Touts create menace at stamp paper counter
4:08 PM Posted by ukmad
At the Ravivarpeth branch, they queue up at least two hours before the counter opens at 10.30 a.m. Some of them approach people standing in the queue with an offer to sell them stamp papers of any denomination for a fee of Rs. 25.
A senior official in the bank said that the bank was helpless and all its efforts to prevent sale of stamp papers by the touts had failed.
The only way solution to the problem was to have more counters that sell stamp papers, he said. The official said that despite the heavy rush for stamp papers and very few counters in the city, there was high pressure on the bank staff. It was for the police to check the menace of touts, he said.
Now look at this: The bank official is saying they cannot stop this as the counters are less and the staff has a lot of pressure. Why don’t they start giving stamp papers from more banks? Why aren't the timings for giving forms increased? The government should look into the matter and see that the stamp papers are made available from other banks also so that the touts have no leeway.
See original story: The Hindu
Congress Road in bad shape
4:30 PM Posted by ukmad
The Congress Road from Gogte Circle to Nanawadi Cross is in very bad shape. This part of the road is under the Cantonment for maintainece and nothing has been except for filling the potholes with bolders and mud. There are many such roads in town,I happened to get you this one.
See the small stones and gathered on the side of the road, best way to skid your vehicle
Congress Road Military Mahadev Junction. This particular spot was highlighted on this blog last year also, see here
Congress Road, Near Military Mahadev
Loose stones and mud gathered on the side of the road ( next to Military Mahadev) Best place to skid.
Gogte Circle, This pothole is in the center of the road if you are coming in from Congress road towards Gogte Circle.
Shobhan Bantwal: Stars of Belgaum
10:12 AM Posted by ukmad
Author of The Forbidden Daughter & THE DOWRY BRIDE, Shobhan Bantwal was born and brought up in Belgaum until she married and settled in USA.
She was born on July 2 and raised at BELGAUM along with her four sisters. Her father was a doctor and her mother worked as his office manager. She r
esided 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 Belgaumare very few and far between.She came to the United States in an arranged marriage in the mid 1970's. Her husband had been working and living in the U.S. for three years before they met. They have been happily married for 34 years and almost all those years they have been living in New Jersey. They have one married daughter and she has girl.
She now works for a government agency in the U.S. She took up freelance journalism and fiction writing as a hobby only a few years ago.
Kensington Publishing, an American publisher, released her first fiction book, THE DOWRY BRIDE, in September 2007 and her second book, THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER, was released last week, September 2008. Both novels are based in India and deal with contemporary social issues that have created a great deal of interest amongst American and Canadian readers who are fascinated with the subjects of dowry and gender-selective abortions.Although her books are not published in India, they are available throughAmazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, Flipkart.com, and a number of other on-linebooksellers and larger bookstores in Mumbai, Delhi, and most major cities.
She created a fictitious setting in her novels: a small town in southwestern India called Palgaum. She believed it would make an interesting and exotic backdrop for her book. However, it is loosely based on the town she grew up in. Whenever she was writing about the streets and the scenery, she had an image of her own town of Belgaum, except for the river. She felt a picturesque river scene would give the story more texture and romance, so she threw in a river, which my town doesn’t have.
She writes articles and short stories for a number of Indian-American and Indian publications including India Abroad, India Currents, Sulekha.com, DesiJournal.com, Little India, Kanara Saraswat, and New Woman India and Leaves magazines.
Some Praises for her book:
THE DOWRY BRIDE is "Remarkable...imaginative, packed with detail. Adroitly depicting passion, brutality, cultures in conflict. This novel is as engrossing as it is unusual." says Dorothy Garlock, Bestselling author
Bantwal takes a brave look at an old topic and delivers a piece of work that may just make an impact. Wonderful, Vivid, and Worth Reading!
---- BookIdeas
Links to her books
Source: An Email interview with her
Amazon.com
http://www.theromancereader.com/nf-bantwal.html
http://www.shobhanbantwal.com/
D B Naik(CEO ZP, Belgaum) raided by Lokayukta
10:12 AM Posted by ukmad
Simultaneous raids were conducted at Mr. Naik’s office, official residence, and his house at Vaibhav Nagar. Mr. Naik, a 1983-84 batch KAS officer, has served as Commissioner of Belgaum Urban Development Authority (BUDA) for more than four years.
The assets found were: A bungalow worth Rs.40 lakh in Vaibhav Nagar, 3 bungalows worth 15 lakhs in Gokak taluk, 2 bunglows in his brothers name, 25 acres of land in Gokak taluk worth 10 lakhs, 10 acres in Gunji worth 10 lakhs, guest house worth 25 lakhs in Mamdapur(Goakak) , one house in Malmaruti worth 3 lakhs 50 thousand and one land in Shindoli worth 3 lakhs.
