10 Most Expensive Car Repairs

Nice article in MSN, useful for Motor Car owners:

10 Most Expensive Car Repairs

Inaugurations at Two Ancient Temples

I had the privilege of witnessing inaugurations at two ancient Temples in a short span of one month.

Mahathobhara Sri Karinjeshwara Temple:

This is a Shiva-Parvati temple, situated on a hill at Karinja Village, Kavalamuduru Post, Bantwala Taluq, Dakshina Kannada District. My grandfather, Shri B. Ramakrishna Acharya, had the privilege of being the Managing Trustee of the Temple till he passed away in the year 1968. The Shiva Temple is situated at the peak of the hill, and the Parvati temple is situated half-way up the hill. The climb is steep and has to be covered by foot.

The Parvati Temple was renovated a few years back, under the present Managing Trustee, Shri Jinraj Ariga, a Jain, who has taken immense and selfless interest in developing the temple. He is a humble, pious and hard-working gentleman to the core, and in fact only the second true Brahmana (not to be confused with Brahmin) I have come across, the first being an aged Muslim Auto-rickshaw driver at Bangalore.

The Annapoorna Bhojana Shala (Dining Hall) was inaugurated on 21^st February 2009, by Rajarshi Padmabhooshan Shri Veerendra Hegde, the Dharmadhikari of Shri Manjunatha Temple of Dharmasthala, in the presence of two former Ministers, Shri Nagaraj Shetty and Shri Ramanath Rai. The Muzrai Minister could not make it to the function as he was at Bangalore to collect Ganga-jal for distribution to all Shiva Temples on the occasion of the festival of Mahashivaratri. The single largest donor, Smt. Shashi Sharad Shetty from Dubai, who had donated over Rs.20 Lakhs for construction of the Dining Hall, was felicitated along with others, including the building contractor, Mr. D'Mello. The Roadway to the Parvati Temple was also completed and opened on the same day ahead of the function, and my car had the honour of being one of the first cars to use that road.

Shri Jinraj Ariga was kind enough to arrange for our accommodation at Vogga on National Highway 13, between 21^st February 2009 and 23^rd February 2009, which happened to be the festival of Shivaratri which is celebrated with pomp and fervour every year at the temple. On the occasion of Shivaratri, devotees offer Thulabhaara, which is an offering of any of rice, coconuts, gingely oil, etc., equivalent to one's own weight, in exchange for favours received from the deity.

The festivities were well-organised and grand. However, the Thulabhaara seemed influenced by temple-politics and favouritism, since seniority numbers given at the time of booking the Thulabhara were being flouted by the priests and other Brahmins conducting it. In fact one experienced but apparently ignorant priest also expressed that one could weigh himself with rice and offer gingely oil, whereas every child knows that no one would allow even a shopkeeper to weigh rice when he wants to buy gingely oil. My two year old nephew's Thulabhaara was delayed by about an hour, with fit and able people jumping the seniority, putting the aged, elderly and disabled back, making my nephew's Sl.No.22 be taken up at Sl. No.68. Even when my nephew's turn came up, he was weighed with the temple's rice instead of the 16Kg of Gingely Oil we had carried up the hill, and was weighed with the oil only when we protested.

I could not stay for the main festivities on 24^th February 2009 when the Shiva Idol is brought down from the peak to meet His consort Parvati, as I had to rush back to Bangalore.

The Temple's Website: http://www.karinjeshwara.templeinfo.in/
About the Temple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karinjeshwara_Temple
Map of the Temple: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=12.914209&lon=75.126427&spnx=0.01&spny=0.01&m=h

Mahathobhara Yelluru Sri Vishweshwara Temple (Henceforth known as Mahathobhara Yelluru Sri Vishwanatha Temple):

The ancient temple of Lord Vishweshwara at Yelluru Village, near my mother's village of Kunjoor, Udupi Taluq, Udupi District, which belonged to the Six 'Maagane's (Villages) of Yellur (Including Kunjoor), Belapu, Kuthyar, Kalathur, Padur, and Nandikur (Including Adve), was renovated under the guidance of His Holiness Paryaya Shri Sugunendra Theertha Swamiji of the Puthige Mutt, who holds the present Paryaya of the famous Udupi Shri Krishna Temple, with the involvement of three more 'Maagane's of Admar, Pilar and Santhoor.

