Middle-class feeling the heat of inflation

Source The Hindu
Vijaykumar Patil
The poor remain out of focus; common man the most helpless

The common man has started feeling the heat of the ever-rising inflation, which the Government claims to have caused steep increase in the prices of fuel and subsequently of essential commodities. The common man is the most helpless with no alternative but to shell out more to buy essentials as it is him on whom the burden is passed on to, ultimately.

Traders wasted no time in increasing the prices of all essential commodities and edible oils. Private passenger transport operators have also increased ticket price and passed off the extra burden on the commuting public. Goods transporters are apparently not lagging behind.
In Belgaum city, where the cost of living is relatively higher than many other cities and towns in the State, the prices have further gone up. The middle class is finding it difficult to cope with the rise in expenditure as the prices of essential commodities, land value and house rent have all gone up. The poor families remain simply out of focus and remain harassed.

In addition to the fuel pumps and foodgrains/vegetable/fruit markets, one of the sectors where the heat of price rise is immediately felt is the hotel industry. As far as Belgaum city is concerned, the prices in all restaurants have gone up. The average increase is from 20 per cent to 50 per cent on all regular dishes on the menu.

Though the number of customers has marginally come down in a few hotels, the loss is well made good by the increased prices. In a popular hotel in the city, the situation has not affected its daily turnover because the management has “marginally” increased the prices of food items, from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 on idli, dosa, vada, puri bhaji and Rs. 5 on plate meals (from Rs. 40 to Rs. 45). The business continues to be as usual, says a senior staff of the hotel.

The prices in roadside chat and mobile tea stalls have also gone up. Vijay Dattaram Gaude, who runs a petty tea stall on Narvekar Galli in the city and arranges for door-delivery on a “missed call” on his mobile phone, has also increased the price from Rs. 2 to Rs. 2.50 for a small cup of tea. Whereas the same tea costs Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 in other canteens and cafes and restaurants.
Then, some hoteliers have been just more than shrewd and are taking the customer for a ride by not only increasing prices by Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 for each dish but also reducing quantity. Apparently, while traders continue to make profits, the common man continues to pay through his nose.
Interestingly, even invitations for tea from friends have come down.

Different names of Belgaum

Source: http://kamalbasti.blogspot.com/
Mr Chipre is doing a great job for the reasearch.

No doubt India has different names, which we use them even today. India, Bharat and Hindustan all are the same. Similarly, Belgaum went through different name changes ever since the Ratta Dynasty started ruling this place.
Below are the names it achieved in the past history.
Jirnasitapura - Old Belgaum and Shahpur, the then Sapur were together called Jirnasitapura in the 7th Century. [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Vamsapura, it got this name when Queen Gunavati got a offspring from King Kuntamaraya. [ Refrence - Pg 140 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Venugrama or Velugrama or Ikshugrama was the name in 805 AD [ Refrence - Pg 862 of Karnataka State Gazetteer]
Venugram in 1199AD [ Refrence - Pg 862 of Karnataka State Gazetteer]
Azamnagar [ According to Mr. Strokes (Belgaum, 45), after the fall of bijapur, the fort of Belgaum remained for several years in possession of Aurangzeb's second son Azam and from him was called Azamnagar. This seems doubtful.
According to Orme (Historical Fragments, 286-287) Belgaum was called Azamnagar under the Bijapur Kings. Refrence - Pg 547 Bombay of Gazzattee]Mustafabad [ In memory of one of its Commandants or Killedars, who thoroughly repaired and strengthened the ramparts of the Belgaum Fort. Refrence - Pg 548 of Bombay Gazetteer ]Belagugrama to Belugav to Belgavi [ Refrence - Pg 500 of Bombay Gazetteer ]
Belgaum - in 16 or 17th Century when the British East India Company were unable to pronounce the word Belgavi, they changes the name as per their accent and called it as Belgaum.
Till date, this is what we know today but not to worry as the JD(S) and BJP led coalition Govt forwarded a list of District Names of the Karnataka State to get changed and sent it to the Central Congress Govt in 2006 on the eve of 50th Year of Independence of Karnataka State. So belgaum is expecetd to get back its name from Belgaum to Belgavi.
Belgavi expected to get its name soon in near future.

