Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Saturday, December 19, 2015

KEY CITIES AROUND BANGALORE

There are some key cities around Bangalore.Some of them areMetropolis and the others key destinations.

Kempe Gowda founder of Bangalore

It is nice to note that the city could be termed as equidistant from both the seas the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east..the shortest distance possibly being some three hundre kilometers.The Indian ocean to the south could be some thousand kilometers or less.

If one were to draw a circle of some three hundred kilometers around the city we would touch upon some key towns”..many of them formidable and upcoming cities and one of them being a key metropolis. This diameter is interesting as the cover a roughly one night journey by bus or by train and could be a sphere of various kinds of Economic dynamics and could be looked into seriously for other similar ventures and tucked in between these towns are many other places of concern and prominence..

It would be imminent to classify and see what these towns are basically. Within this diameter would fall Chennai or formerly Madras which is by all means a much larger a city compared to Bangalore being one of the earliest posts of Euiropeans who took control of this part of the world.. In essence this is a striking feature..a major city and sea-port within eight hours journey from thee city.

The other key towns would be Mangalore,Kozhikode,Palghat, Ooty,Tirupathi,Anantpur,Coimbatore..to name a few.There could be some other towns toowhich I may have lapsed...add Tiruchirapalli to the list..Most of the above mentioned towns have airports of their own making access and travel easy in cases of exigency..The interesting point is that most of these towns mentioned would take support from the economy of Bangalore as a city in some form or the other. Note that Palghat and Tirupati have already got IIT and kozzhikode also called Calicut have IIM. Such occurences explain the phenomena of these cities mentioned above taking the onus from Bangalore in many ways and within a nights journey these institutes are acceble to people from Bangalore and these cities would become a via-media or a transhipment towns for the major metropolis in the Deccan. Please add Hubli/Dharwad to the above list as it qulifies the 300 km rule.

Beyond the stretch of this perimetr aee age-old cities to some extent which have had more of historicalprominence and continue to be nerve centers of the deccan and act a nuclei to other major cities of the country.The cities that concern which are beyond the above mentioned perimeter are Hyderabad, Pune, Cochin..add to this Chennai as these cities qualify to be listed alongside key Cities of the country.

The greatness of india lies embedded in these towns which are major centers and in close proximity making their network in addition to the other towns mentioned above a super -highway for transformational growth and GDP contribution to the nation as a whole more so in the more developed activities of the Economy. Internationally speaking the city of Colombo in Sri-Lanka also could find a place in the eco-system of the above cities for various kinds of support mechanisms though seperated by sea and INDIA COULD DRAW eCONOMIC POWER OF VARIOUS KINDS THROUGH SUCH eCONOMIC INTEGRATION.


It is of significance in the modern era to take a closer look at Cochin, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad..a close cluster of possible power houses of the future. What kind of integration mechanisms can we constitute and how best to leverage the potential of skills and manpower.


Above, I had the temerity to include Colombo in the above cluster of cities. This needs expansion and understanding. Colombo is a sister city in another country and Colombo to my view-point craves for some companionship from similar cities around the World. being isolated in an island nation enjoys limited companionship of  similar metropolis.What would be the result if better integration of an economic kind is ensured between Colombo and the Indian cities mentioned above.....faster growth trajectories for both these platforms and through Colombo various kinds of economies can be ensured between these two domains..a general easing of stress on various economic fronts ..be it agriculture..Industrial or Services. This fundamentally means more liberal manpower movement across these domains to ensure the kind oif synergy that is needed.

