Mandating HIV test before marriage?
We like to think we live an ideal world and try to create regulations that befit a well-oiled executive system. We have a done it again, this time to counter the dread of HIV. The government is contemplating on introducing an impractical law which will require the two people getting wedded to produce certificates pronouncing them uninfected by HIV.
What are we trying to prove by taking such a big bite? Introducing the law would mean that lab-facilities would be required to be set-up across the country. Do we have enough working primary health care centers (PHC) where this can be set-up? For the last 5 decades India has not been able to provide the type of penetration required to reach the 600 million who live in rural to remote areas.
Many PHCs exist only on records. Among the rest, a lot of them are either only 4-wall-and-a-roof enclosures or are manned by just a 'guard' with nothing more to offer. The lacuna in the need and the 'feed' of PHCs shows itself up whenever there is an epidemic or disaster like flood requiring relief operations. Recently, several TV channels also highlighted the lack of accountability and seriousness with which critical cases of H5N1 were handled in Maharashtra.
Seeing the falling female to male ratio in several states, mainly owing to female infanticide and female-foeticide, GoI introduced a ban on ultrasound tests determining the sex of the unborn. But today, especially in the northern states like Haryana, the sex of the foetus is the worst kept secret. The fault lies only partly with advances in technology which has made ultrasound equipment mobile and compact. The bigger issue is that of determining accountability and penalizing the set-up that condones such tests. The thought behind this is noble, undeniably and should be enforced as strictly as possible. I have no recommendations for repealing this law. But what is the point if there is no tracking mechanism in place which ensures that failures in compliance are not punished sufficiently enough for them to act as deterrents to future incidents? In the last 12 years since the law was introduced, there has been 1 conviction in Delhi, recently.
There is no tracking mechanism even to continuously identify the fate of the HIV infected people in the country, so how far will the certification of people wrt their infected status succeed or help. How difficult would it be to obtain an 'uninfected' certification? As easy it would be to buy a lunch for one.
The idea behind the law does not seem to be aimed at spreading awareness about HIV and the consequential AIDS disease. The governments - state and central are already doing much in terms of this by media messages and short documentaries shown in movie theatres. NGOs are doing their bit by educating the people in street plays and village meetings. If the government thinks much is not happening, it only makes sense to improve efforts to educate the masses. Why leap when small steps are what will get you there and the leap only opens more cans of worms?
What good is a certificate? The current level of advancements in curing the disease do not promise a full recovery, but only a slowing down of the immuno-dificiency process. What would a certificate do to help this? Is it more important then that while we spread the news about how the disease can kill, we should also educate people about how to deal with people who have contracted it? A mandated certificate can easily become a tool of oppression for the victim of the disease. There is bound to be stigmatisation of the person, probable loss of growth opportunities if not loss of employment itself. This, on top of the problems that the disease itself brings along with it.
While it may be argued that it might even be easier to talk about it 'because there is a law', there is bound to be an air of complacency around the whole process. It is therefore important that people are made aware of the dangers of the disease. If they do it 'just because there is a law' for it, there is bound to be a licensed spread of the disease, a counter affect to what was originally intended.
The Indian ‘system’ is not prepared for dealing correctly with an HIV certificate accompanying a marriage certificate.
2006-03-27
2006-03-20
Tom-tom-ing the tonne of a salary:
For the last few weeks, newspapers have been flashing news about the high-end salaries that the placement process in BIG business schools have been attracting. The sensation such news has generated has certainly not disappointed the 'placement deans' of the colleges.
It's free publicity, at the least, for the schools trying to one-up each other just as it is a tribute to the ROI factor for the schools to rave about. While such news might only consolidate the position of the premier schools in the country namely
the IIMs, the set of schools in the immediately next level of ranking have much to talk about. It is always musical chairs for the 'other best colleges' recognition and the schools do not think twice about putting up names of students who have got the best salaries.
Sensation is also created by media when they publish stories on salaries for overseas placements at Indian B-shools. While the dollar salary itself may be a staggering amount, the exhange-rate based conversion, that ignores purchasing power parity, gives a very unrealistic impression about the 'value' of an MBA job. While a salary of USD 150K may sound very realistic,and is among the best in the world, the converted amount of 70 Lakhs or so hardly meets the truth when applied to a fresh MBA graduate. It may also give an incorrect idea about the salaries at other Indian 'MBA jobs'.
The couple of beneficiary-genetlemen who have voiced their concerned on these lines have touched the right chord with other job winners this year. In the Indian context where the salary of an eligible 'boy' or 'girl' is closely viewed for marriages,
publishing such news also causes discomfort to the families involved. This, notwithstanding pesky relatives who are suddenly gleeful at the remarkable success of their 'dear one'.
