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Pune, also called Poona, the official name until 1978, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Maharashtra, after Mumbai. With an estimated population of 6.4 million, it is the ninth most populous city in the country.
Pune is the cultural capital of the Maratha peoples. It was the seasonal capital of the Bombay Presidency and is now a popular tourist resort, offering cool weather, historic and religious monuments, museums, parks, hotels, and cultural attractions.
The city has a hot semi-arid climate bordering with tropical wet and dry with average temperatures ranging between 20 and 28 °C.
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is the civic body responsible for local government. It comprises two branches, the executive branch headed by the Municipal Commissioner, an IAS officer appointed by the Government of Maharashtra, and an elected deliberative branch, the general body, headed by the Mayor of Pune.
Municipal elections are held every five years to elect councillors, commonly known as "corporators", who form the general body. The current general body of the PMC elected in February 2017 has 162 corporators representing 41 wards.
The role of the mayor is largely ceremonial as the real powers are vested in the Municipal Commissioner. It is elected from within the ranks of the council in a quinquennial election. The elections are conducted in all 76 regions in the city to elect corporators. The current mayor of the city is Murlidhar Mohol.
Pune has the eighth largest metropolitan economy and the sixth highest per capita income in the country. Since the 1950s, Pune has housed traditional industries and has seen some spectacular growth in recent years. The city is known for manufacturing, automobile, government & private sector, research institutes and information technology.
Pune has also emerged as a new hub for tech startups in India. NASSCOM, in association with MIDC, has started a co-working space for city based startups under its 10,000 startups initiative at Kharadi MIDC.
Pune is well-connected to other cities by Indian and state highways. Compared to the rest of the country, the traffic congestion in this city is not an issue.
Public transport in Pune includes Pune Suburban Railway, bus services operated by PMPML and auto rickshaws. Online transport network companies such as Uber and Ola Cabs also provide rideshare and taxi services in the city. It also stands out that Pune Metro, a mass rapid transit system, is under construction and is expected to be operational by 2021.
The city is served by the Pune International Airport, an international Airport at Lohegaon, operated by the Airports Authority of India. It shares its runways with the neighbouring Indian Air Force base. In addition to domestic flights to all major Indian cities, the airport has international direct flights to Dubai. A new international airport has been proposed, due to the limited capacity of the existing airport.