Ooty - Coonoor (Tamilnadu) - Days in Western Ghats

Ooty, a hill station in the Nilgiris District of Tamilnadu is very popular for travellers. It is officially known as Udagamandalam, and also known as Oostacamund. 

With Ooty one can easily visit to Coonoor, kind of sister city of Ooty. Coonoor is more natural, and more beautiful.  ✈ 

Airtel Xtream to Add Lionsgate Contents Very Soon

Bharti Airtel is leaving no stone untouched to win the telecom game. While the telecommunications in India has seen expansion from simple call to video on the go, 2G to 4G, the new value added services is the content. 

The trend of offering good content to the subscribers was formed by Reliance Jio, they already have a seperate company for that - Jio Platforms Ltd, spun off from the main company. Jefferies research reports that the company, Jio Platforms which takes care of digital services (a suite of Jio apps and strategic investments) may have an estimated valuation of $65 billion-$70 billion. And Jio Platform is the second highest valued digital platform in the world after Amazon when considering EV/EBITDA (enterprise value by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation). Going by this finance Jio Platform is ahead of Alphabet, Apple or Alibaba. 

Ola Gets Massive Response from Drivers in London, Uber's License to be Scrapped

Indian cab aggregator Ola is going Europe, as it is to launch services in London. Ola has been running operations in Australia and Newzealand since 2018. 

It should be noted that Ola is operating in UK since 2018 across South Wales (Cardiff, Newport and Vale of Glamorgan), South West (Bath, Bristol, Exeter, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire), Merseyside (Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and The Wirral), West Midlands (Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Warwick) and Reading. 

Mobile Tariff Hike - My Thoughts !

When Vodafone Idea announced their plan to hike tariff, I expect an increase of Rs 10-25 in most of plans, on 28 day validity plans. So on 84 day plan that would be Rs 30-75 increase. 

But as it shows, the increase is Rs 150 on 84-day validity plans (i.e. 3 months pack). That's nearly 40% increase. Also they proved themselves that they are hypocrites, as both incumbents separate onnet and offnet calling, just like Jio did that on the ground of IUC. 
Update: Both incumbents removed offnet call capping from their plans. 
Update 2: Jio continues to offer free Jio2Jio calling and adds some minutes for offnet calling, while Airtel and Vodafone offer unlimited calling to any network with their unlimited packs.

As they declared new revised plans on 3rd December, Jio too announced a tariff hike scheduled on 6th December. 

Jio will be the maximum Gainer !!

Jio told that they will be cheapest service provider, they could not hike tariff. With decision taken by incumbents, Jio now can blame the incumbents for market's motion of tariff hike. 

Jio is pretty much non-liable for payment due compared to incumbents, who have to shell out Rs 1 lakh crore for AGR adjusted payment due to GoI. So as the wave of tariff hike is going on, their ARPU will go up, and all will improve Jio's finance, way
better than Airtel and VIL.

Jio will declare their plans later, so they will have a look into others, and may offer cheaper tariff than incumbents with extra benefits like more data. That might kill dual SIM market, as with multiple SIM the spending will be much higher (Rs 130 to 190 on avg), and may be users shift to Jio. More customers, more revenue - Jio may have the best balance sheet among telcos in coming days. 

As operators divide onnet and offnet calls, TRAI must withdraw 6p/min IUC and make it zero with immediate effect.  

Update: If you have WiFi at home and office, grab Jio's 329 plan (84 days validity, 3000 offnet calls, 100 text/day, 6GB data). With Rs 50 coupon you can get it at Rs 279. [per day cost Rs 3.32]

Why Zomato Reviews Are Mostly Fake?

​In the pre-Zomato era I used to list of top restaurants, but now you don't even need a list. Zomato can show you near by restaurants just searching with the locality. 

I am a foody, and I was an active member of Munching Monks, a food group based on Facebook. 

As I did some food review based on my group, I got free food in some restaurant, and most of the time it was awesome, and I put it 4.5-5/5. But soon I understood that many restaurants offer best food & hospitality to us only. On my second visit (personal visit) those restaurants seem nowhere near 4 out of 5 unless I told them I came here earlier with my group. It was pretty disappointing for me and those who are coming with me. Many dishes are not available, and taste changes. 

Chandannagar Pre Trip - Workup

Durga Charan Rakshit Ghat located at the middle of the Chandannagar Strand

Today Chandannagar (চন্দননগর) is almost like any other cities or towns of West Bengal, but it has a long colonial history, which is older than Kolkata. 

Locals used to call this place Farashdanga (ফরাসডাঙ্গা, the land of the French). The name of Chandernagore was first found in letters dated 1696 by officials of French East India Company. The origin of name may be from the business of chandan/sandalwood, or may be from goddess Chandi or, due to the location with the river Ganges' moon cresent look (chandni, চাঁদনি). 

Created out of three villages, Borokishanganj, Khalisani and Gondalpara (গোন্দলপাড়া) Chandernagore was emerged as the main centre of European commerce in Bengal and became a key trade centre. The foundation of Chandannagar was done by Du Plessis in 1673-74, when he bought land in Borokishanganj (and Job Charnock would be to establish Calcutta in 1690).

Vodafone Idea in Big Financial Mess

Vodafone Idea Ltd, the one of three private carriers of the country is in big trouble, mostly financially. VIL and Airtel is hit by 16 year old dispute with DoT, the AGR calculation, as verdicted by highest court of the country by end of October, 2019. As per Supreme Court, operators have to pay Rs 92,641 crore dues (breakdown = Rs 23,189 crore as the disputed amount, Rs 41,650 crore of the levy of interest, Rs 10,923 crore as penalty and Rs 16,878 crore as interest on penalty. Just about three years ago, the total dues were just Rs 29,474 crore). 

Out of this 46% would be from non-existing operators like Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Aircel and others. 

JetPrivilege Rebrands as Intermiles

Grounded in April this year, Indian airline Jet Airways' loyality program JetPrivilege has been rebranded as Intermiles. Jet Privilege Private Limited (JPPL) was formed back in 2012, and was initially owned by Jet Airways. Later it was floated as independent company in 2014 and Etihad took a majority stake (50.1%) in it. 

After the grounding of Jet Airways, JPPL tied-up with other airlines to enable existing JetPrivilege members to use their air miles on these carriers for domestic travel.

Trip to Mysore with Itinerary (April 2019)

Mysore or Mysuru, is one of most popular cities in south India, located at Karnataka, nearly 150 km away from Bangalore. Mysuru is a historic place as capital of Wadiyar dynasty. Tipu Sultan was a ruler of Mysuru during late 1700s. Mythologically Mysuru was ruled by Mahishasura. 

We took a bus from B'luru to Mysuru at morning, reached the heritage city in 3 hours approx.

Stayed at Anurag Inn, booked via MakeMyTrip.

* These places are must visit in Mysuru!

Day 01 itinerary:  

1. Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary* (Boat ride for live crocodiles and migratory birds : reach there early as they have limited boat rides per day)

World Gets 50th 5G Network

As China’s telecom trio launches 5G services in China, it marks 50^th 3GPP compliant commercial 5G launches in the world. As per GSA data, currently 50 operators are offering 5G services globally, in 27 different countries by the end of October 2019. Europe is most 5G dense continent, with 21 operators catering 5G in 12 countries.

The report also noted that 328 operators in 109 countries had announced they were investing in 5G. 

Joe Barrett, the President of the GSA commented: "I think that we have all been surprised by how quickly 5G has taken off, with deployments and commitments from across the globe gathering pace. This latest milestone, combined with commercial launches in the world’s largest mobile market, is set to lead to an explosion in 5G users and also have a knock-on impact on driving both use cases and innovation.”

#ShRT - DRIVE will Make You cRaZy like Hell

Drive, the latest one on Netflix, is another example how these days big production houses fails in bollywood as content wise they are big zero. Drive, starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sapna Pabbi, Boman Irani and Netflix star Pankaj Tripathi, is directed by Tarun Manushukani and aims to be desi Fast and Furious but fails miserably. And just forget to tell you it's produced by Dharma Productions, i.e. the house of Karan Johar. 

Earlier I used to watch some shitty hollywood flick which are actually direct-to-dvd, Drive is a similar kind of bollywood garbage dumped on Netflix. 

