Car Ownership Transfer Process in Gurgaon, Haryana

Those who are looking for information on car ownership transfer processs in Gurgaon, Haryana, here it is. RTO office in Gurgaon is in Mini Secretariat building which is near Rajiv Chowk. Office is on ground floor just on the left hand side of the entrance. We need to have following documents for ownership transfer:-

1. Original RC
2. Insurance copy
3. Pollution certificate copy
4. Seller's ID Proof copy
5. Two copies of Form 29 and 30 filled and signed by both seller and purchaser
6. Affidavit from seller and purchaser on Rs 10 stamp paper
7. Purchase ID proof copy
8. Two address proof from Purchaser's side (attach electricity bill copy if you have)

All above documents should be attested by notary. Once done, go to counter no. 4 first and have your documents checked and verified. Once okayed, go to counter 1 and submit fee (Rs 200). Get the fee receipt and again go to counter 4 to submit your file. Thats it its done, you will get an automated message about submission of request. Process takes anything between 8-15 working days and you will again get automated SMS once ownership transfer is done. Go to counter no. 4 to collect your new RC.

Its that easy....no need to pay Rs. 2000-3000 to any agent.

PVVNL Noida Electricity Meter Ownership Transfer Process

What are the chances that you are visiting a government office and your work will get processed smoothly without any extra round to office or without paying any bribe? Most of us would say 0%. Well things are changing for sure. Recently I purchased a flat in Sector 49, Noida. It was a resale property and after I finished ownership transfer formalities it was time to have electricity meter ownership transfered to my name from previous owner. Firstly, I wasn't aware of the entire process, so I searched PVVNL website and got some basic information about the process. Luckily, my friend knew a person who was aware of this process so he explained it to me in detail. Following documents are required for this:-

1. Ownership transfer form dully filled in
2. An affidavit from previous owner stating that he/she does not have any objection to ownership transfer.
3. Copy of sale deed.
4. Copy of latest month bill and payment receipt.
5. Original and copy of electricity connection security receipt.

I got the ownership transfer form from Sector 39 office. Once I had all these documents ready I went to sector 39 electricity office to submit the application. The person sitting there checked my application and said that it will be submitted in Sector 108 office (around 8-10 KM on greater Noida expressway). I spoke to previous owner and he said that I should try in Sector 47 office as he pays his bills there. So I went there and again response was same - it will be done in Sector 108 office. I said fine lets go to Sector 108 office. I reached there around 11 AM. Already there was a queue of around 10-15 people waiting for somebody who takes care of this stuff in the office - that guy hasn't reached office till now! I waited for 15-20 mins and then asked in the office whether this is office where meter connection transfer application is submitted. The person informed that this can be done in Sector 18 customer care center as well (which is hardly 2-3 KM from my starting point i.e. Sector 39 office).

Ahhh...I was so frustrated by now that I wanted to get this done through a middle man although that will cost me extra. I spoke to a electricity department employee and guess what  the amount he quoted - Rs 5000!!! The official fee for ownership transfer is Rs 200 only. Finally I thought that this is government department man and you haven't tried enough! Lets have few more rounds. I decided to visit Sector 18 customer care center and reached there around 11:45 AM. A different kind of experience was awaiting me. Office is located just above the PNB bank building near metro station in Sector 18 Market. There was no rush in the office. Man sitting on the gate gave me a token and directed towards counter no 2. Lady on counter no 2 was very courteous. She checked my documents and within 10 mins the whole process was done!!! Man it was such a relief and such an amazing experience. No middle man, no bribe and such a professional environment. Really appreciate this initiative by PVVNL. Go experience it yourself and stop paying bribe unnecessarily.

Dabang!!!

Here and there some events keep happening that remind us that police is still king in this country. Other day I was driving through Faridabad-Gurgaon road and suddenly cops stopped my car. According to them I was driving at 80 KMPH and while the speed limit on the road was 60 KMPH. So I have to pay fine for overspeeding. I was amazed and said that I could not locate any speed limit board on the way. To my surprise policeman agreed and said that yes they have been removed yesterday itself. So I said how the hell on this earth I will get to know speed limit on this raod. Now if a policeman says that you have to pay a fine then simply you have to pay, right? Truly Dabanggs......... :)

Tees Maar Khan - Worst movie I have ever seen!

