Starting from now , I will be providing fortnightly bulletins on the latest happenings in and around PUCSD . Each bulletin will aim to cover the latest news , views and issues that make PUCSD what it is famous for - different. The bulletins will rely almost entirely on unreliable sources located in and around the dept. No effort will be made to confirm any hot/spicy news items , rather the intention will be to present news in as attractive a form as possible - the meaning of the word 'attractive' being open to interpretations.

The bulletins will try to cover as many topics as possible, however if the need arises (depending on the nature of the controversies ), other topics may be dropped to make way for a cover story accomapnied by interviews and panel discussions.

Finally , the views expressed in the bulletins will solely be my own.If any sentiments are hurt , they are purely intentional. I shall welcome any bouquets/brickbats that are served with pride and humility.

Your trusted news correspondent from Pune

These days it seems politically right to start the news with some greenery. So here goes.

Our environment : Reports our special correspondent Maneka Gandhi direct from the sprawling CSD lawns - "There seems to be lot of hectic gardening work going on around the dept. premises.It was really surprising to see all the students going about it with so much enthusiasm ,one almost felt that may be this time Gardening was being offered as a new elective.The only thing that does worry me a lot is that the weeds here are being very cruelly removed. I interviwed a weed and this is what 'it' had to say - 'Ouch!' I think we must report this to SPCW (Society for Prevetion Of Cruelty To Weeds)" Thank you Maneka. Hmm so as usual the dept. seems to be in the midst of a very weedy issue.

End of the self-imposed exile : January,98 marked the end of AL's self-imposed exile from the dept. premises.She finally floated an elective called Issues in Programming (IP ! Hmm .. Sounds familiar).Good for her and the department too . So what next ? Combined classes .. U never know .

Department Keys get lost once again: Haven't we all heard that the nth time since we joined PUCSD ? Thankfully this time nothing was 'dissolved' since the keys made their appearance the next morning from the office room. Three cheers for Khedu for being so patient this time .

The side effect of the Lok Sabha elections: No , this is not about Sonia / Vajpayee / Laloo and their influence on PUCSD politics.With the Lok Sabha elections being scheduled for mid-Feb the dept. has been having problems in acquiring centers for holding the entrance exams.Nobody knows whether the exams will be held on schedule or whether they will be called off at the nth hour.

The 1998 Alumni Meet : This time the alumni meet was shifted at the n-th hour from the Univ. Main building hall to a lesser known hall (Kalpataru inside Armament) since the Univ. authorities refused to give permission at the last moment.It was held on Feb 7th . Yes , the meet was very well attended by the juniors and sub-juniors in good number.The only ex-Puneites were Sriram, Chuck , Sudha and Bapat. Here are some innovative excuses by some ex-CSDians who could not make it to the meet:

* No train reservations available (Since when have CSDians started to reserve their tickets??)

* I need to go to Udaipur.(Now thats a new one!!)

* Work load !! Whew !

This time KVN was absent.So Prof Shankar started it as usual. However the high point of the meet was HVS's address.Every year he has something to say and this year too he put across his message in his trademark subtle and dignified style.Let me try my best to encapsulate what he had to say - " The industry has always been the first to take away the best of the talent from the dept (be it students/fac) with the result that the dept. faces a shortage of dedicated teachers.It has also been observed that quite some of those who have left the dept for the industry have had that urge to return to academics but are unable to do so for monetary considerations.It would be better if the industry could release such people for periods of 1 year for academic purposes . This 1 year break could be treated as an unpaid leave.During the 1 year the dept. could take care of all the needs of the individual."

NOTE : All of the above views may not entirely be HVS's . There was also a question-answer session between the alumni and the current students in which a lot of ideas were thrown up and among them I have tried to present the consensus that emerged.