tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60570472457879739442024-03-14T02:10:34.730-07:00Bangalore from Afar.Views on Bangalore of a person who lives far from Bangalore, but once lived in Bangalore, and makes almost regular visits to Bangalore.krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-38303028710281759072022-10-28T01:57:00.001-07:002022-10-31T00:12:26.777-07:00The Ubiquity and Simplicity of Mobile Phone-Based Money Transfer in India<p>When you visit a different country, familiar or not, a convenience that cannot be overemphasized is the ability to conduct financial transactions easily. Thanks to the advent of digital economy in India, consumer financial transactions are surprisingly very smooth and easy in townships across India. For a visiting Non-Resident Indian (NRI) like me, this facility is particularly handy if you operate a Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account with an Indian Bank that helps you deal with local currency (INR, ₹).</p><p>The Government of India has facilitated the creation and adoption of <a href="https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/product-overview" target="_blank">Unified Payments Interface (UPI)</a> that seems to have unleashed ubiquity and simplicity in all payment activity in India. <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/street-vendors-trained-to-take-digital-payments/article37092817.ece" target="_blank">The Government has even provided training to street vendors to accept digital payments</a>. (Although the UPI mechanism has been in use since 2016, this is my first serious encounter of its ubiquity). The adoption of UPI has been very rapid, as can be seen by this table:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface#Market_share" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="617" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgI5jm2q7Vx_Fk5vKAgpy1BNXvVRhVuq6V6jkAn243tEVbLIfuvEW5emrguRcW9Is1vFBQKJB_GfTdabrRtmguN4i6G4XQ64AlrdecJoou09Nf62fVsyISU_MdFxxcTa4D4o6LWSf5I5IcUIMYgktV5A2SxK72Jga5fnE2B4CbSbKEQYUQimunHFR7N" width="320" /></a></div><br />Nearly every merchant in Bangalore sports a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code" target="_blank">QR code</a> inside the merchant's premises. Some street vendors present the QR code as part of their vending decor, as can be seen in the accompanying photo, captured in Bangalore.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ls5pv870mnXlqKq-438N45CDSQdTjqqR-hEYhp3sxDRbUoux0lZ6x5k-_vslw0GCwMurb7UDLmrSfpFd70oWQx3DugRsnyjuQhPddSGKJqiiKiistcO4Vq_BdUwf9XEyQiQfEsBaDcMhZFglcmN5BGqm10AHJh-U_JPVRIW3kYwDn-v7FdUihpdy/s1219/FruitVendorUPI.jpeg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="914" data-original-width="1219" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ls5pv870mnXlqKq-438N45CDSQdTjqqR-hEYhp3sxDRbUoux0lZ6x5k-_vslw0GCwMurb7UDLmrSfpFd70oWQx3DugRsnyjuQhPddSGKJqiiKiistcO4Vq_BdUwf9XEyQiQfEsBaDcMhZFglcmN5BGqm10AHJh-U_JPVRIW3kYwDn-v7FdUihpdy/w320-h240/FruitVendorUPI.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The simplicity has been enabled by UPI Ids, or Virtual Payment Addresses (VPA), with the following general format:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><entity>@<bank></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In general, the <bank> is an Indian Bank and the <entity> is any alphanumeric of your choice; therefore, it helps if you already have a Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) with a local bank. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface#Internationalization" target="_blank">There is some attempt at internationalizing the UPI system, but this post will not address internationalization</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hope your next visit to Bangalore will be as pleasant as mine this time😀.</div><div></div>krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.5945627-15.338635136178846 42.4383127 41.281832536178847 112.7508127tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-28012818267161691022018-02-03T08:31:00.001-08:002018-02-03T08:31:47.174-08:00Enrollment for Aadhaar Cards is a Breeze.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="A" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/A-5-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />nytime you experience good customer support, it is worth acknowledging it. Such was my experience when I went into offices of Karvy, a company that provides enrollment services for <a href="https://uidai.gov.in/" target="_blank">Aadhaar</a> and <a href="https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/pan.aspx" target="_blank">PAN</a> cards (of Government of India). Aadhaar is a popular name for the unique identification for Indian nationals, provided by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).<br />
<a name='more'></a>Aadhaar cards are issued for purposes of unique identification of Indian nationals and it uses two different biometric market — iris scans and fingerprints.<br />
<iframe align="right" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d62211.46280614379!2d77.54288018142647!3d12.957998549827252!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x3bae162fb24a2e2f%3A0xaa62beec38223ea!2sKarvy!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sin!4v1517669560198" style="border: 0;" width="400"></iframe>
PAN cards are issued for purposes of tracking all financial transactions deemed essential for tax purposes.<br />
<br />
The Government of India has enlisted the services of local <a href="https://uidai.gov.in/enrolment-update/ecosystem-partners/enrolment-agencies.html" target="_blank">enrollment agents (EA)</a> to assist in easy enrollment for Aadhaar cards. Quite frequently, the same agency also provides for dealing with PAN cards too. Karvy is one such.<br />
<br />
We went in this past Wednesday, January 31, to an outfit in Malleswaram, Bangalore, and we were pleasantly surprised by how helpful the agents were. Within a few minutes, we were done with the enrolling process. (Of course, we had with us the necessary documentation required).<br />
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Thanks, Karvy!</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-35109529090691855182017-01-15T14:28:00.001-08:002019-09-22T21:47:41.426-07:00At the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2017 in Bengaluru.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ramesh (L) & Rao (R) at PBD 2017</td></tr>
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<img align="left" alt="I" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/I-7-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />n January 9, 1915,
<a href="http://www.mkgandhi.org/biography/rtrninda.htm" target="_blank">a 45-year old M. K. Gandhi set foot in India after an extraordinary run-in with the South African government</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi#Struggle_for_Indian_Independence_.281915.E2.80.9347.29" target="_blank">Through a no less extraordinary journey in the next decades, he would be instrumental in the freeing of India from British rule</a>. Mahatma Gandhi is highly, and deservedly, regarded as the greatest Pravasi — प्रवासी — and, since 2004, the Government of India has been sponsoring a yearly convention of प्रवासी भारतीयs, or non-resident Indians (NRIs).<br />
<br />
This year, in 2017, my BE classmate & I had occasion to attend the convention together.<br />
<a name='more'></a>This year's Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was held in Bengaluru. Nearly 1,800 NRIs, along with about 5,400 resident Indian (RI) delegates, attended the convention. (<a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/pravasi-bharatiya-divas-kicks-off-in-bengaluru-117010700332_1.html" target="_blank">Pravasi Bharatiya Divas kicks off in Bengaluru</a>).<br />
<br />
(From <a href="https://www.mea.gov.in/Uploads/PublicationDocs/26823_1-MEA_Outcome_2016-17_English_1.pdf" target="_blank">Outcome Budget 2016-17, Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs</a>, we find that the allocation of funds by the Government of India for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 is ₹5 Crores, or about $750,000 in today's dollars. I imagine the hosting state, Karnataka this year, will pick up the tab on whatever else is required).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hDKglTdbz8A/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hDKglTdbz8A?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: left; float: left;" width="320"></iframe><br />
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<br />
To my mind, the highlight of the convention was definitely the heartwarming welcome by Prime Minister Modi. It reassured me that politicians can be more effective if they can touch the hearts of the people rather than use mere clichés. To quote from his speech:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>"... एक ऐसा पर्व है, जिस में host भी आप ही हैं, guest भी आप ही हैं।" (Translation: This is such a time in which you -- NRIs -- are both hosts and guests).