If you can remember Bard of Blood, from SRK's Red Chillies is also a flop show. It seems these production houses make a really bad film and then they are selling it to Netflix. 

With such bullshit content, Netflix may loose Indian customers pretty soon. Well Netflix has quite good number of originals contents in English and their Sacred Games is a critically acclaimed webseries. Only thing they need to be choosy while picking up from bollywood firms. 

Fiber is Must for 5G - What Operators are Doing?

As the wireless telecom market went into consolidation for last 5-7 years, we can see only 4 operators in the market, i.e. Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL (MTNL-BSNL merger is announced two days back).

Frankly speaking Jio is ahead of all, thanks to its backhaul assests which will also fuel its broadband dream as well as upcoming 5G venture in long run. 

Jio's tower arm, as it was spun off from main company as Jio Infratel in March 2019, is announced to be acquired by Canada's Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. and its affiliates in multiphases. With 45000 towers from Reliance Communications, and another 125000 towers made by Jio itself, the total number of Jio towers reaches 1,70,000; which mades Jio Infratel as largest tower company beating Indus Towers. However 25% of them are monopoles.  (India's tower companies in detail )

Carriers Adopting Cloud Platforms to Embrace 5G

As 4G goes mainstream, operators want to be a step ahead of each others, and that cann't be done without technological advancement. 

Jio has been partnering with Microsoft for some time, and utilizing Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to cater the needs of local business. 

Vodafone Idea is also partnering with Red Hat Inc, to transform its network data centers to open standards. VIL will use Red Hat's open hybrid cloud platform OpenStack. Not only that VIL has also extended partnership with TCS for another 5 years, and they will use Business 4.0™ framework of TCS. 

Bharti Airtel is also optimizing the expenditure - recently they acquired 26% in AMPSolar Evolution Private Limited for Rs 8.4 crore to go ecofriendly, and to meet green energy needs and to optimize energy costs. Airtel is also gearing up to use 5G-ready Cloud packet core from Ericsson, which consists of virtual Evolved Packet Gateway (vEPG). This will allow Airtel to enhance network capacity, in the need of ever increasing data demand of Indian audience. 

NAVIC is Coming to Your Smartphones in Late 2019

On Oct 14, 2019 Qualcomm announced support for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) backed Indian Regional Naviagation Satellite System (IRNSS) in select chipset platforms across the company's upcoming portfolio, which marks the India's indigenous technological prowess.

The collaboration delivered the first-ever NavIC (brand name of IRNSS, acronym for NAVigation with Indian Constellation) demonstration using the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Mobile Platforms on September 19th, and later again at India Mobile Congress, October 14-16. Support for NavIC will be available in select Qualcomm Technologies’ chipset platforms starting in late 2019 and commercial devices with NavIC support are expected to be available during the first half of 2020.  

Jio to Charge for Offnet Calls, to Push TRAI to drop IUC?

Jio, the dream telecom and digital project by Mukesh Ambani was a pioneer in many things in Indian telecom, which I explained in earlier article. Most prominently Jio cut down the tariff drastically that none of the incumbents thought of. The unlimited data (per day 1.5 Gig of data, then FUP) and truly unlimited voice calls from Jio made the incumbents think differently and they were compelled to follow Jio's way of tariffs. However Jio stops unlimited calls w.e.f. 10th October 2019, onnet calls will be free and calls to other network will be charged at 10p/mi.

Back in 2008-09 Virgin Mobile was offering 10p/min of balance credited for incoming calls, yes they were getting paid from the call originating network at 20p/min as IUC (interconnect usage charge) and was generous enough to pay back to customers.

TRAI reduced IUC to 14p/mi in 2015, and then again IUC reduced to just 6p/mi from October 1st, 2017. TRAI wanted to make IUC zero from January, 2020.

