Awesome Google Republic Day India 2012 Doodle

Awesome Google Republic Day India 2012 Doodle

Sodexo Food Coupons an unwanted company in India

Sodexo ( foreign MNC ) Food Coupons are given to employees. It is optional facility. Employees prefer them because it gives tax exemption( a rule created for companies like this). Read about the tax clause below this post. Let us see the disadvantages.

Sodexo is now given even for LIC, RBI ! Source: Rajya Sabha

• The coupons have validity. I am careless and will forget to use it before the validity period.
• The shop keepers won't give balance
• Not all shops accept Sodexo coupons. The shops which accept the Sodexo coupons might charge more usually. eg. 10 kg Double Horse rice costs Rs.339 (MRP Price) , you could get for reduced price from Triveni or Margin Free shops but Sodexho is not accepted in these shops.
• I tend to treat it different from money and is likely to spend more that I need if I have the coupons that money.
• There is no consumer relationship between me and Sodexo , eg. If Relaince/More/Spencers/Big Bazaar stop accepting this I don't have a choice to sue them as my company is their customer.

Source: Economictimes

According to 2005 Indian ITAct SECTION 17
Perquisites and its valuation

IX. Free meals : The provision of free meals varies widely from uniform canteen food, coupons, etc., to lavish hotel meals. The scheme of free meals as a staff welfare measure had been recognized and was admissible upto Rs. 35 for each meal. The new rule does not treat as perquisite free food and non-alcoholic beverages to the extent the value thereof does not exceed Rs. 50. Where any amount is recovered from the employee, such amount shall be reduced from the value of perquisite. Such free or subsidized food or non-alcoholic beverages should however be provided at office premises or through non-transferable vouchers meant only for meals during working hours. These vouchers provided by employers should be usable only at an eatery, a restaurant or a cafe. Tea or similar non-alcoholic beverages and snacks - in the form of light refreshments during working hours are not charged as perquisite. Also, arrangements for meals in ‘remote areas’ as prescribed in para 5.1(I) of this Circular and similar off-shore sites as specified, shall be exempt. However, expenditure on provision of free meals by the employer in excess of Rs. 50 should be treated as perquisite, as reduced by recoveries made from the employee.

Engineering/Medical (KEAM) 2012 Notification

Engineering/Medical (KEAM) 2012 Notification is expected today.

Emergency Phone Numbers for Kochi in Kerala

Here are Emergency Phone Numbers-Hospitals::Police::Travel::Customer Care @Cochin

AMBULANCE SERVICES
Abhayam, Thripunithura: 2778980, 2779899
Asraya, Poonithura 9447457676/9895855684
General Hospital, Hospital Rd: 2361251/2381768
Amrita Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre: 2802111,2802060
Anugraha Ambulance: 98471 21133
Krishna Nursing Home: 2368250/2368230
Ashir Bhavan, Kacheripady: 2395972
Cortina Hospital, Chellanam: 2249809,2249841
Dhanwanthari Service Society, C\o General Hospital: 2364815
Doctors Diagnostice Centre.M.G. Rd: 2364041
Ernakulam Medical Centre, N.H. Palarivattom: 2807101 -106
Gautham Hospital, Panayampally: 2210512
Indira Gandhi Co-op Hospital, Gandhi Nagar: 2206734/2204110
Lakshmi Centre: 2382114
Sudheendra Hospital: 2354139
Lourdes Hospital: 4123456/4125555
Maharajas Hospital: 2224561
Medical Trust Hospital, M.G. Road: 2358002
Ojus Clinic and Nursing Home,Mullassery Canal Road: 2370303
PNVM Hospital: 2390097, 2396393
PVS Memorial Hospital: 2345451
Rotary Club of Cochin East, Kadavanthra: 98470-60077
SakthiMedical Centre, Market Canal Rd: 2353783
Specialist's Hospital, Town Railway Station Road: 2395066
Welcare Hospital: 4091111,2307897
Sunrise Hospital, Kakkanad:2428913-16 (4 lines)

EYE BANKS:
Abhayam, Thripunithura:2778980, 2780501

EYE HOSPITALS
Chaithanya Eye HospitakRavipuram, 2357098,2357135
Gridhar Eye Institute, Kadavanthra: 2316791, 2312303, 2324458, 2368429, 2368591
Vasan Eye care, M.G. Road: 408 9000
Vasan Eye care, Palarivattom: 418 9000

