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Placeholder for notes from this meeting. Started almost 2 hours late as Mr Sood had to rush off to another meeting. We were asked to wait till 1 if possible. We spent this time chatting up with each other, and even managed a lunch at Shivajinagar bus stand canteen. Right when we planned to call it a day, Mr Sood returned. psaram, idontspam, Deepika, Srivathsa, silkboard, Ravi and Devesh (only for the intro) were present. Look fwd to meeting notes from all.

A few deaths on Bellary Road, and it got so much attention. By the way, police's efforts to enforce are working, I hear that a good number of cabs keep themselves to 80 kmph, and drivers either buckle up or think about putting on seat belts on Nh7. So perhaps, the fear of punishment does work. Now, how about the Bangalore Mysore highway?

First of all, its foolish to build high speed roads that are not access controlled in whatever way, limited or full fledged. That road is literally hell right now, with death awaiting at about 50-60 points along the 100 odd km length.

Its breaking news on the business front that the Nano plant from singur will get shifted to Dharwad.

Tata Motors MD Ravi Kant met the Karnataka CM today and Tata Motors have confirmed that they are looking for alternatives to Singur to shift their Nano project.

The Karnataka Government has offered 1000 acres for the Nano car project and all “incentives and support. Tata Motors already has a manufacturing unit in Dharwad where it makes the low-floor Marco Polo buses.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's initiation of a national car-free day on Sept. 22 is of significance to both the country's urban development and environmental protection.

The theme, "humanized street", points to the trend in city renovations, of city roads in particular, in recent years.

Its an open secret for us in Whitefield area by now. There is this scenic route that skirts around city's mad traffic and takes you to BIA in an hour, any time of the day! The drive is just under 60 km, point to point. However, listen to this, last 18 kilometers are spent circling around BIA only because there is no entry to the airport from the East side. Some pictures for you, and the route map as well. Basically, you go from Hope Farm junction to Hoskote, on to Budigere, and then to the airport via a village just north of it, or via Devanahalli itself which is much further north of the airport.

When Ravindranath first saw the irregularities, he started investigating and found that the buildings did not have occupancy certificates . "But the trade licences were given by the BBMP's health department. When I informed the authorities, they were not bothered. So I took up the issue through RTI and approached the KIC. Following the KIC order in May 2007, the three commercial complexes have been closed down and sealed," he explains. For more

Last we heard (Mr Sharif may have told TOI), BMTC said that public transport accounts for 48% of trips in the city. Another stat from Ministry of Urban Development had put public transport's share in Bangalore to about 35%. So, there we have, a range of 35% to 48%, and we know that in Bangalore, public transport virtually equals BMTC.