List of Oxygen Gas Suppliers Different states and cities

 List of Oxygen Gas Suppliers Different states and cities

 

Download  the attached document in PDF format. 

Steps to get Singapore Driving License in Singapore if you already have an Indian Driving License - updated 2021

 

I got my  Singapore Driving License using my Indian Driving License in 2021.

Driving License:

1. Class 3C : You need to only pass the  Basic Theory Test (BTT), a theory test (computer based or paper). (However with my Indian License I got a Class 3 itself and a Class 2B as I had a 2 wheeler license from India.)
2. You only need to pass BTT for conversion of foreign driving licence.
   
   I went to CDC i.e ComfortDelGro Driving Centre   (05 Ubi Ave 4, Singapore 408805) for getting my BTT.  Refer website for their address.
   
   https://www.cdc.com.sg/course/class-3c-foreign-licence-conversion/
   
   ENROLLED COURSE: 06. BTT Theory (Foreign Licence Conversion)-EP/DP : $40
   This step could take 2-3 weeks.
   
   First Pay for Tutorial. Then study and Plan Test Date.  Then book your Test Date later from home via the website.
   
   
3. After passing BTT, you will have to proceed to the service counters in Traffic Police Headquarters at 10 Ubi Avenue 3, Singapore 408865, for conversion. Get Token number inside the building and wait and proceed. At Traffic HQ you get a pink form. Take it with you to next step. 
   Submit forms filled and show License.
   
   FYI lot of people go after the BTT Test on the same day to Traffic HQ. Can save time. Hence look to get a morning test slot for BTT.
   
   
4. Then go to BLS  [ https://blsindia.sg/] / Indian High Commission Agent for getting your India Driving License authorized - You get a Letter from them. Book appointment on their website  (could take 2 weeks for an appointment date).
   
   Then on the day of appointment, Get Token number inside the office and wait and proceed. Anson road office is convenient and near MRT. There will be a huge queue of people who did not book an appointment. Ignore them and proceed to the front office if you have an appointment. Once you get it couriered to your home in 5 business days, proceed to next step.
   
   
5.  Go back to Traffic Police Headquarters and submit. 8:30 am to 11:30 AM. Not much rush. Make sure you have Trace together app, IC originals and all paper with you to enter there.  Payment allowed only with NETS card.
   
   
6. You get your driving license via post to your home in ~ 5 business days.
   
   Summary  : There is only BTT theory test that I had to take. No practical test. That said, I do have   an Indian driving license that is issued 20+ years ago.

Indian High Commission / BLS India their approved agent:

All docs, take a copy of the same with you.

1) Original Driving License from India (in English).

2) Original Passport

3) Singapore Employment Pass

4) Pink form  from Traffic Police Headquarters (including BTT pass).

5) PDF download of my License Details from https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/ and print out. Not mandatory. I simply got it with me.

6) Printed the HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA, SINGAPORE APPLICATION FORM FOR BIRTH/MARRIAGE/NRI/POLICE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE/DRIVING LICENCE LETTER from your website.

7) In BLS there is another form that we need to fill. Collect from the reception and then go to the counter with token number.

8) I have also taken an appointment with BLS International for Jan XXXX

Though it mentions you need "International Indian License", what they mean is it should be in Engish and normal India License that is still valid is enough.

KIT Mechanical Engineering Class of 1995 to 1996

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Handbook in 12 Indian Languages including English

 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has recently launched a website for consumer education - www.policyholder.gov.in.

The handbook can be downloaded from this link.

Euro 2012 Schedule in India

Simplest is searching Google for the keywords "euro 2012 schedule" and the Google search results itself will show the latest matches to be played.

You can also view the date and times of the various Euro 2012 matches in India / Chennai.

Tamil or Malayalam alphabets using Keyboard - Windows

Tachyon Technologies has introduced a software that allows people to write Indian languages using English alphabet keyboards. The software is done by Tachyon Technologies and support Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kanada, Telugu.

