On August 2, 2010 many news papers and I am quoting TOI here, in which Minister for large and medium industries, Murugesh Nirani was quoted saying that Mahindra and Mahindra and few other industries have expressed their willingness to establish their units at Dharwad.
The Hindu on same day, published this “While the Mahindra and Mahindra had agreed to set up their unit at Belgaum”
Mahindra and Mahindra company has the largest OEM from tractor engines to allied auto castings based in Belgaum. These components supplied by manufactures based in Belgaum and are direct standards of Mahindra QC standards, so Belgaum is a much obvious choice of Mahindra’s. Government of Karnataka should take interest in brining big names of foundry industries in proposed 500 acre foundry park near Machhe for international supplies, and give a support to local foundry industries to have joint venture for future entrepreneur developments in Belgaum , or else what is the use of establishing foundry cluster and including Belgaum for development of Automobile industry belt in Suvarna Karnataka industrial Policy.
From the news coverage it seems that the minister is not happy with the Mahindra unit being established in Belgaum and he is busy telling that even Mahindra is coming to Dharwad.
With inputs from Satish Kumar.

Here are the lucky winners of the Zaika and Subhash Photos Give away:
Winner of Zaika voucher of Rs.500
Fahim Bepari – beparifahim at gmail.com
Winner of a personalised Photo Mug is
Pallavi Dhotre
Congrats to the winners.

St.Pauls won the 31^st Royceton memorial cup today, they beat Marathi Vidya Niketan by 2 goals to nil.
It was jam packed hostel ground with excitement to its fullest. Young and old both were there to cheer their teams.

In spite of good rains and relief from power cuts for about 15 days, HESCOM is back with its routine load shedding of SIX hours in city and 12 hours in rural areas.
Load shedding is necessary as there are problems with the power production.
Belgaum is getting about 90 MW where it actually needs 120 MW.

After the avid success of AllAboutBelgaum.com, AAB and DotCord IT solutions have come together to float a new platform for the people of Belgaum.

We call it VOICEOFBELGAUM.COM

The very name says it all, this will be a platform all Belgaumites to raise their voices on various matters on a single platform. We dont flatter ourselves with this, but we hope to get a platform where people will come and review, share and exchange their ideas.

What can be done on the site:
Reviews of various products and services
Business listing (will be launched shortly)
Discussion forums
Classifieds
Social networking with sharing of photos, videos, status updates etc.
and many more will added with time.
 Now a question to everyones mind why another website, yes Voice of Belgaum in future can in real be the voice of people of Belgaum and time will come when all will have to adhere to this voice.

AAB and DotCord have joined hands in this case not for money, but to give Belgaumites a voice, a platform on which they can share what they feel and also at the same time come together for making a better Belgaum.

H1N1 influenza, Swine flu is back. Since January 111 swab tests were conducted and 49 were found positive with H1N1 virus. Two deaths were reported among them.
Today 2 more women were detected positive for H1N1 aged 45 and 40, one of them is from Belgaum and the other from Mavinkatti.

Bharatesh Education Trust’s Global Business School has organized a unique seminar for MBA aspirants, named ‘Jagruti 2010’. This seminar aims to guide students about the current management education scenario as well as educate them about the various streams available for MBA education and the prospects thereof, various career options available in today’s world, etc. It will also help students understand what an MBA is about, how to choose the right institution and what to look for while making a choice.
The seminar is scheduled on Sunday 8th August between 2 to 6 p.m. at The Banquet Hall, Hotel Sankam Residency, Airport Road, New Gandhinagar, Belgaum.
Considering the fact that there are very few Management Schools in North Karnataka, a student desiring to pursue an MBA degree has to go to other states or even other parts of the country for quality Management Education. With a host of management degrees to choose from like MBA, PGDM or part time courses like Executive MBA, Distance Education Programs, etc., the students may not be aware of the authenticity of the program or institutes offering them. There is a chance that they may end up disappointed. Students and parents seek guidance for all these matters from experts.
The seminar is free and is open to all graduates/ undergraduates from any stream (Science, Commerce, Arts, Engineering, Pharmacy, etc.) who wish to pursue an MBA after graduation. Fresh graduates who have already appeared for PGCET/KMAT or other management entrance exams will also benefit immensely from this seminar. Parents of students are also encouraged to attend the same.
The seminar will be addressed by a chosen panel of Dr. A. H. Chachadi- Sr. Faculty- Kousali Institute of Management Studies- Dharwad, Prof. V. K. Malali- Retd. Principal- RLS College, Belgaum, Shri. Gopal Jinagouda-MD, Jinabakul Forge, Belgaum, Shri Amit Soundalgekar- Corporate Trainer, Belgaum.
Contact the following number for registration - 0831- 2421513.

