Nishant

⚡️CMRS Inspection of #YellowLine They’re all geared up for the big day! Let’s Go!! @TheMetroRailGuy

@mayankafk Wanderlust kehte h isko janaab

Last 10 days - hills of Himachal, ghats of Ratnagiri, chole bhature of Paharganj, 3 hours at Dadar Station and a wrecked home at Pune.

@mayankafk Can’t agree more

Have made the grave & unavoidable mistake of taking my work seriously. Grave because there’re 10x more chances of failure than success. Unavoidable because when have I not been serious. Anxiety through Monday to Sunday, through sleep and through art - all time high.

@outofofficedaku @mayankafk

#2024 is coming to an end and here's what we have learned from all the files we assisted for #SchengenVisa from the below countries. Austria - Too much ego or rather the country which cannot decide which profiles to approve or reject. Random decisions. Some patterns have been they do approve young travelers but don't like old ones. Love solo kids traveling if they have been to Schengen before. They even rejected a few persons in a family for not having a copy of the last rejection letter which was 3 years old. So if going in this region is best, just avoid them till they get back to their senses. Appeal process is also bad, and I have never seen a decision overturned. Processing takes 2 weeks minimum. Belgium - Another country to avoid unless you are going for business purposes and mandatorily have to apply via them or some event which you have booked or under the friends and family invites category. Docs travel to Belgium and it takes 3/4 weeks for a revert. Sometimes more. Bulgaria - Just recent addition to Schengen. We just did a handful of applications. They remind me of how Croatia processed applications when they joined Schengen. If they don't understand a profile they will reject, rather than ask for any docs etc. They process all applications with much caution. Croatia - A country which has an absurd rule of cannot submit docs 60 days within your trip and has to be greater 60+. Some gem people at the Embassy. We got a few business visas by the customer visiting the Embassy post emailing them for an early slot. They talked and gave a slot the next day, and processed the visa with travel within a week. Hope they did something for the visa availability and processing times. They do take their time for a tourist visa. Czech Republic - Love them. All they need is a prefect file and they'll grant you a visa. Only one condition whatever you show don't try changing a single stay booking etc or your visa maybe revoked. No fuss Embassy to get your visa if your trip involves Czech with Austria and Hungary or Germany etc. Take 1-2 weeks approx. Denmark - Again just a handful of cases here. Mad strict and you should know what you're doing or just skip this country. Even with invites they're very strict. Taking to someone from the Embassy, they said Copenhagen is becoming more popular with EU residents and also tourists than it was in the past due to lesser crowds and also cheap taxes on stays etc. Take 2 weeks approx. Estonia - No cases. Most do a day trip to Tallinn from Finland or go to Finland via Tallinn. Just for your info they're the best for nomad visas if you're into crypto or tech or start up etc. Finland - All Nordic countries are best but love them in particular. Will not blindly reject cases. Want anything extra from the applicant, they'll ask more docs or some clarification if any. Give them a perfect file and your visa is approved. They take 3 weeks approx. Appointments are damn hard to get and the walk-in of 10 persons twice a week is just misused by travelers and agents. Good thing no jurisdiction so can apply anywhere from India. Takes 2-3 weeks to process. France - Another gem country with approvals. Give them any profile and they'll not just ignore and reject. Also pretty fast approvals. Mumbai we have seen a TAT of 24/48 hrs and the slowed been 4/5 days. We have got multiple PhD students their 5 year LTV (Long Term Visa). Pretty solid country to apply and get your visa. Greece - Another moody country. They do want to see all docs in detail. Don't like solo travelers coming for the first time to Schengen. We did process and got a visa for a few but had to be careful with the file and cover letter. Another gem advice is if applying in winters take care to explain all in the cover letter. Having said that we have pulled 3 passports from them before processing, as the customer had some urgent travels and they made sure to process and grant a visa, rather than to just send back an unprocessed file. So some good people also in the Embassy. They take 3 weeks approx. Germany - Another gem country. They are fine with any itinerary if it's properly done and approve the case. You can explain your circumstances. They do take 3 weeks to