Living up to the light in you...............

Nepal wants to emulate Bangalore’s IT prowess, says Prachanda

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 21:10:00 +0530

Bangalore, Nepal is keen to replicate the IT revolution in India’s ‘Silicon City’ and has sought the industry’s help in its effort to modernise its development process.

Expressing his “deep appreciation” for Bangalore, whose technology prowess has earned it global recognition, the Nepal Prime Minister, Mr Prachanda, said that his country wanted to emulate the vibrancy and commitment of the Silicon City for bringing about a change in his country in the shortest time.

Addressing members of the Confederation of Indian Industry here on Wednesday, Mr Prachanda said that his Government would soon formulate a new industrial policy to create an investment-friendly environment.

He extended an invitation to the private sector to invest in Nepal, which offered opportunities in the hydel power sector, apart from other areas of industry. He said the private sector was welcome to bid for power projects there.

Nepal was interested in seeking help for its education sector from Karnataka, a State which excelled in premier professional institutions, he said and added that the new policy would encourage mutually beneficial cooperation.

Kathmandu IT park

Earlier, in his address, Mr Binod Chaudhary, President, Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), said Nepal offered significant investment opportunities in the IT sector.

The country had only a small IT park near Kathmandu but would like to expand the scope of the sector with the help of Bangalore’s expertise.

Mr C.P. Rangachar, former Chairman of CII (Southern Region) and Managing Director of Yuken India Ltd, said Bangalore could particularly help that country in setting up BPOs focusing on rural areas for a balanced development.

Bangalore Or Bengaluru Or Bengalooru

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 20:56:00 +0530

Bangalore, as a city, has come a long way from the time when Kempe Gowda built it in the sixteenth century and named it ‘bendakaaluru’, to the times when our local government wants to change its name from Bangalore to Bengaluru. It has seen the British invasion and also survived to see the IT revolution by building a strong economic platform which heavily depends on its name - The Brand ‘Bangalore’.

For anyone who knows about this famous city, hearing it’s name brings to mind the beautiful weather, the numerous defence establishments it has, the famous gardens (Lal Bagh and Cubbon park), the culture and warmth of its residents and the more recent IT industry.

With everything a city needed to grow, God knows how the idea of changing its name came about in the first place.

I know it definitely has nothing to do with the new trend in India of renaming its cities to remove the anglicized names. The cities that were renamed from Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai and Calcutta to Kolkata had lost their original names and the new names were the result of colonization. Even though the word Bangalore was coined during the colonial times it was always known as Bengaluru in Kannada, which means even though the entire world knew it as Bangalore it never lost it’s original name of Bengaluru which is it’s official name in Kannada.

In this way, it had joined ranks with few cities who had an English name and a different native name such as Turin(Torino in Italian), Florence(Florentia in Italian) , Venice (Venezia in Italian) and Paris (pronounced as Pari in french).

It looks like this is purely a political motive rather than something which is good and widely accepted as our beloved home – Bangalore.

44% women on night shifts feel unsafe

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 20:55:00 +0530

Bangalore ranks pretty high on the country's insecurity index for women working on night shifts. Forty-four per cent of the women feel unsafe, according to a survey carried out by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India in 2006 and released on Tuesday.

While Ludhiana topped the list at 45 per cent, the figures are lower in other metros 18 per cent in Mumbai, 38 per cent in Hyderabad, 24 per cent in Chennai, and strangely enough, just, 15 per cent in Delhi.

Speaking on the issue at a seminar in Bangalore, Suchaitra Eshwar, regional director, Nasscom said that nearly 30 per cent of the workforce in IT BPOs were women.

'Once you make a noise, people will know' Supreme Court advocate Aparna added: "Sexual harassment is not just about women, but largely about exercise of power by someone in power or influence against those in subordination and it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure women's security."

In case of organisations where the CEO was the perpetrator, the case could be transferred to an outside agency by the management of the company to ensure fair play and true justice, Aparna said.

Sadly, instead of the perpetrator of the crime, it is often the women victim who were offered the option of a transfer, she said. A victim of sexual harassment should draw public attention when it occurs to deter further harassment.

"Once you make a noise, people will know," she said. Posters highlighting what constituted sexual harassment pasted across workplace deters males from indulging in it and makes women aware of their rights.

Refuting allegations that provocative dressing was one of the reasons for sexual harassment, she said the victim was not provocatively dressed 95 per cent of the time. She also clarified that sexual harassment is not only about touching.

National Crime Record Bureau said that one woman is molested every 22 minutes, one kidnapped every 40 minutes, one woman raped every 43 minutes and one sexually harrassed every 50 minutes.

There were others before:

In December 13, 2005: 24-year old married HP call centre employee, Pratibha Srikanth Murthy was raped and murdered in Bangalore

27, July 2006: Call centre employee Tanya Banerjee, was murdered.

November 2007: Wipro employee, Jyoti Kumari Chaudhary was raped and killed at Talegaon, allegedly by the driver.

August 6, 2008: In Chennai, a BPO employee was sexually assaulted by her colleague who apparently gave date rape drug in her drink.

August 7, 2008: A girl, employed with IBM Daksh, was allegedly gangraped by 10 unidentified persons after being called out on the pretext of company work.

