Chennai discussions II [Archive] - Page 30

wlbkng

December 17th, 2010, 12:37 PM

An educated workforce and good logistics infrastruccture are two of the factors that have propelled Chennai up the City Competitiveness Rankings, from no. 4 last year to no. 2 this year.

The report, released earlier this month by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC), New Delhi, says Chennai has overtaken Banglore in the rankings and edged out Mumbai for the second spot. Delhi continues to hold its rank as the most competitive city to do business in the country. The report bases its rankings on infrastruture, business environment and about 800 other indicators, taken from data released by various government departments. Fifty Indian cities were included in the report.

As per the report, Delhi is no.1, Chennai holds the second spot, Mumbai is in slot three and Bengaluru and Kolkata are in places four and five, respectively. The rise of tier-two cities such as Ahmedabad and Pune indicate an improvement in governance, municipal efficiency, physical infrastructure and workforce. Mumbai, the report says, has slipped in its ranking due to the worsening state of its infrastructure. Other cities on the list are Chandigarh, Surat, Gurgaon, Coimbatore and Kochi.

IFC is affiliated to Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, Harvard Business School, and its report is based on factors such as demand conditions, context for firm strategy and rivalry, and support and related industries.

The report cites the large number of educational institutions and the strong culture of education in Chennai as working to its advantage. It also draws attention to people's strong communication skills as well as their innovativeness.

While the report says the city is a good place to do business, especially for manufacturing and IT companies, due to the good physical infrastructure and logistics such as the presence of a port and airport, it also adds that Chennai has to improve its performance on the adiministative side.

It currently takes 34 days to start a new business in Chennai as opposed to the average of 30 days in the rest of the country. "The cost of doing business in Chennai is marginally lower than Mumbai, Bangalore or Hyderabad," says Kalyan Kumar G, CEO of Beecon Business Consulting, adding that the city is a good place to do business. "Except for problems with electricity, most policies of the state government are industry-friendly and this has contributed to the city's competitive edge," he says.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-beats-Mumbai-to-become-second-most-competitive-city-/articleshow/7114387.cms#ixzz18MqHArVY

Friends, if you read this article, you can find many spelling mistakes.. It has become such a low class media. I wonder whether they do proof reading and editor approvals.

Anniyan

December 17th, 2010, 01:56 PM

தமிழக ஆளுநர் மாளிகையான ராஜ்பவன் வளாகத்தில் அரசு மருத்துவமனை கட்டக் கூடாது என்று சென்னை உயர்நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

இதுதொடர்பாக உச்சநீதிமன்ற வழக்கறிஞர் ஆர்.கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி என்பவர் ஒரு மனு தாக்கல் செய்திருந்தார்.

அதில்,

சென்னை கிண்டியில் உள்ள கவர்னர் மாளிகையில் 4 ஏக்கர் நிலப்பரப்பில் 500 படுக்கைகள் கொண்ட மருத்துவமனையைக் கட்ட இருப்பதாகவும், இந்த திட்டத்துக்கு தமிழ்நாடு கவர்னர் ஒப்புதல் அளித்துள்ளார் என்றும், தமிழ்நாடு டாக்டர் எம்.ஜி.ஆர். மருத்துவ பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தர் டாக்டர் மயில்வாகனன் நடராஜன் அறிக்கை வெளியிட்டுள்ளார்.

தற்போதுள்ள ராஜ்பவன் கில்பர்ட் ரோட்ரிக்ஸ் என்ற ஆங்கிலேயரின் சொத்து. அது பெரியவர்கள் தங்கிச்செல்லும் பகுதி என்பதால் முன்பு கிண்டி லாட்ஜ் என்று அழைக்கப்பட்டு வந்தது. அங்கு ஏராளமான மரங்கள், சிறு செடிகள், விலங்குகள், பறவைகள் உள்ளன. நல்ல வேட்டைக்காரனாக இருந்த கில்பர்ட் இறந்த பிறகு, அந்த இடம் பேய் பங்களா போல் சில ஆண்டுகளாக கவனிக்கப்படாமல் இருந்தது.

1821-ம் ஆண்டு கிழக்கிந்திய கம்பெனி இங்கு வந்து அந்த இடத்தை வாங்கி 1,250 ஏக்கர் விரிவாக்கம் செய்தது. அப்போது கவர்னர் பங்களா, அரசு எஸ்டேட்டில் அமைக்கப்பட்டு இருந்தது. சென்னை வனச் சட்டப்படி 1,250 ஏக்கர் நிலப்பரப்பையும் தடை செய்யப்பட்ட வன மண்டலமாக 1910-ம் ஆண்டு, ஆட்சியாளர்களால் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது.
சுதந்திரம் அடைந்த பிறகு அப்போதிருந்த அரசால் அந்த இடம் கவர்னர் மாளிகையாக மாற்றப்பட்டது. அதைத்தொடர்ந்து அங்குள்ள இடத்தில் 9.25 ஏக்கர் காந்தி மண்டபத்துக்கும், 9 ஏக்கர் புற்றுநோய் மையத்துக்கும், 338 ஏக்கர் ஐ.ஐ.டி.க்கும், 625 ஏக்கர் தேசிய பூங்கா அமைப்பதற்கு வழங்கப்பட்டது.

காமராஜர் நினைவிடத்துக்கு 6 ஏக்கர், குருநானக் கல்லூரிக்கு சில ஏக்கர், தேசிய பூங்காவுக்கான பாம்பு பண்ணை, குழந்தைகள் பூங்கா அமைப்பதற்கு மேலும் 88 ஏக்கர் என பல ஆண்டுகளில் வழங்கப்பட்டது.

தற்போது அந்த வனப்பகுதியில் பல காங்கிரீட் கட்டிடங்கள் எழுப்பப்பட்டு உள்ளன. சென்னைக்கு அதிக அளவு பிராணவாயு உற்பத்தியாகும் இடம் இது ஒன்றுதான். 130 வகையான பறவைகள், 350 மர வகைகள், 60 வகையான வண்ணத்துப் பூச்சிகள், பலவகை அரிய மான்கள், நரிகள், ஆமை இனங்கள் இங்கு உள்ளன.

இது சுற்றுப்புறசூழலின் உறைவிடமாக திகழ்கிறது. ஏற்கனவே பல அமைப்புகளை உருவாக்குவதற்காக நிலங்களை வழங்கி, கவர்னர் மாளிகை தற்போது குறுகியுள்ளது.

இந்த நிலையில் 4 ஏக்கர் நிலப்பரப்பை மருத்துவமனை அமைப்பதற்கு வழங்குவதாக கூறப்பட்டு உள்ளது. இது அமைந்தால், சுற்றுப்புற சூழலுக்கு கேடு ஏற்படும். மருத்துவமனைக் கழிவுகளால் நீர், காற்று, மண் மாசுபடும். இதனால் வன விலங்குகள், தாவரங்கள் பாதிப்படையும்.

சென்னையில் இதுபோன்ற மருத்துவமனையை அமைப்பதற்கு எத்தனையோ இடங்கள் உள்ளன. எனவே சென்னையின் சுவாசப் பையான கவர்னர் மாளிகையின் வனப்பகுதியை கெடுத்துவிடக்கூடாது.

மருத்துவமனை அமைப்பதற்கு எதிர்ப்பு தெரிவித்து ஏற்கனவே கவர்னரின் செயலாளருக்கு மனு கொடுத்தேன். நடவடிக்கை எதுவும் எடுக்கப்படவில்லை. எனவே அங்கு ஆஸ்பத்திரி அமைப்பதற்கு தடை விதிக்க வேண்டும் என்று கோரியருந்தார்.
இந்த மனு தலைமை நீதிபதி இக்பால், நீதிபதி சிவஞானம் ஆகியோர் அடங்கிய பெஞ்ச முன்பு விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. அப்போது, இதுகுறித்து விளக்கம் அளிக்குமாறு கூறி தமிழக அரசுக்கு உத்தரவிட்ட நீதிபதிகள் அதுவரை ராஜ்பவனில் எந்த மாற்றமும் செய்யக் கூடாது, தற்போதைய நிலையே தொடர வேண்டும் என உத்தரவிட்டனர்.

English summary

Madras HC has asked the TN govt to stop the construction of a govt hospital in the campus of Chenai Raj Bhavan. SC lawyer Krishnamurthy has prayed in his petition in HC that, if a hospital comes up in Raj Bhavan, the enviroment in the campus will be in danger. Hospital wastages will spoil the forest cover in the Raj Bhavan. After hearing this petition HC bench ordered TN govt to explain and maintain the status quo in Raj Bhavan.

satchitananda

December 17th, 2010, 03:15 PM

http://vibhushan.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/visualizing-facebook-friendships-indian-perspective/

Cities hunt in pairs:

Bangalore – Mysore, Mumbai – Pune, Ahmedabad – Surat – Baroda, Lucknow – Kanpur, Indore – Bhopal, Nagpur – Raipur, Hyderabad – Vizag connection is very evident. Just like pace bowlers in cricket, cities also grow in pairs. :-)

As a person who likes to study urban settlements, I was really amused with some of the examples given. Different cities develop differently, depending on the geography and culture and a variety of factors.

The first exception I wanna raise is Hyderabad-Secunderabad evolved as twin cities, not Hyderabad-Vizag. The second one, Mysore has long been dwarfed by the shadows of Bangalore and is definitely not in the same league. I will buy the other examples with certain limitations. The best example in the listing is Lucknow-Kanpur.

Now on to different type of city evolution like Kolkatta, Delhi and Chennai. These have a lot of small urban centres all around and are not necessarily based on twin city concept.

Many of the large cities around the world also have a dominant single city in a state (I am only comparing similar situations, before others start comparing differences) - Chicago (Illinois), Boston (Massachusetts), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto, Vancouver, London to cite a few.

With the urban sprawl now extending several districts across, large cities dont have to hunt in pairs as they are forming a contiguous belt of urbanized land creating Megalopolises. Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Greater NCR including all the satellite cities of Haryana and UP. From that perspective, if one were to look at Chennai, its also evolving into a mini Megalopolis. A very good attempt was made with a proposal of MAP - Marakkanam-Arakkonam-Pulicat by the Chamber of Commerce, which has fell by the wayside. (This would have helped us to grow more balanced in a more planned way)

Indian Sun

December 17th, 2010, 03:16 PM

CHENNAI: An educated workforce and good logistics infrastruccture are two of the factors that have propelled Chennai up the City Competitiveness Rankings, from no. 4 last year to no. 2 this year.

The report, released earlier this month by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC), New Delhi, says Chennai has overtaken Banglore in the rankings and edged out Mumbai for the second spot. Delhi continues to hold its rank as the most competitive city to do business in the country. The report bases its rankings on infrastruture, business environment and about 800 other indicators, taken from data released by various government departments. Fifty Indian cities were included in the report.

As per the report, Delhi is no.1, Chennai holds the second spot, Mumbai is in slot three and Bengaluru and Kolkata are in places four and five, respectively. The rise of tier-two cities such as Ahmedabad and Pune indicate an improvement in governance, municipal efficiency, physical infrastructure and workforce. Mumbai, the report says, has slipped in its ranking due to the worsening state of its infrastructure. Other cities on the list are Chandigarh, Surat, Gurgaon, Coimbatore and Kochi.

IFC is affiliated to Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, Harvard Business School, and its report is based on factors such as demand conditions, context for firm strategy and rivalry, and support and related industries.

The report cites the large number of educational institutions and the strong culture of education in Chennai as working to its advantage. It also draws attention to people's strong communication skills as well as their innovativeness.

While the report says the city is a good place to do business, especially for manufacturing and IT companies, due to the good physical infrastructure and logistics such as the presence of a port and airport, it also adds that Chennai has to improve its performance on the adiministative side.

It currently takes 34 days to start a new business in Chennai as opposed to the average of 30 days in the rest of the country. "The cost of doing business in Chennai is marginally lower than Mumbai, Bangalore or Hyderabad," says Kalyan Kumar G, CEO of Beecon Business Consulting, adding that the city is a good place to do business. "Except for problems with electricity, most policies of the state government are industry-friendly and this has contributed to the city's competitive edge," he says.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-beats-Mumbai-to-become-second-most-competitive-city-/articleshow/7114387.cms

Anniyan

December 17th, 2010, 03:18 PM

^This news has been posted several times over the last two weeks.

Pulichu poiduchu :/

satchitananda

December 17th, 2010, 03:20 PM

^^ Looks like the above post will continue to appear in every Chennai thread in every page.. :).. Not only US, TOI, keeps slapping this news in different regional papers to give continuity for the same stale news.

I will be happier if the competitiveness is like within asia or across the globe. Any comparison is based on few metrics and some subjectivity. Lets focus on growth, evolution and prosperity and not help TOI style news.

The minute anyone starts reading their own newspaper clippings, it is the beginning of the end.

Anniyan

December 17th, 2010, 03:26 PM

Next year if this institue puts Bangalore ahead of Chennai, we will not accept it and question the accuracy of their survey.

Indian Sun

December 17th, 2010, 03:50 PM

^^ No, in that case, it will never be posted ;)

kongutamizhan

December 17th, 2010, 04:57 PM

In Bangalore, I have seen most of the TN/ Chennai bashers are from Coimbatore & Trichy. They put down the state & mock at their own state in front of other fellow Indians from other states. :bash:
I can evidently see that in you...

I can vouch that for the sample of Coimbatoreans that I have known and interacted (studied 4 years there) and somewhere in the forum a guy from Coimbatore did accept that they do it.. and we do have an example here as well :P

Oh yeah?? Speaking of generalization, talk to any Chennai engineering students studying @ CBE's group 1 engg colleges and see how they put down coimbatore and how they make statements as if they are forced to come out of their paradise in Chennai to a bullshit place. What do you expect in return? A throne where Chennaites are seated and make CBE-ians do patha poojai?:)

There is more rationalization in my generalization that involves group of Chennai engg students @ CBE than set of 10-15 friends of yours

redhills

December 17th, 2010, 05:09 PM

Next year if this institue puts Bangalore ahead of Chennai, we will not accept it and question the accuracy of their survey.

I think this year u r questioning the accuracy of this survey bcoz they highlighted chennai ahead of blore and mumbai

satchitananda

December 17th, 2010, 05:10 PM

Kongu.. Did you watch Manohara movie last nite ? Poruthathu pothum, Pongi Ezhu Manohara..

yarange.. annanukku jillunu oru soda..

This age old city vs city, my place vs yours.. trashing the rest to support the one we want ... very frustrating and childish..

Think deeper.. its all someone's opinion we are fighting for...or win over.. or pull down..

I have seen you make more interesting analysis and viewpoints.. Leave this city vs city talk.. I know you may want to say he said.. he started.. But lets maintain Kongu Standards :cheers:

chennaidesi

December 17th, 2010, 05:18 PM

Before generalizing such statement did you made any survey in Bengaluru?

b/w the blogger could not pair one TN city with Chennai, may be because every city in TN is paired with Chennai. :lol:

Guys before my long explanation a small background about myself.
Even though I am born and brought up at Chennai we hail from CBE-Erode area and still have lot of relations and I am also married to Salem-CBE area girl.

People from CBE(not Trichy) always always(most of them) mock chennai not only about climate but also neatness and how rich people are etc etc. And i have seen many end up at Bgl then Chennai and it may be because of proximity but also after 5 to 10 years people from Chennai(north TN), East TN and South TN people gets fed up with Bgl and move back to Chennai but most of West TN guys stay there.

Replying to KonguTam., yes Chennaites talk about missing Chennai in CBE engg college circle but they stop that within 6 months and start enjoying CBE stay not like CBE people who crib about Chennai even after 10 years of stay.:lol:

I have nothing against CBE as that is my second favourite city in TN but just I want to let others know.

kongutamizhan

December 17th, 2010, 05:35 PM

Replying to KonguTam., yes Chennaites talk about missing Chennai in CBE engg college circle but they stop that within 6 months and start enjoying CBE stay not like CBE people who crib about Chennai even after 10 years of stay.:lol:

There is a difference between talking about missing Chennai and badmouthing CBE. Look how Chennites don't even accept what they do, which is the first step to move forward as Sachi said:)

To answer your post, no it doesn't stop in 6 months. You are talking to someone who had to put up with it during entire college days. You are talking to someone whose next generation friends and cousins had to put up with same crap from Chennites during their entire college days. You are talking to someone whose previous generation friends and cousins who had to put up with the same crap during theirs.

Bottomline is, it is a continuing phenomenon for decades from your side too. You have to accept it and move on and I'll stop here. Don't try to play holier-than-you game, pass on the blame to cbe-ians and let it go in this topic:)

vs007

December 17th, 2010, 05:52 PM

To answer your post, no it doesn't stop in 6 months. You are talking to someone who had to put up with it during entire college days.

Can comments made within the state by College student s be equated with badmouthing of the capital by working professionals outside TN to outsiders?

chennaidesi

December 17th, 2010, 06:07 PM

Well said vs007. Supporting at right moment matters a lot.
The professional act is more denting to state than college kids action.

bonoslack7

December 17th, 2010, 06:11 PM

this discussion sounds childish. It is normal for some people to say there are less entertainment facilities in coimbatore and that chennai has a hot climate. And it is normal for some people to be jealous of others wealth. So? Please stop this ridiculous discussion.

Indian Sun

December 17th, 2010, 06:25 PM

Yeah stop this stupid quarrel :ohno: No more posts on this topic.

kongutamizhan

December 17th, 2010, 06:29 PM

Well said vs007. Supporting at right moment matters a lot.
The professional act is more denting to state than college kids action.

I gave engg college students example because they do it as a group and is visible. Ok now you want to talk about professional act. Don't working Chennai professionals (and we) do the same thing for B'lore, Delhi & Mumbai'tes (And vice-versa, sometimes even outside the country. They probably don't do it to CBE because they don't consider CBE as a competition yet. Wait till the city grows) Have we ever pondered that it will dent the image of the country overall?

You folks can still continue targetting coimbatoreans exclusively for the non-professional behaviour or accept that it's a problem (that also plagues us Indians including chennites) and move on. Your prerogative.

PS. By the way discussing or pointing out chidish acts are not childish. But acting like a child is what is called childish:)

chennaidesi

December 17th, 2010, 08:07 PM

This is called Residex Index and it tracks housing prices based on actual transaction prices released by govt of India.

Chennai prices shot up 83% from 2007 base, top performer of all the cities w.r.t Residential realty capital prices. Jaipur and Bangalore are the worst performers.

http://www.nhb.org.in/Residex/Data&Graphs.php

ChennaiIndian

December 18th, 2010, 01:49 AM

...

