Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) launched its flagship apparel, luggage and accessories store, Reliance Trends, in Belgaum at Nucleus Mall on the first floor this afternoon.
Apart from the ready-to-wear garments, the store also caters to consumers who prefer to shop for fabric and tailor their clothes. Reliance’s captive brands include Pureza, Network, Netplay DNMX and Graviti for men and Sparsh, Hushh, Panda and Frendz.

Shivaputra Siddramayya Komkalimath or known as Kumar Gandharva was a Hindustani classical singer, famous for his unique vocal style, refusal to be bound by the tradition of any gharana, and his innovative genius. The name Kumar Gandharva is a title given to him when he was a child prodigy; a Gandharva is a musical spirit in Hindu mythology.
He was born in Sulebhavi near Belgaum. He studied music under the well-known Prof B R Deodhar.
He married Bhanumati Kans in April 1947 and moved to Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Soon after moving there, he was stricken with lung cancer which was wrongly diagnosed as tuberculosis. He was forced into having a surgery to remove the cancerous lung or face eventual death by the disease. Kumar opted for the surgery after much persuasion by his family and despite warnings that he might not be able to sing anymore. Recovering from the trauma of a surgery in Khanapur near Belgaum in Kumar Gandharva was visited by a fan who was also a physician. The doctor noted his surgical wounds had healed and asked Kumar Gandharva to attempt singing once again. Gradually, helped by this doctor, medicines of those yesteryears and care from Bhanumati Kans, Kumar Gandharva recovered and began singing again. However, his wonderful voice and singing style would always bear the scars of his surgery, which are evident to any person who listens to his songs such as 'Runanubandhachya" from the drama "Dev Dina Ghari Dhavla".
 The house of Kumar Gandharva, which could have been developed into a memorial, has now become a restaurant and it is owned by Rudrappa in Sulebhavi. His father, the late Malleshappa Naganur, purchased the house about 50 years ago. Kumar Gandharva kept visiting the village and performed at the annual Sri Laxmi Mahotsava even after he shifted to Dewas.
His last performance was about three decades ago, and thereafter he did not visit the village.
Bhanumati Kans, who was learning music first under Deodhar and later under Kumar Gandharva himself, nursed him through his illness. His first mehfil after recovery from illness took place in 1953. The illness greatly affected Kumar's singing in later years – he was to be known for powerful short phrases and his very high voice. He may not have reached the same heights of popularity as contemporaries like Bhimsen Joshi, but he always enjoyed the love and support of dedicated and connoisseur enthusiasts. His singing was also true to the Indian classical music tradition of dialogue with the listeners, of impromptu creation and interactivity. Kumar Gandharva was awarded the Padma Vibhushan award in 1990.
Kumar Gandhrav died on January 12, 1992 (aged 67) at Dewas.

After the full fledged drama yesterday today work on RPD road was on a snails pace and the bulldozers were busy demolishing the compound walls along the road till Patwardhan layout.
The main point of yesterdays drama the Gomatesh Vidyapeeth, compound wall of the Vidyapeeth and some parts of the building were also demolished.


A notable factor was a poster stuck opposite the RPD the main gate on a hoarding. It says it all.
As of today compound walls of major bunglows have been demolished. But the Gogte and RPD college compound walls still exist. Even the walls of a small shrine were seen untouched.
Even before majority works begins the MLA thought it better to put up a board at the site taking credit of it all.
Many readers would say that this blog is biased and always against development. But here the point of view is that no one on the road the residents, shop owners were happy in which the whole thing is being done.
As of today it is May 14 and within 15 days or a month we will have heavy rains and until then what work will happen on the road is the question.
New gutters will have to built on both sides, this will take a minimum of 2 months after reviewing the work at Phule road, which is in rags even after 6 months. So one could expect a similar time frame for this road to be back to its glory.
Development works are needed but the manner in which they are executed is the biggest question. Say the work is done on a war footing then what would be the standard of the work, another big question.

Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on Friday filed a complaint at Camp police station in Belgaum and sought an enquiry into the sting operation. This was after the Headlines Today-Tehelka expose.
He further said expose was an attempt to defame him alleging criminal intimidation and extortion.
Pramod Muthalik has called for Press conference at Hotel Milan at 12 noon to clarify his stand.
Pramod Muthalik, and top aides of his outfit, were caught on camera agreeing to vandalise an art exhibition in return for money in an undercover investigation by the magazineTehelkabroadcast on news channel Headlines Today on Thursday night.

Party workers said that this kind of act will deface the party image in the long run. It was the talk of the town in the past few days about the RPD road widening and what will happen to the Vidyapeeth on the same road.
Rivalry in between the BJP MLA's and MP is also well known. But this kind of occasion will arise when the elected MLA's will clash with each other was not expected in Belgaum atleast.

On May 15 the newly built Mysore airport is said to be inaugurated by the Union minister of state for civil aviation Praful Patel. But as an irony no airline is ready to fly from there. All major private airlines, including national carrier Air India, have declined invitations to fly to the newly-built airport in Mysore. Poor passenger load factor is the reason for the reluctance to operate flights to Karnataka’s second-largest city.


CM BSY recently wrote to the Secretary of civil aviation to look into the possibilities of resuming air traffic from Belgaum and Bidar.
The Karnataka government plans to develop airports in each district of the state and has sought private participation to develop this infrastructure.
 We Belgaumites will have keep dreaming of flying from here as major operators are unwilling to fly from Mysore then who will come to fly from Belgaum. The load factor is a major reason for not commencing operations. The Belgaum airport was recently renovated at a cost of Rs.3.57crores which now boasts of a fully AC terminal building. Mr. Praful Patel had said that by January 2010 air services would resume from Belgaum. But nothing has materialized.

In order to sensitize the cities administration as well as the citizens about the current state of sanitation and raise awareness about the need for improvement, Govt of India has announced a National Rating of Class 1 Cities on sanitation parameters.
 Releasing the rating Union Urban Development Minister, Shri Jaipal Reddy said that exercise for the rating initiated in 2009 is a part of National Urban Sanitation Policy to make Indian cities and towns totally sanitized, healthy and liveable i.e. they become Nirmal Shahars.
Belgaum with 40.510 points stood at 90^th position out of the 423 cities ranked in all and was under Black shade.
On the basis of their performance, cities have been kept in four categories that are - green, blue, black and red.
Other nearby cities to Belgaum and their ratings:
Bidar Rank 22 with 49.820 points
Udupi Rank 43 with 45.400 points
Chikmaglur Rank 46 with 45.020 points
Hospet Rank 71 with 41.820 points
Bijapur Rank 71 with 41.521 points
Belgaum Rank 90 with 40.510 points
Kolhapur Rank 136 with 38 points
Hubli-Dharwad Rank 196 with 35.230 points



See complete list here
http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2010/may/d2010051101.pdf
None of the local newspapers have given the Belgaum ratings. So sometimes AAB is good.

The most happening and talked about road in the recent week, RPD college road for the road widening work taken up, might not start as Gomatesh Vidyapeeth has taken a stay on the work and court has given an “As is” order.
People were speaking many things about what will happen of this building as about 17 feet needed to be demolished.
The district in charge minister had ordered a complete remarking on the road to exactly know how much space will go.
Others can also a get a Stay order now after the Vidyapeeth has got one and RPD college has already got a stay order long back. Cutting of trees is still in progress.
The CDP(city development plan) mentions the RPD corner to Old Dharwad road to be of 80 feet, and this particular widening is being done only till Patwardhan Layout. Residents of the area asked this question as to why only till Patwardhan layout and not the complete road till Dharwad road. But if it is extended further there are a number of houses in Vadagaon which could face the hammer and which is not feasible to keep a vote bank intact.
With these developments the future of the road widening is unknown. There is one JCB at the RPD corner which must have been kept to infuse some fright amongst the residents.
Many shop owners and residents on themselves have removed their walls or buildings as per the marking.
And even before some major work has been done a board mentioning MLA's name has been put up at the corner.
The Met department has observed that Monsoons will arrive in the first week of June, so it could be sensible for the authorities not to take the road widening work now. If they do that road will be a dirt track in the rains and the current hardships will turn into more misfortunes for the residents.

