e-Nagar

August 29, 2006

Online Travel bookings

Filed under: Links, Travel — pegasus @ 11:15 AM

I tried to make a list of options avaliable
1) indiflight A nice tool which allows you to find cheepest flight to multiple destinations, on multipe days and using break journeys.
2) makemytrip Huge publicity, but it charges extra for credit card bookings.
3) rediff good plotting tools, fast site.
4) flightraja fast flight, with a persoanl touch. The agents actually call you to confirm the bookings

Then to book international travel tickets:
Stic travels is specially useful. They get the best discounts, yet ensure hassle free luxurious travel.

Bus tickets use redbus. It has a very fast query engine. However its services are limited to Chennai / Bangalore originating routes and does not support KSRTC/government operators.

For train travel, I guess one has not much choice but to go for irctc. Even though it is the only govt body in my list, the service is good. Tickets get delivered in time. However the user interface needs lots of upgradation.

August 28, 2006

India, Defender of democracy.

Filed under: Thoughts — pegasus @ 9:34 AM

One of the best ways to gain international credibility is by sending peace keeping force.
1) You instantly gain a favorable reputation with the government you are helping and improve your standing in the UN as a defender of democracy.

2) Indian Companies are more likely to expand in areas where Indian troops are there to protect their investment and employees. It gives them a sense of security, plus ensures cooperation of the local government.

3) You boost the morale of your soldiers who feel bored due to inaction and whose skills are underutilized in peace time.

4) A UN mission is an excellent training ground where we can demonstrate our defense capabilities in different terrains. France talks about sending 200 troops, we already have a million in J&K I think we can relocate 200 of them for the world causes and gain some laurels.

5) UN pays equally to each soldier irrespective of their nationality. Even $5 per hour for 10hours each day might look peanuts for a European or American soldier, but translates into 69000/- p.m. for an Indian. (Remember on duty a soldier does not have to pay for his expenses) Hence most Indian army soldiers look UN posting as a reward for their good work. A cash reward for which the govt. does not have to shell out even a dime.

6) British ruled an empire by making the local provinces pay for the troops it housed in their territory. That way they fed for a world conquering army. If India needs to upgrade its military might without increasing budget allocations. I guess this is the way.

7) Most of the developed countries are relying more on air and naval supremacy to maintain their military might. They have limited number of infantry divisions to spare for the world causes.

Yes there is a danger of losing some soldiers in a foreign land. But to boost the morale of Indian soldiers, increase our international influence, and play an important role in the world affairs.

In this Lebanon crisis, the main brokers of peace are the EU. A body without any army, foreign minister or diplomatic service is collective sending troops to broker a peace treaty. Italy is being asked to take command of the peace-keeping force. A question comes to my mind, why is India not involved. To gain this title, we need to send our soldiers and fight terrorists abroad. You do not have to breed a army of mercenaries, but sure you could spare 200-300 soldiers who can prove the world about how strong Indian’s are.

August 20, 2006

one liners

Filed under: Quotes — pegasus @ 10:07 AM

The road to success is always under construction.

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way.

Life is not no much a matter of position as of disposition.

The best vitamin for making friends, B-1.

If you don’t care where you’re going any road will get you there.

A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice.

Nobody raises his own reputation by lowering others.

A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

Ideas won’t work unless you do.

“The future is purchased by the present.”

One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time.

A hard thing about business is minding your own.

He who forgives ends the quarrel.

Children need more models than critics.

Frogs have it easy, They can eat what bugs them.

The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime.

If the going gets easy you may be going downhill.

Jumping to conclusions can be bad exercise.

The best labor saving device is doing it tomorrow.

A turtle makes progress when it sticks its neck out.

Failure is the path of least persistence.

Have a backbone not a wishbone.

If you want your dreams to come true, don’t oversleep.

Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses.

August 18, 2006

India Voltamp Transformers

Filed under: IPO — pegasus @ 12:57 PM

It might be a good issue, but I have some concerns:
1) Even the company website did not have any details about the balance sheet of the company. I am a big sucker of balance sheets. When the company says its profits increased to INR234.3 million from INR145.6 million I want to know how?
2) Remember: all the proceeds of this IPO are going to the promoter and not even a single penny is going to the company for its expansion plans.
3) The revenue jump was not impressive 30% taking it to INR2.86 billion.
4) A 10% profit margin and a growth of 30% looks healthy, but no information about capacity utilization and hence scope of growth.
5) Pricing is ok PE of 14 looks impressive.

