Wow!! My mobile number won 850000USD, when I got the SMS I was amazed at not the amount or me winning; but at how I got this message, which literally means my mobile has been stolen from somewhere. The best part is you don’t get a number to reply to the sms.

Many of you must have also received similar kinds of SMS or emails like Microsoft Lottery, UK Lottery or from Kenya asking for your address, phone numbers etc.

When someone contacts them, you are asked to send some money for all formalities, which is in lakhs, and some fools do pay it thinking they have won.

These are all FAKE sms and emails part of a online scamsetrs who are making use of internet and mobile telephony for getting people into their grip.

Never respond such messages or emails. Just think who will pay you 850000USD?

Jago Grahak Jago!

Source: Rajasthna Patrika by Prakash Bilgoji

In a sting operation undertaken by reporter of Patrika Mr.Prakash Bilgoji at the Belgaum railway station, a railway police cop was caught on camera accepting money.

Numerous people go to the railway station to leave someone or otherwise and there are a few railway police cops who collect money for no reason. Daily collection is about Rs.2000 from the visitors. You are not given a challan or a receipt but just asked to pay a fine, so one can understand where this money goes. Similar complaints have been made earlier as well, but no one went to the root of it.

Rajesh Sutar who was there to leave his friend had to pay Rs.300 as the cop Krishnamurthy asked for his license and other documents etc inside station premises.

The authorities have sleeked more information on this and will taken action soon. SP Sonia Narang said that, no local police or traffic constables are deployed at the railway station, it is the GRP who is in charge of this.

Blame it on Climate change or god’s grace, as you may take it, Belgaum is getting back to as a poor man’s hill station. The temperature in past couple of days has gone down drastically. On 22^nd January minimum temperature was 9 °C.

See graph for January comparison as to how sudden the fall in temperature has been. Temperatures early morning and late night drop heavily.

The day temperatures are also below 21°C and today’s current temperature while posting this story is 21°C Degrees at 1.30pm. Even at this time of the day one can feel the cold and cold breeze.

For visitors, one can roam about and do shopping in this ideal weather.

The average January temperature over the year: High: 29.0 °C Low: 15.0 °C

In Bhatkande sports Academy organized MLA Sanjay Patil T20 Belgaum champions’ league being played at the CpEd. Ground, Nasco Royals and Potdar royals won their opening matches on day one of the event.

Vardraj Super Kings Vs Nasco Royals

Vardraj Super Kings batting first scored 131 for loss 7 wickets in 20 overs.

Nasco Royals scored the required runs in 13.3 overs. Aatif Wadoo of Nasco Royals scored the first century of BCL and was declared the man of the match.

Potdar royals Vs Sri Sai Sports Gladiators

Potdar Royals batting first scored 150 for 7 in 20 overs.

In reply, Sri Sai Sports Gladiators could only score 145 for loss of 7 wickets and Potdar royals own the match by 5 runs.

On Republic day, 26 January 2010 at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Belgaum branch, a “Renovated and Air Conditioned Shivangi- Marathe Auditorium” will be inaugurated at the hands of CA. Uttam Prakash Agarwal President, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

The inauguration will be held at 1.15 pm at the ICAI branch Swaroop Plaza, Tlakwadi.

CA. K Raghu (Central Council Member) & CA. M.Devaraja Reddy (Chairman SIRC of ICAI) will be the Guests of honor for this inauguration.

By Gangadhar S Patil

Twenty years ago when the Aruna Roy organized the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan to fight for poor peasants and rural labourers in a remote village of Rajsamand district in Rajasthan, demanding the right to know often came at a heavy price. Sadly not much has changed. The recent murder of Satish Shetty, 38, a right to information (RTI) activist on January 13 in Pune underscores how, despite the enactment of a law to ensure the freedom of information, activists who seek to use its provisions are soft targets for criminals and corrupt officials.

Satish Shetty had a Belgaum connection as well. His father was in Belgaum for quite some time and then later shifted to Pune.

The nationwide RTI movement forced the enactment of the legislation of Freedom of Information (FIO) Act in 2002 and subsequently the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005. Over 50 countries now have freedom of information laws and another 15-20 are actively considering adopting one. The right to freedom of information derives primarily from the guarantee of freedom of expression found in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

But with increasing use of RTI to expose corruption and maladministration, the threat to activists only grows. Shetty’s murder evokes horrific memories of the murders of Satyendra Dubey, an engineer of National Highway Authority of India and Manjunath Shanmugam, an Indian Oil Corporation executive, both killed for exposing criminals. Last year Venkatesh, another RTI activist, was murdered in Bangalore. He had sought information about encroachment on Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike land.

