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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Today is My Birthday!

The cake was prepared by Kalpana! And we also had Sangeetha visit us at 12 in the nite.


















Sunday, July 24, 2011

Finally Solution for Samsung Galaxy GT i9003 Android mobile phone problem of going automatically in Flight Mode


Is your smartphone going automatically in flight mode?
I bought a new Samsung Galaxy GT i9003 smartphone in July 2011. I started facing problems with the phone going into Airplane mode and locking up automatically. When I go into the settings and try to turn airplane mode off, it won't allow it. Then when I hold the power button down, it tells me that airplane mode is off. Trying to change the settings also does not work. Initially, I thought this problem is happening when I have no cell service, but it doesn't correct itself when I get cell service again. Later I felt that it randomly goes into flight mode. I have to reboot the phone to get it out of airplane mode and use the phone. I read a lot of the posts about the Samsung and other Android phones having this same issue. One post said to turn off the Wi-Fi so I did, but it did not work. Another post said to stop using GPS and uninstall applications using GPS. I tried that but again it did not work.
I escalated the issue to Samsung Service Center but no one seemed to have a clue about the resolution. The Samsung service could not isolate if this was a software/OS problem or Hardware Mobile problem.

This issue of my Samsung mobile phone going automatically into flight mode continued for almost a month. This behaviour had made my mobile phone useless. Every time I reboot or somehow get the mobile back to normal, it would again go back to Flight mode within minutes or sometimes within a few hours.

I tried all the below as suggested by other people facing this problem and as suggested by Service Center Support.
1. Restart the phone
2. Removing all the GPS application
3. Switching off the wifi connectivity
4. Restoring factory settings
5. Software update (by Samsung Service Center)
6. Motherboard Replace (by Samsung Service Center)

Finally, the last option worked.
Now, I believe replacing the motherboard has done the trick.
It has been few days since my mobile has not gone into flight mode. I am still observing it.

However, the service center replaced the motherboard on the mobile and now I am observing it. So far the mobile is working perfectly for the past few days.

Today on 8th Aug 2011, it has been more than 2 weeks and I have not yet faced the issue of phone going automatically to fligh/airplane mode.
Yippee!!! So now I believe that the solution of replacing the motherboard has worked for me!!!

Please do let me know if this solution worked for you'll OR Please let me know if some other solution exists!

कल्पनाच्या कविता - भाग 2

माझ्या मनाच आणि डोक्याच
नेहमीचच भांडण आहे
मनाच वागण मला आवडत
तर डोक्याच अगदीच बिनडोक आहे !

कल्पनाच्या कविता - भाग 1

कोवळया उन्हात मी बसले असताना
वारा स्वताशिच हसत होता
एकट्यानेच असे हसत असताना कुणी पाहिल तर हसेल
म्हणून मध्येच शांत होत होता !

Monday, July 18, 2011

Ganga Aarti at Varanasi from a Boat is really a beautiful experience

Best Magical Morning of My Life!

The Sunrise from River Ganga at around 6:25 am (End of Feb 2011) was one of the most magical moments of my life.

Me and my Mom started really early from our hotel so that we could visit the Kashi Temple and then enjoy magical sunrise which I had read about on web.

(Please excuse my mobile ringing towards the end of the video)

Estimated and Actual Cost of building a New House in Maharashtra? What is the per sq feet construction cost? Building a small beautiful bungalow


This blog is for people who want to build their dream house. I am sure information on this blog will help all readers looking for information on building new house/bungalow.
After a lot of delay, I returned back in 2017 to update this blog with actual costs and actual photos of my house. Hope the details help. Please reach out to me in case you'll need more details and I will be glad to help.

View of my house after full completion (House interior photos and house plan are at the end of the blog)

Completed Dream house
House view@night
 

Process:
I have started building a new house from Jul-2-2011 in my native place and want to share my experience so that people building new house are well equipped.
The ground floor of my house is 1BHK and the first floor is 2BHK. The entrance to staircase is from inside the hall of ground floor as well as from outside. Depending on which door you use, the 1st floor flat can be treated as an independent house or both 1st and 2nd floor can be treated as one house. The house also has a terrace with a shade, 2 balcony and a big verandah where we love to sit on the swinging chair.


