Shirady Ghat damaged again!

07/29/08 05:18 - mcadambi

We never seem to learn.... Shirday ghat is back to square one.

Neither the Bus Lobby want Trains to Mangalore nor does the Iron Ore/Lorry Lobby want a freight corridor. Both want to desperately use Shirady Ghat. This Shirady Ghat fiasco has become a symbol of how powerful lobbies have become in our "people's republic" of India. We we as a strong nation can rock America and the rest of the world by signing a nuclear deal, we do not even have to power to curtail lobbies in Karnataka.

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BIAL - Right to Information (RTI) Efforts

07/28/08 20:31 - kbsyed61

Dear Praja community members,

Much has been written and discussed about the Bangalore's new airport "Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL)".There has been views/counterviews ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other. There are rumors, gossips and online comparisons to judge the new airport. Things have not been very transparent and fully not in public domain to say definetely one view/opinion is correct or the other. Even before airport it started its operation on night of May 23, it has been in the midst of various controversies, appreciations and equal amount of criticism. Therefore the picture about BIAL is not very clear and certain about its ability to serve the aviation needs of Bangalore and its citizen. For an objective and honest conclusion, true facts are required. Only true facts and figures could tell us the real story of BIAL.

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Humour laden ideas for BTRAC's creative project

07/28/08 15:26 - shas3n

Last week we discussed KRDCL's decision to involve a creative agency to improve driver behaviour. The enthusiasm of praja members was evident and several of us wondered if it is worth giving a shot at this!!

As cosmic coincidence would have it, we also got hooked to satiric videos from a Bangalore based groups of youngsters on youtube. Our friends from mindry.in make wonderful, homemade, 100% organic videos that mock popular culture, Current affairs, News, Controversies, TV shows, Personalities and just about everything else.

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Speed governors for all vehicles!

07/28/08 13:23 - silkboard

Folks, stand up and applaud this. Read in Biz-standard this morning that Central government is thinking about making speed governors mandatory in all vehicles. I have always wondered, why make cars that do 150 kmph when such speeds are not legal anywhere in the country. And why is it that the push for speed governors was so far being made only for commercial vehicles?

I think just the way mobile phone technology was a leapfrog solution to help increase teledensity, technology can help us with solutions for traffic management. Think of this for example.

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New Airport in Palace Ground, J C Nagar !

07/27/08 16:49 - kbsyed61

Friends,

I must thank all the participants on Praja blogs for providing me all the information on airports, terminal capacity, runways, ATC and more ever the information regarding how to obtain the regulatory licenses from GOK, GOI, MoCA, AAI, DGCA, BBMP, Environment and Police departments. Your esteem knowledge has helped me in preparing a project proposal for starting a new airport in Bangalore.

I have identified a central location in Bangalore to build a new airport right in middle of the city. Some of the highlights of this location is as follows:

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Government of India's online grievance forum

07/27/08 08:07 - belgaumblog

Many may not know that Government of India hosts an online grievance forum. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances is the nodal agency to formulate policy guidelines for citizen-centric governance in the country. Redressing citizens' grievances being one of the most important initiatives of the department, DARPG formulates public grievance redress mechanisms for effective and timely redress / settlement of citizens' grievances.

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Meeting with Mr Sood - minutes

07/26/08 16:36 - admin123

The Praja tradition should be - no single consolidated minutes of the meeting. All those who attend must log their individual reports about Praja meetings.

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Blasts in bangalore - city in turmoil

07/25/08 09:34 - namma_nadu

Just heard that there are 5-7 blasts in bangalore. Folks, take care. Stay put wherever you are and wait for police clearance to leave your offices or wherever you are.

[Update: 3:30 pm It started with reports and SMS'es of low intensity blasts on Mysore road and Madivala in 1:30 pm - 2 pm timeframe. They say its 5 - 7 blasts around the city so far, mostly in South Bangalore areas. Some information on rediff on this. There is some unclarity around exact number (5-7) and specific areas of blast beyond Nayanadahalli, Madivala, Langford which have been confirmed by many. Keep watching TV and media sites.]

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KR Puram Railway Station Jn Update

07/25/08 05:06 - Rithesh

Finally BDA and Traffic Police seem to have woken up to the traffic problem at KR Puram junction (opposite railway station). BDA is proposing to widen the roads leading to the junction (on either side of the cable bridge).

The main hurdle to the project is the narrow junction opposite the railway station. Though there is ample space to widen the road, the land is owned by the Railways and they are refusing to give up the land.

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Large PPPs like BIAL - ripe for corruption?

07/25/08 04:43 - admin123

[A Request - This is a carryover from talk of corruption and transparency that emerged in this HAL-BIAL thread. Please don't drag the peripherals like big people wanting airport in their backyard etc into this. Add your wisdom and tips that are relevant here.]

We really want to understand this. What are the transparency and disclosure norms for PPP (Public Private Partnership) Projects? Looks like they don't come under the purview of RTI Act, at least the matter is not settled yet (We believe BIAL has filed an appeal against a court verdict that put it under RTI). Does lack of transparency set PPP projects up for corruption?

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