Police close to first arrest in Bangalore blasts

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 20:50:00 +0530

Following the SIMI line of investigations, the Bangalore police could be on the verge of announcing its first arrest in the July 25 bomb Blasts across the city that left one person dead and eight injured.

A special police team constituted to probe the nine low-intensity blasts that preceded the Ahmedabad blasts of July 26 have been interrogating a 23-year-old student of an arts and architecture college from Bijapur over the past two days.

The police had been looking for Abdul Samee, whose name figured in the interrogations of several alleged SIMI activists arrested around the country, including in the Ahmedabad, Jaipur cases. Sources said Samee was being questioned on his presence in Bangalore around the July 25 blasts and his absence from Bijapur over the weekend of the September 13 Delhi blasts.

The Bangalore police and IB are conducting the questioning.

Samee is believed to be one of the 20 who participated in a SIMI training conclave held on the organisation’s foundation day, on April 25, 2007, at Castle Rock on Karnataka-Goa border. It was Adnan alias Hafeez Hussain, a SIMI leader from Karnataka arrested in Indore on March 23 this year with 12 other SIMI functionaries, who reportedly gave his name.

Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer — believed to be a key lynchpin in the blasts that have occurred around the country since July 2006 — Shahbaz Hussain, a key accused in the Jaipur blasts, and Abu Bashar, named as the mastermind of the Ahmedabad blasts, were reportedly all present at this camp.

According to sources, investigations into SIMI activities prior to the Jaipur blasts of May 13 had also thrown up Samee’s name and the Karnataka police had even zeroed in on a student of the Malik Sandal Institute of Art and Architecture. But no arrests were made after the police were told that the student’s name was Mohammed Samee and not Abdul Samee.

Sources said investigations had returned to the architecture student after his name figured in the interrogation of Shahbaz Hussain in Jaipur.

Samee’s family in Bijapur, however, say the arrest is a result of mistaken identity. His father Raj Ahmed Bagewadi has produced college records to show that his son goes by the name of Mohammed Samee Bagewadi and not Abdul Samee.

The investigations surrounding the architecture student show that the Bangalore police is also taking the same line as the Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi blast cases.

Investigations into the Bangalore blasts have until now produced little results. A parallel case of dumping of a large quantity of ammonium nitrate on the outskirts of Bangalore, a day before the blasts, is also being probed.

India - Ambulance service to go hi-tech in Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:26:00 +0530

Come November, ambulance services in India’s silicon hub will go high-tech to treat trauma patients and mishap victims.

Pioneered by the Hyderabad-based non-profit organisation Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, the free service will be a phone-cal away on toll-free number 108.

The institute, set up and funded by Satyam Computers founders, the Raju brothers, entered into an agreement with the state government last month for the emergency health service.

"The Karnataka government will finance the ambulance service, including 95 percent of the operational cost," EMRI consultant J. Narasimha Rao told IANS.

"We will manage the emergency response centre (EMC) where calls on a patient are recorded, and provide medical inputs and manpower to operate the service."

The institute will initially deploy 150 ambulances across the state and scale this up by 367 over the next two years, finally taking the total mobile clinics to 517.

"Experts from the institute and the state health department are working on modalities to identify vulnerable areas, where ambulances will be required most," Rao said.

Each ambulance will cover about 25km radius so as to reach patients within 15-20 minutes after a call is registered at the emergency response centre (EMC).

Physicians at EMC will give pre-arrival advice to the attendant of patients, before ambulances reach the spot. Each ambulance will be manned by two trained emergency medical technicians for attending patients or accident victims.

The ambulance service is unique as it is not a transport vehicle for patients; rather, these are like pre-hospital care centre, with facilities for attending to the needs of those accompanying a patient to the hospital.

"Our ambulance service works on the concept of ’golden hour’, the critical period when a serious patient or mishap victim has to be treated within an hour of the incident to ensure that his or her survival chances are over 80 percent," he said.

The high-tech ambulances will be equipped with stretches, wheel-chairs, ventilators, oxygen cylinders and defibrillators. Drivers will be trained to deal with emergency cases along with paramedics.

"The ambulances will also have rescue tools to conduct emergency operations," he added.

EMRI has also tied up with state-run-hospitals to attend to patients brought by their ambulances.

"We are also in discussions with private hospitals and clinics to admit patients brought by our ambulances and provide medical care for next 24 hours free-of-cost. Patients and the hospitals will decide on the course of treatment," Rao observed.

In Karnataka, the state-run government and private hospitals operate ambulance services but not in a scientific manner. As a result, casualties are high for want of immediate medical attention.

A state health official said there is no data on the number of ambulances operating in the state.

"We hope full-fledged ambulances in and around Bangalore will save a lot of lives. The ambulances will match international standards in medical practice," Rao added.

As an integrated emergency service provider, EMRI ambulances operate in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttarkhand. Karnataka will be the fourth state to avail the service.

The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, American Academy of Emergency Medicine in India, National Emergency Number Association and Richmond Ambulance Authority collaborate with EMRI in providing this service.

"EMRI service will be able to save many lives, as several hospitals in the city do not have such a coordinated ambulance facility," a state health official said.

EMRI attends 13,000 calls a day on average. It has saved about 4,000 lives and attended over 60,000 emergency calls since the service was launched first in 2005 from Hyderabad.

