-learning facility. The facility will cost us Rs 1.52 lakh for each school. The facility can also be used for the students of Classes VIII and IX," Shaikh added.