News item : http://www.physorg.com/news77697303.html

Honda Jazz Chennai Review

Well I evaluated most of the cars in the mid segment. 5-8 Lakhs segment. My old car was a Santro and hence I had some conditions before I buy my next one.

I needed a kind of small car, I was not for the C Segment though, as its harder to drive in the city, tough to park and unnecessarily expensive! I wanted a car with a decent boot. My driving needs were below 25KM per day. Hence a Petrol car was good enough for me. Additionally I at the back of my mind, i prefer to go for a Honda or Toyota - bigger brands than Maruti.

I test drove the following :

• Fiat Punto 
• Swift
• Swift Dzire
• Hyundai i20
• Toyota Etios Liva
• Saw the Volswagon Polo
• Skoda Fabia
• Honda Brio

All these cars Swift, Hyudai i20, Honda Jazz, Punto, Ford FIgo have decent driving comfort. So I was not really worried too much about the basics of the cars too much. They are from popular car companies and each has its value. All cars compromise on something and are a value for money.  This is one thing I learned.

I really do not believe in buying an expensive car upfront and then crying about fuel efficiency. So my policy is buy a car that is easy for you to maintain too, enjoy its usage as much as possible to the max. BTW for me car is not a status symbol either. I know that itself could change the car you would like to buy.  Hence I decided on a Honda Jazz even thought maybe i could have stretched myself for a 10L car - Honda City.


I am not going in to the detailed comparison of the various cars. But I am going to say why i rejected some.

Skoda  Fabia- very poor service in Chennai. Spares takes weeks or months to get imported.
Swift - Too common. Surprisingly the sales representative at the Maruti showroom itself told me to go for another car like Wagon R instead as the swift is too common now. However that said, there is no car company that I feel understands Indian roads and car driving needs like Maruthi. I state this after driving the my Jazz for 4 months.

Ford Figo - If Figo had come out with its 2012 model, I may have bought a Figo 3 months back. However I am  happy i did not :-) The Figo is a bit dated in its looks. But that is ofcourse the best value for money.


Fiat Punto was a good close second for me because of its build. If you are looking for a car that looks majestic in its appearance, the Punto is a good one. Add its powerful Disel engine and leadership in the diesel engine market and you have an excellent car. Its actually like a Mark III Ambassador car in its build and studieness. Very strong body. Heavier too. Hence could be a safer car. But ofcourse you are not going to war though.  It has some sensible options like 60:40 rear seats too. There was also a very helpful pre sales person at the showroom too. However the stories of poor after sales on the web were lingering around. So was a worried person. The problem for Fiat is its selling along with the Tata show room. The concord show room could sell over 1000 cars in a month. I heard in March, it sold 10,000 Tata cars. That is quie a busy day for them. No wonder these showrooms give second rate sales and support for Fiat cars. Hope Fiat wakes up after 20 years in India that excellent support can be made only if done directly.

Honda Brio - Poor boot space. Almost nill. But it is a sporty car. This car will rock in the cities too. However the one bad thing about it is its boot. If they fix that, they could see more sales soon. The drive is excellent, interior space too good.

Toyota Etios Liva : Well I felt that the Toyota show room only sell Toyota Innova and have left the cars in the lurch with some poor overall design. The car is good, but can't match the Honda jazz for its ride and comfort.

Hyundai i20 : Excellent on board electronics. For the same price, you get a lot of toys on board your car. Engine was good, but felt it a bit slower than the others I evaluated. This could have been a good second or third option for me.

Now to why I finally chose the Honda Jazz even though I did not test drive it !