Rising crime against IT community ought to raise a flag for proliferation of 'targetted crime'. Every now and then local newspapers carry stories about IT people stalked into ATMs, waylaid and drugged and robbed at knifepoint etc, across the new metros. IT people are regulary warned by their employers to practise personal safety and some are even introducing them to the concept of self-defense. They are also regularly warned by the companies not to advertise themselves by way of displaying their IDs and company batches etc. Targetted crime is not restricted to IT people, though it makes news as more young people are the victims. Industrialists have been at the receiving end for as long as one can remember. Organized criminals are always on the watch for identifying new victims and news such as the 'highest salary' tagged along with a name and photo only compromises the safety of the benefeciary or the likes of her.
The dean of IIMB has been quick to respond to the pleas of the students by announcing that they would not have press sessions post-placement from the next year. This should lay to rest any discomfort students may have felt discussing their salary which is considered a very private notion. Personally, I have not discussed the details of my salary with anyone, except my wife and parents/immediate family.
Without compromising on the sensitivities of the students, schools can actually publish statistics on salaries from the placements process. Mean, median and standard deviation numbers for the salaries could be published even on the school
websites, which many foreign schools do. Such data could be separately published for Indian job offers and overseas job offers just so that the readers get the right perspective. This should also keep the media happy as they are always comparing
B-schools for general benefit of the students without sensationalisation of a very private notion- one's salary.
For the last few weeks, newspapers have been flashing news about the high-end salaries that the placement process in BIG business schools have been attracting. The sensation such news has generated has certainly not disappointed the 'placement deans' of the colleges.
It's free publicity, at the least, for the schools trying to one-up each other just as it is a tribute to the ROI factor for the schools to rave about. While such news might only consolidate the position of the premier schools in the country namely
the IIMs, the set of schools in the immediately next level of ranking have much to talk about. It is always musical chairs for the 'other best colleges' recognition and the schools do not think twice about putting up names of students who have got the best salaries.
Sensation is also created by media when they publish stories on salaries for overseas placements at Indian B-shools. While the dollar salary itself may be a staggering amount, the exhange-rate based conversion, that ignores purchasing power parity, gives a very unrealistic impression about the 'value' of an MBA job. While a salary of USD 150K may sound very realistic,and is among the best in the world, the converted amount of 70 Lakhs or so hardly meets the truth when applied to a fresh MBA graduate. It may also give an incorrect idea about the salaries at other Indian 'MBA jobs'.
The couple of beneficiary-genetlemen who have voiced their concerned on these lines have touched the right chord with other job winners this year. In the Indian context where the salary of an eligible 'boy' or 'girl' is closely viewed for marriages,
publishing such news also causes discomfort to the families involved. This, notwithstanding pesky relatives who are suddenly gleeful at the remarkable success of their 'dear one'.
Rising crime against IT community ought to raise a flag for proliferation of 'targetted crime'. Every now and then local newspapers carry stories about IT people stalked into ATMs, waylaid and drugged and robbed at knifepoint etc, across the new metros. IT people are regulary warned by their employers to practise personal safety and some are even introducing them to the concept of self-defense. They are also regularly warned by the companies not to advertise themselves by way of displaying their IDs and company batches etc. Targetted crime is not restricted to IT people, though it makes news as more young people are the victims. Industrialists have been at the receiving end for as long as one can remember. Organized criminals are always on the watch for identifying new victims and news such as the 'highest salary' tagged along with a name and photo only compromises the safety of the benefeciary or the likes of her.
The dean of IIMB has been quick to respond to the pleas of the students by announcing that they would not have press sessions post-placement from the next year. This should lay to rest any discomfort students may have felt discussing their salary which is considered a very private notion. Personally, I have not discussed the details of my salary with anyone, except my wife and parents/immediate family.
Without compromising on the sensitivities of the students, schools can actually publish statistics on salaries from the placements process. Mean, median and standard deviation numbers for the salaries could be published even on the school
websites, which many foreign schools do. Such data could be separately published for Indian job offers and overseas job offers just so that the readers get the right perspective. This should also keep the media happy as they are always comparing
B-schools for general benefit of the students without sensationalisation of a very private notion- one's salary.
2006-03-14
Choking competition or just shooting the messenger?
A new move by the Department of Posts (DoP) is aimed at putting global logistics giants out of business in India. The likes of UPS, DHL and Blue Dart are a worried lot fearing a cut in 50% of their business in India and other smaller players are keeping their fingers crossed against a decision that might just make them close their shops.