</li>
<li>"... आपका इस पर्व में सम्मिलित होना, हमारे लिए बहुत, बहुत, गर्व की बात है।" (Translation: Your gathering at this event is a matter of great pride for us).</li>
</ol>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1KIhIgjSre4vSgGYEOK6g-GgvPqOuiQn2u6OaCFOdMZqZir8aDzNJU_HBKIUnuplW0rhDxc7jWYNi_ufvfJohA5FDNcHIWiyKRHrde0AojZbeD6M7tng7-81l2KsWE1DXJxurUNPHRk/s1600/Invest+India.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1KIhIgjSre4vSgGYEOK6g-GgvPqOuiQn2u6OaCFOdMZqZir8aDzNJU_HBKIUnuplW0rhDxc7jWYNi_ufvfJohA5FDNcHIWiyKRHrde0AojZbeD6M7tng7-81l2KsWE1DXJxurUNPHRk/s200/Invest+India.png" width="150" /></a><br />
<br />
The Indian Government has created a rich repertoire of Government Initiatives, Flagship Programs, Policies, Infrastructure Initiatives and Services activities to aid the प्रवासी भारतीयs, or non-resident Indians (NRIs), in their contribution to their native motherland. A couple of interesting programs are Know India Program (KIP) aimed at the NRI youth, <a href="http://www.startupindia.gov.in/" target="_blank">Startup India to foster entrepreneurship throughout India</a>, and <a href="http://digitalindia.gov.in/" target="_blank">Digital India to digitization many aspects of the Indian economy</a>. An entire day, Jan 7, was devoted to the NRI youth although, as a non-youth, I found it quite interesting too!<br />
<br />
The Exhibition Halls were well represented by all the states touting their own hospitable conditions for industrial cooperation with NRIs.<br />
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The Karnataka Government, the host state, has created many initiatives of its own. <a href="http://nriforumkarnataka.org/imgs/2016/NRI_Policy_book_Final.pdf" target="_blank">The NRI Policy of Karnataka, by the Commerce & Industries Department</a>, is a good resource. The Government also has a well laid-out <a href="http://www.startup.karnataka.gov.in/" target="_blank">Startup Policy</a>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K3qpsVPBtQQ/WHjOyOHUEBI/AAAAAAAAnLI/iYCFlQufm6cTebgGtOLbXhuC82RgO9H6gCPcB/s1600/IMG_0606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K3qpsVPBtQQ/WHjOyOHUEBI/AAAAAAAAnLI/iYCFlQufm6cTebgGtOLbXhuC82RgO9H6gCPcB/s200/IMG_0606.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pravasi Bharatiya Medal</td></tr>
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The President of India presented <a href="https://pbdindia.gov.in/sites/default/files/S.pdf" target="_blank">30 awardees with the प्रवासी भारतीय सन्मान पुरस्कार medals</a>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eRPxm6bWFxBuYjS7_qE2FmsDdDY&usp=sharing" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1J11S0F4FI_rFgliAPe8f3417AHeXIn-obLWSiQH0wezN9swy8US2nb75i8cwp3xFVQvPkzI9fg2-UuCes1OJDavl47bGxa9FcqzYW1GpyytbaN3iMkYnkhusncHQjGuKdIos2gy9OwU/s200/Bangalore+South+to+BIEC.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Public transit between South Bangalore<br />
and BIEC, the convention venue.</td></tr>
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Since both of us stayed in South Bangalore, we found it exciting to commute to the convention venue by a combination of Uber, Metro & Shuttle. Uber and Metro rides were quite pleasant. (Rao is a Switzerland resident and hence is very knowledgeable about train rides). However, the shuttle ride, particularly from the venue back to the Nagasandra Metro station, was not well-organized. Even though there were plaques throughout the venue announcing the shuttle service every 10-15 minutes, the shuttle buses were nowhere to be found, particularly if you wanted to return during non-regular hours, and no one among the organizer community seemed to know how to help us. (Once I had to take a rural bus, and not the shuttle, to reach Nagasandra).<br />
<br />
Overall, though, it was a highly satisfactory experience attending the convention: There are definite possibilities for an NRI to choose a particular method of contribution to suit his/her style and background.</div>
</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-23730669169301683462017-01-10T16:33:00.000-08:002017-01-13T05:19:41.759-08:00The Problem with Bangalore Molestations during the 2017 New Year Revelry: Wrong Leadership.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="I" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/I-8-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />n the article titled <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/05/opinions/beasts-of-bangalore/index.html" target="_blank">The beasts that roamed Bangalore</a>, author Ira Trivedi writes:<br />
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Such statements from elected leaders are not only deeply disturbing, they place the blame on women.</blockquote>
We cannot but agree with Ira Trivedi. In addition to all the actions the society needs to take to prevent such mistreatment of women, we need to take another action: Get rid of politicians who condone, by omission or by commission, undemocratic behavior.</div>
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For Mr. Parameshwara, especially, it is a double disgrace. For one, he has no understanding of what democracy means, and in what manner the citizens in a democracy can conduct themselves. Secondly, rather than condemn that animal behavior of the miscreants, he places the blame on women victims; he has thus committed the additional mistake of condoning such uncivilized behavior.<br />
<br />
Surprisingly, none of his cabinet colleagues, including the Chief Minister, have publicly commented Mr. Parameshwara's distorted logic. By being silent, they are condoning Mr. Parameshwara's behavior: मौनं सम्मति लक्षणं!<br />
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Why has Mr. Parameshwara not resigned yet? If none of his cabinet colleagues come out soon on Mr. Parameshwara's ignorance, I'd even suggest that the Chief Minister himself must also resign.<br />
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We don't need political leaders that do not understand democracy.</div>
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krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-50834967323126943772016-06-27T18:38:00.001-07:002017-01-05T23:22:04.386-08:00High-Rises in Bangalore: Boon or Bane?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/554776/allow-high-rises-city-high.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.deccanherald.com/page_images/thumb/2016/06/28/554776_thump.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karnataka High Court</td></tr>
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<img align="left" alt="H" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/H-7-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />igh Rises in Bangalore, or for that matter anywhere, are a good thing.
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<br />
In today's news report, we read that the Karnataka High Court tells Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to <a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/554776/allow-high-rises-city-high.html" target="_blank">allow high-rises in city</a>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
So far, so good.<br />
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However, there are several important things the BBMP must keep in mind:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Make available adequate water supplies.</li>
<li>Make sufficient provision for hauling garbage away for further treatment.</li>
<li>Ensure that these high rises do not exacerbate the already-congested traffic scenario.</li>
</ol>
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I realize the foregoing is not the concern of a High Court, and hope sane minds within BBMP will prevail to deal with these sorts of things.
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krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Seattle, WA, USA47.6062095 -122.332070847.2636815 -122.9775178 47.9487375 -121.68662379999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-87096022353891774112016-02-06T11:54:00.000-08:002016-02-07T07:07:11.847-08:00An Evening at a Sunidhi Chauhan Concert in Bangalore.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lvf45eaJ17U/VrZJDWCvOUI/AAAAAAAAeI0/faOe5UOPO60/s1600/DSC_1128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lvf45eaJ17U/VrZJDWCvOUI/AAAAAAAAeI0/faOe5UOPO60/s200/DSC_1128.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunidhi_Chauhan"><img align="left" alt="S" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/S-7-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />unidhi Chauhan needs no introduction.</a><br />
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When I learnt of her concert in Bangalore on this past January 31, as part of the UNMAAD 2016 celebration at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, I was quite excited to attend it, although that'd make my subsequent road transportation from South Bangalore to the airport, to catch a flight back to the US, a greater nervous exercise in navigating Bangalore traffic, for all of 45 kms, to get to the airport.<br />
<a name='more'></a>My recent experience about her was as a musical personality in the reality show on TV, <a href="http://www.thevoiceindia.in/" target="_blank">The Voice India</a>, where her approach to coaching the contestants was very encouraging (to the contestants). I had become more acutely aware of accomplishments earlier in the year through a song that a Sa Re Ga Ma Pa North America 2015 contest winner, Aratrika Dey, sang for the winning entry: <a href="http://music-krbabu.blogspot.com/2015/05/blog-post.html" style="color: #f48d1d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; text-decoration: none;">कैसी पहेली ज़िन्दगानी</a>. (In a previous Bangalore visit, I had even liked Sunidhi's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Item_number" target="_blank">item song</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTmF2v59CtI" target="_blank">Sheila की जवानी)</a>. So, her versatility as a singer was established in my mind. But, an outdoor performance engaging the audience throughout? That was a refreshing first, for me!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jEPotlxsgsQ/VrZJDXKrcFI/AAAAAAAAeI0/5DVooF3wXwI/s1600/DSC_1121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jEPotlxsgsQ/VrZJDXKrcFI/AAAAAAAAeI0/5DVooF3wXwI/s200/DSC_1121.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R: Sunitha, Naresh, Bharat, Bhama</td></tr>
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I was able to get some of my relatives to accompany me for the event. It seemed that, for all of us in our group, this event was some sort of a first in Bangalore. That an outdoor stage of this magnitude is set up routinely in Bangalore was itself a pleasant surprise to me.<br />
<br />
However, the event was not without its negative aspects. For starters, no music happened until about 7:40 pm, even though 6:30 pm was the scheduled starting time. Why the tweaking of music systems could not have occurred sooner is anyone's guess.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iFrQvq4rnz0/VrZJDTqz97I/AAAAAAAAeJM/wyf3c8beFkk/s1600/DSC_1132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iFrQvq4rnz0/VrZJDTqz97I/AAAAAAAAeJM/wyf3c8beFkk/s200/DSC_1132.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Stage & the Divine Raaga Band</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To add salt to this delay wound, the opening performance of the band <a href="http://www.divineraaga.com/" target="_blank">Divine Raaga</a> -- a preposterous name with an equally preposterously named leader as Buddha -- was a disaster. Perhaps they were the guinea pigs to help set up the music systems to a more acceptable level before Sunidhi Chauhan performed; whatever it is, the band has to learn more about performing in an open setting like that. Even a musical novice like me could see through the disconcerting performance. I have no doubt, however, that the band's artistes were making an honest attempt to entertain the audience; sometimes, the best is not good enough! Only when sections of the audience shouted in unison 'Thank you' to the band leader's exhortations, did the band get the message!<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J3SSGuWTX34/VrZJDeI4n6I/AAAAAAAAeI0/fg4nDLB_ynI/s1600/DSC_1140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J3SSGuWTX34/VrZJDeI4n6I/AAAAAAAAeI0/fg4nDLB_ynI/s200/DSC_1140.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rakesh performing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uX0ucANHxW8/VrZJDQY8ZpI/AAAAAAAAeI0/BuozHcSbhvc/s1600/DSC_1142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uX0ucANHxW8/VrZJDQY8ZpI/AAAAAAAAeI0/BuozHcSbhvc/s200/DSC_1142.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunidhi's arrival on stage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Subsequent to <a href="http://www.divineraaga.com/" target="_blank">Divine Raaga</a>, at about 8:10 pm, we did get good music from Rakesh Maini, an Indian Idol 5 winner, we were told.<br />
