AAB EXCLUSIVE 

NWKRTC has invited Request for Proposals for the Development of Modern Bus Station and commercial complex on NWKRTC site at Belgaum on Public Private Partnership (PPP) Basis. The Bids for the same will be opened on 02.09.2010. The estimated Project Cost Rs. 25.70 crores and will be built on Lease-cum-Development Format Design-Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT) basis.
 The project site (CBT and divisional Workshop) measures around 5.76 acres.
The entire project will be executed in two stages and on two sites Site one- CBT measuring 3.76 acres and 2 acres of the divisional workshop.


 The new bus stand will have 41 bus bays, bus circulation and parking areas, auto-rickshaw lane, taxi parking lane, basement parking for private vehicles, passenger entry/ exit, Terminal building consisting of passenger circulation and waiting areas, ticket/ reservation counters, cloak room, first-aid room, waiting rooms, passenger amenities like drinking water, toilets, yatri nivas etc., restaurant, shops, kiosks and administrative offices, crew restrooms, parcel office and other facilities
 The existing Belgaum Central Bus Station of NWKRTC is located in the heart of Belgaum city on an area of 3.08 acres. The adjacent NWKRTC Divisional Workshop is located on 4.68 acres and is proposed to be shifted to a new location on the outskirts of the town.
Currently the stand has 10 Platforms with 22 bus bays and operates 1158 bus trips a day. However, they are insufficient due to increasing bus traffic and passenger growth. The bus movement area has rigid pavement and the terminal departure bays are covered with truss structure roof.
 With the growing population the proposed traffic is as follows:
30 bus bays and passenger amenities for around 1,500 passengers presently
• 41 bus bays and passenger amenities for around 2,000 passengers by 2015 and
• 74 bus bays and passenger amenities for around 3,700 passengers by 2031
 The proposed Bus Station on Project Site-I is designed to meet peak requirements till 2015, after which NWKRTC may plan to construct Phase-2 of the bus station to accommodate 74 bus bays, which will meet peak requirements till 2031.
 Development of Phase-1 of the new modern bus station is proposed to be developed on Project Site-I of around 3.76 acres as part of this Project.
The new station will have
• 41 bus bays to meet peak requirements till 2015
• Passenger amenities like waiting areas, toilets, bathrooms etc
• Waiting rooms for men and women
• Entrance lobby with reservation counters, ATM and security kiosks
• Restaurant & shops
• First Aid room and pharmacy
• Cloak room and parcel office
• NWKRTC administrative office & crew rest rooms
• Yatri nivas, Basement vehicle parking for cars and 2-wheelers, Auto-rickshaw and taxi lanes & User friendly for physically challenged persons.
 Retail development comprising of retail stores and food courts/restaurants will be on Project Site-II of around 2.00 acres.

Sarang Kulkarni, son of Belgaum has proven it again that Belgaum has great talent in the field of Music as his team Surmai Solapur won the Saam TV reality show Gurukul and Sarang won the best non percussion player.


The team got a scholarship of Rs.1 lakh sixty thousand.

What is your conception about an IT Park?
All will say a new hi tech building which looks a bit different from the lot, some nice greenery around, clean and of course some IT companies doing business in there.
True this is what most of you have seen, but for that has anyone seen the Belgaum IT park at Desur built by the KSSIDC.
I know the answer 95% will say “NO” “Belgaum has an IT park?”
Well yes, even tough Belgaum has been lacking quality infrastructure the KSSIDC and its foresight has given Belgaum an IT park way back in 2008-09.
The IT Park is built on 41 Acres 19 guntas land at Desur on Belgaum - Panaji Road (about 500 Mtrs. off NH).


The 42 acres land that has been used for this park has now all the basic amenities required like roads, water etc. The road leading to the park been also made.
And now the same is being used as a grazing field for the cattle from the near by villages. (At least the park has benefited some one)
Till date there have been no takers for this and this entire 41 acres is lying un utilized.


Sandeep of DotCord IT Solutions who visited the park said that, he wanted to one day open his office in an IT park, but after seeing the Belgaum IT park he said, I rather make my office somewhere else.
41 acres of land just off the high way and no takers, seems funny but why is this is the question?






