Belgaum ring road map

12:47 PM Posted by ukmad


In my earlier posts, I had mentioned about Belgaum Ring Road and many had asked the map to know how it would be.
So here is the map. It is not to scale, it is just indicative in nature.

BJP, Sangh Parivar activists beat up Chief Engineer in Belgaum

7:40 AM Posted by ukmad

Source The Hindu
Accuse official of ‘showing disrespect to Hindu religion’

Attack: Police try to shield Chief Engineer of Irrigation S.S. Khanagavi from Sangh Parivar activists in Belgaum on Thursday.

In what could be termed as an “embarrassment” to the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in the State, the workers of the ruling party, Vishwa Hindu Parishat and other members of the Sangh Parivar, apparently led by BJP MLA Abhay Kumar Patil, beat up Chief Engineer of Irrigation, North Zone, Belgaum, S.S. Khanagavi in the presence of the police under the pretext of showing disrespect to “Hindu” religion.

Sporadic violence was reported on Thursday during the Bharat bandh” call given by the VHP over the land transfer issue to Amarnath shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, which evoked near-total response.
The attack on the senior State Government officer led to an instant protest with all the employees in the north zone coming out of their offices and raising slogans against Mr. Patil and demanding his unconditional apology for what they described as “most condemnable” and “uncivilised act.”

Karnataka Engineering Service Association president Shivanand Hugar announced that all the employees in the Irrigation in the north zone comprising the districts of Belgaum, Bijapur, Gadag and Bagalkot would stop office work from Thursday to protest against the incident. He hoped that engineers and other employees in other government departments would also protest against the attack on the senior official.

Mr. Khanagavi, who felt humiliated, refused to comment on the incident and returned home under police security after saying: “I have got the reward for my 35 years of service to the government and people of the State, that too from a Hindu organisation; its all God’s wish.” He denied of any personal differences with Mr. Patil, who the former said had come to his office for the first time.

But, sources in office told The Hindu that Mr.Patil had made phone call to Mr. Khanagavi during election campaign and just two days ago. Mr. Khanagavi, who refused to lodge a complaint, finally yielded to the pressure from his staff and lodged complaint with the APMC Police Station later in the evening.

The drama unfolded when a group of less than 100 left the main procession led jointly by BJP MP Suresh C. Angadi and Mr. Patil and marched to the Irrigation Office on Club Road. Four of them entered the chamber of Mr. Khanagavi and reportedly asked him to close the office in support of the bandh. When Mr. Khanagavi, who maintained that he cannot close the office and came out of his chamber to convey the same to other members of the group waiting outside, some of the group members allegedly pounced upon him and assaulted him. The police present at the spot managed to escort Mr. Khanagavi to his chamber. Then the group members shouted slogans and abused Mr. Khanagavi for allegedly abusing and hurting Hindu sentiments.

Mr. Patil made a dramatic appearance within moments after his supporters finished their job, took control over the group and staged a dharna demanding apology from Mr. Khanagavi.
After refusing to yield for half-an-hour and apparently persuaded by Superintendent of Police Hemant Nimbalkar, Mr. Khanagavi finally came out of his chamber and tendered his apology.
But, as Mr. Patil and his supporters dispersed, the irrigation department employees started expressing anger and started demanding apology from the MLA.

Belgaum Bandh successful

11:04 AM Posted by ukmad

The Belgaum bandh called by the VHP and Bajrang dal as a part of the nation wide bandh call today, the response has been almost 100%.

All the businesses are closed. The activists did try to close a few open shops and burnt tyres at Bogarves circle, but the police removed it immediately and restored the traffic. Small incidents of stone pelting happened. No major incident has been reported until now.

Belgaum Bandh on Thursday:Rohini Patil in Indian Judo team: Ravishankar new DC

10:17 AM Posted by ukmad

Bandh
The VHP-Bajrang Dal have called for a nation wide bandh tomorrow 3 rd July. Today the VHP and Bajrang Dal will take out a rally in protest of the J & K govt decision to take back the land allotted to Amarnath board. In a press release, they also said that Belgaum would be BANDH on thrusday as a part of the nation wide bandh called.

Belgaum Lad in Yemen
Rohini Patil will be representing India at the Asia Junior judo championship at Yemen.




