Police Clearance Certificate PCC procedure Passport India

The company which I work for has put PCC as mandatory item for Visa process initiation. I was clueless where to start. Now that I have completed it and done it for my spouse I decided share my findings for greater good of online community

1. You need NOT book any appointment online for PCC  My relative went for a PCC, she says rules have changed now and appointment is compulsory, except for seniors and if you have accompanied infants/kids . Check online sources or call 1 800 number of PSK on how to get an expedited appointment and other related details.  I do not live in India anymore so I do not know any latest updates on this topic. 

1. You can walk into any passport seva kendra - PSK- with a. your fill online application form (Barcode must) b. photocopies of your passport front back pages, ECNR pages and any prescribed address proof mentioned in the passport.gov.in site
2. Tell the security guy at the PSK that its for PCC they will allow you. 
3. In the reception area they will check your documents, place your documents in a brown paper jacket.  You can proceed inside now. Once you go inside take your token and wait for your turn. My experience: I was called in less than a minute from the point of token number generation. 
4. Counter A: photographs, money, fingerprints any corrections in the application 20 to 25 min
5. Counter B: Verification by the passport office employees. 15 min wait, 10 min to process
6. Counter C: Granting authority. 15 min wait, 5 min to process

If there is no change in address and if your passport is issued in same city PCC will be issued on the spot. They will give you PCC on a white paper and endorse the same in your passport 

If you do not fall into above category. They will send your passport for police verification. This is also surprisingly fast process. Police called me the next day and I got an SMS from Passport office on the 4th day.  After recieving the SMS go to the same PSK they will ask you to get your acknowledgement signed from Passport Officer/Assistant Passport officer. Once done take a token and visit counter C directly. 

They will issue PCC on a white paper and endorse the same in your Passport. 

Its surprisingly less painful process.  I visited Tolichowki PSK in Hyderabad.

Update:  PCC validity is decided by the respective foreign consulate not Indian passport office. 

Per Mumbai US consulate:
All police certificates are considered to be valid for one year from the date of issuance and must be valid on the day the your visa is issued.
http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/ivpolicecertificates.html



Per Official India passport website:
Q69: What is the validity of Police Clearance Certificate (PCC)?
A: There is no validity specified for PCC. PCC is not exactly a Passport Service. PCC is a requirement of foreign govts for grant of immigration/ work/residence/family visa/permit.. Generally it is considered valid for six months.
http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/online/faqServicesAvailable

Leave a comment or question. I will try to help you . 

My drive from Pune to Hyderabad - Experiences and thoughts

Background... 
Jobwise I got transferred from Pune to Hyderabad and I had a choice to drive or transport my car, Hyundai I-20.  Initially I was very apprehensive to drive to Hyderabad. Roads, drivers, cases of frequent accidents made me think twice before choosing deciding to drive Hyderabad. I drove from Pune to Hyderabad yesterday. Its 530 k.m. door to door. I have driven long distances many time  during my ~6 years stay in US.  I am used to driving alone for long hours.  Driving in India is like taming a different beast.

The Math...
I inquired few movers they quoted between Rs. 8000 to  Rs 11000. I chose to drive citing, cost and experience to drive on Indian roads, as factors. I calculated that I would be spending around Rs 3000, equivalent to one tank full of gas (petrol).

The journey...
I started at 3 pm in Pune, that was when I got rid of formalities in my office. Previous evening, I filled the gas, checked tires, spare, jack, first aid box, documents, emergency phone numbers,  maps, food and water.

I drove non-stop to Solapur around 250 k.m., I reached around 8: 30 pm had few roties, Kolhapur-subzi and lassi. T 20 match was going on in the TV, between Australia and India and India scored low. Later learnt that India lost the match horribly. I started around 9 pm from Solapur I had made one wrong turn which ended up wasting around 30 minutes, later things went smooth. I hit into some delays at Sadasivpet, Andhrapradesh which ate into 40 min of travel time.  I reached home by 3: 30 am had some late dinner and slept tight

Highlights...

1. Roads were 40% good and 60% bad.  I was doing 130 Kmph on few roads and as low as 10 kmph on few
2. Andhra roads are bit good compared to Karnataka, Maharastra
3. There are no speed limits
4. You can stop literally anywhere to pee
5. You need not expect a skunk or deer running across your car
6. You can ask anybody for directions in the middle of the road

Good...