Wasnt KSSIDC aware of the situation or did their planning go wrong. Were the IT companies consulted before making this park.
All these questions remain unanswered, and we Belgaumites need to see this IT park deserted with cattle grazing all over, may be the cattle themselves have updated their Facebook status” Grazing in IT Park”.
All Photos: Sandeep

The railway over bridge on Thursday got a face-lift after the walls were painted green and lights were installed on the walls of the over bridge.
The City corporation has done this renovation or face lift but this is the only make up done to the 1944 built British over bridge. Sodium Vapor Lamps have been fitted.
The over bridge really needs a over haul, but it seems the corporation has given it a make up and now it looks cool with those new style lights, which on day one, half of them were not working.
It is anyways a good sign as it was pitch dark on the over bridge and now with these lights there will be some light to look out for.

Belgaum is in the news again and the entire print media including regional have written on the Centre's affidavit on the Border issue. The Marathi Media showcased its side while the Kannada its side.
The English media took a fifty fifty stand.
But my question to all residents of Belgaum, (we hope we can call our selves Belgaumites with no language bias again) is what difference has this particular reply by the Central government made to us.
Belgaumites are moving on with their lives in a city, which they feel, needs infrastructure and industrial development more than linguistic oneupmanship.
Still the case is hearing and when the final verdict will be out is not known. The Supreme Court will also understand the nature of this case and not give any decision in a haste.
Many people we spoke to said that, they never felt that there was a issue and status quo should be maintained.
College going students never realized that this kind of issue exists and they said what difference does it make if one speaks Kannada and other Marathi. In fact everyone has friend whose mother tongue is Marathi or Kannada and we together spend hours together chatting.
Many people who were born here studied here and then went out for work, spent their entire life working and now have come back to Belgaum to live a peaceful life. Their demand is a more better developed Belgaum.
Take it to be city's bad luck but the name of our city is in the limelight for non developmental issues rather than developmental.
Belgaum belongs to Belgaumites and we should forget the past, the past has only spoken of warriors and not good administrators who were pro people and development of society, thats we act in aggression and harsh ways. if in our past we had good administrators ruling us who gave importance to good culture and development of society Belgaumites today would not be fighting on language issue rather we would have been a more advanced community with all the natural resources that god has gifted us in Belgaum. Our rulers were mere tax collectors, tomb builders, religion enforcers. Lets forget the past and join hands for development, I am sure they youth of Belgaum irrespective of language only need development and respect both languages and cultures. It is time to move on, unite and consolidate for a better future.
Many rejoiced when this particular reply was filed in the Supreme court, but what difference has it made to us? We have the same roads, same water supply, same electric supply. We have no great options for amusement and when some guests come here and when they ask,” what is there in your city to see?” we are in a fix. I have seen people ask me where can I take my guests out for sight seeing in the city.
This linguistic domination of one group will take us back and not forward.
Many would argue that, previous governments have harassed us and as a city we have not got what we should have got as being one of the highest tax payers to the state after Bangalore.
But here we are not understanding the “Raajneeti”. Politicians use this language card and play with the emotions, they succeed we fail.
If we come together and form a Belgaum where we dont entertain them they have no option. We are only responsible for all this. In a market, goods are sold only when there is a market.
We all Belgaumites need to come aboard a platform and get work done from the govt.
Platforms BELGAUMNEXT having this same thought are working towards a better Belgaum.
Development of Belgaum is most important thing. Let energies be diverted in the right channel wherein it benefits people, its easy to provoke people on language and religion but not on constructive issues.

We are sure living with pride and respect is more important than in which state. Cant we have a situation while in Karnataka that no one misses what they feel they miss. Belgaum is Bi-lingual is a known fact ; history speaks of this for the last 500 years.
Be proud Belgaumite.