Dr.G Ravishankar the new DC for Belgaum took his charge yesterday.

In the picture is Dr.G Ravishankar (Left) and presenting him the bouquet is the CEO of ZP N.Prabhakar. All photos from Tarun Bharat.

Belgaum Aniket in MTV ROADIES: Voting begins tonight

3:39 PM Posted by ukmad

MTV the popular music channel has organized Sony Ericsson MTV Roadies Battleground a reality show where the contestants had to do what ever

Aniket Halgekar a just 25 lad from Belgaum is part of the 14 contestants for the finals of the said event.

It is the longest running reality show with 5 seasons. Now Mtv has come up with India’s first ever-online reality show dat makes use of both, the media and the Internet.

There are 14 finalists selected from all over the globe out of 1 lakh plus contestants who participated in online GDs and Video Tasks. These 14 finalists will be competing over a span of 8 weeks and the finalists gets a direct entry in MTV HERO HONDA ROADIES 6.0 and a cash prize of 1 lakh rupees.

There will be 2 tasks given every week which the finalists will have to perform and send it to MTV. The Roadies community members will then vote for their favorites based on these tasks. The other finalists vote the person who gets the max vote for a task gets the immunity for the week and so cant out. Out of the remaining, two people leave the show through vote outs amongst the finalists.

Thus, the one who survives until the end gets the prize money. Since only the ROADIES community members can vote, one has to join the community first and then add an application to their profile. Only then they can vote.The link to the community that has to be joined is
and the link to the application that has to be added is
http://www.orkut.co.in/AppInfo.aspx?appUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fbattleground.mtvindia.com%2Froadies%2Froadies.xml&objs=&sn=

Therefore, friends, why do not we vote for a Belgaumite and make him win the MTV Roadies.
Voting starts from tonight, so come log on to orkut.com.



Did you know this?Basvan Galli Jain Temple

1:03 PM Posted by ukmad

Did you know this?

I am starting a new series on this blog. Did you know this?
We still do not know so many things. This is an effort to know it.

If any of you have some interesting info kindly, send it to ukmad@airtelmail.in

Information shared by Brmhananad Chipre:
http://kamalbasti.blogspot.com/

In Basvan Galli there is a Jain temple, the idol was brought from killa (the Belgaum fort).

The Britisher's were not allowing the idol to be shifted from the fort and hence to get the Idol, the local jain's took the idol as it was a dead person on their shoulders and the Britisher's thought it was a dead body and left it and the whole thing was done at mid night. The temple was later built there.

Belgaum Mayor seeks infrastructure fund

7:42 AM Posted by ukmad

Source The Hindu
Requests Chief Minister to speed up establishment of Apparel Park
The Mayor of Belgaum Prashanta Budavi and Rajya Sabha member Prabhakar B. Kore met the Chief Minister in Bangalore on Sunday and apprised him of the problems faced by the residents of the city.

According to sources, the Mayor asked for funds to improve roads and permission to start construction work on the Ring Road.

Ms. Budavi also requested the Chief Minister to speed up establishment of Apparel Park and IT Park announced by him at the special legislature session held in Belgaum city in September 2006.
She changed her stand on corporation commissioner P.A. Meghannavar and said that she would not insist on the latter’s transfer after the intervention of Mr. Kore and Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi in a meeting here on Saturday.

Social Justice Forum opposes Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on green belt