How to Know Your LTE Network Details

As of 19th February, 2019 Kolkata has the following mobile operators : 

Airtel 2G + 3G + 4G + Tata Docomo 2G

Vodafone 2G + 3G + 4G + Idea 2G + 4G

BSNL 2G + 3G

Jio 4G + Reliance 4G
IAF 3G

Updated on 1st November 2019
Airtel 2G + 4G 
Vodafone IN 2G + 3G + 4G
BSNL 2G + 3G
Jio 4G + Reliance 4G 
IAF 3G

#ShRT The Family Man (Amazon Prime Web Series) - Review

Last year Amazon Prime dropped Mirzapur on the highly popular crime series of Netflix - Sacred Game season 1. Now Mirzapur did not make me happy and there are also many unhappy face in the audience for Mirzapur. 

This year Amazon wants to change and they put The Family Man infront us. Well just back in August Netflix dropped season 2 (or Finale?) of Sacred Games. So how good is Manoj Bajpayee's The Family Man? 

What I would say it's crime drama as well as family comedy in the same bottle. You can remember the horror-comedy genre of Stree while watching it. 

The gripping plot and so-real Indo-Pakistan political situation work very good with the audience's mind. At the same time the series delivers main protagonist's personal family life where Srikant Tiwari is a mess. It's a fun to watch the family drama of a middle class family man who turns to be best Indian agent in the field. 

I would rate it 4.5/5. 

Just after it Netflix dropped Bard of Blood, from the house of SRK, Red Chillies. I am telling you it is 2/100 and better avoid it. 

Video Platforms for Indian Audience

As the mobile internet grew in India, the audience is more redirected to video on demand (VoD), and OTT (over the top) media streaming. Until Jio breaks the price barrier on mobile data, these services did not get much attention as mobile data was quite costly, and VoD takes up quite good amount of data. 

However as Indian mobile operators started to offer 1 - 5GB data per day, there is a drastic increase in video consumption among Indian population, and we can see more than 8 players came into this market. 

This is a brief list of video platforms available in India, and it's not all inclusive. It was updated til August 2019 and yet not much research done for this article. I'm expecting that more details will be added in future. 

Jionet - 2019 Review

I was in Ooty few days back, and surprisingly I found that my hotel, Sterling Elk Hill Resort (https://www.sterlingholidays.com/) has Jionet and JioPrivateNet hotspots. As I have a Jio SIM I first tried with JioPrivateNet via AKA authentication method by selecting SIM - it did ended up in authentication failure.

AKA (Authenication and Key Agreement) SIM Authentication

In Jio's website, it is written that you have to use AKA method to access JioPrivateNet. If your device does not support this one, you can't use it. (Reference to Jionet FAQ here) 

Beaches in West Bengal

Beaches are integral part of West Bengal, as Bay of Bengal lies at south of the state. The holy river Ganges meets the sea at Sagar Mohona. Thus it divides the beaches into west & east beaches of Bengal.

✔ East beaches : 

This side Sundarban takes on maximum coverage and here handful of beaches are there.

Bakkhali ( বকখালি)

Kargill Beach (কার্গিল বিচ)

Fraserganj (ফ্রেজারগঞ্জ)
Henry's Island ( হেনরি আইল্যাণ্ড)  

Lalganj beach 

Another new beach near Bakkhali, it is situated north of Henry's Island but when visiting this beach you have to take left at around 16Km to reach Lalganj. 

Sagardwip - Gangasagar beach ( সাগরদ্বীপ/গঙ্গাসাগর) 

The beach is actually the estuary of Hooghly river. Here yearly Gangasagar Fair (মেলা) held - lakhs of pilgrims came here to offer their prayers to the Ashram of Kapil Muni. Except the time of fair, the area is very dull. 

Mousuni Island

Love camping at beaches? Mousuni is the best place in West Bengal. 

G Plot or Gobardhanpur Sea beach

It is located at a delta island of South 24 Pargana. The nature and the beach of the Bay of Bengal are very beautiful here. However road condition and stay-in options are not good. 

✔ West beaches:
These are on East Medinipur district and attracts huge number of footfalls throughout the year.

✔ North of Kanthi/Contai (কাঁথি):
Junput (জুনপুট)
Bankiput (বাঁকিপুট)

Haripur Beach (হরিপুর)
Boguran Jolpai (বগুরান জলপাই)

A few accommodations are available here. The beach is virgin, i.e. fishermen's beach actually. Boguran Jalpai is seperated from Lal Kaknra beach by the estuary of Pichabani river. 

