Indica car of a retired Police officer turned into ashes yesterday at Basav Colony.

The driver had a foul smell and he immediately came out of the car and called the police immediately and the fire brigade, but the fire birgade number was not being answered.

The car started to burn but all were waiting for the fire brigade to come. The car caught fire at 3.30 pm but the fire fighters came to the spot after a hour and half when the ashes of the car were remaining.

The people on the spot also tried to call the fire department but there was no response.

Photo: Shrey R Dhanawadkar

It is august and most colleges will be working to full strength (with students in the college campus and few in the classes as well).
In olden days the month of July would mean a lot activity in college as there would be the Elections of the class representatives and then the General Secretary (GS) of the college.
I have been lucky to see for my self these kind of elections in my first year of college and also was witness to its bad side.
From past many years the elections have been stopped and now the Selection method has been adopted by all colleges. Aspiring candidates can nominate themselves and then the selection process takes place by an interview.
The colleges feel this is a safe and a better way of doing this. The students on the other hand feel they are loosing the ho-halla and enjoyment of an election.
Earlier there used to be yearly exams but now most of the courses are semester based so the time available for such activities has come down.
During the election time, the atmosphere in the college used to be very heated and incidents of beating, kidnapping, threating were common. To avoid any such untoward incident the colleges decided to go by the selection process.
The older lot reading this story will have memories refreshed of their college times and elections but the younger ones who haven't seen that surely missed a lot.
But with changing times, things change and this is one more part of the change.

On 4th September 2010, Belgaum Next is organizing a Symposium on Sustainable Development of Belgaum City.
Papers have been invited from Experts from Belgaum who have knowledge/experience in any of the above areas in the context of Belgaum City.
The papers may be sent by email to belgaumnext@gmail.com

 Belgaum Next is a people’s endeavor to bridge the gap between good and bad governance on the strength of an open citizen’s platform and is steered by passionate people from across Industry, government, academia and other organizations. The platform stands for one voice that is focused on one agenda: the all round development of our city.
 Eminent Local and Global experts will present papers on the following aspects:
 1. Water: augmentation of supplies and efficient distribution.
2. Power quality of, and severance from its carbon base.
3. Solid waste Management Present issues, solutions and public awareness
4. Transportation and Traffic Flow Development of Hub and Spoke model for roads, and improvement of public and mass transit system.
5. Infrastructure to attract investments planning and creation of basic infrastructure to attract investments for employment generating industries in areas where Belgaum has inherent advantages.
6. Urban Renewal Remodeling and Beautification of the City.
7. Planning sustainable neighborhoods new and evolving systems in town planning on a sustainable model.
8. Public Participation in development and decision making process

Guidelines:

The paper should be attached as a Word Document should not exceed 4 pages in A4 size
The paper should be Belgaum-centric
Name and contact details of the author should be stated.

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