7:37 AM Posted by ukmad

Source The Hindu
SJF planning to move the Supreme Court
The area consists of 38 acres of deemed forest
Strongly opposing the move by the State Government to construct the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on a 50-acre land near the historical Vaccine Institute housed on a green belt around the city, the Social Justice Forum (SJF), led by industrialist Suresh Hundre, is seeking the construction of the Vidhan Soudha at an alternative site.
Case
The SJF, after having lost the case in the Karnataka High Court, is now planning to move the Supreme Court with a prayer to restrain the State Government from changing the “nature and identity of the vaccine depot campus” and seeking the construction of the Vidhan Soudha at an alternative site.
Concern
Sharing the concerns of SJF with The Hindu here on Sunday, Mr. Hundre said that the organisation would soon the take up the issue with the Supreme Court and try its best to protect the institute from being degraded concrete jungle.
He said since February 2004 SJF along with Save Vaccine Institute Action Committee (SVIAC) had been fighting to save the green belt, this was much before the idea of establishing the Vidhan Soudha here was even conceived.
Forest
The area consists of 38 acres of deemed forest. It is the unique shelter to 39 plant and 117 bird species.
With a ban on production of vaccine, the institute now houses the office of the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
The SJF has been demanding that the State Government establish an art complex and develop the area as a botanical garden for the benefit of students, environmentalists and to attract tourists.
Art complex
The former Development Commissioner for Northern Karnataka, Chirajiv Singh, in his letter to then Secretary of Urban Development Department, P. Ravikumar, in February 2004 had suggested to covert the depot into a museum and an art complex.
Mr. Hundre said that the main reason for the selection of government-owned vaccine depot for the construction of the Vidhan Soudha was to save money on acquiring private lands.

Confederation of Indian Industry focus on Belgaum

4:20 PM Posted by ukmad

Source www.chennaionline.com Link Contributed by Sundeep Sheri

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), southern region, will focus on a ten-point agenda and implement the key recommendations of 'Vision 2025' document towards making southern region a front-runner in socio-economic development.
''Skills and employability, infrastructure development, promotion of MSMEs, development of tier II and III cities, agriculture and education were some of the thrust areas to be focused on to accelerate the growth of southern states,'' CII Chairman, southern region, B V R Mohan Reddy told newspersons here today after unveiling the theme for the year - @ 75 - The Emerging Agenda.'

Dr Reddy said CII's initative would ensure that over 25,000 school dropouts in the southern states were trained on work skills and modular employable skills.It would adopt 92 ITIs in the region for upgradation through PPP scheme and train about 5,000 faculty members on 'soft skills' through industry-university consortium across the region, he said, adding it would also work for the introduction of 'soft skills' as choice-based credit system in 15 universities in and set up a skills academy at Chennai.'' Dr Reddy said CII believes that tier II and III cities such as Hosur, Erode, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Belgaum, and Kottayam were the new for investments and the growth engines of economy.

Middle-class feeling the heat of inflation

7:52 AM Posted by ukmad

Source The Hindu
Vijaykumar Patil
The poor remain out of focus; common man the most helpless

The common man has started feeling the heat of the ever-rising inflation, which the Government claims to have caused steep increase in the prices of fuel and subsequently of essential commodities. The common man is the most helpless with no alternative but to shell out more to buy essentials as it is him on whom the burden is passed on to, ultimately.

Traders wasted no time in increasing the prices of all essential commodities and edible oils. Private passenger transport operators have also increased ticket price and passed off the extra burden on the commuting public. Goods transporters are apparently not lagging behind.
In Belgaum city, where the cost of living is relatively higher than many other cities and towns in the State, the prices have further gone up. The middle class is finding it difficult to cope with the rise in expenditure as the prices of essential commodities, land value and house rent have all gone up. The poor families remain simply out of focus and remain harassed.

In addition to the fuel pumps and foodgrains/vegetable/fruit markets, one of the sectors where the heat of price rise is immediately felt is the hotel industry. As far as Belgaum city is concerned, the prices in all restaurants have gone up. The average increase is from 20 per cent to 50 per cent on all regular dishes on the menu.

Though the number of customers has marginally come down in a few hotels, the loss is well made good by the increased prices. In a popular hotel in the city, the situation has not affected its daily turnover because the management has “marginally” increased the prices of food items, from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 on idli, dosa, vada, puri bhaji and Rs. 5 on plate meals (from Rs. 40 to Rs. 45). The business continues to be as usual, says a senior staff of the hotel.

The prices in roadside chat and mobile tea stalls have also gone up. Vijay Dattaram Gaude, who runs a petty tea stall on Narvekar Galli in the city and arranges for door-delivery on a “missed call” on his mobile phone, has also increased the price from Rs. 2 to Rs. 2.50 for a small cup of tea. Whereas the same tea costs Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 in other canteens and cafes and restaurants.
Then, some hoteliers have been just more than shrewd and are taking the customer for a ride by not only increasing prices by Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 for each dish but also reducing quantity. Apparently, while traders continue to make profits, the common man continues to pay through his nose.
Interestingly, even invitations for tea from friends have come down.

Different names of Belgaum

4:06 PM Posted by ukmad

Source: http://kamalbasti.blogspot.com/
Mr Chipre is doing a great job for the reasearch.


No doubt India has different names, which we use them even today. India, Bharat and Hindustan all are the same. Similarly, Belgaum went through different name changes ever since the Ratta Dynasty started ruling this place.
Below are the names it achieved in the past history.
Jirnasitapura - Old Belgaum and Shahpur, the then Sapur were together called Jirnasitapura in the 7th Century. [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Vamsapura, it got this name when Queen Gunavati got a offspring from King Kuntamaraya. [ Refrence - Pg 140 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Venugrama or Velugrama or Ikshugrama was the name in 805 AD [ Refrence - Pg 862 of Karnataka State Gazetteer]
Venugram in 1199AD [ Refrence - Pg 862 of Karnataka State Gazetteer]
Azamnagar [ According to Mr. Strokes (Belgaum, 45), after the fall of bijapur, the fort of Belgaum remained for several years in possession of Aurangzeb's second son Azam and from him was called Azamnagar. This seems doubtful.
According to Orme (Historical Fragments, 286-287) Belgaum was called Azamnagar under the Bijapur Kings. Refrence - Pg 547 Bombay of Gazzattee]Mustafabad [ In memory of one of its Commandants or Killedars, who thoroughly repaired and strengthened the ramparts of the Belgaum Fort. Refrence - Pg 548 of Bombay Gazetteer ]Belagugrama to Belugav to Belgavi [ Refrence - Pg 500 of Bombay Gazetteer ]
Belgaum - in 16 or 17th Century when the British East India Company were unable to pronounce the word Belgavi, they changes the name as per their accent and called it as Belgaum.
Till date, this is what we know today but not to worry as the JD(S) and BJP led coalition Govt forwarded a list of District Names of the Karnataka State to get changed and sent it to the Central Congress Govt in 2006 on the eve of 50th Year of Independence of Karnataka State. So belgaum is expecetd to get back its name from Belgaum to Belgavi.
Belgavi expected to get its name soon in near future.

Othere places name changes that were also related to Belgaum were :-
Yalur [ Refrence Book A Legend of Old Belgaum, May 1875 Pg - 139.]
Yellur as we know it today.
Sapur in 11th Century [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Chapour in 1680 by the East India Company
Shahpur as we know it today.
Hrasvagiri in 11th Century [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]Anagola [ Refrence Pg 138 of The Indian Antiquary ]
Angol as we know it today.
Kondanur in 11th Century.
Konnur as we know it today



Unknown facts about Belgaum History

4:06 PM Posted by ukmad

This Story is taken from the http://kamalbasti.blogspot.com/
I would ask each of you to visit the blog. The contents on the said are enormous and the amount of effort put in by Bramhanand Chipre to make that blog is commendable.
How many of you knew this I Dont Know, for sure I did not know a thing about this.
From the Blog:

People don't know there is an Original Story behind Old Belgaum. But this story below will clarify your doubts.
How Belgaum was formed? Why the Jaina temples in Belgaum Fort were built?
Who built the Belgaum Fort? Etc . . . .

It is hard to believe, but the truth was written long back with evidences by a British writer GILMOUR M’CORKELL in his book THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.

He clearly tells that there were 108 Jain Temples in the premises of the present Belgaum Fort, which were demolished and overthrew by the then Musalman kings and ultimately with the same stone and pillars the Belgaum Fort as built. He also clearly mentions in the Book: Old Belgaum is said to have been found by a Jaina King

but the earliest notice that we have of it is to be found in the Gulhalli inscription 1150 AD."[ Reference Book A Legend of Old Belgaum, May 1875 Pg - 139 ].

A LEGEND OF OLD BELGAUMBy: GILMOUR M’CORKELL, Bo. C. S.