Othere places name changes that were also related to Belgaum were :-
Yalur [ Refrence Book A Legend of Old Belgaum, May 1875 Pg - 139.]
Yellur as we know it today.
Sapur in 11th Century [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Chapour in 1680 by the East India Company
Shahpur as we know it today.
Hrasvagiri in 11th Century [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]Anagola [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Angol as we know it today.
Kondanur in 11th Century.
Konnur as we know it today

Unknown facts about Belgaum History

This Story is taken from the http://kamalbasti.blogspot.com/
I would ask each of you to visit the blog. The contents on the said are enormous and the amount of effort put in by Bramhanand Chipre to make that blog is commendable.
How many of you knew this I Dont Know, for sure I did not know a thing about this.
From the Blog:

People don't know there is an Original Story behind Old Belgaum. But this story below will clarify your doubts.
How Belgaum was formed? Why the Jaina temples in Belgaum Fort were built?
Who built the Belgaum Fort? Etc . . . .

It is hard to believe, but the truth was written long back with evidences by a British writer GILMOUR M’CORKELL in his book THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.

He clearly tells that there were 108 Jain Temples in the premises of the present Belgaum Fort, which were demolished and overthrew by the then Musalman kings and ultimately with the same stone and pillars the Belgaum Fort as built. He also clearly mentions in the Book: Old Belgaum is said to have been found by a Jaina King

but the earliest notice that we have of it is to be found in the Gulhalli inscription 1150 AD."[ Reference Book A Legend of Old Belgaum, May 1875 Pg - 139 ].

A LEGEND OF OLD BELGAUMBy: GILMOUR M’CORKELL, Bo. C. S.

The Legend
There was a poet by name Sarasijabhavanandana, belonging to the ancient Jaina cast, and an inhabitant of Belgaum. He has composed in Old Kanarese language a short history of kings. Having, by means of rhetorical and an ornate Sanskrit expressions, applied such epithets as ripen as if they were plentiful given in the Karnataka Country, he has complied an account of Belgaum. In it we obtain full information of those kings who formerly were, their names, their good qualities, their castes, and the virtuous deeds that they preformed. And memorials of the acts which were done by those same kings are to be met with, even in the present day, in Belgaum, and are as written below :-

Sapur and Belgaum were formerly collectively called Jirnasitapura, and there lived there governor of the city of Samantapattana, whose name was Kuntamaraya, a Jaina by caste, very religious and compassionate. So the people had great joy and happiness. One day (it happened that) one hundred and eight Jaina sages, -- who had come from the South Country into the forest of Anagola, of which the name was formerly Hrasvagiri -- remained there all night, because their rules did not permit them to advance a single footstep during the darkness. When this news reached Kuntamaraya, the King, with the expressed assent of his wife Gunavati, went out to the sages and, having preformed respectful obeisance, besought them as follows :- “

Oh mighty saints, take pity upon me and bestow your favour upon me, so that my region may become famous.” But, as their custom was never to say anything at night, they held no converse with the king. Accordingly the king returned home in great despondency, (and, as he was going) sparks of fire fell from the torches, and the dry forest was set on fire, and all those sages were burnt to ashes.On the following day, in the early morning the king again went into the forest and saw all those Jaina sages had been consumed. When they saw this, both husband and wife were much terrified and began to consider. Accordingly there and then, he proposed a plan to Gunavati, where by these Jaina sages might attain the state of final emancipation, -- as follows: - “Let us bring stones and build 108 temples, and, when we have performed worship to them, I shall accomplish the propagation of offspring.” When he has so said, they returned home, and, and in accordance with the above plan, he caused to build 108 Jaina temples at that very place where are even at the present day some Jaina Temples in the Fort of Belgaum. After he had initiated into the mysteries of the Jaina faith and had reigned for some time, Gunavati at length became pregnant. And now, although he had been very anxious that his wife should have children, his dread of not having any offspring vanished. On this account he gave to Belgaum the name of Vamsapura. Now the word in Marathi for Vamsa is Bel. In this manner we arrive at the name Belgaum.

Afterwards they lived in Old Belgaum, Santa the son of Kuntam the king of Savantavadi, famous, deeply learned in the mysterious of the Jaina religion, thoroughly skilled in the worship of the gods of forefather, very brave, and lauded by prince who are born in the races of the Sun and Moon, a supporter of the rules of the faith of the Kshatriyas, a protector of Jaina sages, very skilful in bestowing on the temples of Jinendra that wealth which consists in courtesans, &c. He had fourteen wives. The chief of there wives, by name Padmavati, was very famous. She had a son by Santa named Anantavirya. One day, attended by his retinue of maid-servants, &c. he (Santa) went to the river Sundarsana near Yalur for the purpose of playing in the water, and in the lake of Nagasarovara he met his death by a thunderbolt. Then three ministers of state came from Savantavadi and crowned Anantavirya King. He also reigned according to the customs of his fathers. One day, many sages, along whom Sudarsana was the chief, arrived. When he has made respectful obeisance to them, Anantavirya inquired concerning his ancestors, and those sages recounted from their Puranas the above story in which has been related to fate of King Santa. Afterwards there was a king of his race and lineage by name Mallikarjuna. During his reign a famous Musalman by name Asta Khan (Asad Khan) came from Bengal, and, Asta Khan acquired the kingdom of treachery, he deposed him (Mallikarjuna), overthrew those one hundred and eight Jaina temples, and built a fort. Even at the present time we find stones (belonging to those in the fort).

Dosa- Rs.25 Idli Rs.15 Puri Bhaji- Rs.20 Tea- Rs.6; Belgaum

75% of Goa’s vegetables still come from Belgaum

Source Navhindtimes
The annual average production of vegetables in Goa has remained constant for past many years and is standing at 84,290 tonnes, which can fulfill only 25 to 30 per cent of the total vegetable requirement of the state.
The deputy director of the department of agriculture (farms), Mr V M Khandeparkar told ‘The Navhind Times’ on Tuesday that the remaining 70 to 75 per cent of the vegetable requirement is taken care of by regular supply from Belgaum. “At present, the total vegetable area cultivated in Goa is 8,213 hectare including 5,194 hectare of land cultivated during the Kharif season and 3,019 hectare land cultivated during Rabi season,” he informed, adding that the vegetable area under cultivation is also constant and not growing.
Speaking further, Mr Khandeparkar said that the average yield of vegetables in Goa is 10,263 kg per hectare. Stating that ladyfinger is the most appropriate summer crop of Goa, he maintained that though cabbage and cauliflower are also grown in small quantities, Goa has no low temperature climate as required by them and hence the heads of these vegetables remain undeveloped.
Normally, large varieties of vegetables are grown in Goa, Mr Khandeparkar stated pointing out, “They include cucumbits like cucumber, radish, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, snake gourd, ash gourd, pumpkin including its flowers, muskmelon, cluster bean and brinjal, besides baby corn and sweet corn.” He also maintained that leafy vegetables like red amaranthus are grown in Goa. Those vegetables which are not grown in Goa include potato, tomato, beetroot, carrot, French beans, green peas, Kashmiri mirchi and so on, Mr Khandeparkar added. While observing that vegetable cultivation is a profitable business, Mr Khandeparkar mentioned that very few people try their hand at it as the vegetables are perishable items and need to be sold as fast as possible after they are plucked. “The other reasons being not getting proper rate through the sale of vegetables and absence of storage facilities,” he pointed out.

Administrative work hit as corporation employees go on leave en masse

Source The Hindu

Bomb hoax in KLE college: calm after the storm

Source The Hindu

test1111

Cherry picking markets in countryside for best results

Source: Economic Times. Link Sent by Sundeep Sheri

Belgaum contributes 69% districts’ total market
Belgaum in Sixth place On sheer market size

There are 75-odd districts in the country like Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and Satara, Karnataka’s Belgaum and Kerala’s Thrissur with a very attractive mix of quality rural market coupled with big enough rural population to warrant a focussed rural marketing initiative in these districts.

These 75 quality rural districts contribute around a fifth (19%) of total rural market in India and a tenth of the total Indian (urban+rural) market. What’s more important for marketers is that in these 75- odd districts, the rural market contribution as a per cent of the total district’s market is high, according to ET exclusive insights from the 2008 edition of RK Swamy BBDO Guide to Market Planning.