• Excellent boot for a mid size car. The rear seats fold beautifully and becomes almost flat. Those rear seats itself could raise the price of the car by 20K vs the others. I was willing to pay that for such a smart car. The car closest with that was the Punto, but that too was not as smart of Jazz.
• Excellent drive. I guess if you drive a Honda, you may hate to drive any other car. I test drove the Honda City of a friend of mine and likewise the Honda Brio. Both were excellent. Felt like we were floating and not driving.
• Spacious interiors. 
• Turning radius is small 4.8M. I could still ride this car like an autorickshaw in traffic :-) That is necessary in Chennai's roads. The small engine gives it this advantage and allows more room inside the car.
• Good overall design. This was not so important for meet. It should look average to above average and I would choose any car. Maybe except for the old Dzire, I am kind of ok with most cars on Indian roads.
• One negative that i saw was the low ground clearance. However I guess for city driving that is not too bad. Its only 160 MM. Compared to a punto that has 170 or 180 and that is clearly felt when you onboard the car.
• Fuel efficiency of 12-14KM / L - felt that it was good enough for me now. Else I need to spend extra 1.2 L on a Diesel car and feel like driving a tractor all along. I am ok with the noise if the power is equally good. For eg. if I were to buy a Diesel car, I would hope to buy one with atleast 1.6 to 1.8 engine. The extra power atleast makes up for the higher noise of the car, from a value perspective or a great feeling perspective.

I have drive the car for just two days. So I will keep this blog updated about my usage in future. Well that is it from me.

Painting the house

Last month we had our flat painted. Here is a summary to benchmark the costs and help you decide what works best for you.

We standardized on using Asian paints. Well I did not do any homework on what is the best paint company but I knew the top two vendors. The main cost for painting the house could be for the labour charges.

Average painter cost in chennai is Rs 750 to Rs 1000. But the hard part is you will not get 2-3 of them yourself without going through a experienced painter who is the "Manager".  BTW he only does the talking on a given day and the others do the work.

For my ~ 1000 sq ft house, it took 4 man days to double coat the house.

We went with Premium Tractor Emulsion from Asian Paints. Rs 220 Per Liter.

The amount of paint needed was 10Litres. It is also important to note the ratio of paint to water the painters mix. For me they did a  1:1 ratio. Hence it is easier for them to paint. But the recommended one by Asian is a lot thicker than that. The thicker the paint, the more time it takes for the painter to finish the job.

The good part is the prices are almost the same in all shops and the price is set by a central ERP system (computer) of Asian Paints. The price varies by the colour you choose. We initially had white, but we went in for a cream shade. If you are changing the colour then you must do a double coat of paint.


The good thing of the new paints is, it has almost no odour once painted. I could sleep in the same house on the day the house was painted with the windows and door open.

Cost Breakup for 1000 square feet flat - painting the interior walls alone :

Paint and materials :  Rs 3000 includes paint, brushes, sand paper etc.
Labour Cost : Rs 6000

I ended up paying more than I should have. Actually that is the reason for this blog post.

While negotiating get them to commit on cleaning the walls first. This is critical as otherwise the paint will peel off. Hence paying per day may give better quality results than a general contract to paint the house. However the problem with painting per day is they will drag the work by double the time.

That's it from me. Good luck with your house painting job :-)

Setting up Netgear N150 Wireless ADSL2+ DGN1000 with Airtel Broadband

Upadate as of July 26th  2012 : I hate this router so much that I recommend users to buy a DLink Router. That was my older one. The DGN1000 drops connection on all my devices, too often. I could not get my ipad configured on this yet. I have wasted too much time that i rather trash this router. Lots of cool stuff on this device, but only problem is, you cannot connect to the internet :-)  What a shame.  I am updating this blog as i can see many are visiting this blog post (447 views already) ..  Netgear hope you could buy me a dlink, pls.... The amount of time i wasted on this stupid device is more than the Rs 2000 spent. I can't waste another one hour on the phone

I had to get a new wireless router for my home to work with my Airtel broadband connection in Chennai. I bought a netgear N150 Wireless, ADSL2+ DGN1000 and set it up. The new one has modem + wireless router. It works.

It actually worked in the "wired" mode in 25 minutes. Yeah the installation tries to auto configure your modem settings by trying out all combinations. Hence the 10-15 minutes extra for installation.

