[ Sajith M ]

NDTV says:

For most of us, driving in chaotic Mumbai becomes a bit easier with some relaxing music. But that’s not an option anymore. The Mumbai traffic police has a new diktat. A ban on listening to music in cars because they claim, it distracts drivers. A ban not just on loud music, but on any kind of music.

WTF? What the fucking hell were these people smoking when they came up with this wonderful idea that makes as much as sense as drying the oceans because sometimes your roof leaks when it rains.. arghh!!! No cellphones, now no music. What options do people have when in car and stuck in the never ending traffic jams?

Posted under: City Life
Tagged with: car, Mumbai Police, music

Tech News World had this to say about the broadband speeds in US:

In the U.S., the median real-time download speed was 2.3 Mbps. That lags significantly behind other industrialized nations such as Japan, with an average download speed of 63 Mbps; South Korea, with 49 Mbps; and France, with 17 Mbps on average.

Makes me wonder if the 64/128/256kbps connection that some vendors like to call broadband are really broadband.. And also wondering why the hell is bandwidth so damn expensive in India :-(

Posted under: Technology
Tagged with: Bangalore, Broadband, India

Seventeen low-intensity blasts have taken place in Ahmedabad. The death toll in the serial bombings that hit Ahmedabad on Saturday rose to 45 on Sunday, with at least eight people succumbing to their injuries. As many as 105 people have been injured and 20 among them are critical. Some of the places that the blast took place at are Maninagar, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar, Sarnagpur Bridge, Amraiwadi, Govindwadi, Sarangpur, Chakla area and Jawahar Chowk.

Quite similar to Bangalore Blasts of yesterday, these too are low intensity blasts and these too target crowded residential and market areas.

Posted under: City Life
Tagged with: Ahmedabad, Bomb Blasts, Terror Attacks

Bangalore was today hit by nine serial bomb blasts at crowded locations on a stretch from Brigade Road to Hosur Road, leaving at least two people dead and 20 wounded. Times of India has a (slightly out of date) map of blast sites here.
- 1320 IST (1:20 PM) Madiwala bus depot
- 1325 IST (1:25 PM) Mysore road (Nayandahalli)
- 1340 IST (1:40 PM) Adugudi
- 1410 IST (2:10 PM) Koramangla
- 1425 IST (2:25 PM) Vittal Mallaya road
- 1435 IST (2:35 PM) Langford Town
- 1445 IST (2:40 PM) Richmond Town
- 1730 IST (5:30 PM) Mysore Road (near Gopalan Mall)
- 1830 IST (6:30 PM) Mysore Road (near R V Engineering College)

Sachin Uppal who was at the scene says:

The scene was busy with people getting anxious and asking what’s going on, however I have not see anything in particular. It was all filled with Police men trying to sort out the chaotic traffic and managing people.

The injured have been admitted to St John’s and Mallya hospitals. The helpline phone number is (+91) 80 4031 2706

Phone networks are jammed so please be patient when trying to reach your near and dear ones. As of now there are conflicting reports about the number of blasts and the death count. Police maintains that there were 6 blasts and one dead; but the home ministry talks of 8 blasts and two dead; and most of the media is reporting 7 blasts with one death.

Posted under: City Life/Bangalore
Tagged with: Bangalore, Bomb Blasts, Terror Attacks

The incident started with when someone threw parts of a pig’s carcass at a mosque in JC Nagar area of the city, while Muslims were attending early morning prayers. Authorities have clamped Section 144 in JC Nagar locality. There are also reports of a bus having been attached in the RT Nagar area.

Bangalore seems to extremely sensitive this this kind of incidents. I hope that the situation remains under control and does not flare up.

Link: http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1555590

Posted under: City Life/Bangalore
Tagged with: Bangalore, Communal Tension

Looks like we have a fuel shortage. The petrol bunks either sporting “no stock” boards or have a serpentine queue of vehicles waiting for fuel. For the last one month, getting normal petrol has been tough in face of the hard sell for the premium fuel, now this has become impossible. Even petrol bunks that do have petrol and/or diesel available seem to have only the premium variant (HP Power, BP Speed or India Oil Xtra Premium), the regular petrol seems to have vanished from the petrol bunks.

Times of India reports:

Is the city heading towards a dry-out scenario? It is already facing a fuel shortage of 30%. Plus oil companies have “unofficially’’ asked bunk owners to go slow on “regular’’ petrol/diesel and focus on “premium’’ products. The rationing has started and regular petrol is out of stock, say many consumers.
Confirming the shortage, Bhushan Narang, president, Bangalore Petroleum Dealers’ Association and Akhila Karnataka Petroleum Dealers’ Association, said: “The reason is purely economical. Oil companies are unable to source sufficient quantity of oil. This has led to a 30% decline in supply, while the demand for fuel is growing day by day. It’s a matter of time before the shortage scenario turns worse in the city and across the country. This could be avoided if the gover nment revises prices.’’

Posted under: City Life/Bangalore
Tagged with: Bangalore, Fuel Shortage

India’s first Field Marshal, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (better known as Sam Bahadur) is no more. He would be remembered for a long time to come. Salute to India’s finest soldier whose last words were “I’m okay!”

Posted under: Thoughts
Tagged with: Field Marshal, Sam Bahadur, Sam Manekshaw

Earlier Yahoo! India did it. Now its Kerals.com’s turn. They not only copied content from blogs but also made money running a porn site (info from Inji Pennu’s post). And no, it doesn’t stop there; they are into cyber stalking and threatening Inji Penn now.

Okay, plagiarism, stealing content, copyright infringement is one matter, but when asked about it, abusing, threatening and cyber stalking is a totally new thing. Shame on you, Kerals.com

Thanks Nikhil for letting me know.

Posted under: Uncategorized
Tagged with: abusing, copyright infringement, cyber stalking, plagiarism, stealing content, threatening

If I were a social-science student trying for a Phd, this would be my thesis:

Elections 2006
Battleground Tamil Nadu
DMK promises free color TVs for all those living below the poverty line.
Result - DMK sweeps Tamil Nadu

Elections 2008
Battleground Karnataka
Congress promises free color TVs for all those living below the poverty line.
Result - Congress manages second place.

Conclusion: Tamils are far more addicted to TV than Kannadigas.

Copied from Deepa Balakrishnan’s blog post.

Posted under: Funny
Tagged with: Congress, DMK, Elections, Kannadigas, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Tamils

Indian food is as diverse as its culture and its climate. The essence of good Indian cooking revolves around the appropriate use of aromatic Indian spices. The skill lies in the subtle blending of a variety of spices to enhance the basic flavor of a particular dish.

Indian cooking is as vibrant as it is varied - from pavement snacks to palace feasts, it’s one of the world’s great cuisines. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to make.

AwesomeCuisine.com brings you some delightful and authentic Indian recipes which are quick and easy to make.

Website - Awesome Indian Cuisine
Awesome Cuisine - Chocolate Coffee
Awesome Category - Vegetarian Sweets

Posted under: Worthwhile Links
Tagged with: Awesome Cuisine, Awesome Indian Cuisine, Indian cooking, Indian food, Indian recipes