Among the top 10 markets here:
Satara’s rural areas contribute a whopping 81% of the districts’ total market. The comparable figure is 79% for Kottayam, 72% for Kollam and Ahmadnagar, 69% for Belgaum, 62% for Kolhapur, 61% for Thrissur, 49% for Thiruvanar, 40% for Ernakulam and 26% for Pune. As
many as five districts from Kerala figure in the top 10 quality rural markets.

The guide evaluates not only the absolute market potential (Market Potentila Value; MPV), which in certain geographies can be high, but also the per capita potential (Market Intensity Index; MII), which can be another important determining variable for intelligent market planning. The guide covered 515 districts (out of a total of 593) in 21 states and three union territories. A total of 24 parameters—like income, ownership of house, durables and cars, formal employment, bank credit et al—were chosen for urban and rural areas to assess MPV and MII.

On sheer market size alone, West Bengal’s Medinipur district is the top rural market in the country. South 24 Paragnas (WB), Barddhaman WB), Anmadnagar (Maharashtra), Murshidabad (WB), Belgaum (Karnataka), North 24 Paragnas (WB), Pune (Maharashtra), East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh) and Kolhapur (Maharashtra) make the top 10 here.
Says Gowri Arun, co-author of the RK Swamy BBDO.

Belgaum City Corporation

PICTUREs SPEAK
Source The Hindu
Uproar: The leader of the Opposition in the Belgaum City Corporation Council, B. Kakatkar, demanding that the Mayor adopt a resolution seeking early solution to the border dispute, during a meeting on Saturday.

Talent Onions from Belgaum

Every Business is Different. We want to get to know yours.

This is the buzzword of 'Talent Onions', a Belgaum based provider of Internet recruitment and job search solutions.

'Talent Onions', launched in July 2007 and in a span of time, 'Talent Onions' has made its mark in this very competitive but qualitative field of Internet recruitment and job search solutions.

Aadil Bandukwala, Chief Evangelist of 'Talent Onions' told this blog that he wanted to make 'Talent Onions' a number one Internet job portal company.

They are innovative business solution experts and help organizations Evaluate, Implement, and evolve the sourcing strategy that is right for their businesses. They provide a comprehensive range of Recruitment and Business Consulting Services and support the recruitment specific efforts in every stage of our client's sourcing lifecycle.Their mission is to add value to HR by delivering HR services and solutions that maximize the value of people. Everything they do enables HR to make a real commercial impact and improve our clients' business performance. They endeavor to successfully collaborate with organizations in their vision of empowering the most critical and valuable asset in their Human Resources at an optimized time and cost.

A brief interview with Aadil Bandukwala, Chief Evangelist:

How did you get an idea of starting 'Talent Onions'?
Leading Minds [my first start up] was going steady and I was on the look out for something to add to my basket. One of my professors one day got in touch stating that he needed to source talent from Belgaum for his company and questioned whether I was interested in exploring possibilities. I marched in. And we started Talent Onions.

Why is that you planned it to start from Belgaum? A place like Bangalore would have been much more rewarding.
I have been born and brought up in Belgaum. My parents live here. I know people here. I like my town. I love this place. Why would I move to Bangalore or any other metro - which is virtually unknown to me? Besides, the Internet has done wonders to today's economy and you can connect to the world from even the remotest of places. In addition, Belgaum has some rock solid potential and human talent that begging to be utilized.

How is that you work?
For every business, we have a different sourcing strategy. The cements business for example is quite technical in nature and hence you need many civil professionals. On the other hand, the telecom business is contrary in nature where in you need hardcore telephony guys. Hence, for each function like marketing or finance or engineering we have independent sourcing strategies. Obviously, we prefer to keep our business model discreet else wise there would not be any tactical advantages!

How many if not exact, but on general number of placements and clients you have added?
Cannot reveal this but one thing I can reveal is that when we started, we started with only one client. Now we have a kitty of over 15 clients of which four are constant in nature.

How many employees do you have?
I have 8 full time employees and 1 Part timer. Plus me. Therefore, that makes us a team of 10.

