On Saturday 14^th November, Hattargi-Belgaum will see the formal launch of a 300-acre aerospace SEZ. CM B S Yedurappa will formally inaugurate this SEZ. This is not the sort of SEZ that the government announces and nobody ever hears anything about it for a long time. This is one where land has been allotted, and work has begun, including an aircraft surface treatment facility set up by Quest Global, the promoters of the SEZ, and Magellan Aerospace. A sheet metal manufacturing facility and a precision machining facility for aircraft too are operational. On Saturday, more partnerships in aerospace design and manufacturing will be announced.

Aravind Melligeri, who co-founded Quest in the US in 1997 with a long time classmate, Ajit Prabhu, says that the idea of the SEZ was to offer an aerospace customer everything – from design to manufacture of components and systems – in one place. Quest, which has 1,000 employees in India and which has dedicated facilities here for GE, Rolls Royce and EADS, is designing and building the rig to test the Airbus 350’s nose landing gear.

Belgaum was selected because of its lower costs of land/infrastructure/labor/living, and also because of the availability of abundant talent for manufacturing and engineering in and around Belgaum - there are more than 2000 foundries and machine shops in a 1000 km radius of the vicinity, along with 60+ engineering, diploma and ITI institutes). The weather in Belgaum is pretty much like Bangalore’s (probably better). And Belgaum is excellently located logistically, with 3 airports (Belgaum, Hubli, and Kolhapur) in a 90 minute driving range, on the NH4 Golden Quadrilateral highway network of India, equidistant from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, and an overnight journey from the Mumbai port. They expect 2 more ports to become accessible for our operations in the next few years (Goa and Karwar). For all these reasons, Belgaum was selected for SEZ location.

Source: TOI
Note: Everywhere it is said QUEST SEZ Belgaum, but its exact location is Hattargi near Sankeshwar on the NH4.

Mr. B.N. Kalyani is an Ex-student of King George School- Belgaum, Roll No. 789 and studied during the period 1958 to 1964.

Baba N. Kalyani is Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Forge Ltd., India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of automotive components to global industry. Mr. Kalyani is a Mechanical Engineer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston from where he graduated in 1972. The U.S. $1.5 billion group of companies that Mr. Kalyani heads is engaged in manufacture of automotive components, especially steels and specialty chemicals.

Bharat Forge Ltd. is a global company with manufacturing facilities in India, Germany and USA. The company is aspiring for global leadership in its business. It supplies critical automotive engine and chassis components to virtually every global automotive manufacturer in the world. Mr. Kalyani has spearheaded Bharat Forge’s strategies that have resulted in it becoming one of India’s first global automotive component manufacturing companies.

Another person, who makes us proud that his roots are connected to Belgaum.

CM Yedurappa will be on visit to Belgaum on 14^th of November. He will inaugurate the QUEST SEZ at Hattargi and then will attend a function at Gandhi Bhavan and will also visit Khanapur from where he will go to Hubli.

The Kirloskar saga began in 1888 when Laxmanrao Kirloskar set up a small bicycle repair shop (now near the Shreekrishna theatre on Kirloskar road) at Belgaum and later Laxmanrao and his brothers set up a model industrial colony called ‘Kirloskravadi’ India’s first industrial township. In January 1910 when the Kirloskar were being ousted from Belgaum to make room for a new suburb, they found themselves in dire need of a place to live and work and hence the birth of Kirloskravadi.

Laxmanrao Kirloskar, founder of the Kirloskar Industries was born on 20th June, 1869, in a small village, Gurlahosur in Belgaum District. He started his life as a school teacher and later on, opened a cycle repair shop in Belgaum. But his ambition and mission could not be satisfied by a small workshop at Belgaum.

Kirloskar road was named after him as there was his Cycle repair shop near the present Reliance Web world (earlier Shree krishna theatre. Noty able to know what was that road named earlier)

When the Municipality of Belgaum ordered Kirloskar to vacate their place, Laxmanrao Kirloskar could not find a suitable place for his workshop. But thanks to the timely help of the Ruler of Aundh who offered him a place arranging loan of ten thousand rupees, he started his factory in an arid waste land by the side of a renowned railway station, named Kundal Road. The factory later blossomed into famous Kirloskar Industries and the station came to be called Kirloskarvadi.

Laxmanrao Kirloskar set foot on 32 acres of barren land strewn with cacti and infested with cobras. Driven by his faith in human ability, Laxmanrao banded together 25 workers and their families and succeeded in transforming the barren expanse into his dream village. Ramuanna, Laxmanrao’s brother, planned and administered the township, Shamburao Jambhekar doubled as engineer and all-round healing man, K.K.Kulkarni, an unsuccessful student, became a manager, treasurer and odd jobs man, Mangeshrao Rege was the clerk and chief accountant, Anantrao Phalnikar, a school drop-out flowered into an imaginative engineer. Such was Laxmanrao’s  faith in the human being that, Tukaram Ramoshi and Pirya Mang, both convicted dacoits, became the trusted guards of Kirloskarvadi! Superstitious farmers were extremely hard to convince and Laxmanrao Kirloskar took two years to sell his first iron ploughs.

About Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar:

Laxmanrao Kirloskar

Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar (1869-1956) was an Indian businessman. He was the founder of the Kirloskar Group.In 1888, he set up his first venture - a small bicycle repair shop at Belgaum. Strongly believing that agricultural implements must fit the milieu they are used in, he manufactured iron ploughs, the first Kirloskar products.

He had read about industrial townships in Europe and America where the owners of industries had built communities for the employees. His dream was to build his own industry and community for his employees; he realized this dream with Kirloskarwadi, a place where he started the Kirloskar Brothers Limited factory in 1910.

