Wishing all readers and well wishers a very Happy Ganesha Chaturathi

Wishing all readers and well wishers a very Happy Ganesha Chaturathi


I wish all the readers of this blog a very Happy Ganesha Chaturthi.I wish the festival bring all happiness and cheers on this occasion.Ganesha also called vighna nivarakha bring all prosperity to the twin cities of Hubli Dharwad and help grow bigger bigger in the days to come.

regards,
Pappu

Industrial goods expo in Hubli

Industrial goods expo in Hubli
Business Standard

Our Correspondent / Dharwad September 07, 2005:Kala Vaibhava’, an exhibition of industrial goods produced by artisans, small scale and cottage industries and self-help groups in Dharwad district will be organised at Indira Glass House in Hubli from September 9-18.

Deputy commissioner M S Shrikar said the event is aimed at promoting the products of small and tiny industries.

Products of Khadi and village industry, Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation, wollen carpets from Kundgol, wooden cradles from Kalghatgi, leather goods from AWAKE, carpets from Navalgund and handicrafts from self-help groups will be on display.

This Lord does not fail his devotees

This Lord does not fail his devotees
The Hindu

Chebbi, a hamlet, hogs the limelight

HUBLI: In these days of politically vitiated atmosphere of one-upmanship, which marks community celebrations of the Ganesha festival, Chebbi, an obscure village in Hubli taluk, has carved a niche for itself.

Chebbi, which is 20 km away from Hubli, attracts Ganesha devotees by the hordes. For three days starting from Wednesday, the village will receive thousands of people from far and wide. What attracts them is the reputation the village has acquired that the "Chebbi Ganapati" fulfils the desire of the devout unfailingly. People queue up to take away "betelnut" used in the puja of Lord Ganesha in select houses in the village as it is believed that performing puja to the betel nut helps fulfil one's desire.

Legend

Legend has it that the seer Swami Krishnendra Swami stayed at the house of Tammanna Kulkarni, who did not have children. Overcome with joy at the latter's hospitality, the seer asked him to worship Lord Ganesha for three days from Ganesha Chaturti. It is said that Kulkarni's wife conceived after they performed the puja.

While this tradition has continued for long, it was only since 1990 that Chebbi has caught the imagination of people. While the festival was celebrated in only one or two houses of the village to begin with, the number of houses where Lord Ganesha is worshipped along with the red betel nut has increased. The betel nut used for the puja is distributed among the devotees.

Some enterprising villagers now use the occasion to raise some money for meeting the development needs of the village. They charge a levy on vehicles, which are parked one km away from the village. Visitors disembark there and they have to walk to the village.

A celebration that unites people

A celebration that unites people
The Hindu

Ganapati festival will go on for five to ten days depending on local tradition

HUBLI: No other festival attracts as much pubic attention and adulation as does the Ganapati festival, which is all set to begin on Wednesday. For the next five to ten days, depending on local customs and traditions, people will be preoccupied with the community festival, with Ganapati idols installed at various vantage points.

People take part in the festival without any distinction of caste, creed or community, and in a way it almost appears to be a secular festival rooted in tradition. For Ganapati, like Hanuman, is one of the most secular of the gods in the Hindu pantheon. Muslims too take part in the celebrations.

The public celebration of what had been, till then, a traditional religious event, came about during the early days of the freedom struggle. At a time when the imperial rulers frowned upon any talk about nationalism or patriotism by the local people, Lokmanya Tilak hit upon the novel idea of using the festival for the propagation of nationalistic and patriotic thoughts. The idea clicked and public celebrations of the festival began to be organised.

Cultural treat

In north Karnataka, in the days prior to the formation of the State when the region remained divided under different administrations, the festival helped to meet the craving of the people for literature and culture. The Ganapati festival became occasions where eminent men of Kannada literature were invited to give talks and musical concerts were arranged.

