After the landslide on 30^th July, 2010 work is in full swing to clear the road at Amboli.

The police have clarified that no tourist are under the debris and the work of clearing the road is on. This might take another 2-3 days the officials said.

The cause of worry for the PWD there is that even now mud is scaling down near the same spot and it is feared that he road has been badly damaged.

Very few tourists were seen as the road is blocked. This is the main season in Amboli and due to this landslide business has been hit.

Jeetesh Shah who had been there yesterday clicked these photos. Thanks Jeetesh.

Hotel Saffron, will give the taste buds of Belgaumites a delightful culinary fares to the connoisseurs of Punjabi food, the PARATHA.

A Paratha food festival has been organized by Hotel Saffron, Kirloskar road from August 2 to August 9, 2010.

A splendid array of 25 varieties of authentic Punjabi stuffed parathas made in pure ghee will be served made by master chef and his team. The menu will also include Amritsari Chole Bhature, Delhi Chaat and Punjabi Lassi.

This is for the first time such kind of a Paratha food festival has been organised in town.

So all those Paratha lovers you all know where to go...

Hotel Saffron, Above Reliance world Kirloskar road, Belgaum. Phone: 0831-4205592,4216611

The Government is planning to extend the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to some more cities in the country. It was proposed to include 28 cities/urban agglomerations with population of 5 lakh and above under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) component of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM).

Three cities in Karnataka under JNNURM will be

Hubli-Dharwad

Mangalore

On account of resource constraints, these cities could not be included in UIG of JNNURM.

Public private partnership can play a significant role in supplementing Government’s efforts of building infrastructure in urban areas. JNNURM encourages urban local bodies to use public private partnership for this purpose.

This information was given by Shri Saugata Roy, Minister of State, Urban Development in reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 30^th July 2010.

There was a huge landslide in Amboli, about one and half kilometers from the main water falls yesterday afternoon.
The locals fear of tourists being under the debris, however the officials on the spot have not categorically denied this fact. The army has been called in to help clear the debris.
Traffic to Savantwadi has been cut off and now is diverted from Kankavli.
It could take a while before the debris is removed and it also feared that he road might have been badly damaged.

Akshay Anil Sathe(19) was killed on the spot when a city bus hit his kinetic scooter near the Datta Mandir, Govaves on Khanapur Road.

A resident of Hattiholi Galli, Shahpur Akshays scooter was hit by the city bus and the bus ran over his head. He was a student of Bharetsh Polytechnic.

A complaint has been filed.  

K. B. Kulkarni ( 1920 – 2007)

Shri K. B. Kulkarni was fondly known as “KB” by all his disciples, near and dear ones. KB was born in 1920 in Belgaum District.

He was a student of Haldankar’s Art Institute and later became an Art Teacher. He has done Drawing Art Teacher certificate course from Sir J.J. School of Art , 1945. He was also on the Advisory board for Art Education of Karnataka. He was also a member of Karnataka State Lalit Kala Academy.

He was awarded State Award in 1972. KB started an Art Institute called ” Chitramandir” in 1951 and conducted regular classes till 1977. He also taught at St.Pauls High school Belgaum.

KB had devoted himself to art and teaching of art and also in painting. A whole generation of artists have been trained and nurtured by him. His own works truly represented his mastery over oil, water colour and nature, as well as human figure. For him art of paintings was a mysterious activity. In his words –“ Though it is often said that art is a visual poetry, I think it is also music, where harmony, balance, rhythm are very important.”

Photo: Santosh Purohit

The Belgaum Police have made a new website http://www.belgaumpolice.in/ and will be launched tomorrow. (as of now you get a message opening tomorrow)

The site as of today is not visible to all, but I had a chance to view it and site looks clean and most importantly most of its links are working. The website has been designed in Joomla and looks neat.

One can file and online complaint, know the passport status, find police stations (this particular link seems to have problem), know about the one ways in the city. There is a womens grievance cell with a list of NGOs in Belgaum as well.

On can also get information about the daily crime, missing persons, unidentified bodies and of course the important laws and guidelines for citizens.

One can file a complaint or pass on information, or get more info Arms license Verification & job verification from.

One can also find all the telephone numbers of all police stations and officers.

The website will be updated on a daily basis.

In all this is a welcome sign for Belgaumites and with the Internet spreading everywhere and connectivity is not an issue (normally) this website will surely help Belgaumites.

The Defence ministry is looking out for land near Belgaum to set up a Anti Terror Squad training centre. The Tahshildars have been given letters for the same and they have been told to identify land in Khanapur & Savadati talukas.