A man who believed that an understanding of one’s environment and reality was essential to the manufacture of path-breaking industrial implements. From this steadfast belief was born the iron plough, the first Kirloskar product. Originally intended as an essential aid to agriculture, the plough soon became an icon of reform and revolution. Shri Laxmanrao Kirloskar was not only an industrialist but also a great social reformer. When blind orthodoxy was rampant in rural area, he advocated the removal of untouchability. He banned untouchability in the township that he had established at Kirloskarvadi. He believed in social reform and trusted in the goodness of man. He employed ex-convicts as night watchman.

Shantanurao Kirloskar, the eldest son of the founder travelled to Pune to initiate a new aspect of the group’s activities - diesel engines. His experience of trying to secure the land for his factory in Pune was quite different from his father’s in Kirloskarvadi. There was no benevolent ruler here to bestow acres gratis. Shantanurao had to face the tangle of red tape and public resistance to acquisition of land for industrial purposes.

Finally, after arguing that factories have a longer life than human beings Shantanurao Kirloskar won a place for Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. (KOEL), twelve months after signing an agreement of collaboration with Associated British Oil Engines Export Ltd. of UK.

This collaboration, incidentally, was the first of its kind between an Indian and a foreign company, and signified a bridging of the technological gap between east and west. The KOEL factory was incorporated in 1946, and soon after that gave India her first vertical high-speed engine.

Today Kirloskar brothers are a 1.20 billion US Dollars engineering conglomerate driving critical industries. They are century old pioneers in areas of specialization like power, construction and mining, agriculture, industry and transport, oil and gas and environment protection with a range of world-class industrial products and turnkey services.

They are made up of 8 major group companies, each led by the best engineering and managerial talent in India. In addition to engineering, they have interests in civic utility systems and in Information Technology and communication.

The Kirloskar Saga began from Belgaum and if in 1910 Laxmanrao had not been ousted from Belgaum may be Belgaum would have been a different place.

Vikas Dhairyashil Bansode (29) director of a business process outsourcing (BPO) unit was arrested alleged involvement in stealing medical history data of a UK-based company and selling it to another company. The police also booked two suspects in this regard and one suspect is from Belgaum.

The other two suspects have been identified as Kunal Abhay Gargatti of Belgaum and Jayesh Bhagchandani. All the three have been booked under several sections of the Information Technology Act.

The investigations have revealed that Gargatti and Bhagchandani had requested Bansode to sell the data for the use of a charitable company.

Source: TOI

Nagendra Reddy alias Nagi Reddy alias Vishnu alias Indra Kumar is an accused in a murder case in Bangalore and is also wanted by Interpol for the murder of a techie in the UK.

On May 10 this year, he escaped from the jail ward of Belgaum district hospital, killing a guard in the process. Revealing his naxal connection, Belgaum SP Sonia Narang said, “Reddy has joined hands with the naxals and may have escaped to a Maoist-dominated area in Nepal. We have formed three teams, each headed by a sub-inspector, to nab him.”

Source: Bangalore Mirror

The mega show depicting the life of Sri Krishna is all getting ready and here is the making of the event. A huge stage is being built now on CPEd ground. The event is organized by Raj Media group and Goa-based Shri Vijayadurga Saunskrutik Mandal.

Mega stage in the making

About 103 local artists will get a chance to act in the play and the screening for the same began from today.

The ticket sale has begun and the show will be from 20^th November to 25^th November. Daily 7000 spectators can witness this extravagance show. The initial response for the tickets ahs been good and also very good response has come in from rural areas.

This is how the stage will look

The tickets have been priced from Rs.150 to 500 and are available at various locations.

Ramakanth Khalap Former Union Law Minister who is from Goa has suggested to the Centre to transfer Marathi-speaking areas, including Belgaum in Karnataka, with Goa to form a Vishal Gomantaka state. He was speaking at the valedictory function of the 12^th Konkan Marathi Sahitya Sammelan.

If Maharashtra was not keen on the proposal, Goa was ready to include the disputed areas. If these areas are merged with Goa, the state could become Vishal Gomantaka, he added. Khalap urged President Pratibha Patil to take measures to protect Marathi language and culture in border areas of Karnataka.

Source: Express Buzz

I posted this as I personally liked what Mr.Khalap said Belgaum in Goa Wonderful.

RPD cross to Patwardhan layout road of 50 feet will be widened to 80 feet and the said new road will be built under the aegis of the special grant of Rs.100 crores. Rs.2.83 crores has been allocated for this road development.

Recently MLA Abhay Patil and corporation commissioner inspected the said road and also markings were done.

MLA said that the road widening will be undertaken only after the local residents are taken into confidence.

On the other hand the local corporator is unaware of this development and says he was not told of the inspection. The worst part of the whole story is MLAis trying to take his credit of this development but the bottom line for the locals is that Rs.2.83 crores can be only used for road development and cannot be used as compensation for the residents and shop owners who will loose their land and building. Due to this the locals are not in favor of this.

If you see the said road is a major link to Vadgaon and at RPD cross there is a lot of congestion and major problem will arise here only as there are shops and in the widening all the shops will need to be removed. Once we approach the road further the problem is lesser as there is ground on one side till Gomtesh Vidyapeeth.

Development is needed but development should be done in a manner which will be fair to all. Development is always at a cost and the cost needs to be taken into consideration. The earlier attempts of the corporation for road widening have not got a great response as the compensation policy is not implemented in the way the local residents like. You could here as well see that some residents might approach the courts as it has been done in other areas.