Dates:Aug. 24, Price band of INR295 to INR345 a share.

Strategy: Risky IPO, but not overpriced. The promoter is trying to liquidate his assets, but provided no info on why. Company needs to release more details before I make up my mind.

August 17, 2006

How to wear a saree?

Filed under: Miscellaneous — pegasus @ 12:55 PM

I tried explaining one of my friend what a saree means and how to wear it:

Saree is a 6m long and 1m wide drape with beautiful weaving, stones
and embroidery, which Indian women wear. First you wear a blouse and a petticoat.
Then wrap 3 meters of this cloth around a waist like a long skirt,
fold the rest of the saree along the width in 8-10 pleats and tuck it in from the front side,
Finally turn around again, bring it round your hips to the front and finally diagonally across your side over your breast to your left shoulder allowing the excess cloth hang behind your back.

Pathetic descriptions, isn’t it… Finally gave it up. A picture is worth a thousand words, so send her links to these 2 websites.
picture
drawing

Well if you still could not get it, then here is a nice youtube video to help you out (courtesy DDeden)

Inspired I even browsed for Dhoti. I always wanted to wear one, but never had a chance to try my hands on it. The instruction manual read something like this:

How it is done:

1. The dhoti is one long piece of cloth. Start by folding it in half so that it is half its original length.
2. Drape the dhoti behind you. The stripe should be vertical and held at the top by the left hand. The top of the folded side should be in your right hand and the dhoti should drape almost to the ground behind your heels.
3. Bring together in front of you the folded side in your right hand to meet the stripe side in your left hand.
4. Hold both the folded and stripe side in your left hand and bring them at even tension directly to your left side, keeping the bottom of the dhoti level and near the ground.
5. Hold the stripe side in your left hand as you accordion fold the fold side with your right hand until it is even horizontally with your left leg.
6. There should now be a folded bunch in your right hand. Slightly lift this bunch in your right hand as you bring the stripe side over it to your right side. The dhoti is now wrapped around you. What is left is adjusting the tightness and rolling it down to hold the tension in place.
7. Take the bunch in your right hand twist it slightly together and to the left and slip the top side of the dhoti just over the bunch to hold it in place.
8. Even up the stripe side so that the stripe is vertical and the dhoti drapes level just above the floor.
9. Roll the top of the dhoti down to a comfortable waist level, somewhere below the belly button.

Scary :( I read all the 9 steps, yet it made no sense. Let me try once more, maybe there is somewhere a step by step pictorial procedure that might be more informative.

PS: thanks to Sathiyan for providing me with the link on Dhoti wearing.

1,000 Volvo busses for BMTC

Filed under: News — pegasus @ 4:03 AM

Today I was delighted that my favorite cartoon character returns with a big bang.

I especially remember his drama of criticizing BJP the day he joined hands with them to form the government. (a great way to strengthen the new ties) Then every time his ministry failed he blamed it on the previous government, forgetting that he was very much a part of it. Now today he announces the deal of 1,000 Volvo busses.

Let me throw in some facts.
1) BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) has a total fleet of 4,000 busses. It neither has the financial resources, nor manpower and parking berths for 1,000 regular and 1,000 Volvo additonal busses.

2) Volvo officials simply jumped with joy when BMTC introduced their busses on just 3 routes. They felt they could enter into a whole new market of city transport if they make this deal. Now today, when Bangalore itself is planning to buy 1000 of its busses, why are they so silent? I hope the ministry did communicate with Volvo that they are buying 1,000 of their busses (a deal of 5,000 million rupees). Not to mention that will prompt many other cities to evaluate introduction of Volvo services.

3) If I am not wrong only a month ago the same ministry announced that by June 2008 we will have a metro. What are you going to do with this bloated fleet of 6,000 busses then?

Volvo busses have been very successful and are very comfortable. Bangalore needs to solve its traffic problem real soon, but that does not mean that to gain some PR points you mislead the public. Adding 100 new busses is logical, one can even define a timeline for that, but 2,000 busses… please give me a break.

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