HOSPITALS
General Hospital, Hospital Road: 2361251
Government Hospital: 2224444
Maharaja's Hospital, Karuvelippady: 2224561
Womens and Children's Hospital, Mattancherry. 2224511
Hair's Hospital: 2302666
Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre: 2801234/2802100
Bharathi Clinic, Mullassery Canal Road: 2351313
Central Hospital, Kadavanthra: 2310005
City Hospital, M.G. Road: 2361809
Co-Operative Medical College, Kalamassery : 2411460
Cochin Hospital, M.G. Road:2378980
Cochin Mental Health Centre:2317790
Dhanya Nursing Home, MKK Nair Rd: 2345771
Diagnostic Research Centre, M.G. Rd: 2365578
Doctors Diagnostic Centre (Kadavanthra, M.G. Road, Palarivattom): 2315511, 2364141, 2337415
Dr. Joy's Hospital for Women, Vytilla: 2303007, 2304001
Early Cancer Detection Centre, Kaloor: 2347531
Ernakulam Medical Centre, N.H. Palrivattom: 2807101 ¦ 106
Gautham Hospital: 2210512
Indira Gandhi Co-op Hospital, Gandhi Nagar:2206734/ 2204110
Krishna Nursing Home, T.D. Road:2368230, 2368240
Lakeshore hospital & Research Centre - 2701032, 2701033, 9847312301
Dr. Kunhalu's Nursing Home: 2368451,2368429, 2368591
Lakshmi Hospital: 2382111
Lissie Hospital: 2401006/2402308
Lourdes Hospital: 4123456/4125555
Medical Trust Hospital, M.G. Road: 2358002 ¦ 2358008
Ojus Clinic and Nursing Home: 2370303
Paul's Hospital, Centre for Advanced Endoscopy & Infertility treatment 2344446/2344447
PNVM Hospital and Research Centre: 2390097
PVS Memorial Hospital, Kaloor: 2345451/52/2345471
Saraf Hospital, Sreekandath Road: 2380452
Sree Sudheendra Medical Mission, Chittoor: 2382390
Vijaya Hospital: 2391834
Mothers Child Hospital: 2303283
Sunrise Hospital, Kakkanad:2428913-16 (4 lines)
Thaqdees Hospitals, Aluva: 2839674/2836096

AYURVEDA
Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala Hospital and Research Centre
Thrikkakara: 2554000,
Aluva: 2272132

VETERINARY SERVICES
Abraham Tharakan Pet 2342418,
Animal Clinic, Palarivattom: 9846054259

RAILWAYS ENQUIRIES
South : 2376430/131,132
North:2395198
Thripunithura : 2777375
Reservations: 2375431

ROADWAYS ENQUIRIES
KSRTC:2372033

AIR LINES
Air India City: 2351295(2610040 airport)
Indian Airlines: 2371141(2610041airport)
Jet airways: 2382275(2610038 airport)
Airlines Enquiries (Airport): 2610115/6

CELL PHONE CUSTOMER SERVICE
Idea (Escotel): 9847012345
Airtel: 9895012345
Reliance: 0484 3044444
CellOne: 2376149
Vodafone: 98460 98460

ELECTRICITY Control Room: 2392358
Electricity Complaints (TCMS) 155333,2396248
Fire Service: 101,2312101
Postal Enquiries: 2355467
24 Hour Telephone
Information Services
Local Enquiry: 197

COUNSELLING CENTRE
Shilpa (for mentally disabled): 2328977
Maithri (for depressed & suicidal): 2540530
RHIMA (de-addiction & counselling centre): 3944620
Chaitram: 4020160

SPECIAL SCHOOL
Raksha, (School for care of children with multiple disabilities): 2227707, 2227937

24 HOURS PHARMACY
Oriental Pharmacy: 2366463
Medilab: 3293306, 2320330
Gautham Hospital: 2210512, 2210514)
Sunrise Hospital, Kakkanad:2428913-16 (4 lines)
Amritha: 4001055

24 HOURS DIAGNOSTIC CENTRE
Medilab, Palarivattom : 2340288, 3246592
Medilab, Doraiswamy Iyer Road, Ekm: 2368963, 3293307

ABHAYA EYE BANK:2780501
BLOOD BANK:2354886/ 2361549

Childline:1098
Crime Stopper Call:1090
Traffic Helpline:1099
Police Control Room:100, 2366100
ALERT - (Kerala Police Highway):9846100100
City Police Commissioner's
Office:2394770
Ekm Rural SP:2623550
KSEB Control room:2393147
KWA Control room:2361369

KERALA LEGAL SERVICE AUTHORITY
Legal Aid helpline: 9846700100

Compare SBI Fixed Deposit Rates Indian Banks 2012

SEBI launches toll free helpline 1800 22 7575

Stock market regulator SEBI launched a toll free helpline service for investors on December 30,2011.
The service will be available in 11 languages -
English, Hindi, Marathi, Guiarati, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Telugu, Urdu, Oriya and Punjabi, initially.

Investors would be able to receive guidance pertaining to status of companies (listed unlisted, sick, wound up and the like),
process of lodging a complaint, how to open a demat account/ trading account.

It will also explain to callers the activities that are under SEBI's jurisdiction.
The regulator will also provide assistance on transfer of shares and IPOs.
However, it does not offer legal opinion or investment advice.

