Chennai City Map: Chennai Metro Rail Project

The Chennai Metro Rail project is an initiative to map railway lines to the major parts of the Chennai city. For an emerging economy like India such infrastructure projects boost economic growth. The aim was to provide connectivity to the major part of the Chennai City. The present sub-urban EMU services don’t reach most part of the inner Chennai City. The Chennai map is filled with haphazard roads and streets.  The metro rail would provide connection between much visited Chennai tourist places, business hub and hotels in Chennai.

As common among all infrastructure projects, Chennai city traffic got a huge hit. The diversion and one way caused inconvenience to the general public especially people who depend heavily on those arterial roads to commute between office and home. Not to mention the vehicles packing at each signal at peak hours! Despite state government effort to reduce choking at Chennai city traffic signals, the snail pace traffic is the order of the day.

The worst of all is the situation of pedestrians. Majority of the footpath that were just a left-over of present day corporation roads disappeared as the demolition and restructuring debris of buildings has covered all over the left-over footpath.  The worst affected among them are elderly and disabled person.

The recent footbridge between Chennai Fort sub-urban railway station and Chennai Central station are good example. The construction of new footbridge over the crossing is laudable step to help pedestrian to cross between the all-time busy Chennai city roads. But such footbridge must benefit all class pedestrian. The present construction of footbridge between the two railway stations causes too much inconvenience than good.

The new footbridge is not pedestrian friendly than former subway footpath which is closed for the Chennai metro rail project. The following are the major factors that make the present footpath between the two major railway stations a difficult task for pedestrians: 

• The steps of the new footpath are much steeper than normal. To be frank, even a young person of age 35 years has to get hold of the railings on the either side of the footbridge when getting down or up the footbridge. 
• And the steps are not wide enough to keep a firm foot on each step. The bridge seems to be completed in haste. 
• The resonating sound of footsteps of other people who use the bridge may make us feel insecure about the safety. The vibration will make us think the bridge might collapse any moment even though it might be technically fit for use.

Not only is the footbridge between Chennai Fort and Central Railway stations in limbo. Every other footbridge suffer lacuna when it comes to address the needs of elderly and disabled persons. Those who need utmost care and social protection are neglected when it comes to planning infrastructure of Chennai City.

The elderly and disabled friendly footbridges exist at fewer places. Nevertheless, most crossing has not incorporated friendliness of the footbridge to facilitate elderly and disabled. The very use of these footbridges is defeated. At most locations, footbridges were never used. People prefer to cross busy road than using the footbridge.

Not only the elderly and disabled get affected. The tourist who visit Chennai tourist places are worst affected. For Chennai, medical tourism is it famous for. But the tourist who depend on Chennai city map to travel to tourist places are worst affected. They will be left in Chennai Urban jungle without any help than to depend heavily on private transport who will try to fleece tourist.

The intention to place Chennai Metro rail on Chennai city map will help a lot in future but at the cost of present. The great hurdle for any tourist in Chennai is to reach 5 star hotels or 3 star hotels in Chennai of their choice. They are at the mercy of Chennai traffic. The present Metro rail project will address the traffic concerns of tourist but the present change to facilitate the project has cost dear to the commuters.

With unfriendly footbridges and road traffic, the travel within Chennai was made a challenge. The only solution to the present day ordeal was to complete the Chennai Metro Rail Project on time with no more time extension. Not only the road traffic but also the pedestrians suffer the heat of uncomforting travel. With exponential increase the vehicles year by year, the situation would turn worse by each year.

Democracy: Industrial Lobby

Hello there! There is huge uproar that BJP and corporate world has nexus between them. The recent exposure has gone to the threshold as the Delhi faces poll. It is usual for political parties to accuse others of corruption and inaction. But recent debate on nexus between the government and power companies created huge buzz on Social Networks. 

One thing every body forgot is lobbying was in existence even before the present government came to power. Not only India, but huge part of the world has bond between legislators and business people. Example, four out of five legislators in U.S.A do lobbying for industries and business. The reforms of 1991 has emphasized privatization. Hence, it is no surprise that each government favored industrial lobbying. Hence, there is nothing to worry much about the connections. 

The huge voiced raised by other parties against the present government is just a cheap political stunt. If they know about the nexus between the power companies and the legislators then they would have exposed it the moment they get to know about it. But they waiting till the election commission to announce polling date. The present unrest is created just for winning the upcoming Delhi assembly polls. It's high time that the politicians must think for public good rather than fighting against each other. 

Ballon d'Or 2014

Congratulations Cristino Ronaldo! He lifted the Ballon d'Or, 2014. Ronaldo deserves it. He made great difference to his team. Slew of Goals and assists fetched Ballon d'Or for the year 2014. But the trend of awarding Ballon d'Or is quite puzzling. The forward and attacking midfielder find the bright spot when it comes to awarding awards in Association Football.