People from CBE(not Trichy) always always(most of them) mock chennai not only about climate but also neatness and how rich people are etc etc. And i have seen many end up at Bgl then Chennai and it may be because of proximity but also after 5 to 10 years people from Chennai(north TN), East TN and South TN people gets fed up with Bgl and move back to Chennai but most of West TN guys stay there...

I have observed this too. :)

Arul Murugan

December 18th, 2010, 02:18 AM

No Survey. Who will survey all these things first of all...:lol:
In all these 10 years. worked with corporates, I found when TN is bashed by a tamilian, there roots are in CBE or Trichy. Even in my present company & social gatherings I find this.

The greatest joke is when Trichy guys mock at the "Climate of Chennai".

Apologise for generalising & nothing against them.

m...my observation is that few Chennaities belittle/bad mouth other parts of TN as under developed, avangalluku thalainagar vasigalukae uriya thalai karvam irrukku... :lol:what to do? people who bad mouth about chennai in other parts of TN/India or people who belittle about other parts of TN in Chennai does not form the majority.

Arul Murugan

December 18th, 2010, 02:26 AM

Guys before my long explanation a small background about myself.
Even though I am born and brought up at Chennai we hail from CBE-Erode area and still have lot of relations and I am also married to Salem-CBE area girl.

People from CBE(not Trichy) always always(most of them) mock chennai not only about climate but also neatness and how rich people are etc etc. And i have seen many end up at Bgl then Chennai and it may be because of proximity but also after 5 to 10 years people from Chennai(north TN), East TN and South TN people gets fed up with Bgl and move back to Chennai but most of West TN guys stay there.

People migration from WTN to Chennai will be much more higher than Bengaluru. May be within Bengaluru you may find more people from WTN because of proximity and also the trade b/w Kongu region and Karnataka's Cauvery basin in terms of textiles/agriculture etc., You can find lot of Kannada speaking Tamils in WTN district smaller towns/villages etc., and still they have connection to Bengaluru and north of it. After all it is claimed Bengaluru/Mysuru are part of Kongu region in history and also parts of CBE/ED dt were under Tippu for short time. :lol: I guess this will invite forumers from Bengaluru/KA threads.

ChennaiIndian

December 18th, 2010, 03:00 AM

^^ People won't come after you...after all you have quoted history.

engineer.akash

December 18th, 2010, 03:10 AM

After all it is claimed Bengaluru/Mysuru are part of Kongu region in history and also parts of CBE/ED dt were under Tippu for short time. :lol: I guess this will invite forumers from Bengaluru/KA threads.

Which year was that please let me know

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/India1760_1905.jpg

ChennaiIndian

December 18th, 2010, 03:13 AM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-International-Film-Festival-opens-/articleshow/7108485.cms

ChennaiIndian

December 18th, 2010, 03:14 AM

Which year was that please let me know

...

Akash, he was quoting medieval times - about a 1000 yrs ago. :)

ChennaiIndian

December 18th, 2010, 03:15 AM

Which year was that please let me know

...

Kongu region as it is referred in Tamil, covers the present day western TN and stretches up to Coorg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongu_(region) - Kongu Nadu (Tamil: கொங்குநாடு) is a region comprising the western part of the Tamil Nadu India. The region is bounded on the west and north-west by the Karnataka state, on the west by the Kerala state, on the east by Tondai Nadu, on the south-east by Chola Nadu and on the south by Madurai regions of Tamilakam.

engineer.akash

December 18th, 2010, 03:17 AM

Consequently, by 1612–13, the Wodeyars exercised a great deal of autonomy and even though they acknowledged the nominal overlordship of the Aravidus, tributes and transfers of revenue to Chandragiri stopped. This was in marked contrast to the major chiefs (Nayakas) of Tamil country who continued to pay off Chandragiri well into the 1630s.[13] Chamaraja V and Kanthirava Narasaraja I attempted to expand further northward but were thwarted by the Bijapur Sultanate and its Maratha subordinates, though the Bijapur armies under Ranadullah Khan were effectively repelled in their 1638 siege of Srirangapatna.[17][18] Expansionist ambitions then turned southward into Tamil country where Narasaraja Wodeyar acquired Satyamangalam (in modern northern Coimbatore district) while his successor Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar expanded further to capture western Tamil regions of Erode and Dharmapuri, after successfully repulsing the chiefs of Madurai. The invasion of the Keladi Nayakas of Malnad was also dealt with successfully. This period was followed by one of complex geo-political changes, when in the 1670s, the Marathas and the Mughals pressed into the Deccan.[17][18]

Chikka Devaraja (r. 1672–1704), the most notable of Mysore's early kings, who ruled during much of this period, managed to not only survive the exigencies but further expanded territory. He achieved this by forging strategic alliances with the Marathas and the Mughals.[19][20] The kingdom soon grew to include Salem and Bangalore to the east, Hassan to the west, Chikkamagaluru and Tumkur to the north and the rest of Coimbatore to the south.[21] Despite this expansion, the kingdom, which now accounted for a fair share of land in the southern Indian heartland, extending from the Western Ghats to the western boundaries of the Coromandel plain, remained landlocked without direct coastal access. Chikka Devaraja's attempts to remedy this brought Mysore into conflict with the Nayaka chiefs of Ikkeri and the kings (Rajas) of Kodagu (modern Coorg); who between them controlled the Kanara coast (coastal areas of modern Karnataka) and the intervening hill region respectively.[22] The conflict brought mixed results with Mysore annexing Periyapatna but suffering a reversal at Palupare.[23]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Indian_Mysore_Kingdom_1784_map.svg

I am open to discussions Arul kindly mention the date when Mysore was under kongu kings :)

ChennaiIndian

December 18th, 2010, 03:20 AM

^^ Akash - read the Wiki link on Kongu.

The geographical extent of Kongu Nadu is roughly confined to the territories of the ancient Tamilakam.[2] [3]. Kongu Nadu consists of the present-day districts of Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Karur, Namakkal, Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, part of Trichy and part of Dindigul and part of Mysore District of Karnataka.

Arul was mentioning the times long before the Wodeyar dynasty (14th century) came in...long before the Mughal invasion (15th century) of India...long before the birth of Islam (6th century).

Hope this clarifies! I think we can stop here.

engineer.akash

December 18th, 2010, 03:21 AM

Akash, he was quoting medieval times - about a 1000 yrs ago. :)

oh k Then i am out of this discussion :)

BTW why is it drizzling in chennai it normally does not happen during mid Decembers right?

ChennaiIndian

December 18th, 2010, 03:23 AM

oh k Then i am out of this discussion :)

BTW why is it drizzling in chennai it normally does not happen during mid Decembers right?
You have to tell me. You are a Chennai vaasi...not me!! :D

engineer.akash

December 18th, 2010, 03:25 AM

You have to tell me. You are a Chennai vaasi...not me!! :D

I have no idea dude,last year it was not the same this year rains were highly erratic.Met dept is not to be believed when they said you can expect clear skies all I found was it poured :lol:

kongutamizhan

December 18th, 2010, 05:24 AM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Indian_Mysore_Kingdom_1784_map.svg

I am open to discussions Arul kindly mention the date when Mysore was under kongu kings :)

I believe it's starting Chikka Devaraya / raya (??) in 1670s to Hyder Ali during 1790's

Leo_r

December 18th, 2010, 08:28 AM

I have no idea dude,last year it was not the same this year rains were highly erratic.Met dept is not to be believed when they said you can expect clear skies all I found was it poured :lol:

Yes. 2010 weather pattern is a new phenomenon in Chennai. It rained right through June-July-August, Did not rain in October and NE mansoon very active during November and December. 70 CMs in SW mansoon and another 75 CMS during current mansoon should be a record.

I welcome this change and wish it to continue. Weather is fine during most months of the year.

Hope Dr Raj&CO learn something from the recorded data.

inchennai

December 18th, 2010, 09:07 AM

Our Indian weather department is a joke, I remember last month they predicted the cyclone crossing the bay a day after it actually crossed.

regarding monsoon rains, its a good year for Chennai and north TN and bad one for South most TN, Normally by this time, the dams in Tamarabarani should be full but not this time. But still the NE monsoon is not yet fully withdrawn and expect some more rains in the Tamarabarani belt.

Its great to see Chennai lakes full.

engineer.akash

December 19th, 2010, 12:00 AM

CBI raided half of chennai...Check out why :P

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs763.ash1/165451_183513511660345_157015077643522_686029_1645630_n.jpg

RajBang

December 19th, 2010, 07:57 AM

self deleted

Raji7373

December 22nd, 2010, 07:37 AM

The state govern ment has promulgated an ordinance to increase the number of wards to 200 in the proposed greater Chennai corporation from the existing 155 wards.

Tamil Nadu Governor S.S. Barnala gave assent to the amendment in the Chennai City Corporation Act on Tuesday. The state government has expanded the city corporation limits to from the present 174 sq.
km to 426 sq. km. The municipal administration department has also completed the delimitation of wards and zones by appointing a special officer.

All the wards and zones of the city and suburbs will undergo a major change following the delimitation exercise. In the core city area, the population of each ward will be higher than wards in the peripheral areas.

http://dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2010/12/22/ArticleHtmls/22_12_2010_004_004.shtml?Mode=0

Raji7373

December 22nd, 2010, 08:08 AM

CHENNAI: In a bid to make renewable energy easily available to the common man, the deputy chief minister M K Stalin requested industries to come out with technology that will help make non-conventional energy available at affordable prices.

Stalin was speaking at the Tamil Nadu solar convention organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries in the city on Tuesday. He also released a report on solar roadmap for Tamil Nadu during the event.

Stating that if renewable energy is not affordable, the state would have to spend large amounts of money as subsidy. "This would affect the other development projects," said Stalin.

He said that the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) is taking steps to promote renewable energy. "It has set a Renewable energy Purchase Obligation (RPO) of 14 % for 2010-2011 and is also expected to set apart a portion of this target for solar energy," he said.

Ramesh Kymal, chairman of the Tamil Nadu solar convention read out highlights of the solar roadmap. "It would be great if there is some land allocation for solar projects, special funds for renewable energy, a special economic zone for solar projects and a comprehensive solar energy development policy," he said.

Read more: Stalin vouches for renewable energy - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Stalin-vouches-for-renewable-energy/articleshow/7141981.cms#ixzz18oztSety

Raji7373

December 22nd, 2010, 08:22 AM

Read more: Chennai ranks third among metros in surfing internet on cellphones - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-ranks-third-among-metros-in-surfing-internet-on-cellphones/articleshow/7130287.cms#ixzz18p53gPmM

ChennaiIndian

December 23rd, 2010, 01:09 AM

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/dasaprakash-be-razed-flats-143

Dec. 22: It was once the pride of Chennai. But the sprawling 36-ground property of Hotel Dasaprakash on Poonamalle High Road where several star celebrations have been held will soon be razed to pave way for a swanky residential complex.
After a long legal wrangle in the family that owned Hotel Dasaprakash, the Madras high court in a recent judgment directed that the property be sold to Prince Foundations Ltd for a sum of Rs 165 crore. Ashwin Kumar Kamdar, CMD of Prince Foundations, plans to develop it into “a modern lifestyle project at a cost of Rs 300 crore housing 150 apartments”.
Old timers who have grown up with the landmark in their midst are left with nostalgic memories. “It was the only restaurant that served food till late night,” remembers senior journalist Mohan. “One could get food even at 12 or 1 in the night and the food was amazing.”
Opened in the early 1920s, Dasaprakash, a 100 per cent vegetarian hotel, was very strict about its quality. Proprietor Seetharama Rao could well be called the pioneer of the catering industry in Chennai. In fact, it was he who started a hotel chain, opening Dasaprakash units in Ooty and Mysore too.
“They had the same quality of food across all their restaurants and it was simply superb,” says R. Sadagopan, a retired civil engineer.
“The taste of the hotel’s dosas still lingers in my mouth,” reminisces writer-director Gopalee.

ChennaiIndian

December 23rd, 2010, 01:10 AM

^^ Soon, our good old Madras will be gone. :( As someone said, only change is constant.

Indian Sun

December 23rd, 2010, 05:06 AM

Raji7373

December 23rd, 2010, 05:13 AM

^^ I dont mind. Dasaprakash had become a dirty old building on an arterial road. I wish the old dirty buildings on Anna Salai, PH Road, Inner Ring Road and other major roads are replaced by modern looking high rises.

Yup, very true. +1.
If not high rises...let us have some nice looking buildings, branded shops, good rest..etc. In and around the assembly its all eye sore...half demoslished buildings & old worn out buildings with zero maintanence..becuase of these buildings the whole mount road loses it charm.

Indian Sun

December 23rd, 2010, 05:28 AM

kannan infratech

December 23rd, 2010, 08:24 AM

^^ We need an Anna Salai renovation project, to make it modern and pleasing. Even the footpaths on the road aren't good. Being our main artery, it deserves special attention.

I wish they raze Tarapore Towers and build some super-highrise there.

It is easier to comment that old buildings can be razed down and new ones have to be built.

Who is going to finance the construction of same and what about the interest cost? What about revenue loss during construction?

As a Businessman, why should anyone raze down a building where they get a rent of Rs. 50 per sft and build a new one where they will get max Rs. 60 per sft.

Razing down is possible only when the building is very old and in a bad condition.

Passion & Economics are different.

Raji7373

December 23rd, 2010, 09:21 AM

Razing down is possible only when the building is very old and in a bad condition.

.

Most of the buildings near shanthi, LIC, TVS & further down anna salai are in the above stated condition..:lol:

Leo_r

December 23rd, 2010, 09:27 AM

Free distribution of saplings soon...

Tree lovers,Green Activists, Please use this opportunity and plant as many as you could and nurture them in areas of your liking. You will feel happy 10 years from now. Rush!

The endemic species are: Mandhaarai, Baadham, Poovarasu, Punnai, Mahagony, Teak, Neem, Manjal Konnai, Ayal Vaagai, Rain tree, Murukkan, Bamboo, Tabebea, Sarakkonnai and Neer Marudhu.

Those interested in getting the free saplings may contact the Assistant Conservator of Forests K. Asokan on 94454-68679

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article966642.ece

venkatm

December 23rd, 2010, 09:40 AM

the whole stretch from the Hindu office to gemini needs to be torn down except for a couple of exceptions. also add in all buildings close to the cooum.

robertashok

December 23rd, 2010, 10:24 AM

Yup, very true. +1.
If not high rises...let us have some nice looking buildings, branded shops, good rest..etc. In and around the assembly its all eye sore...half demoslished buildings & old worn out buildings with zero maintanence..becuase of these buildings the whole mount road loses it charm.

The problem is even front of the nice beautiful buildings there is water stagnation in most of places, and due to heavy vehicles which rode on the stagnated places it became horrible.

Yesterday I wad walked from Palmgrove Hotel to Nungambakkam station. this was the same case everywhere.

Secondly, even in swanky five star restaurants the Rest room is horrible .

Raji7373

December 23rd, 2010, 10:49 AM

Secondly, even in swanky five star restaurants the Rest room is horrible .

I am not sure which 5* you are mentioning..generally rest rooms in 5* which I have visited are neat & clean...

Tokyo..standard of living chennaila expect pannatheenga sir...they are No1 in Standard of Living..

We are far behind. I don't think the govt has any intention to improve the quality of roads, cleanliness & aesthetics of the city.

kongutamizhan

December 23rd, 2010, 04:45 PM

Tokyo..standard of living chennaila expect pannatheenga sir...they are No1 in Standard of Living..

Seri appo idhu than vidhi-nnu irunduttu pogalamnu solreengala?

Adhukku edhukku discussion phorumu, passionu-nnu periya periya varthai ellam pottu enganna ellarum pesureenga?

I am not even talking about the country, heck even the city. Is it even too much to expect cleanliness on par with international standards in a restroom in a commercial 5-star hotel?

Raji7373

December 23rd, 2010, 05:02 PM

Seri appo idhu than vidhi-nnu irunduttu pogalamnu solreengala?

Adhukku edhukku discussion phorumu, passionu-nnu periya periya varthai ellam pottu enganna ellarum pesureenga?

I am not even talking about the country, heck even the city. Is it even too much to expect cleanliness on par with international standards in a restroom in a commercial 5-star hotel?

Nan expectey pannatheenga sollaley sir, tokyo levelukku expect panntheenganu than sonnen ....odaney unga arguement / lollu pechu ithellam arambichuda theenga..

dhandapanik

December 23rd, 2010, 05:39 PM

Raji7373

December 24th, 2010, 06:48 AM

Why a commercial 5* hotel cant provide better cleanliness in chennai? We are paying them right.. it is not that we are asking anything free of cost.. If they are not maintaining it well, then why they are advertising them as 5* hotels?:bash:

Nothing like that Sir...I have visited so many 5 * in Chennai, I have not found rest rooms to be tidy.

ranga

December 24th, 2010, 11:47 AM

^^
If that is the case they should not be graded as five star hotels.Not only in chennai i had seen untidy rest rooms in Mumbai,Hyderabad,Delhi,Ahmedabad and bangalore in five star graded hotels and wonder what is the basis for granding if this is the case all over India.

kannan infratech

December 24th, 2010, 03:36 PM

I have been hearing this complaint from some of the 5 Star Hotel owners / managers.
There are many guests, who are actually not staying in our hotel, come and use our lobby for their meetings. Most of them do not even drink a cup of coffee but still enjoy our facilities like Lobby, Rest Rooms etc.

We are trying to identify them and we ask them to move to the Coffee Shop. We are not able to keep the common toilets near Lobby very clean since the usage is very heavy and these visitors soil the tiles.

Seems like a valid argument to me.

dis.agree

December 24th, 2010, 07:35 PM

the whole stretch from the Hindu office to gemini needs to be torn down except for a couple of exceptions. also add in all buildings close to the cooum.

most of the buildings are private. are you suggesting government should buy them all out & tear them down? don't you think that is a stupid idea?

dis.agree

December 24th, 2010, 07:37 PM

Why a commercial 5* hotel cant provide better cleanliness in chennai? We are paying them right.. it is not that we are asking anything free of cost.. If they are not maintaining it well, then why they are advertising them as 5* hotels?:bash:

who is we? taxpayers? no we don't pay for keeping some private hotels clean.

darkprinz

December 24th, 2010, 07:38 PM

Merry Christmas to All SSCians ..
:dance:

Doraman

December 24th, 2010, 07:57 PM

recently saw that google maps has integrated services of www.360cities.net to panoramic photos of a spot in city. Chennai 3 spots covered(MGR samadhi, ashtalakshmi temple and a generalized market scene of chennai). Where as other cities has more coverage(Bang - 36, Mum -68, Del - 27, Kol - 30, hyd - 72)

Chennaites do some thing fast to get this visibility and poor perception of chennai fixed. since it is in google maps, the visibility and perception spreads fast. Need some good photographers who can take panoramic images. i see in some images self advertisement and marking is possible in these images...so all those creative heads..GOOOO!!! :speech:

sampath1986

December 25th, 2010, 01:15 AM

Chennai ranks third in this list......

