BBMP Elections: Find name online in the voters list

BBMP has launched a website where one can check if their name is in the voters list. Check out the link provided below. It is fast and works without any issues. You need not fill up all the fields; though filling up all of them will give you a quicker match.

http://www.bbmpelections.info/bbmpele/kescUIsearchVoters.aspx

Other than the name, you can also get ward number, part number, polling booth details etc.

Lets vote!

Telangana, Gorkhaland, Purvanchal..how many more?

Congress has messed up the situation big time with the resolution to initiate the process of creating the state of Telangana. Now this is a golden opportunity for many other politicians, with their most selfish ambitions, to demand for separate states at their whims and fancies.

The proof is in the recent developments. Take for instance the following demands -
a. Demand for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling
b. Mayawati asks for Bundelkhand and Paschimanchal states
c. In a second letter to PM, Mayawati asks for Poorvanchal!

The list is totally 10 if you include older demands (which are likely to be renewed) like Coorg, Mithilanchal in Bihar, Saurashtra in Gujarat, Bhojpur state comprising areas of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

Where are we heading to? Isnt the Govt of India responsible for keeping the country united and not keep making divisions like this?

Can the political system get any worse? Is making separate states the only way to solve problems like some regions being neglected or under-developed?

Wake up, India. We are being projected to be the next super-power; look at the way India’s economy was referenced in terms of how we weathered the recession when some of the biggest economies collapsed - and here we are here busy dividing up the country into smaller pieces.

For God’s sake, lets not waste food

Food - in abundance for some, cant afford two square meals a day for some.
Food - taken for granted for some, cant afford to take for granted even the next meal for some.

Such diversity with the fundamental ingredient required to keep a man alive. Then, does it gets it due respect? Or do some people even think that it deserves that? Take a look at some facts. Let me also add this disclaimer here that I am not against any kind of tradition, I respect them; but wastage of food is something to think about.

1. In India, it’s a tradition in weddings to shower bride and groom with rice grains. After the tradition, I am sure these are swept away. Say we use only 1 kg of rice per wedding, we have thousands of weddings each year. It could have fed so many hungry people.
Alternative - Why not use ‘CONFETTIS’ ? or colourful thermocol balls?
2. In Switzerland, there is an old tradition of carving the Turnips and making Lanterns out of it.
This happens typically in November , and TONS and TONS of turnips are carved, kids make beautiful lamps and there is a procession in the evening in every street.
First, you grow turnips, remove the pulp inside - throw the pulp, carve the outer turnip to make lamps, end of the day just throw! what a waste?
3. Florida - Yearly even; Throwing the oranges at each other.
4. Spain - Yearly event; Tomatoes thrown at each other, crushed etc..
5. India - Dasheera , Big festival, ‘TONS’ of White pumpkin crushed
6. India - Got a new new vehicle, congratulations - crush 4 lemons for all the 4 wheels of the car…belief is that there will be no accidents.. hey comeon.. just drive carefully. Please do your poojas, but don’t waste food items.

PLEASE -There is another world, where people simply can’t afford even sometimes one meal a day.
Can we not do our part? Can we not teach some of these things to our children, so atleast the next generation is more aware and does its part?

Read a few more links below related to this -

http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/the-turnip-fair-in-switzerland-marked-by-thousands-of-lanterns-made-out-of-turnips/

http://www.andreagrant.org/zuerich/turnip.html

http://www.sa-venues.com/events/kwazulu-natal-event-description.php?id=896

State of Indian politics, Congress is the party for the future

The political scenario, post general elections 2009, in India has taken a very interesting twist.

Sometime back it appeared like there is “tough competition” between Congress & BJP during the elections 2009; but subsequently it was a comprehensive victory for the Congress. A lot of things have changed since then. The BJP did not even give an impression of carrying out a proper postmortem and lessons learnt from the debacle. Instead the infighting within the party has just come out more in the open. This party needs a good leader; and unfortunately this has been a problem since Vajpayeeji retired from active politics. At this rate, instead of the second largest party, BJP is likely to become yet another party like CPI or DMK and so on. These are small parties who can be termed as party spoilers than someone who can create a significant impact or forming a government on their own. And the Third Front crashed even before it could take off.

On the other hand, take the Congress Party. They have exceeded people’s expectations. The strategy of gaining Uttar Pradesh was so well planned and executed. Superb! They got the best leaders at the helm - Sonia & Manmohan Singh. And Rahul is showing the right signs of becoming one of the influential and iconic leaders in the future. Congress ministers look more well-versed in their domains and look more capable than the counter parts in other parties. Congress shows clear signs of accountability, performance and the best thing is that they are bringing in youth into the mainstream. BJP is a big loser on this front.

Given the current trends, Congress party is the party for the future. It will be a while before any of the parties are even able to come close to them. The only thing is that Congress should not allow the victory to get into their head and end up doing something stupid; I guess the party is mature enough to manage that. I would even go one step further and say that they will get a clear majority during the next elections, and wouldnt need support from the smaller parties. They wouldnt need to handle messy situations like appeasing DMK and so on for portfolio assignment.

Way to go, Congress!

A Shame. Bangalore poll turnout not even 50%

What a shame! Bangalore poll turnout did not even touch 50%. Can you beat it that Bangalore Rural had more voter turnout than the urban areas? The rural population has shown that they are more responsible than the high profile and highly educated urban folks. There is a difference of atleast 10 to 12% b/w rural and urban areas. Its quite shocking to see that the turnout is this low after several public campaigns like Jaagore, Aamir Khan’s ADR campaign, and other such organizations. You cant blame work because most companies had closed to allow their employees to vote. So, what else was needed to get more than half of the urban Bangalore to vote?

Look at the voter turnout figures below -
Bangalore Rural 57.92%
Bangalore North 46.78%
Bangalore South 44.73%
Bangalore Central 45.25%

Lets stop blaming the government or the politicians for the state of road, infrastructure, corruption etc. We are the ones who are allowing them to do so by not even taking a small effort to vote. We have no right to sit back and simply blame or point fingers.

The other problem was that many people who wanted to vote could not get their names in the electoral rolls. For god’s sake, someone should fix this because this happens during every election. Why is the process so cumbersome/unreliable to get one’s name in the rolls? One of my colleagues has tried 4 times and hasn’t been able to get his name.

One encouraging news I read in TOI today is that Chief Electoral officer M N Vidyashankar has identified this problem and plans to set up a 24×7 Help desk through BangaloreOne centres. This will function through the year and not just before elections to tackle voter woes.

I sincerely hope our people act more responsibly and the voter turnout for next polls are high, and hope that we end up having a government that we want to see.

Go Green. Contribute in small ways in everyday life.

Provided below are some ways that all of us can contribute to a greener environment in our everyday lives.

1. All the green waste from kitchen can be collected and used as excellent fertilizer for pots or kitchen garden.
2. Envelopes from post : After opening and reading the letter, the envelop can be cut open fully; made to smaller sizes to write todo list or kids can practice tables, spellings etc. This is surely a way to teach kids about re-cycling, instead of giving to raddiwala. Sure we save 1 tree per year by doing this.
3. Do not wash Jeans so often.
4. Use Solar cooker - it’s excellent! By doing this the production, packing, transportation, storage etc of a cylinder is saved to a good extent.
5. Do not leave tap running while brushing your teeth.
6. Switch of all the unnecessary lights.
7. Use Solar energy for water heating.
8. Rain water harvesting - another GO GREEN idea. In India, this has been made mandatory now.
9. It is a pity that TONS and TONS of garbage gets collected each day and just taken to outskirts of the city and burnt. This has a serious impact to the environment. Instead of just burning, same can be used to generate energy.
10. Unplug Microwave, TV (not standby), TapeRecorders, VCR etc at the end of the day

Google and Jaagore launch an online voter list search engine

Is my name there in the voter’s list? How do I search for my name in the voter’s list?

There are several ways to search for your name in the voter’s list.

Option 1: Google, Jaagore search engine

Let me start with a new way of doing it, as it is the easiest and fastest. Google and Jaagore have launched an online voter list search engine, supposedly first of its kind. I got this reference in an email from Jaagore. My first impression - Its fast and well presented. But dont expect the data correctness to be any different than when you access the Govt website (option 2), since the database for both searches is likely to be the same.
URL to access this search engine (look at the right hand panel)

Option 2: Govt websites of respective Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) -

Karnataka
http://ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in/indexw.asp

Look for the option that says search in final electoral rolls or Click on this URL to search your name in the final electoral rolls. There are several fields on which you can search - by name, door no, pincode etc.

People in other states may need to look for their specific state websites. Look up http://eci.nic.in/ website to get more details

Maharashtra

1. Click on this link for Electoral Roll Help Line, by CEO Maharashtra. You can look up for Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban and Thane
http://220.225.73.202/
2. One more - http://220.225.73.214/marathi/
3. One more - http://122.168.101.114/pdfsearch/ (In Hindi)

Haryana
Search name in electoral rolls http://web1.hry.nic.in/voterlist/assembly.aspx
You can search by name, Door no etc for various constituencies like Ambala, Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Hisar, Karnal, Sonipat, Rohtak, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad

Haryana CEO site - http://ceoharyana.nic.in/

Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)
Voters list name search - http://www.ceojammukashmir.nic.in/NameSearch/main.aspx
Districts - Jammu,Samba,Kathua,Udhampur & Reasi

J &K CEO site - http://www.ceojammukashmir.nic.in/

Punjab

Punjab CEO Site - http://ceopunjab.nic.in/English/

Rajasthan
Search your name in Electoral rolls - http://164.100.153.8/idsearch/default1.aspx

Rajasthan CEO website - http://www.ceorajasthan.nic.in/

Uttar Pradesh(UP) CEO website - http://tempceoup.up.nic.in/

West Bengal (WB)

Search your name in the rolls - http://59.90.58.52/search/

West Bengal CEO Website - http://www.ceowestbengal.nic.in/

Himachal Pradesh (HP)

Search name in Electoral rolls - http://hp.gov.in/electionsearch/default.aspx

Tamil Nadu
View Electoral rolls in TN (Tamil) - http://www.elections.tn.gov.in/pdfs/acwise_pdf.asp

View Electoral rolls in TN (English) - http://www.elections.tn.nic.in/pdfs/dt2eng.htm

Tamil Nadu CEO website - http://www.elections.tn.nic.in

Uttranchal

Electoral rolls/Voters list - http://gov.ua.nic.in/ceouttranchal/pdf_roll/01012009/Uttranchal_pdf_page.htm

Uttranchal CEO Website - http://gov.ua.nic.in/ceouttranchal/

Puducherry / Pondicherry

Search name in Electoral rolls - http://www.pon.nic.in/election/electmain.htm

Electoral Rolls 2009 (As on 24.04.2009) - http://www.ceopondicherry.nic.in/Pec/home.asp

Puducherry CEO website - http://www.ceopondicherry.nic.in

Option 3: Check original copy of the supplementary rolls with your ERO (Election Registration officer)

You should visit the voter facilitation center and check if your name is on the rolls.

[Update Apr 20, 2009] There is a 24X7 Helpline that has been set up for voter list related enquiries. In Bangalore, the number is 2222 8888. I called them up and they helped find my name in the voters list. I tried to search it online (from Govt website) and it wasnt available, but this call helped me to track my name in the voter’s list. Try it out and also spread this word to your other friends.

[update Apr 22, 2009] There are a couple of ways to know more about your constituency. See the following URLs -
http://www.smartvote.in

This website gives you details about all the candidates, their declared income, their crime record, polling booth details etc.

If you want to know your constituency based on the location in a map, Google has come up with a way to do that -
http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/loksabha2009/

If you found this article useful, click on the ‘vote’ button on the top of this page and/or provide any comments/feedback in the space provided below.

Aamir Khan’s voter awareness campaign

SACHCHE KO CHUNEY, ACHCHE KO CHUNEY

My respect for Aamir Khan has multiplied many folds after seeing his latest move to increase awareness amongst people regarding voting for upcoming elections.

This is not just because he is appearing in the ad, but due to the fact that Aamir Khan did not charge for appearing in the ads but his production company ‘Aamir Khan Productions’ has also borne the cost of producing the ad films too.

I believe Aamir has also roped in Prasoon Joshi of McCann Erickson as the creative head, Rakyesh Mehra as the director, Avinash Gowariker as the still photographer and Shashi Sinha of Lodestar Media as the media planner for the campaign. Apparently all of them are doing it for free as they all fully believe in this campaign.

Videos of the campaign

Rishta Ad

Sabzi Ad

Sauda Ad

Here is a reference to the website that has information on this in more detail -
http://www.adrindia.org/home/aamir_speaks.asp

‘Good People’ are entering politics

It was very encouraging to see some ‘Good people’ (as I would like to call) coming into politics. It was telecast in a couple of news channels earlier today about a handful of people in corporates and other walks of life entering politics. They are people who, like most of us, are fed up with criminalization of politics, corruption, manipulative politics, votebank politics, lack of politicians with integrity, incompetent politicians etc. They are also people who are NOT just sitting and cursing them, but have decided to get into the system and correct it.

We all know, its a dirty and messy world out there in politics. But these guys have taken the bold step and have shown what is called as “Be the change that you want to see”. There is a ray of hope for many people that the political landscape in India will change for the better over the next 1 to 2 decades with more and more competent and educated people entering politics.

A day will definitely come when the political system will become a lot more accountable, there will be more visibility into whats happening and better citizen participation. A day will come when candidates are selected based on their past achievements, and a system where there is no place for people with criminal records or intent. That day will definitely come………
Read the rest of this entry »

Does car pooling really work

This is a question that has come up in my mind many times now. I have been listening to a campaign being promoted in one of the radio stations, called Radio One 94.3FM, about doing car pooling to help reduce traffic congestion in Bangalore. I certainly identify with the issue and would like to contribute in some way.

The more I think of my contribution, the realization dawns on me that it is going to be very difficult for me to car pool. The reason is that I have a hectic schedule everyday that includes conference calls starting at 08:30pm. It so happens that my work at office extends till about 7 or 7:15pm and I leave for home so I can reach just in time to start my conference calls. With car pooling, the challenge would be to manage these timings with my car pool partner. I wouldn’t want to get delayed for my important conference calls because my car pool partner didn’t make it in time.

The other thought is that it would be easy if you have a car pool group with folks within your own company. Yes, may be. But that could be difficult if you work in a small company like mine which has about 50 employees; because you are less likely to find a good number of people in and around the same place that you stay.

Having said all this, have I given up completely on car pooling? The answer is - NO. I hope to give it a try sometime. I would love to hear from people who have successfully car pooled and I am sure they must have managed some of the issues that I highlighted above.

Note: This is the website that promotes, talks about carpooling in Bangalore