ChowkNews- Vidyavihar, mumbai

MTNL broadband connection may be misused by unscrupulus elements if the password is not changed for broadband access.

just like open wifi netwoks have been exploited, broadband just needs a live telephone wire and knowing the number and CA number of the line.

MTNL lines are physcally accesible at many points between the exchange and the point of installation. so a hacker only needs to know the customer account number and the telephone number to connect to the internet. the customer account number is printed on every bill sent by mtnl. and you could possibly obtain a duplicate bill from the counter using the telephone number.

Please change your password at register.mtnl.net.in and also in your modem. to ensure that the connection is not misused.

i am not sure if the mac address is recorded by mtnl , it does not show in the log.

broadband users need to be warned at the earliest.

Common man has a voice, however it is meek and since it is not concerted it has a very little impact.

I believe that India has great challenges ahead and i am concerned. we do not have a single leader who can rise for the common good of the people without thinking about his personal gain or Vote bank.

News channels that are supposed to be the watchdogs of democracy have turned into circuses where only jokers are allowed in the ring.
and the anchors keep cutting of the speakers when they try to make a point simply because they are not interested in the point.
what they would like is the speaker to get uncomfortable and (anchors) gain brownie points over the debate.

Today was a very good case in point, Raj thakeray got arrested and entire mumbai was at a standstill. Amazing.
Yes Raj we think you may have a point in not allowing outsiders into mumbai, but dont you think that holding the city to ransom by force is a little (or a lot) like a military coup ??.
if violence is a legitimate tool to make your point then the terrorists are bang on(pardon the pun).

There was only one leader in india who could move the nation without resorting to violence or partisan politics and that was gandhi.

I sorely miss him. i am a common man and cannot venture out on the streets in protest. but if there were someone there who could take the lead i would follow.

Today the times of India reports that a fifth of all those in parliament are criminals (sorry, they may just be accused and not convicted).
in a land of 100 crores (Indians) why can we not have a decent law framework. where the rule of the law is supreme??.

I remember when i was young there were slums coming up near my house, i dared not question them and the people with the authority to do so chose not to.
The average indian citizen is a law abiding and god fearing person. thank god for that.other wise i think the streets would have become extinct.

i have some serious doubts on the functioning of our country and i welcome other people who are the “Common man” join me in voicing our concerns. who knows, we just might be heard.

Originally posted on http://www.commonmanforum.com on oct 21 2008

I travel by bike between saki naka and andheri (western express highway).  the condition of the leftover roads after discounting that part which is under construction by reliance metro railway, is pathetic to say the least.
i will try to get record a video of the obstacle course so that you can judge for yourself.

Half of all the manhole covers look like they will cave in any moment, i have seen a manhole cover rise 6 inches above the road level almost like some one had planted it. when i am on the bike i keep praying that the wheels do not wedge into the cracks on the concrete road. in fact the holes ( they are bigger than mere potholes) have been covered with tyres and a flag has been put on them as if some one has staked a claim on the land.

there are a couple of fire hydrants that are jutting out just enough to kill the unsuspecting motorist right on the road. thank god there are hawkers who occupy at least 6 feet of the motorable road from the footpath otherwise many vehicles would have perished on the hydrant.

I also fail to understand how there is flooding in front of sangam cinema when there is no rain ? is it the PEE of all the people in andheri that gets discharged every other day on the road at night ??

I would love to travel by best buses as they are a lot safer than my bike but believe me walking is faster on this stretch of road. ( not safer since half the time you are on the street due to lack of proper footpaths) .

I really do not understand how the RTO permits people to take U turn at will and block the entire road, they fined me for Lane crossing ad i have had my bike towed away from far less crowded places where i was not obstructing any traffic.

There are rickshaws on the road that do not have headlights or taillights and i assume that its cheaper to break the law than fix a thirty rupee bulb. that can be the only explanation.

I am a consumer of BMC since i paid road tax, so as a consumer Can i sue the state  or bmc for the road ? if any one knows the answer then please respond to this post.

originally published on http://www.commonmanforum.com on oct 21 2008

India is a strange country to say the least, most of the mumbaikars know that slums are illegal and have become permanent due to political patronage. it is a blatant land grab mechanism and a very contentious issue.
however this week it was a very bizzare scene that prompts me to write this post.
a police chowki ( sub station ) established within the slums to keep peace in the area after repeated violence among the slum dwellers has now been demolished.
i asked the beat officer and he says that “Supreme court has ordered the demolition”.
while the policemen on duty sit on the road in the heat, the surrounding slums are a grim reminder that politicians are above the law and if you have their patronage then you have inherited India.
The slums in question are situated over the water supply of a large portion of mumbai and god forbid if something untoward happens then i am sure the politicians will once again come to the fore to accuse the current government. and the same politician if he is in the government then he will defend himself saying that not all slums are dangerous.

I wonder when this anarchy will stop. i am really distressed at the way things are shaping up in India. is there no one who cares about india ??.

Politicians can call an extaordinary session when the supreme court said that those with criminal proceedings against them cannot run for elections. or the office of profit issue,  but if a police station is to be demolished oh who cares? first let there be some untoward incident then we will raise the issue. that is the attitude.

Originally posted at http://www.commonmanforum.com on oct 25 2008

The Events in the past two days have been traumatic for mumbai, Terrorists captured two of mumbai’s prominent hotels and were able to hold thier ground for 36 hours, (opeations are on even as i write this post).
Attacks in mumbai ar not uncommon and we are used to bombs being planted in buses , trains , markets , stock exchanges. but gun toting youths with bagful of grenades and other ammunition is a first.

i am afraid that there is no solution to this type of attacks since we cannot have bullet proof baricades across all locations. also how do you deal with someone who just fires at you point blank while you have a metal detector designed to find guns ?.

The seige at taj made me think what could be the alternative to the options that were tried out.
could we have prevented this if there was a sniper hidden inside who could respond by taking out the terrorist as they entered ?
in one show on tv i saw a cctv footage where some people were in a secure room monitoring the entrance, when some gunmen came in.
because they were in a secure room the gunmen could not see them and they were able to surprise the assailants before they could do any damage.

Another alternative could be to have a secure vent with access to the entire buildings Ventilation. this could allow the security personnel to disperse sleeping gas , or some other gas that would immobilize all the occupants without harming them.
such a system would prove useful in situations like the current one.

Its a sad day for mumbai and india. In fact urban cities across the world need to wake up to this new threat of invasion by terrorists and preempt their strike capabilty.

I pray for the people who have lost their lives in the most dastardly act yet on mumbai.

Originally posted at http://www.commonmanforum.com

“where men contend for power, where they have not learnt to
distinguish between the art of getting hold of the helm of state and
the art of steering, which alone is statesmanship, true politics is
impossible.”

So true in the politics of India at least.. where quite a few of the polticians have a criminal background and will go to any lengths to come to power. we need some sort of training course in governance a compulsory condition for contesting elections.
how can you expect persons who do not know what they are trying to achieve by being elected, to do something when they are elected?
a political party has many individuals who form a resource base for learning the ropes, but too often the sane voices just drown when they are not in power.
media also has a very important role to play by not just highlighting the politicians in power but also those that have some sense of politics.
how many media channels have covered the obscure MP or MLA that has been elected from some where ? why not have each mp / mla invited to the studio and ask him /her about the achievements in the past year or tenure as an elected representative.
this might bring in statesmen and politicians who are capable to the font , instead of the usual bunch of guys that are good at lobbying themselves up the chain.

I was part of the rally that took place a the gateway of india and was pained to hear the mindless shouts by youth for war against pakistan and all politicians are corrupt and that we need to change the laws. is it not we who bring the politicians to power in the first place ?, how can war justify the sacrifice of our brave officers, wont more of our forces be sacrificed ? and will it all end with a war ?.
i havent yet seen a country emerging victorius from a war offensive in the last century (i may be wrong).
And what about the existing laws that we do have, have they failed because they are wrong or is it that they just have not been implemented. if the administration cannot tackle people who have blatantly boken the law then having a new law that gives stricter punishment to a criminal is useless since no one is a ciminal.
We have a situation where we the people are at our wits end to figure out what will work.
I remember reading somewhere that the first casuality of an emergency situation is the system, when in fact the system has the best chance of tackling the situation.

yet another Election is approaching and very soon the mumbai invasion will be relegated to the backburner after the media has extracted as much mileage as it can from the situation.
One other thing that pains me is the way the debates are conducted on television, every time a guest wants to respond the coordinator cuts him off citing lack of time. isnt this ridiculus? i mean if you (the anchor) only want to express the debates and show that important questions have been raised then why invite guests at all.