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/28/commute-cities-world-forbeslife-cx_mw_1028realestate_slide.html

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/28/commute-cities-world-forbeslife-cx_mw_1028realestate_slide_9.html

TShyam

December 25th, 2010, 06:32 AM

^^ This is two years old. True, our system was much less congested 2 years back. But it wont be applicable now. Mumbai too will drop out of the list. Right now Delhi is the best for commuters among Indian cities.

bonoslack7

December 25th, 2010, 04:52 PM

A greengrocer-turned-entrepreneur runs a chain of convenience stores.

This past year has been a tough one for organised retail in India. But one small player in the south has not only stood up to competition from the more established players, such as Reliance and Spencer’s, but has even managed to grow by an impressive 15-20 per cent. This is Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam (KPN), a chain of 20 fruit and vegetable outlets across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

KPN is a remarkable success story. It was started in 1967 by N Natarajan, a greengrocer from Coimbatore who decided to scale up his business. He started his first shop in a 100 sq ft space in Peelamedu with Rs 2,000 he had saved selling vegetables on the streets. Natarajan sold vegetables by day, and at night he worked in a textile mill.

“It used to be difficult,” he says. The first day, he remembers, his shop sold goods worth Rs 100 — “that’s because I invited lots of guests,” Natarajan says with a smile. The second day, he made just Rs 10.

Today KPN has an average daily turnover of around Rs 30 lakh and targets 10 per cent year-on-year growth for the next three or four years.

“From day one,” says Natarajan, “we were particular about maintaining our quality and pricing, which is not easy.” To that end, KPN has a policy of replacing stocks at its stores twice a day — even if the produce has not been sold. It requires 15 vehicles to bring in and carry out stocks (some just a couple of hours old) from each shop. “We are very particular that it should not go to the secondary market,” says Natarajan.

The chain sources vegetables and fruits from the domestic and international open market and also from around 400 farmers in the area, who are paid daily and in cash. “This has helped us retain our suppliers over the years,” says Senthil Natarajan, 27, Natarajan’s son. “Not one farmer has left us.” Senthil quit his job as a product developer with Microsoft to work with his father.

The younger Natarajan has brought in technology to manage the supply chain and day-to-day activities. He has also come up with a plan to convert vegetable and fruit waste into manure for farmers in Kerala. The outlets in Coimbatore and Tirupur alone produce a tonne of waste every day, says Senthil. The composting takes place at KPN’s own farms and Senthil is thinking of generating energy from the process.

Seasons, a café offering juices, salads, milkshakes and snacks, is Senthil’s other brainchild. “I started it in 2005 in a 1,500 sq ft space for which I pay my father Rs 30,000 as rent,” he says, emphasising his independence from the family business. There are four Seasons outlets now in Coimbatore and Chennai, and Senthil is looking to grow.

kongutamizhan

December 25th, 2010, 05:00 PM

who is we? taxpayers? no we don't pay for keeping some private hotels clean.

Who said we pay taxes to keep 5 * hotels clean?:dunno:

Don't you pay them to stay? I won't expect cleanliness for the amount I pay at Kamatchi lodge. Catch my point??

Indian Sun

December 25th, 2010, 06:30 PM

bonoslack7

December 25th, 2010, 08:50 PM

^^oh...haven't noticed that...where?

bonoslack7

December 25th, 2010, 08:50 PM

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2010/12/26/stories/2010122650580900.htm

Ask a developer in Chennai what is the one notable feature of the residential property market in 2010 and pat comes the reply — the emergence of high-value projects in the city and the average buyer going south — literally.

Another is that in the coming year, large townships, miniature satellite towns will come into being with families taking delivery of completed houses. This will be a new experience for Chennai, feel developers.According to Mr K.K. Raman, Executive Vice-President and Zonal Head, DLF, the market represents a mixed picture.

In the city it is a happy story as far as demand is concerned, especially for the high-end segment. The suburbs could be better, as they are yet to reflect the buoyancy that is witnessed in the heart of the city. But absorption is up and the rates are firming though volumes are nowhere near the peak witnessed prior to 2008. The kind of volume expansion in Delhi and Mumbai continues to elude the Chennai market, he feels.

High land prices

The focus on the high-end segment cannot be helped. With land prices the way they are, the end product is bound to be high-priced. It is a naturally skewed market, he says.

DLF decided to tap the high-end segment at its project, Commander's Court in Egmore, launched last September. It features over 350 apartment units priced between Rs 1.6 crore and Rs 5.2 crore.

The average price per sq.ft is about Rs 13,000. At that time this is the largest stock to hit the market at these price levels. DLF has sold over 250 units and is in no hurry to sell the balance, he says.

Developers feel this is an indication of an untapped segment in Chennai.

For instance, in August, Akshaya launched a 36-apartment project on Poonamallee High Road in Egmore with units priced between Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 5.5 crore.

Again the project received enthusiastic response with built-up space priced around Rs 12,500 per sq.ft.

Another developer, Prince Foundations, which acquired a 2-acre property, again on Poonamallee High Road at Egmore, for about Rs 165 crore, says the company will build 150 high-end apartments. While the final price is yet to be decided, industry representatives point out that with the land price well over Rs 18,000 per sq.ft, the final product cost is bound to hit a new high over the prevailing price of built-up space in that area.

Real-estate agents says that large stocks of high-end properties will continue to hit the market — some of them include projects by TVH in Kotturpuram, which is envisaged as a ‘really upmarket project', and by ETA in Adyar.

Keen demand

Mr Jayant Hemdev of Hemdev Realty says there is a keen demand for residential units of about 2,000 sq.ft in the Rs 2-2.5 crore segment within the city. But the supply is yet to catch up with demand.

For others on a smaller budget, the IT corridor to the south of Chennai is a real option now. The social infrastructure, including schools, entertainment and leisure, healthcare, is in place. The common man will have to look to the south, he says.

By smaller budget he is referring to projects with units of Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore at the southern limit of the city at Pallikaranai and Velachery where built-up space is available for about Rs 6,000 a sq.ft.

Townships

Mr Raman believes that 2011 will be a ‘gamechanger' for the Chennai market with the large townships in the suburbs to the south by DLF and other large players becoming thriving communities.

At DLF's Gardencity, the 50-acre township to the south of the city off the IT corridor, over 1,500 residential units are to be handed over from the middle of next year. That will mark the start of the township experience for Chennai — DLF will have the entire package of schools, leisure and retail in place.

He is confident that the experience of Powai and Gurgaon — suburbs of Mumbai and NCR where townships by large players have created a thriving urban space — can be replicated here.

Hirco Palace Gardens Developments, which is putting up a 369-acre township at Oragadam off State Highway 57 about 45 km to the south of Chennai, started delivering residential units from the middle of this current year.

According to Mr V. Suresh, Principal Executive Officer of Hirco Developments, Chennai's strong industrial base and the continued investments will see momentum build up in the demand for residential and office space. This is the reason that as a growth market for residential segment, Chennai has come in third after Mumbai and the NCR region. It has displaced Bangalore and Hyderabad.

New focus area

The Singaperumalkoil, Oragadam and Sriperumbudur belt, a 25-km stretch linking NH 45 and NH 4, has come into focus in the last one year.

This is the region that has attracted automobile giants such as Hyundai, BMW, Daimler, Renault Nissan and their suppliers. Following Hirco, other large players including Tata Housing, Arun Excello, Geo Inno City and the Mohan Mutha Group have announced township projects in this area.

bonoslack7

December 25th, 2010, 10:04 PM

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/adb-delhi-indias-no.-1-investment-destination/729379/0

Delhi has emerged as the most attractive city in the country for both foreign and domestic investors, according to the latest Asian Development Bank report on a survey of Indian cities. Greater Mumbai and Chennai follow Delhi closely as good metropolitan areas for investment.

In a survey of 27 cities, the competitiveness factors evaluated were: people, catalysts, infrastructure and financials.

The 2010 ADB report says that location precedes supplier selection in globalisation initiatives: “Earlier, countries competed for location but now competition is often at a granular level between various cities. Lately, we are more likely to observe competition between Bangalore and Manila than between a generic India and the Philippines.”

Against this backdrop, Delhi’s high quality of life, transportation infrastructure and cost-effective labour both skilled and unskilled — have “contributed in a big way to the city’s economic growth, pitchforking it to the top in overall rankings,” says the ADB report.

The Commonwealth Games and the infrastructure development as a result of this such as the international airport and the Metro rail network are among the major factors contributing to Delhi’s rise to the No.1 position.

“Furthermore, the city is extremely well-connected to suburban cities along its periphery such as Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida, making it the largest economic agglomeration in India,” says ADB.

“Though Greater Mumbai’s position remains unchallenged, its infrastructure lags far behind the pace of economic growth witnessed by the city. Several major infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai Urban Transport project and the Bandra Worli sealink are yet to show its effects on potential economic growth,” the report says.

The ADB has ranked cities under five major categories: city prosperity index, urban governance, business environment, infrastructure index and quality of life. And the overall rating is based on these five comparatives.

The city prosperity index indicates the general affluence of the population, depth of consumer market and income and expenditure characteristics. These parameters affect the need and demand created for residential, retail and hospitality classes. The size of the population, too, has a direct relationship with the demand for housing.

The urban governance index shows the ease of doing business in a particular area which, of course, is subject to government regulations and reforms. So it measures the speed of policy implementation and quality of administration in a city. A favourable business environment includes parameters like availability of labour, composition of workforce and availability of finance.

The ADB report says that quality of infrastructure such as water and power supply, roads, public transport, crime and safety, environmental pollution and recreation and leisure options also influence investment options.

Chennai’s No. 3 ranking as a potential hub for future investments couple traditional reasons such as it being a major seaport known for its manufacturing industry and recent developments such as an exceptionally high investment of Rs 34,000 crore for upgrading its urban infrastructure.

According to the report, Bangalore is a major economic hub in the country with major IT, biotech and FMCG companies but its infrastructure has not been able to keep pace with its rapid economic growth.

Hyderabad, meanwhile, is fast emerging as a top slot city in India. It is currently witnessing an unprecedented growth and is set to become the fourth largest urban agglomeration by 2011, overtaking Bangalore. The city also has the highest number of formally approved IT SEZs in the country.

Among tier-two cities, Pune and Ahmedabad top the list and are expected to experience similar growth trajectories over the next decade.

According to the ADB study, the top 15 cities to invest in India are, as per rank: Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, Vadodara, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram.

ChennaiIndian

December 25th, 2010, 10:20 PM

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/first-robotics-camp-starts-today-001

Dec. 25: Sunday will mark the entry of Chennai on the global map of robotics technology, rated as the third pillar of knowledge economy. More than a 100 school and college students have descended on the city for a week-long, first-ever camp on humanoid robotics. This is an initiative for developing low-cost robots for a variety of mundane jobs ranging from dishwashing to manhole cleaning, according to course coordinator Veejayshree.
“Humanoids are robots which look like human beings. They may not be a replica of a man or woman but they will have hands, legs and fingers and would be capable of doing any mechanical job with utmost precision,” Dr G. Satish Kumar, lead scientist, Virtual Remote Robotics Lab, IIT Madras, the brain behind the camp, told Deccan Chronicle. He said the training would make the participants familiar with inculcating intelligence in robots. “It is the intelligence programmed into robots which make them ‘alive’ and execute pre-programmed assignments,” he said.
According to Ms Veejayshree, head, Robotix Lab Research Academy, the robot in Rajinikant-potboiler Enthiran is not fiction or a figment of imagination.

...

dis.agree

December 26th, 2010, 07:21 AM

Who said we pay taxes to keep 5 * hotels clean?:dunno:

Don't you pay them to stay? I won't expect cleanliness for the amount I pay at Kamatchi lodge. Catch my point??

i may/may not pay if it were not clean. but i wouldn't be bitching about poor services of 5* hotels in general on this thread.

darkprinz

December 26th, 2010, 08:51 AM

bonoslack7

December 26th, 2010, 09:00 AM

it includes all....greater chennai (sriperumbudur, oragadam and everything)

Leo_r

December 26th, 2010, 09:39 AM

Patience is a virtue, impatience a vice...

Somewhere I had read an article where the author says ‘India is a land of impatient people' and goes on to give a detailed analysis of why the Indian psyche is like that. According to that anonymous author, Indians have always had to struggle to get what they need, be it their rations or a seat in the bus or train, or getting a cinema ticket or even such a simple mundane thing as getting a packet of milk early in the morning.

Answers.com defines impatience as a quality which makes people unable to wait patiently or tolerate delay; restless, unable to endure irritation or opposition;

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-openpage/article980359.ece

Indian Sun

December 26th, 2010, 11:38 AM

it includes all....greater chennai (sriperumbudur, oragadam and everything)

That explains it. Chennai with Siruseri,Spdr,Oragadam would constitute a sort of State Capital Region (SCR) :)

greatshankar

December 26th, 2010, 12:49 PM

^^ Will you add TADA (Sricity) in SCR? :)

Indian Sun

December 26th, 2010, 04:46 PM

^^ On payment ;)

Leo_r

December 26th, 2010, 08:07 PM

Today people are crazy serching about Dai Google and its website www.daigoogle.com.

You might want to know what is Dai Google ???

http://dlf-ipl.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Dai-google-Rajnikanth-300x188.jpg

Dai Google is a customised Google homepage on website – www.daigoogle.com. This customised Google homepage shows a photo in which superstar Rajnikanth is seen nonchalantly levitates the ‘Google’ logo.

There are two buttons replacing the Google traditional Buttons by its Tamil Versions – it Sollu da (Tell Me), which when pressed you get search results and the second button is Semma lucky (‘I’m feeling lucky).

Launched about a fortnight ago, the site has become a runaway hit, with more than 10,000 netizens ‘liking’ it on Facebook. While one fan put up the message “When Google becomes the googled!” along with the link that he shared on the social networking site, another screamed “Thalaiva! Mindd Itt!”

If you are Rajnikanth fan then you will definately want to make this site as your homepage.

Dai Google Website – http://www.daigoogle.com/

http://dlf-ipl.com/general/dai-google-dai-google-homepage-dai-google-search-page-dai-google-website-rajni-google-logo-rajnikanth-google-rajnikanth-google-search-engine-rajnikanth-search-engine-www-daigoogle-com/

kongutamizhan

December 27th, 2010, 12:41 AM

i may/may not pay if it were not clean. but i wouldn't be bitching about poor services of 5* hotels in general on this thread.

Oh, ammam periya appa tucker-a neenga? sollavae illa:lol: J/K

Mr.Nellai

December 27th, 2010, 06:36 AM

http://epaper.dinamani.com/epaperimages/27122010/27122010-cni-mn-04/25637687.JPG

bonoslack7

December 27th, 2010, 07:53 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/business/global/28sizzle.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9576/28sizzlespanarticlelarg.jpg

A massive, futuristic office complex is rising from a patch of spare, arid land here near the southern Indian city of Chennai. Six butterfly-shaped buildings dock like spacecraft to two long, metal-latticed terminals.

About 12,000 people already work at the campus, being built by India’s largest technology company, Tata Consultancy Services. It eventually will have space for 24,000 of Tata’s nearly 180,000 employees.

Meanwhile Infosys, one of Tata’s biggest competitors, has added a corporate campus for 15,000 employees with buildings that resemble the Parthenon, the Coliseum and the Louvre’s glass pyramid. Infosys plans to build an additional 10 million square feet of highly designed office space by mid-2012, at various sites, adding 25,000 workers to its current 122,000.

It is all part of a construction spree by India’s outsourcing companies, which are growing at a breakneck pace after the lull caused by the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.

But the building boom is about more than making room for more workers. The outsourcing giants, which include Wipro and others, hope that architectural sizzle can help them compete for the nation’s top software programmers, while also burnishing their reputations with overseas clients and prospective customers.

In this nation where world-class high-tech companies co-exist with urban slums and rural poverty, employers like Tata, Infosys and Wipro have set out to create avant-garde, environmentally enlightened corporate sanctuaries.

And even if some architects and critics complain about the wisdom and taste of the efforts, the executives behind the building boom say their ambitious projects put a modern face on Indian business.

T. V. Mohandas Pai, a director at Infosys, which has 15 campuses around India, said his company’s eclectic mix of designs from all over the world reflected this nation’s inclusive sensibility. “One singular thing is monotonous,” he said. “In India, we are a colorful people.”

Like China a decade earlier, India appears to be at that phase of economic development where buildings are meant to help advertise the nation’s arrival on the world stage. But unlike China, where the government and state-owned corporations took the lead, private companies in India have spearheaded the charge — not the government, which struggles to execute even basic construction projects.

And within India’s business world, technology companies have been more adventurous than others, perhaps because of their outsize financial success and their need to hire tens of thousands of workers to write lines of software for foreign clients. State and federal governments are aiding the effort by offering these companies generous tax incentives and choice pieces of real estate to build big campuses.

Competition for employees is intense, because while India produces about 500,000 engineers every year, most colleges provide such poor education that the industry says that just a quarter of graduates are employable. But among those worth hiring — typically graduates of elite places like the Indian Institutes of Technology and Birla Institute of Technology and Science — as many as 18 percent leave for other jobs every year. The outsourcing companies see lavish, environmentally friendly campuses as a way to help attract and retain the best and brightest workers.

With their manicured lawns, power generators and lakes, the campuses are a noticeable upgrade from most engineering colleges, which suffer from India’s standard infrastructure deficiencies — blackouts, water shortages and poor maintenance.

“I prefer a big campus,” said Aditya Mathur, a software engineer, 23, who joined Wipro a year ago, and now works at a four-year-old office in Gurgaon, south of New Delhi, as a software tester. “The facilities are better in a big campus.”

Tata Consultancy Services — or T.C.S., as the company is known — is spending $200 million on its Siruseri campus and has hired the Uruguayan-born Canadian architect Carlos A. Ott, who designed the opera house on the Place de la Bastille in Paris. The company is also building big campuses in Ahemdabad, Pune, Calcutta and Hyderabad.

But some critics say that too many of the industry’s new complexes are intended to make a big splash without much thought to how they will function and fit into the local surroundings.

“It is a haphazard reaching for something that will quickly make a statement about the place being world class,” said Himanshu Burte, an architecture critic who writes frequently for Indian newspapers.

But Rahul Mehrotra, a prominent architect who has designed an office building for the American computer maker Hewlett-Packard in Bangalore, the city at the heart of India’s technology industry, argued that rather than being too outré, too many Indian tech campuses had a hackneyed feel, evoking the sprawling suburban campuses of Silicon Valley or American companies like Google and Apple.

