Monday, November 30, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
CIAL
Cochin International Airport Limited is the first airport in the world to rely 100% on solar energy:
The airport is in PPP mode and is headed by IAS officer VJ Kurien.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Richest Person In Each State In The USA
http://www3.forbes.com/investing/the-richest-person-in-every-state/17/
Surprising the use of "without hardly anyone noticing".
"Jonathan Nelson has made a fortune buying and selling media and telecom properties without hardly anyone noticing."
Surprising the use of "without hardly anyone noticing".
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
Plagiarism In Business Schools And East Asia
"Those who plagiarize admissions essays tend to be international applicants from East Asia, where educational norms surrounding cheating differ from those in the United States."
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Buying Property Through Banks' E-Auction
http://www.livemint.com/Money/pnWcKvXFnZEuyRdnO4p1mK/Canara-Bank-goes-the-eauction-way.html
BankAuctions.in and Foreclosureindia.com
Missing stuff:
Check these sites - seem much better:
Some additional sites:
State bank assets: http://tenders.gov.in/department.asp?id=1577
Relevant Articles:
An example:
BankAuctions.in and Foreclosureindia.com
Missing stuff:
- Search for properties does not have a sort order.
- Search shows properties whose auction dates are in the past. There is no provision to filter them out nor sort by date
- Searches involving a combination of two or more filters usually gives wrong results.
- There is no export option for search results.
- For auctioned properties there is no winning bid price.
Check these sites - seem much better:
- https://www.bankeauctions.com/ (the column headings can be clicked to sort),
- https://www.auctiontiger.net/EPROC/,
- http://www.arcil.co.in/auction/auctions_details.php?id=81
- http://sbigroupauctions.magicbricks.com/mangalore.html
Some additional sites:
State bank assets: http://tenders.gov.in/department.asp?id=1577
Relevant Articles:
- http://www.nitinbhatia.in/real-estate/bank-auction-process/
- http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-02-02/news/36703857_1_reserve-price-
- online-auctions-property
- http://foreclosureindia.com/articles/procedure-of-sale-of-property-through-auction-4.html
- https://www.commonfloor.com/guide/how-to-buy-property-through-bank-auctions-23776.html
- https://bankauctions.in/faq/
- https://bankauctions.in/advanced-search/?meta_listing_id=&meta_institution=0&meta_city=0&wpas_id=my-home-page-form&wpas_submit=1#results
- https://eauction.npasource.com/ (see also http://npasource.com/investorservice.aspx)
- http://www.legallyindia.com/forum/legal-issues-talk-and-help/need-advice-on-buying-bank-auctioned-properties: Sunny Sharma's reply
- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/realty-trends/buying-house-in-a-bank-auction-take-care-of-additional-costs/articleshow/19526203.cms: Reserve price = Outstanding debt of original buyer
- https://foreclosureindia.com/blog/category/updates/: Procedure
- http://m.firstpost.com/business/economy/how-to-prevent-a-nightmare-with-bank-auctioned-homes-512326.html: Issues with auctions
An example:
How to use: Go to bankauctions.in and click "Search upcoming auctions". Choose from and to dates, leave city blank..
1 hectare = 10000 sqm = 100 are..
1 are= 100 sq m = 1000sq ft
Questions to be answered:
1. How does one see a live auction without participating?
2. Usually what is the final amount as a % of reserve price. Marginally above is my guess meaning there is very little competitive bidding.
4. Can all payments be made online? I guess yes.
5. Is the title clear? The site says "its as is where is" and also that banks have verified title. Why cant the seller (bank) ensure EC or title is pakka at the time of auction? There may be issues of non payment of bills or society dues or a tenant who may not be willing to leave.
6, What is the difference between foreclosure and bankauction sites?
7. Why doesn't the filter work correctly in foreclosure site? Matter of fact doesn't seem to work correctly in most of the related sites.
Answered questions:
3. If I lose the bid, when will the amount be credited bank to me? Yes as per para "Refund Details" in https://bankauctions.in/beginners-guide/
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Rudyard Kipling's Train Journey
Narrow gauge train journey by narrow gauge from Nagpur to Jabalpur: http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/last-ride-through-kiplings-india-on-the-satpura-narrow-gauge-line/article7872851.ece
Nainpur Jn to Nagpur narrow gauge train: http://indiarailinfo.com/train/nainpur-chhindwara-nagpur-ng-fast-passenger-58840-nir-to-ngpb/3146/3737/10558
Return journey: 58839 leaves Nagpur at 12:45PM and arrives Nainpur next morning at 02:20. 58840 leaves Nainpur at 2:30 AM and arrives Nagpur at 15:30.
Additional reading:
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
Ritu And Dina And Indira - Marwah And Jinnah And Gandhi
All 6 six letter surnames. I suspected the writer of this article was an F (not T as in MBTI) when I came across this: "Dina was two years old when Indira was born in November 1917. " (Dina was born in 1919).