✔ South of Contai 
These beaches are main tourist beaches in Bengal. There are one after another beaches lying across the sea till Orissa border. Talsari is another nearby beach inside Orissa. 

Mandarmani (মন্দারমণি)

Mandarmani got its fame since Digha became over-crowded. There are several luxury resorts over here on the beach side. 

North to Mandarmani there is a new beach, Lal Kaknra Beach or Purusattampur Beach. 

Tajpur (তাজপুর)

My favorite beach of West Bengal is Tajpur. The greenery of the Jhau trees and long serene beach is the main attraction. Like Goa's beaches, Tajpur has several beach side shacks for food. The road from the main road is terrible, but now you can visit Tajpur via Mandarmani over the river bridge. This new route is in much better condition. 

Chandipur ( চাঁদিপুর)

It's located in between Tajpur & Sankarpur. 

Sankarpur (শংকরপুর)

It is a fish harbor as well as a beach. As I visited Sankarpur in August 2021, the goverment has literally killed the natural beauty of the main beach. Full of concrete and lack of nature would put you in disappointment. Bit of nature still lies in the area of fishermen's habour. 

Digha Mohona (দীঘা মোহনা)

Sunrise at Digha Mohona is one of best local tours in Digha. You can visit the wholesale fish market here. 

Digha/old Digha (দীঘা)

Digha is one of the most popular tourist spot in West Bengal. From the capital of Bengal, Kolkata it takes around 4-5 hrs to reach Digha by car. Originally known by the name “Beerkul,” it was first popularised during the British Raj by the then governor of Bengal, Warren Hastings, who said Digha as 'Brighton of the East'. Bengal Gazette (1778) noted down the bungalow of Hastings in Digha, which was built in 1775. Later tidal surge and land erosion had Birkul reduced to rubble. Even Hastings' leisure bungalow also sank into the sea.

After a long gap, Digha had been a place of interest when John Frank Snaith came to Digha in 1923 and leased 11.5 acre area near the sea beach. That time Digha was a mere village, under Ramnagar thana, under Contai district. Mr. Snaith founded Runswick House. 

It was developed into a tourist destination through the efforts of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the first chief minister of Bengal after the independence in 1947. After that the development of Digha was never stopped. In fact the present TMC-led state government constructed a Jagannath Temple in Digha, which is a replica of Puri's Jagannath Temple. 

New Digha (নিউ দীঘা)

After 80's New Digha was commissioned as another sea beach as the beach of Digha was getting eroded heavily by the sea. It is nearly 3km away from Old Digha. You can have enjoy the beach here. Numerous hotels have been made in New Digha in last 10 years.  

Udaypur (উদয়পুর)

Udaypur is located just at the border of West Bengal & Orissa. The beach is great but the crowd is not worth. You can drink on the beach by renting a table & chairs from the local shops. They will serve the food too. But too noisy, and not a good quality crowd - not my cup of tea. 

Extending Digha trip to Orissa border areas: 

Chandaneswar Shiva Temple Complex

Though main deity here is Shiva, there are several other temples are in the complex. Chandaneswar Shiva is swayambhu, meaning self originated here. The temple was built in Kalinga architectural way. Actual history of the temple is lost. Annually there are two major events celebrated here - first day of Oriya Calender (day of Vishuva Sankranti) & Chaitra/Charak Mela.

Talsari Sea Beach 

Here view of the sea shore changes with the tide. Best place to stay here is Panthasala (under Orissa Tourism). 

Bichitrapur Mangrove Sanctuary

From here you can go the beach of Subarna Island via boat. The boat journey is full of scenic beauty which must not be missed. 

Bhusundeswar Temple 

Hailed as Asia's largest Shiva Linga, there is no temple at all - just the Shiva Linga and make-shift temple with corrogated tin shade. There is no hurry in the rural atmosphere here except during different puja days. It is nearly 24km from Digha (approx. 48-50min travel via car). On the way you can see the Chandrabali Khati beach with fish market. 

Airtel to Shut Down 3G Completely, Jio Turns No 1, JioPhone 3 and GigaFiber Update

In an expected move, Airtel, once top player - now 3rd, has announced that they will complete shut down of 3G networks (WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+) across the country. Airtel started 3G shut down in Q2 of 2019 from Kolkata circle and has planned to do in another 6-7 circles in September. The remaining circles will see 3G shut down by March 2020. There is no news of 2G shut down as of now. 

