Maruti offers Rs 90k refund to early buyers of S-Cross


Maruti Suzuki has decided to offer a cash refund of Rs 90,000 to the early buyers of S-Cross 1,600cc variant. The move comes in as a compensation measure after the company slashed price of S-Cross by between Rs 40,000 and Rs 2.05 lakh after a poor response initially.
The bonanza is restricted to only initial buyers of the vehicle as the company had announced the price cut after about one month of its launch on August 4, 2015.
Apart from the cash refund, the company is also offering a two-year extended warranty to buyers, including those who had purchased the 1,300cc variant.
"This is a just a token of gratitude for customers, who showed their faith in us at the start and embraced our new initiatives. S-Cross is a significant milestone for Maruti Suzuki. Through this, we created the premium crossover category in India. We launched our new retail channel Nexa," a company spokesperson said. "Without the support and confidence of these early adopters last year, we could never have achieved success in these new initiatives."
The company has managed sales of 23,000 units of S-Cross since its launch. Company officials said demand of the vehicle has increased after the price correction.
The addition of Baleno compact to the Nexa retail format has also helped in getting a higher visibility for the model as showroom traffic has increased.
The S-Cross had originally been launched with a price tag of Rs 8.34-13.74 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Faulty construction of Swargate Flyover in Pune

Visit Swargate Chowk in Pune & check this engineering marvel which was spotted in December 2015 by Indian Roadie Rahul Naik.

We Indians proudly say that we have the best engineers in the world but I thought twice on this when I came across the flyover construction at Swargate.

You will be shocked to see the offset design of the column & flyover.

Should there be an untoward incident, who will be held responsible?

Kolkata Police promise Moulali To Hastings in 20 mins with a signal-free drive

Signal-free drive on choked artery in Kolkata.

Kolkata Police promise Moulali To Hastings in 20 mins.

Almost nine years after the failed attempt to introduce a "green corridor" on CR Avenue, the Kolkata Police has decided to introduce a “minimum signal“ corridor from Moulali to Hastings on AJC Bose Road. Trials are on and a formal announcement is likely by next month. However, learning from bitter experience, police are stopping short of calling it a `green channel'.

The concept of green corridor is simple -if you get a green signal at Moulali, you will continue to get green all the way up to Hastings. You could sail through some of the biggest crossings - Mullickbazar, Exide and DL Khan-Race Course and smaller but equally time consuming signals, such as Minto Park. If implemented well, it will greatly minimize the bottleneck in the heart of central and south Kolkata.

Right now, it takes at least an hour (sometimes 90 minutes) to cross this 8km stretch, thanks to the long waiting times at crossings and slow speed of traffic. If the new plan works out, it could reduce travel time to a mere 20-22 minutes. Police say they can bring it down to 17 minutes if they can ensure green all through.

Police say there is sound logic for why they believe the AJC Bose Road experiment has potential. "CR Avenue not only has numerous crossings but also has hundreds of slow moving vehicles criss-crossing it. During our green channel experiment, though the waiting time was less, the frequency with which these vehicles broke traffic signals and move right on to CR Avenue defeated our purpose. On the other hand, AJC Road has major crossings and very few slow vehicles," said an officer.

He explained that police have to be careful about two stretches in the last experiment -the one between Ripon Street crossing and Mullickbazar, which has heavy auto movement, and a stretch near Minto Park where there is a lot of criss-cross movement from the smaller roads and bylanes.
But traffic police know there are big question marks on implementation. "We are working on the channels, trying to develop a system that can respond to the situation on the road and change signals on realtime basis. It is not a green channel since vehicles will have to halt at crossings. But this stoppage time will be minimal.Studies show positive results so far," said a senior officer.

DC-traffic V Solomon Nesakumar confirmed the project. "We are experimenting with signals that will see us shift from merely auto-manual time signaling system to a more intelligent one. But we are not looking at a green channel immediately," he said.

Also on the pipeline is the long delayed introduction of Area Traffic Control (ATC) system that was initially expected before Poila Boisakh 2009. Under the new system, if you travel at a steady speed, you can pass the maximum number of signals without having to stop at a red light. As many as 99 crossings in the Central Business District will be in the ATC loop. Traffic information boards will be set up at most major crossings to inform motorists about the roads to take and avoid.

It aims to make the signalling system less dependent on individual cops. "We are factoring in the drastic change in vehicle pattern on some roads.We are engaging several private bodies through PPP model to study the situation," said a traffic officer.

(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-03-20)

Bhoramdeo Siva stone temple, near Raipur

An Indian Roadie fan from Pune had to drive to ‪‎Bhilai‬ and ‪#Raipur‬ for official work in end February 2016.

He could manage to squeeze out some time to visit the ‪#‎BhoramdeoSivaTemple‬.