The renovated temple was inaugurated in the Brahma Kalashotsava which lasted for nine days from 04^th March 2009 to 12^th March 2009. The festivities continued round the clock for these nine days with devotees thronging the temple. Free food and refreshments sponsored by some devotees were served to all devotees who attended the functions and cultural events, 24 hours a day. The honourable delegates who graced the occasions included the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Dr. B.S. Yeddyurappa, Rajarshi Padmabhooshan Shri Veerendra Hegde, the Dharmadhikari of Shri Manjunatha Temple of Dharmasthala, Mathrshri Hemavathi V. Hegde of Dharmasthala, present and former Ministers, including Dr. V.S. Acharya, Smt. Shobha Karandlaje, Shri Nagaraj Shetty, Shri Ramanath Rai, Shri M. Veerappa Moily, Shri Vasanth Salian, Shri Harikrishna Punaroor, philosophers like Padmashree Bannanje Govindacharya, etc., on different dates.

The function was well organised and no visitor left without his/her share of the Prasadam. The crowd was also well managed with medical facilities for the aged and weary. Drinking water was provided by volunteers every few yards of the queue for Darshan. The elderly and those with small children were allowed to skip the queue with due consideration for their difficulties, with regular announcements in the public address system, unlike at Sri Karinjeshwara Temple.

A booklet on the temple in the Kannada Language was available for a nominal price of Rs.25.00 along with an album of the temple sculptures @Rs.50.00, which was available on the date of release at a discounted price of Rs.30.00. DVD of the Nagamandala and Brahmamandala of the last day can be booked for Rs.150.00, and a set of Five DVD's covering the entire 9 days (including the Nagamandala and Brahmamandala) will be available for Rs.350.00 against advance booking.

I missed the Nagamandala and Brahmamandala on 12^th March 2009, as I had to rush back to Bangalore on the night of 11^th March 2009 itself.

The Temple's Website: http://www.yelluruvishweshwara.org/
About the Temple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelluru_Shri_Vishweshwara_Temple
Map of the Temple: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=13.181167&lon=74.797578&z=18&l=0&m=h&v=2

6th Pay Commission - Arrears and Income Tax Calculator

I am highly thankful to all those who have given feedback (both bouquets and brickbats), for having helped in making the calculator as accurate as possible for computation of arrears and income tax in respect of most employees with normal pay structure/fixation. Paucity of time and effort involved prevented me from providing for calculation of pay and arrears in respect of extra-ordinary/exceptional cases. However, I hope that officers belonging to such categories will understand that my aim was only to reduce the burden on DDO's and not to remove it altogether.

I am also happy to know that officers of some Departments received the first instalment of arrears even before their first salary drawn as per the accepted recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission, as per feedback received over phone/email.

Meanwhile, alongwith several of my colleagues, I am still awaiting receipt of the first instalment of arrears.

A copy of the Resolution and the CCS Pay (Revised) Rules, are available at http://excisebangalore3.gov.in/.

The pay calculator is now largely updated and covers almost the entire spectrum, including -S1 Pay Band corresponding to Old Scales S-1 to S-3. I have now covered even Merger and Upgradation of posts.

It can be used by

1. Those who had joined the Department before 01 January 2006 and have not had pay fixation on account of promotion or ACP,
2. Those who had joined the Department before 01 January 2006 and had pay fixation on account of promotion or ACP,
3. Those who had joined the Department after 01 January 2006 and have not had pay fixation on account of promotion / Selection grade.
4. Physically Handicapped / disabled employees.

It is not suitable for use by Defence employees with MSP.

You may feel free to download, test and give your comments and feedback. While giving feedback on errors in the calculator, please furnish details about input you have given to the calculator, so that I can locate the exact cause of the error, and also know whether the instructions in the entry screen are being followed correctly, as wrong input will definitely result in wrong results. In some cases, the errors are genuine are have been, or are being, fixed, and wherever the feedback was received through mail, I have informed them about the reason for the error and whether it has been fixed.

Click here to download Version 5.0.8 (24 September 2008).

Those accessing this blog from Headquarters Office, Bangalore-III Central Excise Commissionerate click here to download.

Those with upgraded and merged pay, and those who have received promotions after 01 January 2006 may use this version

Feedback regarding alterations, corrections or modifications are most welcome.

Windows Settings required for using the application:
In Regional Options, Currency should be set to Rupees and Date should be set to European format. otherwise, the figures will be shown in $ instead of Rs. and dates may be shown as ########.

