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 My sister visited Passport Service Kendra in Devarabeesanahalli on the 25th for the reissue of passport of her minor child. Needed to travel for a family emergency so she checked the option for tatkal.

First WTF moment. The officer checking the application scratches out her tatkal mark and ticks normal, reason given, another inspecting officer will make the determination after hearing your case and not you.  

Second WTF moment. She waits patiently for the interview where the officer says oh you marked normal on your application so you wont get tatkal. He didnt accept the argument that his own officer, who was nowhere to be seen at that time, had changed it. As a solace she is told the passport will arrive in 3 days flat.

So all arrangements to handle the family emergency and postponement of  tickets on penalty is arranged. Now comes the whammy its 2nd june and no trace of the passport. Status as of 2nd June is

"Passport will be dispatched within 3 working days excluding the date of submission."

A web query to check the status met with the following response

That’s what a group of Bangaloreans, most of them IT professionals, discovered as part of an initiative by Praja.in, an internet community that addresses issues affecting the city. 

Five of its members – Muralidhar Rao, Pranav, Manjari, Naveen and Satya – travelled on local trains within the city to experience firsthand the feasibility of the Commuter Rail System (CRS)

Read more at Praja Suburban train ride report covered here by Bangalore Mirror.

Vinay S, an active member at Hasiru Usiru has obtained detailed information from BBMP on upcoming signal free corridor projects. Many people think that the project(s) need some serious scrutiny for the returns they promise on investments. Its one thing to make a relatively new road like Outer ring road into a signal free corridor, and another to talk about turning more than half dozen radial roads signal free without a clear plan for each and every interesction that lies on the way, or more important, without commensurate or alternate investments on public transport (like priority lanes for Big10 routes). Many feel that without such clarity, these corridor projects may end up being "bottleneck shifting" or "more parking space for free" projects.

Vinay has promised to mail over all documents he has obtained (will upload them here as soon as I get hold of them). We may need to scan and upload some sketches as well.

A friend called from UK recently to tell me that he spotted an ad from Karnataka government about Global Investors Meet 2010 in a prominent daily there. Thats how serious GoK has been about marketing this event taking place next week.

Need - More of Tier 2

Bengaluru has had enough of love. Those Tier-2 cities need all the attention now. No, not talking Hoskote, Bidadi or Devenahalli, talk real tier2, far up central, and further north. More initiatives like Suvarna Karnataka Development Corridor (SKDC - click here) are it.