The DoP is contemplating on introducing a law that prohibits private courier companies from carrying letters or packages lighter than 500 gms. This essentially means they private courier companies would not be allowed to carry letters/documents and small packages. In today's scenario Indian businesses rely heavily on private courier companies to carry all sorts of documents and deliver packages to their and consumers' door steps. There is greater accountability and reliability with the private companies. The move would means that books, gizmos, magazines, and anything else which can fit into a 'small package' will now be delivered solely by the Indian Postal service (IPS). We all know how fast this service has been. The slowly growing B2C e-commerce is likely to suffer a set-back.
The only service that can compare itself for speed provided by the private couriers is the Express Mail Service or EMS and it is a premium service offered by IPS. While the postal service may have the largest network, it by no means has the sophistication that the private players have been able to build into their offerings. Features like tracking a package in real time from the minute it is picked up till the minute it is delivered are some distance away, yet, for IPS. The private players also offer value added insurance features that users often find convenient. The promise of timely delivery has been unmatched by the IPS, so far.
While the ministry has been rationalizing this move as being done to amend an archaic law, about 108 years old, there has been no reason provided for why the competition should be effectively stymied all for amending a law? Why the IPS should be given an effective monopoly on light-weight packages. The implementation of the act would be against the spirit of restricting monopoly. The Postal department has been tight-lapped about it since the industry has started dissenting the move.
The act in a long shot will only give wrong signals to the FIIs who are bracing themselves for a tremendous growth that they foresee in India's pacing liberal economy. With the decisions on FDI in retail impending, and likes of Wal-mart trying to gain foothold in the Indian market, the move is bound to be unpopular with the prospective investors.
It is likely that the move may not happen the way it has been currently announced to be implemented. But the department and the Competition Ministry should work in coordination before voicing out amendments that are bound to be anti-private sector and purport to choking competition.
A new move by the Department of Posts (DoP) is aimed at putting global logistics giants out of business in India. The likes of UPS, DHL and Blue Dart are a worried lot fearing a cut in 50% of their business in India and other smaller players are keeping their fingers crossed against a decision that might just make them close their shops.
The DoP is contemplating on introducing a law that prohibits private courier companies from carrying letters or packages lighter than 500 gms. This essentially means they private courier companies would not be allowed to carry letters/documents and small packages. In today's scenario Indian businesses rely heavily on private courier companies to carry all sorts of documents and deliver packages to their and consumers' door steps. There is greater accountability and reliability with the private companies. The move would means that books, gizmos, magazines, and anything else which can fit into a 'small package' will now be delivered solely by the Indian Postal service (IPS). We all know how fast this service has been. The slowly growing B2C e-commerce is likely to suffer a set-back.
The only service that can compare itself for speed provided by the private couriers is the Express Mail Service or EMS and it is a premium service offered by IPS. While the postal service may have the largest network, it by no means has the sophistication that the private players have been able to build into their offerings. Features like tracking a package in real time from the minute it is picked up till the minute it is delivered are some distance away, yet, for IPS. The private players also offer value added insurance features that users often find convenient. The promise of timely delivery has been unmatched by the IPS, so far.
While the ministry has been rationalizing this move as being done to amend an archaic law, about 108 years old, there has been no reason provided for why the competition should be effectively stymied all for amending a law? Why the IPS should be given an effective monopoly on light-weight packages. The implementation of the act would be against the spirit of restricting monopoly. The Postal department has been tight-lapped about it since the industry has started dissenting the move.
The act in a long shot will only give wrong signals to the FIIs who are bracing themselves for a tremendous growth that they foresee in India's pacing liberal economy. With the decisions on FDI in retail impending, and likes of Wal-mart trying to gain foothold in the Indian market, the move is bound to be unpopular with the prospective investors.
It is likely that the move may not happen the way it has been currently announced to be implemented. But the department and the Competition Ministry should work in coordination before voicing out amendments that are bound to be anti-private sector and purport to choking competition.
2006-03-13
Jam, Jam, here comes the man...
Bangalore will soon become famous for jams...of the traffic kind!Ruthless in their being, gut crunching at their best and utterly time wasting, traffic jams are every Bangaloreans nightmare! I like them for only one attribute of theirs that they are a great leveller. Be it a modest Maruti 800, a Corolla or a BMW (there are quite a few of those in Bangalore), a school bus an ambulance or a police car there is no escaping a jam. They are predictable and they are not predicatable; depends on where you are at what time. A traffic jam is an invisible giant that likes to take walks on some busy, already choked spots of the city, on the nicest times of the day and leaves behind miles-long pile-up of vehicles of all sizes. The giant also shows up unpredictably in some unexpected spots. When in a mood he also likes to play games with Murphy's laws in the middle of the streets, making you end up thinking how
the hell this happened.