What plans do you have for further expansion?
We plan to make it big some day in the recruitment space and add more human capital and financial muscle to Talent Onions. We have very recently finished installing a recruitment automation application that is similar to an ERP for recruitment consultants. I hope that this will enhance efficiency and resourcefulness and will increase our client base at least three fold. We should also be able to cut lead-time in delivering solutions to our clients by over 40%. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Leading Minds, your first company what does it do and how has it helped you to start 'Talent Onions'?
Leading Minds is an Internet consulting venture where in we build web applications. Leading Minds funded talent Onions. More on Leading Minds, here: http://www.leadingminds.co.in/

Wish the Onions a great taste of success.
More on Talent Onions here: http://www.talentonions.com/

Its time I suppose for us Belgaumites to think Higher and acheive our goals. What can I do from Belgaum ? Should not be the approach.
Say, I can do a lot from Belgaum.

New petrol/diesel Price in Belgaum

The new price of Petrol after the deduction in sales tax can be seen in the picture. Petrol costs Rs.57.03 and Diesel Rs.39.33

Belgaum 76th place in Deposits & Credit base

Source: The RBI report of 15 Apr 2008

Amongst the Top Two Hundred Centers Arranged According to Size of Aggregate Deposits / Gross Bank Credit - December 2007: Belgaum stands at 76th place for Deposits of 3101 crores and credit of 1936 crores.

These figures are the gross deposit base and credit given by all the banks in Belgaum.
All figures in Crores.

Belgaum is 5 in the State after Hubli. All the big companies see this data only when they plan an entry into the city & for this reason all the development of Hubli takes first and then its Belgaum. Take anything for that matter from Icici bank to HDFC bank, first in Hubli and then in Belgaum.

However, I was amazed to see Kolhapur at 99th place. Kolhapur is a very good industrial hub but the deposits are less but the credit is more than Belgaum.

KLES HOSPITAL STALL GETS 1st PRIZE IN SAFE WORLD-2008

BELGAUMBLOG EXCLUSIVE
KLES HOSPITAL STALL GETS 1st PRIZE IN SAFE WORLD-2008 EXHIBITION AT BANGALORE.

Picture: Shri. B S Yadurappa, Chief Minister at the KLE Stall

The prestigious KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital of Belgaum bagged the 1st Prize in Safe World – 2008 exhibition from Hospital & Medical Services category. The Exhibition on National Disaster management was held at Palace Ground Bangalore from 12th to 16th June, 2008. In a five days event, over 147 stalls with latest devices to provide effective coverage in the event of disaster, technology support & equipments to manage the disaster were on the display.
The exhibits of KLES Hospital included the state-of-the-art Mobile Tele-Medicine Van, Trauma Care Ambulance with life support system. The medical & humane services provided in Gujarat Earthquake, Tsunami hit Tamil Nadu & Medical relief conducted by team of medical fraternity in recently flood affected Belgaum attracted attention of all the visitors.

The list of visitors to KLES Stall included Shri. Shivraj Patil, Hon’ble Home Minister Govt. of India, Shri. B S Yadurappa, Chief Minister, Dr. V S Acharya, Home Minister, Dr. Mahadevan Nair, Chairman ISRO. All the dignitaries were highly impressed with Mobile Tele-Medicine Van & its connectivity through satellite to any disaster hit place & the important role the tele-medicine plays in providing medical aid to the disaster hit people was emphasized by one & all.
Dr. Mahadevan Nair, Chairman ISRO Congratulated Dr. M V Jali, Medical Director & KLES management for establishing Mobile Tele-medicine concept. Both of them had one to one interaction through tele-medicine.

Later in the valedictory function held at Palace ground Dr. Mahadevan Nair, Chairman ISRO gave first prize to KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital. Mr. Kishore Reddy, I T Administrator received the prize on behalf of the Hospital. Mr. Jija Hari Singh, DGP Commandant Home Guard & Director of Civil Defense, Shri. K M Singh Member, National Disaster Management, New Delhi & Mr. Khaleel Ul Rehman, IGP Additional Director Civil Defense were present on the occasion.

Abhay Kumar Patil in Kaveri Nagar: ‘Shramdan’ is his motto'