This is what he reported:

A visit to the Bhoramdeo Siva stone temple built in 11the century AD (in the reign of Naga Vamsi kings) on the way to Raipur is a must. It is called the ‪Khajuraho‬ of ‎Chhattisgarh‬. There is hardly anything nearby except a small shop that keeps peanuts and colas which save the hungry souls.

History says that Maharaja Ramachandra was the man behind establishing this famous temple near Raipur where the Bhoramdeo festival is celebrated today. The temple reflects the extraordinary architectural agility.
A nondescript garlanded Nandi greets us as we enter the final stretch of the long, narrow and winding road to the Bhoramdeo temple precincts.

Suman Paul got his Hyundai Santro AT transferred from Bangalore RTO to Kolkata RTO

Few months back I, Suman Paul (FB @ architectsuman) was enquiring with you about the process of transffering a car inter-state. Most of you suggested to sell and buy a new one. I went against the wise advices. Took the plunge to see it through. Saw some good stuff and saw some ugly stuff in the process. It is tough to achieve it but doable in India with government. Jotting down here, If it helps anyone in future. Its a long read.
And thanks to all who adviced me wisely.

CAR TRANSFER
The reasons of not selling the car and go for a new one :
1. This automatic santro car was one among the last few manufactured in India before Huyindai had stopped production. It is a fantastic car to drive anywhere by anybody which never gave any failure except few occassional flats.
2. After using it for 8 years, the car still feels new and refreshing everytime I hold the wheel. The cost is recovered by its use and its a real gain if we can put it to use as long as we can.
3. The cost of a new car would be uneconomical if we had gone for an exchange.
4. Wanted to check how the car inter state transfer system works in India.
Process in Bangalore
1. Get the NOC from police commissioner's office for traffic clearance - got it instantly within 5 minutes
2. Get a pollution check certificate
3. Get bank hypothication clearance certificate
4. Apply to RTO to get RC smart card against old RC book - it came to my address by speed post in 21 days as promised
5. Along with all above documents and insurance copy - submit to RTO with a filled up form for NOC
6. Submit another filled up form to RTO office for ownership change at the new location with new owner's identity proof
7. Submit one emty envelop with stamps and home address written on it along with the forms to RTO

I did not pay a single ruppee for any of the above. All the jobs were done perfectly on time as promised by the officials at RTO office. I never follwed up with anybody by any means. Extremely satisfying experience at Bangalore RTO.

Further process specified by Bangalore RTO
1. Take the car to Kolkata along with all NOC and original documents
2. Immediately report to the RTO at Kolkata and they will verify all the documents and give a Migration certificate with which the car can be driven there for 45 days legally
3. Submit all the documents along with filled up specified forms to Kolkata RTO
4. Kolkata RTO will tell the amount of Road Tax payable on the basis of depreciated car value
5. Pay the Tax and collect the Tax paid reciept
6. RTO will issue a new RC smart card with new owner's name
7. Bring the Tax paid reciept copy to Bangalore and apply to RTO office for Tax refund
8. Bangalore RTO will verify with Kolkata RTO and refund the over-paid tax amount through bank transfer to my account

Absolutely clean methodical and logical process.

With all the documents and the car we four set off to Kolkata by road for a three days trip. This is another story for another day.
After reaching Kolkata, we tried to do the steps exactly how it was told in Bangalore RTO and that point of time we actually felt that the car is transferred to a new place called Kolkata.

Chronicle in Kolkata RTO
1. Many desks in RTO said that it can not be done for various reasons - all were baseless
2. Find some connection through known people just to start the process
3. Repeated visits to RTO just submit documents
4. Submitted documents one day and visiting after 2 weeks, nothing moved, so withdrawn all the original documents
5. Appointed one agent who ran away after couple of weeks
6. Appointed one more new agent who charged a bomb
7. After many visits to RTO, finally it got done
8. We paid road tax of Rs. 40000 which were calculated based on the new car value and not as per depriciated value - RTO said this is the rule of west bengal government to collect more tax
9. RTO charged Rs. 7000 as fine of late submission of documents - pointless to even think about it
10. RTO charged Rs. 5500 for audio system in nthe car - heard about it for the first time in life
11. Our dear agent charged Rs. 19000 to get all these things done
12. After a good six months of effort, the car got changed to my mother's name and have recieved the new RC smart card
13. Yet to get the audio tax paid reciept
14. The car is legally ready to drive on west bengal roads now

The take away from the whole process is - If we consider Bangalore as a third world place then Kolkata would be a sixth world place and it is beyond doubt.

So finally the mission is accomplished - we could retain the car with us and it is helping greatly over there and even after spending so much money at Kolkata RTO, still it worked out cheaper than exchanging the car with a new one.

One needs lot of patience to do some work with Government offices in India.