Sources say that Jamboti and Savadatti are the two shortlisted location wherein Jamboti could be selected, sources said.

Still the entire process on paper and what kind of training will be provided is yet to be decided.

Belgaum already has its pride the MLIRC and Airforce station. The ITBP also is building its camp near Hallbhavi.  

Shobhan Bantwal is a noted author from USA who was born and raised in Belgaum.
 Her fourth book THE UNEXPECTED SON, will be released on August 1, 2010 by Kensington publishing Corp. Her three previous books were, THE DOWRY BRIDE, THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER, and THE SARI SHOP WIDOW.
Shobhan always makes some reference to her home town in her writings and in this new book as well she narrates a story in Palgum (Belgaum) and to add to it this time one can enjoy the Marathi-Kannada conflict which plays a big role in the back drop of the story. 
Shobhan Bantwal was born and raised at BELGAUM along with her four sisters. She resided in Camp area and she did her schooling from St. Josephs Convent Camp (LKG to SSLC) and then went to Lingraj College followed by Karnatak University in Dharwar for a master’s degree in sociology. She got a second master’s degree in Public Administration in the U.S. she rarely visits India, so her visits to Belgaum are very few and far between.She came to the United States in an arranged marriage in the mid 1970’s.
THE UNEXPECTED SON - the story
What happens when a woman suddenly wakes up to shocking news? A mysterious letter shatters Vinita Patil's contented American life. It tells an impossible story: she has a grown son in India, a child she was told was stillborn 30 years ago. He is now seriously ill. Revealing her secret past to her husband could ruin her marriage. Nonetheless Vinita is compelled to return to India to meet her unknown son—and pray for the faith of the family she leaves behind.
Advance praise for THE UNEXPECTED SON:
"This inspiring testament to a mother's enduring love makes for a fascinating tale and provides a window into an equally fascinating culture."
- Publisher's Weekly
"The Unexpected Son by Shobhan Bantwal is yet another crosscultural delight by this author."
- Chicago Examiner - 5 stars
"Shobhan Bantwal is a magical storyteller. The characters are so tangible that you miss them when you finish reading The Unexpected Son."
- Book Pleasures - 5 stars 
"This excellent contemporary provides strong insight into the Indian-American culture ... The Unexpected Son is a super Indian-American tale."
- Harriet Klausner, Amazon's top reviewer - 5 stars
THE UNEXPECTED SON is available at bookstores in the U.S. and Canada and all online booksellers. Orders can be placed at Amazon,Barnes & Noble, Borders. In India the book can be purchased online from FlipKart.com. Flipcart Price Rs.559
Readers in USA and Canada can go to the Contest page on her website to win a give away; a costume jewelry set to one winner and five autographed copies of THE UNEXPECTED SON to five other winners as part of the book launch of THE UNEXPECTED SON.
see the book trailer
website: www.shobhanBantwal.com
She was the First Stars of Belgaum covered by AAB. 

Hanuman Nagar is a locality with residences of mostly government officials, pensioners and political leaders and the Hanuman Nagar circle has been renovated, thanks to Commissioner of the Belgaum City Corporation S.G. Patil, social activist Ashok Chandargi and artist R.K. Godwani.

The circle now boasts of ornamental plants, grass carpet, benches and coloured lights.

The total cost for the make over was Rs. 12 lakh. There is also a cascade in the circle, a first in a circle in the city.

The place looks really nice and it has been attracting people of all ages.

Recently many gardens in the city have been developed, now the only concern would be the maintenance of these renovated gardens.

Photo: Rakesh R Harlapur  

This site when it began was known as Belgaumblog.blogspot.com then later it was branded as Belgaumblog.com and now it has it name AllAboutBelgaum.com.

A look at its logos  

Milestone enterprise has arranged a two day Digital photography workshop in Belgaum.

The Two day work shop will be focusing on Wedding and Portraiture.

On day one details of digital cameras and its handling will be explained and on day two will have a practical workshop with models.

This workshop is open for any one amateurs as well professional photographers.

Date: 9 and 10 August 2010

Venue: Hotel Shankan Residency

About the Trainer:

Vinayak Pavaskar (Mumbai) an eminent teacher and avid photographer positive to share his knowledge and encourage people to learn with every available opportunity has also been the mind behind the concept of Phototourism and The Milestone National Photo Galleria an exhibition showcasing the talents of phototourists and serious hobbyist photographers. His ability to mix among all genres makes him a favourite on our phototours and photography training programs. He has been conducting workshops on Fashion, Glamour, Portraiture, Landscape, Lighting Techniques, to name a few from the last two decades.