1. I reached home undamaged, no damage to car either. 
2. 91.1 FM was available all the way and it gave good company all along

Bad...

1. Drivers in India are very accommodating. They expect the unexpected on the roads and expect you to behave the same way
2. People try to rob you at toll gates they will not give the receipt for what you pay. 
3. Lorries (trucks) blind you with their high beam lights. 

Reinventing the wheel... 

Ship your vehicle if cost does not matter for you.
Drive only during daytime.
If oncoming vehicle is in overtaking mode you better slowdown
Be very defensive on Indian roads
Expect the unexpected

Trivia...
All the way, I recalled my past drives on I-64, I-55, I-40, I-5, I-74 and incident that took place during those drives.  I,  inadvertently check for cops and stare into the odometer when I feel I am driving fast. I laughed at myself thinking about,  how I used to wait for a gas station in US when I had to relive myself urgently.

Burfi ! - What I felt about the movie

I want to use all the superlatives I know but, I want to keep it simple and crisp...

1. One of the finest Bollywood movies I have seen, I would rank it No. 1
2. Enjoyed watching Ileana d'cruz in every frame she was in. She was picturized beautifully. I am sure, her fan base would have grown exponentially
3. Priyanka was at her best in acting, without any second thought
4. Rabir kapoor again proved himself as one of the talented actors
5. I enjoyed it because I was unable to guess what would happen next. Surprise tickles  "movie part" of my brain.
6. Presentation and story telling I give full marks

Its worth watching once, for sure...

Keywords: Burfi, Burfi review, ileana, Priyanka, Priyanka chopra, Arjit singh

Gachibowli Pincode is 500030 | India passport application

Cut the crap!
If you are selecting Gachbowli as your permanent or present address and passport application is spitting out below error.  1. Use 500030 as pin code 2. Do not use xml upload , choose fill application online option.
Did I hear a Thanks?! I know... do not mention it.

The crap!
For reasons known to Govt. of India and TCS (which maintains the website) the pin code of Gachibowli is not 500032, its 500030. It took a while for me to realize this fact.

Mythbusters

Myth:
You know about XML
You know the postal code of Gachibowli
Google has answer for any question you type




Now that Google does not know this fact I am feeding my finding to it. :)



Key words:
Present address - Entered PIN Code does not lie in the selected district. Please retry using another PIN code of nearby location.
Please retry using another PIN code of nearby location.
Passport application, passport application Hyderabad India
Gachibowli pincode, Gachibowli pincode is 500030, Passport application not allowing Gachibowli pincode
Gachibowli pincode is not 5000032, I hate passport application website, Who developed passport application website,  TCS does it again

Data Analytics: My two Cents

I was going through an article from IBM press release the other day.  The title read “Charleston Police Department Aims to Reduce Crime Using IBM Predictive Analytics” [1]. Three things which came up to my mind at that point were,
                             
  1. The movie “Money ball” –The good
  2. Crash of AF 447 – The bad
  3. The movie “Minority report” – The quintessential question


Money ball[2] movie is the poster boy of “Data Analytics”. This movie is based on a true story where Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) takes help of Sabermetrics[3]  (read “Data  Analytics”) which helps his team winning 20 consecutive games, an American League record.  Gee! Which gives an impression that, why can’t this strategy be implemented by all team coaches?  Wait a minute! there may be a catch, lets park this question for now.

On 9th June 2009 an Air France passenger jet crashed into Atlantic ocean, killing all 216 passengers and 12 crew. One of the reasons for the crash is stated to be faulty instrument reading. One thing that caught my attention is,

[4] “Despite the fact that they were aware that altitude was declining rapidly, the pilots were unable to determine which instruments to trust: it may have appeared to them that all values were incoherent”

     “Data Analytics” is analogous to instruments which help us in our decision making. Personally, I feel Analytics are spit out using algorithms which use some correlations, most of the time. Now comes the red herring, you are responsible for, how much to depend on this data and how to use the data.  This answers our parked question.