Recently I happened to watch 'Tees Maar Khan'. And please don't ask how it was. Well-

1. The breed 'Rich and Dumb' isn't rare. Search for one and you will get thousands. Else why anybody on the earth will produce movie like this!
2. I can also direct a movie (Yes seriously, if this is called direction then I am super confident that I can also direct).
3. Best actor in the movie - no it wasn't Akshay Kumar or Khanna. It was that white skinned village guy who was acting as British soldier. He acted superbly.

India Winning Cricket World Cup 2011

So finally we did it again! Many congratulations to Indian cricket team and all Indians for winning cricket world cup 2011. Its party time folks. Let your hair down, pop-up the cork and have a blast on the DJ.

Thats it, I am PMP certified now!

I am happy to announce that I have cleared my PMP exam on 18 Nov 2009. I was introduced to field of project management around 15 months back when I was assigned project leader for a new development project and at that time I knew nothing of project management. So from zero to PMP within a short span of 15 months makes this certification very special for me.

As you might be aware that to apply for PMP you must have 4500 hrs of project management experience and should have attended a project management training of 35 hrs. As I was already having required experience so next step was to get project management training. I attended 35 hrs of PMP training from Knowledgewoods Consulting (www.knowledgewoods.in) at Mumbai in Sep 2009. This was cheapest training program I could find in Mumbai at that time. Training was very explanatory thanks to our trainer Mr. Ashish Dhoke (www.projectingit.com). I was expecting that such type of trainings are just formality. But it gave me a clear picture of subject matter for the exam. Mr. Ashish explained each concept with examples which provided better understanding. Ashish you rock man! We were 7-8 participants in the training and we formed a google group during the last day of our training through which we all are still connected. And it helps a lot while preparing for the exam. You can share your study material and guide and learn from others in terms of what to study and what not to.

Coming to the preparation, I started my real preparation after completing the above mentioned training program in Sep 2009. It was around 2.5 months of real study for me. This was along with my job without any dedicated leave for PMP study. I travel around 2 hrs a day to go to my work place. I utilized this time and studied around 1.5 hrs daily in the train. On weekends it was tough for me to find sufficient time for study as my 11 months old son keeps me busy. Along with that I was lucky that in office we were not having very crucial project during the last one month. So I utilized some time in office as well for studying PMBOK4. Thanks a lot to my manager Nagendra Nukala who may have noticed me studying but never complained about the same.

Now the study material for preparation, I used mainly three books - Head First PMP, Rita Mulcahy and PMBOK. Head First was given to us during our PMP training and it is one of the best book for the aspirants who want to learn through graphical demonstration of concepts. This book contains lots of graphics and real time situations which keeps reader's interest in the matter throughly. Some of our group members have prepared only with this book and PMBOK and they have cleared the exam. Although I just once read Kim's book also but I think its just replica of PMBOK with the difference that its material goes as per actual project flow instead of knowledge area wise. But I would definitely say that questions from Kim's book I found most difficult. So must try all qns from Kim's and Rita's book. I guess Head First, Rita are enough along with PMBOK for the preparation. I made my own notes of important points from all of these four books while studying these. It is important to make notes as these will be very crucial for the final revision of the matter as you would not want to go through the whole book again. I would suggest that PMBOK is very crucial for exam and this should be studied at-least two times. Also, please do not underestimate any term/definition from PMBOK. Note down each term and definition and remember these for the exam.

Around one week before the actual exam I started taking mock tests available in mentioned books and on various sites. Below is the list of all the exams which I collected during this period.