This giant was born out of the consummate marriage of bolted growth and bad infrastructure. An unlikely union, but no one saw it coming. The powers that be were busy appeasing the rural vote bank and their own thirst for power they did not deserve or know what to do with. EVen now that this has happened, it is the lame bureaucracy that has been outwitted by the pace of growth and is bogged down by its own weight.
There are 7 million people living in Bangalore. There are 1.2 million privately owned vehicles, 12000 goverment run buses and as many private buses running in the city.There are about 70000 Autos, 10000+ tempos and everyday about a 1000 new vehicles are registered.Having been caught unawares and clueless about what needs to be done to catch up with the fast emptying road-space, the local government has tried some mildly successful experiments to counter deficient roadways for the ever-growing populace and the vehicular appendage that comes with the people.
The favourite one of these has been the conversion of roads to one-ways. While it has reduced congestion, it has only increased travel time.It has added to the confusion. It is literally like a game that the police try new permutations for one-ways to identify what works best. Nothing is constant except the change- seems to be the rule of the day, going by the gusto with which the traffic police is making maps obsolete and testing peoples' patience. A study says these one way conversion have helped improve average speed of movement in the city from 14 kmph to 16kmph. Nice! But is this enough? They also defined a factor called Level of Service (LOS) where in they divided amount of the traffic on a road by the amount it was built to support. If this is between 0.6 and 0.8, we are good. Guess what most important roads in Bangalore (Double Road, Hosur Road, Airport Road, bannerghatta Road etc) have an LOS of >2 and approaching 3. What's the point in converting roads to oneways when they cannot support the traffic anyways? We need more roads- road on stilts, peripheral ring roads, whatever diverts away unnecessary traffic.
We thought we should build flyovers. Fine. But when we built them we did not know how to use them. Why am I saying this? Why do you think, when you see a traffic light (read crossover) in the middle of your journey over a flyover? The Richmond circle flyover actually has a manned crossing right in the middle of the X that the flyover makes connecting four roads near Bangalore club. I think they should build more flyovers and grade separators and build them fast, there is a bomb waiting to go off.There is bound to be a traffic explosion and bigger than what we have seen, and not try such stupid antics with flyovers. This may be a lone example, but this could well be the role model for new ones to come.
There is an immediate need for co-ordination between government bodies that are working in isolation. If BDA builds roads and pedestrians walkways, the BESCOM, the BWSSB or the telephones department digs them up no sooner than the latter finishes the job. What is point in laying the road? Why is there no accountability established?Why cannot the departments talk to each other before doing something? Who is accoutable for these mishaps in the first place?
Three years ago a Bannerghatta Road to Electronics City drive took 30 minutes at 8:15 AM. TOday the same takes 70 minutes on a good day. If you have to maintain the same level of travel time as before you have to start at 7:15 AM. Two years years ago you could start at 7:30 AM. The experience is very stressful and leaves one jittery even as one leaves the parking lot to walk into the office. Average time spent on road has doubled from about 70 minutes a couple of years ago. Organisations are concerned about productivity. One IT company has introduced early morning buses (starting 6:15 AM) and scrapped the late morning buses. Makes sense for the company, but takes flexibility away from people who have no option now, but to take leave, if they have some important personal work to attend to.
A lot of the problems are also due to the pathetic implementation and administration of traffic rules. All sorts fo vehicles driving the wrong way on a one-way street, auto spewing billows of smoke into the city air, cars and bikes weaving through snail paced traffic, cyclists and pedestrians snubbing the wave of automobiles and walking arrongantly in the middle of the road, uncontrolled honking are some of the symptoms of a traffic-illiterate populace. How can we expect to turn this around if people can get licenses to drive, without even passing a test? All one needs to do is pass a 50 buck note and voila you are a license holder! The ease with which the driving examiner absolves himself of the duty of inducting responsible drivers onto the roads speaks volumes about the abject callousness with which we treat the concept of road safety.
I think a solution for this is to drastically increase the penalty for small offences the cops usually condone. Jumping lights should invite a penalty of 500 bucks and parking on restricted spots should invite an equally large fine. And penalize repeated offences by withdrawing driving privileges. But the ground reality still remains that about a fifth of the drivers do not have a valid license. What have they got to lose?
An unmanned traffic light is useless with people oblivious to the concept of right of way. Unless there is a cop waiting to scribble down your vehicle number for the offence of jumping a light, the average Bangalore driver does not mind jumping a red signal.Even with the cop around many are willing to take the chance since there is a very bleak chance that you may actually get a notice asking you to cough up a fine.
