now PVG to Pune

9:55 AM Posted by ukmad

Starting from today PVG has started Regular 2 by 1 buses daily to Pune.
Just one more way to reach Pune I Guess.

Let the Government seek a public mandate on Suvarna Vidhana Soudha

11:12 AM Posted by ukmad

From the DECCAN HERALD dt. 10 Nov.2007
 
Mushrooming of Soudhas: Modern blunders
By Gayathri Nivas
 
Let the govt ask Kannadigas and Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum if they want a roving Tuqhlak Durbar or development.
 
Speaking of modern blunders, the latest is the proposed Suvarna Vidhana Soudha at Belgaum. The previous H D Kumaraswamy Government promised to hold the winter session of the Karnataka Legislature in Belgaum every year and, hence, the plan for a permanent building. The foundation was laid at the 150-acre Tilakwadi Vaccine Depot site in Belgaum city on August 26, 2007. Tenders were called last week.

The reason for a seat of the legislature in Belgaum? To send a clear message to feuding neighbour Maharashtra that Belgaum is an integral part of Karnataka and also to alleviate the feeling of neglect among the people of Belgaum. Both these purposes should be served better through proper decentralisation of administration and devolution of funds rather than holding a brief legislature session.

On an average, the State legislature meets for 50 to 65 days in a year, divided into three sessions of varying duration depending on the business to be transacted. A State law stipulates that the legislature should sit for at least 60 days a year. The longest sitting of the State legislature so far was in 1972 for a period of 92 days.

As it is, the legislature wing of the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore, excepting the sections housing the legislature secretariat, remain locked and barred for at least 300 days a year to uphold the sanctity of the premises.

Shifting the legislature to Belgaum lock, stock and barrel every winter would mean keeping the legislature infrastructure in Bangalore idling for another month or so while incurring needless expenditure on travel and dearness allowances of the staff and legislators.
Will the Government also create a parallel multistorey building, the hub of all top Government officers, in Belgaum for running the session? Have these costs been computed? Needless to say, politicians need not chip in the money. At best, it will be a winter holiday on tax payers' money.

Already, Rs 250 crore has been committed in the 2007-08 budget for Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. In fact, a wedge has been driven between the Kannadiga and Marathi speaking people of Belgaum, the former ostensibly being in support of the Vidhana Soudha plan, while the latter firmly oppose it citing the pending Supreme Court case pertaining to the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) MLA from Uchgaon Manohar Kinekar says the MES will soon file a suit against disturbing  status quo in Belgaum. But the MES clout stands diminished with just two MLAs in the Assembly from seven to eight in the past. 

Admitting a mistake is tough and embarrassing for anyone, especially for a politician. But losing an election is even more unpleasant. Let the Government seek a public mandate on Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.
Now, to add to this we should also have a public mandate on which place the said Suvarna Vidhana Soudha should be built. The Vaccine depot is a green belt it falls in a complete residential area. Accessing the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha will cause a lot of hardships to the local and nearby public. 
My view on this is very clear. Let the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha be built in Belgaum, no harm in seeing your own money being spent in a grand manner where the people you vote and elect come and have some fun. BUT..... But not on Vaccine Depot, anyother place will do.
So Belgaumites lets take a mandate. Kindly vote on the front page of this blog or click here.

Tv Refgirator ..... A big hit

10:07 PM Posted by ukmad

These are pictures of decorated Buffalo's. All the milkmen decorate their Buffalo's and take out a procession with a band in front.
The day following the Amavasya is "Kartik Shuddh Padwa" and it is only on this day that the King Bali would come out of Pathal Loka and rule Bhulok as per the boon given by Lord Vishnu. Hence, it is also known as "Bali Padyami". This day also marks the coronation of King Vikramaditya and Vikaram-Samvat was started from this Padwa day. Padwa is symbolic of love and devotion between the wife and husband. On this day newly-married daughters with their husbands are invited for special meals and given presents. In olden days brothers went to fetch their sisters from their in-laws home for this important day. So many of you who are newly married or just married your sisters you must done it already.
This day is supposed to be very auspicious to buy new things and because of this new vehicles and especially new electronic items were purchased a lot. I in fact saw in every electronic shop the rush was commendable. People were just throwing themselves over each other to buy a TV , imagine that. The sale of Digital Cameras was also good a Retailer told me. In all it was a happy buying season for all you there. Tomorrow is Bhau Bij the last day of Diwali and all must be packing their bags or will read this only when they are back to work.
Getting to Belgaum during this peak time was very very costly. A cabin seat was costing Rs.600 a friend confirmed. A few who could not get any tickets then decided to take their cars out from Mumbai and Bangalore and decided to drive to Belgaum. Many of you might have done this just confirm.
My BLOG just completed 3 months and this blog has been visited 3,983 times. Thanks to you all.