<br />
Finally, when Sunidhi arrived on the stage, with a larger than life size video in the background, it was about 8:40 pm. But, it was electrifying to say the least! I don't remember all the song numbers she presented but, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDIrpvH8MzE" target="_blank">देसी Girl</a> was there, of course. But, the manner in which she engaged the audience was very captivating.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r804xzDBWsU/VrZJDdQmA6I/AAAAAAAAeI0/1LdZ5AdFD1M/s1600/DSC_1148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r804xzDBWsU/VrZJDdQmA6I/AAAAAAAAeI0/1LdZ5AdFD1M/s200/DSC_1148.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunidhi, engaging the audience.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I had to cut short my presence at the event by about 10:00 pm, even as Sunidhi was performing: It was time for me to get ready for the road journey to the airport.<br />
<br />
If you have read the blog post this far, you might as well review the other pictures of this event in this <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/Ted8h9BrAmeruUbY6" target="_blank">Google Photos album</a>.<br />
<br /></div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-37067287331866956152015-12-31T08:54:00.002-08:002016-01-02T01:19:48.316-08:00Footpath Failure in Bangalore: Will 2016 be a Happier New Year?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="F" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/F-11-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />ootpaths — or sidewalks for the American reader — fail to address the needs of pedestrians in Bangalore adequately.<br />
<br />
Various kinds of imperfections exist in the footpaths in Bangalore. The NGO Janaagraha has done a scientific study, <a href="http://janaagraha.org/files/SQS2015_Janaagraha-fin.pdf" target="_blank">2015 Street Quality Score</a>, and concluded that <a href="http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/75-of-footpaths-in-inner-bengaluru-and-58-in-outer-part-walkable#sthash.OnQ5aqD9.dpuf" target="_blank">75% of footpaths in inner Bengaluru, and 58% in outer part walkable</a>.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsuaQ-IrTyDD9LMEw655KQz7jPM4OkHS3eDfHR2pLqv1ibvhl7HPa9trnMHZeN8f5ekAeGRI_rfwJSZDzLiAkAZKqGIe5Y5UPHOv7lp7RJHhFsAmFqBuQsEivYeIopqb-UjWdGVicBuU/s1600/IMG_0556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsuaQ-IrTyDD9LMEw655KQz7jPM4OkHS3eDfHR2pLqv1ibvhl7HPa9trnMHZeN8f5ekAeGRI_rfwJSZDzLiAkAZKqGIe5Y5UPHOv7lp7RJHhFsAmFqBuQsEivYeIopqb-UjWdGVicBuU/s200/IMG_0556.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tree? In Footpath?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tFcm79lBYROfMYvrPxrz9ZvAhtQuCOwziYBaFls-ra45faI118TIyP0Xut9EVfP56etGTgAFvBrQUgO3fKa0_g1_iDEuDhBMENDnY3wxI6lAsrVXDTIoCImZ6pzSFoFJGvBchHwxvLY/s1600/IMG_0555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tFcm79lBYROfMYvrPxrz9ZvAhtQuCOwziYBaFls-ra45faI118TIyP0Xut9EVfP56etGTgAFvBrQUgO3fKa0_g1_iDEuDhBMENDnY3wxI6lAsrVXDTIoCImZ6pzSFoFJGvBchHwxvLY/s200/IMG_0555.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garbage at a street corner in Jayanagar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Footpaths have been created with almost no concern for pedestrians: e.g., a <br />
tree is right smack in the middle of a footpath in the photo at left.<br />
<br />
Then, of course, we have the ever-present garbage dumped on the footpath with no particular person concerned about it. What happened to PM Narendra Modi's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swachh_Bharat_Abhiyan" target="_blank">स्वच्छ भारत अभियान</a>?<br />
<br />
Why do we have this state of affairs, whereby such unacceptable conditions continue to persist? A possible answer, in the case of bad roads, is seen in this, August 2015, Times of India article titled <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Corruption-eats-into-Bengaluru-roads/articleshow/48461213.cms" target="_blank">Corruption Eats into Bengaluru Roads</a>. Of course, this corruption is daylight robbery, but are any of the BBMP officials that may be involved in this being brought to justice? A quote from the article:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The tender process appears to be a means for corrupt officials and politicians to make money off contractors, who pay kick backs to land contracts to lay roads.Only half the money sanctioned is actually spent on the project, say sources."</blockquote>
Incidentally, this corrupt process seems to be in vogue since at least 1975, when I went abroad for higher studies. I recall distinctly how dangerous the roads were, particularly after monsoon rains, when I used to commute on a moped from near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_Bangalore_Airport" target="_blank">the HAL Airport</a> to Indian Institute of Science.<br />
<br />
But, there seems to be good news in the environment: <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bengaluru-shows-the-way-to-better-roads/articleshow/46102337.cms" target="_blank">Bengaluru Shows the Way to Better Roads</a>. When, a few days ago, I happened to walk on Cunningham Road, I did note that the footpath was quite nicely done. At that time, I didn't know that <a href="http://www.janausp.org/tendersure.php" target="_blank">the TenderSure<sup>1</sup> concept</a>, conceived by <a href="http://www.janaagraha.org/" target="_blank">Janaagraha</a>, is responsible for that pleasant surprise. If you look at <a href="http://www.janaagraha.org/about-us/" target="_blank">the roster of individuals powering Janaagraha</a>, you will begin to understand why this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_NGOs" target="_blank">NGO</a> is successful.<br />
<br />
I hope Bangaloreans — or, is it Bengalureans? — can rally around the vision of Janaagraha, and create a cleaner Bangalore?<br />
<br />
Happy New Year, Bangalore, in 2016.<br />
<hr />
<div id="Uncorrupt-Society">
<sup>1</sup>Actually, in an uncorrupt society, this TenderSure concept is a redundancy; but, more on that in a separate context.</div>
</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-8229735200907648932015-12-10T04:14:00.002-08:002015-12-12T11:55:10.702-08:00Intolerance Needed in Bangalore: To Chaotic Traffic.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="I" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/I-8-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />ntolerance is very much occupying media these days in India.<br />
<br />
A key fuel for this <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/11/24/the-intolerant-response-to-aamir-khans-intolerance-comments/" target="_blank">intolerance debate appears to be public statements by renowned Bollywood actor Aamir Khan</a>. While this intolerance hits at the very basic foundation of secularism of Indian democracy, and deserves to be properly handled, I see the need for a difference kind of intolerance needed in Bangalore: Intolerance to chaotic traffic.<br />
<a name='more'></a>In the several years I have been out of Bangalore, the state of traffic control has been essentially the<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/103815550919851281059/BangaloreTraffic2015#6226618337104446594" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XEuJ3p3J9mE/VmlkYzcLRII/AAAAAAAAaqw/dkUoLrOPboY/s128-Ic42/IMG_0533.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Uncontroll</span><wbr style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">ed Traffic at an Intersecti</span><wbr style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">on in South Bangalore.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
same: No traffic control. Granted, this intersection, on the right, is somewhat away from the center of the city and during early morning hours; but, the driving culture is the same, and unmistakable: Force your way by horning, however slowly, towards your destination. Even the pedestrians have to have the same attitude, or they will not reach their destination in time. (More on pedestrians in a separate blog post).<br />
<br />
For a road with 3 marked lanes, there will be 5 or 6 automobiles — not counting 2-wheelers — converting the road to a virtual 6-lane fiasco.<br />
<br />
Even at intersections with traffic lights, chaos begins to reign as soon as the light turns green or, sometimes, even when the light is still red/amber, seconds before it turns green.<br />
<br />
Chaos is no solution to a problem that needs to scale. We see the magnitude of the scaling problem by looking at how the population of Bangalore has exploded: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore" target="_blank">1,654,000 in 1971 to 8,425,970 in 2011</a>.<br />
An increase of 409% in 40 years. I do not know how the growth of automobiles correlates to the growth of human population, but there are a lot of vehicles on Banaglore roads: <a href="http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/civic/Over-50L-vehicles-and-nowhere-to-go/articleshow/45015765.cms" target="_blank">Over 50L — 5 million — vehicles at last count, in November 2014</a>. Compare this to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" target="_blank">New York's population of 8, 491,079 in 2014</a>; <a href="http://www.nycedc.com/blog-entry/new-yorkers-and-cars" target="_blank">1.4 or so million cars in 2012</a>. (Even with only 25% of Bangalore's vehicles, New Yorkers face traffic problems).<br />
<br />
Perhaps the <a href="http://bmrc.co.in/" target="_blank">Bangalore Metro</a> will ease some traffic some day, but there is still a cultural shift needed towards orderly road traffic.<br />
<br />
An immediate retort to this blog post will be: "You don't know how constrained the city traffic police's resources are". Maybe. But, can we see one model road in Bangalore that sports 100% orderly traffic? Is it too much to ask of the city traffic police to help maintain 100% orderly traffic in one, and only one, single road in all of Bangalore? It'll require educating the public as well as policing the traffic.<br />
<br />
Once the 1st road is converted to 100% orderly traffic, the traffic police can attempt a 2nd road, etc. Note that, once 100% orderliness is achieved, it takes resources to maintain the orderliness. Then, a 3rd, a 4th, ..., all of Bangalore eventually.<br />
<br />
Can we expect 12 model roads in Bangalore with 100% orderly traffic, both automobile and pedestrian, by December 2016, one new road per month? Is the City Traffic Police listening?</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-85184713192489102362015-12-06T05:53:00.002-08:002015-12-08T01:58:35.740-08:00The Reality of 100 Mbps of Internet Service in Bangalore.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="I" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/I-7-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />nternet is a very important service that anyone needs in today's world.<br />
<br />
Thus, there is a constant effort that everyone makes to get to a better speed of Internet service. For example, it is well known that <a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/video/cuvc/design/guides/desktop/7_0/cuvc70dg/buildnetwk.html" target="_blank">Internet-based videoconferencing, Cisco recommends, will need at least 384 kbps</a>. And, for video streaming, <a href="https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306" target="_blank">Netflix recommends 3.0 Mbps for SD and 5.0 Mbps for HD quality</a>.
