Windows Phone App Wish List for India


Here is the wish list of must have apps for India.

Must Have Travel Apps
1. Booking for Meru Cabs and other Cab services;
2. Metro Schedules and Live status for Delhi, Bangalore and other metros
3. Redbus, APSRTC, KSRTC etc for inter city bus travels
4. IRCTC ticket booking and IndianRail live train status for train service
5. Makemytrip and flightstats for air travel

Must Have News sites
1. ESPN Cricinfo
2. Newshunt has amazing apps on iOS and Android. You can read most of the popular daily regional and english new papers

Must Have Entertainment Sites
1. Raaga, Musicindiaonline or similar sites like Saavn for music streaming.
2. Live FM Stations RadioMirchi, Red FM etc..
3. Bigflix

Restaurants in Vijayawada

Number of restaurants and food joints are exploding in Vijayawada. I've been to most of the good ones and many not so good ones. But here I compiled a list of the best of the food places Vijayawada has to offer in terms of quality, ambiance, presentation and service. Most of them are in the stretch from Labbipet to Benz Center on the MG Road.

Best Fine Dining Restaurants -
aromas fine dining at DV Manor, MG Road.
Serenade at Manor Food Plaza, Tikkle Road.

Best Restuarants -
G.A.D at Taj Gateway, MG Road.
Zodiac at Fortune Murali Park, MG Road.
Minerva Grand Restaurant behind Kalaniketan, MG Road.

Best Food Joints -
F3 at Manor Food Plaza, Tikkle Road,
KFC near Benz Circle, MG Road
Subway near Fortune Murali Park,
Pizza Corner behind MG Road Maanya,
Baskin Robbins on Tikkle Road,
Cafe Coffee Day near Benz Circle.
Bakers Inn on Ring Road Service Lane.

I would still like to see more cuisines represented here. But not sure if Vijayawda is ready for Pad Thai, Pastas, Burritos and Crepes.
Would like to hear if there are any other desirable food places. 

Big Name Windows Phone Apps for India

I was in for a little surprise when I launched 'AppFlow' app on my Samsung Omnia with Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) last night to see a few India specific apps in the 'New and Impressive' list. Curiously all of them were launched in the Market Place on 28th December 2011. I suspect it has got some thing to do with Nokia Lumia launch. Nokia is claiming around 750 - 1000 India specific apps would be launched in the coming days.  I suspect we might see a marketing campaign launched soon to highlight the local apps.

So far I have found following official name brand apps in the Market Place.

Times Of India Link
Economic Times Link
NDTV Link
NDTV Good Times Link
IBN Live from Network 18 Link
Money Control from Network18 Link
Bollywood Hungama Link
India Today Link
Business Today Link
Mid-Day Link

Book My Show Link
Flipkart Link
SnapDeal Link
Zomato Link


Top 10 Telugu Movies in 2011!!

Here are my facebook two line reviews of the Top 10 among the telugu movies I have seen in 2011. (i.e. most of the big ones)

10. Pilla Jamindar: Another promising movie from Nani. Decent film with a fresh backdrop and refreshingly good casting.
9. 100% Love: Good Music. Fun concept. Easy on eyes and ears. Bonus marks for visualization of the first song. Too much drama towards the end prevents it from ranking further up.
8. Gaganam: Well made concept movie. But shot like a drama with minimal budget. Could have been more effective thriller with fast cutting and grander visuals.
7. Panjaa: Refreshing change from the recent big star movies where the hero is hyped up with stupid dialogue and ridiculous 'thread supported' fights. Liked it for the most part.. Good performance by Sesh Guy and loved the ramp up to the interval.. decent second part effected by very long action sequence at the end.
6. Golkonda High School: Regular underdog sports format movie seen many times over in Hollywood and in the famous Lagaan. But still a good effort worth commending.
5. LBW: New age Telugu movie... All New cast. Well made. Recommended!!
4. Ala Modalaindi: Good romantic comedy with good music. Regular story packaged in a new way. 
3. Seema Tapakay: Deceptively looks and sounds like any regular Allari Naresh fare. But a much better and funnier film. Songs were richly picturised enhanced by heroine's dancing skills. 
2. Rangam: How many times do you get to watch a decent political thriller in Telugu? Must watch!!! Awesome locales in the songs though.
1. Dookudu: Blockbuster. Never a dull moment. This is the 'Full Meals' every director promises while making a movie with the super stars. Delivered exactly to the needs of the masses. 