Re 1 offer was a hit, but BMTC suffered huge loss

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:22:00 +0530

Re 1 offer was a hit, but BMTC suffered huge loss
DH News Service, Bangalore:
The promotional offer of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) to offer a ride on its premium Volvo (Vajra) air-conditioned buses for Re 1 for days has cost the public corporation dearly.

A promotional offer it may be, to make travel by public transport more popular, but it has made the BMTC poorer by Rs 10 lakh a day. While the normal fares of the Volvo buses start at Rs 10 on a given day, the promo offer of Re 1 while coming in for praise from commuters themselves, like all good things in life has come to an end.

BMTC officials said that the cost of operating each Vajra bus amounts to Rs 10,000 a day, while fetching a daily revenue of Rs six lakh. “With close to 100 volvo buses plying on City roads, the promotional offer made us poorer by Rs five lakh on the four days it was run for Re 1” BMTC officials said.

The BMTC spends Rs 45/km as operating costs for these high end low floor a/c buses. Factor in the average ticket fares that range between Rs 10 and Rs 80, the promotional exercise was done to offer the common man and those who have not travelled in a volvo a chance to do so, added BMTC officials.

One-rupee offer damages several Volvo buses

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:20:00 +0530

One-rupee offer damages several Volvo buses

Afshan Yasmeen and B.B. Ravinandan

The Vajra vehicles carried over 170 commuters a trip against the capacity of 72

The promotional offer affected collections on non-Vajra regular BMTC buses

Drivers, conductors of Vajra buses lose out on commission

— Photo. Bhagya Prakash K

Poor patronage: With the Re. 1 ride on Vajra buses ending on Sunday, there were very few passengers in the buses in Bangalore on Monday.

Bangalore: The Re.1 ride on Vajra buses of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has damaged a number of buses owing to overcrowding.

A top BMTC official told The Hindu on Monday that the tyres of at least five buses either burst or got punctured and the suspensions and blowers of a few other buses got damaged.

Apart from scratches on the window screens and tearing of seat fabric, the window glass of one Vajra bus (356 C route) shattered as angry commuters threw stones when the driver did not stop the already overcrowded bus at a particular stop.

The window frame of the hi-tech bus costs Rs. 20,000, official sources said.

Though the capacity of each Vajra bus (including standing) is 72, each of the 107 buses (on which the Re. 1 ride was valid) carried more than 170 commuters a trip on an average during the four-day promotional drive.

The Vajra fleet, which usually carried a total load of around 15,000 commuters daily, transported as many as 97,000 passengers on a single day during the drive.

While 72,000 commuters hopped onto the buses on Thursday, day one of the promotional offer, the number swelled to 97,000 the second day.

While 83,000 people travelled by the Vajra buses on the third day, 80,000 passengers used them on Sunday, the last day of the ride.

Meanwhile, Akash Passey, Managing Director of Volvo Buses India Private Limited, denied any damage. “The Vajra buses are well built with powerful engines. Though each bus can carry a maximum load of 100 persons, occasional overcrowding will not damage the vehicle. But because of the overcrowding there can always be pulls and pushes or knocking on the door or windows causing minor damages or scratches,” he said. “Overcrowding is not an issue and the Vajra buses are equipped to handle the load,” he added.

The promotional offer also affected collections on the 4,800 non-Vajra regular BMTC buses. With most of the 32 lakh commuters trying out the Volvo ride, the usual daily collection of nearly Rs. 1.40 crore reduced by Rs. 3 lakh, sources said.

Officials are confident that even if five per cent of the total 3.32 lakh new passengers preferred Vajra to the regular buses in future, the expenditure incurred on the promotional offer would be justified.

The drive also affected the drivers and conductors of the 107 buses, who lost out on their commission. Some drivers and conductors, who spoke to The Hindu on Monday, expressed displeasure that they lost out on their daily commission of 3 per cent for every Rs. 1,000 collected.

“We get a commission of three per cent for every Rs. 1,000. But, because of the cheap fare, the collection was less than Rs.1,000 a day we could not get any commission,” said K. Mustaq, a conductor.

Some employees said the promotional offer to attract passengers had actually adversely affected the corporation.

“At a time when the BMTC is claiming to have begun earning profits, this particular exercise has surely affected the revenue collection,” said R. Lalitha, another conductor.

Though the buses were jam packed and security personnel had to be deployed on each, the collections were far less than the regular revenue, she said. “On an average, we suffered a 30 per cent loss despite a large number of people using the service,” said Ramesh Kumar, a driver.

Another driver, Chandrashekar Shenoy, said that collection on the route of his non-Vajra bus halved as regular commuters had a shot at the Re. 1 ride on all the four days.

WHY INVESTMENT IN BANGALORE?

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 08:31:00 +0530

India’s 5th largest city is the city commonly known by the world as the Silicon Valley and the Garden City of India and bestly known as Bangalore. Today, it has earned a good name globally for its ever conquering capabilities in the field of industrial and commercial maturity. Bangalore being a city of multiple opportunities is apparently one of the most handpicked destination by the FDI ( Foreign Direct Investment) such as Joint Ventures and Real Estate Investment.

The demand for residential and commercial properties in Bangalore is rapidly increasing because of booming IT sector and a location of largest number of software companies. Moreover, this cosmopolitan city is one of the best examples of harmonious coexistence of diverse customs and cultures. This makes attractive enough for Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and multinationals to relocate in Bangalore.