<br />
<a name='more'></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEwTyXPEJ1mS4lDWdQPZ0AoVqZhCI5lVVipENCHaI4VufTrZvuLfy3AfMxXXLN64qOCSc35ls4cfSMXTIpz2_bKV9VSbsTChFNWJGJbtQOirftO8NZheXVA7dwJl9Lg9YiKGKGRUcTGoo/w1110-h1480-no/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEwTyXPEJ1mS4lDWdQPZ0AoVqZhCI5lVVipENCHaI4VufTrZvuLfy3AfMxXXLN64qOCSc35ls4cfSMXTIpz2_bKV9VSbsTChFNWJGJbtQOirftO8NZheXVA7dwJl9Lg9YiKGKGRUcTGoo/w1110-h1480-no/" width="150" /></a>So, when I saw an ad last year for a 40 Mbps Internet service, shown at right, I influenced a Bangalore-based relative to try that. Little did I realize what it'd mean in terms of actual Internet service experience.<br />
<br />
When, eventually, the relative got a 100 Mbps from the same Internet Service Provider (ISP) recently, I had an opportunity to conduct some experiments on this new service. (These days, this <a href="http://www.acttv.in/actfibernet/" target="_blank">ISP even markets a twin load service</a>, a claim that says that both download and upload bandwidths are similar).<br />
<br />
Here are some typical performances. Without even a ISP-supplied router, here's what I found as the various numbers at a Ethernet-attached Windows laptop directly to the ISP:<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="background-color: white; color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><td style="text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Source</div>
</td><td>Destination</td><td>Download (Mbps)</td><td>Upload (Mbps)</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886246993" target="_blank">Bangalore</a></td><td>87.52</td><td>43.65</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886253256" target="_blank">Singapore</a></td><td>13.10</td><td>8.47</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886258301" target="_blank">Los Angeles</a></td><td>9.24</td><td>9.03</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886264645" target="_blank">Seattle</a></td><td>7.47</td><td>13.53</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
Thus, unless the ISP has good <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peering" target="_blank">peering</a> agreements with other global ISPs, the speed experienced at any given laptop for many international destinations will not be as claimed, even for globally important sites such as <a href="http://www.google.com/">http://www.google.com</a>. This is the experience that a user faces when connecting directly to the ISP, without a router in between.<br />
<br />
Now, what happens when you introduce a home router between the laptop and the ISP? With the ISP-supplied home router, a different set of numbers is seen at the same Ethernet-attached Windows laptop:<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="background-color: white; color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><td style="text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Source</div>
</td><td>Destination</td><td>Download (Mbps)</td><td>Upload (Mbps)</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886282559" target="_blank">Bangalore</a></td><td>13.13</td><td>7.15</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886286881" target="_blank">Singapore</a></td><td>1.39</td><td>0.45</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886291296" target="_blank">Los Angeles</a></td><td>1.37</td><td>0.51</td></tr>
<tr><td>J P Nagar</td><td><a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4886296170" target="_blank">Seattle</a></td><td>0.99</td><td>0.50</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Thus, with the introduction of the home router between the laptop and the ISP, the speed experienced at any given laptop for many international destinations further suffers.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Summary</span><br />
1 Mbps download to certain destinations on an advertised 100 Mbps service? 0.5 Mbps upload? The actual realized speeds can be much less than the advertised speeds. In this example, they are 2 orders of magnitude inferior, with the ISP-supplied router, for specific destinations. What can we conclude from all of this?<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Unless the ISP has good <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peering" target="_blank">peering</a> agreements with global ISPs, the speed experienced at any given laptop for many international destinations will not be particularly good, even for globally important sites such as http://www.google.com. </li>
<li>The home router supplied by the ISP is also to be looked at. Just because the home router is supplied by the ISP, it doesn't mean that you can experience a good connection.</li>
</ol>
<div>
So, as they say, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caveat_emptor" target="_blank">caveat emptor</a>:</i> Understand what you are getting into, before you sign up with any ISP.</div>
</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com2Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-31708392065638091652015-11-28T02:23:00.002-08:002015-11-28T08:20:59.867-08:00Dealing with Diabetes.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="D" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/D-12-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />iabetes is a worldwide epidemic.<br />
<br />
A World Health Organization (WHO) article proclaims <a href="http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/5/943.extract" target="_blank">Type 2 Diabetes: An Epidemic Requiring Global Attention and Urgent Action</a>.<br />
<br />
As of <a href="https://www.idf.org/diabetesatlas" target="_blank">The 7th Edition of the Diabetic Atlas of the International Diabetes Foundation</a>, there are 387 million afflicted with diabetes worldwide today.<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_2015412880"><br /></a>The article <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068646/" target="_blank">Is Diabetes Becoming the Biggest Epidemic of the Twenty-first Century?</a> provides a richer variety of statistics to substantiate its title. <br />
<br />
An interesting spectacle a couple of days ago in South Bangalore made me realize how Bangalore is <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/Q7y4ugT_ZI9wHpVggb8sUTBm1weqvxySBiiM-qgcSyj2G7o9lKJDg8yNZeZbI3L-sQI_cB2mM0A0vI8HRo_liuNig_oxmXw6TnqSDgUCux2_IPY-tPpR6Ox6dsVH1Xj372-kryHM9enmLF4b5PBnkYK4i8wPB51sMkYwLvfiAxJ9nz_R8tGUImPumIIkd4jDymojxZoJmzgJZdRi4pR1Dq1mq4DcT4chhbwEXUqPBrWdOpDwv7MzvL4gIP0p-28RyAw_GSVeRAzwsH3_YTd7JQTSds7g_m6K4Bop53WUWIUElNkDfZn0M8oTUUKcw3NuaTeJ-xk1bavJ9-CPgLZ4-rwX0URYb6KZIefknrcW8a6J7XvBORjRe3qKtqTmmzEOwpsgj69mRnWbkywPhRyhRpDseY88J7d0BrcYk00Esub-lZKoRDy9BQRdwAHmMOB9QZbCQpkmCqnrh1e9jEYvfC7dTTj3HdXLP_mXl-KQSuHsJf-L4wViT8aHWyIPEAd_LapBG7ww5w6Kw3U6twGEMt3Xlkw3AyIz1w6Mev7dBmTs=w958-h1276-no" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/Q7y4ugT_ZI9wHpVggb8sUTBm1weqvxySBiiM-qgcSyj2G7o9lKJDg8yNZeZbI3L-sQI_cB2mM0A0vI8HRo_liuNig_oxmXw6TnqSDgUCux2_IPY-tPpR6Ox6dsVH1Xj372-kryHM9enmLF4b5PBnkYK4i8wPB51sMkYwLvfiAxJ9nz_R8tGUImPumIIkd4jDymojxZoJmzgJZdRi4pR1Dq1mq4DcT4chhbwEXUqPBrWdOpDwv7MzvL4gIP0p-28RyAw_GSVeRAzwsH3_YTd7JQTSds7g_m6K4Bop53WUWIUElNkDfZn0M8oTUUKcw3NuaTeJ-xk1bavJ9-CPgLZ4-rwX0URYb6KZIefknrcW8a6J7XvBORjRe3qKtqTmmzEOwpsgj69mRnWbkywPhRyhRpDseY88J7d0BrcYk00Esub-lZKoRDy9BQRdwAHmMOB9QZbCQpkmCqnrh1e9jEYvfC7dTTj3HdXLP_mXl-KQSuHsJf-L4wViT8aHWyIPEAd_LapBG7ww5w6Kw3U6twGEMt3Xlkw3AyIz1w6Mev7dBmTs=w958-h1276-no" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Make-Shift Testing Desk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
coping with this epidemic. A healthcare industry employee in Bangalore sets up a temporary, make-shift, desk near public areas such as community parks. At this desk, the employee administers glucose measurement and blood pressure measurement for ₹30 ($0.45) and ₹20 ($0.30) respectively.<br />
<br />
This setup is at the instance of a local hospital — name withheld by request of the employee — which, I presume, hopes that the individuals that got tested would eventually go to the hospital for any future medical needs. A useful service, I'd say.<br />
<br />
How much of an education the tested individuals get through this testing episode is another matter. After all, you cannot improve anyone's life in an effective way unless the person gets sufficiently educated as well.</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-9278279379461979742015-11-19T19:51:00.000-08:002015-11-29T01:08:05.361-08:00Uber Rides in Bangalore, 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="Y" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/Y-5-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />esterday's Uber ride from Bangalore South to Bangalore North leaves me with the impression that Uber rides have made great progress since <a href="http://bangalore-krbabu.blogspot.in/2014/10/my-first-uber-ride-in-bangalore.html" target="_blank">my first one</a>.<br />
<br />
Specifically:<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/Lg2f-mpOd0lXIzLogumERj8Tyg0sJ-HSn4rPIsMtAn9HrlKpZdrB65STZ0F3AiCqzur_aIz0GSIp54wug1Se7PJJfx8otjL6XK77HYKHKCrX-TyK4Thrv9XadE07VMBIB3IpyTg-kTJn7okyLqlirwGD_ShdLdAIyLLFMZr06Pp0zJQld-joI8vsvB847sCy6-TC8jL9G2_bavsIIkqfMHJ49XY_WXRWuU9L5udjF5lPxLXHXbL796Mdc9Hxo--ptAPgaQrBrEY7Z4SrSsm4Rchm4hZP_Pl3PKR6KAy06wvdG-Y3DnIY88T0EB1L4fFWexryiMFUVdUJ--GU1ziYv3kmnxRRBoiFOx9pEPCPfelFonHVMUBHuRLahh1774FqNhWC-u436XwgZ8wwRIpfVaciXu2qNSd2mXCdPEPZ8RvmLpfKoEPCS_Wglc58TihFGUHRpvJCzWBq9OJIrurxqdflnbmEGgCaNaq-VrabQZxgOstKO3hdF0y4hbEmoLzvKXzKZMkWeXy_eMyI5FIjy7nTweg1u4Drdpw2HGqMBUFF=w640-h1136-no" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/Lg2f-mpOd0lXIzLogumERj8Tyg0sJ-HSn4rPIsMtAn9HrlKpZdrB65STZ0F3AiCqzur_aIz0GSIp54wug1Se7PJJfx8otjL6XK77HYKHKCrX-TyK4Thrv9XadE07VMBIB3IpyTg-kTJn7okyLqlirwGD_ShdLdAIyLLFMZr06Pp0zJQld-joI8vsvB847sCy6-TC8jL9G2_bavsIIkqfMHJ49XY_WXRWuU9L5udjF5lPxLXHXbL796Mdc9Hxo--ptAPgaQrBrEY7Z4SrSsm4Rchm4hZP_Pl3PKR6KAy06wvdG-Y3DnIY88T0EB1L4fFWexryiMFUVdUJ--GU1ziYv3kmnxRRBoiFOx9pEPCPfelFonHVMUBHuRLahh1774FqNhWC-u436XwgZ8wwRIpfVaciXu2qNSd2mXCdPEPZ8RvmLpfKoEPCS_Wglc58TihFGUHRpvJCzWBq9OJIrurxqdflnbmEGgCaNaq-VrabQZxgOstKO3hdF0y4hbEmoLzvKXzKZMkWeXy_eMyI5FIjy7nTweg1u4Drdpw2HGqMBUFF=w640-h1136-no" width="180" /></a>
<li>It seems that Google Maps, on which the Uber software is built, has become very reliable within Bangalore. Quote from yesterday's driver, exuding confidence: "If you have given your [home] address correctly, then I can park the car in front of your home." "ನೀವು ನಿಮ್ಮ [ಮನೆಯ] addressನ್ನು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಹಾಕಿದ್ದರೆ, ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯ ಮುಂದೆಯೇ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಬಹುದು."</li>
<li>Even at about 8:00 am this, November 20th, Friday morning you can see in the snapshot at right that there are 5 cars in wait for a Malleswaram Circle pickup location. The density of cars used to be much less in peripheral areas such as Malleswaram Circle last year. (Some people might regard Malleswaram as central to Bangalore, but I regard the Kempegowda Circle area, MG Road, et al., as more central).</li>