To do this in Windows XP: Go to Control Panel, select Date, Time, Language and Regional Options, then select Regional and Language Options. There, select Location as India (Default is United States). Select Language as English (United Kingdom) and click on the Customize button. In the new dialogue box that opens, click on the Currency tab and change the currency from $ or £ or € to Rs. and then click on the Date button and change the Short Date Format to DD/MM/YYYY and remove the Weekday from the Long Date Format. Then click OK on the Customize tab and again OK on the Regional and Language Options Tab.

To do this in Windows Vista: Go to Control Panel, select Change Display Language. In the dialogue box that opens, click on the Formats Tab and select Current Format as English (India). Click on the Location Tab and select India. Then click OK.

Feedback can be sent by clicking comments below or email to bsudhiracharya@gmail.com or sudhiracharya@hotmail.com or bsudhiracharya@yahoo.co.uk.

Accident or Mass Human Sacrifice?

Eleven people, including seven primary school students of Bami Lower Primary School in Tenkulepady, near Kaikamba in Mangalore, were killed when a school bus with 36 people fell into the flooded Phalguni river in Ulaibettu early morning on the 14th of August, the eve of India's 61st Independence Day. The driver of the bus also died in the mishap.

If a follow-up news article in the Times of India dated 16th of August is to be believed, 13th and 14th of August had been declared holidays for the local schools due to inclement weather. However, the same could not be communicated to the school on time since the approval of holiday declaration first got delayed in bureaucracy and the subsequent announcement of the holidays was stuck in red-tape, thereby forcing the hapless tiny-tots to attend school on both the "Holidays" at their own peril.

At this age, when superstitious Animal and Human Sacrifice at the altar of deities has been banned, these eleven people have been sacrificed at the altar of bureaucracy and red-tapism, as if these two are greater than God.

Seven tiny-tots were sacrificed and Twelve other tiny-tots in the same bus, who were lucky enough to survive were put to heavy stress in their struggle for survival, while adults are unable to cope with simple stresses like inflation, at a time when all these 19 children could have been safe in the shelter of their homes, in the protective care of their elders. Seven children, who should have been the future of the nation, have been relegated to the past.

The Minister for Fisheries, Shri Krishna Palemar, rushed to the spot to supervise rescue operations and announced Rs one lakh compensation to the relatives of those who died, and subsequently, the Prime Minister, Shri Manmohan Singh announced another Rs one lakh compensation. Is each child worth only Rs two lakhs? Can a price be fixed for the void caused in the life of their loved ones?

The media, polititions and the authorities have started the blame game and mud-slinging. The politicians will see this as a golden opportunity to cash-in for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, and all the common man can do is to pray for the departed souls and their family, and hope that such mistakes will not happen again, to anyone in general and to oneself or one's own family members in particular, as we get to see or hear about such incidents happening around us almost everyday.

The sacrifice of these eleven people should not be allowed to go in vain. This should be an eye-opener to bureaucrats and all others alike, to act fast, at least in taking life-saving decisions.

Priceless Treasure Lost+Found

I have now been able to put my first post a few weeks after creating this blog. I have finally been able to make the time for it.

I would like to start this blog with good tidings of having found a long-lost priceless treasure about a week back. I have been able to trace out my closest friend and classmate of Mountain Home High School, Coonoor, Gul P Samtani, after more than 27 years of separation and last 3 years of searching. In fact, although I have been hunting for him since Friendhip Day 2005, it was he who traced me. We were 10 years and some months old when we last met. We have now got in touch with one-another, thanks a lot to my sister Sunitha's classmate, Raquel Audrey Karim (nee Browne), and my sister Kavitha, and are looking forward to meeting each-other and catching up with the lost time, hopefully on the 1st of November this year, or if possible, before that. To some extent, the website www.Batchmates.com was also responsible for this re-union. I consider myself very lucky to have caught-up with a long-lost friend just before the formal Friendship Day (although I consider everyday as Friendship Day).

Thanks Raquel, Thanks Kavitha, Thanks Sunitha, Thanks Gul for tracing and promptly calling me, Thanks Batchmates.com and Thanks a lot to God for directing this re-union.

Now, I would like to search for and find N. Suresh, who was also my classmate and close friend in Mountain Home High School, Coonoor.

Where are you, Suresh?