So, if you are looking to invest in Bangalore you are going to trigger in the right target. Domestic and foreign investments in Bangalore promises high lucrative return on investment as FDI policies in India are among the most liberal and attractive in emerging economies.

Story does not end here. As a matter of fact, this is just a beginning to acquaintance each other. Many articles can INFORM but we are writing to TRANSFORM you, your family, your lifestyle and your home.

We can say that we have taken a great step and we can still go beyond this comfortable zone. And the credit belongs to our respected and loving clients (DS-MAX FAMILY). We salute you with honor.

Last, but not the least. There are numbers of unborn prospective clients who are still in DS-MAX womb and yet to come. We are waiting for them excitingly and ready to hug as they become our family. IT MAY BE YOU, GET READY FOR IT. WE LOVE YOU.

Pubs in Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:29:00 +0530

Pubs in Bangalore

Pubs in Bangalore

Guzzlers Inn
48, Rest House Road

Brigade Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2558-7336/2558-2138
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Jockey Club
41/3, Taj Residency

MG Road
Bangalore
Timings: 5 pm to 11:30 pm
Phone: 5660-4444
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Nasa
1/4,

Church Street
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Phone: 2558-6512/2558-4595
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Pecos
34,

Rest House Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Phone: 2558-6047
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Purple Haze
2nd Floor,
Opp Prestige Towers,
Residency Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 pm to 11 am
Phone: 2222-0054
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Scottish Pub
17/12,
Vasavi Complex
St Marks Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 pm to 11 am
Phone: 2221-5002
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Sparks
133,
Raheja Chancery
Brigade Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Phone: 2223-0306
Type of food: Indian

Spinn Courtyard
80, 3rd Cross

Residency Road
Bangalore
Timings: 7:3o pm to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2558-1555/2559-0901
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Styx
45, Kids Complex
Next to Cauvery Emporium
MG Road
Bangalore
Timings: 12 noon to 11 pm
Phone: 2558-2259/5697-6040
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Tavern At The Inn
1, Museum Inn
Opp MG Road
Museum Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 4111-3339
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

The 13th Floor
84, Barton Center

MG Road
Bangalore
Timings: 7 pm to 11 pm
Phone: 2558-9333/4178-3344
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

The Bunker
45/3, Near Symphony

Residency Cross Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2558-3315
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

The New Nightwatchman
46/1, Museum Road

Church Street
Bangalore
Timings: 10:30 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2558-8372
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

The Polo Club
39, The Oberoi

MG Road
Bangalore
Timings: 10 am to 11:15 pm
Phone: 2558-5858/5135-8205
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

The Pub World
65, Laxmi Plaza,
Opp Advaith Hyundai
Residency Road
Bangalore
Timings: 12 noon to 11 pm
Phone: 2558-5206
Type of food: Indian

Zero G
10th Floor, Prestige Towers

Residency Road
Bangalore
Timings: 12 noon to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2207-9014/2207-9016
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Fabulous
280, Opp DELL

Amar Jyothi Layout
Bangalore
Timings: 11:30 am to 11 pm
Phone: 4125-4058/4152-6628
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Geoffrey's
1, Golf Avenue
Hotel Royal Orchid, KGA Gold Course
Airport Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2520-5566
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Sherlock Holmes
60/1, Near Tata Indicom

Coles Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 4125-0156
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

TGI Friday's
1, Carlton Towers,
Opp Diamond District
Airport Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Phone: 2521-0570/2521-0571
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Dublin
25, ITC Windsor Sheraton

Golf Course Road(Sankey Road)
Bangalore
Timings: 10 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2226-9898
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

The Blue Bar
The Taj West End
Near Race Course
Race Course Road
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 5660-5660
Type of food: Far East

Windsor Pub
7, Kodava Samaja Building
1st Main Road
Vasanthnagar
Bangalore
Timings: 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2225-8847
Type of food: South Indian

Enigma
2, 5th Block, 100 Feet Road
Opp Canara Bank
Koramangala
Bangalore
Timings: 8 pm to 11 pm
Phone: 2563-3999
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Jcubez
1431, 22nd Cross
Near BDA Complex
Banashankari
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Phone: 2671-7007
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Legend of Rock
903, 3rd Cross
6th Block, 80 Feet Road
Koramangala
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Phone: 4130-3232
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Maithri 'The Pub'
632/A, 24th Cross

BSK II Stage
Bangalore
Timings: 10 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2671-3322
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

South Point Pub
200, Laxmi Towers,
Near South End Circle, RV Road
Basavanagudi
Bangalore
Timings: 11 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2656-3642
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

The Eleven
6, 11th Block
Opp Prestige Towers,
Jayanagar
Bangalore
Timings: 11:30 am to 11:30 pm
Phone: 2657-3389
Type of food: Multi-Cuisine