<li>Based on the kind of conversation I was able to strike with yesterday's driver, it looks like some of these drivers are also being sensitized to the importance of being good conversationalists too. I don't know whether Uber makes any special effort towards this user experience.</li>
<li>It is indeed true that the Uber rates are not much more expensive than the auto rates: I paid ₹228.09 for a 15.26km ride. <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/minimum-auto-fare-is-now-rs-25/article5552077.ece" target="_blank">Based on the tariffs in effect since January 8, 2014</a>, the auto would have charged me probably 15.26*₹13.00, or ₹195.</li>
</ol>
<div>
Summary: I'll continue to patronize Uber during my presence in Bangalore. (Disclaimer: I don't own any shares of Uber).</div>
</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-29955779537002258182014-10-28T00:45:00.001-07:002014-10-28T00:45:58.440-07:00Making Sense of Mobile Tariffs in Bangalore.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="M" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/M-10-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />obile phones are a bare necessity these days, no matter where you go. If you have access to a smartphone, it is even better.<br />
<br />
However, if you are used to 'all-you-can-eat' mobile plans as in the US, for example, it will take some sorting out to make the best out of the mobile plans in Bangalore, and perhaps in India.<br />
<br />
A year ago, in June 2013, I got a SIM card for my then phone, an iPhone 4. Since I spent only a few days during that visit, I didn't pay attention to how the mobile tariffs worked, even though I was somewhat aware of the myriads of options, and settled for <a href="http://www.icicibank.com/Personal-Banking/offers/offer-detail.page?id=offer-mobile-operator-offers-20140206212454566" target="_blank">the Full Talktime options my bank provided</a>.<br />
<br />
It turns out that the options can be indeed mind-boggling. Just take a look at <a href="http://www.airtel.in/mobile/prepaid/recharge-online?CIRCLE=4&CIRCLENAME=Karnataka&tab=1#tabs-1" target="_blank">this Airtel example for Easy Recharge options for prepaid phones online in the Karnataka region</a>. Yes — that's right — there are upwards of 60 Easy Recharge options from which to choose.<br />
<br />
Primarily, if you determine the duration of your stay, you can maximize the mobile value by choosing additional options for Calls — Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD) with or without roaming, International Subscriber Dialing (ISD), etc. — SMS, Internet access.<br />
<br />
Airtel calls these options as packs.<br />
<br />
So, you have to buy the packs in addition to the Full Talktimes, if you want to play the mobile usage optimization game.</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-78109046339223788832014-10-25T05:06:00.000-07:002014-10-27T08:22:09.401-07:00My First Uber Ride in Bangalore.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="U" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/U-5-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />ber ride in Bangalore?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://krbabu.blogspot.in/2014/06/my-first-uber-trip.html" target="_blank">I have experienced Uber ride in the US, and it has been quite pleasant</a>.<br />
<br />
My enthusiasm for experiencing an Uber ride in Bangalore, was boundless, as I landed last Tuesday. I had specially bought an Android smartphone as I landed in India so that I could use Uber App during my stay. (Use of an unlocked iPhone with a North America number, while possible, can add up to quite a sum while roaming internationally).<br />
<a name='more'></a><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VnYAum49clg/VEuEAz2jaBI/AAAAAAAAQzg/L6BgF4EJW2I/s1600/IMG_0284.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VnYAum49clg/VEuEAz2jaBI/AAAAAAAAQzg/L6BgF4EJW2I/s1600/IMG_0284.PNG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relative Abundance of UberX <br />
Cars in the Heart of Bangalore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
However, it was not until I failed to obtain any such service in a couple of residential neighborhoods such as Jayanagar and Malleswaram that I began to feel that all that promotion that Uber themselves had made — <a href="http://blog.uber.com/BLRpricecut" target="_blank">almost as cheap as auto-rickshaw</a> — was probably a little bit of marketing hype ... until, that is, I happened to get to the center of the city yesterday, near The Cash Pharmacy, for some business work.<br />
<br />
When, around 4:45 pm, I logged into the Uber App on the Android phone and requested a ride, the App greeted me saying the car would arrive in 6 minutes.<br />
<br />
Elated, I was.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I was not looking forward to an auto-rickshaw alternative this time, having already done one leg on a rickshaw, an hour or so earlier. Who would, during rush hour? You'd have to inhale mounds of automobile exhaust as the rickshaw snaked through the city roads.</i></blockquote>
Back to the Uber ride.<br />
<br />
A Toyota Etios arrived in 8 or so minutes. Clean interior. The delay, the driver explained, was due to incorrect information he had from his handheld. It seemed my texting — SMS, in this part of the world — my location to the driver helped.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Why? I wondered. The driver should have my location information, thanks to Google Maps, right?</i></blockquote>
The driver was a friendly individual. He helped with whatever little luggage I had to lug, and dropped it in the trunk — <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunk_(automobile)" target="_blank">dickie, in this part of the world</a>.<br />
<br />
Driver: Where are we going?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Why is he asking me this? Doesn't he already know? I had specifically used a landmark that Google had already mapped, while requesting the ride — <a href="https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/JP+Nagar+Police+Station/@12.911958,77.587772,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x3bae150da00169f9:0x9e1ef8639b7617d7?hl=en" target="_blank">J P Nagar Police Station</a>; I didn't use my actual destination, which was less than half a kilometer from the landmark, and which Google would only know approximately anyway.</i></blockquote>
It was then he explained why he wanted to confirm the destination. It seems one of the hazards of Bangalore Uber drivers is that the customers do not always mention the destination correctly when they request the ride. So, invariably, it needs to be reconfirmed to make sure the driver is not wasting fuel.<br />
<br />
Some more friendly chat ensued. How the Uber ride collections were only supplements to his other income, etc. And, the explanation for why I didn't find Uber rides in Jayanagar or Malleswaram: It seems that Uber drivers hang out in prominent locations such as M G Road, Whitefield, etc., where there is a higher probability of finding a ride.<br />
<br />
I guided the driver to my actual destination after reaching near the police station, got off the car, shook hands with the driver, with the ride completed in good, friendly, comfort<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6057047245787973944#Global-Day-of-Protest"><sup>1</sup></a>.<br />
<br />
As again, no need for exchange of any card or cash: Magic happens within the Uber App.<br />
<hr />
<div id="Global-Day-of-Protest">
<sup>1</sup>However, there is <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/uber-drivers-kick-off-global-day-of-protest/" target="_blank">a story on Uber drivers' 'Global Day of Protest'</a>.</div>
</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-51581400823105192572014-09-21T10:58:00.004-07:002014-09-21T11:26:43.397-07:00Bangaloreans can Feel Proud.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="B" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/B-12-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />angaloreans must feel proud of this young man, Alok Shetty, who has now been named to be the Time 'Next Generation Leaders': <a href="http://time.com/3270908/alok-shetty-architect-india/" target="_blank">Building Hope in India: Architect Alok Shetty is finding simple solutions to complex problems</a>. His list of accolades is quite impressive, as can be seen from <a href="http://www.bhumi-putra.com/#!press/cnqj" target="_blank">one of his company's — Bhumiputra Architecture — web pages</a>.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Here's a list of ideas that he has already implemented:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://forbesindia.com/article/30-under-30/alok-shetty-from-hospital-to-modular-schools/37153/1" target="_blank">Modular Schools</a></li>
<li>Multi-Specialty Hospital</li>
<li>Repurposed Freight Containers</li>
<li>...</li>
</ol>
<div>
I'm sure we can look forward to many more of his creative works. </div>
<br /></div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-25764773181857347932014-07-16T00:18:00.000-07:002014-07-16T12:31:09.817-07:00Is the [Karnataka State] Government for the People?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When you read the article titled <a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/419976/karnataka-govt-foot-ambareeshs-rs.html" target="_blank">Karnataka govt to foot Ambareesh's Rs 1.16-cr medical bill</a>, you have to wonder what kinds of considerations prompted the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddaramaiah" target="_blank">Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah</a> to sanction reimbursement of ₹1.16 Crores.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Is it that all cabinet ministers of a state deserve this kind of treatment?</li>
<li>Can the ministers not buy adequate medical insurance?</li>
<li>Are the ministers public servants, or liabilities for the state exchequer?</li>
<li>Is it that all ministers of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_and_union_territory_capitals_in_India" target="_blank">the 29 states and 7 union territories</a> are sanctioned similar medical reimbursements?</li>
<li>... and, so on.</li>
</ol>
<div>
And, don't ignore the statement in the article, either, which I quote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>However, in case of Ambareesh, the rule was relaxed as his family decided to take him to Singapore</i>.</blockquote>
</div>
How does the family's decision to take Ambareesh to Singapore for medical treatment obligate the state government to relax rules? Is the citizenry going to accept this without any debate?</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Kirkland, WA, USA47.6814875 -122.208735347.510475 -122.5314588 47.852500000000006 -121.8860118tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-85826988002113481232014-06-10T00:37:00.001-07:002014-06-26T09:12:51.886-07:00Uber in Bangalore, and the Impact of Social Networking.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img align="left" alt="U" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/U-12-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />ber, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/06/us-tech-uber-idUSKBN0EH21I20140606" target="_blank">the Silicon Valley startup transportation company that recently raised a capital of $1.2B at a "post-money" valuation of $18.2B</a>, has transportation services that serves the city of Bangalore, along with other prominent Indian cities.<br />