Over the years, commercial overtones have come to take precedence over the finer aspects of culture. Money is spent lavishly on embellishments and lighting, and different motifs in which the Ganapati idols are portrayed present a visual spectacle. Any motif, be it Puranic, political or contemporary, is good enough. Ganapati could don the role of Krishna, Rama, Tirupati Venkateshwara, any of the saints, or a present-day politician, depending on the imagination of organisers and artists.

There are families who specialise in making huge Ganapatis to order in many places, including Hubli, Dharwad, Belgaum and Bijapur.

Institutions and organisations participate in organising the festival and Ganapati idols are installed in police stations, bus stands, at traffic junctions and housing colonies. There is a spirit of competition to put on the best show to attract visitors.

In Hubli this year, Ganapati idols are being installed in over 500 places. A federation of the organisations involved in the celebrations, under the chairmanship of G.S. Kamadollishetru, has for the past couple of years introduce awards for different facets of the celebrations, such as the best idol, embellishment and other aspects.

The finishing touches continue even after the Ganapati is installed with traditional fanfare on Wednesday. People from different parts of the region flock will flock to Hubli to participate in the celebrations for the next couple of nights.

Corporation's e-initiative comes a cropper in Hubli, Dharwad

Corporation's e-initiative comes a cropper in Hubli, Dharwad
The Hindu

HUBLI: There have been no takers for a novel procedure introduced by the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation to monitor the quality of works undertaken by contractors before their bills are cleared.

With a view to ensure transparency and quality in works executed by contractors, the corporation introduced a procedure from January under which bills presented by contractors for payment are posted on the website, hdmc.govt.in, every month.

The bills are posted between the 15th and 25th of every month giving the description of the work undertaken.

Any person can inspect the work and submit complaints, if any, about the quality of the work by calling 2213888, which is a round-the-clock helpline.

Action

On receipt of the complaint, the corporation offers to verify it before the bill is passed. It also promises to take action against the contractor or engineer concerned in case the complaints are found to be genuine.

If the complaints are registered with malafide intent, the organisations or people who submit them will be blacklisted and, if necessary, legal action will be initiated against them, it is said.

It is stipulated that the complainant should necessarily be a registered NGO or a welfare association operating in the area or the ward.

In case of a person registering the complaint, she/he has to be supported by at least three others with details of their address and telephone number.

Conditions

Only bills pertaining to asphalt work, works that cost less than Rs. 10,000, critical works, budgeted works and those taken up under welfare schemes for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are posted on the website.

Enquiries with the corporation authorities revealed that no complaint has been registered ever since the procedure started. "It could be because we have not been able to reach the message to people," an official of the corporation said.

"We will soon take steps to ensure that the message reaches as many people as possible. Also, more telephone numbers, including the mobile phone number of the Commissioner of the corporation, might be given to enable people to send their response, the corporation official added.

N-K region to become new IT destination

N-K region to become new IT destination
DH News Service Bangalore

BPO-ITES-CRM SOCIETY IN PLACE

Bangalore:To give a fillip to the north Karnataka economy, a group of senior government officials, teachers, industrialists and intellectuals have joined hands to realise the full potential of the region as an IT destination.

The group headed by former chief secretary B S Patil has set up a non-political, professional forum - the BPO-ITES-CRM Society (BIC Society) - and will focus on making some of the secondary cities of north Karnataka like Hubli-Dharwad, Davangere and Belgaum international destinations for IT companies.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Patil said the society will act as a single window agency for all new companies who wish to set up base in North Karnataka, helping them from concept to commissioning in all areas of work. The society will develop a strategic advantage profile of the secondary cities and chalk out a comprehensive data base as required by the target companies.

Mr Patil pointed out that with primary locations like Bangalore becoming saturated, companies are on the look out for smaller towns to set up work stations. The secondary cities of north Karnataka had enough potential to cater to the needs of these companies, he said.

The society will also involve itself in providing short term training programmes for students in personality development and make them employable.

The society will be launched in Dharwad by IT and BT Secretary M K Shankaralinge Gowda on September 9. Mr Anant Koppar, CEO, Mphasis Technologies will deliver the keynote address and Dr Bob Hoekstra, CEO, Philips Software Centre will be chief guest.