Bangalore slums set to go vertical

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:28:00 +0530

Bangalore slums set to go vertical

Bangalore: The horizontal Bangalore slums may go vertical, with parks, grounds and schools around them. All this at no cost to the government!
This proposal based on public-private partnership has been mooted following the success in Dharavi (Mumbai), Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
“We are thinking of this to make urban areas slum-free. Each house costs Rs 2.5-3 lakh. The developer will be responsible for the project and pay premium to the government,’’ Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) chairman G T Devegowda told TOI.
After attending a presentation on the proposal, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa showed interest in taking up a pilot project in a few Bangalore slums.
New sites and houses
The KHB on Wednesday announced the allotment of 5,426 sites in 21 places and 654 houses in 10 places. It also launched 11 new projects consisting of 1,719 sites and 284 houses.
The sites and houses allotted are in Chitradurga, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Haveri, Uttar Kannada, Belgaum, Bidar, Bellary, Raichur, Dharwad and Mysore districts. The new project will come up in Koppal, Belgaum, Bidar, Bellary, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Dakshina Kannada and Shimoga districts.
The urban poor will get 20% of KHB houses/apartments at 50% subsidy. Gowda said the government had planned to build 300 apartments at Allalasandra.
KHB’s ambitious 100 housing projects and 50 Suvarna Karnataka Housing projects in 87 locations across the state is under way. This will provide 15,000 sites and 13,500 houses at an estimated cost of Rs 850 crore with assistance from several financial institutions.

18 kmph is City traffic speed

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:27:00 +0530

18 kmph is City traffic speed
From Ajith Athrady, DH News Service, New Delhi:
Bangalore figures among the top three cities in the country, in terms of its sluggish traffic movement...

According to the latest study, Bangalore’s peak hour traffic speed is 18 kmph while Delhi and Mumbai’s speed is 16 kmph.

The nation-wide study on “Traffic and Transportation Policies and Strategies in the Urban Areas in India” conducted by Wilbur Smith Associates on behalf of Union Ministry of Urban Development, shows that in bigger cities like Bangalore and Mumbai traffic movement was slower than small cities.

The traffic situation in Bangalore deserves serious attention because of the alarming vehicle growth rate, which is highest in the country with 14 per cent against the 10 per cent national average. The rate in mega cities like Chennai and Delhi is 8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.“If the growth rate continues to remain the same it’d be no wonder if traffic speed reduces to even less than 15 kmph soon,” a senior official in the Urban Development Ministry told Deccan Herald.

The study also show that BMTC’s fleet has been growing by 9.4 per cent every year for the past five years. Bangalore stood third in the country with 7,575 accidents and a death toll of 833. Mumbai tops with 21,678 accidents (787 deaths) and Delhi comes in second with 9,351 accidents (2023 deaths). Hyderabad is fourth with 6149 accidents (1196 deaths), while in Hubli-Dharwad it’s 1000 (250 deaths).

Most of the road accident victims in Bangalore are pedestrians. Pedestrian-related death rate in Bangalore is third highest in the country. In Bangalore 18 per cent of vehicles park on the road side.

Road sense

*Peak hour traffic speed in Bangalore 18kmph; in Delhi and Mumbai it is 16 kmph

*Hubli-Dharwad traffic speed 23 kmph

*18% vehicles parked on roads in Bangalore

*In road accidents pedestrians are worst victims in Bangalore

*Vehicle growth in a year highest in Bangalore - 14% against national average 10%

Beautiful Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:25:00 +0530

Interesting Photo

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:20:00 +0530

Bhubaneshwar vs Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:17:00 +0530

Bhubaneshwar vs Bangalore

Bangalore:

Bhubhaneshwar has found an effective way to prevent walls in the city from being defaced, by having tribal art work painted on walls.

We bring you a comparison between the infrastructure in Bangalore and the capital city of Orissa, Bhubaneshwar, a comparatively smaller city.

Stick no bills

Bangalore's flyovers have been defaced with posters and advertisements.

While the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP), send circulars asking people not to stick anything on flyovers, on an occasional basis, this seems to have had little or no effect.

The authorities have the bills removed but have not yet found a permanent solution.

Effective

In Bhubaneshwar, flyover walls have been painted with tribal art.

This helps in the beautification of the city, as well as provides employment to several artists.

The culture of the State is also showcased through these paintings.

Walls in Bangalore are filled with posters, advertising movies or paying guest accommodation.

Bhubaneshwar on the other hand has extended paintings to walls also. The entire city is lined with paintings.

Pedestrian walk

Footpaths in Bangalore are getting smaller due to encroachments. As for separate cycle tracks, we do not have them at all.

Bhubaneshwar has built six lane roads. It has given serious thought to its cyclists and pedestrians as well.
There are footpaths and cycle tracks on either side of the road.

New garden city

Bangalore has lost its identity as the garden city with the indiscriminate cutting down of avenue trees.

Bhubaneshwar is perhaps all set to grab the tag of garden city, given its effective approach to problems faced by the city. Trees line its roads, and saplings have also been planted alongside roads.

Bangalore Monorail

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:15:00 +0530

Four Corridors Identified;
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Here is the an old monorail routemap(Can someone tell me if the new corridors are the same as the old ones?)