Investors may dial toll free number 1800 22 7575 from
Monday to Friday between 9:30 AM and 5:30 PM for availing of this service.

Updates::Indian Courts x Kerala

The Kerala government Vs The Kerala High Court is the "new normal" . This blog post logs this for 2012.

The Kerala High Court on Monday appointed an Advocate Commissioner to inspect the functioning of the solid waste treatment plant at Vilappilasala

Even as the state government was dealing with the spurt in farmer suicides in Wayanad in 2011, officials informed the central government that no farmer suicides were taking place in Kerala, according to an affidavit filed by the central government in the Kerala High Court on Monday.

Replace Seagate Hard Disk in India purchased from Gulf

Please follow the steps below to troubleshoot your hard drive before returning:

1) Right-click on My Computer / Computer icon.
2) Click on Manage
3) Click on Device Manager
4) Double-click on Disk Drives. Are you able to see your hard drive under Disk Drives?
5) If yes, double-click on Universal Serial Bus control. Do you see any yellow symbol?
6) On the left panel, click on Storage.
7) Click on Disk Management. Is the hard drive listed there?

If the hard drive is not detected in Device Manager and Disk Management, please try to connect this hard drive to the back of the CPU of a desktop computer using different cable(s) and repeat the steps above.

Run Seagate Diagnostic tool, Seatools to determine the health of the hard drive

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/

If the hard drive does not get detected, you may want to return the hard drive to us for a replacement. Check warranty info here


DATA RECOVERY

Seagate offers data recovery for all Seagate products. For more information about our new data recovery service please visit our website:

https://services.seagate.com/index.aspx?lng=en-US

However, you could choose to perform data recovery for your drive at a 3rd Party Certified Data Recovery service centre near your local area. You will need to provide us with a formal letter from that company stating that the drive has been opened for data recovering purpose and to indicate clearly the serial number of the drive. An authorized signature is required, too.

The letter from the Data Recovery service centre must be attached when you send your drive to us for replacement in order not to have the warranty voided.

Data Recovery cost will be borne by the end user.


WARRANTY/RETURNS for Seagate Hard Disk in India

As this is a hard drive that was not purchased from an Authorized Distributor in India, approval is required before you can replace it in India

Please log on to this website to create a Customer ID and reply us with the following information to assist us in approving the warranty return for your hard drive.

http://myservice.accelwms.in/

Name:
Contact Number:
Email Address:
Customer ID:
Serial Number:
City to return drive:

Note: For Mumbai, please specify if you would return drive to
ChakalaMumbai or Mumbai Central West

Should you require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact Seagate India Customer Care.

Barracuda, BlackArmor, Constellation ES, GoFlex, Momentus, Savvio are popular Seagate hard disks.

Indian Oil Gas Cylinders or Indian Gas Bombs ?

First one while cooking.

Second while while sleeping, that too backup one.
Thank you Indian Oil.

UPDATE: 17th Jan 2012
No explanation so far from IOC officials. Mathrubhumi reports one more accident.

UPDATE: 6th Feb 2012 - Another one explodes, don't know whether it is Indian Oil or not

Update : 22 June 2012
It all began with Ancy, wife of Sebastian George, of Kappithanparambu, Malippuram, spotting a spark in the regulator of the LPG cylinder while she was cooking at around 7 a.m.

On being alerted, Mr. George tried to put out the fire using water.

The fire caught on rapidly and all the family, that included two school-going children, could do was to leave the house.

In five minutes, the cylinder exploded.
Source : The Hindu - Gas Cylinder explosion in Kerala

RE60 car from Bajaj - Why this Kolaveri ?

200 cc "rearmount" petrol engine compared to Tata Nano with 623 cc engine
35 kms/liter mileage
Here are some of the images of RE60 four wheeler car from Bajaj.

Kerala Govt - Indian Bank Holidays 2012

January 2012

As you could see the Republic Day in Jan 2012 is on a Thursday. Take a leave on Friday and make it a 4 day combo leave.

April 2012

Come April and it is time to celebrate Maundy Thursday , which  is on Thursday, 5 April 2012. Club the Good Friday and the weekend to make another Kerala Combo Holiday.

August 2012

August 2012 as you see is a month with lot red due to Onam 2012 . Bank Holidays in August 2012 are Aug 15, 28, 29, 31

October 2012

October 2012 is for Pooja Holidays and Bakrid. Take a leave on Oct 25th now itself to get more than week to spend on vacation or other side business.

Bank Holidays in October 2012 are Oct 2, 23, 24, 26

November 2012

Nov 13  Diwali is a Bank Holiday and if you apply for a leave on November 12 you will get another Holiday combo to enjoy.

December 2012

Take a leave on December 24th and if possible rest of the week to dive to next year ( Note: Mayan Calendar will end and the  new world order begins , see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory))

Click here to email this to your best friend.
Source: Kerala Govt Calendar 2012.