After taking one and half year the Centre on Tuesday field a reply to the Maharashtra’s 2004 affidavit and its application in 2009 claiming jurisdiction of Belgaum and other cities.
“The transfer of certain areas to then Mysore (now Karnataka) was neither arbitrary nor wrong,’’ as claimed by Maharashtra,” Dr Praveen Kumari Singh, director of Ministry of Home Affairs, said in the Centre’s reply.
In its affidavit, the central government told the apex court that just because most people in the border district speak Marathi was not ground enough for the areas to be appended to Maharashtra.
According to the Union government, Maharashtra’s petition should be dismissed and exemplary cost should be imposed for filing such a suit. The state of erstwhile Mysore was joined with parts of Bombay, Hyderabad, Madras and Coorg to form Karnataka five decades ago under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
In a sharp reaction, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said the decision was 'unfair' to the people of Maharashtra. 'If this is the case, then why not abolish this policy of carving out states on linguistic basis,' he said. Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) leaders said 'This is an unfortunate decision by the centre,'.
Others in Karnataka welcomed the Centre's stand and said that this was according to the Mahajan Commissions report.

AAB's View: We are sure this post will break all previous records of comments. But when something about development is posted the comments are the least. We expect the same commenting strength on all our posts. We love to read what you write as you love what we write. Jai Hind!

The Indo-US combat exercise `Vajra Prahar' between the special forces of the two countries will be held at the Belgaum commando school in Karnataka between August and September.

The special forces of both the countries will take part in simulated insurgency and terror strike scenario.

The exercise is part of the series of bilateral exercises that the armies of India and the United States have each year, with ‘Shatrujeet' and ‘Yudh Abhyas' being the other two.India had hosted the Chinese Army for the exercise in December 2008 at Belgaum. The first edition was held in Kunming, China during 2007.

The BJP called nation wide BANDH call has got good response in the city of Belgaum. All commercial establishment are closed in all areas. Petrol pumps are closed. City buses are off the roads so are the Autos.
A few activists tried to burn a trye at Chennamma circle. A noted factor was the missing MLA , only MP Angadi was seen.
All Photos UkMaD.

Live updated at 1.35pm
16470 kms covered in 17 days 19 hours 30 minutes
Three friends –Aadil Bandukwala (Belgaum), Sameer Siddique & Ratheesh Kumar who had set to complete and Tantalize India by traveling xxxx kms, have done it in record time of 17 days 19 hours 30 minutes.







The earlier record was 19 days and 23 hours which was festered as a record by Limca Book of Records.
They had begun their trip on June 16th 2010 from Bangalore and they landed back to Bangalore today 4th July, 2010 at 1.30 pm.




Their dream has come true after having to go through some very rambunctious time driving through Leh Ladakh and the North East. Their car was stuck in ice and had to wait for five hours to get back on the road. In the north east they faced the most horrible time as they had to divert into the forests due to a landslide and they had to go without food for 24 hours and they continuously drove there for 25 hours non stop.
Many had said why this time of the year with rains on the score, but the trio in one voice said, “ If do a record do it with all the adversity possible, so that the next time people will think over.”
With all the adversity behind them they also had some great time in the boat house on the Dal Lake, the fun riding a Jugad in Rajasthan & meeting new people all the while.




After the Limca book of records goes through all the records and data the trio will be officially declared as the record holders for traveling pan India 16000 kms in 18 days.
Congratulations !!!! Aadil Bandukwala (Belgaum), Sameer Siddique & Ratheesh Kumar you have made us proud.
The route they covered:
Bangalore (Karnataka) – Vellore – Chennai (Tamil Nadu) – Puducherry (Puducherry) – Madurai (Tamil Nadu) – Thiruvananthapuram – Kochi – Kozhikode (Kerala) – Mangalore – Karwar (Karnataka) – Panaji – Mapusa (Goa) – Belgaum (Karnataka) – Satara – Pune – Mumbai – Palghar (Maharashtra) – Silvasa (Dadra, Nagar Haveli) – Daman Daman (Daman & Diu) – Bharuch – Vadodara – Gandhinagar – Godhra (Gujarat) – Indore – Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) – Rajgarh – Kota – Jaipur – Bikaner – Ganganagar (Rajasthan) – Firozpur – Amritsar – Pathankote (Punjab) – Jammu – Udhampur – Srinagar – Kargil – Leh – Pang (Jammu & Kashmir) – Jispa – Manali – Bilaspur – Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) – Chandigarh (Punjab, Haryana & UT) – Nahan (Himachal Pradesh) – Dehradun (Uttarakhand) – Delhi (NCT) – Agra – Kanpur – Lucknow – Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) – Patna – Khagaria – Purnia – (Bihar) – Dalkola – Siliguri – Jalpaiguri – Cooch Behar (West Bengal) – Goalpara – Guwahati – Dispur (Assam) – Shillong (Meghalaya) – Karimganj (Assam) – Agartala (Tripura) – Silchar (Assam) – Aizawl (Mizoram) – Imphal (Manipur) – Kohima – Dimapur (Nagaland) – Jorhat – North Lakhimpur (Assam) – Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) – Tezpur – Nalbari – Kachugaon (Assam) – Alipurduar – Madarihat – Mal Bazar – (West Bengal) – Gangtok (Sikkim) – Darjeeling – Malda – Baharampur – Calcutta – Kharagpur (West Bengal) – Baharagora – Jamshedpur – Ranchi – Chaibasa (Jharkhand) – Kendujhargarh – Bhubaneshwar – Sambalpur (Orissa) – Raipur (Chhattisgarh) – Nagpur / Chandrapur (Maharashtra) – Nizamabad – Hyderabad – Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) – Anantapur – Bangalore (Karnataka).