     In the movie “The Minority Report”, Spielberg –The director- tries to address a quintessential question of   “free will vs. determinism”.  To put it in plain English, are all the actions we intend to perform, pre-determined or is there anything like "free will". Also, if and when, ‘data analytics’ attains the ‘holy grail’ of predicting the future, can the State use such data to punish the would-be guilty before they actually commit crime and other things around it.

     Personally, I would put my buck in  “Data Analytics”  where the end result is not used to decide on life and death, in anyway. If it’s related to life and death, first I would rely on instincts, judgment and training later, think about what “Analytics”say.

    It sounds logical to me, for a cop to wear his bullet proof vest and residents to lock their homes, even when the neighborhood is “statistically” stated as zero crime area for past several years.



 This is written for my office magazine. Thought to publish on my personal blog




Sources:
1.       Charleston Police Department Aims to Reduce Crime Using IBM Predictive Analytics
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/37985.wss
2.       Moneyball (film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneyball_(film)
3.       Sabermetrics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabermetrics
4.       Air France Flight 447
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447

Baby Pigeons’ story

Background:

For some reason, we had to remove our window AC from our bedroom. We felt sad to find two baby (~3 weeks old ) pigeons siting in a corner . We decided not to bother them much and expected their parents to take care of them by evening.  We waited till late evening but no sign of parent pigeons.  We continued to ignore the baby pigeons but, somehow, we were not ready to leave them to die. Its scorching summer season here and those birds would stay no chance of making it till next day afternoon.

Hail Google !

Software psychology kicked in, we google-ed and youtube-ed for few educational material on how to feed and take care of baby-pigeons.  We realized that, its tough and time consuming task to nurse baby birds. After some time, we got carried away to an extent that, we tried to get in touch with one of our relative veterinarian.

Predicament

Darwin said nature will take its own course but, our minds were not ready let those poor chaps die out there. 

At around mid-night we decided to dare and get them inside home with an intention to give them to animal orphanage in our city. Yes, we could not believe the fact that our city has one in local zoo.

I already bought a pair of rubber gloves and a disposable syringe in case we decide to implement what we learnt over Internet.

It took around 15 minutes to bring both of them in. We tried to feed them but poor ones were scared.  We gently took them and put them in a soft cloth placed them in a tub. We put them in closed dark place, they looked cozy. We waited for next day to break.

Pleasant surprise

We woke up early and tried to make calls to local animal orphanage. Probably, it was too early for them to pick up our phone call.  Meanwhile something miraculous happened. An adult pigeon came and we felt it came looking for the baby pigeons. We waited just to make sure if our hunch was right. Chances are it’s a stray pigeon looking for new place to nest. After 15mins or so we observed two pigeons standing at that window.

We decided to place one baby pigeon and see if they accept it. We did so and it was anxious few moments before they touched each other with their beaks. Thank Heavens ! We felt so relieved. We put the other baby pigeon and waited for the parent pigeons to accept them, it happened. Again, so relieving! One of the websites had it absolutely right - the pigeons will not abandon the babies just because humans touched them...
We put some bean seeds and water and left them alone. Occasionally, we observed the silhouette (through the curtain) of three to four pigeons.

Conclusion

We thought over and over again if we did the right thing to bring baby pigeons into our home the previous night. We comforted ourselves saying all is well which ends well.

Agent Vinod - My review

Every time I watch a formula (read, routine) Hindi movie I think, why cannot they make a movie for sake of movie and not for the audience. Recently, I am surprised and impressed after watching 'Kahani' movie. Now, I am astounded after watching 'Agent Vinod'. Standard of Bollywood movies has improved a lot in all departments.

Coming to plot of the movie, I put it this way... It reminded me of James Bond movies,MI series, Bourne series movies and Sidney Sheldon action novel plot. Hero roams all over the world to save the world from a nuclear bomb. Might sound routine, trust me it takes guts to conceptualize, make and release such movies in Bollywood.

My rating:

Screen play: 4/5

Story telling: 3.5/5

Plot: 3/5

Action (Saif): 4/5

Over all 4/5

I know my friends will hate me for these ratings. Honestly I am impressed and I can tolerate goof ups here and there...movie reached my expectation

More details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Vinod_(2012_film)

Image: http://celluloiddiary.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/agent-vinod-so-what/