Bangalore: The state government has added pace to the long-pending proposal for a monorail system in Bangalore by identifying four corridors covering 60 km. The corridors have been identified under the ambitious comprehensive traffic and transportation plan (CTTP), chief minister B S Yeddyurappa told a high-level meeting on Bangalore infrastructure on Monday. The meeting was held as a follow-up review of proposals made during the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development (ABIDe) meeting in June.
Asian Infrastructure Consortium (AIC) had already submitted a proposal to implement the monorail system, under the Swiss Challenge method. The AIC is expected to submit the DPR (detailed project report) by October 8. The new time frame was decided after the consortium had asked the state government for more time to work on the DPR.
The development of the monorail network, conceived to act as a feeder network to Namma Metro, was initially given to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) Limited, before the state government decided to go in for the Swiss Challenge model.
The meeting, attended by transport minister R Ashok, BDA commissioner H Siddiah, BBMP commissioner S Subramanya and urban development department secretary K Jothiramalingam, also hosted industry leaders like Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan and Infosys HR director T V Mohandas Pai, along with Janaagraha founder Ramesh Ramanathan and Dr Devi Shetty.
MONORAIL CORRIDORS
Corridor 1: Hebbal to J P Nagar (31 km) Corridor 2: PRR to toll gate along Magadi road (9 km) Corridor 3: Kathriguppe/ring road junction to National college (5 km) Corridor 4: Hosur Road-Bannerghatta Road junction to PRR along Bannerghatta Road (15 km)

Thanks 2Paise for starting this thread. Its great to see Monorail, Metro Phase I and Metro Phase II all happening simultaneously. Way to go!!!!!

Don't walk this way

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:12:00 +0530

Bangalore:

Cauvery Junction

The magic box at Cauvery Junction has brought no magical change for pedestrians. The footpaths are still very narrow.

"They made the road to the airport signal-free. But what about us pedestrians? How are we supposed to cross the road? Besides, the condition of footpaths is so bad that we are forced to walk on the road," said Sohan Kandpal, a techie who works in Sadashivnagar.

No leg room

Old Madras Road

Old Madras Road was initially considered a highway. Several shopping complexes and offices have come up since then, but nothing has been done for pedestrians.

"Every month at least one pedestrian is killed on this road. Vehicles are always going at full speed. At nights the road are not illuminated, making it difficult for both pedestrians and drivers," said Rudresh, a traffic police constable at Jeevan Bhima Nagar police station.

There are just two zebra crossings, one near Isolation Hospital and the other near the K R Puram Flyover.

Cunningham Road

The entire road has only one zebra crossing at Wockhardt Hospital. There is a security guard instead of a traffic constable who mans it.

"Some times people do not listen to the security guard. I have a tough time crossing the road. The footpaths have telephone boxes and poles to facilitate ads, which makes walking tough," said Ashwini M, a marketing executive.

Other roads

Richmond Road
This road is possibly the most notorious for being pedestrian unfriendly. "It is very difficult to cross the road. There is heavy traffic all the time and not enough zebra crossings," said Nancy T, a copy editor whose office is on the road.
There are just two zebra crossings, one at Vellara Junction and the other near Baldwin's School. Pedestrians are at the mercy of drivers when they cross the road.

Hosur Road
There is no place for pedestrians to walk on Hosur Road.

"The footpaths are dug up and nobody seems in any hurry to fix them. In some places there is no footpath at all and crossing the road is very difficult. If other well-frequented roads were in the same condition, there would have been a hue and cry," said Rohan M, a student.

Vyalikaval Road
Huge footpaths had been built on Vyalikaval Road, second main on, but they have all been encroached.

"Three years ago the government had wide footpath made but now there are shops on them. I had written to the BBMP commissioner and to the additional commissioner of traffic. But there has been no response from them. I even made a five page report on all the encroachments, but they still did not bother," said G N Muthy, a resident of Vyalikaval.

Nothing is done

K S S Iyengar, founder member, Bapu Pedestrians' Association
"The authorities do not understand our plight. They are only bothered about motorists. Footpaths have been encroached, forcing people to walk on the road."

M N Srihari, traffic expert
"Skywalks are often too high for people to climb. They are built keeping in mind ad revenue and not pedestrians. In many places zebra crossings are not painted. No thought has been given to footpaths."

At a traffic signal

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:07:00 +0530

Morning times are a rush hour.Everyone running as we have daura daura bhaga bhaga sa jindagi.School kids looking like Atlas carrying a huge load and anxious parents tagged,office goers like Vishnu holding on to their life in buses,angry vehicle owners scowling like monkeys ..............it sure looks funny.Traffic signal is a strange place as people stop their for some time and look around.You can see diferent sights.Someone tapping on the wheel as he waits the signal to turn green.Kids opening the windows and waving.Best are the hawkers we can sure use the 2 minute wait near a signal.Hawkers trade handmade stuff,Admag,clothes for wiping the glass,ear buds, news paper and to so many innovative products.Best are the Romeos in the junction smoothening their hair giving a glance to gals in Scooty peps.Heard Hritik saw his wife at a junction.Romance happens.So also does abusing.Beggars carrying babies tapping the window panes.They will rather beg than work.Next time you wait a signal let me know what you felt amusing or what bad.No wonder a movie was made named Traffic Signal.You should also thank the police as he manages the junction and inhaling the fumes and your abuses.We had a famous traffic whistling cop in a junction here but he got killed by a rash driver.Do not break rules .Your kid is also sitting next and learning.So give respect to life and observe rules.

Rains,friends and gossips...

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:57:00 +0530

Fall In Office Rental In Delhi Ncr, Mumbai and Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:36:00 +0530

Office rental prices are unlikely to see any major fall across the country’s three major business hubs National Capital Region, Mumbai and Bangalore even as the commercial realty markets in these areas are expected to witness a significant surge in supply, a leading real estate consultancy firm said.
While Bangalore is expected to witness further rise in the average office rentals, those in Delhi and adjoining areas like Gurgaon and Noida as well as Mumbai are expected to remain mostly flat in the short to medium term, CBRE said in its latest office market review for Asia-Pacific region.

