Friday, August 28, 2009

BJP Crisis

“Fresh Blood” please is the only slogan for BJP, current situation demands there should be updated ideology for BJP, keeping religious sentiment at the back ground. The Senior members should make for young ideology set in same like what congress had done by introducing many young parliamentary members.

The RSS and VHP should do what they are doing since we need people would represent the minority Hindu community against the entire world. Coming back to BJP they have long being into opposition for the reason, new ideas had never being intruded to make them a wining party. The recent loss has only broken them badly, since they are getting rid of members who had performed badly in the last election. Rather they should find out the reason why they loss badly. In Indian politics even if politicians do not do any progress work atleast they should have charismatic personality.

Todays call for all the political party is 50% senior members and 50% young politicians. Take eg of Scindia, Pilot, Rahul Gandhi, they have been provided full open culture in congress. The young members should always be backed with senior members, cause experience counts a lot to run this huge machinery in our country. Young people bring new ideas and work on and they can connect to the entire nation.

BJP should stop this fighting and pulling each other legs and get reunited to make a strong opposition. Corruption, red tape and bad politics are surely a bad part in India, but these need to be tackle by young members with strict measures. Just imaging in last 50 years if the entire corruption money, black money would have been properly utilize for the country, we would have been 20 times much ahead of US and European nations. Corruption is worst than Cancer and Swine flu which makes the economy weak at the root.

Whether its Jaswant Singh or Kulkarni or Advani or people above the age of 70 yrs should be retired with respect and get people who are really working at the grass root level, I say percentage of people who work really for this society and are unsung hero would be more than the useless members in any of the political party. I agree everything is not dirty, we the Indian citizens make it dirty in the greed of earning multi crore trunks.

BJP really needs another chintan baithak and think about the future of the party rather saving our own baithak in the party.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Car War

Small Car Segment:
I would like to start review of small car’s launched in last two years. The market is huge for Auto industries in India right now since lot of car companies are invading Indian market.

In this segment we have Fabia, Punto, i10, i20, Honda Jazz, A Star, Ritz, Swift. My favorites are Ritz, Fabia and Honda Jazz. Though Fabia (Rs 7.36 Lacs) and Jazz (Rs 8 Lacs) are far more expensive compared to Ritz – Rs 4.36 Lacs are the near about onroad price, but definitely Fabia has far more good interiors and Jazz as usual has the refined Honda engine, the Ritz is the clear winner in terms of price, interior, enough head room and leg space, K-Series engine and Maruti service. Chevy Spark, Wagon R are the best option for beginners and small time budget. Indica Vista has lot of space and a good family car but quality really matters for Tata Vehicles.

Punto as usual has the first class fiat diesel engine and is a hard car to drive with less performance in terms of pick up and performance, Safety is there slogan. I10 has a kappa engine but less interior space and i20 is a fully loaded petrol version and (nice exterior/lot of space) inside looks is worth trying but has less performance compared to Ritz. Swift is growing old in the market it’s a good option near to dzire.

Sedan Segment:
Maruti SX4, Hyundai Verna, Dzire, Fiat Linea, Honda City, Logan, Ford Fiesta, Ford Icon.

My dream car is a Honda any make, but it’s a cream car, so definitely vote again for Maruti SX4, its truly men are back metal. Its smooth, great pickup, you doubt whether the engine is working or not for a brand new piece. Lot of space, height, head room and boot space definitely it’s a go for Rs 7 Lacs piece and lastly Maruti service. Due its high ground clearance its suitable for Indian road conditions having bumpy and potholes. Rest sedan do not have much ground clearance.

Honda city any make is always a go go provided you have big budget to buy it. The old Honda 1.3 are still going strong and current one’s are good take for round about Rs 9 Lacs. Honda City Vtec engines will definitely give far more mileage and refined engine. The stability on highways are superb for Honda cars, whether you step into the gas for 100 or 130 Kms per hour. Honda is Honda.

Third favorite is Fiat Linea the diesel version, when I took a test drive I thought I was driving a Petrol version, the new brand heavy metal is super quite with diesel engines. You can feel the safety with heavy doors and hoods. Good interior and exterior’s, nice colours and boot space with top end model for near about Rs 8 Lacs it’s a good go for diesel lovers. Now almost all diesel cars have Fiat engines under their hood they are capturing the engine market fast. I like the diesel version than the petrol one’s.

Dzire is extended version of swift and small budget with a price tag of Rs 5.36 Lacs it’s a good option for sedan section still having a waiting list. Verna definitely needs a test drive before making a decision to buy a sedan.
Ford is not making much noise in Indian car market, I was upset about the Ford icon diesel version and Ford Fiesta made sales graph little up but the above versions of cars is definitely beating Fiesta. Think tank in Ford has to work something fast before they become GM. The spares are expensive and if you get a bad piece you are bankrupt.