On the infrastructure front, the executive should tighten up contracts to complete contruction work in time. There should be heavy penalty for delays in completion of the projects. It worked in Mumbai. Apparently, builders had to pay-back the authorities upto 1 lakh for every day that the work got delayes beyond the deadline.
Lately, there have been talks of declaring certain key areas as non-congestion zones. This means that you would not be allowed to drive into the area or pay a huge toll to do it. The idea is obviously aimed at discouraging use of private vehicles in congested places. This is unfair to the vehicle owners because the very reason they need the private vehicle is becuase the public transport system is shame. If the plan has to be fairly and success fully implemented, public transportation options around the region need to be tremendously improved. Without this, it is possible that the local economy in that zone would devolve.
Bangalore will soon become famous for jams...of the traffic kind!Ruthless in their being, gut crunching at their best and utterly time wasting, traffic jams are every Bangaloreans nightmare! I like them for only one attribute of theirs that they are a great leveller. Be it a modest Maruti 800, a Corolla or a BMW (there are quite a few of those in Bangalore), a school bus an ambulance or a police car there is no escaping a jam. They are predictable and they are not predicatable; depends on where you are at what time. A traffic jam is an invisible giant that likes to take walks on some busy, already choked spots of the city, on the nicest times of the day and leaves behind miles-long pile-up of vehicles of all sizes. The giant also shows up unpredictably in some unexpected spots. When in a mood he also likes to play games with Murphy's laws in the middle of the streets, making you end up thinking how
the hell this happened.
This giant was born out of the consummate marriage of bolted growth and bad infrastructure. An unlikely union, but no one saw it coming. The powers that be were busy appeasing the rural vote bank and their own thirst for power they did not deserve or know what to do with. EVen now that this has happened, it is the lame bureaucracy that has been outwitted by the pace of growth and is bogged down by its own weight.
There are 7 million people living in Bangalore. There are 1.2 million privately owned vehicles, 12000 goverment run buses and as many private buses running in the city.There are about 70000 Autos, 10000+ tempos and everyday about a 1000 new vehicles are registered.Having been caught unawares and clueless about what needs to be done to catch up with the fast emptying road-space, the local government has tried some mildly successful experiments to counter deficient roadways for the ever-growing populace and the vehicular appendage that comes with the people.
The favourite one of these has been the conversion of roads to one-ways. While it has reduced congestion, it has only increased travel time.It has added to the confusion. It is literally like a game that the police try new permutations for one-ways to identify what works best. Nothing is constant except the change- seems to be the rule of the day, going by the gusto with which the traffic police is making maps obsolete and testing peoples' patience. A study says these one way conversion have helped improve average speed of movement in the city from 14 kmph to 16kmph. Nice! But is this enough? They also defined a factor called Level of Service (LOS) where in they divided amount of the traffic on a road by the amount it was built to support. If this is between 0.6 and 0.8, we are good. Guess what most important roads in Bangalore (Double Road, Hosur Road, Airport Road, bannerghatta Road etc) have an LOS of >2 and approaching 3. What's the point in converting roads to oneways when they cannot support the traffic anyways? We need more roads- road on stilts, peripheral ring roads, whatever diverts away unnecessary traffic.
We thought we should build flyovers. Fine. But when we built them we did not know how to use them. Why am I saying this? Why do you think, when you see a traffic light (read crossover) in the middle of your journey over a flyover? The Richmond circle flyover actually has a manned crossing right in the middle of the X that the flyover makes connecting four roads near Bangalore club. I think they should build more flyovers and grade separators and build them fast, there is a bomb waiting to go off.There is bound to be a traffic explosion and bigger than what we have seen, and not try such stupid antics with flyovers. This may be a lone example, but this could well be the role model for new ones to come.
There is an immediate need for co-ordination between government bodies that are working in isolation. If BDA builds roads and pedestrians walkways, the BESCOM, the BWSSB or the telephones department digs them up no sooner than the latter finishes the job. What is point in laying the road? Why is there no accountability established?Why cannot the departments talk to each other before doing something? Who is accoutable for these mishaps in the first place?
Three years ago a Bannerghatta Road to Electronics City drive took 30 minutes at 8:15 AM. TOday the same takes 70 minutes on a good day. If you have to maintain the same level of travel time as before you have to start at 7:15 AM. Two years years ago you could start at 7:30 AM. The experience is very stressful and leaves one jittery even as one leaves the parking lot to walk into the office. Average time spent on road has doubled from about 70 minutes a couple of years ago. Organisations are concerned about productivity. One IT company has introduced early morning buses (starting 6:15 AM) and scrapped the late morning buses. Makes sense for the company, but takes flexibility away from people who have no option now, but to take leave, if they have some important personal work to attend to.