By 3G shut down, Airtel will have more spectrum for 4G. Airtel's 3G networks are on 900 and 2100 MHz band, and sooner or later all spectrum of these bands will tranform into 4G wave. In brief Airtel's LTE network will be largest in the country, transmitting over 900, 1800, 2100 and 2300 MHz band. (in 2015 I wrote a story on LTE2100)

We hope that Vodafone Idea will follow the suit very soon. 

One Plus Promised 3 Years of Shelf Life of its Phones

One Plus 6 Red Edition

I tried my Android luck back in 2010, and one thing I understood that Google backed Android has huge potential. The first Android device in my house, was Samsung Galaxy 3, for my brother. 

However it's more than 8 years now, and Android devices have a strong presence in the market with 4G and 5G support. Indian market also saw huge change - from Nokia, Samsung, Micromax, Lava lost their top positions, and Chinese OEMs are now ruling the market. Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus are the new kings of the turf. 

Through out the period I understood that handset makers needs R&D (research and development) on both software and handware front. Without timely Android/software update a company can't create a good ecosystem. I wrote on this topic as Android Software Update: A Thing Many OEM Skip back in 2017, where I pointed out that only Xioami is not following trend, they are offering Android OTA update to its most of the smartphones at regular intervals. Sorry to add Google's name, as their phones both Nexus series and present Pixel line up, running on stock Android, are getting timely software updates. 

Read more Will RealMe Give Software Updates?

Actually slowest (or never) roll out of updates including critical security ones are one of the biggest complaints of Android users. These days Android/software update is a must, as most handset makers are using forked out Android, like Oxygen OS of OnePlus, ColorOS from Oppo, MIUI from Xiaomi, EMUI by Huawei, Flyme OS from Meizu, FunTouch OS from Vivo, Realme UI by Realme and others. 

And now, after so many years, companies seem interested in our points. By the end of June '18 One Plus announced its Software Maintenance Schedule on their forum. They promised to give regular software maintenance for 24 months (includes new features, Android version upgrades, Android security patch updates) bi-monthly, and software security maintenance for another 12 months in bi-monthly manner. 

Soon Huawei also announced similar schedule for some of its product line. I can see more similar announcements coming from other OEMs. 

Do Ads Helps Xiaomi to Launch Flagship Killers?

being EVIL ?

I was an early Xiaomi buyer, as I bought Redmi Note 3 in 2016. That time the hardware they packed inside it was good, and so is the software. From my point of view, Android device manufacturers should invest in software research and development, and Mi is doing this pretty fine till date on their home grown MIUI OS. 

However as I had upgrade to Redmi Note 4 and saw their rise in the Indian market with affordability and targeted smartphones to different users. 

They have so  many phones launched - Redmi for affordable phones, Redmi Note for bigger but affordable phones, Y series for selfie lovers, A series for mid range Android One program, Poco as flagship killer. Their top brand Mi and Mi Max did not get much success in India. Xiaomi has a different gaming phone brand too - Blackshark! 

However as I used my brother's newly bought Redmi K20 Pro, dubbed as another flagship killer with Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 processor, I felt MIUI is more stable (than the POCO MIUI) but there is too many intrusive ads coming from the Xiaomi's apps. Bloatwares can be manageable, but adwares are not. So I looked inside the settings, and found that Xiaomi by default keeps all of ad-gates open, but yes you can block most of them. 

Reliance Piramal Deal in Near Future?

As Times Now reported few hours back, Piramal and Reliance Industries will start a joint venture along with SoftBank.

It is still not sure about RIL's presence in the JV, but stakes are high that new in-laws will tie a business knot.

Now big question remains, what will the focus of this yet to be formed JV between Piramal, Ambani and SoftBank. SoftBank is eyeing for a re-entry into India's e-commerce market, while RIL is still playing softly with AJio. Piramal has no existence in that market, as far as I know.

Piramal is a big name in Indian pharma industry, and Reliance can think to tap that market of healthcare in a country with more than 130 cr people.