Oliver’s 75 questions - 72%
Oliver’s 175 questions - 78%
http://www.pmstudy.com/enroll.asp (200 Qns) - 85%
Kim's chapter wise exercise - 65% to 75%
Rita's chapter wise exercise - 70% to 80%
HeadFirst Free test 200 questions - 88%
http://www.voightps.de/Default.asp - 60-70%
http://www.ajithn.com/login.php (20 Qns) - 75 %
http://www.preparepm.com/mock1.html (70 questions) - 94%
http://www.preparepm.com/mock2.html (28 questions) - 96%
http://www.bestsamplequestions.com/pmp-sample-questions/pmp-sample-questions.html (160 Qns) - 84%
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/pmp-exams/pmp_sample_questions.htm (203 Qns) - 84%
http://www.passpm.com/test?a=399&q=1&t=22 (50 Qns) - 62%
http://www.techfaq360.com/pmpmockexamstart.jsp (200 Qns) - 83%

I guess oliver 75/175 qns, Kim's and Rita's qns are tough and really good to prepare for the exam. Although actual exam qns are not so though but it helps you to set your preparation one level above. From my experience PMStudy exam was closest to the actual exams. So must try this one. They provide one test free and if you can invest you can purchase rest tests. I just tried the free one. Head first is little easy but questions are good. ajithn also has some very good questions so try this one also. Rest are very simple and try these at your own wish.

On exam day I reached prometric at 11.30 AM although my exam was scheduled for 1.00 PM. They checked my Identity card and let me in. All the stuff you carry with yourself have to be put in a locker which is provided at the test center. You can only take your ID card and locker key inside. Exam will start with a 15 min tutorial. You can complete it in 5-7 mins. Then you can either start the test immediately or you can utilize rest of tutorial's time by brain dumping all formula's on the provided notepad. Do which ever suits you. I just opted for later option. I started answering only those qns which were not more than 3 lines lengthy and whose answers I was 99% sure. Again this was suggested by our trainer Ashish. Rest lengthy and formula qns I just marked for review. So in my first iteration I took around 2.5 hrs and solved nearly 130 qns. So at this point I was almost sure that I can pass the exam easily if I can answer at least 20 qns right from the remaining 70 qns. So I took a 5 min break. Then in second iteration I just attempted all remaining qns. I completed all qns in 3 hrs and 55 mins. So finally I clicked on end exam button. There was some short of processing went on for some 20-25 seconds and then a survey appeared. It was just about the experience in test center. I just completed it quickly to get my result. Finally when survey finished I thought it would take some time to appear the result on screen but there was the most awaited message on the screen - "Congratulations!". I just could not read anything else (and who wants to after this message), thanked GOD that my hard work of 2.5 months paid off.

PMP is a very special certification for me and may be for everybody who has opted for it. What makes this very special is that I have achieved this along with my full time job (I never took a leave for preparation except for the exam day). Lot of effort put in by my wife for allowing me that spare time at home for the studies. But never mind she made a good investment and she will get double of it from me some day :).

Well its too long story but I just wanted to share my complete experience so that it can be beneficial to the aspirants. Finally a look at what are dos and don'ts from my point of view:-