Concentrating on the Indian metropolis mentioned above  Chennai would be in the forefront. It used to be called Madras for many centuries  and was a key center of tussle largely by the English and french forces. fort St. George is the first English formal institution at this place which the english appear to have purchased from Chinna venkatadri naidu a chieftan of the past. There are two approach roads to Chennai from Bangalore.  The Old Madras road through Kolar and the New Madras Road through Hosur. Vellore is one of the key stations on this stretch. Chennai has its own share of industrial estates and commercial institutions and was the capital of the Madras Presidency that covered a large chunk of southern India. Chennai has an International airport at Meenambakkam ..the precise stop for the local train is Trisoolam. This airport can best be reached by the local train that traverses through many key points of the city before reaching the airport.The Tambaram Airforce base is close to the Airport. There is a four lane highway linking the cities and the travel time by road would be around eight hours. Note that Chennai is some four times the size of  Bangalore.the earkist educational venture came to Chennai in the form of Madras University

Thomas Munroe one of the Governor Generals of  Madras Presidency.


Mount Road is one of the key roads of Chennai..possibly the Governor General of Madras Presidency used this road to reach his office mounted on a horse. Chennai is a bustling metropolis with a high degree of economic activity and not to forget has a key place in all history being a fishing village and a port since ages. Egmore,Fort,Parrys junction,Broadway,Perambur,Annanagar,Mylapore,Guindy,Alwarpet,Kodambakkam,Perambur are few places in the city .Some trains cover the distance between Chennai and Bangalore in five hours flat. The Airplane would take 45 minutes.


The city of Hyderabad is one night journey from Chennai and almost the same time from Bangalore

.What is the difference between Hyderabad,Bangalore and Chennai as basic cities. Bangalore is a city with Utopian thinking and scientific thought...Chennai is a conservative city with careful indulgence and Hyderabad is a city of friendly people and eager to indulge in things constructive.Unlike Bangalore and Chennai which have a european charm..Hyderabad exudes a Nizamic flavour from top to bottom.As a market the people of Hyderabad are more keen at making investments in key sectors.Some of the neighbouring cities of Vijayawada and Vizag influence Hyderabad in many ways though these cities are considerably displaced.

When one travels from Bangalore to Hyderabad we exit bangalore through the Bellary Road..reaching Chikkaballapur..then near Anantapur...Gooty..Kurnool and Hyderabad. Gooty is known for Oranges and is the place where Thomas Munroe the Governor General of Madras Presidency died.These regions were traditionally called the ceded states being territory surrendered by the Nizam to the English Govt. under Subsidiary Alliance.A sizable component of the population of Hyderabad have emigrated to the USA. The weather in Hyderabad could be very hot in the Summer making it difficult to wander but has a sound local transport system.Secunderabad is a twin city of hyderabad displaced by a few kilometers.The old name of hyderabad is Bhav Nagar named after a queen of Golconda. Hussain Sagar lake is a key lake at the heart of the city with a large statue of Bhuddha recently erected in the middle.

The city of Hyderabad could be termed as the "Programming Capital of the World" for there are many people keen at computer programming. There were such institutes in the city at every cross road once upon a time.

Osman Ali Khan last Nizam Of Hyderabad


Himayat Nagar,Narayanaguda, Lakdi ka pool,Begumpet,Kukatpally,King Koti,Ameerpet,Banjara hills,Bowenpally,Maredpally,Taranaka,Abids are some key points of the city. Osmania University is a key feature of Hyderabad.

Charminar is a four minaret structure in the old city and Golconda is a 16th century fort some 30km from the city.Golconda fort must have come into exixtence in the11th century AD and passed into several ruling clans. In its hey days it was a center of Diamond trade.This place was captured by Aurangazeb after many months of seige. Attached to Hyderabad is nearly ten centuries of history and the city wresting in the hands of the Nizams who were persians given the responsibility as Vassals by the Moghals.Nizam means governor. Hyderabad has an islamic orientation perhaps handed down from Golconda. Qutb Shahi tombs are on the way to Golconda and could be the burial place of the kings of this dynasty who had sway over Golconda.Hussain Sagar lake was constructed for the water requirements of the city and is also called Tank Bund. On the entry at Golcona is an interestind dome with a sound transmitter. claps from the center of the dome can be heard many meters away and was possibly used in olden times to convey messages using audible codes.

One peculiar feature of the city is that it is studded by the palaces of the Nizam's at every nook and corner. The Nizams could have geneological links with key south Indian communities which might need detailed study.


The place called Nagpur is interestingly only twelve hours from hyderabad and so must be Pune an interesting feature. note that this city of Nagpur is the centre of gravity of India being at a cental point and is equidistant from New Delhi and Bangalore. a bus service from Bangalore to New Delhi could take roughly forty-eight hours or less...twenty four hours from Bangalore to Nagpur via Hyderabad and the rest from Nagpur to Delhi. this is the kind of connectivity that is envisaged in the future economy of the country.Things that seemed far becoming near.

The synergy between Pune  and  Bangalore is long drawn.They are key cities in the terrain of the Deccan platue.Yonder to Pune in the north are forests and mountaneous ranges.Bangalore is a logical attention for the city of pune and for many years invaders from this city moved south creating Maratta influence and the city of bangalore was seen as a safe haven.The key feature of pune appears to me is the Singhad fort around which civilization possibly began and this fort must be one hours drive from modern day Pune. Civilizations of yore commenced along complex hilly terrains and then stretched into the plains. Pune is no exception.

The key aspect of Pune is its proximity to Mumbai (Bombay) on one axis through mountaneous terrains. Pune and Mumbai have not integrated itself to the extent possible in my analysis and there could be some reasons..the mountaneous terrain could be one of them.The journey from Bangalore to Pune could be slightly more than overnight and the travel around this axis is much faster than yore.

Pune being almost the center of the country should grow in significance and the city has its own share of higher order Induatrial and professional systems. the corridor between Pune and Bangalore is a fast growing one. Pune would be integrated to Bangalore through a circuitous axis to my opinion. Pune to Mumbai...Mumbai to Cochin via the Konkan railway..and Cochin to Bangalore through highway systems. Konkan railway has brought about this transformation. The Konkan Railway brings Cochin into prominence. 

Notice how this quadrilateral would work....Bangalore to Chennai...Chennai to Hyderabad...Hyderabad to Pune...Pune to Mumbai....Mumbai to Cochin..Cochin to Bangalore. This is going to be a functional quadrilateral of economic gains....Note that I have not included Mumbai to significance more than just a transit point for the city has saturated for many things anew. there are many intermediate corridors that need propulsion  and also note that many towns along these corridors could face economic momentum.

Cochin would grow into a city of significane in the modern world. It was a key center for european powes like the Portuguese and a major port for many centuries. Cochin is the fulcrum of the economy of Kerala..its proximity to Govt. in Trivandrum..its closeness to Bangalore and the Konkan railway system should thrust it to importance. Much of the influence of the middle-east on the southern part of the Indian continent could happen through this city ..which is already in vogue as seen in the gold ornaments industry and this could pave way to many such similar sectors.

Cochin is roughly a nights journey from Bangalore and to a casual visitor is akin to Bangalore in many ways.


It would be worthy to note the exit routes from Bangalore to these cities.To Chennai (Madras) there are two routes one through Hosur which is the New Madras Road and the other is through Kolar the Old Madras Road. Vellore is one of the key transit points.Even if one does not get a direct bus to Chennai one can reach Vellore first and then progress to Chennai.

To Pune the route is through the Tumkur road through Davangare and Belgaum.


To Cochin again through Hosur using the Hosur road via palghat . To Hyderabad through the Bellary road and Chikkaballapur.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Sunday, December 6, 2015

P O SUBASH PHOTO

This is a phoyograph taken at MSRIM.

Iam at extreme left...next to me is Dr. M V Madan the Dean then...next to him is Mr. Sudhakaran  Managing Director of SANPAR a Compressed Air filter company and the other extreme is Purnima Ramaswamy..Mr Sudhakaran is a aluminus of REC Calicut.

LEG BYE CARTOON