Sarcasm Indicates Higher Creativity
Wowowow:http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/680OUq/:1eUutqU@S:OFi07jaC/hellogiggles.com/sarcastic-people-good-for-you. INTJ's (as in MBTI) are usually supposed to be sarcastic.
What about NF's? They usually are intelligent and not sarcastic. How does the finding above apply for NF's?
Additional reading:
Additional reading:
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Some Interesting Trains In India
Kolkata Amritsar 12357 Superfast Express: http://indiantrainblog.blogspot.in/2013/05/my-first-experience-with-duronto-train.html
Interesting articles in this site: https://gcirc.wordpress.com/. For example: read this and https://www.flickr.com/photos/ks_bluechip/sets/72157626215189768/, https://www.flickr.com/photos/ks_bluechip/sets/72157626215329600/
Additional reading:
http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/04/going-on-trip-tips.html
Interesting articles in this site: https://gcirc.wordpress.com/. For example: read this and https://www.flickr.com/photos/ks_bluechip/sets/72157626215189768/, https://www.flickr.com/photos/ks_bluechip/sets/72157626215329600/
Additional reading:
http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/04/going-on-trip-tips.html
Chennai Weather
December 1st, 2015 Flooding:
Was it a wrong call? : http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chennai-floods-a-wrong-call-that-sank-the-city/article7967371.ece
A cousin sent me this nice video of a bridge getting flooded.
What went wrong:
Insurance claim norms (arising out of the flood): http://www.livemint.com/Money/GSl2lRV08cAW8DQOMcwwtK/Insurance-firms-relax-flood-claim-norms.html
City sank: http://indianexpress.com/photos/picture-gallery-others/chennai-receives-heaviest-rainfall-in-a-decade-city-plunged-in-despair/2/
1st Dec: http://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/major-road-caves-in-as-rain-batters-chennai-schools-remain-shut-1249627 Crater on road near Madhya Kailash
Tale of Paris and Chennai: 2 Disasters and the responses from people: http://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/facebook-post-criticises-response-to-chennai-floods/
Chennai before floods and after: http://www.thestatesman.com/photos/1211-30-chennai-before-and-after-floods.html
Tale of Paris and Chennai: 2 Disasters and the responses from people: http://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/facebook-post-criticises-response-to-chennai-floods/
Chennai before floods and after: http://www.thestatesman.com/photos/1211-30-chennai-before-and-after-floods.html
Was it a wrong call? : http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chennai-floods-a-wrong-call-that-sank-the-city/article7967371.ece
A cousin sent me this nice video of a bridge getting flooded.
What went wrong:
- http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/chennai-paid-the-price-for-loss-of-wetlands-and-open-spaces-study/article7974733.ece,
- http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/chennai-floods-what-happened-chembarambakkam-negligence-or-nature%E2%80%99s-fury-36675,
- http://thewire.in/2015/12/09/how-official-negligence-turned-a-natural-crisis-into-a-human-made-catastrophe-16938/,
- http://www.vikatan.com/news/english/56173-where-is-the-tamil-nadu-chief-minister-jayalalitha.art
Insurance claim norms (arising out of the flood): http://www.livemint.com/Money/GSl2lRV08cAW8DQOMcwwtK/Insurance-firms-relax-flood-claim-norms.html
City sank: http://indianexpress.com/photos/picture-gallery-others/chennai-receives-heaviest-rainfall-in-a-decade-city-plunged-in-despair/2/
Adyar river flooding:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Flood-Alert-Along-the-Banks-of-Adyar-River/2015/11/17/article3131383.ece
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-shudders-as-floodgates-of-Chembarambakkam-open/articleshow/49810543.cms
More news about Nov 2015 flooding (Ola cabs operates boats):
- http://deccanchronicle.com/151117/nation-current-affairs/article/chennai-floods-neighbours-help-pregnant-woman-reach-hospital
- http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/highest-rainfall-in-10-years-washes-away-chennais-expensive-drainage-desilting-projects/
- This Nov (2015) likely to be rainiest November in the history of Chennai.
- It became the wettest November in history: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rain-returns-to-break-100-yr-record-wreaks-havoc-in-Chennai/articleshow/49989900.cms
- Chennai 2015 November: One of the wettest fortnights in recent history in Chennai. 500+ mm in 2 weeks from 1st till 15th Nov. Photos here.
- Video of tree thudding on a car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWBf5QfM5OM&feature=youtu.be
A cousin sent me this photo:
http://www.livemint.com/rf/Image-621x414/LiveMint/Period1/2015/11/30/Photos/tnrains-kXpE--621x414@LiveMint.jpg
Chennai gets 1400 mm average rainfall for the whole year: about 100 mm in the first 5 months of the year, 400mm from Jun to Sep and 900mm from Oct to Dec. 1:4:9.
- Chennai Monsoon Statistics: http://www.chennai.climatemps.com/precipitation.php
- http://www.chennai.climatemps.com/
- http://www.vagaries.in/p/rohit-aroskars-page.html
- http://www.kea.metsite.com/: streaming weather data showing temperature, pressure, rainfall, wind etc. for Chennai. An issue I find in the site is this: "Rain rate: 16.0 mm/hr Hourly: 26.2 mm": from the site. What is this data supposed to mean? I suppose hourly refers to rainfall in last 1 hour while rain rate is the differential current d(rain)/d(time).