Special marks for efforts: 
7th Sense: 'A' for intention and effort, 'B' for execution. Worth Watch!! Shockingly, Legend of a South Indian monk being the patron saint of Shaolin seems to be true... got to read more abt it!!
Ananganga Oka Dheerudu: New Age Vitalacharya Movie with good special effects. Could've been a more racy adventure for its short duration (2 Hrs Only)!!

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Retail!!

While I understand your basic premise that competition would lead to efficiency which in turn would lead to progress. FDI in Retail is anything, but that. 

Take the scenario of Agriculture, 70% of the population in our country are producing 25% of our GDP. That is gross inefficiency which is borne out of fractured agriculture sector with millions of small players. If we consolidate agriculture industry by allowing corporations to own vast areas of land to cultivate. What would that do to the country. Country will become much more productive and efficient. BUT, that will create massive unemployment and dislocate crores of people and the cost of productivity efficiency will be a very tragic disaster of unseen proportions. IT IS EASY TO SEE such a destruction that could happen in agriculture sector with such a move. 

IT IS NOT EASY TO SEE the same effect immediately with the retail industry for some one who is not in the traditional business world. Its not just the small mom and pop stores at the street corner who are going to disappear with this. Its the whole supply chain that is going to disappear. small scale manufacturers, wholesale traders, stockists and substockists in every corner of the country, small retailers will be gone. not just in one industry, this is across the board. fmcg, food, pharma, clothing, electronics, mobile and what not. most of the middle class will be gone. the entrepreneur class will be gone in most of the sectors. there will only be salary makers and big corporations. 

you might think i am talking in hyperbole. 
With the scale these retail chains have they will go to the cheapest country where a certain product is available and its not necessary that they will be sourced from India.  you don't need to look far beyond for examples. it is for all to see how the manufacturing sector has disappeared from USA. The idea that our farmers and our industries will benefit is not necessarily true. 

Yes, there should be consolidation in our fractured and unorganized agriculture, small scale manufacturing and trade has to get more efficient and productive. We already have a healthy retail industry from Indian corporations that is growing at its own pace with number of small and medium retails chains in a number of industries. And we will continue to grow to a better efficient state as we move forward. But that growth needs to be organic. if given time some good indegenious solutions might come up. we should continue to educate our farming sector, create food processing industry in a large scale, promote cold storages through incentives, create a more transparent market structure so that the producers can benefit, promote computerization of the supply chains. there are so many things that can be done with out disrupting the lives of  the majority. 

There is a reason that FDI is kept on hold only in multi brand RETAIL while it is accepted in many sectors . the size of the country relying on the current structure is too vast. the human cost that we are going to incur is too high. The change that needs to happen over generations will be forced in the span of few years as the world will pump money into our country as there are very few other places they can invest with such high growth potential. .  

I see I am everywhere in my explanation but given the time constraints I have I just hope you will see my point. 

Vijayawada getting an Upgrade!!

Updated: 6th Nov 2015


Vijayawada is getting a major upgrade with brand new malls and multiplexes with upscale retail stores and major fast food outlets setting up shop in these malls. With a little 'binging' effort (yes bing is my default search engine now with ie9 being the default browser); I compiled the list of the malls at various stages of completion. Here you Go!!