For registrations contact:

Subhash Color Center

Ramdev Galli, Belgaum

Mr.Raghu Undale – 99451 74481

For the past 48 hours Belgaum city and district is receiving heavy showers. Yesterday city received 6 cm of rainfall in 24 hours.
The NH 4 under pass at Gandhinagar was filled with water and commuters faced a hard time.
The low-lying areas were flooded and people remained busy removing water from their houses like Gandhinagar. A bridgr on the Belgaum-Gojaga road was washed away.
The water level in Krishna, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Doodhganga, Vedganga and Markandeya rivers flowing into the district is on the rise.
Farmers are having a happy time as their sowing is over and they were just waiting for rain. The rain has given drift to their activities.
Met department forecasts heavy to very heavy rains in the coming days.

EXCLUSIVE Story 
The Vaccine depot which has a long history to it came into the lime light when there were rumors that it will be good site for building the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha in August 2007. Environmentalists and nature lovers came together and raised voice that the rich heritage and the flora and fauna should be saved and preserved.
The government also headed to the demand in late 2008 and it was decided by BUDA (Belgaum Urban Development Authority) that a Heritage park needs to be setup in these 100 acres Vaccine depot without cutting or demolishing many buildings housed in it. Infact even a foundation stone was laid. In 2009 Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) Limited made a report on the same and viability of a heritage park and this story is made from that report. But nothing has changed since then.
 Historical value of Vaccine Depot:
The Belgaum Vaccine Depot also known as Vaccine Institute was started by Captain F.H.G. Hutchinson for manufacturing Small Pox vaccine in 1904 under the then Government of Bombay Province. The institute was shifted to its present premises in Tilakwadi following completion of building construction works in 1909. The institute was manufacturing 40 million doses of freeze dried small pox vaccine andsupplying all over the country and to neighboring countries as well. During 1954, the vaccine was changed from cow-calf to sheep-based. Following reorganization of States, the administration of institute came under the control of Government of Karnataka in 1956.
In 1968, the vaccine was changed from sheep to buffalo calf and the production capacity was increased to 47 million doses in 1974 — one third of total requirement of the country.
The manufacturing of the vaccine was cut down in 1977 in view of zero incidence of small pox in the country and completely stopped in 1978. Yet, during the same year, the activities of the institute switched over to manufacture of neural tissue anti-rabies vaccine (NTV). Initiatives on experimental works connected with preparation of Tetanus Toxoid and Diphtheria fraction were also taken up in 1985.
 Belgaum Vaccine Depot is located in the heart of the city and spreads to about 100 acres. Vaccine Depot is a mini exotic forest and has about 3700 varieties of medicinal plants and has a potential to be preserved as a natural reserve. The site has lush greenery and a seasonal natural drain flows during rainy season and has potential for being developed as a landscape element. The site is a treasure of exotic flora and fauna.
There are 64 existing buildings out of which some of the buildings are nearly 100 years old. The buildings are used as offices of the District Health Officer and storage facilities for various vaccines.
 BUDA plans the proposed Heritage Park through Private Sector Participation (PSP) on an appropriate Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework.
The purpose for the development of the project is to preserve and portray Belgaum’s heritage.
To provide a platform for the city’s craftsmen to exhibit their art and also generate employment opportunities for the same.
To create urban green space for the citizens through the concept of “Community Park”.
The proposed Heritage Park would be an integrated campus to promote heritage, tourism development and create recreational space for the city as well as surrounding region.
The principle concept of the Heritage Park is one of sustainable development. The focus of the sustainable design process is to achieve an aesthetic response to the program, while minimizing the ecological footprint of the development and conserving the existing built form.
 The proposed heritage park shall have integral elements to promote art and culture blended with amusement related activities. Heritage Park is envisaged to cater to the needs of all age groups. The overall development of the area is envisaged in following zones:
Amusement, Hospitality, Cultural & Landscape Zone , General Facilities .
 The proposed facilities are Art Gallery, Museum, Heritage Centre, Club & Philatelic Centre.
Boating, hanging bridge, musical fountain, rose garden, water falls, Mini train, various other rides, a sports complex with indoor and outdoor and swimming pool etc would be developed as a part of landscaped Park.
The total Project Cost is estimated at around Rs. 26.2 Crore.
Belgaum needs such kind of a park and the govt. should take keen interest in developing this heritage park at the earliest. Infact it would be better if funds from the special grant of Rs.100 crore could be utilized here and the heritage park is completed at the earliest.