The BJP and the left have given a nation wide Bandh call from 6am to 6pm on Monday 5^thJuly 2010.
In Belgaum also it seems the Bandh will be successful as many organizations have showed in their support for the Bandh.
The Bandh has been called for to protest the price rise in the country.
Auto rikshaw organisation is taking part in the bandh so people coming in on Monday be prepared for some hardships.

To the people of Belgaum this is one of the important roads that needs to be upgraded which will bring in more business and also easier access to Goa.
The road would be 4 laned until Khanapur and then it will be two laned until Goa border. Further in stage 2 of the project the road would be 4 laned and 6 laned respectively.
 The biding process for the same is over but the project has not been awarded to any one yet. The construction time for roads only is 30 months. Provisions for tolling system and toll plaza have been proposed at km 18.835 ( this will be somewhere after Alma Motors near Desur) and km 66.315 (just near Anmod Ghat).
 The project Road, Belgaum to Karnataka / Goa Border, the 84.0 km section of NH- 4A, forms a part of the proposed schemes of widening of various National Highway stretches/ corridors to 4/6-lanes under the Prime Minister’s NHDP Phase III programme in the country. This stretch is proposed to be on BOT / DBFOT (Toll) basis.
 Two Laning with Paved Shoulder and Four-Laning from km 30.00 to km 81.9 of NH-4A (Immediate Two Laning) and km 0.00 to km 30.00 of NH-4A (Immediate Four Laning) Subsequent Four Laning – from km 30.00 to km 81.9 of NH-4A - Stage Construction from Two Laning to Four Laning .
 The project road (NH-4A) starts within Belgaum city limits (near St. Anthony’s Church), runs southward and traverses the districts of Belgaum (Belgaum & Khanapur tehsils) and Uttar Kannada (Supa Tehsil) in the state of Karnataka. The project road ends at the Goa/Karnataka border and is about 84 km long.
 The road starts abruptly within Belgaum city (near St. Anthony’s Church) and does not directly link with the existing NH-4 (Pune-Bangalore Road). Traffic from NH-4, destined to Belgaum/ Goa thus has to use the Belgaum city roads prior to switching over to NH-4A to continue its onward journey.
A significant portion of the project road upto Goa/Karnataka border passes through thick reserved forests on either side.
Traffic from NH-4 destined for Belgaum or Goa uses the city roads to join NH-4A. The NH-4 feeds traffic to the project road from the states of Maharashtra (Satara, Kolhapur, Pune etc.), Gujarat and north India.
A number of State Highways link the project road and caters to traffic to & from the surrounding regions. These include:
• SH-54 - From NH-4A Peeranwadi to Jamboti
• SH-31 - Bailhongal – Bagevadi – Khanapur (NH-4A) – Jamboti – Chorla
• SH-30 - From NH-4A Khanapur to Hemmadaga/Anmod on NH-4A
• SH-93 - From NH-4A Khanapur to Linganmatha/ Yellapur
• SH-34 - From NH-4A Ramnagar to Dharwad/ Hubli
• SH-95 - From NH-4A Ramnagar to Supa – Karwar