process. If you have < 2 ITRs or maybe just started a job etc, they'll understand. Hungary - Wanna know all and check each doc carefully. Make sure you have a perfect itinerary and don't just go ahead and show 7 days in Budapest and then other countries etc. They'll reject. Give them all correctly along with a proper cover letter and they'll approve it. Take 1-2 weeks to process files. Iceland - The easiest of the countries to get a visa if planning to watch the Northern Lights. Appointments were a pain a few months back but the same have eased and now they are readily available as soon as for the next day. They take 2 weeks approx. Italy - Appointments were and are a pain. They introduced a new category "Been to Schengen" for those who have already had a Schengen Visa which eased up the things. Appointments are far away in March as of now. They take months to process files. The longest for use was around 70 days. Trip dates were far off, hence, but the passport was stuck. We have got visas for them for all applied. Not that easy with LTV (Long Term Visa) even if you fit the criteria. Latvia - Not enough cases Liechtenstein - Not enough cases Lithuania - Not enough cases Luxembourg - Not enough cases Malta - Most companies have their offsite at this country. We have processed multiple cases. Don't get lured by the approval % which many Indians do. They're strict. They hate a certain stay bookings. With proper documentation we have got multiple business visas and a few tourist visas. Showing max days is always a pain here if you have a long trip. Just get your visa from elsewhere and visit this country. Netherlands - Quite liberal with granting visa. Good country to apply and start your travels if covering Belgium/Germany/France/Czech etc. or even if spending max time there at the end of the trip and applying. Give all docs a perfect itinerary and they'll approve. They do take 3 weeks and had put out a statement that files may get delayed. Good to ask for LTV (Long Term Visa). We have quite a few. Norway - Give them all in order and they'll grant a visa. We have had multiple solo travelers and families apply and get their visa. Quite a few engaged couples also have applied here who would go post marriage for their honeymoon. They take 2-3 weeks. Poland - The appointments are a pain, and the VFS site makes it even worse. The site is down most days. Even the jurisdiction rules are absurd for those having Kolkata passports. We have had a few cases and have got the visa. Had met their consulate general during one of my talks on travels and that hack has been applied whenever we apply for the Poland Visa. They take 3 weeks approx. Portugal - The slowest processing of all post Italy. 6/10 applications we applied we have had to remind them on mail and it was processed the next day. VFS site makes the appointment taking process bad. Most visit Portugal by cubbing it with Spain and taking a visa from it. They take unlimited days to process and can also get back your passport a week before your travels. Sometimes they do surprise by sending back the passport in 2 weeks. Romania - Not enough cases Slovakia - Not enough cases Slovenia - We processed a few cases which were photography tours. They need a few docs in a certain way and they'll grant a visa. They do ask for additional docs mostly or call to inquire. Takes them 2 weeks. Spain - One of my favorite embassies be it tourist or business or F&F category visa. Really fast in processing. They have random rejection but that makes up for their superb appeal process. We have had most cases overturned and visa granted. Tons of applications processed for business and tourists. They are also the fastest of all countries in processing. 2-3 days. One advice: if traveling together don't mess around with Delhi and Mumbai embassies. IYKUK. Sweden - The strictest of all the Nordic. They have a walk-in for the applications to be submitted. Most rejections I get which travelers have applied by self or via agent are from Sweden. Reason has been walk-in and no appointment, so they feel let's visa shop from this country. Even with plans to visit the file needs to be perfect. Takes 2 weeks approx to process. Switzerland - Another of my favourite Embassy. No fuss and are happy to accept all types of profiles. Don't try irritating them by submitting the file less than 15 days to trip. They won't budge. Also a nice country to add for trip + add Italy trip too. They won't mind even if you landing and exiting from Milan (Cheap Flights). Pretty fast processing too. Takes < a week to process. Need to get assistance for your Schengen Visa then can check pinned tweet and fill in the Visa Assistance form. If have any query can reply to this tweet or DM or fill in the common query form. Thank You. Share | RT #DakuVisaServices #DakukaGyaan