The newer way of configuring wireless settings using a network key and rest automatically communicated by the wireless router is cool. I was not aware of that before. It looks like Netgear has learned to reduce their tech support calls by this and even by printing the ssid, pin, all sorts of secret keys on the outside of the router itself. This again makes sense as the router is in the house and that safety is good enough for this.

BTW you will need to know the username and password given by Airtel - which normally have your phone number in it too. You need that. If you don't call, Airtel and ask.


The initial experience was good because of the auto configuration keeping in mind that i did not have to know the various parameters of the ISP (Airtel) - dns, gateway, DHCP etc.


However there is a catch. The connection is not as smooth as how my previous one worked over a dlink wireless only router + Beetel  (Airtel) Modem. With the new one, the connection is breaking once in a while and first connectivity takes a bit too long - like 5 minutes after booting your PC.

One observation on the modem configuration side is the new one does not have the dns server and gateway servers set explicitly unlike the beetel modem provided by Airtel. Need to see if that could help.

Some don'ts :

• Do not change the default router IP that was set by the new modem installer  i.e 192.168.0.1  to the older one  192.168.1.1. The beetel prefer the " 192.168.1.1" series, but this one prefers the"0.1" network. It just does not work if this is changed
• To accesss the N150 admin page go to www.routerlogin.com in your browser and it takes you there ! Nice way of doing it.

Well its just the second day of usage and will keep you posted on this.

Update : Well if you use the N150 for its modem capabilities, it becomes annoying. Using the old Beetle device as a modem works much better. I guess I made a mistake in getting the Netgear with modem + Wireless. So now i have shifted to using the Beetle device given by Airtel and connect that to any of the LAN ports on the Netgear wireless router. Then access the wifi from your PC as usual. This works really well. No line breaks and works in less than a minute. I am happy this way. Your mileage may wary. I did not ask help from Airtel for the previous configuration troubleshooting. May do that later.

Upadate : If a device works the range supported will be very less. In my 1000sq ft house, i cannot get wifi access if i cross around 15 feet range - next room with door closed.

Car tyre basics / specifications

Good website for knowing your car tyre specifications.

http://www.bridgestoneselect.com.au/learntyres/ReadingYourTyreSize.aspx

Typical example: 165 R 13 79 T

165 - means the tyre has a nominal section width of 165 millimetres (normal width of the tyre)
R - means it has radial tyres (i.e the ply construction)
13 - means it fits a 13" diameter wheel - Rim diameter
79 - Load index
T - means it's rated for speeds up to 118mph (l90kmh).

Other common speed ratings are:

S = 113mph
T = 118mph
H = 130mph
V = 149mph
Z = Over 150mph
W = 168mph
Y = 186mph

Parking in to a perpendicular bay or 90 degrees parking

I had a new driving lesson yesterday. Yeah i have been driving  for over 15 years and never had to worry about it much, but the parking at my home became a bit tight (smaller space) for me to park a wider and longer body car.

My observation now is the amount of space needed on the road is lesser if you are "backing into" a perpendicular bay than when you are "driving into" a perpendicular bay.


This info is specially useful in narrow lanes and there is a possibility that cars could be parked on the opposite side of your parking area.


Well there is also a good write up I found kind of confirming the same, but the below article gives in perspective of a "Forklift" or JCB kind of vehicle as we call it here and Bruce says its applicable even for a normal car!


The below confirms what I say as while driving backwards we inadvertently concentrate on the back wheels and while driving in to a perpendicular parking bay, we tend to focus on the front wheels and hence find it a bit difficult or may tend to need more space.

Before leaving, I will also leave you with a link to a parking game present here. Its good one to play :-)

This is a really good question, that brings back memories of when I had not long past my driving test, and then a few months later, sat a fork lift instruction and test all in the same day. With a forklift, the steering is done with the rear wheels, - initially I had great difficulty in lining up the fork lift with the pallet bay so as to lift a pallet. The forklift instructor helped me, by giving me a good tip, which he said also applies to parking a car. Afterwhich manouvering the forklift and parking cars became very easy, because I was then consciously aware of what I was trying to do.