Football is all about team. No one can relinquish his position on the field. But how come a striker or attacker alone rise to prominence while other are less significant. The German Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who has good shot at the Ballon d'Or missed it in voting. This has raised uneasy questions. Is football all about scoring? I guess not. It's all about how good the player plays from the position given by the club managers. Neuer was exemplary with his stunning goalkeeping skills. Yet the audience fail to recognize him except for the few.

People all remember who made the team win but not about who helped them making it in field. Especially the stronghold guardian who foils opposition attack. In Football stronghold guardians need team skills than the forwards who can even play lone-wolf at contingency. FIFA is not to be blamed for sidelining Neuer. But it's mentality of the audience. They remember only the player who scores for them who provide spectacular celebrations not the people who stood the test of pressure.

DoT unblocks 32 Websites

The government has ordered Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to unblock 32 websites that had been blocked last month for hosting "jihadi propaganda". The Department of Telecommunication(DoT) has blocked 34 websites originally. But it unblocked four of them on undertaking that they will compile with law (Info: Dot unblocks 4 websites).

Some of the websites blocked were used by software professionals. Pastebin, github are used in collaborative software projects. Blocking them has created a huge online rant against the move. Now, DoT has ordered to unblock all websites blocked previously. The reason cited for the block was those websites propagated ISIS propaganda and they don't need any authentication to post information & share them with the world. 

Recently techie who was arrested in Bangalore for operating ISIS twitter account has made DoT turn aggressive against select popular websites among software professionals. But blocking pastebin and github drew huge public ire. They are used by limited audience who possess technical knowledge as blocking them will serve no purpose. Wrongdoers will always find a way out. The move to unblock websites is welcomed especially among the technical community.

Myntra End of Reason Sale follow Flipkart Billion Dollar Sale

The online Indian community have not forgot the Flipkart Billion Dollar  sale. The customer who ordered where provided with untold surprises. Mostly with cancelled orders. Delayed service. Yet Myntra one of the leading online retailer failed to take cue from the mistake of predecessor. The end of reason sale shows as follow of Flipkart Billion Dollar Sale fiasco.

The customer who ordered online ranted that their orders are getting cancelled despite deduction were made to the customers. Most of these niche sales are about promotion of the brands and products which were up for the sales. And the prominent strategy for these online retailers are to promote the mobile application.

But the sale was hit by the buggy mobile app. The customer were frustrated with the mobile app. With creating a niche over the sales, they are able to create huge traffic towards the server that might choke them to death. The ultimate results were ending up frustrated customers. The social media started witnessing the fury and ordeals of the customer.

Badminton ace Padma Shri Saina Nehwal denied Padma Bhushan slashes Sports Ministry

Saina Nehwal hit the headlines again but not for winning any badminton title. This time furious Saina Nehwal slashed sports ministry for not recommending her name for Padma Bhushan title. In past, the news were just about who were award the award. Not this time. Saina Nehwal contended that despite her achievements, sport ministry has overlooked her.

"The badminton Association of India forwarded my application for Padma Bhushan to the sports ministry. I am now informed by ministry sources that they have not recommended my name to the home ministry panel.. They have picked Sushil instead. If it is a mere recommendation, why didn't the ministry choose both of us?"  - Saina Nehwal.

Also she bagged home numerous titles in the year 2014. She deserves the respect. But now it is demanded as the sports ministry overlooked her name for Padma Bhushan. The move made by the sport ministry were slashed out as prejudice.

Such kind of disappointment from the government end will hurt the sport industry in India. The industriousness of the sport people high depend up on how they are rewarded in the end. Even if it is not a monetary reward they need recognition that they have done something for the country. Lets hope this row will not affect Saina's morale and sports ministry learns when it comes to recognizing sports personals.

DoT Unblocks four websites

Recently, Department of Telecommunication(DoT) has blocked 32 websites which were used to propagate terror agenda. The move was highly criticized by the tech community in India. As prominent of them are pastebin, github which were widely used by Information Technology professionals.

Planning Commission

TV news channels started flashing changes to the Planning Commission of India. Good to here that they are trying to get rid of these old extra-constitutional body. Yes! the Planning commission was neither part of constitution nor any legislation. And planning commission members were selected arbitrarily. Any one who is good friend of politicians were made members. But such a body wielded high influence on the every five year plans in India. Every plan placed before the National Development Council were scrutinized by the planning commission. The legacy left by the congress were followed by all the subsequent government.

Free Internet!

Hello buddies! Since 50's Internet has evolved at various level. From CERN project to global infrastructure, internet has turned our lives to new era. The developers of World Wide Web decided to keep the project free. They wish no one have control over the network worldwide. They created free and independent environment for sharing ideas, concepts, data, etc. Internet has transcended boundaries and reached billions of lives. Internet is like a nation without boundaries. But with present day internet is hogged with restrictions and filters placed by state agencies.