Chandigarh got 73.48 points out of 100
Belgaum scores less than 45 points
Chandigarh has been adjudged the best city in terms of quality sanitation under the National Rating and Award Scheme for Sanitation for Indian Cities by the Ministry of Urban Development.
According to a nationwide Union Urban Development Ministry exercise, called the National City Rating under the ambitious national urban sanitation policy, the rating task was conducted across 423 urban conglomerates, including 24 in Karnataka. Mysore was on second place while Bangalore and Mangalore have bagged the 8th and 12th place. The ministry’s policy initiative was part of an objective to create awareness on hygienic conditions in urban areas. In Karnataka, Mandya (15th) and Bidar (22nd ) have found place among the 25 cleanest cities.
Udupi, Chikmaglur, Hospet,Bijapur, Belgaum, Gangavathi, Hassan, Robertsonpet, Gulbarga, Kolar, Bellary, Badravathi, Tumkur, Hubli-Dhawad, Raichur and Gadag-Betigeri, received less than 45 on a scale of hundred.
The rating was carried out by three private agencies ––AC Nielsen-ORG Marg, Development and Research Services (DRS) and CEPT University.

The countryside around Belgaum is wonderfully green even in hot summer of May.... here is a landscape finished today in celebration of the beauty of Belgaum......:-) Look at those dramatic clouds in the sky..... It is done ballpoint pens on canvas.


Hope you all like it.
AAB is proud to have covered this wonderful artist long back.Shirish Deshpande gives the ballpoint pen a novel status
http://www.shirishdeshpande.com

Letter from Mona
 It amazes me that we have grown as a country and have all the latest technologies, etc but when it comes to the Rickshawwallah's how come they do not use the meter based system?
My parents are old and live in Belgaum by themselves. They do not have car or driver and are dependent on the public transportation system. They live in Jaddhav nagar. Neither is a Rickshaw stand close by nor do Rickshaws come frequently in their area so they have to walk to club road on the way they have to stop any passing rickshaw and ask them if he is willing to transport them. If he says yes, then they have to ask him how much he will charge as, inspite of having a meter based system they do not follow the system. They charge exhorbitantly. Mumbai is more expensive to live but with meter based system they charge Rs 20 for a distance of 2 or 3 kms but in Belgaum the same distance they charge 30 bucks or they will not take you. My parents have no choice as they have no energy to walk that much nor do they have to energy to argue so they have to cough up the money. This, when Belgaum is a cheaper place to live in than Mumbai?
My question is what is the RTO office doing? Are they blind to all this. Is there a nexus between the Rickshawwallah's and them? Why do the Rickshawwallahs have to put a meter if they dont have to follow the rule.
Will allaboutbelgaum.com please address this grievance. I am sure there are many people like my parents who are old and living by themselves and others who plainly know that they will be paying more which hurts their pocket and have no choice but to walk miles.
Appreciate if anyone there can start a movement on this which will help the citizens of Belgaum on the whole.
Thank you
Mona
 AAB on 15 February 2010 had made a similar kind of post.
http://allaboutbelgaum.com/lifestyle/travel/who-will-bell-the-auto-drivers/

After the decision on Ajmal Kasab was pronounced all over Mumbai people distributed sweets and busted crackers as if the daemon was killed and all is well now.
Mercy petitions of six, including the associates of Veerappan, have been pending with the President of India since 2004, two with the Karnataka Governor, appeals of 20 in Karnataka High Court, one in the Supreme Court and nine in the Dharwad circuit bench of the High Court.

Google Map view

The Hindalga jail was built by the British in 1923 and has three gallows. The last hanging was done in November 1983 of Hanumant Malla, convicted of five murders.
Siddappa Rayappa Kamble who has assisted in 11 hangings here is ready to hang Kasab, if given the duty. He has just one year in service but he is ready to do the job if he is called for.
The Hindalga Jail spreads over an area of 99 acres. It has a capacity to accommodate 1,162 prisoners.

Ahad Husain Tarde of GSS college secured the first rank in the district with 96.33%.