Thursday, November 11, 2010

AC double decker train Howrah dhanbad

{Two-tier cool ride costs comfort
A STAFF REPORTER
From The Telegraph on 11.11.2010
A journey in the country’s first air-conditioned double-decker train may not be as smooth as expected.

Lack of enough legroom and low luggage racks will force tall passengers to sit crouched in their seats.

The boarding is like on any other train. Then, a flight of stairs takes the passenger to the lower floor, which is partly under the platform level.

Another flight of steps takes passengers to the upper floor.

Metro spent 10 minutes on the train before it left for Dhanbad on a trial run on Wednesday afternoon.

“It would indeed be uncomfortable for someone in the window seat to sit through a long journey,” admitted a railway official who was on the train during the trial run.

The inner walls of the train have an inward slope near the floor because of which passengers have to sit cross-legged.

The height of the luggage racks, at a little over 5ft, is another problem. Most passengers would bang their heads against the racks while getting up.

“Each coach will carry 128 passengers,” said divisional railway manager, Howrah, Partha Sarathi Mondal.

The seating capacity of a double-decker coach is about 40 per cent more than that of a Shatabdi (78-seater) coach.

Asked whether numbers mattered more than the comfort, Mondal said: “You have to make some compromises.”

The compromise might be a little too uncomfortable for passengers.

The train has another flaw — its walls graze against the edge of some of the platforms.

Railway officials had to chip off a little over an inch of platforms at several stations to ensure a smooth ride. “We had noticed during the earlier trial runs that the train is grazing against the platforms at Liluah, Bally, Durgapur and Seoraphuli stations,” said Mondal.

He put the blame on the platforms: “There is no problem with the train. The platforms at some stations are broader than what they should have been.”

Almost half of the lower floors is below the platform-level to ensure the train’s height does not pose a problem for the overhead wires or overbridges.

The Howrah-Dhanbad train is likely to begin its commercial run in a month, officials said. A few more trial runs will be conducted before a report is sent to the safety commissioner.

The Howrah-Dhanbad Black Diamond Express earlier had a double-decker coach. But the entire train was neither two-storeyed nor air-conditioned. The double-decker coach was scrapped in 1997.

The best feature of the new train could be its toilets. “They are like those in aeroplanes. The faeces and urine will no longer be dumped on tracks,” said an official.}



All fine. Wish we have a Railway Minister from South India in the next cabiner / or after the WB Polls!

Then , atleast , we can have the train to Vailankanni , running for the thousands of piligrims!!!

It has taken years to lay the track, but the final touch is taking more years..

Mary Maatha has to bestow kindness on the poor devotees. And create some mercy in the heart of Southern Railway.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

என்னவோ போங்க!

'Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, builds first billion-dollar home in Mumbai'BY Aliyah Shahid DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER '

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/10/14/2010-10-14_mukesh_ambani_indias_richest_man_builds_first_billiondollar_home_in_mumbai.html

"Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, builds world's first billion-dollar home ..Mumbai property, named Antilia after a mythical island, is worth £630m and comes complete with three helipads'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2010/oct/13/mukesh-ambani-antilla-mumbai?intcmp=239

//“World’s first $1billion pad”, screams the Sun, while the Wall Street Journal subtly states that “India’s richest man has built what is said to be the world’s first billion-dollar home. Yes, that’s billion with a “B.”” Forbes matter-of-factly observes that “at $1 billion the Antila outprices any home on the market, anywhere in the world, by an order of magnitude.” As papers from across the world breathlessly report on Mukesh Ambani’s home, the reactions to the news, in many cases, have been less than flattering – including many in the humongous number of comments on the report on the TOI site itself. While there are many who think that a man has the right to do what he wishes to with his money, and a few feel that a structure like that is an inspiration to others, a majority of reactions – at least from what I culled after reading, in increasing amazement, at hundreds of responses not just from India but from the US, Australia, the UK, just about everywhere, could be summed up perhaps most concisely in these three posts from readers of Time and the Daily Mail:
• Dunno whether to be impressed or disgusted
• Grotesque, visually and morally
• You spent $1B for that visual eyesore// From TOI Blogs

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/clicklit/entry/does-mukesh-ambani-owe-us-an-explanation-for-his-house


After reading all these news items, I remembered the write up from வினவு!

'செத்தபின்னும் திருடுவார், திருட்டுபாய் அம்பானி!'

http://www.vinavu.com/2008/12/12/cine2gu/

என் மனக்குழப்பம் எதற்கு என்று தெரியவில்லை? எனக்கு ஏன் ஒரு சோகம் பரவுகிறது? நமது சமூகம் , நாடு எங்கே போகிறது?

என்னவோ போங்க!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

See how Ganga river is violated

First the calm and peace inducing account of the Kumbh - Mela by Jeyamohan

here

The here , humour and kind of shocking


Then feeling kind of sad, some search, and here

What a difficult task!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

காலச்சுவடு இம்மாத இதழ்- மறுபடியும்

மறுபடியும் எழுதாமல் இருக்க முடியவில்லை-

''கட்டுரை: நான் பார்க்காத முதல் குடியரசுதின விழா!
பாரதி மணி
இந்தத் தலைமுறை இளைஞர்கள் எத்தனை பேருக்கு Beating the Retreat என்பதன் பொருள் தெரியும்? போன வருடம் ஜனவரி 29ஆம் தேதி மாலை இந்த நிகழ்ச்சியைத் தில்லி தூர்தர்ஷனில் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்தபோது, பக்கத்து வீட்டு இளைஞன் என்னைப் பார்க்க வந்தான். அவனுக்கு இதைப் பற்றி எந்த விவரமும் தெரியவில்லை.''

இந்த கட்டுரை என்னை நெகிழ வைத்தது. Beating the Retreat பார்ப்பது ஒரு சுகமான அனுபவம் !

பாரதி மணி அவர்களுக்கு நன்றி.

ஒரு விதத்தில் 'பள்ளிகள் சிறைகளா? - பெருமாள்முருகன் ' அவர்களின் கட்டுரை எழுப்பும் கேள்விகள் , இந்த தலைமுறை பல விக்ஷயங்களில் அசட்டையாக இருப்பதற்கு காரணம்!

காலச்சுவடு இம்மாத இதழ்

//பத்தி: பள்ளிகள் சிறைகளா?
பெருமாள்முருகன்
தானுண்டு தன் வேலையுண்டு என்றிருப்பவரை உருவாக்குவதுதான் இந்தக் கல்விமுறையின் நோக்கம். எந்தக் கேள்வியும் கேட்காமல் வேலை பார்க்கும் ஆட்களைத்தான் பன்னாட்டு நிறுவனங்கள் தொடங்கிச் சாதாரணக் கடைகள்வரை விரும்புகிறார்கள்.//

காலச்சுவடு இம்மாத இதழில் இடம் பெற்ற கட்டுரை . கோர்வையாக , ஆணித்தரமாக உள்ளது. பல பெற்றோர்களின் கேள்விகளும் இதுதான்.

யார் கவனிப்பார்கள்? கபில் சிபல்?