Globalization of Market

The concept of Globe under single roof seems to be a great idea. The free flow of goods and service between the countries is a blessing in disguise. Such free flow market let good idea to transcend boundaries. It promoted the global trade and helped in reviving weak economies. Whenever a bail out package is granted for a bankrupt country, the bankrupt countries were made to make an undertaking to open up its market for the world.

Grand Finals of Hero Indian Super League

Atletico de Kolkata Vs. Kerala Blasters

Good day folks! We are at the end of the inaugural season of the Hero Indian Super League. The high drama to be ended with Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters clashing in the grand final match to be held in Mumbai tomorrow. It's premature to predict results of the match since the Hero Indian Super League has seen unexpected twists and turns. The expected top contenders who created huge buzz with bringing in top strikers and midfielders failed secure the top spot. Really loved to watch such an action sports. In the end, they all proved that a team is not less than others in this tournament.

From the league matches held between the two team in which both the team drew the first match between them and Kerala Blasters ended up winning against Atletico de Kolkata . But that was with an abysmal margin of one goal. We are not interested in the debated hand-ball for now.

For Luis Garcia's men, the task ahead is tough. Consistency in the performance is the need of the hour. The Semi-final between FC Goa and Atletico de Kolkata ended inconclusively with a goalless draw till 120th minute of the match. The Strong eleven men of Atletico de Kolkata could be kept away from goal if the Kerala Blaster maintain a good d-line which has high probability to break once concerted team effort is exerted by Atletico de Kolkata. Kerala Blasters were startled with conceding three goals against Chennaiyin FC. Had the Chennaiyin FC turned few chances into goals, it would have crashed out Kerala Blasters of the tournament. So, the team Kolkata might try hard to keep good tactics on field.

Atletico de Kolkata is well known for its rough defense play. Tight marking and covering spaces would make Kerala Blasters rethink their attack play. Atletico de Kolkata has displayed an unrelenting play when it comes to defense. No easy goals against Kolkata pals! But Kerala Blasters are turning good at converting few mistakes into an unforgiving goals as they did in Semi-finals against Chennaiyin FC. The question is how consistent will team Kolkata be in its defense against Kerala Blasters! The match against FC Goa, Atletico de Kolkatta suffered some deficiency in defense. For an instance, a cut-in by the winger, Romeo Fernandas, led to a shot against Kolkata but the shot saw the wrong side of the net. Complacency has no place in football. Nevertheless, no team is immune from any attack unless well coordinated defense is in play. Conversely, some believe attack is the best form of defense.

Final match of the Hero Indian Super League is the only answers for the question that go unanswered. Dynamism in this tournament has made every future match unpredictable. One thing will happen for sure irrespective of any predictions, both the team will spice up the game tomorrow night. Lets football!

Second-leg Semi-Finals of Hero Indian Super League: FCG V ATK

FC Goa Vs. Atletico de Kolkata

The second-leg of semi-finals in Hero Indian Super League between FC Goa and Atletico de Kolkata held in the home-town of FC Goa. The first-leg of semi-finals between them concluded with a goalless draw. The expectations were high on FC Goa as they did some fireworks in the first-leg semi-finals with good enough shots on target. Atletico de Kolkata rode on its team power and experience.

Both the teams were fierce contenders for the final berth to be held on Saturday night. FC Goa didn't fail to rock the night . They created numerous opportunities but the ball denied FC Goa with a goal. Andre Santos who not only made numerous shot fly over the goal post but even the penalty kick followed the same pattern. Santos free-kick disappointed the home crowd. The set-piece at which FC Goa were strong at crumbled once Santos over shot them. Romeo found the wrong side of the net at a scoring opportunity. Mandar cut-in on occasion added pressure to the Kolkata defenders. But it was finally Atletico de Kolkata were into the finals against Kerala Blasters in the inaugural season of the Hero Indian Super League. FC Goa lost composure of the game. Might be due to the pressure either from home crowd or to a 'must score' situation.  The other side is Kolkata kept pressure upon the forwards of FC Goa. Anyhow, they yielded to Kolkata.

Atletico de Kolkata did great. It appeared as if they have been training the team for the penalty kicks. The power and the balance exhibited by the players were authentic.  But lucky team, saw few penalty kicks played by FC Goa wide of the goal post. 

One beautiful thing about the penalty kick held yesterday is that no goals were saved by the goalkeepers of either teams. To be precise, FC Goa missed shots during penalty kicks which let Kolkata into the finals in this Hero Indian Super League. And for the finals Best of luck Kolkata. FC Goa live for another day.