“The architecture in these cases symbolizes the fact that these are places of outsourcing, not cutting-edge research,” said Mr. Mehrotra, who lives in Mumbai and Boston.

Mr. Pai of Infosys, said he was unconcerned about such criticism. He said the people who mattered to the company — employees and customers — raved about its buildings, particularly those that resembled landmarks like the Coliseum at its new campus in the city of Mysore. “They like the fact that it’s so diverse,” he said.

Infosys probably set the standard for ambitious corporate campuses in India more than a decade ago. Many other companies grew helter-skelter wherever they could find space. But Infosys started building large complexes, beginning with its first campus on the southern edge of Bangalore, its home city, in 1995, just a few years after India started to open its economy to the rest of the world.

That first campus, which, after many expansions, can now accommodate 24,000 people, was considered cutting-edge for creating an ordered oasis of lawns and lakes in the midst of the urban chaos that envelops most commercial areas in India. The complex also established the company’s quirky style — with a glass pyramid for an auditorium and a building that resembles a washing machine — and helped set a benchmark for big campuses in the technology industry.

Mr. Pai, who sets the overall layout of the campuses with the company’s chairman, N. R. Narayana Murthy, said Infosys was determined to make every new campus “better than our last campus.”

Their rules include the tenet that no two buildings should look alike. Another audacious goal is that every campus should become a “carbon sink” in the next five years. In other words, trees, lakes and other natural features should absorb more carbon than is generated by the campus.

Some other firms, like Wipro, tend to be more understated, opting for standard-looking office buildings. But even these companies have trademark causes. Wipro prides itself on minimizing the use of power and, especially, water. It recycles water and creates lakes to harvest the rain. At one of its campuses in Bangalore, a training center appears to float on one of these reservoirs.

T.C.S., based in Mumbai, has long had significant operations in and around Chennai, the city formerly known as Madras, which is on the Bay of Bengal. But N. Chandrasekaran, chief executive of T.C.S., said the company previously had too many buildings arbitrarily sprinkled around that region.

The new Siruseri campus, 18 miles south of Chennai, is meant to help consolidate some of those outposts and give employees a sense of place and pride of ownership. “We had multiple buildings and we felt that we should have a campus where employees will feel empowerment, will feel good about working,” he said “and at the same time we have a place to host clients.”

For at least some employees, the plan seems to be succeeding.

Deenathajalan Sugumar, who works in production support, recently moved to the new T.C.S. campus in Siruseri from a smaller building in Chennai. He gushed about the campus, even though he now commutes by a company bus for more than an hour every day, more than double his previous travel time.

“It’s my home,” Mr. Sugumar, 24, said. “It’s my company.”

bonoslack7

December 29th, 2010, 06:55 AM

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/no-interest-in-commercial-spaces-despite-big-investments/120498/on

Residential projects have attracted huge investments across the country in recent years, but many commercial plots in major cities are lying vacant due to a dearth of buyer interest, according to construction industry body CREDAI.

"While 12 million square feet is lying idle in Chennai, it will be more across the country. Many areas in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Gurgaon are lying vacant in commercial spaces," Construction Real Estate Developers of India (CREDAI) National Vice-President Prakash Challa told PTI.

Noting that the real estate industry saw a slowdown after the sub-prime crisis in the US, he charged the Centre with not taking any steps to revive the industry.

"If they had taken steps immediately after the crash of the US market, the sector would not have faced this much of a problem... All developers and agencies would have been cautious," he said.

Asked whether there was any positive impact from the government's intervention after the global economic crisis erupted in 2008, he said, "There are no good developments still in the commercial space front. Only limited investments are coming up."

"If the government extends the stimulus package, it will generate employment. But if they withdraw it, then there will be a serious problem. Today, many buildings are sitting idle and every builder has become cautious... They don't want to commit themselves (by investments in commercial spaces)," he said.

He said the situation is expected to improve over the next one or two years.

Challa said Tier-II and III cities were the worst-hit, with no major developments in the commercial spaces sector. Nevertheless, real estate developers are investing heavily on huge residential projects, Challa said.

"Particularly in the Oragadam-belt (near Chennai), many builders are doing good business. It has become the favourite area for many developers as it has many commercial establishments nearby," he said.

He said low income housing projects have been a "grand success".

"I was told some builders have sold about 500-600 housing units in the low income category," he said.

The success was not only due to the presence of logistics parks, but the fact that people have also started looking at buying properties in newer areas, he said.

The Oragadam and Sriperumbudur belt currently has various companies -- including auto majors like Nissan Renault, Daimler India, Hyundai Motor India and consumer durable giant Samsung -- that have set up shop.

"Basically this area is only for budget homes... Not for the high-end," he said.

On the lack of proper connectivity to Chennai and other destinations from these localities, he said infrastructure would gradually be put in place as people begin to move in.

Infrastructure development would take time, as many people working in far off areas commute today from the city, he said.

Currently, real estate developers like Arun Excello, TVH, Tata Infrastructure and MARG Properties have real estate projects coming up in these areas.

wlbkng

December 29th, 2010, 05:23 PM

A city of labyrinthine corridor roads, Chennai is set to expand further. A look at the shape of its growth...

In another 15 years, about 12.5 million — five million more than the present population — will be living within the Chennai Metropolitan Area (city and the 1000 sq. km region around it). Four out of the five million new residents, the government estimates, will settle in the region surrounding the city. In other words, the suburbs of Chennai, which are now open and sparsely inhabited, would soon be dense with buildings and people.

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00331/30NXGMETRORAIL_331238e.jpg
Metro rail work in progress in Vadapalani. Photo: S.S.Kumar

Arterial roads

What shape and direction would this growth take?

Chennai is a city of corridors. Arterial Roads, five in particular, have determined the direction and shape of the city. Kolkota Highway, Poonamallee High Road, Grand Southern Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road with their good connectivity and infrastructure have drawn people, investors and builders. It is only the northern side that has not grown as much as it should have. This corridor pattern, it appears, will continue in the future as well.

Concerns

The weak interlinks between the corridors have been a concern. So far only two inner circular roads — Nugambakkam High road and Inner Ring Road — have developed. The Chennai Bypass road, which starts from Tambaram, is almost complete but it is meant for the truck traffic to reach the Harbour and places beyond. The next major project that will significantly influence the city's growth will be the proposed Outer Ring Road. It will cover most of the arterial roads and improve access to the green field airport at Sriperambudur, if and when it comes.

One would expect, given the nature of development along the corridors, the government to implement schemes such as Bus Rapid Transport System to improve mobility and reduce dependence on private vehicles for improved mobility. Unfortunately, not much has happened on that front.

Challenges ahead

Chennai faces four major challenges. Foremost among them is the shortage of housing for the poor. Unless this issue is addressed, the city will not be inclusive and proliferation of slums cannot be stopped. The second challenge is the upkeep of its water bodies, which includes places such as Pallikaranai marsh. The restoration of the Cooum, which is long overdue, has been launched. Unfortunately, both the Cooum and the Adyar will also host elevated expressways on their banks. Similarly, the beach front too is threatened by a proposed elevated road. The third challenge is the need to reduce the production of waste and find improved ways to manage it efficiently. The last challenge is to make the city friendly to old people, children and the differently-abled.

A relieving feature

The major infrastructure project currently under way (to be completed in 2105) is the 45 km Chennai Metro Rail network. Built partly below ground and partly elevated, this Rs. 15,000 crore project is expected to relieve congestion at least on two arterial roads and the inner ring road. Much more could be gained if the metro rail network is extended to the suburbs, a feeder bus system is put in place and the areas around the stations are developed properly.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/nxg/article1015907.ece

The major infrastructure project currently under way (to be completed in 2105) I hope this is a typo. Hope it wont take 95 years more...

A good article overall. Speaks about real problems and potentials of chennai. Though more info could have been added, I would appreciate the article writer.

satchitananda

December 29th, 2010, 09:05 PM

SOURCE: (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloids/fifth-ave-south-884)

From beaded tunics to stellar dresses and stunning earrings to ‘it’ bags, fashionistas here flaunted them with élan. Our city, which has always been thought to be conservative — played host to numerous designers, national and international this year. If it was Sabyasachi who made the socialites go berserk with must-own sarees, it was Gauri and Nainika who wowed the elite with western silhouettes. Chennai has arrived on the fashion scene, at least going by the large number of luxurious store launches and the themed fashion shows that were a part of every major event in the city, including the IPL nights.

Connoisseurs feel that the Chennai’s appetite for luxury is unbeatable, as the urge to splurge was coupled with passion for fashion. “The metamorphosis has been remarkable as every high-profile event in the city revolves around a fashion show. Looking sharp and living smart seems to be the mantra of many as the desire to stand out surpassed huge price tags and in the process we made people in the global fashion map sit up and take notice. People don’t mind spending lakhs on sarees and gowns today,” says Sneha Nair, a socialite known for her couture fashion statements.

Touted as Chennai’s equivalent to Fifth Avenue, Khader Nawaz Khan Road has become home to many high-end brands. And with a new luxury mall, more brands invaded the closet space of youngsters. “Retailers are making a beeline to set up shop here having discovered the city’s spending power and desire for all that is haute.

This city can no longer be tagged conservative,” says fashion designer Erum Ali. While city-based fashion designer Rehane who showcased her collection at the LIFW and London Fashion Week, says, “The setting up of shops of international stores in the city only validated us a fashion powerhouse. This was the year when ardent buyers loosened their purse strings to invest in high street fashion without any afterthought.”

With the young and the restless sporting brands like never before, did this year officially turn Chennai fashion-conscious? Yes, says designer Nishka Lulla emphatically. “In the past one year, there has been a fashion resurgence of sorts in Chennai,” she says. Agrees Pradeep Dadha, who owns a fashion boutique that stocks high-end brands, adds, “Fashion is very much becoming a part of our culture. People are celebrating luxury and the younger lot is the propagator of couture fashion here. We just need a few more players in the market for the city to become the fashion capital of south.”

If Bollywood has a Manish Malhotra, Chennai has its own league of designers who have spruced up K-town. Designer Chaitanya Rao who styles stars like Shriya, Trisha, Vikram and Suriya, says, “Cinema influences fashion here and there is no denying that Chennai is turning to be a sure-shot fashion hub for those with the moolah.” Style-watchers may rejoice!

----------------------------
Interesting read...

TShyam

December 29th, 2010, 10:50 PM

CHENNAI: He was born in Sojitra in Gujarat but his links with Chennai were strong throughout his life. And on Wednesday, Lalit Kala Akademi and Spaces are organising a two-hour programme in memory of artist Dashrath Patel, who passed away on December 1, 2010.

An hour-long documentary film, In the Realm of the Visual', by Iffat Fatima on the retrospective exhibition of 50 years of Patel's work in painting, ceramics, photography and design, at the NGMA, Delhi, will be screened. Music will be an integral part of the evening with performances by leading dhrupad singers Gundecha brothers and Chennai musician Vedanth Bharadwaj.

Patel, the first director of design education at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, graduated from the Government College of Fine Arts here in the early fifties. He continued to visit and live in the city intermittently over the next five decades, and assisted his teacher Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury in the making of two landmark sculptures at either end of Marina Beach the Triumph of Labour and the Gandhi statues.

He worked closely with dancer-choreographer Chandralekha, and also did sets for her dance productions. In 2005, he created the Fire' sculpture at the Tidel Park junction on Rajiv Gandhi Salai. A founding member of the arts foundation, Spaces, Dashrath was central to the setting up of the aesthetic performance and kalarippayattu venues in Besant Nagar.

The event at Spaces, No 1 Elliot's Beach Road, Besant Nagar, on December 29 is between 7pm and 9pm and is open to all.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Music-and-film-to-remember-Dashrath-Patel-/articleshow/7181325.cms

TShyam

December 29th, 2010, 10:57 PM

CHENNAI: “One of the most dangerous and time consuming things that I did during my Ph.D. was climb mountains,” Bruce Normand, theoretical physicist and professor at Renmin University (China) said.

That comment set the stage for a whirlwind photographic tour of remote mountain ranges across the world, stretching from Patagonia in South America to the Himalayan outback in Tibet. Mr. Normand has been juggling his career in quantum physics and the passion for mountaineering for the last 21 years.

He delivered a talk on his expeditions in Tibet ‘Mountaineering in the middle kingdom' at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences here on Tuesday.

Taking a break between sessions on superconductivity, he obsesses about writing a book on mountaineering. He already has a title – ‘The quantum Yeti.' He says “Climbing a mountain has been reduced to a tourist activity. Mountaineering is about going beyond the comfort level, to push oneself both as a climber and as an individual, and to look within.”

Though he claims to climb mountains “just to get away from theoretical physics,” he is ready with scientific commentary on the places too.

“Physics is not about solving equations like F = ma and E = mc {+2}, it is about describing the world,” he says. Besides everything, he says that mountaineering is about the thrill of adventure and a quest into the unknown. “That is the marvel you feel when you stand on top of Mount Kailash, knowing that depending on which face of the mountain a snow flake falls, it will eventually flow into a completely different ocean.”

http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/29/stories/2010122963110200.htm

wlbkng

December 29th, 2010, 11:59 PM

TShyam

December 30th, 2010, 01:28 AM

what this has to do with chennai discussions?

The talk was given at IMS, Chennai.

satishanu

December 30th, 2010, 01:54 AM

சென்னை மாநகரோடு அம்பத்தூர் உள்ளிட்ட 9 நகராட்சிகளையும், 8 பேரூராட்சிகளையும், 25 ஊராட்சிகளையும் இணைக்கும் அரசாணையை அரசு திரும்பப் பெற வேண்டும் என்று பாமக நிறுவனர் ராமதாஸ் வலியுறுத்தியுள்ளார்.

இதுதொடர்பாக அவர் இன்று வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கையில், "சென்னை புறநகர்ப் பகுதிகளில் உள்ள 9 நகராட்சிகளையும், 8 பேரூராட்சிகளையும், 25 ஊராட்சிப் பகுதிகளையும் இணைத்து தற்போதைய சென்னை மாநகராட்சிப் பகுதியினை விரிவாக்கி, சென்னை பெருநகர மாநகராட்சி என அறிவிக்க அரசு முடிவு செய்திருக்கிறது. அதற்கான அரசாணையும் பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கிறது.

இந்த ஆணை பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டு ஓராண்டு கழித்து சென்னை மாநகராட்சியின் ஒப்புதலைப் பெற இப்போது முயற்சி மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டிருக்கிறது.

அதிகாரங்கள் பரவலாக்கப்பட வேண்டும். அப்போதுதான் மக்களின் அடிப்படைத் தேவைகளையும், இதர கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகளையும் நிறைவு செய்வதில் வெற்றி பெற முடியும் என்று ஒருபுறம் பேசி வருகிறோம்.

இன்னொருபுறத்தில் இதற்கு மாறாக பரவலாக செயல்பட்டு வரும் உள்ளாட்சி மன்றங்களை கலைத்து விட்டு சென்னை மாநகராட்சியோடு இணைத்து ஒரு அதிகார குவியலை ஏற்படுத்தும் முயற்சியும் நடைபெறுகிறது. இது அதிகார பரவல் என்ற அடிப்படைக் கொள்கைக்கு முரணானது.

சென்னை பெருநகர மாநகராட்சியோடு இணைக்கப்பட இருக்கும் பகுதிகளில் 9 நகர் மன்றத் தலைவர்களும், 200க்கு மேற்பட்ட நகராட்சி கவுன்சிலர்களும், 8 பேரூராட்சித் தலைவர்களும், அவர்களோடு சேர்ந்து பணியாற்றி வரும் 200க்கும் மேற்பட்ட பேரூராட்சி கவுன்சிலர்களும், 25 ஊராட்சி மன்றத் தலைவர்களும், மக்களால் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட 400க்கும் மேற்பட்ட ஊராட்சி கவுன்சிலர்களும் இப்போது அந்தந்தப் பகுதிகளில் மக்களின் தேவைகளை உணர்ந்து அவற்றை நிறைவேற்றி வைப்பதில் அக்கறையோடு செயல்பட்டு கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள்.

இப்படி ஒட்டு மொத்தமாக 800க்கும் மேற்பட்ட மக்கள் பிரதிநிதிகள் செய்து வரும் பணியினை இனி
மாநகராட்சியுடன் இணைப்பதன் மூலம் வெறும் 93 மாநகராட்சி கவுன்சிலர்களால் நிறைவு செய்ய முடியுமா? என்பதை அரசு எண்ணிப் பார்க்க வேண்டும். ஏற்கெனவே வேலைப்பளுவால் சென்னை மாநகராட்சியில் வேலைகள் ஆமை வேகத்தில் நடந்து கொண்டிருக்கின்றன. வீட்டு வரி, சொத்து வரி வசூலில் என்றைக்கும் இல்லாமல் இந்த ஆண்டு குளறுபடிகள் நடைபெற்று மக்கள் வட்ட அலுவலகங்களுக்கும், மண்டல அலுவலகங்களுக்கும், மாநகராட்சி தலைமை அலுவலகத்திற்குமாக அலைக்கழிக்கப்பட்டு வருகிறார்கள்.

ஒரு வீட்டின் பிரச்சனை தீர்ப்பதற்கு பல மாதங்கள் ஆகின்றன. இந்த நிலையில் மாநகராட்சியை மேலும் விரிவாக்குவதால் வேலைப்பளு அதிகரிக்கும். மக்களின் பிரச்சனைகளை தீர்ப்பதில் இன்னும் காலதாமதமாகும்.

தரமான சாலை வசதிகள், குடிநீர் வழங்குதல், தெரு விளக்குகள், கழிவுநீர் அகற்றுதல் மற்றும் திடக்கழிவு மேலாண்மை ஆகிய கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகளை மாநகருக்கு அருகாமையில் உள்ள பகுதிகளிலும் வழங்க இந்த விரிவாக்கம் அவசியமாகிறது என்று அரசாணையில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டிருக்கிறது.

இது உண்மையானால் தற்போதைய மாநகராட்சிப் பகுதிகளில் இந்த கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகள் அனைத்தும் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டு தற்போதைய சென்னை மாநகராட்சி இதில் தன்னிறைவு பெற்று விளங்குகின்றது என்று அறிவிக்க முடியுமா?

மழைக் காலத்தில் சென்னை நகரம் இன்றைக்கும் மிதந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது. மழைநீரை அகற்றுவதற்கு முறையான வடிகால்கள் இல்லை. நகரின் பல்வேறு பகுதிகளில் சாக்கடை நீர் குளம் போல் தேங்கி கிடக்கின்றன.

சென்னை சாலைகள் குண்டும் குழியுமாக கிடக்கின்றன. நகரின் பல்வேறு பகுதிகள் குப்பை மேடாக காட்சியளித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கின்றன.

இந்த குறைகளையெல்லாம் நீக்கி என்றைக்கு சென்னை மாநகரம், அடிப்படைத் தேவை அனைத்தையும் பூர்த்தி செய்து விட்டோம்; இனி மேற்கொண்டு செய்வதற்கு எதுவும் இல்லை என்ற நிலையை அடைகிறதோ அன்றைக்கு நகருக்கு அருகாமை மற்றும் தொடர்ச்சியாக உள்ள உள்ளாட்சிப் பகுதிகளிலும் இந்த வசதிகளை செய்து கொடுக்க அவற்றை மாநகராட்சி பகுதியோடு இணைத்தால் அதனை வரவேற்கலாம்.

ஆனால் பெருநகர தரவரிசைப் பட்டியலில் மூன்றாவது இடத்தையோ, நான்காவது இடத்தையோ சென்னை மாநகரம் பெற வேண்டும் என்பதற்காக பக்கத்தில் உள்ள பகுதிகளையெல்லாம் சேர்த்து மக்கள் தொகை கணக்கை அதிகப்படுத்துவதில் என்ன பெருமை இருக்கிறது?

மக்களின் அடிப்படை வசதிகளையும், அடிப்படை கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகளையும் நிறைவேற்றுவதில் சென்னை மாநகராட்சி தன்னிறைவு பெற்று முதலிடத்தைப் பிடித்தால் அதில்தான் பெருமை இருக்கிறது. இத்தகைய பெருமையைப் பெற நகர விரிவாக்கம் எந்த வகையிலும் உதவாது.

எனவே சென்னை மாநகரோடு அம்பத்தூர் உள்ளிட்ட 9 நகராட்சிகளையும், 8 பேரூராட்சிகளையும், 25 ஊராட்சிகளையும் இணைக்கும் அரசாணையை (26-12-2009 அரசாணை (நிலை) எண் 256) அரசு திரும்ப பெற வேண்டும்.

அதற்குப் பதிலாக ஏற்கெனவே ஆலோசனை செய்தபடி அம்பத்தூர் சென்னை, திருவொற்றியூர் சென்னை, தாம்பரம் சென்னை என 3 புதிய மாநகராட்சிகளை உருவாக்கி, அவற்றில் பேரூராட்சி மற்றும் ஊராட்சி மன்றங்களையும், நகராட்சிப் பகுதிகளையும் இணைத்து சென்னையோடு போட்டி போட்டு வளர்ச்சிப் பணிகளை நிறைவேற்றி முடிக்க அரசு நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும்," என்று ராமதாஸ் கூறியுள்ளார்.

http://new.vikatan.com/news.php?nid=505

Raji7373

December 30th, 2010, 05:04 AM

சென்னை மாநகரோடு அம்பத்தூர் உள்ளிட்ட 9 நகராட்சிகளையும், 8 பேரூராட்சிகளையும், 25 ஊராட்சிகளையும் இணைக்கும் அரசாணையை அரசு திரும்பப் பெற வேண்டும் என்று பாமக நிறுவனர் ராமதாஸ் வலியுறுத்தியுள்ளார்.

http://new.vikatan.com/news.php?nid=505

Not again!!! Why this senseless idiot is creating flutter unecessarily. Oh god..is there any chance to get rid of him and his family...from TN.

Mad 4 Madras

December 30th, 2010, 06:01 AM

^^ He has a point in what he is saying. But now he has taken this up just to show himself in limelight. Small places can be easily administered. 800 vs 93 representatives is really alarming (instead of 800 lakhpathis, we'll have 93 Crorepathis :lol::lol:). But this is not new in India, Delhi has proved that administering large areas won't be a problem if they have passion and will. And media always take numbers produced, and thus instead of loosing to some other city, Chennai can be extended. Though it is not going to change anything (suburbs will be suburbs still, cooum will be coovum then) and the infra will remain the same lesser than the least we can show numbers.

wlbkng

December 30th, 2010, 07:22 AM

http://epaper.dinakaran.com/pdf/2010/12/30/20101230a_001101006.jpg

Chennai set to become a MEGACITY :banana:

* 9 Municipalities and 25 panchayats in suburban to become part of Chennai

* City area to be expanded to 430 sq.km

Raji7373

December 30th, 2010, 07:56 AM

The state govern ment’s move to expand the Corporation of Chennai has drawn flak from an unexpected quarter. Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S.
Ramadoss on Wednesday asked the government scrap the proposal and demanded creation of three corporations with Tambaram, Ambattur and Tiruvottiyur as headquarters to provide better civic amenities to the suburban areas.

Dr Ramadosss said the very idea of merging adjacent local bodies to create Greater Chennai was against the principle of devolution of powers. He asked how work being done by nine municipal chairmen, eight town panchayat presidents, 25 village panchayat presidents and nearly 400 councillors could be compensated by just 93 councillors of the corporation.

http://dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2010/12/30/INDEX.SHTML?ArtId=001_025&Search=Y

Arul Murugan

December 30th, 2010, 08:15 AM

Not again!!! Why this senseless idiot is creating flutter unecessarily. Oh god..is there any chance to get rid of him and his family...from TN.

Don't worry, it is just a statement. They don't have any powers to blackmail the present government.

No chance of getting rid of Thailapuram family or Manargudi family or Thirukuvalai family from Tamilnadu.

Raji7373

December 30th, 2010, 08:28 AM

Repeation of post ...deleted

wlbkng

December 30th, 2010, 08:47 AM

^^ already posted by satchidananda in prev page

ChennaiIndian

December 30th, 2010, 10:31 PM

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article1016615.ece

All the 1,000-odd Tata Magic vehicles that supplement the fleet of autorickshaws in the city will soon be regularised.

The vehicles, operating in the city for over a year, have been under a cloud because of permit violations. The Tata Magic maxi-cabs are given a ‘tourist permit' and are only meant to transport passengers from point to point. But, most of these vehicles operate like share-autorickshaws, which are issued ‘Stage carriage' permits.

Transport Minister K.N. Nehru told The Hindu that a government order bringing the Tata Magic vehicles under the ambit of a new share cab permit would be issued soon.

Mr. Nehru said that only a limited number of share autorickshaw permits were initially issued as there were concerns about such vehicles competing with Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses.

...

wlbkng

December 31st, 2010, 02:25 AM

http://epaper.dinamalar.com/DM/DINAMALAR/2010/12/31/Article//108/31_12_2010_108_021.jpg

St.Thomas mount police station being built at a cost of Rs.1 Crore to be opened soon

wlbkng

December 31st, 2010, 07:25 PM

Where is Anna Centenary library thread? Moved or Deleted?

http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/2791/lit3b.jpg
cc: wikipedia

Indian Sun

December 31st, 2010, 07:30 PM

^^ Resize please. And here's your (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1101499) thread.

wlbkng

December 31st, 2010, 07:35 PM

^^ resized as much as i can.

ceeznic pirate

January 1st, 2011, 03:28 AM

Expansion of Chennai runs into stiff oppn
Tiruvottiyur, Ambattur Not For Merger

Chennai: The DMK-led government’s ambitious plan to upgrade infrastructure facilities in Chennai’s suburbs by expanding the corporation limits has run into stiff opposition. Some local bodies, including in Tiruvottiyur and Ambattur that are proposed to be merged with the corporation, have opposed it, while a few have given their nod cautiously.
Most elected councils of the suburban local bodies, which met on Friday to debate the expansion plan, complained about the “lack of wisdom” in the delimitation of wards. On Thursday, the Chennai corporation council meeting had put off introduction of a formal resolution to expand the city, saying the councillors had sought precise details down to the street names and the number of residents in each ward.
The government plans to merge nine municipalities, eight town panchayats and 25 panchayats with Chennai corporation, extending its limits to 430 sqkm from the existing 174 sqkm. An ordinance was promulgated on December 21, amending the Madras City Municipal Corporation Act, giving effect to the total number of wards as 200. The corporation council is represented by 155 members.
While Ambattur municipality, headed by the PMK, unanimously opposed the plan on Thursday before dubbing it an impediment to the progress of the neighbourhood, the Tiruvottiyur municipality on Friday put its resolution on hold.
Growth Pangs
Most councils complain of ‘lack of wisdom’ with regard to delimitation of wards
The expansion plan is an impediment to progress of locality: Ambattur local body
Madhavaram, Tiruvottiyur municipalities decide to put off passing the resolution MOST OTHERS OPPOSE INTEGRATION Alandur council okays merger plan
Chennai: Ambattur municipality, headed by the PMK, has unanimously opposed the Chennai expansion plan. The Tiruvottiyur municipality has also put its resolution on hold. “There are plenty of reasons for deferring the resolution. There is no logic in merging areas. Real development takes place only when areas are detached for the purpose of maintaining law and order and for getting high revenue. Why will anyone lose the privilege of enjoying the benefits of high revenue?” said Ambattur municipality chairman K N Sekar.
“After Saidapet taluk was split into nine, including Ambattur, Tiruvallur, Pallipattu, Madhavaram and Poonamallee, all the smaller taluks also witnessed development. Similarly, when the highly-populated Villivakkam assembly constituency was split into Ambattur, Maduravoyal and Madhavaram, the latter places saw a lot of development. Expansion of the corporation limits will only pose problems for the executive machinery to carry out development works,” Sekar added. The local body will be represented by only 15 members in the corporation.
Councillors of Tiruvottiyur municipality mainly objected to the proposed delimitation of wards. “Most areas are improperly aligned. The 48-member council did not see any reason in passing the resolution and so shelved it,” said R Jayaraman of the CPM.
The local body will soon send representations to the deputy commissioner (revenue and finance) of Chennai corporation, objecting to the delimitation that will see the size of the municipality shrink to 12 wards.
The Madhavaram municipality has also decided to put off passing the resolution. “At our meet slated for January 3, we will put aside the resolut i o n , ” said mun i c i p a l chairperson D Shanmugam. “The city is already struggling to handle the problems of a huge populace as well as waterlogging and overflowing sewage during the monsoon. How will it be able to safeguard the interests of hundreds of people in the suburbs once those places are merged with the corporation?” he asked. After the expansion, the 30-ward Madhavaram municipality will be represented by only eight members.
The DMK-led Alandur council in south Chennai did manage to pass the resolution, but not before facing strident opposition from councillors like Nalini Hariprasad of Pazhavanthangal, who found fault with the delimitation exercise. Kendriya Vidyalaya DGQA and the surrounding areas near GST Road in Pazhavanthangal come under the St Thomas Mount Cantonment, but the resolution erroneously included them in the newlycreated ward 175. “It is unfortunate that delimitation was based on satellite imagery. The officials do not appear to have thought it out properly before finalising the plan,” Hariprasad told TOI.
Interestingly, Manali municipality, led by the AIADMK, supported the plan.

TOI (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/01&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00301&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T)

robertashok

January 1st, 2011, 05:16 AM

Patience is a virtue, impatience a vice...

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-openpage/article980359.ece

I think the climate also is important reason for our impatience.
Secondly we are lazy lot, we can sit idle in home/office,but we cannot wait outside

inchennai

January 1st, 2011, 06:19 AM

Raji7373

January 1st, 2011, 08:16 AM

Expansion of Chennai runs into stiff oppn
Tiruvottiyur, Ambattur Not For Merger

TOI (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/01&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00301&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T)

For any thing and everything wheather it is good or bad there are oppositions in TN. from PMK & others. I am really tired of this idiots...can;t they realise that Chennai is so lagging behind of all metros.

What development they are talking about, where are the developments.
When you enter Chennai by train..right from Avadi it starts stinking. Either side of the tracks one can see open drains, water logging with mosquitoes breeding all over, garbages strewn everywhere.....this is not only to Chennai but it applies to whole TN. You can realise by smell in the air that we have entered TN...air filled with smell of filth.
Enter Vaniyambadi...you can see the nice site of open drains & stinking garbages with pigs all over..
They are talking as though now the city is maintained very well, clean & green. :nuts:

Raji7373

January 1st, 2011, 08:24 AM

About a month ago, getting into a white taxi outside my home in Bangalore, I told my driver to take me to Madras. He turned and protested, "But the company said Chennai." He was in his early 20s; he had never heard of a place called Madras. I wanted to show him a long green birth certificate issued to me in 1974 by the Corporation of Madras. But it was pointless. Bombay and Calcutta have their defenders, but Madras is already stone-cold dead, and to utter the word is to show your age. "Alright," I said, closing the door. "We'll go where you want. To your Chennai."

But I was born in another city. On Poonamallee High Road, where my grandfather, Udupi Mohan Rau, ran a medical clinic and owned a mansion called "Kamalalaya". My first home was in a north Indian colony next to my grandfather's house. My first school was a nearby all-girls' nursery. My mother, who had been hoping for a girl, refused to accept my gender for a long time; I spent my first three years as a transvestite. When I was five she let me go to a boys' school called Don Bosco; in the evenings I took tennis lessons. Madras for me was an alternation of hotels-Dasaprakash, Sudha, Savera-and cinema-halls; promenades along the Marina and shopping trips to Nungambakkam. But even then, I knew that I was somehow not like the others in the city.

Click the below link to read in full......

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/122806/exiled-in-chennai-.html

Raji7373

January 1st, 2011, 08:31 AM

MALLS & MULTIPLEXES DON’T MAKE FOR A COSMOPOLITAN CITY, IF MORAL POLICING IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOICH&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI

Chennai stands first in the whole of India when it comes to moral policing. Reason? The semiurban, semi-feudal Tamil society is still not ready to accept modern thoughts. Chennai cannot be called a cosmopolitan city just by looking at the huge malls and multiplexes. This is one city in India where foreigners are seldom seen. A few years ago, the police manhandled couples sitting in the Anna Nagar park. They were dragged to the police station, their parents were called in and warned, and the boys sent to Vellore prison. The police commissioner issued a general apology a few days later. In spite of this, Chennai’s approach towards moral policing has not changed.
Recently, the Chennai police bought a few bikes that can be driven in sand. You would have guessed the reason by now. The bikes are to be used as a means of surveillance, to keenly watch the couples sitting on the beach. This is the first time in India that any state has done anything like this.
Apart from the Chennai police, political parties, media and religious institutions are also taking the moral high ground in this issue. Magazines and papers publish pictures of women taken during cocktail parties or when they are sitting on the beach. Isn’t this an offence under law? Doesn’t this amount to trespassing into an individual’s life? But the individual’s rights are not given importance in India.
We cannot even think about this kind of invasion of privacy in developed countries. The existing laws in India were formed during the British rule and are still practiced. Even in Britain these laws have been long discarded.
Political parties are not any different. A few years ago, when a Jain monk, well over 70 years old, tried to enter Tamil Nadu, he was humiliated by Dravida Kazhagam and RSS activists because he was naked. Jain saints, who are naked throughout their lives, are forced to hide their private parts inside Tamil Nadu. Opposing the saint were two political outfits with opposite agendas — one declares there is no god while the other believes in god.
Nothing can be done openly in Tamil Nadu. Only in private. If an adult male and a female want to spend time together, they cannot do so. Since the society and the state are hypocritical, there is no private space for the common man. They cannot go to hotels, they cannot go to public places like the beach. A weeks ago, there was a raid on some pubs in Chennai. A number of youth were arrested. The boys were put in the lockup and the girls sent home with a warning. Their crime? They were drinking in the night in pubs. Since the government is conservative and moralistic, the police too behave likewise.
Recently, a PhD student from the University of Madras was talking with a male friend at the Indira Nagar MRTS station, and a police inspector felt the need to object to it. The inspector threatened the woman and said he would call her husband. Even when she told him that the man was a friend of her husband’s too, he continued to ill-treat them. The couple was saved when the public interfered.
Who will educate the police? Power generates from the government. It is the government’s duty to educate. But if the government itself is not progressive in its outlook, who will educate the the police? It’s time the intelligensia and media started doing something about it.

Charu Nivedita is a noted name in post-modern Tamil literature. His magnum opus, Zero Degree, has recently been translated into English

Indian Sun

January 1st, 2011, 09:41 AM

ChennaiIndian

January 1st, 2011, 08:08 PM

^^ Gr8 post by Adiga! :cheers:

Arasu

January 1st, 2011, 09:25 PM

^^
I am unable to access the link. Can anyone tell me what is the issue?

I get an error message that says that the site is not accessible. Is it some setting in my internet settings?

wlbkng

January 1st, 2011, 10:04 PM

^^
I am unable to access the link. Can anyone tell me what is the issue?

I get an error message that says that the site is not accessible. Is it some setting in my internet settings?

Its working fine. Try using different browsers. (It works in Chrome afaik).

TShyam

January 2nd, 2011, 01:37 AM

The 34th edition of the Chennai Book Fair will be inaugurated on Tuesday by former chairman of the Indian Law Commission Justice A. R. Lakshmanan. He will also present the ‘Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi' award 2010. Union Minister S. Jagathratchagan is also scheduled to participate in the event.

The 14-day fair, being held at St. George's Anglo Indian School on Poonamallee High Road, would have 646 stalls spread over 1.5 lakh sq.ft.

The Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), the organisers of the fair, would also conduct special events for children.

About three lakh tickets have been issued free of cost to school children to enable them to visit the fair. Addressing media persons here on Saturday, BAPASI secretary Rama Lakshmanan said that seven lakh visitors visited the last edition of the fair.

One fourth of the 10 lakh titles, which will be on sale at the fair, would be new, he said. Book publishers from New Delhi, Agra, Hyderabad, Bangalore and various parts of Tamil Nadu would be participating in the fair. A uniform discount of 10 per cent would be available on all books.

Winners of the ‘Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi' award, instituted by the Chief Minister through a corpus fund of Rs.1 crore, would receive Rs.1 lakh each.

The award is given to four writers in Tamil, one writer of a regional language and one Indian writer in English.

Tamil writers Abdul Rahman (poetry), R.M.Periyakaruppan (essays), G.S.Ramanujam (drama) and C.S.Lakshmi (short stories), have been chosen for the award.

Literary translator Arjun Dangle was chosen for his contribution to Marathi literature. Ka. Chellappa was chosen for the award for Indian writing in English, Sethu Chockalingam, BAPASI president, said. Eminent writers, poets and film personalities would participate in the fair, Mr. Chockalingam added. The finals of quiz, elocution and essay contests for school and college students will be held at the fair venue, which is opposite Pachaiyappa's College. On-the-spot registrations would be allowed, the organisers said.

While the entry fee has been fixed at Rs.5 per person, it would be free for children and school students.

The fair would be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on working days and 11 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. on holidays. For more details, log on to: www.bapasi.com.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1023422.ece

All parents - take your kids to the book fair. Dont miss it.