- http://59.99.240.81:8085/liveweather/index.php
A friend sent me this (it's in Tamil) which provides an astrological explanation of events.
Additional reading:
- Rainwater harvesting calculations: http://chennaimetrowater.gov.in/departments/rwh/whatwhy.htm
- Municipal Sewage: http://Calmisc.blogspot.com/2015/12/municipal-waste-transport-and-utility.html
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Yes Prime Minister Modi
After Bihar defeat: http://www.financialexpress.com/article/blogs/bull-run-on-stock-markets-to-continue-if-and-only-if-lessons-from-bihar-elections-are-learnt/163312/
I hope the PM focuses on law and order and justice fast, reduce the number of pending cases in courts, ensure safety of people instead of focusing on stuff like Ghar wapsi. Otherwise he might as well grow a beard and and become a religious head.
Additional reading:
- http://Calmisc.blogspot.com/2015/05/dress-code-is-important.html (Gender related)
- http://Calmisc.blogspot.com/2015/10/vodafone-wins-income-tax-case.html (Tax related)
- http://Calmisc.blogspot.com/2014/06/one-side-of-modi.html (An Ordinary man)
- http://Calmisc.blogspot.com/2014/12/modi-as-he-is-seen-from-pakistan.html (As he is seen in Pakistan)
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Monday, November 2, 2015
What ISIS Really Wants
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/: Quotes (without permission):
"Being a Shiite, as most Iraqi Arabs are, meets the standard as well, because the Islamic State regards Shiism as innovation, and to innovate on the Koran is to deny its initial perfection. (The Islamic State claims that common Shiite practices, such as worship at the graves of imams and public self-flagellation, have no basis in the Koran or in the example of the Prophet.) That means roughly 200 million Shia are marked for death. So too are the heads of state of every Muslim country, who have elevated man-made law above Sharia by running for office or enforcing laws not made by God."
"According to Haykel, the ranks of the Islamic State are deeply infused with religious vigor. Koranic quotations are ubiquitous. “Even the foot soldiers spout this stuff constantly,” Haykel said. “They mug for their cameras and repeat their basic doctrines in formulaic fashion, and they do it all the time.” He regards the claim -that the Islamic State has distorted the texts of Islam - as preposterous, sustainable only through willful ignorance. “People want to absolve Islam,” he said. “It’s this ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ mantra. As if there is such a thing as ‘Islam’! It’s what Muslims do, and how they interpret their texts.” Those texts are shared by all Sunni Muslims, not just the Islamic State. “And these guys have just as much legitimacy as anyone else.”" [Bold mine] The part in bold is exactly what I believe. What Islam says or what the Prophet said is academic. How people follow it is what is relevant.
"In Haykel’s estimation, the fighters of the Islamic State are authentic throwbacks to early Islam and are faithfully reproducing its norms of war. This behavior includes a number of practices that modern Muslims tend to prefer not to acknowledge as integral to their sacred texts. “Slavery, crucifixion, and beheadings are not something that freakish [jihadists] are cherry-picking from the medieval tradition,” Haykel said. Islamic State fighters “are smack in the middle of the medieval tradition and are bringing it wholesale into the present day.”"
"The Koran specifies crucifixion as one of the only punishments permitted for enemies of Islam. The tax on Christians finds clear endorsement in the Surah Al-Tawba, the Koran’s ninth chapter, which instructs Muslims to fight Christians and Jews “until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” The Prophet, whom all Muslims consider exemplary, imposed these rules and owned slaves. " - Now I do not know how much of the quotes are a true reflection of fact. In Islam hardly anything can be considered an irrefutable fact because of the existence of multiple interpretations. While most religions have this issue, Islam probably suffers from having the least interest in accuracy.
"It’s hard to overstate how hamstrung the Islamic State will be by its radicalism. The modern international system, born of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, relies on each state’s willingness to recognize borders, however grudgingly. For the Islamic State, that recognition is ideological suicide. Other Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, have succumbed to the blandishments of democracy and the potential for an invitation to the community of nations, complete with a UN seat. Negotiation and accommodation have worked, at times, for the Taliban as well. (Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan exchanged ambassadors with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates, an act that invalidated the Taliban’s authority in the Islamic State’s eyes.) To the Islamic State these are not options, but acts of apostasy." - It is strange, almost narcissistic how Islam thinks - that anyone (any country / any religion) other than me cannot exist, or if they do, they will only exist as slaves. "I do not recognize any country's borders or any other religions" or going back to the womb (to the 7th century AD) - is very interesting. I wonder what will happen if the world is fully Islamized.. Civilization would perhaps go back a thousand years. And for what purpose? What will ISIS achieve by this? Just to live in a glorious Islamized world?
Sunday, November 1, 2015
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