LEPL ICON - NOW OPEN!!Next to Maris Stella College
Shoppers Stop, 4 Screen INOX, KFC, Pizza Hut
http://lepl.in/LEPL_icon.htm


LEPL Oasis  - NOW OPEN!!
Opp. Fortune Murali Park
Life Style, Reliance Digital, Tabla Restaurant, Barbeque Nation, SVM Gaming Zone, Golds Gym
http://lepl.in/oasis_center.htm


Ripples Mall - - NOW OPEN!!

Making Waves - Opp. Tipsy Topsy
4 Screen PVR, Max Store, Globus Store, Flying Machine, Louis Philippe, Peter England, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Cat Moss (Kids Apparel), Wills Lifestyle, Kamal Watch, Fab India, John Players, Indus League, The Mobile Store, Jockey and a Food Court
http://www.ripplesindia.in/index.html

Trendset Mall (6 Screen Multiplex) - NOW OPEN!!
6 Screen Captial Cinema (Suresh Productions), Marks and Spencer, Tipsy Topsy etc..
at Benz Circle
 
PVP Square - NOW OPEN!! Best in Town!!!
 
6 Screen Cinepolis, Modern Food Court, Gaming Zone,
http://pvpsquare.com/

Stop Calling Them Students!!!

They got their first starring role in our 24/7 news media, when KCR was trying to get off yet another of his dramas. He tried to quit his 'Fast until Death' with in a day of starting it. They started burning KCR's effigies and turned against TRS. KCR budged and new heroes are born. They are some students, mainly from the Osmania University. 

On paper, they are students. But they are actually parasites stuck to the university system taking advantage of scholarships and free hostel facilities playing politics in the student unions. They are not your typical 20 something year olds studying hard to learn their way to a professional career. They are aspiring small time local politicians feeding from the hands of the big political parties raising slogans for money. 

With the media lionizing them, they became overnight leaders. They formed a group under the banner of Osmania University Joint Action Committee/ OU JAC. Then they turned rogue, took over the OU campus and started spilling out on to the streets.  

These are the guys who trashed an ex. minister, overturned his vehicle, and made him run for his life on live television and faced no consequences.

These are the guys who made life threats to the cameras and got away scott free. 

These are the guys who protested Batukamma and Dusshera calling Mahishasura as Dalit leaders demonized by upper caste Hindus. 

These ignorant tools are indulging in blasphemy thrashing Hindu religion and celebrating the life of Narakasura as a Dalit king who lost a battle. 

Make no mistake, these are not some stupid kids any more, who are being exploited by smart politicians. They have become a copy of anti establishment Maoists, only with more credibility vested to them by our Media. They are hiding behind the Telangana plank and no body even dares to call them out on this. 

Power being the only motive, our spineless politicians, are shielding behind them to achieve their political goals. Instead of rejecting these outlaws, they glorified them as student patriots fighting for Telangana. Now,  these loons are creating terror in the name of Telangana.

Call them anti democratic. Call them anti hindu. Call them political parasites.  Call them Militants.  Call them terrorists. 

But stop calling them students. Stop calling them Telangana martyrs.

They don't care about separate Telangana. They are a bunch of jobless rogues who blame the society for their failures now creating ruckus with their new found fame. 

Raja's 2G Scam: A Good Thing?

Looking at the 3G rates announced by Tata Docomo, the first private operator to go third gen, raja's 2G scam seems to have happened for the greater good. Raja might have eaten a few thousand crore rupees by giving away spectrum at cheap rates, but that probably have resulted in less initial costs for the telecom companies. And the savings are further transferred to the aam aadmi, resulting in much low cost of mobile ownership.

Now that the govt has auctioned the 3G waves for a figure closer to Rs. 1 lakh crores, these telecoms have no option but to squeeze it from us. Bad news for the mobile broadband. While we enjoyed unlimited mobile internet for under Rs. 100/- per month on our mobiles, the just announced plans from Tata Docomo start at Rs. 350/-. The golden period of mobile internet in India just ended before it even started.

While we can starting playing guessing games on how our central government is going to misuse and mismanage these new crores that they got from the telecoms, we may have Raja to thank for the cheap 2G services we enjoyed for a while.