Keeping track of this week's snakes and ladders' scoreUp:Defence research, With the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) setting up a state-of-the-art design centre called the Centre for Armament Design Analysis and Simulation (CADAS). This will go a long way in meeting the future needs of the Armed Forces.Consumers, As the price of the ubiquitous onion nose-dived from Rs. 40 to 14 this week at the Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard at Gultekdi. With Gujarat and other states turning in a good yield, the consumer can now breathe relatively easy.Ecology, As citizens keen on combatting river pollution have got together to form an action-group that acts! Instead of petitioning the authorities, this group has decided to take their own initiative. They intend to tackle the declining oxygen levels in the rivers running through the city.The book-reading habit, With The University of Pune planning to undertake measures to arrest the decline in book reading by launching an ambitious programme of exhibitions over three districts. The exhibitions will cover both Marathi and English books which will also be available for sale.Safer travel on the sinhagad ghat road, With the state public works minister promising to fix railings on the road. Special care will also be taken to make the accident-prone Akrahazar a much safer place for tourists.DownKhadki shopkeepers, When a fire broke out in the Khadki Bazaar area, gutting a number of shops. One person was killed and the damage was estimated to be around Rs 14 lakh.Vehicle-owners, As the stand-off between the Petrol Dealers' Association and the Oil Corporation companies deprived them of fuel. The surviving stock is finishing fast and an agreement between the two is nowhere in sight. If this continues, the whole city could come to a standstill.Accident victims, As the six ambulances awaited by the city for use on the Mumbai-Pune highway were held back by the donor country, Sweden. As a fallout of the nuclear tests, Sweden has decided to hold back the ambulances.AIDS awareness, With the corporators bunking a workshop on AIDS awareness by the civic administration. According to reports, most showed up only for the lavish lunch, but were too lazy to attend the training session.
