Belgaum Bandh Fully successfull

The Belgaum Bandh called by various womens organisations is fully successfully and all most all the other organisations have shown their support for the same which include the Chamber of commerce and various other trade organisations.
The schools have also been closed.

Some stray incidents of stone pelting were observed in the early morning but the situation is under control and all th Belgaumites have Closed showing their gratitude towards the killing of Sheetal Chougule. All haver asked the police to arrest the culprits and give them max punishment at the earliest.

Belgaum hit by Contract killings: Friday Belgaum Bandh

This picture taken at 2 pm on 30-08-2007 where hundreds of women gathered and protested against the killing of Sheetal Chougale and demaned that Belgaum will be BANDH on Friday.

Auto: Kitna Lega

Whenever I have to travel by a auto rickshaw in Belgaum, my blood pressure rises and I start feeling uncomfortable.

It has been from the day it started that there are no meters in the autos, if they are there is no use of it. The auto drivers can ask just any amount. Now you tell me how much should I pay from Railway Station to 1st gate? It should be the minimum (now we don’t even know what is the minimum fare) but the auto fellow will say Rs.25. You have just come from traveling, tired and wanting to reach home and you meet this fellow in front of you. You start top bargain and say 25 is too much I will pay 15, he refuses and no one else also on the auto stand obliges to come. Then atlast you say forget it 25, its ok come lets go.

How many of you have gone through something like this. Tell me frankly. Everyone must have gone through this. There is one nice PRE PAID Auto booth made in the railway station only, which is not operational for want of efforts of the authorities, I guess. If that is the case why was it built first of all?

If you don’t ask what he will charge you before sitting in the auto, then its all over do what ever you want complain to the police or do anything, you will have to pay what the driver asks for. If you start to fight with the driver some other driver come for his rescue and all together will fall on you only. If you still insist to fight or say will call the police they say Bindas saab, phone karo kuch nahi hoga. Now what can be done in this case?

I have seen Belgaum only for 30 odd years but I haven’t seen any day or any officer who comes (RTO I think) who has imposed the meter on the auto very strongly. I think nobody has the guts to do it, whenever a new officer comes he says he will do it but he is transferred and still nothing is done and the new one repeats history.

When will the day arise when we Belgaumites will pay auto fares by meter? A true dream-to-dream isn’t it.

Belgaum: Then & Now

Belgaum: THEN & NOW

Fellow Belgaumites, thank you very much for the very good response you have given to my blog. Just to make it better with time I will try my best to make you aware of the latest happening here.

But with that I have a thought.
How was Belgaum 10 years ago, or 20 years ago or 30 years ago.
I plan to make a photo gallery with relevant information about the said photos, so that all can see how it was earlier and how it is now.

It could be just anything, the THEN railway station or the THEN bustand or Bogarves circle or jsut any place in Belgaum.

I request you send in two photos in JPEG format one NOW and one THEN.

You can send the photos to ukmad@airtelbroadband.in.

I will collect the pictures and share them with you.

So come on search for those old photos from your house.

Hope to see the THEN & NOW of my BELGAUM.

Suvarna Soudha: At Last Foundation Done

At last the foundation stone for the Suvarna Soudha (Legislative Assembly) was held yesterday, 26-08-2007.

According to schedule the program was to be held at the Vaccine Depot at 9.30am. But Mr. CM was in Bellary and only came to Belgaum after 11.30 am. Then he was waiting for his father to come to Belgaum.

11 o'clock was Rahu kalam and hence the time of 9.30am was decided at first. But as he never turned up on time, the Secretary himself hit the shovel at 10 am.

The Depy.CM and other members were there in city only but nobody tried to go to the Vaccine depot before the CM went.

At last at 1pm The CM went and hit the shovel on the lands of the Vaccine depot, officially.


Seeing the keen interest shown by these politicians for laying the foundation, we belgaumites should only keep a positive attitude and hope that the Rs.230 crores building will stand up in the prescribed time.

The Belgaumites faced a lot of traffic problems yesterday as the CM convoy had to pass. The NH-4A Belgaum Goa highway was blocked and the trucks stopped at Third gate were on a stand still till Zadshapur.