Source :http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/12/stories/2008091253300300.htm
http://www.tarunbharat.com/EditionsNews.asp?daten=9/12/2008&id=9209
Commonwealth youth games Baton in Belgaum on 14th
4:59 PM Posted by ukmad
The baton relay of the Commonwealth youth games 2008 will have a city run on 14-09-2008.
Bibiano Fernandez: International Football Player, BRUNO COUTINHO winner of the Arjuna football award, Hakkimuddin S.H Olympian Swimming Player, JESMON J. CARVALHU Jr.International Football Player, LAVINO FERNANDES Jr.International Football Player, Micky Fernandes International Football Player, Ms Salma Fernandes International Football Player, Roberto Fernandes A.Games Football Player, SHILTON EUSEBIO Jr.International Football Player, Talasha Prabhu Winner of the SAF -Gold award, Tarini Singh International Football Player. All these will running with the baton.
New ray of hope for Belgaum Ring road
10:46 PM Posted by ukmad
At last, there is something happening concerning the Ring road, which has now become a necessity. The heavy vehicles traffic on Khanapur Road and Congress road and in the city would be diverted once this ring road is built. Hope this time tenders come in and some one commences work at the earliest.
Details of the Tender are available at http://www.eproc.karnataka.gov.in/.
No doubt this is an invite for only a detailed project report, we should hope it will be done at the earliest.
Belgaum did not miss the Bus
10:46 PM Posted by ukmad
Mohan V Kamat and Vijay R Kamat have tremendous experience in the business, who came up with their proposal for establishing the plant in Belgaum (ALMA MOTORS PVT. LTD. Survey No. 274, NH4A, Desur Village, Belgaum-Khanapur Road, Belgaum - 590 014)
The plants total capacity is of 10,000 vehicles per annum.The Group has set up two state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Zaheerabad in Andhra Pradesh and Belgaum in Karnataka involving considerable capital outlay having a combined production capacity in excess of 10,000 buses per annum, amongst the largest in the country.The company is specializes in coach buildings of Military Luxury standard and executive coaches on Leyland chassis. The company also makes interior FRP fabs for coaches.
These are fully integrated plants having comprehensive in-house supporting facilities for fibreglass components production, manufacture of seats and pressed parts.The manufacturing operations are ably complemented by a strong Design and Engineering Centre that provides critical inputs on design engineering/analysis, prototyping, testing and subsequent engineering for mass production. The Design Centre employs state-of-the-art software platforms for effective product development from Concept to Production in the shortest time cycle.Teams of experienced and well-trained professionals having first hand exposure to international bus design and manufacturing practices operate the Design and Engineering facilities as well as the Manufacturing plants.
In years to come Belgaum will regain its glory of being the mother of ancillary units.
Original Story Inspired from the Blog Belgaumnri
Industrial Corridor near Highways in Belgaum
1:06 PM Posted by ukmad
The central government has an aspiring industrial corridor plan & under the Delhi- Chennai industrial corridor, land survey is going on for 4000 acres from Nippani to Kittur on the NH 4 and NH4A.
The said industrial Corridor developed by the Central govt. in alliance with Japan & has to be built in 2008-2011. The main aim of this corridor is the overall industrial development and ease in logistics. The State govt. has to acquire lad and develop it and the central govt. will finance the project.
100 acres at Halga on the NH 4 has been reserved for Agri Food processing. 70 acres already allotted for a Textile park in Waghvade on the Belgaum – Khanapur road. 100 acres in Waghvade & 70 acres in Desur is for IT Park. 500 acres is being sought at Bhutramatti on the NH4 for Automobile component industry. 350 acres in Halbhavi will have a Chemical and Body building SEZ. In Vantmuri a SEZ has been planned in 2000 acres. 2500 acres has been identified for a Private Educational institute in Hattargi.
After reading this, I was amazed at the plans of the government. The plans have been planned in a much-planned manner. However, the question is will this be implemented in the time frame with all those farmer revolts against land acquisition. Infact Belgaum has seen a many of these revolts in the recent past. Sambra airport up gradation, then the Bellary Nala farmers protest against their land being taken and now the very recent Halga protest against the Site of Vidhan Soudha.
Tata's have almost said good-bye to Bengal after the land row in its Singur plant. If same kind of things happen here also, the industrialists will hesitate to come in and set shop. Industrial development is required but at what & whose Cost is the big question in front of me.