I consulted an architect for a house plan.The contract for building the house was then given to a contractor. The labour charge is fixed per sq feet (Rs. 140/sq ft) and the material cost would be borne my me. The labour cost was around Rs. 170/sq ft but since we chose to build 2 floors we managed to discuss and reduce the cost to Rs 140/sq ft.

Further we started the construction in raining season as the rain water helped in watering the RCC pillars and slabs when they were constructed. The house built was thus very strong and we even extended the pillars above in terrace slightly so that we can extend one more floor if ever required in future.
Things to remember when basic structure is being built
* When the foundation was being built, we even did pest control by drilling holes and pouring pesticide so that the house we be terminte/pests free.
* When the concrete slabs are being put you can put ample iron rings (for fans, jhula etc)
* Engage your electrician to get the basic pipes fitted for concealed wiring
* Decide on the capacity of water tank you want below and its location. We planned the water tank below our staircase.
* Location of septic tank

Each and every material was then bought to our quality satisfaction. It suprising to see how costly interior materials can be. We ensured that we used good quality tiles (Double charged) and grantie. Even the toilet fittings were very good qualtiy ones.
 
Location: The location of the house in a small village named Rasal (2-3 kms from Pali), Sudhagad Taluka, Raigad

Cost :
I tracked my estimated cost versus actual cost so that readers are well aware of the financial aspect of house building. It was a nightmare to find the per sq. feet cost of construction. There is no standard figure available and rightly so. The construction cost ranges for around Rs 800 per Sq Feet to Rs 1,200 per Sq Feet. My estimate is around Rs. 720 per Sq Feet. I was not sure if I have missed out anything. The current prices for Steel, cement, dabar, sand etc and the quantity required to build my house was estimated. The rough estimate from my architect was 
* Steel - 4800 kg
* Khadi - 18 Brass
* Sand - 21 Brass
* Dabar - 7 Brass
* Cement - 700 bags

Another nice way to calculate the construction cost of the house is by using the below calculator.
http://www.acchelp.in/cost-calculators.aspThe above site has an estimate of
Rs. 688 per sq feet as the construction cost of a new medium quality house in Raigad, Maharashtra.

i) Actual Cost

Items  Quantity Unit Cost(Rs)  % of Total
Steel with Transport 5206.8 kg 216607.8 14.21%
Khadi 16 Brass 30200 1.98%
Sand 37.5 Brass 125600 8.24%
Dabar 6 Brass 9000 0.59%
Cement + Neru Gold + Transport 707 Bags 186895 12.26%
JCP Machine Rent + Clay 19800 1.30%
Bricks +Thokla bricks 24500 126150 8.28%
DoubleCharge tiles  + Kitchen and Bathroom tiles 117960 7.74%
Bathroom tiles 19505 1.28%
Painting - Exterior 0.00%
Painting - Interior 36064 2.37%
Plumbing 41347 2.71%
Doors 58429 3.83%
Windows 23100 1.52%
Grills 23000 1.51%
Granite + Kadapa + Marble staircase 51930 3.41%
commode(2) 12000 0.79%
Sink 0.00%
washbasin 0.00%
TerraceWater Proofing + Tiles 0.00%
Electricals 57500 3.77%
Miscellaneous 46149 3.03%
Decorative 0.00%
Architecture Design 8000 0.52%
Labour 315000 20.67%
Total 1524236.8 100.00%

Note: Around 5 lakh of cost is yet to be added... roof/shade for terrace.. exterior paint, upper floor paint etc.. so the total is around 20 lakhs

 
Actual Photo of Site while it was being built: You can see that the basic structure was built within 4-5 months.
 
 

06-Oct-2011
02-Oct-2011


28-Sep-2011
 

27-Sep-2011

 

17-Sep-2011: After Slab (First Slab was put on 14-Sep-2011)



7-Sep-2011: Before Slab (First Slab was put on 14-Sep-2011)


   
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28-Aug-2011:

 19-Aug-2011:

 10-Aug-2011:





01-Aug-2011:



27-Jul-2011:



22-Jul-2011:


17-Jul-2011:



Interior Photos of my house:


 Terrace

 Ground Floor Hall
 1st Floor Bed Room with Balcony
 1st Floor Hall
 1st Floor Hall with Balcony
 1st Floor Toilet

Plan:
We initially planned for only 1BHK ground floor but then increased one more level with another 2BHK house above. We are being helped for the plan by the son of my Dad's friend.
i) Ground Floor Plan:Shortly coming
ii) 1st Storey Plan: