India is 88th best place to live

India has moved up 35 places since last year to become the 88th best country to live in, leaving behind Russia and China, says a survey. In fact it is the best place after Bhutan in the sub-continent, says the 2010 quality of life index published by travel magazine International Living. In 2009, India was the fourth best country in South Asia after Bhutan, The Maldives and Sri Lanka. France topped the poll for the fifth consecutive year, followed by Australia, Switzerland, and Germany. The US lost four positions to end at seventh. The index, published for the 30th year, ranks 194 nations in nine categories: cost of living, culture and leisure, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, safety and risk, and climate. India has gained around 25 points to touch 65 points in the cost of living category. Iraq tops the cost of living category with 100 points.

Hockey India

Sad state of affairs....Hockey being the national game.

Sabarmati Riverfront update

By year 2012 during Uttarayan, kite enthusiasts will have to scamper for space at the scenic Sabarmati riverfront. Till then, the riverfront will be dotted with new skyline in shapes varying from a circle,square, rhombus, quadrilateral along the strech between Nehru Bridge and Gandhi Bridge. Sabarmati riverfront stretch behind the Ashram road will play host to 105 kite fliers from across 34 countries during the five-day annual festival beginning Sunday. The international event will, however, serve a dual purpose for Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). It is an opportune time for civic body to hard sell the ambitious Sabarmati Riverfront project in front of a global audience at the International Kite Festival. To ensure that in future, the same spot will be abuzz with imposing buildings, plazas and institutions seeing its strategic and prime location. Municipal commissioner IP Gautam said, “The festival is organised to show the people of Ahmedabad on how the riverfront is shaping up. Even foreign visitors will come and have a feel of the mega project.” A Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation (SRFDCL) official said, “This is a great way to showcase the project to world audience. Participants from across the globe and from different parts of country will be introduced to the revitalisation of the riverfront. The stretch in near future will be buzzing with commercial zones, and high-rise buildings.The foot prints for the reclaimed land for allotting for commercial and residential are being worked upon.” The mega riverfront project would cost Rs 1,500 crore. However,from initially a ‘real estate developers paradise’city planners are veering towards ‘social utility’ of the riverfront by giving more spaces for public use. A senior SRFDCL official added, “Our riverfront building footprint has many parallels elsewhere in the world from Dubai waterfront, to Louvre museum riverfront portion in Paris, and Nehru Bridge portion can be compared to that of Hong Kong with skylines.”

What's happenning?

Creation of the East River Drive (six lane; 30 m width) and the West River Drive (four lane; 24m width).

Nearly 42.8 hectares of parks and gardens have been envisaged along the river edge to cater to recreational needs. These include nine gardens/parks on both sides.

A continuous corridor along the river edge in the form of a promenade of width varying between 5-17 metre wide, which would have a tree-lined pedestrians walkway. It would be possible to access the river directly from this zone.

Creation of commercial areas is planned in 22.15 hectare land both on east and west banks.

Residential areas are planned in 12.47 hectare.

Modi unveils twin city plan for Gujarat

Gujarat may soon be heading for a label of the land of twin cities. At the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas programme in Delhi, Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced plans for setting up several twin cities on the lines of New York and New Jersey. He made it amply clear to NRI delegations that these cities would be designed on human scale and that affordable mass transportation systems, houses and congestion-free wide roads were poised to become the order of the day. While Modi announced plans for a larger metropolitan authority for Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar, twin cities of Prabhas Patan-Somnath and Surendranagar-Wadhwan, the state government has identified Bharuch-Ankleshwar after Surat-Navsari to be the next set of twin cities. For Surendranagar-Wadhwan, the urban development department will make an announcement soon. The urban development department has already announced studies for Anand-Nadiad, Halol-Kalol, Morbi-Wankaner as other set of twin cities in the state. “Besides improving civic service delivery systems, the larger objective of sustainable transport, affordable houses, strategies for devising a marketing plan for the twincities, encouraging capital investments, institutional reforms, sanitation and environmental issues would be of prime concern for these twin cities,” says state urban development minister Nitin Patel. It’s not the twin cities alone but model cities — for instance the Rs 325-crore Gandhinagar solar city — have already been kicked off. Gandhinagar’s solar plan is to use non-conventional sources like a combination of wind and solar energy to make up for the four mega watt electricity that the city uses daily across major state government establishments. The 5,000-bed Narayana Hrudayalaya health city, which will come up in Monogram Mills in Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad, is in the pipeline. After the state government showed interest in developing the Dholera special investment region, the Japanese have shown interest in developing a Rs 5,000-crore eco-township project at Dahej.

MSRTC tickets go online

Those travelling to Dadar, Thane, Borivali, Nashik and Aurangabad from Pune by the state transport’s Shivneri and Volvo buses can now book their tickets on-line. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has launched the internet booking service from Friday through which reservations for more than 915 buses starting from Pune will be available. Divisional controller of Pune Shivaji Sonawane, said, “With the launch of the service, passengers can book tickets from home and the work place instead of travelling all the way to the bus terminus. For booking log in at www.msrtcors.co.in or www.msrtc.gov.in websites and follow the booking procedures.” “The service is available for buses on way to Mumbai, Dadar, Borivali, Thane and other destinations like Marathwada, south Maharashtra and north Maharashtra as well. The list of the bus services is uploaded on the websites. The bookings of bus services of Volvo, Shivneri, Asiad and ordinary buses are available.” Sonawane said the additional charges a passenger will have to pay includes service tax and conveyance tax. After completion of the booking procedure, the passenger will get a print of ticket which he/she will have to carry at the time of travelling along with a photo identity card. “Those seeking concessions cannot book ticket through internet service. Also, internet booking will close one hour prior to the departure schedule,” he said. The Mumbai bound buses witness heavy rush on weekends. Some 35 to 40 extra buses are operated on these days to clear rush. The MSRTC also has undertaken the Borivali bus service from Pune station. The e-ticketing service is available at Shivajinagar, Swargate, Pune Station and Pimpri bus termini.

Pune Ring Road crawls ahead

The proposal for the Pune ring road project will be submitted to chief minister Ashok Chavan for final ratification within the next 10 days, said district guardian minister Ajit Pawar, after attending a meeting on Saturday to finalise the proposal draft. “The final draft of the proposal will be discussed with the chief minister during a meeting scheduled to finalise the proposal of pilgrimage package for Pandharpur-Alandi-Dehu-Bhandara hill. The meeting is likely to be held sometimes next week,” said Pawar. Pawar said the ring road project was stuck because of some hurdles. A meeting was called on Saturday to resolve the issues so that the project gets a go ahead. Officials of various departments including town planning, district administration and the civic bodies, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, were present at the meeting. Pawar said: “Major issues like land acquisition, width of the road and its map were discussed and resolved during the meeting. The discussions were also held on the viability of 100 metre ring road and the land acquisition procedure.” He added that the estimated cost of the project will be from Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000 crore. A major part of project will comprise acquisition of land. The procedure for it will be conducted under the urgency clause for speedy completion. “I am hopeful that major part of the project will be completed within three years after final ratification. We are planning to start the work immediately after the final nod,” Pawar said. Considering the projected expansion of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the ring road will play major role in mobilising the traffic.

Somewhere in Mumbai....

Another one bites the dust.....another building collapse, this one was 110-year-old Reay Chambers opposite the Dockyard Road