A lot of the problems are also due to the pathetic implementation and administration of traffic rules. All sorts fo vehicles driving the wrong way on a one-way street, auto spewing billows of smoke into the city air, cars and bikes weaving through snail paced traffic, cyclists and pedestrians snubbing the wave of automobiles and walking arrongantly in the middle of the road, uncontrolled honking are some of the symptoms of a traffic-illiterate populace. How can we expect to turn this around if people can get licenses to drive, without even passing a test? All one needs to do is pass a 50 buck note and voila you are a license holder! The ease with which the driving examiner absolves himself of the duty of inducting responsible drivers onto the roads speaks volumes about the abject callousness with which we treat the concept of road safety.
I think a solution for this is to drastically increase the penalty for small offences the cops usually condone. Jumping lights should invite a penalty of 500 bucks and parking on restricted spots should invite an equally large fine. And penalize repeated offences by withdrawing driving privileges. But the ground reality still remains that about a fifth of the drivers do not have a valid license. What have they got to lose?
An unmanned traffic light is useless with people oblivious to the concept of right of way. Unless there is a cop waiting to scribble down your vehicle number for the offence of jumping a light, the average Bangalore driver does not mind jumping a red signal.Even with the cop around many are willing to take the chance since there is a very bleak chance that you may actually get a notice asking you to cough up a fine.
On the infrastructure front, the executive should tighten up contracts to complete contruction work in time. There should be heavy penalty for delays in completion of the projects. It worked in Mumbai. Apparently, builders had to pay-back the authorities upto 1 lakh for every day that the work got delayes beyond the deadline.
Lately, there have been talks of declaring certain key areas as non-congestion zones. This means that you would not be allowed to drive into the area or pay a huge toll to do it. The idea is obviously aimed at discouraging use of private vehicles in congested places. This is unfair to the vehicle owners because the very reason they need the private vehicle is becuase the public transport system is shame. If the plan has to be fairly and success fully implemented, public transportation options around the region need to be tremendously improved. Without this, it is possible that the local economy in that zone would devolve.
The Myth of a family restaurant:
This weekend, my wife and I thought we should make a stopover at 'The Filling Station' in Koramangala. We like the place China Pearl nearby and each time the mystery of the restaurant that we could see from there beaconed us to fill something up from the Station.
The eating place announces itself as a multi-cuisine family restaurant. OK. The first thing we notice is that the place has a kind of not-so-soft ambience. Beige and red tables with chairs for some tables and sofas for the ones against the wall are set around steel columns used to support the higher floors of the building. The I-beams are orange in colour and stand out from the overall decor of the place. We also noticed that the place has a bar, after they handed us the beverage menu. Is this a family place or what? Or do they think families in Koramangala are different?
We order a seafood soup, not brave enough to swallow assurances given by the government that chicken is not sickening anymore. We very clearly mentioned our preference in this regard. Only after the soup arrived on our table and we supped it up, were we a little suspicious that the soup might have egg in it. Our doubts were confirmed when the first waiter was not sure and the captain followed up with a confused 'No sir, it contains no egg'. I trust my tastebuds more! That was enough to upset the rest of the meal.
We had just recovered from the eggy experience, when the man (I have skipped the 'gentle' part) behind our table lit up a cigarette! Trying not to fume, I asked the waiter if smoking was allowed. He immediately conjured up the existence of a non-smoking zone in the small place and gave us an option to settle ourselves in a corner. A smoking zone and a non-amoking zone with a common AC set-up and no walls in between? There must be some confusion here. We moved to the far table, but were wondering about the state of the 7 year old who was munching away in the table next to the smoking Joe's.
Unenthusiatically goin about our food, we were pleasantly surprised at the Mandarin fish that surpassed our expectations. But the schezuan rice has some basmati mixed in it! For some reason (care to help?) we got little help with refilling the glasses of water we kept emptying. Disappointed with the service, we left a nominal tip and a promise of never returning to this 'family place' to fill our gastronomic needs.
Can someone tell me if smoking in restaurants is banned in India; especially restaurants of the family kind?
This weekend, my wife and I thought we should make a stopover at 'The Filling Station' in Koramangala. We like the place China Pearl nearby and each time the mystery of the restaurant that we could see from there beaconed us to fill something up from the Station.
The eating place announces itself as a multi-cuisine family restaurant. OK. The first thing we notice is that the place has a kind of not-so-soft ambience. Beige and red tables with chairs for some tables and sofas for the ones against the wall are set around steel columns used to support the higher floors of the building. The I-beams are orange in colour and stand out from the overall decor of the place. We also noticed that the place has a bar, after they handed us the beverage menu. Is this a family place or what? Or do they think families in Koramangala are different?