Only certain small pockets in National Capital Region (NCR) and Bangalore could see a correction in prices in the near future, while any downward correction is very unlikely across Mumbai region, it said.

“The National Capital Region (Gurgaon and Noida) is expected to witness flattening trend in rentals over the short to medium-term,” CBRE said.

“However, some micro-markets with forthcoming supply is likely to experience a marginal value correction in the next six months,” it said, adding there would be significant additional supply in Gurgaon, Noida and Jasola in South Delhi.

CBRE noted that in preparation for hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010, rigorous efforts have been made to improve infrastructure all across the NCR.

For Mumbai it said, that with over one million square feet of corporate office supply currently available and another nine million square feet ordinary office space expected to come online in the next two quarters, rental values are likely to remain stagnant.

Is Bangalore insenitive ?

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:38:00 +0530

Bangalore:

Last week, a woman was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road and run over by other vehicles until every bone was powdered. Her body had turned into a ball of flesh by the time police arrived at the spot.

This gruesome accident involving this 60-year-old woman on August 11 bears testimony to the Bangaloreans' increasing insensitivity to humanity.

The woman was perhaps crossing the Old Madras road near Big Bazaar at around 4 am. She was hit by a vehicle and then mowed down by vehicles that followed.

"At around 7 am one passer-by informed us and we went to the spot. It was difficult to make out if the body was that of a human being or an animal. Not a single bone was left in tact. It was all mangled flesh. Just because there was a saree in between the flesh, we figured that it was a lady," said a cop at Jeevan
Bhimanagar police station.

The police had a tough time gathering the various parts of her body.

"We used a spade and put the pieces together. It was shifted to Bowring hospital mortuary. The body was beyond recognition and no one came claiming for it. We then buried the body," he said.

Left to die

The police say such insensitivity is not new. "Bangaloreans these days have no heart. We come across several cases where accident victims are left to die on the streets. People are scared of being questioned by the police, so they do not bother to report dying people. At night vehicles usually cannot see a body lying on the road and zoom over it," he said.

Three months ago, a man bled to death on the same road. Chinu (45), a father of four was riding his two-wheeler, when he was hit by a silver Indica car. "He was lying on the road bleeding for over three hours. No one bothered to either inform the police or take him to hospital. When we finally took him to hospital he died of profuse bleeding. We found a piece of a silver Indica, but we could not find the car," said a police.

Last year, an assistant manager at ITC Infotech, Shiv Kumar Bora (27), who was riding a two-wheeler met with an accident on Dickenson Road. He was lying there but no one helped take him to the hospital. When an ambulance was passing by people stopped it and sent him to the Bowring hospital.

He had died by the time they reached hospital.

Don't hesitate

K Srinivas, DCP Traffic (East), said people should come forward to help accident victims. "As on July 31 this year we have 54 hit-and-run cases, where people have died. People need not be scared to help accident victims. The most important thing is to save a life," he said.

Rain exposes Bangalore’s infrastructure yet again

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:16:00 +0530

Rain exposes Bangalore’s infrastructure yet again

Bangalore: The fragile infrastructure of Bangalore was exposed yet again on Thursday following the torrential rain for more than three hours. With clogged shoulder drains and blocked inlets, the rainwater took its own course on the roads, turning them into pools.

Though the usual complaints of inundation of low-lying areas were very few this time, all major roads literally became storm water drains as the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) did not clear most of the shoulder drains of silt. The resultant water logging jammed the roads and traffic was chaotic even beyond 11 p.m., causing hardships to citizens.

BBMP officials, who expressed helplessness, said it was natural for rainwater to stagnate for sometime. The chief engineers of BBMP East, West and South zones claimed that most of the shoulder drains along major roads had been cleared of silt.

Justifying waterlogging on the roads, the officials said that “most drains are clogged because people dump waste into them,” they said.

“That may be true in residential areas. What is the reason for water logging on Ambedkar Veedhi (in front of Vidhana Soudha) even after a drizzle?” asked a traffic constable.

On Thursday too, cars and two-wheelers were submerged in rainwater up to two feet on this prominent road.

Apart from discharging their duty of regulating traffic in the torrential rain, the traffic police had to do all the donkey work of clearing the drain inlets, removing fallen tree branches and pushing broken down vehicles across the city. One harried traffic policeman was heard cursing the BBMP for not doing its job, forcing his helpless creed to don the role of a civic worker.

“It is natural for rainwater to stagnate on the roads for a while. It will take sometime for the water to run off into the drain,” said BBMP Chief Engineer (East) H.C. Ananthswamy.

“We have desilted 50 km of shoulder drains in the West zone. The traffic was chaotic because of the holiday rush and tree-fall,” said Cief Engineer (West) A.M. Nayak.

“Our safe capacity is 70 mm of rainfall and our storm water drain network cannot handle anything beyond that,” said Chief Engineer (South) Jeevan Paul.

Fall in Bangalore office space demand by 61 percent

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:15:00 +0530

Indian real estate boom is getting busted. India is not detached from global economy. Global economic slowdown is now causing loosing demand for office space in Bangalore. The major portion of the office space in Bangalore is occupied by the IT companies. With the companies have been forcing to review their plans to beat the slowdown, the land absorption by the companies is also coming down. This affects the real estate market of Bangalore and many other cities in India.