P.S: Copied verbatim from a Facebook post by Suman Paul on 2016-03-21. He has transferred his Hyundai Santro AT car from Bangalore to Kolkata.

Himalayan Drive 4 (HD4) by Just Sportz in February - March 2016

A rally in the lush tea gardens of north Bengal and picturesque hairpin bends in Bhutan promises to bring back the motorsport spirit in Kolkata.
For a city whose many glorious chapters have closed one by one, here is one that has just reopened. Kolkata, which cradled motorsports -India's first mot orsports club, the Calcutta Motorsports Club (CMSC), was founded by Suresh Kumar, elder brother of tennis ace Naresh Kumar in the city way back in 1949 -is once again drawing motorsports enthusiasts from across the country . Thanks, in no small measure, to `Himalayan Drive', a time-speed-distance (TSD) rally that has come to occupy pride of place in the motorsports calendar of India.

The rally, whose fourth edition just got over, is the only international TSD rally from India and is organized by `Just Sportz', a Kolkata-based sports management company.`Himalayan Drive', with JK Tyre as its title sponsor is, in itself, a unique rally because of its route that takes competitors through lush forests, tea gardens, riverbeds, mountain roads and verdant valleys that not only present countless picturesque sights to behold, but also put to severe test the mettle of drivers and navigators alike. Himalayan Drive 4, held from February 28 to March 3, included two legs in Bhutan. And Himalayan Drive 5, says Just Sportz director Tamal Ghoshal, will include Nepal as well (in addition to Bhutan) to make it one of the very few tri-nation TSD rallies in the world.



Himalayan Drive 4 (or HD4) got a ceremonial flag-off from Siliguri's City Center on February 27 by senior state government officials. The actual rally started the next day, when 27 competitors zipped through the scenic Dooars with its tropical forests, neatly landscaped tea gardens and dry riverbeds to reach Jaigaon town on the Indian side of the India-Bhutan border. From there, the rallyists crossed over to Phuentsholing, the bustling border town inside Bhutan. After clearing all formalities and exchanging greetings with Bhutanese officers, the competitors hit the road to Paro. This 160km run provided a thrilling drive through narrow, winding roads skirting the precipitous Himalayan cliffs, lined with conifers.Each twist and turn of the road presented breathtaking sights that were a wonder to behold.





This road traversed along the Wang Chu (`Chu' is Bhutanese for river), a tributary of the Torsa, before it crossed the river and then ran along the Paro Chu, a river whose crystal-clear waters flowing swiftly over pebbles and rocks made it possible to view even aquatic life in it. For the first dozen-odd kilometres, the smooth road (built by India's Border Roads Organization), with the Paro Chu flowing beside it, sliced through a narrow valley with steep mountains standing sentinel on both sides of the valley. And then the mountains seemed to move apart, revealing the full expanse of the picturesque Paro Valley, said to be one of the most beautiful locales in the world. At this time of the year, the sunlit coat of dry vegetation on the slopes of the mountains ringing the gentle valley take on a surreal, golden hue. The expansive valley, with neat Bhutanese-style bungalows dotting it, is stunning. And above the mountains girding the valley stand the snow-capped peaks, lending the entire landscape a happily ethereal look and feel.





That first leg of the rally ended at the upscale Olathang Hotel, one of the numerous sponsors of the event. The next morning, the competitors were flagged off from the hotel and they went down to the sand and gravel banks of the Paro Chu for a 15km run before hitting the road from Paro to the 3988m (13,084ft) high Chelela Pass that's the highest point on the road to Haa on the Bhutan-Tibet border. Once again, the sights this 60km drive offered were gorgeous: an entire vista of alpine vegetation-carpeted mountains with their snow-capped peaks. Soon, this road turned treacherous with its ice cover, making many competitors' vehicles to skid dangerously .















On Day 3, Paro governor Dasho Thinley Gyaltsen flagged off the rally from the hotel. The competitors then went off-road for about 15km on the banks of the Paro Chu before getting on to the highway to Phuentsholing. From Phuentsholing, the rally ran through several small and one major river crossing along the international border before getting to the border town of Jaigaon.From there, the competitors cut through Chuapara tea estate, Kalchini, the Hashimara and Chilapatha forests, Falakata and Betnaguri to reach Murti beside Gorumara National Park.