Low level of oxygen causes Thousands of Fish to die in Kotekere
10:03 AM Posted by ukmad
Low level of oxygen causes Thousands of Fish to die in KotekereFish were found dead in large numbers at the Kote Kere (or Fort Lake) here on Thursday. According to an estimate, nearly 10 tonnes of fish died in a period of just 24 hours since Wednesday. However, there were no fresh cases of death reported on Thursday.
The common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is the main variety of fish found in this lake. Yet, the Belgaum City Corporation, which had handed over the management and maintenance of the lake to a private contractor, has not informed the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) of the reasons for the disaster. The KSPCB has been monitoring water quality and other environmental aspects in and around the lake on a monthly basis.
One of the reasons could be due to the drop in dissolved oxygen level. A KSPCB official said that he had come on his own after one of his friends informed him about the incident in the morning. However, there was no information from the corporation. Fish start dying due to suffocation when the dissolved oxygen level in the water drops. In addition, there was no adequate harvesting of fish since more than a month because of Sravanamasa when all Hindus avoid consuming meat. The 10-day Ganeshotsava follows Sravanamasa.
Therefore, there was an apparent growth in the numbers of fish in the lake demanding more oxygen. Apart, the weather had been cloudy since about a week that also adversely affected the oxygen level.
Thanks to vavpatil@gmail.com for posting it first here on this blog on the chat box.
See original story on The Hindu
Ganesh decoration using FLEX in demand
5:47 PM Posted by ukmad
I will get you the most photos of the sarvajanik mandals in Belgaum, I wont be able to cover all the 347 but I should manage a few good ones for all of you.
Therefore, bookmark this post as the slideshow of the Ganesh darshan will be automatically updated daily. On the main page, also a small-scaled slide show will be published.
Share your Ganpati Bappa on Belgaumblog
10:22 PM Posted by ukmad
Belgaumites, here is a nice chance to all of you to share your Ganpati Images with other Belgaumites. Now, how to do it?
Simple! Email your pictures to
belgaumbloguday.ganpati@picasaweb.com
Nothing is simple as this.
Your photos will automatically show up in the slide show on the blog. See it here. (http://belgaumblog.com/2008/09/share-your-gan…on-belgaumblogshare-your-ganpati-bappa-on-belgaumblog/)
So, say Ganpati Bappa Morya!
Note: Keep the image size to a maximum size of 4 by 6 inches and resolution of 72. It might take more than 5-10 minutes for your photos to come up on the slide show.
Do not write anything in the mailbox part. Your Captions are not visible right now. So in this case, I would request you to add your name on the photo itself by using a Photo Editor software like Photoshop or similar.
Ganapati comes home with lots of enthusiasm
8:57 AM Posted by ukmad
The Lord Ganesha has now come into all homes 
by now.In the picture you can see Lord Ganesha being taken home with a lot of joy and sounds of fire crackers & Ganpati Bappa Morya !
The Sarvajanik Mandals will get their idols by the evening. There are 347 registered Mandals this year in Belgaum.
Ganpati Bappa Morya Belgaum
8:57 AM Posted by ukmad
Vidhana Soudha: Farmers asking for more compensation
10:08 AM Posted by ukmad
The prices of construction material have gone up by 10 to 15 per cent in the wholesale as well as retail markets during the past two years.
Added to the cost escalation factor is the fact that the farmers, who had given consent to handing over their land to the Government to set up the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, are now demanding four times the price they quoted last year.
The farmers of Halaga, the new site situated on the Pune-Bangalore Express Highway that was unanimously chosen by the high-level committee headed by Speaker Jagadish Shettar recently, have given written consent to hand over 60 acres of their land to facilitate the establishment of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.
The government offer for one acre of land was around Rs. 5 lakh, while the market value was much high. The cost of the land in and around Halaga would shoot up once construction work on the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha commences.
The actual estimates for the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha were not ready even though the Government invited tenders in September last, he said. The farmers, who had agreed for Rs. 5 lakh an acre more than a year ago when Halaga was one of the three venues proposed for setting up the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, were demanding at least Rs. 20 lakh an acre now.
Building of the Vidhan Soudha does not seem to be an easy task. Where ever the site is chosen there have been protests, against it from the farmers of that area. The government should solve the issue amicably with the farmers, as it is the question of their livelihood.
All the best to the Government.
See Original Story The Hindu
Belgaum Water tariff hike Update
10:14 AM Posted by ukmad
Official sources in the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board said here on Saturday that the Government had directed the local municipalities to fix fresh tariff for drinking water wherever the 24/7 project had been implemented.
This blog was the first put this tariff hike problem. The same has been explained in this story of The Hindu. I had posted this story as the pamphlets were being distributed all over those areas 24x7 supply exists. The proposal still needs Corporations approval & then why is that the Water board is distributing the pamphlets was a question raised by a few residents.
See Original Story on The Hindu