Logan failed due to looks, but has enough space for three at the back compared to all the above sedan. This is a big issue cause all sedan cars do not place three buns comfortably. Logan has lot of space but other things are not so good, Mahindra needs to rework on this piece.

Luxury Segment:
Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Skoda Superb, Skoda Laura, VW Jetta, Toyota Altis, Toyota Camry.

Hmm yummy it’s the Skoda and Honda the clear winner for me.
Honda Civic- Rs 13 Lacs
Honda Accord – N/A
Skoda Superb – Rs 18 Lacs
Skoda Laura – Rs 20 Lacs
VW Jetta – Rs 17 Lacs
Toyota Altis – Rs 13 Lacs
Toyota Camry – N/A
Above price tag need to be confirmed.

Honda again refined engines, I took a test drive of Honda Civic, it took few seconds to reach 100 Kms speed and I did not realized I was at the high speed. The back seat has flat floor removing the hump compared to other cars. Lot of space and a cool Steering wheel and a dash board.

Skoda is surely a SUPERB. The latest one has got a good face uplift and they are muscle car with Skoda engines. They are reliable Czech stuff. So buy them blind folded.

VW Jetta is a great car, I drove them in city and little difficult to drive them in narrow, congested and crowed roads and lanes.Its a good German car so you have safety. Smooth, huge, performance and pickup. Try your test drive on highways and you will be dead with its speed. It has something called Emergency exit from back seat. You fold the back seat and you have a way out to boot with a button to open the boot from inside and you are out if your electronics set failed in heavy rains. That’s cool.

Toyota’s has good engines as usual and not to be missed.

Super Luxury Segment:
Audi, BMW, VW Passat,

Go for anything above 4,5,6,7 for Audi / BMW, your choice and money, especially Audi R8 with a V8 engine and for Rs 1.17 Crores.

SUV’s Sedan:
Toyota Innova gives a tuff to Tata sumo grande, Tavera . Compared to buying a high end sedan car people now prefer Innova. It has conquered the market for 8 and 7 Seaters people carrying vehicle which is just for Rs 10 Lacs. Driving a Innova gives a feeling of driving a Sedan. Its gives a nice smooth drive in city and on highways, though a diesel version its less noisy than other Indian diesel vehicle, A lot of space and comfort for a long drive and big family. Of course it’s a expensive maintain ace vehicle but definitely a go. I am quite impressed.

Next in this line are Mahindra Xylo, Tata Sumo, Grande, GM Tavera. For Rs 8 Lacs GM Tavera is a smooth driven 8 seater, specially if you get a option of two seats in the middle, the suspension ensures nothing moves in your stomach. They are very popular commercial use in India. Mahindra Xylo is tall, sturdy, spacious but hard to drive since the gear knob is too hard to move but a good strong SUV for rural India. Tata Grande has not much changed the view of customers since I can see very few grande on roads and it’s a huge tank if you sit inside and try to drive.

Luxury SUV’s:

Tata Safari, 2009 Mahindra Scorpio, Grand Vitara, Chevy Captiva, Ford Endeavour, Mitsubishi Outlander, Porsche Cayenne, Mitsubishi Pajero, Honda CRV, Audi Q7, Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class

Captiva and Honda CRV are good SUV within a price range for Rs 19 Lacs. They give lot of comfort for long drives and have good engines. Mahindra Scorpio are huge and very popular in this diesel section, since Mahindra are well versed with Diesel engines. Tata Safari and Grand Vitara are old now nothing new except external UI features. TO mention is the HULK Toyota Land Cruiser, which is released recently in India. The white African elephant has a V8 engine with almost a 4000 CC fuel drinking middle piece. It has a huge music system and lot of luxury fitted inside and you can adjust the height of the entire vehicle up and down. So better have a close look if you see it on the road. Benz will certainly give value for your money. Rest see the tech specification of SUV below:

Tata Safari
The Tata Safari was launched a decade ago to the Indian market. Tata Safari with its slightly puffed yet elegant body and comfortable interiors became the darling of the young middle class urban elite. Safari comes in eight trims and two drive configurations, front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive. It comes with two engine options: a 2.2L VTT diesel that churns out 138 bhp and 2.0L MPFI petrol that produces 125 bhp. Estimated fuel economy is 9/13 km/l (city/highway). It is furnished with a height-adjustable driver's seat, power windows, a climate control system, and a tilt power steering. The Safari comes with a starting price tag of Rs 6.47 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).


2009 Mahindra Scorpio

Since decades, Mahindra & Mahindra is known to supply general purpose vehicles to the Indian mass and the tradition is maintained with the launch of Mahindra Scorpio. This SUV became an instant hit and created a wave of enthusiasm among young professionals. The 2009 Scorpio comes with a new engine. The all-new 2.2-litre, four-cylinder mHawk diesel pumps out 120 bhp, which can be considered the right kind of output for Indian conditions from an SUV. The new engine comes with the micro hybrid mode. What this does is to switch off to standby when the vehicle does not need the engine, such as in idling conditions. This is believed to make some contribution to fuel conservation.The 2009 Scorpio is given a new grill, which comes with a central ‘silver tooth’. As the name suggests, this fork-like shape for the grill makes it more noticeable. This feature is common to the Bolero, as well as Mahindra's new introduction, the Xylo. The new headlights get a highly powerful and piercing ‘projector’ lenses. Available in four variants, the 2009 Mahindra Scorpio is available within the price range of Rs 7 Lakh to Rs 9 Lakh

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara

After having established itself as an undisputable leader in the small car segment, Maruti Suzuki has set foot in the SUV market with the launch of Grand Vitara. This SUV comes to India with a single petrol engine option, a 5-seater configuration, and an enthralling exterior design that resembles the Honda CR-V. The gutsy 2.0L VIS Inline-4 petrol engine churns out 119.5 bhp and is linked to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 4-speed automatic transmission. An all-wheel-drive configuration is standard and the fuel economy is 10.3 km/l for variant with automatic transmission and 11.2 km/l for variant with manual transmission. The starting price tag for the Grand Vitara is Rs 13.8 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Chevrolet Captiva

The SUV is blessed with aggressive looks, classy exterior & interiors and uncompromised performance. The engine follows the Common Rail Direct Injection fuel system coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission and powered by 2.0L Inline 4 cylinder delivering 150bhp. The car now comes with automatic transmission that adds value to the already competent car. Available only in single diesel variant, Captiva offers the fuel economy of 9/12 km/L (city/highway). Chevrolet Captiva comes with a starting price of Rs 19.9 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
Ford Endeavour

Struggling to cope with the new Globalised competition, Ford was not to lag behind others while vying for the Indian pie. The Endeavour may look a bit obsolescent, but it has user-friendly interiors with plenty of legroom. The car comes with a common 2.5L turbocharged diesel VGT Inline-4 engine which generates 141 bhp and is propelled by a 5-speed manual transmission. The only difference between the two available variants is the drive configuration, which is rear-wheel-drive (RWD) for one and all-wheel-drive (AWD) for the other. The car comes with alloy wheels and tubeless tyres. The estimated fuel economy of the car is 7/10 km/l (city/highway). The Endeavour comes with a starting price tag of Rs 14.72 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Mitsubishi Outlander

This Stunning SUV is launched in India by a joint venture of Hindustan Motors and Mitsubishi. Designed meticulously, the Outlander is gifted with brilliant styling, faultless performance, unmatched fuel efficiency, and innovative engineering. This SUV offers driving pleasure with its convertible smooth 2WD mode to rugged 4WD mode. The car is propelled by a 2.4L MIVEC I4 engine which delivers 168bhp. The gearbox offered a 6-speed INVECS-III CVT with a 6-speed manual mode controlled through paddle shifters. The estimated fuel economy is 8/11 km/L (city/highway). The starting price tag is Rs 20.20 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
Porsche Cayenne

Porsche is well-known for imparting unique sporty character to its cars and the same is truly reflected in the design and aesthetic of the Cayenne. Continuing Porsche’s legacy of excellence in automotive engineering, the SUV exudes both elegance and masculinity at the same time. The naturally aspirated 3.6-litre V6 engine produces 290 bhp. Complimenting the high energy is the invigorating engine sound that is unique to every Porsche car. With awe-inspiring power and well-balanced acoustics, it goes from 0 to 100 km/h in a span of 8.1 seconds and can touch a top speed of 227 km/h.
A ‘Sport’ mode on the car offers a quicker pedal response and more dynamic as well as direct engine performance. It also assists in achieving a firmer ride and responsive handling. The Porsche Traction Management (PTM) on the SUV combined with Porsche’s enhanced Stability Management system tune the ride for optimum off-road performance. The maximum ground clearance of 241 mm and air suspension confirm the superior traction and smooth driving dynamics. The luxurious and powerful Cayenne SUV models sell within the range of Rs 56 Lakh to Rs 1.5 Crore (ex-showroom price).

Mitsubishi Pajero

The Japanese car maker Mitsubishi entered the fray of the lucrative Indian SUV market with its Pajero. The Pajero has a military-vehicle sturdy front with a boxy rear. It is great off-road and tackles difficult terrain with panache. The Pajero comes in a single variant SFX with a 2.8L turbocharged Inline-4 diesel engine that churns out 117 bhp and is coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission. The Pajero also has height-adjustable driver seat, ABS brakes, and climate control. This all-wheel-drive vehicle has an estimated fuel economy of 8/11 km/l (city/highway). The Pajero comes with a starting price tag of Rs 19.80 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Honda CR-V

This is a top-end luxury SUV one will simply love to own. This extremely popular, new-age urban vehicle has sold over 2.5 million units across 160 countries, and its popularity doesn't show the slightest sign of waning.The Honda CR-V is as stylish as a premium SUV can get. Its wonderful GCON body, catchy tail gate design, attractive front cabin, cockpit-like interior and sun roof combine deftly with the luxury that is packed inside.There is a seemingly unlimited set of interior amenities and comforts inside. A dynamic dashboard, dual climate control, plush leather upholstery, multi-info display, adjustable tilt-telescopic steering and Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) reduction feature are some of the wonders of this vehicle. It has a terrific feel of the road. Its superior stability and road handling complement the high view that offers wonderful visibility. This gives the driver a feeling of being king of the road.The Honda CR-V comes in 3 variants with two 2.0L i-VTEC and 2.4L i-VTEC engine that gives out 141 bhp and 151 bhp, respectively. Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), dual SRS airbags, Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), security alarm and immobilizer are some of the safety features that the CR-V comes with.Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), dual SRS airbags, Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), security alarm and immobilizer are some of the safety features that the CR-V comes with. The price of the car falls within the range of Rs 17 Lakh to Rs 19 Lakh.

Audi Q7

Audi Q7 is a full size luxury SUV built on the customized version of the Volkswagen 7L platform. Enhanced with Audis Quattro all-wheel drive system, it has an option of three engines in petrol and diesel version - 3.0L V6 Turbo diesel that churns out 230bhp, 3.6L V6 delivering 276 bhp and 4.2L V8 producing 350bhp. It is available in three variants - 3.0 TDI Quattro, 4.2 FSI Quattro and 3.6 FSI Quattro. The engine is mated with a 6-speed automatic transmission. The estimated fuel economy is 7/9 km/L (city/highway). Its price tag starts at Rs 53.4 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).


Toyota Land Cruiser

Toyota Land Cruiser from the SUV segment is one of the most expensive models from Toyota in the Indian car market. The sturdy SUV will be powered by a 4.5 litre V8 engine with an output of 282 bhp and a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The engine comes with the reputation of providing better performance and fuel economy compared to the petrol version that is available in the Indian market.
Bigger wheel arches and bumpers, thick and chrome surround grille gives the SUV a classy appeal. Toyota Land Cruiser Prado comes to India as a completely CBU will be positioned against Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Audi Q5 and Volkswagen Touareg. It comes with the price tag of Rs. 84 Lakh (Ex-Showroom, New Delhi).

Mercedes-Benz GL-Class

Mercedes will be expanding its premium SUV segment in India with the introduction of Mercedes-Benz GL-Class. The seven-seater SUV will be available in both petrol and diesel versions. The petrol engine will come equipped with 5.5-litre capacity whereas the diesel variant will be powered by a 3.0-litre engine. The GL Class will impress Indian luxury car buyers with its royal styling, flawless performance, luxury features, and outstanding safety features.
Expected Launch Date: Late 2009Estimated Price Tag : Rs 75 Lakh


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

MUDSTORM

Yes this is a mud storm story. You have heard till today snow storm, sand storm, sun storm, but this is mud storm.

The city was covered with mud and watery soil all over. I was walking along the roads and people were enjoying the sweet mud fall all around. Sweet mud cause it tasted sweet and was good for health. The tall buildings, roads, cars and every thing was covered with thick soil same like snowfall. People were enjoying pushing each other in the puddle. People who came out fresh out of there house for a walk with fresh pairs of clothes were thrown in the puddle, so all city crowd was dirty enough not to be recognized.

When earth heated from below, lot of soil is thrown out and slashes of rains made the soil muddy. This was the every year scene especially after summer. It lasted for few days and it would stop. It was something different compared to the regular seasons.


But this year something different happened, Small River of mud started flowing on the road and it was a watery mix soil which we often experience after heavy rainfall. The river started flowing all across the city which was overflowing from the earth below with heavy rains. People enjoyed more in the river, jumping pumping. People climbed the hillock and swayed down to the bottom.

Slowly the river of mud was getting bigger and taller. People started climbing first floor of the building; I too climbed the floors for Safety. Huh !!! suddenly there was a gush of of huge mud reaching 6th floor I and many people went to the broken terrace of the building I caught hold of the tank ladder and got saved. Before my eyes 1000-2000 people were washed away and I could see lot of bodies covered with mud, dead flowing in the river of mud.

The huge river came to normal and vanishes and we came down to the ground level. Lot of people standing near the shops was washed away. It was scary next moment was very dangerous cause it started raining more heavily. With no rescue available all crisis depart fallen aback I thought I would be death today. We tried to reach the tallest shelter to keep ourselves safe. And again sudden gush of river mud came and I was 1 inch above the river looking for help.

My wife kicked me and woke me up from a lazy Sunday morning……..