We order a seafood soup, not brave enough to swallow assurances given by the government that chicken is not sickening anymore. We very clearly mentioned our preference in this regard. Only after the soup arrived on our table and we supped it up, were we a little suspicious that the soup might have egg in it. Our doubts were confirmed when the first waiter was not sure and the captain followed up with a confused 'No sir, it contains no egg'. I trust my tastebuds more! That was enough to upset the rest of the meal.
We had just recovered from the eggy experience, when the man (I have skipped the 'gentle' part) behind our table lit up a cigarette! Trying not to fume, I asked the waiter if smoking was allowed. He immediately conjured up the existence of a non-smoking zone in the small place and gave us an option to settle ourselves in a corner. A smoking zone and a non-amoking zone with a common AC set-up and no walls in between? There must be some confusion here. We moved to the far table, but were wondering about the state of the 7 year old who was munching away in the table next to the smoking Joe's.
Unenthusiatically goin about our food, we were pleasantly surprised at the Mandarin fish that surpassed our expectations. But the schezuan rice has some basmati mixed in it! For some reason (care to help?) we got little help with refilling the glasses of water we kept emptying. Disappointed with the service, we left a nominal tip and a promise of never returning to this 'family place' to fill our gastronomic needs.
Can someone tell me if smoking in restaurants is banned in India; especially restaurants of the family kind?
2006-03-09
Crumbling Infrastructure in Bangalore:
Bangalore has many epitaphs and I will not even begin to list them. These are but will fade away into watermarks, if nothing happens soon enough.
Let me begin by what I saw seventeen years ago, when we moved in here. This was a very peaceful city. We had a lot of time on our hands. We were never in a hurry. We need not have been. You never had traffic problems. Roads were wide enough for everyone. Then overnite, one fine day, the scales tipped there were just too many problems and we are in the thick of them now. What happened?
Bangalore happened. The latent businesses just flourished. IT, ITeS, Biotech and garment dreams were coming true. There was fertile ground for them to grow. But what successive goverments since early 90s failed to acknowledge was that, with this growth was a fertilizer needed to sustain this growth- infrastructure. Each one was smug in the development that was happening, not falling short of making claims on the success of Bangalore-based industries. With the exception of the last Congress government that Karnataka saw, there is not any substantial work done to improve the conditions of a city that has imploded.
Bangalore is not exactly an epitome of city planning, and since the turn of the century it is showing. The 'please adjust' culture of Bangalore, which has led us to be considered as one of the most welcoming and patient people has led to our downfall. If we have not yet, we soon will reach the nadir of urban bankruptcy- non-existent roads, hapless drainage system, rampant corruption, sub-standard public transportation system, an airport worse than some train stations, lame traffic control system, deficient power-supply and so on.
The international airport being built now has been on the table since around 1978. Why does a city of pensioners need an international airport? But, at the same time, we did give clearances to new business that would one day demand these.More bad planning on flyover executions. While it takes Mumbai 1 year to complete 51 flyovers, we are limping to bring 3 choking spots to normalcy for over 2 years now. People are willing to adjust, and so have I. And for the last decade we have been paying infrastructure cess on the petrol we buy, making Bangalore's petrol one of the most expensive in India.
Along with the people, the other people who are hurt the most are the businessmen who have built world-class facilities for their employees and the builders who have built 'world-class' homes for those who can afford it. They wish the same can be extended, to the extent possible, to the city. Then comes Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and the corporate sponsered task forces. This is an experiment which is bound to succeed if everyone place fair and plays his part. Corporates have the think tank to critically view planning and execution of the proposals for management of the city. Builders have the might to build the roads that will withstand the forces of traffic and nature. But no, we have politicians who think development is anti-poor and that talking pro-poor will help development. In any case what will they personally stand to gain from such partnerships, they are way too transparent for them to digest? They are here to bask in the glory of having been a 'minister' and while at it having made fortunes for his future generations- liqour licenses, land clearances, file-pushing, approval of licenses for what have you- all for cash. PPP work is hampered by government agencies (BMC, PWD, State PWD etc) who are used to laggard pace of doing work, and at most is manned by the losers in the bureaucratic set-up of city's planning. What the Agenda Task force gets is a snub from the last CM and the dismantling of the agency itself without even the consent of the stakeholders/private-sector sponsoring companies.
The Lok Ayukta vigilance cell set-up to contain curruption is crying hoarse that the state is lucky to be evaluated the third most corrupt one in the country. And that it should be on top of the list. But who is listening? You can guard the people but who will guard the guards (legislature and the executionary)? Both are busy filling their own pockets. Atleast this agency is succeeding at some pace to contain corruption at the grass-root level. I think they should have a carte-blanche for how they work, with checks and balances (already?) in place to prevent misuse of power.