The next day's run commenced on an adventurous note -a male elephant wouldn't budge from the rally route from Murti to Chapramari forest. Repeated attempts by wildlife department personnel and police to drive the pachyderm back into the forest not only proved futile, but also irritated the elephant who charged at assembled media persons and police. The organizers were then forced to shift the day's flag-off point to the entrance of the Chapramari forest. From there, the competitors drove through forest tracks and criss-crossed tea gardens, riverbeds and narrow village roads to start their climb up to the hills from Sevoke. The climb to Jorebungalow through e Mungpoo was steep and posed a tough challenge e to the competitors. From Jorebungalow, the rally route ran alongside the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (`toy train') tracks all the way to Darjeeling, where the fourth day's run ended. On a foggy Thursday morning, the competitors were flagged off from Darjeeling's Bhanu Bhawan by Darjeeling Municipality chairman Amar Rai for the last leg of the rally . The com petitors took Hill Cart Road to Ghoom even as the clouds played a game of hide and seek and, at one point, the whistle of a steam engine pierced the morning calm. The sight of a toy train chugging on the mountain tracks with the rally cars whizzing by was exciting. From Ghoom, the competitors took the road to Mirik and crossed Bungkuling and Doodhia to reach Sukna forest, went through tea gardens and ended the rally at the Siliguri Institute of Technology .



At the end of the five-day rally that covered 1050km, Kolkata brothers Sudip and Arindam Ghosh stood first and won a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000, followed closely in the second position by Jogendra Kumar Jaiswal and Prasenjit Roy. The team of Pratik Sirkar and Debashish Ghosh secured third position, while Rajiv Sarkar and Chandu Sekhar duo came fourth. The prize distribution ceremony at Siliguri's City Center was a glittering affair, with performances by Amit Paul and Abhishek Kumar. Bhutan's consul general in Kolkata, Karma T Namgyal, the GOC of Sukna-based 33 Corps, Lt Gen Surinder Singh, and a host of IPS and IAS officers gave away the prizes.

Apart from providing a great driving experience, HD4 was also aimed at promoting Indo-Bhutan ties. This objective, felt Bhutanese envoy Namgyal, has been more than fulfilled.



Also, said Just Sportz Director Tamal Ghoshal, the rally showcased the beauty of north Bengal and Bhutan and would boost the tourism potential of the entire region. Sanjay Sharma, the head of motorsports of JK Tyre, which has been the title sponsor of the rally since its inception in 2013, is excited about the next edition of HD becoming a tri-nation affair. Slated for this year-end, HD5 is expected to not only draw more competitors from across India and even Nepal and Bhutan, it will also put Bengal firmly back on India's motorsports map.

(Source:
The Times of India Kolkata dated 2016-03-12,
Facebook album of Fotoarena,
Indian Roadie member Dr Punyabrata Barma)

Car Sales in India during February 2016

The month of February 2016 has not been a very kind one on the passenger car segment. Most of the car makers have experienced a slowdown in sales with many treading in the negative territory.

Maruti Suzuki India, which holds the top four positions in the top 10 cars list, barely stayed in the positive with just 0.2 percent growth. Three of the top four models from Maruti saw their sales decline. It's compact sedan Dzire, which was the second highest selling car in February with sales of 17,410, was the only Maruti car in the list which saw its sales increase compared to February 2015.



The highest selling car was its entry segment hatchback Alto which sold 21,286 units in the month, a sharp 17 percent fall over the sales in February last year. The other two cars in the top four are Swift and Wagon-R. Swift was at the third position with sales of 15,475 and the Wagon-R managed to hold on to fourth by selling 14,209 which is a percent less than last year.

Maruti's other cars which are in the list include Baleno and Ciaz. The premium hatchback Baleno was launched in October 2015 and since then has performed well for the company. In February, Baleno Sold 6,888 units and secured eighth position in the top ten list.

The executive sedan from Maruti, Ciaz made a quiet comeback into the list despite its sales falling 5 percent as compared to Feb last year. Ciaz was was among the top ten selling cars in the month of November 2015. Ciaz sold 5,162 units in February 2016.

The biggest representation in the list after Maruti was from India's second largest car manufacturer by Volume, Hyundai. The company had three cars in the list positioned at fifth, sixth and ninth positions.

The best performer for Hyundai was Grand i10 which has been giving tough competition to the likes of Maruti Swift and Ford Figo. Grand i10 was the only other car other than Dzire to see its sales grow compared to the performance in February of 2015. The car sold 8,898 units last month, which was a 2 percent increase.

Grand i10 was closely followed by Hyundai's i20 at sixth position with a sales of 8,419 units. This is a steep fall of 18 percent from the previous tally of 10,264 units sold in the corresponding month last year. i20 sales have been dented to a large extent due to Maruti's Baleno.

The biggest hit among the top ten selling cars, percentage fall wise, was taken by Hyundai's Eon which saw a 23 percent reduction in the total unit sales in the month of February. Eon was only able to sell 5,539 last month as compared to 7,200 in February 2015.

However, the standout entry in the list has to be the Renault Kwid for being the only non-Maruti or non-Hyundai car. Kwid has been among the top performers in the industry and also for Renault. The car, which was launched in September 2015, singlehandedly helped Renault post a heady sales growth of 158 percent and that too in a slow market. Renault sold a total of 7,544 units in February 2016.

(Source: Economic Times)

Secondary research.