The other members of the society include R S Hugar, former chairman, Corporation Bank; Dr Ashok S Shettar, principal, BVB College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli; Dr M S Subhas, professor, Kausali Institute of Management Studies, Dharwad; Dr S M Dhume, faculty, KLS Institute of Management Education and Research, Belgaum; Dr Kalyani Rangarajan, professor, KLE’s Institute of Management Studies and Research, Hubli and Dr S K Sachin, faculty, Kausali Institute of Management Studies, Dharwad.

A BPO boost for north Karnataka

A BPO boost for north Karnataka
The Times of India


Bangalore: A former bureaucrat is trying to take the benefits of IT and BPO to north Karnataka. B S Patil, former chief secretary in the Karnataka government, has launched the BIC Society, a Nasscom-like body whose goal is to ensure that key cities like Hubli, Belgaum, Dharwad and Davangere get at least one BPO company within the next 12 months.
“These cities have a pool of nearly 50,000 talented young graduates across four universities, over 300 colleges. If Mangalore and Mysore can attract BPO and IT companies, then we are confident that these cities can do it too. We will be taking one CEO every fortnight to talk to the people in these localities,” Patil told The Times of India.
BIC Society will be formally launched in Dharwad by state secretary for IT and BT, M K Shankarlinge Gowda, on Friday. Philips Software CEO Bob Hoekstra and MphasiS CEO Anant Koppar will be present at the event.
A recent McKinsey report categorised Hubli as “satisfactory” in terms of manpower, telecom infrastructure and commercial infrastructure for IT/BPO.
Patil also noted that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had given an in-principle approval for a loan of Rs 300-400 crore for betterment of 22 towns in north Karnataka. “This will essentially be used for roads, sanitation, underground drainage, solid waste management and common affluent treatment plant,” Patil said.

Red carpet rolled out for Lord Ganesha

Red carpet rolled out for Lord Ganesha
Newindpress.com

HUBLI: The red carpet is out, the pandals ready, the sweets made –– all is set to welcome the elephant headed God, Ganesha. He will be in our midst in various avatars from Wednesday for 11 days.

Ganesha festival is observed in high spirit across the twin cities and people from all across the district throng here to have a darshan of Lord Ganesha seated in those attractive, exotic and huge pandals.

Good rainfall leading to brisk agricultural activities in the region has renewed the spirits of the people this year ensuring that the Ganesha festival will be as grand as ever.

Bursting crackers, splashing gulal and shouts of ‘Ganapati bappa moreya’ renting the air welcome Ganesha. Unlike any other festival, people ‘handle’ Ganesha with care because of the belief that if the idols are damaged it will bring a year of bad luck.

Themes drawn from mythological, social and historical events are incorporated in all most all pandals. People longing for a pilgrimage to Tirupati for a darshan of Lord Venktesha can come to Sheelavntar oni as a replica of the Tirupati temple (costing Rs 3.5 lakh) has been set up there to house Ganesha.

Lord Ganesha is seen donning various roles for this 11–day festival. Events from Ramayana, Satya Harischadra, war between Arjun (Madhyam Pandava) and his son Babruvahan, a scene of Siddalingeshwar blessing the people, a theme on chopping the head of deity Yellamma by her son Parashuram, a replica of Shivaji Maharaj’s fort, Lord Krishna holding Govardhan giri on his finger (at Sarafgatti), Satya Harischadra (at Bani oni), appearance of deity Laxmidevi (at Simpi galli), – are some of the main attractions of this year’s Ganesha festival.

A huge colourful pandal (cost Rs 2 lakh) has been set up on station road near Chandrakala Talkies in the shape of a 40 ft height chariot made of bamboos.

About 560 organisations are installing idols of Lord Ganesha at different places in city in attractive pandals. No doubt these pandals will attract people from other regions but the people are also praying to the Lord that these 11 days of celebration will pass off peacefully without any untoward incidents.