Ashok Halgalli (from Belgaum), an advocate is the first RTI activist to get police protection after seeking information about the assets of an IAS officer. He says “If security is required for RTI activists, it shall be given to them immediately without any delay.” One possible way to protect the RTI activist would be to inform the police authority in advance in sensitive cases, feels J S D Pani, an RTI activist.

“Corrupt public servants have not only kept a large population very poor but are also directly responsible for many deaths,” saysJayashree J N, an RTI activist from Bangalore. Unfortunately as the corrupt are in a majority, she adds, we are in a situation where seeking protection is meaningless, as the people who have to protect us are the very people creating the problem. Y. G. Muralidharan, an RTI and consumer rights advocate says activists can easily be protected provided their identity is not disclosed. This was not adhered to in Satyendra Dubey’s case.

The Act has become the most important tool in the hand of the common man. It has in fact helped people’s movements for social, economic and political justice. Whether it is the recent judgment of Delhi High Court bringing the Chief Justice of India under the purview of RTI or the India Today reporter who filed 59 RTIs to reveal how UPA ministers had made 786 foreign trips in just three and a half years and spent a minor fortune on their travels.

The very logic of the RTI would suggest that the time has come to legally protect “whistleblowers” or those who seek to expose wrongdoing. The Law Commission, the National Human Rights Commission and the Administrative Reforms Commission have all recommended such a law. After all, a government legally bound to protect the freedom of information and also has a duty to protect those who seek to exercise it.

The Then and Now series is one in which you can co relate present times with that of history.

Here is one more in this series.

The Chikki Basadi [Jain Temple] near the Kamal Basti in the Fort.

THENPhotos searched by: Sahir Kittur

NOW:

Photos: http://kamalbasti.blogspot.com/

Tilakwadi police arrested a youth from New Delhi and seized Rs 21 lakh cash and 100-gram gold from him on Wednesday.

Sources said Jatin Sikandar Chabra was here to return money to the people in a bid to prevent them from filing complaints with the police.
A woman from a well-known family was also with Chabra at the time of the arrest. Originally, Chabra is from Delhi but has his business in Surat. He was unable to tell the police how and why he had bought so much cash along with him.

Police are interrogating the case and have access to his bank accounts to get a lead.

Live coverage: opening ceremony still in progress. 6.10pm.

Bhatkande sports Academy organized MLA Sanjay Patil T20 Belgaum champions’ league was opened in a grand manner at the CpEd. Ground.

Daily two matches will be played first match at 9 am and second match at 1pm.

Matches will commence from 23^rd January and finals will be played on 7^thFebruary.

Various Teams in the League.

MLA Sanjay Patil T20 Belgaum champions league

Amrut Aqua Dolphin

Zevar Gallery Diamond

Vardraj Super Kings

Potdar foundation Jewelers

Sri Sai Sports Gladiators

Victorious Lions

Nasco Royals

Gold Museum Crown

Photos: UkMaD

Belgaum sky scrapers identify this structure Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest tower with around 124 floors and this might be Belgaum's tallest.Now you identify where and what this structure is?This building has G+ 8 floors.This structure was supposed to be complete by April 2008 and still may take over 6 months for completion.

All must be aware of Cable wars in Metros and especially cities like Mumbai. Now this Cable war has hit your calm peaceful town of Belgaum.

In Belgaum, for over a decade there has been a single Multi system operator (MSO) running the show. Many smaller players merged their networks with the big fish.

There were attempts by others to start a MSO but did not succeed.

Now a new MSO Vardraj Cable network (owned by Rajesh Jadhav) is trying to enter the market and over the past couple of months, there have been various incidents of small incidents of cutting cable wire by both parties, use of abusive language against each other etc.

To peak it, Vardraj is planning to start its own news channel in Belgaum and its head Rajdil Jamadar was beaten up badly by unknown people yesterday near Anadwadi.

The miscreants asked him to get down from his bike and beat him with hockey sticks and rods; he was admitted to KLE hospital with critical wounds on his head.