<br />
What is interesting about this startup company? According to CEO Travis Kalanick:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"So what is that vision?… It’s a reflection of our mission to turn ground transportation into a seamless service. Basically make car ownership a thing of the past…"</blockquote>
Make car ownership a thing of the past. Wow! With <a href="http://cloud-krbabu.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">cloud computing</a>, we have made, for most enterprises (and people), "big" computer ownership a thing of the past. With streaming music and video, we have CD and DVD ownership a thing of the past. Now, entrepreneurs are working to make car ownership a thing of the past. Nice. What is next? I digressed.<br />
<br />
Having experienced the Uber service in the United States, and as a frequent visitor to Bangalore, it was necessary for me to conduct an exercise of comparison between <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a>, and a particular taxi service I have used in Bangalore, <a href="http://www.merucabs.com/fares/" target="_blank">Meru Cabs</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.merucabs.com/fares/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ereR4vsjdMFhQ8FHZ-qwiv7rUmOrkFVr39ZpWTC9ySE4s54JyTCq0XSrg1W9JT6TYnG2PDfv8S2pNM5y23VhaXfYxxYvFnil0O_MuuZ2_rVMUQlsse6yEcGgFUG439wJgXYzCb5_p-0/s1600/Fare-Bangalore-Meru-Cabs.png" height="150" width="320" /></a></div>
From the screenshot you see at left, of <a href="http://www.merucabs.com/fares/" target="_blank">a page from Meru Cabs' web site</a>, you can see the following:<br />
<br />
Rate for first 4 km = ₹80<br />
Rate after 4 km = ₹19.50/km<br />
<br />
So, for a 40 km ride, say from the airport, you would incur a fare of ₹80 + (40-4)*₹19.50 = ₹782.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.uber.com/cities/bangalore" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRncwOawfMK_UWDVeYlNbVzE37JnwGX36TSSGwDZvTS-1YyCVnskFYwYcbrL9KIQEdUQqADdXr_jyot-pHVSkadf2fykVZFbUIPh0RIG0c__TdJAvs2DG6raoAuDn-bGd9EOPQcu3foRk/s1600/Uber-Bangalore.png" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.uber.com/cities/bangalore" target="_blank">The UberBLACK service</a>, which is somewhat similar and whose screenshot you see on the right, has the following tariffs in Bangalore:<br />
<br />
Base fare = ₹80 (irrespective of total distance)<br />
Time component = ₹2/minute<br />
Distance component = ₹18/km<br />
<br />
So, for a 40 km ride, involving 1 hour, then, you would have a total fare of ₹80 + 2*60 + 40*₹18 = ₹920.<br />
<br />
If you are able to avail of the service when certain discounts are offered — say of 49% between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm as seen by the tweet on the Uber screenshot — you could incur only 51%*₹920 = ₹470. And, Meru charges a slightly higher rate, between midnight and 6:00 am.<br />
<br />
Thus, the power of social networking may provide Uber a slight advantage of being able to attract a larger number of customers provided, of course, you can make use of social networking as you land in Bangalore.<br />
<br />
Of course, the comparison may not be perfect; but, nevertheless, it is useful to have this comparison in mind.</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-73096647523564918862014-04-16T06:10:00.000-07:002014-05-02T12:53:25.535-07:00Google's 'Know Your Candidates Tool' for India's Lok Sabha 2014 Elections.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGEKLE7xlEatbSIRNRX0UBNWTHemNeRgEoK-UaOeKznGfewKRqyQNOuVb4mL1RBUEG1g8WVr9OWIzHy9lI4bvazWoDCgknTiiX6p98NhgolCKS7tyHwFv9Ggg7zbOMQeuFcPQbk6jMPI/s1600/Bangalore-South.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGEKLE7xlEatbSIRNRX0UBNWTHemNeRgEoK-UaOeKznGfewKRqyQNOuVb4mL1RBUEG1g8WVr9OWIzHy9lI4bvazWoDCgknTiiX6p98NhgolCKS7tyHwFv9Ggg7zbOMQeuFcPQbk6jMPI/s1600/Bangalore-South.JPG" height="174" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bangalore South Constituency Contestants, Lok Sabha 2014 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<img align="left" alt="G" src="http://dailydropcap.com/images/G-12-cap.png" title="Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische" />oogle's engineers have created <a href="http://googleindia.blogspot.com/2014/04/introducing-know-your-candidates-tool.html" target="_blank">an interesting interactive web site of India's 2014 Lok Sabha elections</a>.<br />
<br />
In the Bangalore South constituency, where Nandan Nilekani, former chief of the <a href="http://uidai.gov.in/" target="_blank">Unique Identification Authority of India</a>, is one of the contestants, there are 21 others. 22 people in all for 1 single Lok Sabha seat. (In other words, the 'best' of these 22 contents will get elected to the lower house of the parliament.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZg6wpzpM_Q8oAyuEZrUXA-E8fS9gKUN3NJSwJ4uum8HmoCjlNo1d4cmRyfINFyZhBR3_2fQjo7jZGZPDl7Yb4h6Nj7I6m2sqTPlmMjarDawFoQReMZc7RhL-9SzxYlwrK8fCJB1cvDz8/s1600/NN.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZg6wpzpM_Q8oAyuEZrUXA-E8fS9gKUN3NJSwJ4uum8HmoCjlNo1d4cmRyfINFyZhBR3_2fQjo7jZGZPDl7Yb4h6Nj7I6m2sqTPlmMjarDawFoQReMZc7RhL-9SzxYlwrK8fCJB1cvDz8/s1600/NN.JPG" height="320" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nandan Nilekani, Lok Sabha 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is a very useful tool because, while sitting at your desk, you can derive a whole lot of information about each of these candidates. For example, for Nandan Nilekani, you can see the information as show in the right snippet. The snippet contains 6 Internet-related handles and URLs that can provide plenty of information about each candidate. One particular web site, <a href="http://www.myneta.info/">http://www.myneta.info</a>, compiled by Association for Democratic Reforms, appears to be very comprehensive. (As you would expect, however, the web site also has a disclaimer about the accuracy of the curated information).<br />
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One important take-away for me, from where I am in the United States, is that it probably is very difficult for undesirable elements to enter, and succeed, in Indian politics.<br />
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<i>Vive la démocratie!</i></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Pollock_to_Hussey.jpg/250px-Pollock_to_Hussey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Pollock_to_Hussey.jpg/250px-Pollock_to_Hussey.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Wikipedia, <br />
under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_in_India" target="_blank">Cricket is a sport that has entered the youth of India in a big way</a>.<br />
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That being the case, why not use the sport as a platform to motivate and mold India's youth? Recently, within a span of a few weeks, I had occasion to visit both the <a href="http://tinted-krbabu.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-reminiscing-visit-to-crickets-mecca.html" target="_blank">Lord's Cricket Ground in London</a> and the <a href="http://tinted-krbabu.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-chance-visit-to-ksca-cricket-stadium.html" target="_blank">KSCA Stadium in Bangalore</a>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Having progressed in my IT career, I no longer hold the aspirations I once had of playing some serious cricket; however, the two recent visits still kindled latent enthusiasm for the game. If a visit can produce such a sentiment in someone like me, imagine what it can do to scores of youngsters who would have the opportunity to visit the KSCA stadium and experience the potentials of the cricket game?<br />
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Can the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnataka_State_Cricket_Association" target="_blank">KSCA Authotiries</a> — presently Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath — consider the creation of such visits to Indian public, and particularly Indian youth?</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Silicon Valley, CA, USA37.362517 -122.0347636.9588775 -122.68020700000001 37.766156499999994 -121.389313tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-82181865096318092312013-01-31T21:25:00.000-08:002014-05-02T12:55:52.193-07:00Karnataka State's Recipe for Future Development around Bangalore.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/309077/cabinet-nod-develop-8-towns.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnBK54yEb3awUJ78wSjXravIauvTzmR9RN6oWoZuvSWdXq7-BRuMMGaV4zmZm0Ns6z-U16acXWCaBHJXuvk0G_K2e1aFLM7VRgo2gJNzzegiFsMHA7glZOMYIi7x1wvmio-pD7wnmDpk/s200/Cabinet+nod+to+develop+8+towns+to+decongest+B%E2%80%99lore.png" height="200" width="182" /></a></div>
In a recent news item, as shown in the clip to left, the Karnataka State Cabinet has given its nod to implement a project aimed at decongesting Bangalore, by developing 8 small townships around Bangalore.<br />
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A Google Map of the proposal is presented later in this blog post. In addition to showing the NICE Road (green) and the Outer Ring Roads (purple), it shows the 8 townships (purple) proposed by the State Cabinet. It also shows the Bangalore airport.<br />
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The proposed cost of this development, according to the article, is ₹2,100 crores, or approximately US $400 M in today's exchange rate.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217164199405815887558.00047b519dff5257102b6&msa=0&ll=12.922922,77.487946&spn=1.137714,2.113495" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKH7084TpBWsNIMyrB15iro9m2bBiIEFZfweeL403SCk87e7DA-KMfzXvez5fRRs4ZI3zfOmyGx_uobAaJnDSDonfGN2sZYqCAxIZM4RXnk5S76r4_4B8I6JdLl9mCOMys4mD_fZEnEg/s320/Bangalore-+Outer+Ring+&+Nice+Roads+&+Future+Dev.+-+Google+Maps.png" height="320" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on the map to open the map in a new window.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now, one of the main problems in today's Bangalore — I was in Bangalore just a week ago — is that ground transportation is hopelessly inadequate. While the <a href="http://bangalore-krbabu.blogspot.com/2012/01/google-maps-and-bangalores-namma-metro.html" target="_blank">Namma Metro</a> is intended to ease the problem, the problem a motorist faces today in driving across town is very painful. Consider that it takes two hours, on average, to reach the Bangalore airport from a place about 40 kms, or ~ 25 miles, away! In other words, an average speed of about 12.5 mph. I am told that, under best conditions, it takes only an hour and a quarter, or 20 mph.<br />
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Consider a today's motorist wanting to go from Kanakapura to Doddaballapur, a distance of about 100 kms, or 60 miles. It can be a 3-hour proposition!<br />