At last it was done. Some new schemes were also announced at the District stadium about 47 new schemes to be precise, the details of which I shall share with you later.
Chalo kuch na kuch hua to sahi.And we can hope that the new announcements are implemented in the right manner so that we could be much more happier that this govt. at least has done something.

The photos are taken from the Tarun Bharat.(thanks for the same) What do u want in this the First Green picture or the Brown Picture.

Both the Pictures are taken in the Vaccine Depot itself.

Thanks to many students who have shared this treasure with us all.

The Beginning of The END

Yes it is the Beginning of The END even after huge protests against the building of the Vidhan Soudha in the Vaccine Depot.

The Vidhan Soudha will be built in the 36 acres area of the Vaccine depot near to the Rani Chennama Nagar Telephone Exchange. A 6-acre area has been marked for the said foundation laying on the 26th August.

About 25 trees were cut inside the Vaccine depot to make way for parking etc. New road was built to join the Vaccine Depot. A majority of the City Corporation Staff and high officials have put up their tents in the area and the area is getting a face-lift.

The government should come up and save the environment but here the government it self is destroying it. "Yatha Raja Tatha Praja" is the truth but Belgaumites will have to protest hard and show that the above line is not true when it comes to just political stunts.

What we will loose Video

On the right Hand side I have put a Slide show with pictures of various flowers, reptiles, butterflies, trees etc. This is the vast flora and fauna heritage we will loose once the Vidhan soudha is built there. The Govt has said that out of the 154 odd acres it will not occupy the whole area but only few acres but I don't think this will happen. News is that the foundation stone will be laid on 24th August. The congress road and all roads leading to the vaccine depot have been filled with mud etc to patch up the poth holes.

The pictures in the Slideshow have been contributed by various people and I thank all those people for sharing such a wonderful thing.

A kind request kindly forward the page link
http://belgaumblog.blogspot.com/
to all your friends all over the world let they also know what their newer generations have lost..

Belgaumites will go to Supreme Court for Vaccine Depot

Belgaumites will go to Supreme Court for saving the Vaccine Depot. The Social Justice forum in an emergency meeting held yesterday has planned to raise a voice against the proposed Vidhan Soudha at Vaccine Depot and for the same has written to the forest officer and the environmental department about the same.

Our blog on the “Vaccine depot will go” has been read out at the said Social Justice forum meeting held yesterday. Today they plan to meet at the Lions bhavan to take forward the agitation. A special movie clip will be presented at the occasion which has been made in the Vaccine depot showcasing its flora and fauna.

Belgaum to remain Belgaum: NO BELGAVI

Belgaum to remain Belgaum: NO BELGAVI

The center has squashed the proposal of the Govt. of Karnataka of renaming the city as Belgavi. Another 9 cities had also been planned to be renamed. But the Central govt. has declined permission for renaming Belgaum and has given its assent for renaming other cities like Bengaluru,Hubbli,Vijapur, etc.

Kindly share your thought

Kindly Share your thoughts with the SHARE YOUR THOUGHT link.

This is a forum where in you can post your thoughts and share your feelings with all Belgaumites.

Vaccine Depot No more…

The survey work at Vaccine Depot has begun for building the Vidhan Soudha at Belgaum. With the beginning of this work the Vaccine Depot will be history and all the trees will breathe their last for a few more days.

The CM's visit is fixed for Saturday 25th, where he would lay the foundation stone for the said Soudha.

The important thing here I would like to mention is and I have not seen the plan nor I have any idea as to how the building will be built but one thing is sure, the ground Depot ground will go as a double road has to be built for the entrance. The present road is very small so the ground will also go and there is a little park next to the ground, which I doubt will also give up for the Vidhan Soudha.

This is only a beginning my fellow Belgaumites, as after the building is ready and we have a full fledged session here all the roads towards the building will be shut for security reasons and the chaos that will happen later is hard to believe. If that has to be avoided the roads will become bigger so there may be a few houses and shops that could face a hammer on them.

One good thing that could happen is all roads leading to Vidhan Soudha(Vaccine depot) will be very nicely built(hopefully) and that’s the only one GOOD we can think of.

Also if the said Visdhan Soudha is built on the grounds of the one in Bangalore then there might become one place in Belgaum to see other than the very few we have here.

In all, I think it’s a decision taken in haste and hasty decisions never turn up correct.