TShyam

January 2nd, 2011, 01:39 AM

S.S. Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya, was awarded an honorary degree by University of Missouri, U.S., earlier this month.

The Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) award is one of the highest academic tributes that the University of Missouri awards to recognise the achievements of individuals in their roles as citizens and leaders, a release said. Dr. Badrinath is the first Indian to receive the honour that was also bestowed upon Mark Twain in 1902.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1021433.ece

Congrats to the man of million eyes.

Mr.Nellai

January 2nd, 2011, 06:56 AM

Chennai book exibition starts on January 4

http://epaper.dinamani.com/epaperimages/212011/02012010-cni-mn-04/22140312.JPG

Rasnaboy

January 2nd, 2011, 07:38 AM

^^They've just created the site "chennaibookfair.com", I fancy. There is not even a single link in the site but has only the homepage. Maybe they will add more in the coming days. :)

tamil2000

January 2nd, 2011, 07:44 AM

Robert, you are right, climate is an important reason that decides our nature.
In India, particularly TN, one could live his entire life in platforms as there is no extreme climates here. So changes are difficult to happen.

I felt Chennai has very extreme weather conditions, like hot and the most humid place known to human on earth (bit of exaggeration!) during April/May season.:cheers:

Mr.Nellai

January 2nd, 2011, 08:45 AM

^^They've just created the site "chennaibookfair.com", I fancy. There is not even a single link in the site but has only the homepage. Maybe they will add more in the coming days. :)
They have not updated it till last year it seems:) But links are ther in the top corner of the page, chennai job fair 2010 link is working which has the list of participating members.

Leo_r

January 2nd, 2011, 08:49 AM

I think the climate also is important reason for our impatience.
Secondly we are lazy lot, we can sit idle in home/office,but we cannot wait outside

May be you got this idea from normal usage, " Cool Guy" or "Hot Guy".. But I think the behaviour is same all over India and not restricted to TN.. May be it is due to the 'evolution process' that Human beings go through. May be we are highly strung or very nervous in character and lack some sort of maturity in attitude and day today behaviour. In layman's language may be "we have to grow up", atleast 80-90 % of population..

Many parts of Queensland are flooded and houses/roads are under 5 feet of water and people are stranded in shelters.Today, an old couple ,calm and assured said 'Its unfortunate ,we have to move on , rebuild our home and restore our life '.

Thousands are stranded in snow filled Airports for days in NA,Europe. People just say,'bad,we are stuck,hope weather will clear tomorrow'.

No blame games. No ruckus.No accusing fingers. No unweildly behaviour. One finds very dignified,orderly,knowledgeable response.

Hope we too will move on in that direction.

Mad 4 Madras

January 2nd, 2011, 09:18 AM

No blame games. No ruckus. No accusing fingers. No unwieldy behavior. One finds very dignified,orderly,knowledgeable response.

+1. Our fourth lion (media) has to learn these too. :cheers:

Raji7373

January 2nd, 2011, 10:47 AM

I felt Chennai has very extreme weather conditions, like hot and the most humid place known to human on earth (bit of exaggeration!) during April/May season.:cheers:

Have you been to Cochin by any chance??? If you had been you won't tell this. Because you sweat while you are sitting under fan...not even walk...

During April & May - By any chance have you been to Delhi / Hyderabad / Gujarat etc...???

Indian Sun

January 2nd, 2011, 11:11 AM

Raji7373

January 2nd, 2011, 11:46 AM

^^ is it ? Because I have never heard people complaining about Cochin's weather, except my ex-roommate (from Cochin) who kept saying Chennai's humidity is very less compared to Cochin when he visited Chennai. Although, the humidity here is no match for Singapore in June-July.

Please visit Cochin once during summer you will know by yourself. Too too humid man. Imagine sweating while just sitting under a fan..whatever your roommate told is very much right...

Good about cochin is, after it rains water never stagnates. There is no slums at all in the city. AFAIK - Clean city. Much better than all metros..

Surat, Ahmedabad, Kandla etc to name few places in Gujarat - you see the Sun till 8.30 PM in the night, very very hot during summer. I had a very bad experience of visiting kandla during summer. Not again.

Singapore - Yup. Even during August. The Moment I get out of Singapore Airport go to parking area...start sweating profusely, till I get into car.

Even Mumbai - same same.

It has become a habit for the whole of India to always complain about the climate of Chennai alone... I don;t know why??. May be due to Proximity of another AC city near us & ultimate comparison.

@ Tamil2000 : There are very worst places in earth which have extremities. Mainly gulf countries. Some places temperature goes more than 50 degrees. How many places in earth you have visited to conclude that chennai has worst climate???.

Indian Sun

January 2nd, 2011, 12:35 PM

^^ We need more greenery and lesser dust off our roads. How come cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi are devoid of dust and sand ? Why can't we do it ? And our city needs to be cleaner. Our cleanliness has been doomed ever since Onyx left and NMF came in. Though the Corporation has taken over some wards, and though they are better than Neel Metal, they don't have the Onyx efficiency. Plus, sometimes they employ people with primitive brooms and implements. We need a good Environmental Services company to handle garbage again.

And of course, littering morons have to be punished. Even in places like Express Avenue which has dustbins in every corner, people throw stuff on the floor, and the staff work hard to clean it.

bonoslack7

January 2nd, 2011, 01:03 PM

you mean something good, somebody reliable, someone we can depend upon... something like veolia.

http://www.veolia-environmentalservices.com/

edges

January 2nd, 2011, 01:59 PM

Indian Sun

January 2nd, 2011, 02:43 PM

you mean something good, somebody reliable, someone we can depend upon... something like veolia.

http://www.veolia-environmentalservices.com/

Yeah, from the website, they appear to be reliable. I wouldn't mind having Onyx back though. Chennai was pleasurably clean when they were around.

bonoslack7

January 2nd, 2011, 02:49 PM

both onyx and veolia are the same. veolia is the new name for onyx.

arKay

January 2nd, 2011, 03:57 PM

Boss.. sand and dust in our roads due to improper finishing of our roads... road should be laid without giving gap with platform considerably to reduce sand and dust.. in my town kanchipuram they laid the roads worth 40cr for its beautification.. these idiots done the same thing and now sand covered the roads becoming ugly now, within 6 month of time.. when this goverment and highways department realize this..

People that are knowledgeable in road engineering may please through some light on this. Why don't they cover the entire width of the road like they do in other countries? I guess this is the primary reason for the Indian cities to look unkempt and dusty. This is the case even in the arterial roads of the city. No Indian city is free from this and it is even worse in Chennai. Just a few simple things like clean roads, encroachment free, usable and properly laid pavement (not at one feet high!), uniform signage, lot of greenery will change the image of Chennai in a big way. Chennai appears to be unfriendly to anybody that is not familiar to the city and the culture.

State Government does appear to spend a lot of money on building the road infrastructure. But the execution process certainly needs to be improved as it appears that there are no proper supervision and quality assurance in whatever they do. We hardly see any senior level bureaucrat responsible for quality (leave alone any junior level officer that is responsible from the government side for supervision even being present there) visit the work sites. The bureaucracy is riddled with too many administrative processes with the result they loose focus on the actual work itself. Lot of time is spent on tender processing and associated work but too little time on ensuring the quality of work and proper maintenance there after. Also, one thing that appears to be universal is lack of maintenance. It is important like developing the infrastructure itself.

arKay

January 2nd, 2011, 05:18 PM

greatshankar

January 2nd, 2011, 05:52 PM

I second that.

Indian Sun

January 2nd, 2011, 06:14 PM

both onyx and veolia are the same. veolia is the new name for onyx.

Oh, all right.

kongutamizhan

January 2nd, 2011, 07:13 PM

Many parts of Queensland are flooded and houses/roads are under 5 feet of water and people are stranded in shelters.Today, an old couple ,calm and assured said 'Its unfortunate ,we have to move on , rebuild our home and restore our life '.

Thousands are stranded in snow filled Airports for days in NA,Europe. People just say,'bad,we are stuck,hope weather will clear tomorrow'.

No blame games. No ruckus.No accusing fingers. No unweildly behaviour. One finds very dignified,orderly,knowledgeable response.

Hope we too will move on in that direction.

We can move in that direction provided incidents here are rare, once-in-a-while incident like the examples you provided.

We can move in that direction if they are mother nature's fury where governments have no control over.

Even for natures fury, we can move in that direction if we have faith in our administration that our planners and administrators will do the needful quickly to get us out of suffering. First ask them if they have a plan or solution for yearly monsoon rains @ Chennai and Mumbai, then we'll talk about more furriest acts of nature later.

What you are asking for is to have patience for routine day-to-day events like inefficiency of government staff and administration, lack of town planning, bad administration, purposeful delays due to corruption and red tapes etc.,

kongutamizhan

January 2nd, 2011, 08:32 PM

Chennai was pleasurably clean when they were around.

Are you talking about the Chennai in the state of Tamilnadu in India on Planet Earth in the Milky-way galaxy? If yes may I know when was that clean? Is it BC or AD?

Sorry couldn't resist. :lol:

tamil2000

January 3rd, 2011, 04:39 AM

@ Tamil2000 : There are very worst places in earth which have extremities. Mainly gulf countries. Some places temperature goes more than 50 degrees. How many places in earth you have visited to conclude that chennai has worst climate???.

Unfortunately, I haven't been to too many countries. Only 11 of them and 15 years outside India. AS I said before there was some exaggeration involved.

tamil2000

January 3rd, 2011, 04:47 AM

ChennaiIndian

January 3rd, 2011, 06:02 AM

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1025580.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00333/03THROAD_333839e.jpg

The 22nd edition of the Road Safety Week was inaugurated on Sunday with the Transport Minister K.N. Nehru hoisting a giant balloon inscribed with awareness messages at the Marina beach.

Speaking to press persons, Mr. Nehru said that over Rs.40 crore has been spent on various road safety measures in 2010.

Over 330 accident-prone ‘black spots' were identified across the State and road engineering flaws in such zones have been rectified. A number of junction improvement programmes have also been undertaken, he said.

According to Mr.Nehru, the drive against drunk driving would be stepped up. He said that the suspension of Driver's Licence in case of drunk driving or fatal accidents would be made mandatory. “There is a provision to suspend the licence for up to a period of six months, even that of drivers belonging to State Transport Undertakings. But enforcement of the provision has been lax till now,” he added.

...

ChennaiIndian

January 3rd, 2011, 06:03 AM

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1025603.ece

Chennai Corporation's recent move to defer taking a decision on the proposed expansion of the city limits by merging local bodies in its fringes has been met with disappointment from suburban residents and mixed response from the elected representatives.

As per the proposal, a total of 42 local bodies, including 25 village panchayats, in the periphery were to be merged with the city, thereby expanding its boundary from the existing 173 sq. km. to 430 sq.km.

However, the much-expected resolution on the expansion could not be passed by the Corporation Council as most councillors wanted specific details of each of the 200 proposed wards. Some ward members demanded that suburban corporations be created instead of merging local bodies to enable decentralisation of power and better administration.

The move has created fear among the residents that it would further delay the implementation of the proposal.

V. Raghuraman, a resident of Ambattur, said the local body had increased the property tax over the years. But, there has not been any change in the infrastructure, be it roads or water supply and sewage facilities.

With the growing population in the suburbs, a comprehensive infrastructure development could be expected only if they are brought under the Corporation limits, he said.

Some residents such as S. Kannan of Madipakkam said the proposal had led to hike in the land price in the suburbs that were to be merged with the city.

...

ChennaiIndian

January 3rd, 2011, 06:07 AM

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1021416.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00332/01TH_RICKSHAW_332830f.jpg

Over the next couple of days, if you come across blue autorickshaws that say ‘2 strokes to the wind,' ‘Bat out of hell,' ‘Beach Cassidy' or ‘The ultimate tak-tak,' with three foreigners attempting to make sense of maps and fact files, do not be surprised for they are not your average sightseers but a bunch of an intrepid tourists battling out an Indian adventure, in a very Indian way.

While India holds different fascinations for these 28 travellers who come from seven countries, the penchant for adventure travel is what they share in common. For the next seven days they will be touring south India in what they call India's workhorse - the rickshaw, as part of the fifth Annual Rickshaw Challenge-Classic Run-2011, that was flagged off at Hotel Residency Towers here on Friday.

For avid travellers Szilvia and Tamas K. from Hungary who have covered the whole of north India on earlier visits, the chance to see south India is what they are most excited about. “It seems we come to a different country every time, Amritsar is so different from Goa, and so is Bombay from Chennai,” says Tamas, adding that the search for something uniquely Indian is what has fuelled their journeys.

“The rickshaw is such a social leveller, we might dislike the auto- drivers, but the auto is so Indian,” says Aravind Bremanandam, the organiser of the event, and founder, Chennai Event Management Services. Tourists want to be informed travellers now and experience every inch of the vacation, he says.

This is a better way to meet people, and talk to them, especially children, says Melissa Sayres, a nurse from the U.S, showing off her autorickshaw filled with goodies and souvenirs to be handed to people she will meet enroute.

Many of them have their diaries ready too, to jot down their experiences, and the prospect of New Year celebrations in Puducherry leaves them pretty excited. Training sessions on driving an autorickshaw and handling minor repairs in the vehicle have worked well in preparing them for the adventure, they say.

...

ChennaiIndian

January 3rd, 2011, 06:12 AM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/City-builders-start-importing-cement-from-Pakistan/articleshow/7207752.cms

CHENNAI: Builders in Chennai have started importing cement from Pakistan and a vessel carrying the first consignment of 3,000 tonnes is expected to arrive here next week. The decision to import cement from the neighbouring country comes in the wake of domestic cement prices soaring high. :lol::lol::lol::lol:

Two months ago, builders in Kerala imported 400 tonnes of cement from Pakistan. "Satisfied with the quality, we've decided to import more," said Abdul Aziz, CMD of Kochi-based Skyline Builders. At a time when domestic manufacturers are selling at prices ranging from `235 to `265 a 50-kg bag, Pakistani cement will cost only `210 to `220 a bag on site for builders. "Six builders are importing cement in the first lot and more will follow suit," said T Chitty Babu, president of the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI). Babu's Akshaya Homes is among the largest consumers of cement in Chennai market. "Our company is importing 1,250 tonnes initially. Five other builders are taking 300-500 tonnes each. In all, 20 CREDAI members in Chennai have expressed willingness to import roughly 20,000 tonnes of cement per month from Pakistan. This will fulfil only 50% of our actual demand," said Babu.

...

ChennaiIndian

January 3rd, 2011, 06:14 AM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/PM-to-open-Science-Congress-today-6-Nobel-laureates-on-way/articleshow/7207528.cms

CHENNAI: The biggest jamboree of Indian science opens in Chennai on Monday with more than 7,500 scientists, including six Nobel laureates, from across the world in attendance. :cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

The Indian Science Congress at SRM University, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will be the 98th held in India uninterrupted during war, peace and everything in between since 1914. Established on the lines of the British model of Conference on the Advancement of Science, the first congress was held in January 1914 at the Asiatic Society in Calcutta with 150 scientists both from India and abroad.

Chennai will be hosting the congress for the seventh time, 12 years after the last one here in 1999.

"We expect around 10,000 participants, making it the largest such gathering in 98 years of its existence. It took us 18 months to prepare for the event at a cost of Rs 12 crore," SRM University vice chancellor P Sathyanarayanan said.

The congress has always been inaugurated on January 3 by the Prime Minister and chaired by the chief minister of the host state. However, on Monday, deputy chief minister MK Stalin will chair the event.

...

ChennaiIndian

January 3rd, 2011, 06:16 AM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/City-scorer-takes-guard-for-Ashes/articleshow/7207730.cms

CHENNAI: When the cricket world's attention rivets on the final Ashes Test starting today, not many may know that there would be an Indian scorer in the box in Australia, rapt in attention, trying to make the card as detailed as possible. Subramaniam, fondly known as Mani, a scorer for a local team named Aruna CC in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association league, has earned the distinction of being the only one of his kind in India to be sent to do the job for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on every Australian cricket tour. :cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

Mani's association with ABC started in 1996 when ABC was looking for an official scorer and both BCCI and TNCA recommended his name for the job. But for the Chennai resident, it has still been an uphill task to earn ABC's trust.

So why an Indian scorer for cricket-crazy Australia? "It always had its own scorers. But a fool-proof scoring system needs an expensive machine which costs Rs 65-lakh. ABC had a scorer but when the machine was lost from his room, they lost trust in him," Mani explained.

Mani is known for a distinctive style of scoring. We all remember VVS Laxman's epic 281 in the Kolkata Test against Australia but how many would know that 65 percent (182 runs) of his total runs came on the leg side? If you ask Mani, he would tell you that in a minute. Because, he writes the score diagonally from right to left when the batsman hits a four on the onside and from left to right when he scores on the off-side and thus has a clear idea how many runs the batsman scores from which side of the field. :cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

...

TShyam

January 3rd, 2011, 03:55 PM

Margazhi season, Science Congress, Chennai Open, Chennai Sangamam. Its all happening. Good going Chennai.

Arul Murugan

January 3rd, 2011, 04:11 PM

Margazhi season, Science Congress, Chennai Open, Chennai Sangamam. Its all happening. Good going Chennai.

Add Pongal, Chennai Book Fair, Mahabalipuram dance festival and newly added official Tamil new year by CM :nuts:

Many websites usually writes the best month to visit Chennai is b/w November to Feb.

ranga

January 3rd, 2011, 04:57 PM

Indian Sun

January 3rd, 2011, 05:06 PM

Why not go for a referendum to know from the majority of the population of that suburban area whether to be brought under the corporation limits or maintain status quo. why should the councillors be a stumbling block when they hardly do anything for the improvement of the suburbs except to enjoy power and thru that siphon money meant for development.

Good point.

TShyam

January 3rd, 2011, 05:30 PM

Add Pongal, Chennai Book Fair, Mahabalipuram dance festival and newly added official Tamil new year by CM :nuts:

Many websites usually writes the best month to visit Chennai is b/w November to Feb.

Oh yeah book fair!!! how can I forget it http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k379/NFDB/Brahmanandam%20-4/brahmi99.gif

Indian Sun

January 3rd, 2011, 06:40 PM

^^ You seem to be a Brahmanandam freak.

TShyam

January 3rd, 2011, 06:53 PM

Arasu

January 3rd, 2011, 08:36 PM

^^ You seem to be a Brahmanandam freak.

He is great.

Arasu

January 3rd, 2011, 08:39 PM

He has a very expressive face. Ideal to use as a smilie instead of the dumb options available in SSC. For example http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k379/NFDB/Brahmanandam%20-5/brahmi23.gif is better than :)

That is a novel idea! :)

It will be helpful if you can elaborate on how and where to get such 'smilies'.

wlbkng

January 3rd, 2011, 08:51 PM

That is a novel idea! :)

It will be helpful if you can elaborate on how and where to get such 'smilies'.

http://s325.photobucket.com/albums/k379/NFDB/Brahmanandam%20-5/

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g278/sreehchintapalli/vadivelu.gif

kongutamizhan

January 3rd, 2011, 08:56 PM

^^ Off topic, is it only me thinking so or does Brahmanandam imitate Goundamani? Just asking because I see similarities in their expressions (Atleast during Brahmanadam's initial career, I haven't watched much telugu movies off-late so don't know if he changed mannerism. )

Arasu

January 3rd, 2011, 09:25 PM

http://s325.photobucket.com/albums/k379/NFDB/Brahmanandam%20-5/

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g278/sreehchintapalli/vadivelu.gif

Thanks, wlbkng!

wlbkng

January 3rd, 2011, 09:34 PM

Thanks, wlbkng!
:cheers:

wlbkng

January 3rd, 2011, 09:40 PM

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00333/03THESTATE_333845f.jpg
Many suburbs that lack infrastructure pin their hopes on the proposed city expansion. Suburbs such as Ambattur, which face the problem of congestion, are deprived of infrastructure facilities, say residents.

Chennai Corporation's recent move to defer taking a decision on the proposed expansion of the city limits by merging local bodies in its fringes has been met with disappointment from suburban residents and mixed response from the elected representatives.

As per the proposal, a total of 42 local bodies, including 25 village panchayats, in the periphery were to be merged with the city, thereby expanding its boundary from the existing 173 sq. km. to 430 sq.km.

However, the much-expected resolution on the expansion could not be passed by the Corporation Council as most councillors wanted specific details of each of the 200 proposed wards. Some ward members demanded that suburban corporations be created instead of merging local bodies to enable decentralisation of power and better administration.

The move has created fear among the residents that it would further delay the implementation of the proposal.

V. Raghuraman, a resident of Ambattur, said the local body had increased the property tax over the years. But, there has not been any change in the infrastructure, be it roads or water supply and sewage facilities.

With the growing population in the suburbs, a comprehensive infrastructure development could be expected only if they are brought under the Corporation limits, he said.

Some residents such as S. Kannan of Madipakkam said the proposal had led to hike in the land price in the suburbs that were to be merged with the city.

Residents of various localities said that the government must soon implement the proposal to extend city limit or create more corporations as there would be more revenue generation that could be diverted for area development.

B.Kannan of Prabhu Nagar Residents Welfare Association, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, said many village and town panchayats found it difficult to fulfil the demands of the residents owing to severe financial crunch. “We had pinned our hopes on the proposal as suburbs would also be provided with facilities on a par with the city,” he said.

While some were in favour of establishing suburban corporations as it would bring a new identity and elevate the status of the local bodies, residents such as B.Varadarajan of Maduravoyal said it would only become a bigger agglomeration of civic bodies and there may not be much improvement.

D. S. Sivasamy, president of Citizens Forum, Chromepet, and former official of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply, said Thiruvanmiyur, Velachery and Saligramam were originally town panchayats. Only after their merger with the Corporation, these localities witnessed tremendous growth.

The Corporation's move also had a cascading effect on many municipalities' council meetings. While several of them, including Tiruvottiyur and Madhavaram, adjourned their resolution on city expansion, a few local bodies such as Ambattur opposed the proposal.

At the Tiruvottiyur council meeting, many councillors had objected to the expansion as the delimitation of the wards was not satisfactory. Tiruvottiyur municipal chairman R.Jayaraman said, “We had to postpone the resolution following stiff opposition from some councillors. Merging with Corporation would expedite developmental activities in the area. Establishing a new Corporation in suburban areas would become a success only if additional powers are delegated.”

Many elected representatives in the suburbs said there would be more focus on the suburban areas when they join the city.

Madhavaram municipality vice-chairman S.Sudarsanam said that areas in the northern periphery would gain importance if they joined the city. More funds would be diverted when the localities become part of the Corporation.

However, elected representatives in the city noted that the resolution may not be taken up at the council meeting until the Assembly elections are over. Opposition leader in the Corporation Council Saidai P.Ravi said if the city expansion proposal was implemented, additional fund from the Central government could be obtained for the development of the suburbs.

Chennai Mayor M.Subramanian said it may be difficult to pass the resolution at the remaining few council meetings before the Assembly elections. The civic body is preparing jurisdiction plan demanded by the councillors.

Observing that other greater cities such as New Delhi and Hyderabad are larger in size than the proposed expansion of the city, he said efficient administration would not be an issue.

On the projects, estimated to cost Rs.3,871 crore, which were proposed by the Corporation to improve amenities in city's fringes, he said submission to the State government would be put on hold till the council's nod. “We will consult the government on further steps to be taken on the proposal. Creating more Corporations depends on the government's decision. The resolution on the expansion has only been adjourned. It has not been cancelled,” he said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1025603.ece

wlbkng

January 3rd, 2011, 09:45 PM

I have few doubts. Pls someone clarify...

* How long will it take the city expansion to be realised assuming that the resolution for merger is passed?

* Why did they not include areas in Southwest beyond Tambaram?

* The proposed expansion is just 430 sq.km while other cities are bigger than this. Why did CMDA approve such a small expansion? Is there a scope to increase the expansion area by amending the inclusion of left out areas?

* How will this effect the census data? Like the population etc factors.

* Is it possible to bring this resolution before elections in May 2011?

* Assuming that JJ govt captures power, will this proposed expansion be passed?

satchitananda

January 3rd, 2011, 10:03 PM

* Why did they not include areas in Southwest beyond Tambaram?

* The proposed expansion is just 430 sq.km while other cities are bigger than this. Why did CMDA approve such a small expansion? Is there a scope to increase the expansion area by amending the inclusion of left out areas?

Shortsightedness. Total lack of vision and city planning. The entire delineation exercise has been highly political.

The ones who favored the expansion (aka politicians of side A) believe that they can retain the corporation and also the constituencies and the ones who oppose (aka politicians of Side B) do not wanna lose their advantage.

Like Ranga said, this would ideally be a ballot question in the west where this question will be answered by the electorate.

* How will this effect the census data? Like the population etc factors.

This should have no bearing on the census. But the way the census data can be analyzed (based on the final shape and size of the city) will project the city in different light. The relationship most likely will be the other way around.

* Is it possible to bring this resolution before elections in May 2011?

* Assuming that JJ govt captures power, will this proposed expansion be passed?

The ways of our politicians are mysterious to the layman, but the driving factor will be money.. With the scams dominating the mediascape, its perhaps more unlikely, this issue will not feature in any manifesto. For eg., PMK will feature it as a big opposition. DMK may favor it, but unlikely to get traction as issue as they are incumbents. AIADMK.. guess unless this gives them some political ammo, the issue could be largely skirted.

Now my post looks like Cho's Thulaq column. Hope we both dont lose hair. ;)

wlbkng

January 3rd, 2011, 10:10 PM

^^ Thanks for your replies mate. Its so bad that our city planners are short sighted.

kadavule nammoorukku vidivu kaalame varadha?

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k379/NFDB/Akkineni%20Nagarjuna%20-1/nag7.gif

TShyam

January 3rd, 2011, 10:50 PM

That is a novel idea! :)

It will be helpful if you can elaborate on how and where to get such 'smilies'.

The link given by wlbkng is a good one. That is actually page 5. You can change the url between Brahmanandam -1 to Brahmanandam -8 to get lot of files.

These image files are called .gif files. So you can search it in google image too (for example Vadivel gif) to get other actors too.

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq178/Benedic707/vadivelu1.gif

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 02:00 AM

Chennai lacks a brand image. Currently all it comes to mind is a very disintegrated view of city. For improving this, CBD(Central Business District) is very important and all major world cities have one where the heavy weight economic activities are packed in it and move the other developments out. If we consider mount road and LIC is the core CBD, i am afraid we have a skewed image. We have 30 storey buildings are being built in sholinganallur as residential complexes. We have adyar boat club selling million dollar flats. We have starved the CBD and high rise development because of lack of space. We have many government agencies occupying plum vast spaces within city which is not justified. The recent move by Metro to acquire poultry research land is a desparate move. But would it require such a vast space is a question. Should we integrate all spaces that are not people inhabited otherwise inhabited by government agencies to make their operations effective by building 100+ skyscrapers? Should we build our roads and infrastruture based on consolidation of government owned lands and give a meaningful and economically progresive move to develop CBD? Attached image is a google map of chennai with yellow marked boundaries representing the possible CBD. I am not against the lung cover and all that. But i see a opportunity in chennai to consolidate and make it something big. We need to get this right the first time. If we consolidate i see a vision where the space is continous between secratariat to central and beyond without ugly compound walls separating each plots and plan a Multi skyscraper CBD based in island grounds. Refer also a plan of shangai. I see something strikingly similar! Its skyscrpercity forum, lets talk skscrapers!!

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9182/chennaidevelopment.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/cityw/Skyscrapercity/LUJIAZUIMAPAcopy.jpg

wlbkng

January 4th, 2011, 02:41 AM

^^ I welcome your ideas. Even I keep on dreaming about skyscrapers in Chennai. Yet who will be the takers for this skyscrapers..? If you take Shangai, its a financial city and you can see all banking, insurance and financial institutions consolidating at one place. But if you take chennai, most of the financial cos operate from Mumbai except few like World bank, stanchart etc. which are based out of Chennai. Even for this our Dy. CM proposed the financial city but it is still in papers i suppose(can someone throw light on the current status of the project pls).

The idea to make this CBD possible is to take some of these actions..

* Request all big companies which has mfg units in Chennai/TN like Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Ford, Renault Nissan, BMW, Foxconn, Flextronics, Hyundai etc etc etc to start/shift their Indian/Asian/world HQ to the proposed CBD skyscraper zone.

* The govt should also make talks and bring in world financial majors to start their operations based in these proposed skyscrapers

* Create a sustainable stock market(its hard I believe to compete with BSE/NSE) and encourage the companies to list in the newly created stock market/commodity trading centre.

* Create the necessary infrastructure first of all. Without the expansion of the city, creation of multi storied residential complexes, improvement of public transport system, drainage network, road and other basic facilities it would be choked even if it comes into reality.

* The SG could shift all of its depts HQ into one skyscraper. It can bring all of its operations in one building.

* Ideally Island grounds will be an ideal space to build the skyscrapers in the beginning. But there would be opposition from politicians who will stimulate locals against this project

* Corruption may play spoilsport at some point of time. Hence a SPV(spl purpose vehicle) has to be created and all the investment and amount spent should be made transparent and information should be made accessible to public.

* Timelines should be specified and should be strictly adhered to.

* Central organisations and PSUs should be convinced to bring their HQ to this place. For eg BHEL, BEL, National Insurance company, Govt mining companies, LIC(which can demolish its own building and build a skyscraper there itself)

* All software companies can also be wooed to start the head operations out of these skyscrapers.

All these facts can be realised once the govt is committed. Is there anyone in this forum who can somehow convey atleast some of these ideas to concerned officials/ Deputy CM. Am I dreaming and asking more?

kongutamizhan

January 4th, 2011, 03:03 AM

Arul Murugan

January 4th, 2011, 03:15 AM

^^

ivanunga thaayi pathininu naan othukaren:lol:
----------------------------------------------------------------

"Singara" Chennai slogan is an inspiration from "Singa" pore? Our politicians are already following the foot path of Singapore!

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 03:23 AM

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 03:31 AM

^^Chennai -> Shanghai, Mumbai -> Shanghai, Bangalore -> Shanghai we have too many paper Shanghai's in India now:nuts:. Embuttu adichalum thangaranyannu ippadiyae moothira sandhula pottu podhu-sanatha adichikittae irundha eppudi?

On a serious note inga enna Gandhiyum, Kamarajarum-a aatchi seyyuranga Chennaiya shanghaiya mathurathukku? First thing first. Good roads, clean sanitation, clean drinking water, Rapid transportation system, proper security (law & order) idhu ellam varushathukku onna eduthukuttu chennai-la adutha 5 varushathukku senju mudicha adhuvae periya vishayam.

Ada Tamilnadu poora seyyanumngara aasaya kooda vuttutanya, oru oorulayavathu idha urupadiya ivanungala senju kaata sollunga, ivanunga thaayi pathininu naan othukaren:lol:

I think you missed the point of global image. Chennai is already a city in global map and well known. The point is not about enhancements but about transformation. There is always hope that some bright head in power is also going through these threads. So lets be positive and use less of negative vibes. Beleive me it is good for you and all.

wlbkng

January 4th, 2011, 03:37 AM

I think you missed the point of global image. Chennai is already a city in global map and well known. The point is not about enhancements but about transformation. There is always hope that some bright head in power is also going through these threads. So lets be positive and use less of negative vibes. Beleive me it is good for you and all.

Do you really think so? I don't believe, otherwise almost all the projects would have been completed as of now

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 03:40 AM

Do you really think so? I don't believe, otherwise almost all the projects would have been completed as of now

Ok then let us try to find the relevant people and post it to them and hope :)

kongutamizhan

January 4th, 2011, 03:40 AM

There is always hope that some bright head in power is also going through these threads. So lets be positive and use less of negative vibes. Beleive me it is good for you and all.

I like your post and agree with you in spirit. No second thots about it. But experience combined with rationalism [considering present and near-future situation] tells me otherwise:)

wlbkng

January 4th, 2011, 03:43 AM

We could also move the chennai port facilities to ennore port and create more space for CBD. I do not know why ennore could not be made as a single main port for the region. Yes it takes lots of money to create the infrastructure but makes sense to me on long run atleast..

I dont know why the chennai port is black in satellite picture. If they are dumping coal, my god cant this be done in ennore away from city? If we move the port we could have a NY, Shangai like skyline with water taxi, luxury boat berths, parks, amphitheatre, etc. Someone who has the power in govt just need to visualize it.

This is suicidal. We can make it more efficient instead of closing it. That is a wise move. Already most of the dirty cargo like coal, iron ore has been shifted to ennore port. Building a port is not that easy my friend. Chennai port is over 125 yrs old. It can be made clean cargo port and highly efficient. I remember TR Baalu once saying in a news interview that the newly proposed terminals that are to come up are gonna be built inside the sea due to lack of space. Chennai port is one of the top 3 ports in India and dont you think that is rubbish to demolish a big port just to build skyscrapers? In that case, I prefer chennai to be like this itself. They can shift the CBD to sholinganallur area instead.

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 03:51 AM

chennai does not have small boat berths for recreation. would it be a good idea to have a boat berth built. For example opposite to gandhi statue waters?

It could be a private and public recreation place with boats and cruises. Any thoughts? How about a full moon cruise, walk along the ramp on a full moon night? Dont you think we have done enough of wetting our pants by standing on the shore?:lol:

please build the imagination and not the CRZ rules here and think the possibilities!

http://img814.imageshack.us/f/marinagandhistatue.jpg/

bonoslack7

January 4th, 2011, 03:53 AM

We could also move the chennai port facilities to ennore port and create more space for CBD. I do not know why ennore could not be made as a single main port for the region. Yes it takes lots of money to create the infrastructure but makes sense to me on long run atleast..

I dont know why the chennai port is black in satellite picture. If they are dumping coal, my god cant this be done in ennore away from city? If we move the port we could have a NY, Shangai like skyline with water taxi, luxury boat berths, parks, amphitheatre, etc. Someone who has the power in govt just need to visualize it.

for your info, singapore port is one of the largest ports in the world. There would be no problem with the port. Moreover, ennore and chennai port are completely different-cater to different needs. It gives employment to a lot of people. ennore port is used for coal.

Thank god that the government hasn't allowed many high rises in city. make sure that they aren't built on arterial roads like mount road or beach road. Maybe 4 buildings diagonally opposite on a street intersection.

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 04:02 AM

This is suicidal. We can make it more efficient instead of closing it. That is a wise move. Already most of the dirty cargo like coal, iron ore has been shifted to ennore port. Building a port is not that easy my friend. Chennai port is over 125 yrs old. It can be made clean cargo port and highly efficient. I remember TR Baalu once saying in a news interview that the newly proposed terminals that are to come up are gonna be built inside the sea due to lack of space. Chennai port is one of the top 3 ports in India and dont you think that is rubbish to demolish a big port just to build skyscrapers? In that case, I prefer chennai to be like this itself. They can shift the CBD to sholinganallur area instead.

why not? compare ports with china. We can build greater one in ennore. I know it may not sum up in the head but there is a possibility since we have an alternative port.

Arul Murugan

January 4th, 2011, 04:15 AM

why not? compare ports with china. We can build greater one in ennore. I know it may not sum up in the head but there is a possibility since we have an alternative port.

More than 3000crores is being spent on Chennai port for expansion and modernization! so just wind up the dream about closing the operation and shifting it to Ennore. Further as every one mentioned here, Chennai port have location importance for companies in SRPD belt.

Comparing with China's infrastructure for Indian cities/ports/expressway/railway fits only for distant dream. In reality we get something else.

wlbkng

January 4th, 2011, 04:21 AM

More than 3000crores is being spent on Chennai port for expansion and modernization! so just wind up the dream about closing the operation and shifting it to Ennore. Further as every one mentioned here, Chennai port have location importance for companies in SRPD belt.

Comparing with China's infrastructure for Indian cities/ports/expressway/railway fits only for distant dream. In reality we get something else.

+1 :cheers:

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 04:23 AM

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 04:26 AM

I like your post and agree with you in spirit. No second thots about it. But experience combined with rationalism [considering present and near-future situation] tells me otherwise:)

You never know planning commission may give us a big bucket of cash thriugh JNNURM and other means. Urban renewel is high in agenda. Note that it is not basic ameneties but how to make cities as power center of growth. So there are hope since we have fallen very low in development comparatively...

Doraman

January 4th, 2011, 06:17 AM

Ok then let us try to find the relevant people and post it to them and hope :)

Personal mails sent to Housing and Urban development ministry and CMDA chennai about the thoughts and i am closing my action item.

hud@tn.gov.in
vccmda@tn.gov.in
mscmda@tn.gov.in
ceocmda@tn.gov.in

wlbkng

January 4th, 2011, 07:34 AM

Personal mails sent to Housing and Urban development ministry and CMDA chennai about the thoughts and i am closing my action item.

hud@tn.gov.in
vccmda@tn.gov.in
mscmda@tn.gov.in
ceocmda@tn.gov.in

did you email already or you are gonna send now? i hope its worth to wait for more inputs from forumers. I appreciate your spirit and passion :applause:

ezhilan81

January 4th, 2011, 08:21 AM

People that are knowledgeable in road engineering may please through some light on this. Why don't they cover the entire width of the road like they do in other countries? I guess this is the primary reason for the Indian cities to look unkempt and dusty. This is the case even in the arterial roads of the city. No Indian city is free from this and it is even worse in Chennai. Just a few simple things like clean roads, encroachment free, usable and properly laid pavement (not at one feet high!), uniform signage, lot of greenery will change the image of Chennai in a big way. Chennai appears to be unfriendly to anybody that is not familiar to the city and the culture.