The New Indian Express wrote about AAB today in its Belgaum edition on Page 3.

In view of the fact that the Belgaum Catholic Co-operative Bank Ltd., Belgaum had ceased to be solvent, all efforts to revive it in close consultation with the Government of Karnataka had failed and the depositors of the bank were being inconvenienced by continued uncertainty, the Reserve Bank of India delivered the order canceling its licence to the bank after the close of business on August 03, 2010. The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Karnataka has also been requested to issue an order for winding up of the bank and appoint a Liquidator for the bank. It may be highlighted that on liquidation every depositor is entitled to repayment of his deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs.1,00,000/- from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
The bank was granted licence by Reserve Bank of India on December 23, 1986 to commence banking business. The statutory inspection conducted by Reserve Bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2005 revealed several disquieting features in the functioning of the bank. The bank was classified as Grade IV and was placed under operational instructions banning accepting of fresh deposits and premature withdrawal of term deposits, etc. The next inspection conducted with reference to position as on March 31, 2006 revealed that the financial position continued to deteriorate and the operational instruction issued were continued.
Consequent on cancellation of its licence, Belgaum Catholic Co-operative Bank Ltd., Belgaum, (Karnataka) is prohibited from carrying on 'banking business' as defined in Section 5(b) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949(AACS) including acceptance and repayment of deposits.

For the past few years and few days to be very specific, Belgaum has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
This was not always so.
There was an earlier period when Belgaum was frequently in the news for all the right reasons.
For a hundred years, from the Kittur uprising of 1824 to the 39th Session of the Indian National Congress of 1924, Belgaum featured in the national news for its role as a catalyst to the freedom struggle.
We now propose to harness some of the positive energy of this earlier epoch to bring to the people of Belgaum a type of development that they rightfully deserve.
To understand this ‘birthright’ of the Belgaum people it may be necessary to cast a brief backward glance at history.
 The Age of Imperialism was brought to its close not by a single blow delivered by a towering figure, but by a series of small blows delivered to the body of the far flung Empire. It was akin to the numerous small tears that the hull of the ‘Titanic’ suffered in its collision with the iceberg – the tears that collectively sunk the ‘unsinkable’ ship.
One of the first blows delivered to the ‘invincible’ British Empire was in Kittur, near Belgaum in 1824.
Raising the banner of self-rule, Rani Chanamma resorted to direct action and eventually killed several English Officers including the then Collector, Mr. Thackeray and the Assistant Collector, Mr. Munro. The reverberation of this rebellion were felt throughout Belgaum District which began to propel the people here powerfully to seek freedom.
In 1857, one person by the name of Munshi serving in the British Army, began to galvanize Sepoys stationed in Belgaum Fort, but the rebellion was stubbed out and five of the rebels were hung and five others sentenced to life imprisonment. Subsequently one Manipal Singh was arrested on 23rd August 1857 for stirring up a rebellion against the British and hanged. Bhaskar Rao ‘Babasaheb’ Nargundkar, the famous revolutionary, was taken from Belgaum Fort to Haystacks Hill outside the city and hanged in public on 16th June 1858.
Before founding the Indian National Congress in 1885, Allen Hume visited Belgaum in 1883 and met the intelligentsia here, prominent amongst whom were the lawyers Vishnupant Natu and Bhate.
 By Nitin Khot
 Contd......
From the 8^th of August until 15^th of August some never before seen pictures of a great event in history will be showcased, so dont miss that.

With the global economy booming and the luxury becoming necessities, the real estate market has seen a boom in major cities of the world and India as well.
After a slow down in the US and also a saturation in the metros, the developers from these places began eying the tier II and tier III cities.
 One among them is Adam Realty partners, a Mumbai based developer which was envisaged by Raj Bhandari who has a 26 year veteran in real estate in USA and India.
Th Adam team brings extensive experience in real estate development, master planning, construction, project management including with some of the leading companies in USA, Europe and India.
 The Adam team is building a gated community at Nanawadi on 12 acres. The community will have nearly 200 bungalows, sky villas and apartments. This will also consist of a 12000 sqft. Club house with swimming pool, 4000 sqft. Gymnasium, game rooms, business center, guests rooms and more.
This community will have some world class amenities the Firsts in Belgaum city. Acres of landscaped land with walking paths and play grounds and lush greenery in the surroundings.




BellaVista which in Spanish means “beautiful sight”. The current project site atNanawadi, which is near to the city and yet clean & green is a correct representation of BellaVista.
All the homes are Vastu complaint and will have some never before seen features like island kitchen, 24x7 full power backup and security.
The Belgaum Project is carried on with association with Vega and B.K.Joshi is the architect.
 Casa Bella – a Beautiful independent bungalow with a option of 3 & 4 bedroom layout from 2655 to 2836 sqft area.

