Tax-payers have started filing their income tax returns

Tax-payers throng Palace Grounds Bangalore for filing their income tax returns at the stalls specially put up by the Income Tax Department. The Department has set up 40 help desk counters. Ten counters have been set to cater only for those who will file bulk IT returns. There are nearly 90 counters with 160 staff including Assistant Commissioners, Income Tax officers, Inspectors and Tax assistants at the counters.

Citizens will have to bring a copy of their pan card and Form 16 to file their returns. For people interested in the Central government’s ‘Tax Returns Preparer scheme’, the IT department has set up 10 separate counters to help citizens.

Counters of National Securities Depository Limited and Axis Bank, stationery stores and food courts have also been set up.The citizen can also apply for new pan cards here. The stalls function from 9 30 am to 5 30 pm.

Turn your vacant land to parking lot

Until yesterday, a vacant plot may have become garbage dumping places, houses for rats & other dangerous creatures & becoming mosquito hub. Today, a site owner in Jayanagar has turned his vacant residential plot into a parking lot. Interestingly, he is earning more money from the vacant plot than he could have after constructing a building there.

Vishwanath had left his residential plot vacant on 7th Main Road in 5th Block Jayanagar for more than ten years. His neighbors often complained that his site had become a hangout for people looking to carry out illicit acts. Vishwanath was also tired of receiving complaints for a crime he never committed. Recently, he turned his vacant residential plot into a parking lot sensing so much value for his plot.

Vishwanath was tired of receiving complaints from neighbors. Recently, a textile dealer approached him seeking permission to use his vacant plot as a parking lot. At a time when the negotiation was under way, one more businessman, who deals in gold ornaments, contacted him for the same reason. Sensing so much value for his plot, Vishwanath cleaned it up, removed the undergrowth, heightened the compound wall and installed wide gates for the vehicles to pass through.

Finally, he has now signed a rent agreement with a promise of earning Rs. 25,000 a month a huge sum in the neighborhood where many houses have long fallen vacant for lack of tenants. Vishwanath's is believed to be the first private parking lot in the whole of Jayanagar.

Source: Jagran CityPlus

BAS Amateur Astronomy Workshop July 2010

Bangalore Astronomical Society (BAS) is organizing an Amateur Astronomy Workshop. People at some point in their lives had a fascination to learn about Outer-Space and the night sky . This enthusiasm and interest is very easily lost and is buried .People generally tend to lose interest because they don’t get the correct answers and solutions to questions like “What Do I Do Learn More?” ”Which Telescope Should I Use?” “How Do I Explore The Sky And See The Celestial Objects?”

BAS is organizing an Amateur Astronomy Workshop on the 24th and 25th of July 2010. The workshop will be conducted by very experienced Amateur Astronomers ,Astro-Photography experts and Instrumentation specialists from the Organization.

The Workshop is open to all above the age of 15. Registrations for the Workshop have begun and they end on the 22nd of July 2010. The mode and details of Registration are as under:

The registration process is a Two Step Process
In Step 1 you will fill in a form with all the necessary details
In Step, 2 you will make payment for the Registration fee in accordance with the fee structures specified below:

Registration fee for BAS Student members* = Rs. 200
Registration fee for BAS regular members* = Rs.300.00
Registration fee for BAS family members *=Rs. 200 (if the family member is a student) else Rs. 300.00
Registration fee for Students who are not members of the Bangalore Astronomical Society =Rs. 250.00
Registration fee for non members= Rs. 400.00

* members of BAS are to be registered mambers of the society , members of the google group are not considered members

BAS Amateur Astronomy Workshop

Date:24th &25th July,2010
Venue:National College,Jayanagar,Bangalore
Time: 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on both days

(The Workshop is open to all above the age of 15.BAS will not arrange for Transport/food/stay for the participants)

• Fill in your registration information
  

The nationwide bandh pegged the loss of more than Rs. 10,000 crore

The opposition sponsored bandh may have made a strong political point, but it has left businesses reeling under a huge loss. IT companies were directly hit, as the BJP-run Karnataka government gave overt support to the bandh. Shreesh Babu, secretary, Bangalore Traders’ Association also reported that 40 shops on MG Road incurred loss of Rs 50 lakh. Traders in Chickpet incurred loss of Rs 40 to Rs 50 crore. And KSRTC earns revenue of Rs 5 crore every day. Since most of the buses were taken off the roads early they’ve incurred huge losses.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has pegged the loss to the corporate sector at Rs13,000 crore, while the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) puts it at a more conservative Rs3,000 crore. Ajay Motwani, vice-president, Commercial Street Shopkeepers’ Association said 250 shopkeepers on Commercial Street suffered Rs 10-crore losses.

The nationwide bandh left Bangalore city crippled, with businesses reeling under a loss of more than Rs. 10,000 crore. Airport taxi service officials said only 20 percent of the taxis were plying from BIA to the City centre and back on Monday. Arriving passengers were seen waiting in queues that were as long as half a km at the taxi lounge.Though 35 platoons of policemen were guarding the city to keep anti-social elements at bay, around 68 buses were damaged, resulting in a loss of Rs 5 lakh.