State Government does appear to spend a lot of money on building the road infrastructure. But the execution process certainly needs to be improved as it appears that there are no proper supervision and quality assurance in whatever they do. We hardly see any senior level bureaucrat responsible for quality (leave alone any junior level officer that is responsible from the government side for supervision even being present there) visit the work sites. The bureaucracy is riddled with too many administrative processes with the result they loose focus on the actual work itself. Lot of time is spent on tender processing and associated work but too little time on ensuring the quality of work and proper maintenance there after. Also, one thing that appears to be universal is lack of maintenance. It is important like developing the infrastructure itself.

I am not an expert in road engineering, but my father is a road contractor and through his experience I can just say that the root cause for the poor quality of roads is corruption. For eg if a contractor bids for a 10 lakhs worth road project, he first needs to bribe the fellow competitors to ensure they dont bid lower than him (If you dont do this, somebody else will use recommendation and grab it from you). Say he pays about 10K to 5 people. This comes to 50K. Now once you bid and win the tender, you still will not be awarded the go ahead until you bribe the senior Engineer who signs your project. Another 50K for him. While laying roads the labours will surely play havoc (by stealing Kerosene, Thaar barrels etc) and create a loss of another 50K. Then comes the area dons who will expect you to pay donations for their area Mariyamma Kovil or Ambedkar narpani manram etc, which is another 10K-15K. Then comes the quality inspector, who will by default give you a good quality certificate if you take care of his daily needs. Finally after paying everybody and completing the work, at the time of bill payment, the area councillor will not sign the bill until you pay him a commission, say another 50K. You would've worked for 2 weeks day and night on a 10 lakhs worth project hoping you would make a profit of at least 1-2 lakhs, but our system works in a way that bribes account for about 30% expenses. So quality is compromised and if I had to lay a road for 8 lakhs, I would try to finish it for 5 lakhs, thus retaining my profit. Nobody likes paying bribes, but the system forces you to pay if you have to make an earning. If you have high level contacts then a few of these expenses can be avoided, but nevertheless all govt projects work in this manner.:bash:

robertashok

January 4th, 2011, 11:24 AM

robertashok

January 4th, 2011, 12:47 PM

In my recent visit to chennai, I observed the vehicular pollution was less, is it because of recent changes in Petrol

greatshankar

January 4th, 2011, 06:15 PM

Expat Cost of Living in India

When an expatriate moves from one geographic location to another, the change in cost of living they experience is relative to the change in the purchasing power of their salary. The basic principle is that a move to a higher cost of living city should be accompanied by a proportionately higher salary in order to maintain the same amount of purchasing power and vice versa. If an expatriate is fortunate enough to move to a lower cost of living city without a decrease in their salary, their purchasing power increases proportionately to the decrease in the cost of living.

India still offers opportunity for expatriates moving to India to experience an increase in their purchasing power. The major cities of India offer a relatively low cost of living for expatriates according to www.xpatulator.com. Bangalore has an overall cost of living index (comprised of the prices for defined quantities of the same goods and services) of 64.6 (New York=100) and is the 38th cheapest place in the world for expatriates to live, out of our 276 international locations. In comparison Hyderabad has an index of 68.8 and is ranked 55th, Calcutta has an index of 69.3, and is ranked 56th, Chennai has an index of 70.7 and is ranked 65th,New Delhi has an index of 71.4 and is ranked 70th, while Mumbai has an index of 76 and ranked the 105th cheapest place in the world for expatriates to live.

Source (http://www.myefficientplanet.com/tag/chennai-cost-of-living-2010/)

ChennaiIndian

January 4th, 2011, 11:10 PM

http://www.aircelchennaiopen.org/2011/news/view/5

Chennai, November 25, 2010: Aircel Chennai Open - India’s first and only ATP World Tour Event is once again set to host some exciting tennis action. To be held from 3rd to 9th January 2011, the tournament will be played at the SDAT Tennis Stadium at Nungambakam, Chennai. The USD 450,000 Aircel Chennai Open 2011 has established itself as one of the important ATP tournaments held every year. In its 16th year now, Aircel Chennai Open 2011 will feature an impressive line-up of tennis stars, both Indian and International, who will vie for one of the first ATP titles of the new season. :cheers::cheers: The week long tournament will be telecast live exclusively on Ten Sports.

Leading the field this year is current World No. 6 Tomas Berdych, who had a break-out season in 2010, by reaching the Wimbledon final after beating Roger Federer in the quarters. He also reached the semi-finals of the French Open and re-entered the top-10 ATP world rankings. Berdych is joined by the two-time singles defending champion Marin Cilic, who is currently World No. 14. In the year 2010, Cilic reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and won the Aircel Chennai Open beating Stanislas Wawrinka. He won his first title in Chennai at the 2009 event, defeating Somdev Devvarman.

Amongst other well-known players this year, World no. 29 Richard Gasquet will be a part of the tournament. Aircel Chennai Open 2010 doubles finalist and World no. 49 Janko Tipsarevic along with World no. 61 Xavier Malisse, a former singles and doubles champion of this event in 2007, will be playing in the tournament. Fresh out of his two gold medals at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, Somdev Devvarman, World no. 106 will also participate at Aircel Chennai Open this year.

The field for Singles Draw of Aircel Chennai Open 2011 boasts of 5 players from the top 50 ATP ranking. Additionally, 15 players are from the top 100 rankings, thus making it a powerful and impressive field.

Speaking through Video conference, Mr. Fernando Soler, Tournament Director and Head of Tennis IMG Worldwide, said, “It is extremely gratifying for us to host a successful ATP Tournament year after year, which is possible due to the steady support from our sponsors. As in the past years, the upcoming Aircel Chennai Open will showcase world-class tennis with several top players and also a few exciting upcoming young talents. With Aircel Chennai Open 2011, we look forward to the beginning of a new and brilliant tennis season.”

...

vijayvmail

January 5th, 2011, 06:19 AM

Chennai: Political parties in Tamil Nadu hoping to garner support of young voters in the upcoming assembly elections may have to face a bitter truth.
Many in the 18-24 age group, which accounts for the bulk of the total number of eligible young electors, are yet to sign up to vote even though the voting age was reduced to 18 from 21 two decades ago with the avowed aim of infusing youth power into the electoral exercise.
According to figures available with the state election commission, the projected population of Tamil Nadu in the age group of 18-24 is 95.28 lakh. But only 48.66 lakh of these youths have enrolled in the run up to the 2011 state assembly election. And, the projected population in Chennai in the 18-24 age group is 7.15 lakh but those enrolled in the voters’ list include just 3.21 lakh, less than 50% in both cases. Projected population of first time voters in the age group 18-19 in Tamil Nadu is 28.66 lakh, but only 9.53 lakh of these youngsters enrolled themselves in the voters’ list. The first time projected voters in Chennai is 1.91 lakh but only 60,855 have enrolled.
“Compared to the rest of India, under-enrolment in the 18-24 age group in Tamil Nadu is fairly significant,” chief electoral officer Praveenkumar told TOI. Students Federation of India (SFI) state president KS Kanagaraj has appealed to the Election Commission to supply the voter enrolment forms through colleges and facilitate registration of fresh voters for the forthcoming assembly election.
Stating that most of youngsters are not aware of the procedure to enrol their names in the voters’ list, he urged the ECI to launch an awareness campaign in the state.
Political parties in the state, banking on youth power, have also expressed concern at the apathy among young voters. The AIADMK MGR Youth Wing secretary Aadi Rajaram called for giving special attention to the growing population of migrant youth.
The ECI should organise special camps for migrants, who have left their native places for various reasons, he said and favoured making voter registration compulsory.
Youth Congress state president Yuvaraj said he had personally met all vice-chancellors across the state and requested them to initiate an awareness drive among students on the need to enrol themselves in the voters’ list. The Youth Congress has planned to start a “pilot project” from January to ascertain the inclusion of the non-registered youth in the age group of 18-35 across the state in the electoral rolls and launch a campaign to sensitise them. “We will meet Praveenkumar and ask him to issue enrolment forms to all colleges. This would help them get registered without much difficulty,” said Yuvaraj.
Senior DMK leader and MP, T K S Elangovan said DMK cadres had carried out a doorto-door campaign after the ECI released draft voters’ list. Earlier, his party had also issued the enrolment forms in every house but the EC has restrained political parties from undertaking this work. The DMK has now appealed to the EC to set up temporary offices in polling booths for this purpose, he said.

Apathy To Polls
The projected population in Chennai in the 18-24 age group is 7.15 lakh but those enrolled in the voters’ list is just 3.21 lakh
Stating that most of youngsters are not aware of the procedure to enrol their names in the voters’ list, SFI urged the ECI to launch an awareness campaign in the state
Compared to the rest of India, under-enrolment in the 18-24 age group in TN is fairly significant, says CEO Praveenkumar

Source: Times of India, Chennai Edition, dated 05-Jan-2011 (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOICH&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI)
This is not strictly Infrastructure related news. But I just wanted to highlight this because we spend so much time discussing what the government does, should do or does not do.

End of the day, governance is directed by political motives. We, the citizens are the end consumers and a majority of the politican's activities are directed towards getting our vote to stay in power. So, we must make them realize that we matter to them and that our needs should be met. We cannot make ourselves heard unless we VOTE.

Granted, most politicians today are crooks and hence most of us do not feel like voting. But only if majority of us turn up to VOTE, can we force these people to listen to us. They should realize, if they do not deliver, then our vote will go to the 'crook' from the other party. So, at least that way, they should be forced to deliver.

As long as we do not vote, they'll continue to 'buy' votes through cash, briyani, TASMAC or freebies.

So, please vote in the coming election and also urge anyone you see to go and vote. Otherwise, all these pages and pages of discussions here are a complete waste.

bonoslack7

January 5th, 2011, 07:18 AM

http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4766308

kannan infratech

January 5th, 2011, 08:05 AM

@ Chennai Suburbs being merged into CMA:

The resistance from the suburban municipalities - esp counsellors is mainly due to the fear of losing their clout over the spending.

The supporters are eyeing the larger funds, which may come their way due to the merger with Chennai - CMA. If they have 3 corporations, 3 mayors can be accommodated.

For all practical purposes, merger can not be reversed - may be delayed.

Incidentally the so called JNNURM funds may be curtailed to a great extent for the developed states like TN, AP, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka etc as they have already drawn heavily in comparison to other states. The next Govt in TN may not have the luxury of huge JNNURM funds. They may have to depend on fresh World Bank / ADB /JIAC funds.

ezhilan81

January 5th, 2011, 08:56 AM

10 all-terrain vehicles on city beaches before Kaanum Pongal

CHENNAI: The police plan to commission about 10 All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) on the city's beaches before Kaanum Pongal'.

"We have ordered 10 ATVs and Elliots Beach will get another ATV. We plan to sanction an ATV for Neelankarai beach. The rest will be allotted to the Anna Square, Marina and Foreshore Estate police stations according to the crowds," police commissioner T Rajendran said.

The initiative follows a series of drowning mishaps. In the past one week, nearly five persons drowned in the sea off the Marina.

Each ATV, with a 250cc engine, can travel at 80 kmph and will be fitted with a siren and other additional features of a beat patrol motorcycle. The vehicles after commissioning will be handed over to the deputy commissioners of police concerned.

Each Taiwan-made ATV, which can even negotiate an incline of 50-60 degrees, costs Rs 3 lakh and gives 10 km per litre of petrol. Ten personnel of the Sastri Nagar police station have been trained to handle the vehicle. The vehicle.

"We have a police outpost at Elliots Beach and the ATVs will be kept at the Sastri Nagar police station. In 2010, there were 11 drowning cases reported off Elliots Beach. After the inauguration of ATV there, no casualties were reported," Adyar deputy commissioner of police MC Sarangan told TOI.

"Recently, five college students struggling in the sea raised an alarm. The police in the ATV noticed them and alerted the lifeguards who rescued them. There is no problem in people frolicking in ankle deep water. People should not venture too deep into the sea at dangerous spots," south Chennai joint commissioner of police P Shakthivelu said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/10-all-terrain-vehicles-on-city-beaches-before-Kaanum-Pongal/articleshow/7219466.cms

ezhilan81

January 5th, 2011, 09:25 AM

Chennai has a great reputation on the tennis circuit

Ravi Krishnan, senior vice-president of IMG and managing director of IMG South Asia, spoke in an interview about this year's event, Chennai's love for tennis and IMG Reliance's efforts to encourage the sport among Indian youngsters.

How do international players find Chennai?
Chennai and the tournament have a great reputation on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour. Players love the Park Hotel. They are very happy with the facilities and are overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity of the public. That's why we have so many players who come back year after year. Players, their wives, girlfriends, etc., do go sightseeing and shopping. In fact, the tournament has regular sightseeing tours around the city, so that players can relax when they are not training or playing. Though the tournament has attracted popular names like Carlos Moya, Marin Cilic and Xavier Malisse, none is as big as Rafael Nadal, who was ranked world no. 2 when he played here in 2007. Now, of course, he is world no. 1.

Read the full interview here: http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Chennai-has-a-great-reputation-on-the-tennis-circuit/5038547206

TShyam

January 5th, 2011, 10:36 AM

Ravi Krishnan, senior vice-president of IMG and managing director of IMG South Asia, spoke in an interview about this year's event, Chennai's love for tennis and IMG Reliance's efforts to encourage the sport among Indian youngsters.

The 16th edition of Aircel Chennai Open, India's oldest tennis event and one of the first tournaments of the season on the international tennis calendar, began on 3 January. IMG Reliance, a venture of IMG Worldwide and Reliance Industries Ltd, formed in March 2010, is the event manager for the tournament. Ravi Krishnan, senior vice-president of IMG and managing director of IMG South Asia, spoke in an interview about this year's event, Chennai's love for tennis and IMG Reliance's efforts to encourage the sport among Indian youngsters. Edited excerpts:

How has your event survived for so long, even as others launched in the interim fell by the wayside?
The uninterrupted successful run of the Aircel Chennai Open in India is due to a combination of our global and local strengths and relationships, making it the longest running annual tennis event in South Asia. Globally, we are the largest independent promoter of events and representative of tennis players. We combine this domain expertise with unrivalled experience in promoting, commercializing, operating and distributing large-scale events such as Lakme Fashion week, Indian Premier League, Avantha Masters golf tournament in India. We have a dedicated and experienced team of individuals, both globally and nationally, who work on the Aircel Chennai Open. We are also supported by the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association and the All India Tennis Association since the tournament's inception, and appreciate their involvement. The government of Tamil Nadu also provides invaluable support to make the event possible.

The tournament started in New Delhi but eventually moved to Chennai. What is your assessment of tennis fans in Chennai?
Chennai has been correctly referred to as the spiritual home of Indian tennis, being the birth or training place of some of India's greatest players like the Amritrajs, Krishnans, Leander (Paes), Mahesh (Bhupathi), Somdev (Devvarman) and many others. This has led to tennis being one of the most popular sports in the city and state, creating a knowledgeable and committed fan base which has followed the Aircel Chennai Open since it came to this city in 1997. The players love playing in Chennai because of the fans.

Given that India is a cricket-crazy nation, are you satisfied by the response to tennis in general-and to the Chennai Open in particular-from the public?
We are a cricket crazy nation, but Chennai is a tennis crazy city. The fans are respectful of and knowledgeable about the players. When the action starts, the fans cheer wildly, enthusiastically and in the spirit of sportsmanship. I have many great memories, including the first time Boris Becker stepped on to the court. The noise was so great, I thought the stands would crumble! Leander and Mahesh's tournament wins and the way the crowds got behind them, especially in close matches. Also, the epic semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya, one of the longest three-set matches in the history of the game, the crowds went wild that night.

How do international players find Chennai?
Chennai and the tournament have a great reputation on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour. Players love the Park Hotel. They are very happy with the facilities and are overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity of the public. That's why we have so many players who come back year after year. Players, their wives, girlfriends, etc., do go sightseeing and shopping. In fact, the tournament has regular sightseeing tours around the city, so that players can relax when they are not training or playing. Though the tournament has attracted popular names like Carlos Moya, Marin Cilic and Xavier Malisse, none is as big as Rafael Nadal, who was ranked world no. 2 when he played here in 2007. Now, of course, he is world no. 1.

Do you plan to bring him back, or get others from the world's top 5?
Let's not forget that in addition to the names you have mentioned, we have had, over the years, Boris Becker, Richard Krajicek, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Thomas Enqvist, Patrick Rafter, the Woodies (Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge) and many other top players. We would always welcome Rafa (Nadal) back to the tournament and hope that he can play in the future. In Tomas Berdych, who is heading the field this year, we have one of the hottest players on the tour, the guy who knocked out (world no. 2) Roger Federer out of Wimbledon in 2010.

In 2009, we saw Somdev Devvarman break out at this tournament. How do you see his future as a tennis player?
Somdev had a great year, both breaking into the top 100 and also representing India with distinction in Davis Cup and at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. He is a hardworking boy, a fine example to youngsters and someone who is passionate and committed to improving. There is no reason he cannot continue to rise up the rankings.

Why don't we see more children in India taking up tennis full-time? Do Indians focus too much on education rather than sport?
We believe that there are many talented youngsters in this vast country. IMG Reliance has created the IMG Reliance Scholarship for India programme, which provides talented athletes the opportunity to continue pursuing their sporting excellence in combination with a first class formal education. This year, five young tennis players were selected by Nick Bollettieri to go to IMG Academies, Florida, (US,) where they are pursuing their dreams of becoming professional tennis players while being given full, formal education.

Education is very important to Indians and, at the end of the day, it is a fall back option to many who do not go on to become successful professionals. Approximately 80-90% of full-time scholars at IMG Academies go on to get partial or whole scholarships at US colleges. So we believe that we are giving these children the best opportunity to pursue their dreams while also protecting their future.

Other than Aircel, are other private sector companies in India keen to sponsor tennis and young talent in tennis?
We are grateful to the many public and private sector companies that support the Aircel Chennai Open...companies like Mahindra Resorts have been sponsoring Yuki Bhambri since 2009 and have demonstrated a commitment to supporting young talent. Tennis is an expensive sport and aspirants like Yuki need corporate support.

Do you plan to organize tennis events in another Indian city, besides Chennai?
We are always open to developing new opportunities in the sport of tennis.