The Legend
There was a poet by name Sarasijabhavanandana, belonging to the ancient Jaina cast, and an inhabitant of Belgaum. He has composed in Old Kanarese language a short history of kings. Having, by means of rhetorical and an ornate Sanskrit expressions, applied such epithets as ripen as if they were plentiful given in the Karnataka Country, he has complied an account of Belgaum. In it we obtain full information of those kings who formerly were, their names, their good qualities, their castes, and the virtuous deeds that they preformed. And memorials of the acts which were done by those same kings are to be met with, even in the present day, in Belgaum, and are as written below :-

Sapur and Belgaum were formerly collectively called Jirnasitapura, and there lived there governor of the city of Samantapattana, whose name was Kuntamaraya, a Jaina by caste, very religious and compassionate. So the people had great joy and happiness. One day (it happened that) one hundred and eight Jaina sages, -- who had come from the South Country into the forest of Anagola, of which the name was formerly Hrasvagiri -- remained there all night, because their rules did not permit them to advance a single footstep during the darkness. When this news reached Kuntamaraya, the King, with the expressed assent of his wife Gunavati, went out to the sages and, having preformed respectful obeisance, besought them as follows :- “

Oh mighty saints, take pity upon me and bestow your favour upon me, so that my region may become famous.” But, as their custom was never to say anything at night, they held no converse with the king. Accordingly the king returned home in great despondency, (and, as he was going) sparks of fire fell from the torches, and the dry forest was set on fire, and all those sages were burnt to ashes.On the following day, in the early morning the king again went into the forest and saw all those Jaina sages had been consumed. When they saw this, both husband and wife were much terrified and began to consider. Accordingly there and then, he proposed a plan to Gunavati, where by these Jaina sages might attain the state of final emancipation, -- as follows: - “Let us bring stones and build 108 temples, and, when we have performed worship to them, I shall accomplish the propagation of offspring.” When he has so said, they returned home, and, and in accordance with the above plan, he caused to build 108 Jaina temples at that very place where are even at the present day some Jaina Temples in the Fort of Belgaum. After he had initiated into the mysteries of the Jaina faith and had reigned for some time, Gunavati at length became pregnant. And now, although he had been very anxious that his wife should have children, his dread of not having any offspring vanished. On this account he gave to Belgaum the name of Vamsapura. Now the word in Marathi for Vamsa is Bel. In this manner we arrive at the name Belgaum.

Afterwards they lived in Old Belgaum, Santa the son of Kuntam the king of Savantavadi, famous, deeply learned in the mysterious of the Jaina religion, thoroughly skilled in the worship of the gods of forefather, very brave, and lauded by prince who are born in the races of the Sun and Moon, a supporter of the rules of the faith of the Kshatriyas, a protector of Jaina sages, very skilful in bestowing on the temples of Jinendra that wealth which consists in courtesans, &c. He had fourteen wives. The chief of there wives, by name Padmavati, was very famous. She had a son by Santa named Anantavirya. One day, attended by his retinue of maid-servants, &c. he (Santa) went to the river Sundarsana near Yalur for the purpose of playing in the water, and in the lake of Nagasarovara he met his death by a thunderbolt. Then three ministers of state came from Savantavadi and crowned Anantavirya King. He also reigned according to the customs of his fathers. One day, many sages, along whom Sudarsana was the chief, arrived. When he has made respectful obeisance to them, Anantavirya inquired concerning his ancestors, and those sages recounted from their Puranas the above story in which has been related to fate of King Santa. Afterwards there was a king of his race and lineage by name Mallikarjuna. During his reign a famous Musalman by name Asta Khan (Asad Khan) came from Bengal, and, Asta Khan acquired the kingdom of treachery, he deposed him (Mallikarjuna), overthrew those one hundred and eight Jaina temples, and built a fort. Even at the present time we find stones (belonging to those in the fort).

Dosa- Rs.25 Idli Rs.15 Puri Bhaji- Rs.20 Tea- Rs.6; Belgaum

11:46 AM Posted by ukmad

Mouth-watering items but they are now making big holes in pockets.

As the inflation has peaked to a 13 year high, the prices of essential food commodities have also risen. In a city like Belgaum where going out to eat in hotels is very common the prices of dishes have increased alarmingly.

Take regular dishes like Idli, which used to cost you Rs.11 is now costing Rs.13 –15. Dosa, which was Rs.22, is now Rs.25. Uppit, pohe of Rs.6 are now Rs.10.

