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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Prepaid Taxi Woes at IGI Airport

The prepaid taxi service at Indira Gandhi International Airport, in my opinion, is the ultimate 'pain - in- the - backside' for travellers. On 21 December I landed from Muscat at around 9.00 PM and the experience I had was nightmarish. The service is suposed to be run by cops (Delhi Police) who only dole out receipts after charging rounded off fares for the farthest point of any area where one wishes to travel. After that the traveller is left to fend for himself clutching his receipt and pushing his trolley trying to find out where the hell to board the taxi from. I was told that the taxi would be available outside Exit No.2 but when I reached that point I found that taxies arriving were already occupied. Enterprising travellers had made a beeline right upto the taxi stand and grabbed the cab there. I found that there were no takers for short distances and foreigners were being given preferential treatment by touts and hangers-on who were helping them find their cabs in the hope of a hefty tip. There was no cop in sight to regulate this chaos. A couple of them were sitting in a kiosk mechanically noting down names of those who were lucky enough to get the cabs. I refused to budge from the point from where I was supposed to get the cab and wasted an hour in the process. When I was sufficiently pissed off by the proceedings, I went back inside the terminal and got back my fare after arguing with the cops for another half an hour. I then rang up a friend and asked him to pick me up - having wasted nearly two hours at the airport. This was the first time I tried to take a prepaid cab from the airport and it will surely be the last.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Flash Floods

On 11, 12 and 13 December Muscat and some other parts of Oman experienced heavy rainfall (by Gulf standards). Muscat received 16 to 18 mm of rain during these days which I think is the annual average. The advent of rain was a welcome sight but it had a sad fallout. Some of the areas which are bordered by hills were hit by flash floods wreaking havoc in their wake. This is a common occurence whenever it rains and the Government makes it a point to issue cautionary notices to be careful and to avoid 'wadis' (dry river beds or runoffs where roads often criss cross each other). At some known dangerous points, the Royal Oman Police even put road blocks to discourage road users. On 11 December some foolhardy people paid no heed to such advisories and ten lives were lost. One of them was an employee from my company who had just spent a month and a half in Muscat before he got swept away and died. Flash floods are very dangerous and can cause untold devastation in a split second. Vehicles of all sizes were tossed around like corks and were battered beyond recognition, a sight I happened to witness later. Rains are a welcome phenomena in Oman but one needs to be wary of the fury of nature.

Friday, December 11, 2009

UP Sainik School Golden Jubilee Celebrations

Following is a news item published in TOI on 11 Dec 2009 after the Upsainian OBA convened a press conference regarding the subject at Lucknow.
Marathon to celebrate Sainik School landmark
TNN 11 December 2009, 05:54am IST
LUCKNOW: The UP Sainik School Old Boys Association (UPSAINIANS), a body of alumni of Uttar Pradesh Sainik School, Lucknow, is organizing the 21.097 km half marathon in Lucknow on December 20 to commemorate the 50th year of the establishment of the school.
The school was established in 1960 with the objective of increasing the number of students joining the armed forces. The school has achieved this objective of sending more than 800 cadets to National Defence Academy/Indian Military Academy which trains the officers of Indian Armed Forces.
The school has the rare distinction of having produced the bravery icon, Param Vir Chakra awardee (Late) Captain Manoj Pandey, who made the supreme sacrifice during the Kargil war and a host of other bravery award winners. UPSAINIAN undertakes activities for supporting the children aiming to join armed forces besides organising other social activities.

The marathon will be the first such run in state. The events on the day will be half marathon, a five km run and a 1 km run. The run is being branded as `Prerna 2009' with an intent to inspire the people of Lucknow. More than 3,000 people are expected to be participating in the run which will be starting from the KD Singh `Babu' Stadium at 7:30 am and traverse through the main areas of the city. The run would be flagged-off by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Command.
It will carry a first prize of Rs 1,00,000, second prize of Rs 50,000 and third prize of Rs 25,000. The dream run of 5 kms will carry following prizes, first prize of Rs 15,000, second prize of Rs 10,000 and third prize of Rs 5,000. This dream run will have separate prizes for male and female categories.
The run will also showcase winners of Delhi marathon who will be the star attraction at Prerna 2009. As a special treat to youngsters a special adventure zone is being created by the Indian Army and will feature attractions like hot air ballooning amongst others.
The registration for `Prerna 2009' will commence from December 12 and forms will be available at Dr Mobile, Sri Ram Towers, Hazratganj; Modern Communication, Mithai Walla Chauraha, Gomti Nagar; Mukesh Modern Bazaar, near Punjab & Sind Bank, Alambagh; Vikendra Mobile World, Main crossing chowk amongst others.

Friday, December 04, 2009

A post from 'faujnet' !

Following is a post I came across while browsing through 'faujnet' (of which I am a member -www.faujnet.com ). Those of my 'fauji' friends who are not yet aware of this may like to visit the site and become members. Coming to the subject post, here it is :
Carrear in Banking post Release/Retirement
Dear Friends,
I am Captain Bhaskar Bhattacharya (Retd) from 74 Armoured Regiment, left army in 1992. I am 41st SSC was commissioned in Mar' 1986.
I am presently employed in DENA BANK, one of the nationalised banks and working as Sr. Manager Securirty and Estate. DENA BANK is having majority of their branches in the state of Gujarat and Maharashtra. I thought it is appropriate for me to inform my fauji colleagues about carrear in banking after defence service .

The banking sector though advertises for filling up vacancies of Ex defence officers but the job has following short comings:
1. No initiative at any level for ex officers.
2. No residential accomodation,
3. No infrastructure to perform, No assistant to work for you,
4. Excessive expectation to perform
5. Our post is for support system hence no clear career path
6. No vehicle to perform your duties, except for 2 wheelers which is rather demoralising after leaving defence force in certain authoritative position,
7. Salary is also not to match with the market CTC offered by MNCs.
8. NO family life, no social life as security is not looked upon in high esteem.
9. The people wish to be friendly for canteen facilities otherwise do not care.
10. Dealing with guards directly which otherwise being done by Havildars/JCOs in units.
11. Growth in reaching higher scale is limited to Chief Managers provided vacancy exists.
12. Lateral movement/shift in other department is practically impossible.
13. One is provided with a chair and a table with computer no cabins even after 2 decades of bank service.
Financial, positional, emotional or in all parameters the banking carrear is not rewarding except for RBI openings.

Through this forum I wish to inform one and all to weigh all pros and cons and then select banking as carrear post defence job.
I may be contacted on brc161965@gmail.com.
Thanking you & Regards
Bhaskar
PS : There were some comments appended to this post which I have not attached here. Capt Bhaskar says banking 'carrear' is not rewarding except RBI openings. Must say 'ignorance is bliss' for this remark !