Been a long while

It's been a long time since I put up some posts on the blog. I have kept myself away from the blogs for a long time. Anyways I will be updating on some things. Let's hope this doesn't tire anyone from reading.

Signboards of these days

My friend when returning back home found this sign put up infront of a shop. Seeing this sign he couldn't help but take a snap from his cellphone. Who says camera cellphones don't come in handy? This statement of "Buy one Take one free" is an awesome technique of making people to stop for a moment and check it out. I really could doubt about this being a mistake as for a Shopkeeper 2 words are always embedded in their minds - Buy or Sell. There are many more tacky lines which capturing people's view for a few minutes. It's just that we need to stop for a moment and look.

Services to improve by BMTC

The famous BMTC - Bangalore Metropolitian Transport Corporation which has a very high success rate compared to its counterparts in Mumbai and Delhi has been working very hard. They have been improving there services and facilities as they might little later on stand in competition with the Metro Rail which should be function by 2009 and fully active by 2013 (If no delays are seen). Until then BMTC is really working out their options.

Recently they have started off with the Volvo bus service within the city for some 5 routes. Mainly catering the ITPL area in Whitefield and also Electronic City from Kempegowda Bus Station near the City Railway Station. It has shown a great response among people due to the congested and polluted air on the streets. This has let BMTC to increase the amount of round trips on a route. I guess things are really looking up for Bangaloreans who wish to have an A/C feel on the streets of Bangalore.

There has been some improvement with the new buses which are completly in Blue. These buses have mentioned major bus stoppages on the side of the bus in English and Kannada. This is amazing as most of the buses have only Kannada writing on the top of the buses. These could easily improve over a period of time. In this city the bus transportation is going to play a major factor even in the future. One should travel during the early hours to really enjoy a bus trip as it avoid crowding in the bus and can get people to the destination on time due to the traffic problems.

Fifa World Cup 2006

The Fifa World cup has taken everything by storm. This times Fifa World cup which is in Germany and 12 stadiums has been chosen in which 64 matches will take place. Even Fifa has Yahoo as the official Internet Sponsor and the official Website is FIFA WORLD CUP 2006.

In India this World cup is more popular as the media has been covering it heavily with news on the front page and ofcourse the dedicated Sports pages for the Fifa World Cup. Everyone has been talking about the matches and have been showing their support for one team or the another. This is really in contrast to the fanatic nature shown for Cricket in India. I hope that due this enthusiastic response shown by people towards the game of football, helps India in improving it football squad. The game of football has been played in India since a long time but the attention given by people has deteriorated due to the excessive media attention to Cricket and BCCI which is the richest Sports governing body in the world.

The other things that are have been making news are the Sports Fever shown by people and also by different brands. Like this pic shows Nike showing off its Fifa World cup fever. This particular car has been placed infront of the Nike showroom on Brigade Road, Bangalore for show to the people. This has been placed since the time the world cup began. It is a real eye catcher which makes people to wait a minute to check it out. Everyone trys to figure it our intially whether the Ball fell on the car to make it look like this or was it designed in such a way.

Some useful websites

I was seeing BBC channel the other day when I came across this website on the show "Click". OnlineNewspapers.com is an amazing site if you want to find the link to any newspaper of any country around the world. Just select the country and they will display you the newspaper name. On clicking it you will be taken to the main page of that official website of that newspaper. I really found this useful.

Talking about websites, I just wanted to inform that Digit Magazine is celebrating its 5th Anniversary. Therefore this months magazine is Rs 200 but with a lot of features. Just check it out on the website or atleast check the magazine out. Anyways while we are talking about Digit, we can also include about its sister magazine Skoar. I have heard recently about the major gaming expo that is going to be held in Bangalore's Kanteerva Stadium from 7-9 July 2006. I am sure many might show up to see what so entertaining about all this. Atleast I have really seen the adrenaline rush going through gamers when LAN games were held in the college hostels or fests.

College Queries

I am amazed to see a lot of people enquire about colleges over the internet itself. Apart from students checking out websites and registering for the entrance exams, they get in touch with the Alumni or students of the colleges through forums and chat rooms or in my case through blogs. Their interest is ofcourse to know about the college from the students point of view rather than the publicity or newspaper ads put up by the colleges.

The enquiries are pretty general. A few are as mentioned below:

• How many company placements are done when one finishes the college?
• How good are the faculty and departments in the college?
• What are the facilities provided by the college once a student takes admission?
• Infrastructure of the college is worth while or not?
• If attaining any rank in the entrance exam which branch will one get?
• How is the cultural environment in the college?
• What is there to do during the lesiure hours in college?

As for my college, Vellore Institute of Technology has been performing beautifully in the admission front. In the last few years the number of applications forms for college admission was as follows. In 2004 admissions only 8000 application forms were purchased. In 2005, the number jumped to 44,000 where as the amount of application forms this year went upto 87,000. The price of the application form is not cheap either. The current application form for B.Tech degree admissions is Rs 650 will for B.Sc is Rs 350. The college does make a lot of money off these but they even play their part in putting up more examination centers around India. Even in our college case, this time the centers had increased upto 17 locations all around India.

The education sector has reached a whole new level. Everything can be done through the internet and the colleges in USA and UK are one of the best examples. They provide for prospectus and details from the websites. They go into full details to explain what are the procedures. In India, the colleges put up websites just for publicity and in some cases donot give enough details, making people to write emails for more enquiry. Colleges and Universities should make it way more easier for parents and students to enquire as the admission process is really tiring. More development should be done so that future applicants and prospective students find it easier and more comfortable in applying.

Rainy Weather in Cybercity

Bangalore has been seeing some exceptionally good weather with rain spells for the past few days. In the evenings for the past 4 consecutive days there has been strong breezes prior to the rain. Now this has improved the nights as the temperatures have been quite pleasant. With this kind of weather there is supposed to be some great smiles of happiness but what can one say especially in Bangalore.

The traffic conditions deteriorate and the true conditions of the road are seen. Currently in Bangalore major road projects are underway like putting new layers and extensions of many roads throughout Bangalore. I have seen lots of roads getting extended and even that extension of the road has been asphalted. But I guess no one can use that section of the road as there are electric poles which have not been shifted. Now extending a road, works but without moving the poles is useless. Ofcourse the problem is the huge amount of money needed to move the poles as the wire are live. How can a project like extension of a road be passed without the full consideration and understanding?

The next issue is of the Autorickshaws which was supposed to have improved since the hike of the auto fares from Rs 10/km to Rs 12/km. Currently most of the autos have time till the end of May to get their meters tuned to the new rates. Many have got themselves tuned along with placing their Identity placards on the auto to state that they are registered. But during the last few rainy days has shown something else regarding them. On Friday evening around 7:30 pm when I wanted to return from Forum Mall to my house 3 kms from there, I usually take an auto which I easily get. But on this day, after 50 empty autos passed, (ofcourse rejecting to take me) by then I was able to get an auto which took me around 40 minutes. All the empty autos had their meters up which meant that they were for hire but none agreed to go once I told them the destination. Not only me, there were 10-15 other people waiting to get an auto. Even the ones standing there were not agreeing. In some cases, autos came and demanded for 'One and half or Double meter' rates. Now I really want to understand why is it that after the hike of rates and watch kept by the traffic police still leads to the Auto drivers being arrogant. During Rainy weather the price hike by autos is always seen and they really take advantage of the helpless nature of the people.

If this is the way how Bangalore works then I guess there is no use of the advancement or more modernisation of this city. The ever increasing population has already been a challenge but then again the pending projects which the government takes its own sweet time to finish is also useless. Currently speed and immediate attention to things will get the whole process moving.