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What the city needs direly is a freeway system in and around Bangalore. With a freeway system capable of admitting 65 mph traffic, it only takes less than half an hour to reach the airport from a point 40 kms away.<br />
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While it is not the purpose of this post to work out the economics of constructing such a freeway system — I'll leave to the PhDs and MBAs working with the State Government — the purpose is to highlight that it is important for the city designers to consider a freeway system in the equation. </div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0California, USA36.778261 -119.4179323999999823.882696000000003 -140.07222939999997 49.673826 -98.763635399999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-37667894859905830692013-01-25T00:37:00.002-08:002014-05-02T12:56:56.090-07:00Loss of a US Passport in Bangalore.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_passport" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Us-passport.jpg/190px-Us-passport.jpg" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image source: Wikipedia.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It happened to one of my relatives in a recent visit to Bangalore. This relative — call her Ms. X — had come to Bangalore from the United States to attend her cousin's wedding. Not only did she miss the central wedding ceremony, a primary purpose of her visit, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanyadan" target="_blank">Kanyadaan (ಕನ್ಯಾದಾನ)</a>, but ended up having to deal with officials from the Karnataka State Police and visiting the US Consulate in Chennai, before she could continue with her return journey as scheduled.<br />
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Once she realized she had 'lost' her purse, most likely due to someone's lifting it away from where she had set it down in the wedding hall as a temporary measure, it became important to let the local police know about it. And, we had to reach out to the police that had the proper jurisdiction over the wedding venue. We prepared the report, all of it hand-written. (<a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/karnataka-targets-rs-4-trillion-software-exports-by-2020-255182" target="_blank">For a state government that boasts of trillions of rupees in IT exports by 2020</a>, and as the <a href="http://www.karnataka.gov.in/bangaloreitbt/index.html" target="_blank">IT Hub of India</a>, it is somewhat ironical that the Karnataka police stations are not well equipped with adequate computer machinery: we had to file a hand-written report).<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
In a situation like this, that too in a wedding context, a lot of come people come forward to offer help. Somewhere in this exchange, it became a bit more obvious to me, that we need to have several things done, in that order, before she could leave India as scheduled:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Information_Report" target="_blank">First Information Report (FIR)</a>, and not just a 'loss' report. </li>
<li>a Replacement Passport from the US Consulate, the nearest consulate being in Chennai.</li>
<li>some sort of documentation in lieu of the lost visa, thanks to the lost passport, that she would have no objection from local authorities to leave India.</li>
</ol>
Luckily, it so happened that the police outpost where we had filed the 'loss' report had felt a need for greater investigation. The Inspector from the outpost visited the wedding venue later in the day, during the reception, and facilitated the creation of the FIR, item No. 1.<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AmericanCitizenServicesIndia" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash3/s160x160/530746_590276940989540_1624248457_a.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Armed with an FIR, on to Chennai, for item No. 2, the Replacement Passport.<br />
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Within a couple of hours of our being at the consulate the next morning, we had obtained a Replacement Passport, from a very streamlined consular office. To help in these matters, the US State Department has a web page describing what to do when some loses a US passport abroad: <a href="http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/emergencies/lostpassport/lostpassport_1197.html" target="_blank">Lost and Stolen US Passports Abroad</a>. And, the US Indian Consulate even has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AmericanCitizenServicesIndia" target="_blank">a Facebook page about American Citizen Services</a>.<br />
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Item No. 3 involved interaction with the <a href="http://indianfrro.gov.in/frro/" target="_blank">Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO)</a> in Bangalore. From the FRRO website:<br />
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #0040ff; font-family: Verdana, Tahoma; text-align: justify;">
A. In case of foreigners reporting due to loss of passport</h3>
<ol style="background-color: white; color: #284224; font-family: Verdana, Tahoma; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;" type="I">
<li>New passport or emergency travel document issued by the concerned foreign Mission.</li>
<li>Police reporting about the loss/stolen passport i.e. loss certificate or FIR.</li>
<li>Consulate's letter indicating the particulars of stolen passport and Indian passport.</li>
<li>If the foreigner is a registered with any FRRO/FRO then a NOC to that effect from the concerned FRRO/FRO.</li>
<li>Confirmed Air Ticket for departure with OK status for returning from the airport.</li>
<li>Four passport size photographs (4 Cm x 4 cm colour photo with white background, ears distinctly visible, without spectacles and caps.</li>
<li>Proof of Residence i.e. Hotel/Guest House payment receipt, Leave & License Agreement etc.</li>
<li>Apart from the above documents additional supportive documents can be asked for in certain cases.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://www.immigration.ind.in/2011/01/registration-and-extension-at-frro-bangalore-a-visit-to-frro-bangalore/" target="_blank">A private lawyer citizen has meaningful information on the web regarding the Bangalore office</a>.<br />
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Even though we got to the FRRO at about 9:00 am the next day, we spent the entire day at the office. We were unaware that the Proof of Residence would be more than an innocuous certification from the owner of the residence where she stayed; it ended up requiring a police certificate from the outpost in the jurisdiction of where she stayed, involving in turn an affidavit from a neighbor. These requirements, and a further inability of the FRRO to determine how much fees should be charged for this exit permit case <a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6057047245787973944#FRRO-Inability"><sup>1</sup></a>, provided for some anxious moments during the day.<br />
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Ms. X is now back in the US: All is well that ends well. Except, of course, she missed the primary event for which she visited India. <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/c%27est_la_vie" target="_blank">C'est la vie</a>!</i><br />
<hr />
<div id="FRRO-Inability">
<sup>1</sup>FRRO would not assess the fees to be paid until after they 'saw' all the documentation; and, of course, they require the payment as a Demand Draft (DD), a synonym for the American Cashier's Check. The nearby banks closed at 4:00 pm; FRRO assessed the fees at about 5:30 pm, and a DD was couriered from somewhere else in the city at about 6:00 pm, and the exit permit issued at about 6:30 pm.</div>
</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com1Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.476417699999999 76.949115699999979 13.4667797 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-44310784158170718792012-08-23T03:00:00.001-07:002014-05-02T13:04:16.065-07:00A Morning Walk in a Bangalore Park.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUz7p8EEXgr4dE2ZWYWyGbLjs0Em9lHJqbxbW3bUabaLRCt5ZDZCMPz4oj6DoJ0glT7PpmwQuBBDumjgJW8Ewc4jbEhEwCX5hocNGTIAJ9KKz4SIqRTGhHUtxGc8X4kPXJqtD9GOp7oI/s1600/IMG_0692%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUz7p8EEXgr4dE2ZWYWyGbLjs0Em9lHJqbxbW3bUabaLRCt5ZDZCMPz4oj6DoJ0glT7PpmwQuBBDumjgJW8Ewc4jbEhEwCX5hocNGTIAJ9KKz4SIqRTGhHUtxGc8X4kPXJqtD9GOp7oI/s320/IMG_0692%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
While Bangalore may be better known internationally for its <a href="http://www.soft.net/" target="_blank">Software Technology Parks</a>, a rather large number of public parks with varied plant content do dot the city, and provide valuable infrastructure for exercising and socialization. Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park, of course, are two of the more famous ones. The few of them I visited in recent years are indeed very well designed to encourage walking, or jogging, as a means of exercise for the local inhabitants. The photo depicted on the right is a morning scene from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhanvantari" target="_blank">Dhanvantari</a> Park in J P Nagar 2nd Phase, in the southern part of Bangalore.<br />
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<div style="clear: right; float: right;">
<iframe float:right="float:right" frameborder="0" height="210" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dhanvantari+Park,+21st+Main+Road,+Phase+2,+J+P+Nagar,+Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India&aq=0&oq=Dhanvantari+Park,+J+P+Nagar+Phase+2,+Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India&sll=12.909152,77.587885&sspn=0.002126,0.004128&ie=UTF8&hq=Dhanvantari+Park,+21st+Main+Road,+Phase+2,+J+P+Nagar,+Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India&t=m&ll=12.909136,77.587868&spn=0.021752,0.032015&output=embed" width="225"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dhanvantari+Park,+21st+Main+Road,+Phase+2,+J+P+Nagar,+Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India&aq=0&oq=Dhanvantari+Park,+J+P+Nagar+Phase+2,+Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India&sll=12.909152,77.587885&sspn=0.002126,0.004128&ie=UTF8&hq=Dhanvantari+Park,+21st+Main+Road,+Phase+2,+J+P+Nagar,+Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India&t=m&ll=12.909136,77.587868&spn=0.021752,0.032015" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></div>
A morning walk in such a park can be refreshing in more than one way. The obvious physical <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/phys-ed-the-benefits-of-exercising-before-breakfast/" target="_blank">benefits of exercising before a breakfast</a> is, of course, well-known. An unstated rule in most of these parks (with endless walkways) is to go clockwise from where you can enter the walkway. This is perhaps an influence of how devotees go about doing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parikrama" target="_blank"><i>pradakshina</i> in Indian temples</a>.<br />