In a controversial coup (which ones are not?), the current CM ousted the earlier one and is right now making the right noises. I am sceptical this is the 'heat of the moment' initiatives by the CM to bring back infrastructure-normalcy to the city, and it remains to be seen if the CM is able to sustain this enthusiasm. Lots of miles to go before this CM can claim he reached a landmark. There are far too many roads that lack pedestrian paths, far too many low-lying areas that beg for an effective storm-drain system, far too many disgruntled people at home waiting for power to come-back-and-stay.
Will be back with more on slow moving traffic in Bangalore. Your comments are welcome.
Bangalore has many epitaphs and I will not even begin to list them. These are but will fade away into watermarks, if nothing happens soon enough.
Let me begin by what I saw seventeen years ago, when we moved in here. This was a very peaceful city. We had a lot of time on our hands. We were never in a hurry. We need not have been. You never had traffic problems. Roads were wide enough for everyone. Then overnite, one fine day, the scales tipped there were just too many problems and we are in the thick of them now. What happened?
Bangalore happened. The latent businesses just flourished. IT, ITeS, Biotech and garment dreams were coming true. There was fertile ground for them to grow. But what successive goverments since early 90s failed to acknowledge was that, with this growth was a fertilizer needed to sustain this growth- infrastructure. Each one was smug in the development that was happening, not falling short of making claims on the success of Bangalore-based industries. With the exception of the last Congress government that Karnataka saw, there is not any substantial work done to improve the conditions of a city that has imploded.
Bangalore is not exactly an epitome of city planning, and since the turn of the century it is showing. The 'please adjust' culture of Bangalore, which has led us to be considered as one of the most welcoming and patient people has led to our downfall. If we have not yet, we soon will reach the nadir of urban bankruptcy- non-existent roads, hapless drainage system, rampant corruption, sub-standard public transportation system, an airport worse than some train stations, lame traffic control system, deficient power-supply and so on.
The international airport being built now has been on the table since around 1978. Why does a city of pensioners need an international airport? But, at the same time, we did give clearances to new business that would one day demand these.More bad planning on flyover executions. While it takes Mumbai 1 year to complete 51 flyovers, we are limping to bring 3 choking spots to normalcy for over 2 years now. People are willing to adjust, and so have I. And for the last decade we have been paying infrastructure cess on the petrol we buy, making Bangalore's petrol one of the most expensive in India.
Along with the people, the other people who are hurt the most are the businessmen who have built world-class facilities for their employees and the builders who have built 'world-class' homes for those who can afford it. They wish the same can be extended, to the extent possible, to the city. Then comes Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and the corporate sponsered task forces. This is an experiment which is bound to succeed if everyone place fair and plays his part. Corporates have the think tank to critically view planning and execution of the proposals for management of the city. Builders have the might to build the roads that will withstand the forces of traffic and nature. But no, we have politicians who think development is anti-poor and that talking pro-poor will help development. In any case what will they personally stand to gain from such partnerships, they are way too transparent for them to digest? They are here to bask in the glory of having been a 'minister' and while at it having made fortunes for his future generations- liqour licenses, land clearances, file-pushing, approval of licenses for what have you- all for cash. PPP work is hampered by government agencies (BMC, PWD, State PWD etc) who are used to laggard pace of doing work, and at most is manned by the losers in the bureaucratic set-up of city's planning. What the Agenda Task force gets is a snub from the last CM and the dismantling of the agency itself without even the consent of the stakeholders/private-sector sponsoring companies.
The Lok Ayukta vigilance cell set-up to contain curruption is crying hoarse that the state is lucky to be evaluated the third most corrupt one in the country. And that it should be on top of the list. But who is listening? You can guard the people but who will guard the guards (legislature and the executionary)? Both are busy filling their own pockets. Atleast this agency is succeeding at some pace to contain corruption at the grass-root level. I think they should have a carte-blanche for how they work, with checks and balances (already?) in place to prevent misuse of power.
In a controversial coup (which ones are not?), the current CM ousted the earlier one and is right now making the right noises. I am sceptical this is the 'heat of the moment' initiatives by the CM to bring back infrastructure-normalcy to the city, and it remains to be seen if the CM is able to sustain this enthusiasm. Lots of miles to go before this CM can claim he reached a landmark. There are far too many roads that lack pedestrian paths, far too many low-lying areas that beg for an effective storm-drain system, far too many disgruntled people at home waiting for power to come-back-and-stay.
Will be back with more on slow moving traffic in Bangalore. Your comments are welcome.
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