http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune-times/Pune-Expo-gets-off-to-exciting-start/articleshow/3103092.cms

Pune Expo gets off to exciting start

TNN, Mar 8, 2002, 12.44am IST

The four-day pune expo, a business exhibition at the international convention centre grounds, senapati bapat road, was abuzz with inquisitive crowds on its first day, yesterday. the gigantic bofors gun which occupied pride of place was, naturally, the main attraction. defence organisations have a strong presence at the expo and establishments like the r&d engineers; alandi, armament research and development establishment (arde); high energy materials research laboratory (hemrl), mazgaon dock, mumbai; director general of quality assurance (dgqa) and the 512 army base workshop will be holding talks with small and medium scale industries directly to explain the demands and requirements of the defence sector. the automobile and bike section, another perennial favourite, had its fair share of drawing power as kinetic unveiled its latest 115 cc four-stroke scooter and the sai group liners including the jetliner, transliner and superliner gleamed on track, ready to roll. scattered in stalls around the four large halls were an eyecatching array of knick-knacks including all kinds of jewellery and edibles. but what is an expo without the ever-popular environmental product? never fear, they are there in plenty. bio pesticides and nematicides apart, there is dr uday bhavalkar, a chemical engineer from iit powai, who has developed something called the sujala biosanitiser for drinking water. "it is a complete water purifying system that does not use electricity or any other input and does not produce a residue that needs cleaning and disposal," he explains. "sujala-treated water reduces corrosion, scaling, toxic chemicals and pathogens. it also becomes an asset for humans, pets and plants, due to its mineral balance." sujwala fuel biosanitiser is another product he has developed which, if put in the fuel tank of an automobile, stationary engine or boiler, reduces fuel consumption and pollution. a neighbouring stall has tiny tissue culture shoots of the nirmiti biotech nursery which are available for banana and sugarcane and the green glory nursery rents plants and provides help in garden development and maintenance. the younger crowd sought out the stalls which were informative like the one belonging to the institute of business management and research, chinchwad, the indian space research organisation stall and lensel magnifiers, an interesting optic stall. at the isro stall, one can hear the history of indian satellites and the use to remote sensing. gadget-gazers crowded in to have a look at the pocket microscope, stereo microscope, eyeglass magnifier and wallet magnifier that were on display. for those who spent more than a few hours at the expo, refreshments in the form of ice-creams, chicken burgers from venky's and flavoured milk from katraj dairy were all available to keep up their strength.