Diwali Mess: breathe Smoke

8:32 PM Posted by ukmad



These pictures are taken after the burning of crackers in the city. Can you see anything, I could not. The firecrackers caused such air pollution that it was not possible to see anything and the it was very difficult to even breath. As the same were being blown off in the middle of the road the traffic was blocked for more than 15 minutes on one go. All the passers by were just keeping their hands on their ears and trying to pass by.


Vaccine Depot Bachao

7:40 AM Posted by ukmad

The Karnataka Govt. has issued advertisements in the various papers for the tender of the construction of the Suvarna Soudha. The said suvarna soudha will be built around 30000 Sq.Mtrs. The tenders have been called for the masterplan layout, overall building etc by the Executive engineer of the Dharwad Division.
http://belgaumblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/beginning-of-end.html
I have been covering this story since the beginning and my sole aim is to be with the Vaccine Depot Bachao Samiti. Belgaum should have a Suvarna Soudha, but not at Vaccine Depot. All the trees will get cut and the natural varisity will get destroyed.

All the nature lovers are planning to come together again and oppose the building of the Suvarna Soudha at Vaccine Depot. Earlier also many attempts have been made by the nature lovers but in a hasty decision the CM then laid the foundation stone. Come on Belgaumites we should save something we cant back once its destroyed. come join hands together ans say Vaccine Depot Bachao..

Happy Deepavali

7:35 AM Posted by ukmad


I wish all my readers a very Happy Deepavali.
On Deepavali and the coming year ...
May be you blessed with success, prosperity & Happiness!!!

I thank all the readers and viewers of this blog for encouraging me.

MAD MAD Shopping Shopping .......

10:02 PM Posted by ukmad

The roads of Belgaum were full of people. Especially the city area were full of people. All the roads leading towards the city like Kirloskar Road, Samadevi Galli, Khade Bazar were blocked by the Traffic police for entry of 4 wheelers. The Shahpur area also witnessed the same rush of people busy shopping for Diwali. As this was the last Sunday before Diwali the rush was very heavy.

News Briefs:
Robbers took away 15 kgs of silver ware from the Mahalaxmi temple from Hindwadi. The value is estimated to be around 15 lakhs. The robbers entered from the behind of the temple by cutting the grill of the window. It is suspected that a small child may have been used to enter inside the temple.

Wear Helmets: The police have again made it strict again to check the use of helmets. On saturday almost 800 cases were registered and around 80,000 fine was receovered.

Nothing Changes for the railways

10:58 AM Posted by ukmad

The Belgaum railway station is undergoing a makeover. The platform has been enlarged to accommodate 24 bogies and also the height of the platform has been increased.

A new Coach Guidance System has been put in place since 21-03-2007, the system where in you come to know where your bogie will actually come. This was a demand from a long time from Belgaumites. But I was not surprised to see that even when a new train came the old train no and its bogie numbers never changed. Of what use is this system then? I was waiting for Haripriya Express and the Coach guidance system was showing me Garib Nawz express. The railways spend so much money on putting in place these systems then why is that they don’t function as they have to.

Digital clocks have also been installed and to my surprise they were showing correct time and also the old analog clocks were more surprisingly also were showing the correct time.

One thing, which I observed was that, all the tress at the entrance gate was been chopped off. May be it’s a part of the make over of the station.

Someone on the forums page on this blog has added a new plan for Belgaum railway station here is the link to it http://belgaumblog.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=88
I did try to contact the person who put it up but I got no response.

Mr Ramesh Kudchi you are a Public Servant: From Belgaum Concerns

10:58 AM Posted by ukmad

"The below story says how our MLA's greed for publicity turns their attitude inhuman, what if the name was not mentioned in the invitation list, these poor ladies would have given good wishes to you , but Mr Kudchi take the curse now"

BELGAUM: Hundreds of women who had brought their new born babies to get Delivery Kits returned home empty hand. The function organised to issue the kits under Madilu scheme was indefinitely postponed following the objections by city MLA Ramesh Kudachi. Read Full Story

Shri Thanedar A Belgaumite and his US based Chemir Analytical Services: From Belgaum Concerns

10:58 AM Posted by ukmad

Shri Thanedar A chemist from modest origins creates a formidable analytical testing business Source Cyanta Analytical Laboratories (http://www.cyanta.com)
Shri Thanedar's journey from a poor childhood in India to the helm of a group of chemistry-based companies is a classic American dream story. And with a recent custom synthesis acquisition and the formation of a new pharmaceutical services company, it's a continuing story as well. Thanedar's flagship firm is Chemir Analytical Services, a suburban St. Louis provider of industrial problem-solving and analytical testing services. Combined, his companies are expected to have sales this year of $24 million; Thanedar is targeting $60 million in sales by 2009.
Growing up in Belgaum, India, some 300 miles south of what was then called Bombay, the idea of one day running a multi-million-dollar American enterprise was no doubt quite improbable to Thanedar. The oldest boy among nine siblings, his immediate concern was helping feed his family. Read Full Story........
This story is taken from our Associate Blog http://www.belgaumnri.blogspot.com/

Thunder Showers hit Belgaum

7:21 PM Posted by ukmad

Its 7pm and LOUD Thunder showers have hit Belgaum city. The showers are not very heavy like yesterday but still all were caught in a surprise.