Belgaum ( Near Fish Market Start) (Km 0+000) – Khanapur (Km26+000)
Khanapur (Km26+000) – Ramnagar (Km 53+000)
Ramnagar (Km 53+000) - Tinaighat (Km 66+000), and
Tinaighat (Km 66+000) – Goa/Karnataka border (End)

Belgaum Bypass
Belgaum is connected to Panaji in the South-West through NH-4A which originates from Belgaum. Origination of NH-4A is within the densely populated residential/ commercial area of the city. This is connected to NH- 4 by a road which criss-crosses through several urban arterial and sub-arterial roads and in the process gets mixed up. On the other hand, a bypass on NH-4 has been constructed through the northern and eastern outskirts of Belgaum, taking off from km 498 and touching down at km 507. This has pushed the NH-4 further away from NH-4A. As mentioned earlier, there is no direct linkage for through traffic between NH-4 and NH4-A. This forces NH-4 bound traffic from NH-4A and the vice versa to enter the congested city of Belgaum, get interrupted by the urban traffic and exit after passing through several major and minor intersections. Clearly, this results in enormous delay and confusion to the through traffic. This weaving is undesirable and calls for comprehensive improvement plan in the form of a Belgaum Bypass.
Belgaum Bypass starts from Km 497.5 of NH-4 (Near Halga) and meets NH-4A at 9.5 having a total length of 9.5 km.
 Khanapur Bypass takes off from km 23.2 and merges again with NH-4A at km 28.2 having a total length of 5 km.
 Total Project Cost for 4 Laning of Section- I along with 2 Bypasses and 2 Laning with paved shoulder of Section- II & III of the Project Corridor would be Rs. 3,118,902,461.00
Source: The Project report on the Road at NHAI

BRIGHT is originally named upon the logic of doing business with art and enhancing the latest technology to the maximum output. BRIGHT is Belgaum based media production house involved in the MEDIA training for individuals. The art that is virtually real in presenting the inner-most imaginations to its maximum output of the targeted information.
BRIGHT (Promoted by 3iglobal Pvt. Ltd.), member ofITBELGAUM was formed with the aim of providing quality-specialized training in the field of Multimedia Animation, Corporate Graphics, Advertising, Photography, Videography and Event Management. BRIGHT is the right platform for individuals who will be largely benefited from its professional training and will be hired by premium corporate house.
This has been confirmed feedback from the ex-clients. Highly experienced people from various disciplines are both providing and availing BRIGHT services with the backup of lifelong vast and varied experience coupled with expertise in techniques required for arranging and attaining the said objectives for our valued clients.

The resources available at their command are immense and will bring tangible results to students. Their associates who are quite resourceful and diligent themselves at all levels from top to bottom will be the stepping stone for our students. The venture can be termed as a focal point for disseminating information relating to Multimedia and ventures on promoting such industries.
BRIGHT an independent company in the field of training and providing services for Animation, Multimedia, Photography, Videography and Event Management will be the platform to supply polished Visualiser, Designers and Performers to the corporate sector. Soon in days to come BRIGHT will be one of the top institution in India for the above. Not only this but also feedback from the professional clientèle in India and abroad have encouraged the promoters of this company to continue to provide the best services.
Courses offered:
Animation in Maya and VFX Training
Digital Photography Training
Personality Development Course
Videography Video Editing Training
WEB 2.0
Vishal Kulkarni and Vinod Chavan promoters of BRIGHT (Promoted by 3iglobal Pvt. Ltd.) told the blog that, “the main intent to start this training institute is for the primary reason that talent pool in Belgaum is not trained according to industry standards. We have some good projects from all over the globe and to cater to them we need trained people, but in city like Belgaum the training given in field of animation is outdated and not what the industry uses. We at BRIGHT intend only to teach what is required and used in the industry and course modules will be changed accordingly to industry standards.”
They also added that,” We thought of this backward integration so that we can get good trained people by which we can expand our footprint and make our global presence felt.” They also mentioned that “ Belgaum has a great talent pool which is rare but there are very few people who can groom them to current industry standards.
BRIGHT
3i Global Inc.
Development Centre
217/7, Kashi Kunj,
1st Cross Ganesh Marg,
Hindwadi,
Belgaum 590 011
Phone: 831 230 177
Cell: 93413 73161
http://bright.3iglobal.in/