I am betting on Indian healthcare sector to get a new player. As of now I don't have idea what they are gonna target? e-health ? Wait, first be Reliance confirmed in it!

Update: All hints indicated to fintech JV and SoftBank is already there. No confirmation of Reliance Jio's inclusion in that JV as of now. It should be noted that Jio Money is already afloat from the time of inception of Jio. 

BSNL WiFi 4G Plus - Data Offload from Cellular Networks !

Back in the era of pre Jio, a handful of service providers came with public WiFi Hotspot services, like Ozone WiFi, Tata Docomo WiFi. They were mostly available in shopping malls, restaurants, coffee shops etc. Their pricing model was use free for 30-60 min, and then pay for it. As Jio nearing to launch their 4G services commercially, Jio also launched its own WiFi services - JioNet. However​ Jionet is mostly defunc now.

As 4G mobility goes mass spread, people almost stopped using WiFi hotspots. But the thing came back strongly. Ozone, the leader in this market was lost in the transition but Google and Indian Railways' telecom arm Railtel created a massive WiFi hotspot network. Google Station, as it's named was a pilot by Google and its partner Railtel started in 2016 targeting the audience who are travelling by trains. This WiFi networks are located at major rail stations of India. Later Google was roped in by Pune Smart City Corporation for similar public WiFi offerings. 

Back in 2012-14 I was pushing for this thing for data offload from mobile network to WiFi. Thankfully with massive data users after 4G went mainstream, telecom operators are thinking in that direction. BSNL is one of first telecom company to offer public WiFi.

Ramzan at Zakaria Street (2019 Edition)

Entrance to Zakaria Street/Nakhoda Masjid

I am again writing on Zakaria, as the last post I wrote on Kolkata's Ramzan special Kebab gully in 2017 (Read: Kebab Gully of Kolkata - Zakaria and Phears Lane). Zakaria is now quite famous among Kolkatans and many no-beef people just visit the area to see the grandeur of the Kebab Gully.

For the first timers, the festival of Ramzan focused on Zakaria street, and extends in surroundings including Kolutola Market/Colootola Bazar, Phears Lane, Chitpur and Rabindra Sarani. Many says the celebration is similar to Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, Mumbai’s Md Ali Road, and Hyderabad’s Old Quarters, I can't verify as I visited none of them. For off-Kolkata people Bangalore has a similar arrangement in old Bangalore but my friend confirms that can't match Zakaria by cost or taste! 

3 Days in Wayanad (April 2019)

This is my first tour to Wayanad, a district of Kerala.

It was middle of April, all the forests are closed to avoid risk of forest fire, and falls are closed due to poor water source. Best time to visit Wayanad is from mid September to February/March, that's post monsoon. During monsoon the forests are also closed as this is the mating time of animals.

It's Summer here, and dry hot climate is not suitable for travel. But we got lucky that rain started there and the greenery become livid and naturally enjoyable.

In Wayanad district, there are 3 main towns lying along the main road to south Kerala - Sultan Bathery, Kalpetta and Vythiri. we stayed at Vythiri.

We made this plan - extensive itinerary. 

day #0  Night bus from B'luru to Kalpetta

day #1 Reaching at Kalpetta at 5am approx. - Edakkal caves, Heritage museum, Phantom Rock, Karapuzha dam + evening sight seeing at Kalpetta

day #2 : Early morning trek to Chembra peak, Pookode lake, Soochipara falls, Chain tree

day #3 :  Kuruva island, Vishnugudi Jain Basadi, Bansurasagar Dam, Meenmurthy Falls, Meenmurthy View point, Wayanad wild life Santuary evening trip and 11pm bus to Bangalore.

However plan had to revise due to the untimely rain in the summer.

Stay: at Mazus Inn - on the main road at Vythiri
As I requested they arranged the car to the sight seeing. 

Mazus Inn has a seperate cafe - Turkish Cafe in the ground floor, and they are really good. Later I found that their kitchen is also a 5-starrer. Awesome food they make.

If you want your stay in the middle of nature there are several resorts across the district of Wayanad - for eg, Morickap at Kalpetta (10k+ per night), Maple Ash at Vythiri (10k+), Saptha Resort at Sultan Bathery (10k+), Earthitects (2 guest/room starting from Rs 47k+) at Kalpetta. 