The tip is, in respect of a car: Do not concentrate on what the steering wheels are doing - in a car its the front wheels, but focus on where and the position of the fixed rear wheels are in respect of where you wish to position.

You explain, that your finding it easier to reverse into a space - unconsciously you are focusing on the rear wheels, and simply maneuvering your front wheels to aline up.

Next time you are going to go forward into a space, think of where your rear wheels are in respect of the parking space. At the point when your rear wheels are in position to the centre of the space, that is the point you start turning front wheels - you'll notice that the position of the front of the car is over shot, almost to the point of hitting the car parked adjacent to where you want to go, BUT the rear wheels are in the right place. And as you go forward your steering corrects the nose of the car.

E-Registration : Inclusion of name in Electoral Rolls

You can now register yourself to the electoral rolls in TamilNadu via the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer website.

Go to the below link  http://www.elections.tn.gov.in/eregistration/ to register.

SOHO creates jobs

The below is a portion of an article at equitymaster.com. I fully agree with it now. 


For eg., in India, real estate companies are taking huge loans and keeping large land banks. This means it is expensive for small flat builders to get more land to construct new homes. These loans taken do only one thing, they keep land out of reach to smaller builders and potential home owners. Who funds it ? Banks. Where do you put your life earnings, in the bank to be lent to the same builders. This is turning out to be a vicious cycle where to  the main "inflated" profits are being shared by banks and its share holders. To be more fair to the situation, the larger "value created by banks" are also shared to their employees as higher pays. It is not fully wrong, but it has a cost to the rest of the ecosystem. So does it mean, there should be no banking, no. I do not know. But to be fair overall, the govt. should allow big banks and even real estate companies to go bust to train the system to behave.


SOHO creates jobs, large corporations destroy it in the name of profitability. The below article is about he US Fed. I really hope our government policies do not destroy our economy.

Why is unemployment so high? 
Well, who creates jobs? Small businesses. 
Big businesses cut jobs. That is how they maintain profit margins so they can pay bonuses to their over-paid managers. 
Small businesses...growing businesses...businesses that are adding value and building wealth...create new jobs.

Why so few new jobs now? Because more and more money - capital allocation decisions - are in the hands of the feds. The feds always favor existing businesses...big businesses that make campaign contributions and whose lobbyists take them to lunch. They never favor small start ups. The start ups don't have any money...or any lobbyists. The start ups have no political power.

The feds favor big businesses in direct, obvious ways - such as tax credits, bailouts and government contracts. They also favor big business by making it hard for the start ups to compete with them.

Let's just say, dear reader, that you wanted to start a new kind of bank. You saw that the big banks are ripping off their clients...losing money...and getting bailed out by the feds. So, you figure you'll do to the banks what Napster did to the music business or Amazon did to the book business. After all, moving money around is just an electronic, digital process. It should be dirt cheap to run a bank. You could even create a much better way for customers to hold their money. You could allow them to choose what currency they would like...or they could hold their cash in gold...just with a few clicks on a computer keyboard. You could set it up so no customer would ever lose money...because his account would be backed by, say, 100% physical gold. And you could cut credit card transactions and banking fees down to a fraction of what they cost today. 

Read the full article, here

Error in Starting Apache 2.2 with OpenSSL :

I got the below error while trying to get SSL setup with my Apache on Windows 7, Apache 2.2.

SSLSessionCache: Invalid argument: size has to be >= 8192 bytes

It seems it is because of a bug in Apache when the file path has Program Files (64) in it, i.e "(64)".  So I just replaced it with some folder i created such as "C:\Program Files\Apache_Logs".