Half BANDH Half Chalu

12:19 PM Posted by ukmad

Yes the Bandh call has given a mixed response, but the 100% response is seen in the market place where the people are scarce in number than everyday. All the business men are all using this time to wash and clean their shops for diwali.


The picture is from Katives area where the procession of the Rajostav celebrations is going on. You can see the youth dancing on Kannada songs.

Rains at last have hit on the eve of an annual bandh call

4:31 PM Posted by ukmad

Yes after 3-4 days of hide and seek of the sun and rain today at last @ 1631 hours the rains have hit Belgaum. Though the intensity is not so much but has taken a many by surprise. Rains here are due to the cyclonic condition over the Bay of Bengal, which brings monsoon showers in Tamil Nadu. Bangalore was receiving rains daily and today is our day. It has taken me 7 minutes or so to write this but the rain is pouring cats and dogs and it’s become very dark.

In this image you can see how street sellers were caught by surprise by the rain, also seen are school children.

in the second image you can see two old people awaiting the rain to go. and also seen is the rain.







Tomorrow is the 1st of November, Rajostav day and Kala “Black Day” as it is observed by the marathi people, or should I rather say by a few marathi people. As usual a Bandh call has been given which is nothing new for we Belgaumites.
These days are the days of festivals Diwali is on the face and by calling for a Bandh only the businessmen get hit. Infact the sales have been a mediocre says a businessman I spoke to and he said now that all have got their salaries and bonuses we can expect a good sale in the next 10 days or so, but this kind of a bandh call will hit it he added. People coming in from taluka places will avoid coming tomorrow and hence this outlook.

Farmers say don’t take our land

5:01 PM Posted by ukmad




The farmers near to the Bellary nala on the NH 4 gathered in Bogarves and took a procession to meet the DC and give their memorandum. Shri Vilas Pawar was leading this protest. I have just tried to locate it may be it is not excat.

The farmers allege that their 14 acre fertile land is being overtaken by the KAIDB(Karnataka Industries Board) unwillingly and unlawfully. The 14-acre area has been declared has been declared as a "Green Belt" by the BUDA. (Belgaum urban Development authority) The said 14 acres of over hundreds of farmers is being taken by the KAIDB for industrial purposes but the way it has been done is very wrong. A BJP MLA is supposed to have around 5 acres of land near these 14 acres and the farmers allege that he is the king pin behind all this.

See the manner in which the said land has been acquired:
6th December 2006 in Bangalore the KAIDB issued the Gazette
8th December 2006 The KAIDB Dharwad Office makes a note of the same
13th December 2006 Farmers get notices
14th December 2006 gets Diary approval
18th December 2006 invitation for meeting of farmers with KAIDB authorities
All the farmers got the notices only after 20th December 2006
Notices were not published in any newspapers

The farmers have put a writ petition against this in the Karnataka High Court and the court has as usual taken time to study.

The best thing is that the name of KIADB is already mentioned in the Land records.
As it’s a green belt there cannot be any industrial activities in this belt, but the government is trying to acquire fertile land for industrial purposes. What happened in Singur and Nandigram in WB were also on the same lines but seeing the huge protests even Tata had to step back.

The farmers are getting 1.41 lakhs per gunta now when the on going rate is 1.75 lakhs per gunta. The farmers say we don’t want money you will give us 2 lakhs but they say we want our land that’s it we will toil and earn.

This sort of acquisition of green belt will harm the city and the country as a whole. There is plenty of empty land near by the Bellary nala which can be utilized for industrial purposes but that’s not been done only for the cause of some politicians. Come on India be big Sensex hits 20000 and the farmers are getting out of their own land. What a Shame? May be this will stop may another Singur Agitation is required with some blood shed then only will the govt. take it seriously.

Shri Pant Maharaj Punya Tithi

2:44 PM Posted by ukmad

SriKhestra Pant Balekundri. The potrait of Shir pant Maharaj
The plakhi of Shri Pant Maharaj was held yesterday in Sri Khestra Pant Balekundri. Lakhs of devotees had come for the occassion. Today, monday will be the Mahaprasad. All these are part of the yearly Punya Tithi celebrations.