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In addition, in a morning walk in a place like the Dhanvantari Park, you see additional entertainment and intellectual benefits as well:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>A serious exercise-minded individual will go through his exercise routine listening, through his feature phone's MP3 player, to Bollywood goodies of Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, et al., of yesteryear, sprinkled with music by modern day singers such as Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal.</li>
<li>A serious jogger will approach from behind you with his musical support for exercising, namely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu_sahasranama" target="_blank">Vishnu Sahasranamam</a>, which wanes as he passes you by.</li>
<li>A set of elderly gentlemen is lounging on a bench discussing, in Gujarati for example, either <a href="http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=baba+ramdev+news&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8" target="_blank">the contemporary political fallout such as from Baba Ramdev's stance</a>, or a problem encountered in one of their households regarding a certain human relationship gone sour.</li>
<li>A determined <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranayama" target="_blank">Pranayama</a> practitioner will occupy a slightly elevated part of the park to go through the various prescribed steps ...</li>
<li>Then, there is the group of walkers who find it necessary to walk side by side, to the full width of the walkway, to increase their socialization coefficient, occasionally denying a faster walking, or a jogging, individual to pass them by.</li>
</ol>
<div>
Ah, finally, how can you not appreciate the sighting of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girish_Karnad" target="_blank">Girish Karnad, an accomplished contemporary artist</a>, as you complete your own walk? (One of his latest films is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ek_Tha_Tiger" target="_blank">एक था Tiger</a>, in which he plays a character role). A morning well spent, you tell yourself, your blood circulation quota for the day achieved, your awareness of the fullness of life sharpened, and you look forward to the rest of the day.</div>
</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-85606427982407581162012-05-07T07:59:00.000-07:002012-08-27T01:00:59.527-07:00A Master Plan for Bangalore's Development?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/06/girish-karnad-reflects-on-bangalore-india.html" target="_blank">Girish Karnad Reflects on Bangalore, India</a>, you learn of Girish's view on haphazard growth of the city, with no effective, central, theme to aid in the city's growth. As a collective bunch, either the city fathers are overwhelmed, or clueless, depending on your point of view.<br />
<br />
Several questions arise in anyone's mind, particularly if that someone has some experience of having lived in the city.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Is it too difficult to analyze the effect of a new high-rise, or any major structure, before sanctioning its construction?</li>
<li>How happy are Bangalore's citizens regarding how <a href="http://bangalore-krbabu.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-02-05T16:00:00-08:00" target="_blank">Namma Metro</a> has evolved?</li>
<li>As any local economy grows, it is bound to generate some discontinuities. Have the city fathers created a satisfactory template that can guide the city's growth? </li>
</ol>
I, for one, would like to see a master plan at <a href="http://bbmp.gov.in/" target="_blank">the BBMP web site</a>.</div>
krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-28051452118505554292012-04-08T14:55:00.000-07:002012-04-09T00:14:09.270-07:00Happy Yugaadi, 2012.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><object height="90" width="160"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xhVh2-nf0HI&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3">
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xhVh2-nf0HI&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="160" height="90"></embed></object></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Gandhada Gudi", a Shadow Play, 2011.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When you are away from the land of your upbringing, any activity that you run into in the far away region has special meaning to you, particularly when the activity involves unique talent. And, what talent among the troupe, identified only as "Gaampara Gumpu"<sup><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6057047245787973944#Reference">1</a></sup>, that presented "Gandhada Gudi", a special shadow play describing the history and diversity of the State of Karnataka!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JLOKAOh93Gk/T4IGTbK9WgI/AAAAAAAAEHk/ll0C-c7C6TE/w402/9B62E3B0-3130-47CE-B3F8-6ED1E43B2005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JLOKAOh93Gk/T4IGTbK9WgI/AAAAAAAAEHk/ll0C-c7C6TE/w402/9B62E3B0-3130-47CE-B3F8-6ED1E43B2005.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Yugaadi, 2012.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This was a very beautiful, carefully selected, presentation of the various aspects of the State of Karnataka, with very appropriate musical backgrounds. This was performed as part of the cultural Yugaadi 2012 program that the <a href="http://www.kknc.org/" target="_blank">Kannada Koota of Northern California</a> presented on 7 April 2012 in Campbell, California. (The embedded video in this blog post, however, is what was presented in Sacramento in 2011, but is very representative of what was presented in Campbell).<br />
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Kannadigas everywhere, take note! The "Gaampara Gumpu" troupe of Sacramento, California, ought to make you feel proud. This presentation is an excellent realization of the motto of the State of Karnataka: "ಸಿರಿಗನ್ನಡಂ ಗೆಲ್ಗೆ, ಸಿರಿಗನ್ನಡಂ ಬಾಳ್ಗೆ".<br />
<br />
Kannada is living well in California.<br />
<hr />
<div id="Reference">
<sup>1</sup>The quotes are not mine: the troupe refers to itself with the quotes. For those who know Kannada, it is ಗಾಂಪರ ಗುಂಪು.
</div>
</div>krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0Campbell, CA 95008, USA37.2770029 -121.952999237.2517304 -121.9924812 37.3022754 -121.91351719999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-47893740463290037222012-02-05T16:00:00.000-08:002012-02-05T16:57:21.862-08:00Bangalore and a Specialty Snack (ತೇಂಕೊಳಲು).<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Although Bangalore is famous for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosa#Masala_dosa" target="_blank">Masala Dosa</a>, there are many other tasty snacks that are somewhat unique to Bangalore in general, and South India in particular.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dArS4sI9AW8/Ty790WrsraI/AAAAAAAADyg/a9ryaBWi7HU/s200/DSC_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dArS4sI9AW8/Ty790WrsraI/AAAAAAAADyg/a9ryaBWi7HU/s200/DSC_0022.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">ತೇಂಕೊಳಲು</span>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One such eatable is known in Kannada as ತೇಂಕೊಳಲು — pronounced tenkolalu, see inset picture — and, being able to enjoy a home-made version of that snack in America is a very special treat.<br />
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Recently, a very special "guest"<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6057047245787973944#obbaru"><sup>1</sup></a> to our home in California blessed us with not only her visit, but with ತೇಂಕೊಳಲು and a whole host of other snacks. (<a href="http://kannada-krbabu.blogspot.com/2012/02/blog-post.html" target="_blank">If you know how to read and understand Kannada, you can read about it on a separate blog</a>).<br />
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My best wishes to you, the reader, that you get a chance to enjoy this savoury soon.<br />
<hr style="text-align: left;" />
<div id="obbaru" style="text-align: left;">
<sup>1</sup>I have used the word "guest" only to avoid needless publication of the guest's identity.</div>
</div>krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6057047245787973944.post-65604816457320368572012-01-05T07:29:00.000-08:002012-02-05T15:36:57.710-08:00Google Maps and Bangalore's Namma Metro.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
(Cross-posted from <a href="http://krbabu.blogspot.com/2012/01/google-maps-and-bangalore-metro.html" target="_blank">a post on Musings of a Computing Professional</a>)<br />
<br />
Google has seen it fit to map different parts of the world, and Bangalore, India, is no exception.<br />
<br />
Recently, on <a href="http://news.oneindia.in/2011/10/20/bangalore-metro-set-to-roll-into-city-s-heart-today.html" target="_blank">20 October 2011</a>, a segment of the Bangalore Metro, between Baiyappanahalli & M G Road, went online for passenger traffic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bmrc.co.in/images/routemap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://bmrc.co.in/images/routemap.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Namma Metro Route Map</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
While the route map of the Namma Metro, shown here and provided by the <a href="http://bmrc.co.in/" target="_blank">Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)</a>, offers a logical view that is helpful in a lot of contexts, it is sometimes also valuable to have a view that is superimposed on the geography-based map of Bangalore, of all the stations that currently serve passenger traffic. <a href="http://bmrc.co.in/Network.htm" target="_blank">There is also a list of stations in the rail network, provided on the BMRCL web site</a>.<br />
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It is said that the rail system offers free Wi-Fi connection on the train to all of its riders.<br />
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This Google map given below is a public map and I expect to update it to match the state of the Namma Metro in the coming months and years.<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=217164199405815887558.0004b5c7154e5516795bf&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=m&vpsrc=6&source=embed&z=14&output=embed" width="425"></iframe><br />
<small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=217164199405815887558.0004b5c7154e5516795bf&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=m&vpsrc=6&source=embed&z=14" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Namma Metro (Bengaluru) Google Map</a> in a larger map</small><br />
<br />
Other information Namma Metro on the Internet:<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namma_Metro" target="_blank">Namma Metro on Wikipedia</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.mapsofindia.com/bangalore/bangalore-metro-map.html" target="_blank">Bangalore Metro Map by MapsofIndia.com</a>.</div>krbabuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15907054534615375759noreply@blogger.com0