The same is the case with other items like pav Bhaji, now Rs.20. Tea, which was Rs.5 in a good hotel, will now cost you Rs.6. Even the small canteen where the tea was Rs.3 is now Rs.5.

Now lets make a move towards the bigger dining hotels. Here also the same story, the prices of dishes have been increased by Rs.10-15 per plate and in some places the prices have been increased by Rs.5 but the quantity has been reduced.

Now going out for dinner for two in a nice cozy place will at least need Rs.300 or more.

In all the pockets are getting bigger no doubt, but the prices of commodities are growing at a larger pace.

So the next time you call your friend for tea, you might just end up with tea and nothing else. Have a nice time…



75% of Goa’s vegetables still come from Belgaum

10:02 AM Posted by ukmad

Source Navhindtimes
The annual average production of vegetables in Goa has remained constant for past many years and is standing at 84,290 tonnes, which can fulfill only 25 to 30 per cent of the total vegetable requirement of the state.
The deputy director of the department of agriculture (farms), Mr V M Khandeparkar told ‘The Navhind Times’ on Tuesday that the remaining 70 to 75 per cent of the vegetable requirement is taken care of by regular supply from Belgaum. “At present, the total vegetable area cultivated in Goa is 8,213 hectare including 5,194 hectare of land cultivated during the Kharif season and 3,019 hectare land cultivated during Rabi season,” he informed, adding that the vegetable area under cultivation is also constant and not growing.
Speaking further, Mr Khandeparkar said that the average yield of vegetables in Goa is 10,263 kg per hectare. Stating that ladyfinger is the most appropriate summer crop of Goa, he maintained that though cabbage and cauliflower are also grown in small quantities, Goa has no low temperature climate as required by them and hence the heads of these vegetables remain undeveloped.
Normally, large varieties of vegetables are grown in Goa, Mr Khandeparkar stated pointing out, “They include cucumbits like cucumber, radish, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, snake gourd, ash gourd, pumpkin including its flowers, muskmelon, cluster bean and brinjal, besides baby corn and sweet corn.” He also maintained that leafy vegetables like red amaranthus are grown in Goa. Those vegetables which are not grown in Goa include potato, tomato, beetroot, carrot, French beans, green peas, Kashmiri mirchi and so on, Mr Khandeparkar added. While observing that vegetable cultivation is a profitable business, Mr Khandeparkar mentioned that very few people try their hand at it as the vegetables are perishable items and need to be sold as fast as possible after they are plucked. “The other reasons being not getting proper rate through the sale of vegetables and absence of storage facilities,” he pointed out.

Administrative work hit as corporation employees go on leave en masse

9:29 AM Posted by ukmad

Source The Hindu
UNHEALTHY DEVELOPMENT: The Belgaum City Corporation wore a deserted look on Monday when its employees went on leave.
People here now find themselves caught between the executive and the elected body of Belgaum City Corporation which is dogged by unhealthy politics.
With the corporation employees announcing an “indefinite leave” from Monday to express solidarity with municipal commissioner P.A. Meghannavar and to seek an apology from Mayor Prashanta Budavi for taking a unilateral decision on her demand for transfer of the former on Saturday, people had to return in disappointment without getting their works done at the corporation.

Except for Mr. Meghannavar, there was none working in any of the departments.
All the employees, under the banner of Belgaum Mahanagar Palika Naukarara Sangh, led by its president, Vijay Kottur, marched to the office of Regional Commissioner and submitted a memorandum in support of their demand. They also declared that they would not attend office work until the Mayor tendered her apology.

Ms. Budavi and floor leader of the ruling Kannada-Urdu group Sambhaji Patil had accused Mr. Meghannavar of behaving rudely with new corporators. Mr. Meghannavar was also accused of manipulating the “agenda” and allowing BJP MLA Abhay Kumar Patil to hold a meeting on the corporation premises without informing the Mayor.
Ms. Budavi had unilaterally announced that the council would demand the Government to shift Mr. Meghannavar and abruptly adjourned the general body meeting on Saturday. Interestingly, though the staff have criticised the Mayor’s unilateral announcement, they have not denied the charges made against Mr. Meghannavar.