It was a day of suffering and untold miseries. The worst was the situation when the agitators attacked a shoe showroom and started throwing shoes on the streets from the showcase.This was not a lone incident since many parts of the city witnessed rowdism and vandalism on a large scale. Though differing in their objective and purpose, both the opposition and the government sought to justify their action.

However, the circumstances created in the wake of the bandh put the `aam aadmi' (common man) in a no-win situation. Thousands of hapless citizens were caught napping by the action-packed scene on the streets.
Ironically, the worst sufferers of this whole affair were daily-wage earners, who are at the rock-bottom of the social strata and worst sufferers of the price pinch. Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka were among those states which were badly affected by the bandh.

“We took a decision to shut down our operation because the government withdrew public transport. The government, by its action, created a sense of fear and threat of violence in the streets. It’s a big shame that the city had to be close down… We (Infosys) stand to lose close to Rs 50 crore," said TV Mohandas Pai, HR head, Infosys Technologies. The same amount was quoted by Girish Paranjpe, joint CEO (IT business) and executive director on the board of Wipro Ltd, who also added that the company will recover it by working on an alternate day.

Sources:

• news.oneindia.in,
• Times of India,
• Apartments in Bangalore

Fans losing interest in World Cup

With the exit of two football giants Brazil and Argentina from the FIFA World Cup 2010, fans have either lost interest or have found new favourites.As both teams stormed their way into the quarter-finals, expectations soared high, but the enthusiasm was shortlived.The first shock came when five-time champion Brazil lost to the Netherlands on Thursday. Fans had expecting and had their hopes pinned on Diego Maradona's Argentina. But their expectations got a drubbing after Germany outplayed Argentina 4-0 Friday for a semi-final spot.

"After Brazil crashed out of the quarterfinals, the only attraction was Argentina. But everything seems to have gone haywire. Now I am least interested in this World Cup," says a MBA student."It was really pathetic to see the way Argentina lost to Germany," said Saibal Roy, an engineer, who cut short his sleeping hours to see Messi in action.The German victory has broken many hearts here.

The soccer crazy city and fans are now gunning for revenge against Germany and the Netherlands, who knocked out Argentina and Brazil. So Spain and Uraguay are the new favourites that will keep their football appetite alive.

Germany is aiming to reach a record eighth final, while Spain is looking to get to its first. The winner will play either two-time champion Uruguay or the Netherlands in the final at Soccer City on Sunday. The first semi finals will be played on 6th July between Netherlands and Uruguay at 2:30PM. The second semi final match will be played on 7th July between Spain and Germany.

The stage is all set for quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup 2010

The stage is all set for the much awaited quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup 2010.Next round of the fifa world cup-2010 will be starting from 2 July,2010. After fighting hard Eight teams have reached the last 8 (quarter finals) of the FIFA 2010.

Paraguay became the first team in this World Cup to win a penalty shoot-out when they beat Japan 5-3 on spot kicks. Ghana edged to beat the ever-battling USA in the first knockout stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to book themselves a place in the quarterfinals for the first time. Ghana made Africa proud and by entering quarter final, Ghana emerged the third African country to have ever reached the quarterfinals after Cameroon and Senegal in 1990 and 2002 respectively and also became the first African country to reach that stage in a World Cup staged in Africa.

Schedule of Quarter Finals

• Netherlands Vs Brazil – July 2 at 7:30pm India Time (IST)
• Uruguay Vs Ghana – July 3 at 12:00 am India Time (IST)
• Argentina Vs Germany – July 3 at 7:30pm India Time (IST)
• Paraguay Vs Spain – July 4 at 12:00 am India Time (IST)

Lok Ayukta a role model for the younger generation resigned

Expressing displeasure over Government's non-cooperation in the investigations against corrupt officials, Karnataka's Lok Ayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on Wednesday resigned from his post. Justice Hegde alleged that the government is trying to fix him politically to overcome the bad name they are getting following his resignation from the office of Lok Ayukta. Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde is a person who is well on his way to becoming a role model for the younger generation.

Justice Hegde has also expressed displeasure over government's order to appoint tainted officials in key positions. "The government’s decision to suspend an honest official who exposed a scam worth several crores at the Belikere port in Ankola district made me think. I have to protect officers whom I direct to do certain critical work. was thinking that if I cannot protect an officer who acted on my direction, it was time for me to pack up and go." said Santosh Hegde.

He sincerely wanted to put down corruption at all levels.He has held various positions throughout his working career that have brought him prestige and honour. Justice Hegde, viewed by many persons as nightmare for corrupt officials.Santosh Hegde is a role model for the younger generation.“The chief minister can pay visits to those involved in illegal mining and sex scandals, why cannot he request such a clean man to continue? What a shame!”, said a II year MBA student.