Casa Grande – a Large bungalows with custom design with 4000 sqft and above area.

Sky Villa – This is first in Belgaum with One villa per floor with private elevators and entrance and one can have beautiful views from all sides.
Sky Villa Duo – This will have twin tower with one villa per floor for upto 3 bed rooms with private elevators and entrance to each villa.

Venetia- are duplex row houses with about 1800 sqft, a cosmopolitan style house.

Bella Torre- Apartments with 2/3 BHK but No common wall between apartment and large open views.

The construction on the project has commenced and Mr.Glen Bond is on the site as the Chief quality engineer who has 37 years of experience in home building and has all USA based licenses in all areas of home constructing.
All the construction is being carried out bu making use of international tools and construction methods for better durability. Bella Vista will also have its own sewage treatment plant.

Mr.Raj Bhandari, MD of Adam developers who has had connections with Belgaum since long due to his family business, who started the first India related fund in USA started Adam developers in 2007 with a great team.
Raj told this blog,” Belgaum has a great potential to grow and he has come here only after sighting it and Belgaum still does not yet have a world class gated community.” He also shared his view that “ Belgaum is one such place with so much talent that if properly planned and one big company sets shop here, others will follow suit.” “People should try and come to the forefront and not only depend on the government to do all the things. People should take a lead and do things on their own. What was Bangalore earlier, it had no international flights but now it has its own international airport. Once a few big companies start shop the growth will be exponential, but for all this to happen we should have a plan in mind.”
Belgaum office: Padam Poonam, near 3rd gate Khanapur Road, Tilakwadi Belgaum.
Phone: 4216710

USA phone +713 839 1026
Parag Saraiya + 91 95388 83626 
Website. www.bellavistabelgaum.com Email: info@bellavistabelgaum.com 

In a nail biting match between Islamiya and Marathi Vidya Niketan, Vidya Niketan won 8-7 in the penalty shoot out.
Teams were levvled evem in extra time so the match was deicded by penalty shoot out and Marathi Vidya Niketan won the match.
 Now Marathi Vidya Niketan will take on St.Pauls in the Finals of Royecton memorial cup on August 7.
Thanks Santosh Purohit

Congratulations!!!
Following are the winners of the K7 Anti virus kits from Starnet Computers Belgaum.

Name	Email
Manjunath Patil	patil.manjunath.k@gmail.com
Ramesh	ramesh.redekar@yahoo.com
Shivanand A	abshivanand@rediffmail.com
Niranjan Jadhav	niranjan_jadhav@yahoo.co.in
Rahul	suryavanshi.a.rahul@gmail.com
Akhil Kittur	akhilkittur65@gmail.com
Mustafiz	mustafizjb@gmail.com
Prasad parmaj	coolprasad.parmaj@gmail.com
Nilesh Udoshi	neil_nilesh3@yahoo.com
Shreyas Desai	shreyasdesai2008@gmail.com

All winners have been emailed on how to get your giveaway.
 Keep coming back.
 AAB.

These are some unseen pictures of the Jatra ever and have been cliked by Shrawav Zadoo.
It was raining heavily and it does rain on the Jatra day, Mangai Jatra.



According to the rituals set by the ancestors of the vadgaon village, the God of the village is to be presented with these chicks. One could spot one of those vendors selling chicks at Rs.5 each.
Once you reach the temple the chicks you have brought with you are supposedly to be tossed on to the roof of the temple!
All photos: Shrawan Zadoo

St.Pauls High school entered the Finals of the prestigious Royecton Memorial Finals beating Sant Meera 4 goals to nil.
Sant Meera played a attacking game in the first half but could not convert the attacks into goals. After a goal less first half in the second half, St.Pauls played a attacking game game and scored four goals after the other in the last 20 minutes of play.
Tomorrow the second Semi finals will be played between Islamiya and Marathi Vidya niketan.
The finals will be played on 7th August.

After a six day dead lock in the parliament when things seemed to be coming up for the common man Belgaum border dispute came to the fore front and the parliament was adjourned.

Lok Sabha was adjourned for half an hour after leaders from Maharashtra and Karnataka gathered near Speaker Meira Kumar's podium over the disputed district of Belgaum.

Shiv Sena members from Maharashtra sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the matter, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members divided on the issue along state lines. Gopinath Munde supported the cause of Maharashtra, while BJP leader from Karnataka Ananth Kumar raised his voice in support of Karnataka.
Shiv Sena MPs gathered near the Speaker's podium waving placards, prompting BJP MPs from Karnataka to do the same.

No giveaways for commenting on this story.

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