> Whatever book you choose, PMBOK4 is must. Take note of every important term which is there in the book. For more information have a look at my PMP preparation study material at the following location: http://www.esnips.com/r/hmfl/doc/b654b2a7-500f-49ae-87b2-c3d21cf50f5e/PMP-Prep-Docs.
> There is a table on page no 74 of PMBOK4. This table must on your finger tips. You should able to name all 5 process groups, 9 knowledge areas and 42 processes. Also remember in which process group and knowledge area a particular process falls. This is base of your study and you must memorize this before reading any book.
> Must try questions from the following - Oliver 75/175 qns, Kim's books, Rita's books, PMstudy.com, Head First 200 qns.
> Not need to memorize ITTO. Its too complicated and will eat up your mind and energy. Most of the ITTO questions on exam are not so difficult and can be answered if you know to which process ITTO relates.
> Expect 2,3 questions out of syllabus. Expect around 15-20 direct definition questions. 6,7 question max were of calculation (EV,CPI,SPI etc).
> Lots of questions from Quality and Contract. There is risk graph for buyer and seller for all contract types in Rita's book. It helps a lot for all contract type questions. So remember it.
> 80% qns are situational. You can only solve these if know the matter very well.
> Plan your study in such a way that it is finished one day before the actual exam. Do not take any test one day before the exam. This will relax your mind for the actual exam. Consider this very important. I kept studying for the last minute but this was of little help. Even if you want to study till last day - fine but please complete all your practice tests one day before the exam. You mind need to be completely fresh as there are 200 qns to be attempted in 4 hrs.
> Take minimum 8 hrs sleep before the exam day. Relax, do not worry. Go ahead with what you have prepared.
> Remember you can always reschedule your exam if you are not prepared. But this must be done at least 48 hrs before the exam date. I first scheduled for 11 Nov 2009 but later reschedule it for 18 Nov 2009.
> You are well prepared if your getting nearly 75% in olivers, Kim's and Rita's qns, nearly 85% in PMStudy qns and nearly 90% in Head First qns.
> Continuity is very important. So always try to be in touch of your study material every day however busy you are. Keep your notes with you to study whenever you get time be it in bus, train, at cafeteria or waiting for someone.
> Do not just rely on your project management experience. This can be very fatal for your success in the exam. There is vast difference between we do projects in real world and between PMI's project management methodology. However if you have experience in project management field than you can absorb the study material quickly as you can relate to things easily.

In the end, this was my experience and it does not mean that your exam will be exactly same. Exam pattern may vary and i guess this is beauty of this exam. But I hope this will hope you guys in some way to prepare for PMP exam. go conquer the world!

HCL Laptop Review - HCL T3904

Finally, I was looking for my first laptop. All most all of my friends and colleagues had their own brand for quit some time leaving me way behind in this competition. I was too happy with my six year old desktop which never let me down during this period. But lately some how I started to feel that its right time to get upgraded. Also It was 'April' time and thats the time when IT people get their yearly bonus and appraisal. So I started my search in Feb by reading on line reviews and consulting my friends. HP and Sony are too costly for the same configuration among the rest. So these were easily voted out. Never wanted to go for Acer and Lenovo can't say why.

After much of brain storming I finalized two brands - Dell and HCL. Dell is already the most trusted brand in India specifically between IT guys. Even I was convinced with its performance and thought of going for Studio 14 model. But one thing lacked in dell - good looks. Also there were some complaints about its heating problem and sound quality in the reviews on its own website. This made me to look further into HCL brand. Also I was more inclined towards HCL due to the fact that it is an Indian company.

Now HCL is not so popular as compared to Dell, reason may be whatever. But still when I searched online reviews about its products then never found any hard comment against any of the products. I noted down two of its laptops which fell into my category, both financially and configuration wise - T3904 and Z3909. Main difference between the two are:-

OS - T3904 comes with Linux while other comes with Vista.
Cache - T3904 is loaded with 3 MB cache while counterpart is with 2 MB cache.
FSB - T3904 has 1024 MHz while Z3909 has 800 MHz.
Price - T3904 is Rs 41990 and Z3909 is Rs 42740.

I visited HCL store in Khar Road, Mumbai to have a look at the both models. Look wise both are same. Its just the configuration and price that differs. Also it is ways ahead of Dell in terms of look (this is my opinion anyway). In no time I decided that this is the laptop I want to purchase. The store guy promised to deliver the product within 7-8 days at my home. And to my surprise the delivery was on time altough I had to follow up 1-2 times. After the delivery an engineer from HCL comes who signs warranty card for the laptop and also prepares the laptop for first time use. This was also on time without any delay.

Total payment for this model is around is Rs 43680(including VAT).

Now lets have a look at the specification of this laptop.

Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processsor P7350 (others are giving 5800 or 6400 within this price range)
3 MB L2 Cache, 2.0GHz, 1066 MHz FSB (others are giving 2 MB L2 cache and 800 MHz FSB at this price)
Ubuntu 8.10 ( Yes, no vista or XP in this model)
Intel Wireless lan 5100 AGN
4 GB DDR2 RAM (Others are giving around 3GB ram)
320 GB Hard Disk Drive
DVD Dual Layar Super Multi Drive
Integrated 2.0 M Video Camera with Dual Internal MIC,
14.1” Wide Screen TFT-LCD WXGA (1280X800)
Integrated Bluetooth v2.0 & 4 in 1 Card Reader
IM Print Design Notebook (This is unique and quite impressive)
86 Keys Keyboard
Li-ion Battery (6 cells) Approx. 4 Hrs 20 min in idle state
10/100 mbps Ethernet on Board, 56K Modem
Audio: Realtek ALC 268 24-bit DAC/20-bit ADC, High Definition Audio controller
Video: Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M-HD - Inbuilt
Excellent Thermals
Palm Rest Surfaces at below Ambient + 6 C
Temperature difference between the palm rests +/- 10C
ACPI 2.0 Power Management with Intel Speed Step technology Support
Ports: 3 USB,1 e-Sata, 1* Express Card , 1*External MIC Input, 1*External Audio Out
HCL SONIC EAR-GEAR
MicroFibre LCD Protector
One Year Warranty
Weight: 2.5 kg

After using this laptop for nearly two months all I can say that it is an excellent machine which gives good performance and well within a good price range. Every friend of mine was impressed with its look and performance. I would recommend every one to go for this laptop as it is worth every penny spent.

Pros:-
1. Beautiful imprint design
2. Good performance
3. Good price range
4. Timely response from HCL store
5. All most every functionality is provided.
Cons:-
Not really much but you can say that battery life is not as promised. It gives around 2-2.5 hrs of backup. But as far as I know other laptops are also more or less same on this parameter. Other drawback can be of OS which Linux instead of XP/Vista. Rest it is a damn good machine. Go for it!!!

Mumbai Attacked Again!

26 Nov 2008, Mumbai, India.

8:55 PM - My Office in Sewri, Mumbai

I was in my office working on project when my team mate Ashwin asked me - "are you coming?". I said - "No buddy you leave. I have got some more work to finish by today end of the day." And then Ashwin left for the day while I continued my work.

9:04 PM - Sweri Station, Mumbai

I was waiting at Sewri railway station for local train to get to my home at Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. At 9:15 I boarded the train and reached home at 10:40 PM. I switched on the TV and was staring on it for about next 20-25 mins in total disbelief, what was shown on the TV was about attacks on Mumbai. My friend Amit Siwach called from Pune and asked about my safety.

There were 9-10 terrorist attacks in south mumbai just around 9:40 PM. The Taj, Trident, Nariman House, CST Station, Colaba, Ville Parle and list goes on....

27 Nov 2008, Mumbai, India.

7:25 AM - Kharghar, Mumbai

Since it was 'ThanksGiving Day' and I was having an off from the office, I was sleeping when I got a call from my cousin. He asked about my wellbeing. Next call was from my wife around 8:43 AM. Next from my father, from my friend Hemraj Sharma and my phone keep beeping for almost whole day. At around 12 PM my friend Sunil was at my room and we watching the news for the whole day.

28 Nov 2008, Mumbai, India.

01:25 PM - Sewri, Mumbai

I was in office and there were less people in the office. At around 2.00 PM our manager informed that there was some news about firing at CST station. Everybody need to stay in the office till furthur information. In the evening we were asked to leave early and instructed to inform our respective managers as soon as we reach our home.

For next 2-3 days me and my friends keep checking various news channels for the latest update on this horrible act.

29 Nov 2008, Mumbai, India.

Finally we got the news that our brave commandos cleared every location from the terrorists and a huge crowd was celebrating at Taj and Trident. People were asking NSG commandos for their autographs. Cann't say how proud we feel at that moment about our heros - NSG and ATS.

Bottomline----

I am living in mumbai since Nov 2007 and had seen so much in this city. Train blasts, MNS power show are the toppers. But I think this episode is going to tease me for long time. First time when I landed in the city, never saw anything special in it. Even I hated it as it was more crowded then Delhi. But now I feel the difference. The true spirit of the city is unbelievable. At the time of crisis, people forget everything and help each other. And the very next day city is on the work again leaving behind those horrile nighmares.

A salute to our brave heros who lost their lives while making us secure!