SSLSessionCache        "shmcb:C:/Program Files/Apache_Logs/Apache2.2/logs/ssl_scache(512000)"

The below url was useful.

http://arfore.com/2009/08/24/sslsessioncache-error-on-apache-for-windows/


BTW to debug Apache, you could run the below in the command prompt too. It gives more info than the error.log. The SSL error above did not show up in the log file.

httpd.exe -e debug

Flynn Effect : Newer born children getting smarter

As per Flynn Effect, newer born children are getting smarter.  This is based on older tests taken by the newer children. It was observed that they score over 15% better. Read more about it here.

Chennai public transport system

Chennai on the move to build a pedestrian friendly public transport system....

Chennai all set for a greater transformation in the area of transport that includes coming up of grade separators,outer ring road formation, arterial roads up-gradation, construction of flyovers, subways and lot more.... 22 new projects have been announced by the state government.

Small roads in the suburbs would be improved thereby reducing traffic in the major roads. Grade separators and flyovers would reduce vehicular congestion.

Here are some of the major infrastructure projects being taken:

Monorail:

Monorail is yet another proposed project with the aim of transporting people within the city's congested areas. Focus will be mainly on the suburban areas.

Image courtesy: The Hindu

Major Grade Separators

1. Vijayanagar in velachery
2. Kaliamman Koil amman street junction Jawaharlal Nehru salai
3. Pallavaram kundrathur road – GST road Junction
4. Kolathur red Hills road

Grade separators (or flyovers as some of us call it) under construction

1) Mint Junction

2)Thirumangalm

Rail over Bridge

1. Rangarajapuram
2. kathivakkam high road -Conchrane basin road

Rail Under Bridge

1. Villivakam
2. Monegar Choultry Road (M C Road)

Pedestrian Subways

1. Near Little mount on Anna Salai
2. Ekkaduthangal on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and Kasi theatre
3. MKN road junction on GST road

Widening of Bridges

1. Bridge at Tiruvottiyur
2. The North Buckingham Canal
3. Ennore Expressway between Kargil Nagar and Satyamurthy Nagar. 

Below is a graphic courtesy The Hindu of the fulll rail transport system proposed for Chennai.

Mother's remedy to beat cancer!

Having a healthy lifestyle is not a guarantee against cancer. But if we follow some simple tips we can help ourselves.

A cut on our body heals by itself without our thinking about it...then why not cancer?? Our body springs into action when some changes happen in our body ....

For that we must keep our immune system working fine! Here are some tips to keep our body and our immune system healthy

1. Stay away from junk food like French fries, soda, refined sweets etc
2. Avoid keeping food items, water ,milk in plastic jars... instead use steel containers
3. Avoid smoking and exposure to smoking
4. Limit red meat and animal fat
5. Do not cook oil on high heat
6. Include as much as garlic on your daily diet
7. Increase your fibre intake
8. Replace non stick pans with iron pans as teflons used in non stick pans releases toxic gases when heated to certain temperature

King pair in Cricket or Golden pair!

If a batman gets out for a duck on the first ball of two innings in a match, that's a king pair.

From Wikipedia :

King pair (also Golden pair) 

a batsman who gets out off the first ball he faces in both innings of a two-innings match, without scoring any runs in either one.

Placement opportunities for freshers : http://www.shredskerala.org/

I am sure it is old news for many, but just for the record. If you are a fresher and looking for placement opportunities, you may want to use the http://www.shredskerala.org/ website to attend some interviews.

ANTLR for custom data formats and configuration definition

ANTLR can be used to define data formats instead of using XML  /JSON/YAML etc


What is ANTLR?
ANTLR, ANother Tool for Language Recognition, is a language tool that provides a framework for constructing recognizers, interpreters, compilers, and translators from grammatical descriptions containing actions in a variety of target languages. ANTLR provides excellent support for tree construction, tree walking, translation, error recovery, and error reporting. There are currently about 5,000 ANTLR source downloads a month.

ANTLR has a sophisticated grammar development environment called ANTLRWorks, written by Jean Bovet.