Vidhan Soudha @ Vaccine Depot

QuEST set to roll out plans for 300-acre aerospace SEZ

QuEST set to roll out plans for 300-acre aerospace SEZ Engineering services major, QuEST, has received an in-principle clearance from the Govt of India's Board of Approvals to establish a 300-acre special economic zone (SEZ) in Belgaum, Karnataka, where it proposes to build an ecosystem for an aerospace supply chain.The SEZ will carry out precision machining and house suppliers in a single area. According to QuEST officials, talks are currently on with a handful of potential domestic companies and MNCs for the setting up of units at the SEZ. The SEZ is eventually expected to employ 10,000 people.QuEST's present facility in Bangalore is also scheduled to move into the SEZ as a 2,00,000 sq ft plant. The facility marked QuEST's move into manufacturing from being an end-to-end engineering solutions company.According to QuEST officials, there was a need felt for a dedicated aerospace engineering SEZ, following the huge growth in engineering services off-shoring from India, as well as the 'offset clause' for aircraft firms supplying to Indian carriers, which determines that they need to source a certain part of their supplies from India. According to latest industry figures released by Nasscom, global spending on engineering services was $750 billion in 2004, with aerospace accounting for 8%. This could rise to $1.1 trillion by 2020.The total offshore engineering spend is expected to grow to $150-225 billion by 2020 and India, with its talent pool and experience in engineering services, could pick up 25% of that. According to QuEST, there is an opportunity of achieving exports of close to $1 billion a year by 2012.The 'offset clause' for aircraft manufacturers is also expected to give a big fillip to aerospace-linked manufacturing. India is set to issue an RFP for its medium range multi role combat aircraft (MMRCA) programme, through which it plans to buy 126 fighter jets, valued at close to $10 billion. If Airbus's projections of Indian firms placing orders for 1,100 passenger and freighter aircraft, valued at about $105 billion over the next 20 years, is anything to go by, then with the current offset clause pegged at 30% of the purchase value, the local aerospace manufacturing industry may expect to generate at least $3 billion worth of business over the next 10 years.QuEST, which has been growing at 40% year-on-year, is the only engineering services company that works with the top three global aero-engine makers - GE, Rolls Royce and Pratt & Whitney. Very recently, the company had announced that it had received Airbus design approval and AS9100 certification. This will enable QuEST to work on upcoming Airbus programmes like the A350 in areas of engineering design, documentation and manufacturing engineering.Quest officials also say that a significant amount of the defence offset business, and some of the commercial offset business is expected to be routed through HAL, which in turn could sub-contract it to Indian private players. this is great bonus to belgaum engineers and industry ...

This matter has been mailed to me by Sheri, Thanks to you for the update.

You could now FLY a King Fisher

Thanks for your response

Dear Readers and fellow Belgaumites,

I am overwhelmed with the response I have got from this blog in the past week. Already more than 98 people have seen this blog and many of you have also find time to pen in your comments.

Thanks for all the comments and I will try and incorporate the suggestions you all have made. I will try my best to update as when I get information.

One more word the success of this blog depends upon also that the word is spread across, so kindly spread the word about this blog, I will not dishearten you.

Regards,
UkMaD

CLC hits Belgaum markets

CLC / C2C
These are by no means some chemical formula. This is Infact business formula being used by businessmen in Belgaum.
CLC- According to them means Company Landing Cost
C2C- means Cost to cost

Discounts and offers have been prevailing the markets since the markets began. But in a few years the trend of cheap goods and heavy discounts have been the lime light and the same has been followed not only by small traders but also organized retail on a national basis.

The current trend in Belgaum, I think the credit goes to an electronic shop, which wanted to shut shop so started the CLC. It also worked for it I believe, then its sister concerns stared the same trend in ready-mades and saris. And then what as it happens in India, he made money by doing such a thing come we will also do the same way. So at the moment according to my knowledge there must be at least 5-6 big shops selling goods in that method of CLC. This time of the year normally the business is normally dull due to rains and other reasons. Hence traders tend to give some kind of discount to get rid of their stocks.

Some others feel that this is being done just Big Bazzar will open its door for business so that the consumers will not leave the traditional market. But friends when there is competition and the market widens the only thing that will eventually happen over a period of time is that the market will grow both ways, the traditional as well as the malls. In a place Bangkok where I have seen with my own eyes the business done by the small trader just outside mall is now much more than he used to do when there was no mall here.

In short it’s the consumer is king and he will know what CLC really meant.

Potholes vs. Belgaumites: Potholes 1-0

The scene of any road in Belgaum looks alike, with potholes all over the place some being invisible due to water filled in it.

On 8th august the potholes took one life when a 42 year old lady tried to skip a few of these potholes by her kinetic and while doing this she fell down and was over driven by a bus. The incident happened near the kolhapur cross. Agitated people staged a roadblock and made the municipal authorities to come there and asked the authorities not to travel in car but on a motorcycle so that they can understand the hardships faced by the common people. A few people took this opportunity to personally show the higher authorities the potholes which they might not have seen as they travel in the comfort of the AC car with windows and curtains.

The situation will only become worse with time to come. Some odd 100 crores were spent for the roads but the people say not even lakhs were really put in the road work all the rest went as commission at different levels.

You go on any road the potholes is a necessary and the potholes take rebirth at the same place where they had lived their happy life a few years ago. I don’t seem to understand that how do these Potholes take a reincarnation at the same place, something which bollywood must take thought of and make a Karan Arjun again.

News of thousands of injuries goes unreported every day. Small accidents happen every day while one tries to skip a pothole. In all more news of death and injury caused due to potholes will be common and one day after some one from the higher authorities falls a prey to them then only we will find the potholes filled with mud, which in turn will act as a catalyst for some more action on the road. Hope I had the magical broom of Harry Potter.

At the end its potholes 1 – Belgaumites 0.

Heavy rains ....

Heavy down pour is lashing Belgaum, water logging has happened in many places. The weather is very cold.
Today is Tuesday and the day of Vadgaon Mangai Jatra, even with heavy rains the atmosphere in Vadgaon is very delightful.

Belgaums organised retail

In Belgaum, we are used to go to the markets like Raviwar peth for shopping for food grains, Ganpat Galli for vegetables, Khade bazar(both), Ramdev Galli for clothes, Maruti Galli for the women of Belgaum is a shopping delite and many more places like Bhendi Bazar, may be to some extent also Deshmukh road and Khanapur Road.

Now the BIG BAZAAR is coming up at Angol Cross, near to Bahai Bhavan on Khanapur Road. The place is almost ready and should start by month end already placements for the same are in progress. The place seems too big according to me for a city like Belgaum.

NEXT, the electronic super market will open shortly at Ramdev galli, opposite Ram temple (earlier Adarsha electronics, now closed).

Reliance Fresh is squinting for space and seems to have identified a few but I cant confirm the places still. Rumors are there that one space on khanapur road opposite to IOC building, not sure.

Harsha, the electronic shop is there at Club Road. Adishwars is at Kolhapur Cross opposite to old Ratna Bajaj.

The most awaited Pyramid mall is getting its shape in the old Kapeel theatre, which is now part of history. The said mall will have 4 screens from Adlabs and 2 floors of shopping space.

Belgaum is now getting the organized retail chain in the city. But the question arising here is there such a huge market in the city. With a population of about 8 lakhs and literally zero floating population when you compare it with Bangalore will these work profitable over a period of time.

I may be wrong, but the thing here is, is there a sustainable market place? Undoubtedly Belgaum has been a under developed market no second thoughts on it but still I think in this manner.

Many say that the regular shop owners in the market are getting afraid of these retails chains, but the truth is even in Bangalore for that matter the malls leaving a few like Forum are not getting the foot falls as they used to get when they started, the hype is gone I would say. And one more thing is that in Belgaum, mainly people from neighboring talukas come for shopping and they by no means would be interested in these malls, as the choice that they want wont be available there, that’s a different market segment which wont get converted.

Anyways this is my first blog, in which I have tried to write what my heart feels no grudges of any sort on anyone just a true feeling……

Welcome to the Belgaum's City blog

Welcome to the Belgaum's Blog.

This is the place where you will find latest info as to what is happening in your home town. All those malls opening or it may be the Royesten memorial tournament, I will try and update some important matters here for the city as a whole.

Keep visiting this blog for regular updates and be in touch with your home town.