@mayankafk Kisi ka bhai ho to aisa ✌️

Can't fathom the amount of hate I'll get here if people find out that I got wordle 1/6 and a coldplay ticket on the same day.

@Prateeeekkkkk @mayankafk Hahah.. bhai kuch kro TL mei kya kya aa rha hai

What have I done to get hundreds of tweets like this on my TL everyday? I understand I'm tagged as an Indian male adult who's into sports but Mr Musk for all his 'genius' is stupidly ruining this platform with whatever categorical classification nonsense this is.

@mayankafk Copying Messi

Ok embarrassing trophy lift 🥰

Bangalore’s potable water supply – the math is failing The issue of Bangalore’s potable water supply used to be an obsession of mine when I was a young journalist in the city. I studied and wrote about it a lot from a landscape perspective. This obsession also came from an early childhood in the city that was water strained and all of us kids used to fill every container we knew with water when there was supply! Summer 2024 looks bad – very bad, East Bangalore is going to be worst affected with water shortages. And that got me crunching the numbers again after many years. This is not just about one failed monsoon in 2023. The potable water supply scenario of the city is poised to enter negative territory even with normal or surplus monsoons in the future. Read on… There are no exact estimates for potable water demand in Bangalore but its estimated based on current supply. Currently the BWSSB supplies ~ 1450 Million Litres Daily (MLD) + the city extracts almost half of that 700 MLD (crude guesstimate could be way more!) from borewells. Picture this – half a daily Cauvery supply of borewell water is extracted daily in Bangalore! Most new property developments in Bangalore rely 100% on groundwater. Even our apartment in Bangalore, built in 2002, received piped water supply only in 2014-15 (lag of almost 15 years). At least 1/3rd of the urban areas and most peripheral urban villages still don’t have piped water. Piped water supply has been lagging in the city since – 1960s! Incrementally at great expense the Cauvery river, 90 kms south of Bangalore has been tapped and water pumped almost 1000m uphill to Bangalore. Bangalore’s water is probably among the most energy inefficient on the planet, every drop is pumped up using many megawatts of electricity – either from the Cauvery or underground. Since 1974, it has been a forlorn chase when demand forecasts and supply never meet. One thing is the BWSSB has always been good at is showing how big is the shortfall. It’s an organization in an unenviable position. It spends almost 80 pc of its revenue on electricity to pump water and knows that soon there won’t be any more it can pump. There is a Cauvery Stage V water supply that might begin this year supplying a maximum of ~750MLD in phases, but that is the END. The Cauvery is fully tapped out for now and can’t spare a drop more for Bangalore. So that is 1450 + 750 = ~2200 MLD (in a normal monsoon year) from the Cauvery + ~700 MLD (negatively trending) from groundwater. The problem here is that the BWSSB only estimates demand from ‘planned developments’ and the Bangalore’s growth has been anything but that. Till 2021 the estimated planned demand was 2100 MLD and that will be met by 2025 when Cauvery Stage V is fully ON. The unplanned demand is being catered to by groundwater. Total demand right now is ~ 2900+ MLD (the BWSSB predicts this ‘planned for’ in 2031 btw!). The way consumption is growing in the city, it might need 3200-3400 MLD before 2030, which the BWSSB only forecasts by 2041. You see the demand supply gap widening massively? The BWSSB itself now says they don’t have any more planned supply coming. Trust me, there is no other perineal water source that is currently being planned to be tapped for Bangalore at least for the next decade. Cauvery is fixed at 2200 MLD. Where is 1000+ MLD going to come from by 2030? Because borewells are drying up, the ~700 MLD being extracted right now is diminishing. You need mega surplus monsoons to replenish and grow groundwater table. Is that going to happen regularly? Thus, every bad monsoon from now will only be a bigger disaster – less water in Cauvery + even lesser underground. In the next 3-4 years if you have a severe drought and lose 1,000+ MLD, what kind of rationing or prayers can save the population? This summer is going to be a test for the Karnataka government. Bangalore competes for drinking water from the Cauvery with Mysore and irrigation needs of the entire area fed by KRS Dam. In election season this summer whose needs must be prioritized? There is already a clamor from farmers that they need water for standing crops and in the past protestors (and water thieves) have damaged the pipes that supply water to Bangalore. Will the needs of farmers be sacrificed again to supply more Cauvery water to Bangalore by 2030 in Stage VI, VII…? If you plan to live in Bangalore for the long term – start answering this question NOW – where will I get water from in 2035? As of now the government hasn’t a clue about this, this problem is being kicked down the road. My intention in writing this is not to create a doomsday scenario but to make people aware of the problem that has been well-discussed and written about. 2024 summer is the trailer for bigger crises ahead. *** PS: 😆 In a decade North Indians in Bangalore might start heading back north - because even with effects of climate change and 'not so awesome weather', the Gangetic plains will still be water surplus for eons!

This is not a new story, but it should not be forgotten. 12 years ago, Yashasvi Jaiswal moved 1,000 miles from his home in rural Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai to try & become a cricketer. He moved by himself. He was 10. At first he lived with his uncle. But that didn’t last long.

WATCH THIS!!!!!!! And share…. One of the reasons why we’ve NEVER shown our kids on these platforms. Even if this is 50% true or even less, it’s SCARY.

Bengaluru folks had to travel for 4-5 hours to get to Trevor Noah's show. But then couldn't hear anything because organisers dropped the ball big time, and Trevor finally canceled the show. BUT the weather is good.

Heartiest congratulations to Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali @SclMohali , a unit under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) @GoI_MeitY , for contributing to @isro successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 Mission.

🫡🫡🫡

@Prateeeekkkkk @imVkohli Better than Afghani momos ?? 🤨🤨

Forever grateful 🙏

Hair when you After few years come to Bengaluru

@9e3k @mayankafk

" I AM THE ELDEST BOY" Kendall x Tanhayee mashup #succession

@Prateeeekkkkk Was about to tag you😎 Vadde log ✌️

The year is 1995. You’re in your computer lab. Shoes out. AC on. The teacher is in a good mood today, letting you play any game you want and you choose this beauty.

Please increase its reach. No tangible help even after 24 hours.