Day 001 >>>>>>>> 

We reached at Kalpetta at around 5:30 am and took an auto to reach Mazus Inn. Then we took a nap and had breakfast at around 10 am. By the time the car came and we started exploring Wayanad.

Edakkel Caves - first I want to say it's not big as you've seen in Borrah. It's small cave with wall writings. The pictorial writings may be as old as 7000 years old by Neolithics.

 

Wall drawings at Edakkal Cave, Wayanad

But you have to walk a lot, around 900m above, that's nearly 1.5Km step up. You may find it tiring, but then you reach the gate, buy tickets and climb over the stairs (made of iron, steel etc) to the top. When riding up you can see the skyline and natural beauty of Wayanad. 

 

Skyline view of surrounding mountains while walking up to Edakkel Cave

Total time 2.5 hr minimum (upto 4hrs)

Chembra Peak far away

Tea plantation

Heritage museum - closed by then 

Phantom Rock - skipped

Karapuzha Dam - cancelled due to heavy rain

Lakkidi Viewpoint: Just beyond the Wayanad district border, this viewpoint is lying along the highway. Excellent view to Wayanad hills. Spend the evening to see the clouds/mists covering the mountains. 

Chain tree: Nothing exciting you may find, it will be on the Nation Highway to Lakkidi viewpoint. But the story is interesting. 

The story is a British engineer took help of Karinthandan, a local tribal to find a way from Thamarassery to Wayanad. Later Karinthandan was shot dead and his soul started creating accidents in this route. So a priest chained the ghost with the tree. There is small temple, named Changala Muneeswaran Kovil.

This place can be missed if you're not known to this spot. Look for Pepper Wayanad Gate hotel and Chain tree is just opposite to it. There is a nearby tea/coffee shop which can be your help to get tea or coffee after a tiring day.

Day 002  >>

Kuruva Island over Kabini river: Bamboo river rafting is the best part, but waiting time was quite long. The guy who is driving the bamboo raft informed that there is limit of ticket selling, and in peak season people come at early morning. There are fishes in the river, but no crocodile nearby. In winter you may get to see the birds. 

Kuruva Island

From our hotel, Mazus Inn, Kuruva Island is like 40-50km. From here you can go to Kabini's widest part in Karnataka - another 60km drive from Kuruva. There are several river side resorts, eg: Waterwoods

Bansurasagar Dam: Excellent view of the dam, mountains and the lake. Zipline of 40 secs approx can give you little adrenaline rush. Speed boat is also there. 

 

Zipline in Banasura Sagar Dam

There is a Ayurvedic Exhibition Center (Banasura Spices and Ayurvedic Garden) nearby, entry Rs 100, guide will show different trees which are used in Ayurvedic medicines. You can buy stuffs from there.

Near Banasura Dam, there are several top class resorts. If you want to stay at hotel with extreme luxury, your best bet would be Mountain Shadows Resorts (www.mountainshadows.in). Cost Rs 20k+ per night. 

Others nearby Banasura: 

Contour Island - 15K+ per night 

Awe Loch Cottage 

Fern Villa, Wayanad 

Arayal Resorts - 10k+ per night 

Seagot Banasura 

Silvergreen Resort - 5k+ per night

Coffee Groove Restaurant and Resort (cg-ala restaurant) : another excellent place to stay in. The restaurant is superb, you can sit outside - the forest and mountain are in the background. 

Kerala Fish Curry in Coconut Oil at CG-ALA Restaurant

Day 3 : Relaxing day as we have to take the night bus to B'luru. 

Evening visit to Pookode lake is pretty relaxing. It's a family and kid friendly park with the lake in the center. After the rain it was nice to see the small flowers bloomed by the side of the road. Boating facilities are available here. 

Pookode Lake, Wayanad

Mimosa flowers at Pookoode Lake

We took auto from Vythiri at around 10pm to Kalpetta bus stand. there are two bus stand. new one is simply for daytime, hence the bus stand near hotel on the main road is the place. That's the old bus stand. From there we boarded on the bus to return to B'luru.