According to a report by Cushman & Wakefield, a property management consultant firm, the demand for office space in Bangalore witnessed 61 percent drop on a quarter-on-quarter. During the April-June period of 2008, the supply of office space was 3.11 million sq ft while the total absorption was 1.97 million sq ft.

Even with the all the slow downs many speculators still believe that Indian real market will never go down. Oh, well…

What next on Race Course land? A parking lot ???

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:56:00 +0530

The Lease for the race course is set to expire in 2009 and Yeddyurappa has said that he won't renew the lease. I think its a great idea. Right now that big patch of public land is used only by a few - those who indulge in horse -racing.

I think the best use of the land would be to make it into a park or part park-part , part-playground. We have a shortage of green spaces and playgrounds in the city.And these are public spaces which can be used by anyone irrespective of income etc. However there was talk of building an amusement park there(i read this some days back in DH I think) or even underground parking lots (see article below) .

India today article

I dont know what will be on the surface level if there is an underground parking lot, but it wont be a park for sure!

I guess the government should take inputs from citizens as well before deciding.

If the government does open a channel to get public inputs , I personally would request that the land is used for either creating a park or part-park, part-playground.

What do you guys think? If any of you agree, what do you think are the ways in which we can start engaging with the government to do this?
Any other views on what this land could be used for?

New course for horses

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:54:00 +0530

Bangalore Race Course, an 85-acre prime landmark of the city and a familiar haunt for race horse owners like liquor baron Vijay Mallya and industrialist M.A.M. Ramaswamy, is now finally being turfed out.

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa announced this in the Assembly, saying that the government will not extend the race course’s lease beyond December 2009.

Bangalore Race Course

However, Congress legislator Roshan Baig wants it to be maintained as a lung space since the city is being choked with seven million people and almost three million vehicles.

PWD Minister C.M. Udasi, who has already hinted that the race course will be shunted out to the outskirts, says the Government wants to build underground parking lots there to ease parking and traffic woes.

Various state Governments over the past 20 years have mulled over shifting the race course, which was founded by four Britishers in the early part of the century on lands leased by the Maharaja of Mysore.

In the early 1980s, the then chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde wanted it to be relocated to the vicinity of the Jakkur flying school. However, successive governments dithered, with H.D. Kumaraswamy even dropping the idea.

Some BJP leaders like Ramachandra Gowda insist that all forms of gambling should be banned. A high-level committee comprising legal experts has also been scrutinising various judgements of the Supreme Court and the high courts relating to horse racing and betting.

Recently, a court classified horse racing as a sport while setting aside the ban on it in Tamil Nadu. Since the idea of shifting the race course has come from the horse’s mouth itself this time, Hegde’s long pending blueprint may just see the light of day

Cycles for Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Know Your Town Better) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:22:00 +0530

To fight global warming and for a cleaner environment some European countries have created infrastructure to promote cycling in cities for commuting.

Can the success of this initiative can be replicated in cities across India ? Cycling is already popular in India. It is preferred mode of transport by students and teenagers for middle classes. As people grow old they shift to more mechanized means of transport .If you consider large Indian cities where can become an important means of transport Bangalore seems to be the ideal place .

Why Bangalore is ideal place in India to promote cycling ?

1> Climate : The climate of Bangalore remains pleasant for at least 9 months of the year(the remaining months aren’t that bad either). So it should not be a problem for people to leave the comforts of their AC car and cycle to office.

2> Young population of software professionals : Bangalore is the silicon valley of India. South Bangalore is the hub of software companies (but with BIAL that may change). Most of the people working in these companies are below the age of 40 . This age group is best suited for rigours (in case you consider cycling to be rigrous .We are living in the age where any sort of physical work is considered rigrous.) of cycling. Secondly the young are more receptive to change. So a change in a habit should be relatively easy for them. Perhaps also they have more at stake when it comes to environment. ( They have to spend more time on this planet than the old generation ).

3> Nature of work and health reasons : By nature the work in s/w industry is sedantry. There is little or no physical exercise involved. So it’s good to have some physical exercise for maintaining good health. So instead of work outs on tread mills in gymns what about some real cycling .

4> Traffic jams : Finally if people their cars at home while commuting and use cycles it will help in reducing the stressful traffic jams and will make commuting to office a pleasure ride .

5> Shorter distances : In software industry companies are located inside cities unlike some other industries. So the distance for commuting are shorter. Shorter distances are suitable for cycling. Though this argument is not valid in all cases .(say for example if your office happens to be in Electronic city)

Why is it the right time to do ?

1>Rising oil prices : As the oil prices are rising it will be easier to encourage people to shift to cheaper means of transport .

2> Concern for environment : As the ill effects of global warming become apparent there is a greater urgency to reduce our carbon footprint .

3> Pollution in cities : Increasing number of vehicles in Indian cities mean more pollution and thus increase in related ailments . So a need to shift to cleaner means of transport .

What can be done ?

In India promoting cycles can not be done just by private comapanies or government alone.
In Bangalore for example s/w companies and govt. should come together and chalk out the road map. Perhaps they can learn from European countries in this regard. I am not discussing here the various strategies needed for bringing the change . That itself is a big topic .

Pune has already taken lead in cycling. According to Outlook Business: