Puravankara Projects Limited has appointed Jackbastian Kaitan Nazareth as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Prior to joining Puravankara, Jack, as he is known among friends, was the Executive Director of Sobha Developers Ltd overseeing their International operations, based out of Dubai.

Jack did his schooling from St.Pauls high school (1983) has a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Gogte institute of Technology Belgaum(1990) and an MBA from the Goa Institute of Management with a specialization in Marketing and Finance.

He started his career as an entrepreneur with M/s. Trinity Consultants and Engineers in Belgaum and Goa. Apart from handling International operations at Sobha Developers, he had also handled Sales, Marketing, CRM, Corporate Affairs and Facility management in the past. He was also associated with Tishman Speyer as Managing Director, Head -Sales & Marketing in their Bangalore office.

Acknowledging the new assignment, Jack said: “We need to create a vision whereby our name becomes synonymous with excellence, innovation, honor, integrity and outstanding quality and service. As COO at Puravankara, I am looking forward to all the new challenges that come our way and will draw on tried-and-tested experience as well as introduce new thinking and approaches where feasible.”

Jack told this blog that, “ he is one of those many Belgaumites who got the best education, climate and vegetables and all I needed was to pursue a dream to fulfill. I learnt languages and made friends in that place who are still close to my heart. And when you have what life truly has to give you, it becomes a passion to pursue perfection.
I am truly blessed to be what I am today and I owe it to my family, friends and above all my Alma Mater St. Pauls. The Jesuits turned around my life twice, once at St. Pauls and then at Goa Institute of Management, Goa.
GIT was just about 3 idiots, infact we were many idiots so to say. Am so glad that all of the students are doing well in life.
But all said and done there is no place on earth that gives you the language ‘kaay be’ or the chai of the railway station. From Mahantesh Nagar to Udyambag and from Ganeshpur to the Dhabas on Bangalore highway, Belgaum reckons me to be back there And I will maybe retire there in the company of the wonderful friends that I made there and the large family that still lives life to the full. Belgaum it is and I am a Belgaum boy!”

Puravankara Group began operations in Mumbai and has established a considerable presence in the real estate industry in the metropolitan cities of Bangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Mysore and overseas in Dubai.

Whenever you see a movie, what is the first thing that strikes your mind, Actors, Story or Music. Music; most of the times. It plays a vital role for any movie, documentary.

Sagar Patil is a Freelance Music Composer based in the Belgaum and this man has great hopes for himself with his melodious music sense. Sagar aspires to bring Short Films/Documentaries, Ad/Radio Jingles alive by composing catchy and innovative music ranging from Indian Classical to Western/Fusion Music. He has worked with various Film Production Houses and Individual Film-Makers. He has worked with clients across the country and abroad. He is accompanied with a team of Lyricists, Singers and Musicians, delivering a complete end-to-end music package.

Sagar has been playing musical instruments since childhood. He started composing music from his college days i.e. 5 years ago. He has a mini setup at his home from where he creates those melodious tunes for the ears. Sagar makes the use of new technologies and works online through internet. This helps him to work easily with his clients staying in India and Abroad.

Music is his passion and also his career. Apart from music, he works at the Aptech Computer Education as an I.T. Trainer. He has hands on advance programming languages like C#, ASP.Net and Java Technologies.

Recently he composed a theme song for Nitin Shirgurkar’s
NASCO ROYALS Cricket Team, Belgaum Champions League 2010.

Listen to his songs:
http://sites.google.com/site/portfoliosagarpatil/my-music-works

Watch his Award winning short films:
http://sites.google.com/site/portfoliosagarpatil/my-short-films

A Small interview:

AAB –> When did you start playing percussion?

Sagar–> I started playing drums when I was in 4th Std. I used to play in School Gatherings etc.

AAB –> Who was your guru and did you take any formal education in music at the early stage?

Sagar–> Music has come to me by birth. Its a god’s special gift to me. I never took any formal education in music. I am a fan of A.R. Rahman and for me, he and his music is only my Teacher.

AAB –> Your parents/ family views on you taking music as a career?

Sagar–> I am always motivated and supported by my parents and friends, and that is the reason I am here.

AAB –> Did being from a small town of Belgaum anyway hinder your music career?

Sagar–> Well, Creativity has no barriers. One should always work hard to achieve his goals. Success follows itself. Being in Belgaum, there was a limited scope for music, but I could manage to get clients through Internet.

AAB –> Narrate some interesting incident good or bad during your career till date?

Sagar–> They are many.. One of the most memorable moment for me was the Music Launch of Drishti, The Vision. I had composed a song dedicated to our Blind Friends. It was my dream to dedicate my talent to the Visually Handicapped and thus, I created Drishti. We shot the video of Drishti at Maheshwari School for Blind, Belgaum. It was a great satisfaction to see the smile on the face of those innocent blind children, when they got to know that I have composed a song specially for them.

AAB –> With whom do you want to work with as a music director? (names)

Sagar–> Oh.. thats a tough question, there are many great names in our industry today. I would love to work with Ashutosh Govarikar, Mahesh Manjrekar. I would also like to assist the great A. R. Rahman sir.

AAB –> You teach at Aptech and how is that you plan your schedule for music?

Sagar–> As it is truly said, “Where there is a will, there is a way”. Its really hard to find time for both the professions at a time. But, music being my passion, I cannot live a day without music. I work on music at nights, usually from 10 pm to 3 am in morning. Thats the time when whole world sleeps, I can find peace. It is the only time when you can feel the lords blessings around you.

AAB –> You also have started MAKE MY GIFT portal, what is the idea behind it?

Sagar–> Well, its a different way of presenting gifts to your dear ones. Usually, people present Show Pieces, Greeting Cards and many such items as a gift, on any special occasions.

Make My Gift, provides you a unique way of presenting music tracks to your dear ones.

These tracks will be composed by me, which would include name of the person and is message. People are loving this concept and the response is good. This concept was suggested by one of my close friend.

AAB –> Any awards your way?

Sagar–> Many of my films have won awards at the film festivals. And.. nothing else is great than people loving your work. I have been getting complements for my work.

AAB –> You’re all time favorite song and music director?

Sagar–> The Mastreo A. R. Rahman sir. His every song is a new lesson for me. I have been learning and growing by listening to his music.

AAB –> Your thoughts on the upcoming talent in Belgaum how can one groom oneself being here.

Sagar–> Hard Work! I would say that the place and the location should never be a barrier. Talent can never be stopped or limited. Give your best and your talent will be rewarded. Collaborate with new people, share the knowledge and grow.

AAB –> What is the best thing about Belgaum you like?

Sagar–> I like the climate of Belgaum. It is very peaceful and soothing here. A perfect place for relaxation and peace.

AAB –> What are your thoughts on this site?

Sagar–> I would like to congratulate the team of allaboutbelgaum.com for their consistent efforts in creating such a great service to the people of Belgaum. I would say this is the best site, I have seen that provides such detailed information about Belgaum.

Contact:
Sagar Pradeep Patil
1st Floor, Raghavendra Apartment,
II Cross, Ranade Colony,
Behind Gogte Boys Hostel,
Hindawadi, Belgaum – 590006
Mob: 9242915668

Visit: http://sites.google.com/site/portfoliosagarpatil/

Belgaum is one such place where there is immense talent all around and people around do not know about it. Here is another such company, which makes Belgaum proud, Servocontrols. The next time you are flying in plane, it might be flying with the help of valves made by servocontrols. Servocontrols has also participated and contributed their bit not only to civil aircrafts but also to space missions like Chandrayan and many more.

Servocontrols was a small start up started by two youngsters Deepak & Dinesh Dhadoti in April 2002 in a garage in Bhagyanagar. Deepak has a vast experience of the global market and technology as he had worked in USA while Dinesh is well versed with the local Indian market and its requirements.

Deepak & Dinesh Dhadoti

Today Servocontrols is in the inimitable position to offer the position sensors these position sensors are successfully used by various hydraulic companies across the world. They also manufacture hydraulic actuators with inbuilt  position sensors used in civil aircrafts. They also supply level sensors for petrochemical, pharmaceuticals, biomedical, specialty chemical along with respective controllers & software. Simulators for aircraft flying. Servocontrols is one of its kind facilities India to assemble, test, qualify and evaluate the servo valves. Today Servocontrols has entered into the elite group of companies where under one roof it can offer both the close loop solution for servo hydraulics and also the electromechanical actuators and servo systems. They have the AS9100 B & ISO 9001 certification. They participated in the Sir shows in 2007 & 2009 held in Bangalore and in the Paris Air show in 2009.

It is the only company in India to have a Design studio. Manufacturing and testing all under one roof.

Servocontrols is one of the few Indian companies with AS9100 B certification backed by unparallel reputation for quality & extensive field experience. The company has the right combination of proven system architecture & high tech innovations that make it a leading company in the field of aerospace requirements.

Servocontrols has started its manufacturing facilities for manifold block system, Industrial, and mobile hydraulics market. Servocontrols has started servicing facility, assembly & test facility and getting converted into full fledge manufacturing facility along with testing qualification and calibration of electro hydraulic and servo hydraulic systems.

Deepak Dhadoti did his schooling from Swadhay Vidya mandir and BK Model, and then did his PUC from GSS and his engineering from KLE engineering college. His brother Dinesh completed his schooling from St.Pauls High school and he did his diploma in Mechanical engineering from Gomatesh.

Born to a middle class family where their father is a banker, the duo planned to start their own company and they started it from their house garage. From the garage to the present office, they have airborne themselves in the field of aerospace applications. It is still a mystery to their father as to how quickly they have tasted success.

Here is an excerpt of an interview with the duo:

1. What does your company make?

Servocontrols–>In simple terms we make many things, which are very small in nature but very essential. We make aerospace applications such as Engine control systems, Sensors, Servo valves, Actuators, Flight control systems, manifold systems for civil aircrafts and for space missions.

With all this, they are also present in other markets like Fluid power, Steel mills, Power generation, Plastic & Rubber manufacturing, Petroleum, material testing, mobile hydraulics, General factory automation, construction equipments, ground testing & test rigs to mention a few.

2. How did servocontrols start?

Servocontrols–> Deepak was working in the USA in the aerospace industry and his brother here Dinesh was keen to start something of his own, he did not want a boss on him. Therefore, he asked his brother whether they could start something. The call was right, Deepak had on his mind to come back to hometown Belgaum and do something there rather than be in the US. In 2002, Deepak came down to India and while coming back his colleagues in the US said, you go now and we are sure you will come back in 6 months. However, it was not so, both of them had a never die attitude in them and with very little money in hand they started servicing the servo valves and distribution of sensors from their house garage. Nevertheless, the brother duo was firm they had the knowledge and they can succeed and in 2005 we shifted to their new office in Udayambag.

3.What were the hardships you faced?

Servocontrols–> Hardships, from day one. We had little money and our father who is a banker was not so keen on our venture. However, some how we managed to convince him, we began, and now that we have reached here, he believes we have done something good.

Servocontrols was started in the garage with just two of us, we began servicing of the valves, and we never looked back.

We faced problems with everything but we were sure to overcome them and we did that. Numerous people have visited our office and site, which includes the scientist’s community from India and abroad, topnotch officials of the fortune 500 companies.

4.Why did you choose Belgaum for such a technical industry?

Servocontrols–> When we decided to start this we were told to start it in Bangalore, Hyderabad or Noida, but we said Belgaum, our hometown. We wanted to do contribute our bit to Belgaum and that is the sole reason for us to start in Belgaum.

5.Was it easy to start in Belgaum?

Servocontrols–> Easy to start in Belgaum, no not at all. We had problems from day one. People never knew where this Belgaum is. Clients used to think its near Bangalore and they used to call us in the morning saying we will see you in 1 hour and then we told them it is not so near its far off.

The air connectivity is the greatest hindrance to us. With no connectivity now we have to shuffle between Hubli and Kolhapur and get clients back and forth from there. Most people now days prefer to have a day visit with no over night stay, but the same cannot be done in Belgaum due to no air connectivity. A few international clients who took the Goa route to Belgaum said its better we land in Mumbai and come by road and when they are here we face hospitality problems as there not so good or star hotels.

We feel even if the Belgaum airport is not operational, it would be fine but the road to Goa should be improved. As Goa has international connectivity and if (this is a big IF) we have good 4 laned roads like towards Kolhapur people can fly to Goa and take a drive to Belgaum. However, here nothing seems to be working, nor the Sambara airport nor the Road to Goa.

No doubt, we are on the golden quadrilateral but we face countless logistical tribulations. The train frequency should be increased on both ways Bangalore and Mumbai.

This was one part another major part is the government regulations. In the budgets, so many exemptions are awarded to entrepreneurs but in real, we never get it due to lack of efficiency in local and inter departmental procedures. It is eyewash. VAT, Customs, Excise, DIC, ESI and so many others regulations in which most of our energy goes by.

Belgaum has lacked branding and even now we still need to tell people where Belgaum is and what it has in store.

6.How many employees?

Servocontrols–> At present we have 156 employees and all are from Belgaum and neighboring villages. We do not have very highly qualified employees but what we have is able persons who have been trained by us to get the best out of them.

We need engineers from all fields mechanical, civil, IT, electronics and B.Sc. Most pf our employees are not highly qualified but we train them in such way to get the best for the company. We believe that as we have started this company here there will be so many others with their roots in Belgaum who want to work here. We have many employees from neighboring villages that operate the computers, use the Internet, operate and when foreign delegations come over explain to them the whole procedure.

7.Your future plans.

Servocontrols–> Future looks bright even in this recession. In addition, as we are spread over a wide range of activities and industries we can expect a slowdown in one and an upward movement in another. We have finalized land for our new factory and we hope to begin work there soon. Revenue is equally divided in terms of Rupees and foreign currency we do not se much impact of the recession and appreciating rupee. In this kind of market, also we are exporting to China, which is supposed to be the cheapest in the world.

8.What is that you like about Belgaum?

Servocontrols–> Best thing in about Belgaum is its People, the environment, the cost and the talent. So many people have their roots in Belgaum, they all should come and start up here and pay back to Belgaum.

9.What would you say about this Site AAB?

Servocontrols–> Well this site has always helped recently to be in touch with Belgaum. I was recently abroad for a conference and I used to check the site daily so that I can know what is happening in my hometown. The job team AAB is doing is commendable. All the best!

ServoControls

Survey No. 683, Industrial Estate, Udyambag, Belgaum, 590 008.

www.servocontrolsindia.com

Dr.Vinayak Patil a dental surgeon has made Belgaum proud by getting the prestigious Harry W.F Dressel, Jr” Award of Clinical Excellence In General Dentistry and Concept of total patient care.

Dr.Vinayak Patil is a Belgaumite and he did his schooling from St Paul’s high school. He then completed his pre university course in science from GSS and did his dental studies from KLE Dental College.

In October 2000 he went to Australia for a couple of months to Adelaide Dental School (Australia) to attend the Dental bridging course. But he was not satisfied with this and he wanted to specialize. He further continued specialty training doing (FDS) fellowship In Oral and Maxillofacial from Royal College of surgeons England .Worked in Oral & Maxillofacial unit in London.

During his tenure in London Dr.Vinayak developed tremendous skills in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, treating terminally ill Oral cancer patients, maxillofacial trauma, Oral and Maxillofacial reconstructive surgery and maxillofacial deformity surgeries.

After he wasn’t satisfied either and then he decided to specialize in Oral reconstruction with Dental Implants and related prosthesis, hence he applied in programs in USA, and got admitted at University of Maryland Baltimore Dental School on scholarship bases on my credentials, references and previous training from England.

During further training in USA, developed advanced skills in Dental Implantology, Cosmetic Dentistry and in advanced general dentistry.

During the specilaisation was awarded by the University Dean as the best clinician. Was awarded “The Harry W.F Dressel, Jr” Award of Clinical Excellence In General Dentistry and Concept of total patient care. After the masters was done, was offered Associate director post for residency program at University of Maryland and was also recommended for GPR program Director post at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He decided to work in Private Practice, and presently working at the Fairfax County in Northern Virginia.

When this blog asked him about his future plans he evidently said, “I will be coming back to India and open up practice there with state of Art Dental practice offering high International standards and changing the way dentistry is offered in India.”

When asked how his parents felt about his achievement, modestly says “ask them, I must have made them proud for sure”.

Tushar Patil is a young dynamic CEO of BTP InfoServe Pvt. Ltd. He did his Bachelor of Engineering in Industrial and Production Engineering from Gogte Institute of Technology and his Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, USA.

As CEO, Tushar Patil is responsible for the vision, strategy and leadership that drive BTPI. After completing masters from Kansas University, he worked in the US for 3 years at Alpha Soft Services. During this tenure, he gained access to various service segments in the US including healthcare, insurance and finance. His experience also helped him identify the non-core business segments there and plan to outsource the same to BTPI. He has the task at BTPI to help business segments concentrate on their core strengths and to bridge the link that correlates clients’ expectations v/s BTPI deliverables.

Way back in 2002 Tushar started BTP InfoServe Pvt. Ltd. (BTPI) in Belgaum, which specializes in American medical insurance claims processing. This field is listed as one of the fastest job creators in USA.  BTP InfoServe Pvt. Ltd is the only company in entire North Karnataka & Goa that specializes in this area.
BTPI from Belgaum manages the payment flow of medical claims efficiently from insurance companies to various service providers.

With an Approx 0.4 million dollars in turnover and over 50 employees BTPI aims higher turnover in the current year. Today all the sectors are reeling under recession like Automobile, banking, Industries but healthcare is one such sector which has NO Recession.

Tushar Patil speaks out to Team AAB:

1. My first question why Belgaum for your BPO?

Tushar Patil –> Belgaum is ideally located between Bangalore and Mumbai and has perfect blend of rural and urban population. The quality of education is excellent. Plus the lower costs of land/infrastructure/living/manpower and also for the abundant talent available in and around Belgaum. The weather is pretty much like Bangalore and is logistically located with 2 airports (Hubli and Kolhapur) within 90 kms distance.

2. Could we have your outlook on the IT & BPO industry in Belgaum?

Tushar Patil –> As I said the abundant manpower available in and around Belgaum is a major advantage we have. There is many Medical Transcription company’s based in Belgaum and there is enough scope to accommodate other sectors related to BPO. Bigger cities has had enough IT and BPO growth. The cost of doing business in bigger cities is horrendous compared to the cost of the same BPO job which can be done from Belgaum or Hubli. With a little push from the Government we can get things moving at a much faster pace.

3. What kind of shifts do you see coming from the recession? If any.

Tushar Patil –> Well customers are definitely guarded about the pricing and the service providers are looking for an innovative modernization strategy to achieve lower running costs. Companies whose leaders look ahead for opportunities that will follow post recession will have a competitive advantage when it’s over.

4. Is it going to be too different from what we are seeing now in terms of kind of outsourcing deals?

Tushar Patil –> Customers will be looking for more range of solutions from the same vendor. Also there is delay in signing new deals so it’s more of a WAIT and WATCH situation.

5. Are we also going to see any changes in the kind of skills you will seek in potential employees?

Tushar Patil –> Not much when it comes to ITeS industry.

6. What kind of order pipeline do you have for the coming few months?

Tushar Patil –> We have 2-3 large clients in pipeline.

7. What is your competitive edge in the industry in which you operate?

Tushar Patil –> 6 plus years experience in US healthcare industry

· One of the early entrants in this sector

· It’s an untapped industry in India

· Highly trained manpower

8. How do you see the healthcare segment growing?

Tushar Patil –> The US healthcare is a 2.5 trillion dollar industry and is expected to grow rapidly over the next decade. The Obama government might just present an exciting growth opportunity for the Indian IT service providers. The US spends 16% (one of the highest in the world) of its GDP on Healthcare and still 40 million individuals are uninsured. So the government plan aims for universal coverage for every US citizen. There will be significant influx of “the newly insured” into the health system as well as tremendous pressure on insurers and healthcare providers to reduce the costs. So the ITeS industry has something exciting coming all the way.

9. But has the healthcare vertical been fully immune to the slowdown?

Tushar Patil –> As far as our business is concerned, yes. We have been signing clients every quarter. But off course the US has been reeling under recession and has never seen this kind of unemployment. This leads to less consumption of healthcare products and hence less volume.

10. Is it easy to start up a BPO in Belgaum? Your experiences

Tushar Patil –> When we started in 2003 it was nightmare for us. The biggest problem we faced was internet. All our work is online so we need to be connected to the internet 24 hours. The downtime was almost 40% can you imagine that. We used to run to the DOT office at least 10 times a day. We lost couple of clients just for this reason. But now it is much easier to start a BPO shop in Belgaum. We have choice of multiple ISP which was not there in 2003.

11. What are your thoughts on the human resource talent in and around Belgaum?

Tushar Patil –> Frankly speaking there is still a dearth of skilled manpower in this belt. Schools and colleges must create awareness regarding BPO as a career and must introduce in its syllabus. Right now I don’t see anything happening and also computers must be mandatory in all institutions. We still get graduates who are computer illiterates. There is enough potential in Belgaum but we need to do more in raising the bar higher.

12. Your future plans?

Tushar Patil –> Right now our primary focus will continue to be Healthcare because that is our forte. We want to ramp up our capacity to at least 300 people from the present 70 in the next 4-5 years.

13. Your thoughts on the ITBelgaum initiative?

Tushar Patil –> It’s an excellent vehicle for the local entrepreneurs to build a platform which can be used to strengthen the image of Belgaum and to get Belgaum on the Global IT map. There are lots of interesting things coming up through this group which will help the future budding entrepreneurs. All the members are whole heartedly working towards a common goal.

14. How do you foresee Belgaum’s future for the IT and BPO?

Tushar Patil –> Infrastructure wise we are still lacking basic facilities and also air connectivity is a BIG issue which most of the clients look for. If these things are taken care then we can definitely see a bright future for Belgaum. Hopefully the ITBELGAUM group can make some difference!!!!!

15. Your thoughts on this website and its usability?

Tushar Patil –> It’s an excellent databank to get news about Belgaum. Hats off to you who single handedly took this initiative and also promoted the ITBelgaum group through this site. I wish you all the best for all your future endeavors.

Aziz Hafiz hails from Belgaum and is the son of Dr. F.A. Hafiz, a renowned doctor of Belgaum. He completed his schooling from St.Pauls high school and his Pre University from RLS and he did his Civil engineering from Gogte Institute of Technology. At the  time when he was doing his masters in management, he was selected as a Gazetted Probationer in the Government of Karnataka and his journey as a Sarkari Babu began. Currently he is the Deputy Director, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Government of Karnataka.

Aziz is a Sarkari babu with a difference and since in college he was known for quizzing, debating, dramatics, organizing fests – the first youth festivals of the city were his doings! He loves sports, has a wide range of interests, virtually anything and everything!

He has authored a book “The Rising Sun Shall Set….” which is set in the Belgaum fort, and is a piece of poetry, with a philosophical outlook. His wife is very good painter and this also inspires him in his work.

He has worked in districts of Raichur, Bellary, Udupi, Bangalore Rural & in Bangalore City. He is also handling a project for the comprehensive computerization of the Public Distribution System as its Chief Informatics Officer (CIO). In addition, he was also Joint Director, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs & Additional Director, Procurement & Distribution. He is an authority on the Public Distribution System, Petroleum products, and Consumer affairs.

One of the tasks he is handling today may well change the way Government functions. He, as the CIO of a unique project, has collected the biometrics of over nearly 4.5 crore people which will be the basis of the unique identity for each person. In fact the UID (unique Identity card) that is being talked about is nothing but what he has done. His work is apparently being hijacked by more well known persons!!

What this will mean is - in future you can go to a kiosk and by giving your biometrics, get whatever document you want from the Government, avoiding all the touts, the delays, the transactions…… Imagine even if it happens 5 years from now, we would have taken tremendous strides towards a better government, where you would get what is meant for you, rather than someone else  making merry. We may even have voting with biometrics you never know!

And a person from Belgaum would have been the reason for its success.

His job profile is a story in multi-tasking  – while managing the entire Public distribution system ( the rationing system ) in Karnataka, covering 1.25 crore families, handling 2.25 lakh Metric tons of food grains & 50,000 kilolitres of kerosene oil every month, with an annual subsidy of over Rs.1500 crore and  an annual turnover of over Rs 5000 crore; Managing logistics, warehousing, transportation, retailing – with a network of over 500 wholesale & 25,000 retail outlets; Launching of new products; piloting policy changes, crisis management; enforcement of laws,  raids, legal processes; Managing the minimum support price operations for agricultural produce for farmers, monitoring the supply & distribution of petroleum products; maintenance of civil supplies; besides monitoring of market prices; Redressal of public grievances, consumer education & consumer guidance.

Interviewing Aziz was an experience of a kind and after reading his answers this Sarkari Babu is not a normal one for sure. Here are some excerpts of the interview.

1.       Why Sarkari Babu, you could have been in any private company and most probably by this time on a very good position and good booty.

Aziz —> I had this penchant for the IAS in school, and even in my engineering days, everyone knew that I had my eyes set there. I am in a very enviable place, which is powerful to say the least & although I don’t have the booty, I am fairly content.

2.      Who or what inspired you to join the KAS?

Aziz —> The state services were an after-day thought, since I didn’t make it to the Civil services. The Civil services were a fascination from school days, when we had DCs coming as chief guests and everyone looking up to them with awe…. maybe that caught my attention at an early age.

3.      Your father is a very well renowned doctor; didn’t he want you also to be one?

Aziz —> 3 of my brothers are doctors and very dedicated at that. I would see them reading those huge books and getting up at odd hours whenever there was a patient who came in an emergency. I guess in school, I thought this wasn’t what I wanted to do. Fortunately, people at home let me have my say early in life…. so I chose what I wanted to do. My father is 88 and takes pride when he hears from people about how I’ve touched their lives.

4.      You are handling a department which at this hour is the most important one as there is inflation and a scare of a drought. How important do you think this is and have you changed the way you work to tackle this situation?

Aziz —> Today, the situation is such that I am the department! Unfortunately this took a toll on my health and I was quite unwell since about 4 months…. but I’m back to the old stress-filled days. These are difficult times and the task that’s even more difficult is to balance between scarcity and inflation. Let’s hope that our inherent resilience to combat difficult situations gets us through this.

5.      As the CIO of the biometrics project, do you think this is the ultimate card for an Indian citizen?

Aziz —> The UID is not going to be a card but a number.

What we are doing is not the UID, but a biometric based ration card, which will be used in future for different activities. First, we will have better targeting. Second, we will minimize, if not prevent, diversions, misuse & what not… of facilities that the Govt. wishes to give the people. Suppose there are allotments of sites, why should a person who has already got one or 2 get another? He will be identified and some other person who deserves it will get it…. isn’t that something to look forward to? If this happens it can become the ultimate card, maybe having a chip, and even used as a debit/ credit card…. who knows??? The possibilities are immense!

6.      You have served in various capabilities and in various locations, your favorite location and why?

Aziz —> Since I have wide interests, it has never been boring. Raichur was an eye opener, after living all my life in the comforts of home. Udupi was beautiful — the beaches, the forests, Bangalore has been a growing experience where the proximity to the political class has been educative — to say the least!!!! Hey but  there’s no place like home!!!

7.      Some good and bad experiences you would like to share when at work.

Aziz —> There are many … I was conducting elections in Udupi when T N Seeshan was the CEC. In my constituency there was not a single banner, but when I came to B’lore the place was flooded with plastic. I felt that I had done what no one else had. Then, there was a school located where the sea water actually crashed against the plinth and the strong winds had blown away the roof tiles and broken the window panes…… the kids would sit in their class while the roof leaked and the gusts of sea water sprayed inside occasionally. This was supposed to be a polling booth. I ordered that it should be repaired; otherwise it would not be used in the elections. Everyone sneered that all the authorities come and make such promises, but this will never get repaired. I was adamant that it should be repaired immediately. Finally, it was set right and it gave me immense joy when I went back there again.

Bad experiences have been mostly when the press wrote something they partly understood or misunderstood. I have conducted some dramatic and daring raids and got many people arrested in different places. This is an unpleasant task where one invites their enmity all along.

8. What would you ask the young aspirers who want to join the administrative service?

Aziz —> To the principled, Govt. service is not as easy as it appears.  Getting in is also difficult. But if you have the inclination, choose your subjects carefully, study methodically and you’ll make it. Aspire to get into the IAS.

9.      You authored the book “The Rising Sun Shall Set….” What made you write it?

Aziz —> I guess I have a penchant for writing. I wrote a lot in my college days – plays, poetry, et al. This had to follow. I’m now looking for a publisher for my next book- short stories.

10.   What is the best thing about Belgaum you like?

Aziz —> There is so much. Having lived in the Fort, the past is nostalgic, the weather is lovely. But, I guess the many friends I have and many I came across all make it so much of a drawing force. …. Now I wonder why my 7 year old son likes it. What did he like????

11.    What are your thoughts on this website?

Aziz —> It is informative, and in a way makes us feel it’s ours!!! It has made me addictive and I’m busy trying to look up on old friends and trying to make a comment wherever I can…… & thanks for being a facilitator……

Rahul Deshpande is a freelance photographer based in Pune (originally from Belgaum), doing commercial and advertising work. He follows his passion of music by creating edgy promotional photos for established and upcoming bands and artists in Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore.

He is also actively involved in Pune’s live music scene, playing the guitar with his band, NH4 as often as his schedule will allow.

Rahul Deshpande

Other passions include actively seeking and documenting fast disappearing arts and crafts through his private project – Rare Earth Media. His most recent initiative, “Detritus” is the exploration of colonial bungalows in the city of Belgaum some of which are in a state of dilapidation. It is both a study of nature reclaiming what it gave up over a century ago and the possibility of conserving a slice of colonial history.

Educated in Belgaum and the US, he has worked as an engineer on merchant ships, a teacher in inner-city schools, a project manager in investment banks and now as a photographer in India. An extremely well traveled photographer, Rahul has experienced life on the streets of New York City, Tokyo, Amsterdam and in a village in Kenya.

Though having received no formal training in his craft, he has attended numerous workshops under highly experienced photographers in New York.

He relies on his natural gift of connecting with people through photography, so a lot of his work will feature portraits and character studies.

Rahul is also active in the community of new media artists and shares his process of creation through his blog. His work is inspired and woven together by cinema, music and the sights and sounds of the street.

Rahul did his schooling from St.Pauls high School, his Pre University from GSS College, Bachelor of Engineering from GIT and Master of Science from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

His Solo photo exhibition is organized at

The Global Tree Cafe Art Wall, in Bangalore

Saturday 12th September 2009.

Brief Background of projects:

Kenya Unplugged:

Rahul traveled to Kenya earlier this year and spent time on the safari circuit in the Masai Mara and in the beach resort of Mombasa. This series is the result of an active effort to connect with ethnic communities and doing exactly what a tourist is advised NOT to do while in Africa. On the “do not do” list were warnings against wandering off alone, traveling on the local “Matatu” buses and not socializing with the locals beyond small talk. Rahul did wander off alone, traveled extensively on matatus and even visited remote villages, sharing meals, performing in ritual dances and of course taking photographs.

The first part of this series was created in Masai and Samburu villages bordering the Masai Mara National Park, where he was witness to the daily life of the people and spent time trying to converse with them using hand gestures and the most powerful currency in the world – a smile! The portraits he created are a result of those interactions.

The second part of the series was created in the village of Bombo, some 35 km north of the city of Mombasa. After the usual jetski rides and snorkeling trip, the instinct to wander eventually got the better of him. Accompanied by a local “beach boy”, he visited the village of Bombo where he spent the day interacting with the children and adults, even helping them repair a hut which had collapsed in the recent rain, all the while observing and taking photographs.

Detritus:

Rahul is currently involved in a project to explore the process of nature reclaiming what it gave up when the colonial-style bungalows of the Belgaum Cantonment were built to house the officers of the British Army. Some of these bungalows are about a hundred years old and have not been regularly occupied or maintained. This has brought them to a state of dilapidation, reducing them to only vestiges of a once glorious past. These photographs are the first installment of the Detritus project.

A question to muse on while viewing this series is “Will glass, concrete and steel structures be as graceful in their twilight years?” The photographer hopes these photographs will plant the seeds of recyclable architecture.

An interview with the budding eye behind the lens:

1.What sparked your interest in photography?

Rahul —> Dad’s old camera was lying unused for a number of years. I put a roll of film and shot it, nothing came out cause I had not loaded it properly. Therefore, I looked up the right way (thank you, Internet) to load film into that particular camera model and saw a bunch of links to photography resources. Read up and got addicted to the craft!

2.Have you taken any professional training?

Rahul —> None whatsoever, but I have taken numerous workshops with very senior and experienced photographers in New York.

3.You are a MS in Information science then what made you turn to photography?

Rahul —> As the addiction got deeper; I began to think about doing photography full time.

4.Which was your first ever photo or photo shoot on a commercial basis?

Rahul —> Catalog for Quest LLC, an alcohol and spirits bottle printing and decorating firm based in New Jersey.

5.How many exhibitions have you done of your photos?(details)

Rahul —> This will be my first exhibition in India. I have done two exhibitions so far, both in Greensboro in the US.

6.What do you like photograph models, original facets etc?

Rahul —> Live models in a concept style set is my favorite thing to shoot. I specialize in music promotional photography, which means shooting pictures for musicians and bands that can be used for advertising and promotion.

I also like to shoot street life, which was my first passion when I began shooting.

7.Narrate one good and one bad experience during your photography career? Rahul —> The best experience so far has been shooting Agnee, India’s premier Indi-rock band, they are superb musicians as well as extremely warm and friendly people. We were laughing and joking throughout the shoot.

The worst experience was when the boyfriend of a model I was shooting showed up and started offering advice to me and generally distracting me. I had to pack up and cancel the shoot altogether.

8.Your favourite place for a photo shoot?

Rahul —> Anywhere I can bring a camera and a subject together!

9.What do you prefer out door or indoors?

Rahul —> Outdoor, definitely.

10.You love music and also perform in band and teach in school, how do u manage all these things at a time? Rahul —> All the above are what I am passionate about, so it does not seem like too much effort.

11.Do you like B&W photography or color is best?
Rahul —> Depends on the concept and subject, I like both but I am a tiny bit partial to B&W.

12.What sort of equipment and software do you use?

Rahul —> I use digital SLRs and also a nice digital point and shoot. I use Adobe Creative Suite software for processing.

13.What is your opinion on post-processing, especially enhancing pictures?

Rahul —> There’s a saying in Marathi, “Thodkyaat godi”. I live by that principle. I prefer to get the effect and feel I am looking for while shooting, so I can reduce the amount of time required to post-process. That way I can spend more time behind a camera and less time in front of a computer.

14.Any idols that you admire?

Rahul —> I admire Steve McCurry, David LaChappelle, Annie Leibovitz, Mike Peters among many others. Some of my friends are also awesome photographers; Nitin Joshi is one of them.

15.You settled in Pune, why did not you think Belgaum as a option?

Rahul —> Ultimately I want to be a full-time advertising photographer and Mumbai is the center of that activity. Pune is within a 2-hour drive and removed from the crazy life and weather in Mumbai.

16.One dream location you want to shoot and whom?

Rahul —> I dream of shooting Dream Theater in Ladakh, Porcupine Tree in Patagonia and Symphony X in Pompeii.

17.What do you love the most about your job?

Rahul —> I can go to work in shorts and slippers! Going on a shoot is like a picnic and I can stay at home the rest of the time, working on the pictures.

18.What would you say to other enthusiast photographers out there who aspire to what you have achieved?

Rahul —> See the final photograph in your mind’s eye before you shoot it.

19.Do u think Belgaum has good quality labs for printing of commercial photos. Your thoughts?

Rahul —> I have not yet found a better printing lab than Subhash Photos. They work with minimum fuss and quality is top-notch.

20.Your favourite place in Belgaum?

Rahul —> Ramdev Galli, my home; I enjoy wandering around Camp and Nanawadi as well.

21.In your view is this website doing good for Belgaumites?

Rahul —> AllaboutBelgaum is the only site I go to when I want to get news about my hometown.

See Rahul’s Photos:

Detritus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahuldeshpande/sets/72157622026437399/

Kenya Unplugged: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahuldeshpande/sets/72157619400689539/

A medium built person, with specs on his eyes, and a great vision to achieve something in life he is Arun Agarwal how now is the Fund manger of India’s top Mutual Fund SBI Mutual Fund. He is Fund manager of SBI MF Arbitrage fund and index fund. So many people who are reading might have invested in these funds but who even cares to read who the fund manager is when always there is the ad, “read offer documents properly before investing”.  To become a fund manager is not an effortless job. He has loads and loads of money, which he needs to handle and see at the same time that investors get dividend and the NAV has growth. We could invest in one stock and go in loss but here a fund manager has to repeatedly look at the portfolio and change day in day out according to the market trend. The SBI Arbitrage fund has a fund size of Rs.610 crores and the SBI Index fund is of Rs.20 Crores. 

Arun started managing the SBI Arbitrage fund de facto from October 2006 to date and the magnum index fund from February 2008 to date. 

Arun Agarwal did his schooling from St.Marys high school and passed out in 1989, he then Joined Gogte College of commerce for his bachelor’s in Commerce. His goal in life was set; he had to become a Chartered Accountant.  He did is internship for CA at A S Dixit & Co. Belgaum and passed the exam to become a CA in Jan 1998 at the first attempt. 

He worked in UTI Mutual Fund for 8 yrs in internal audit then debt dealing and then joined in SBI Mutual Fund as head of dealing and fund manager for Arbitrage fund and index fund. 

Arun is very simple person who is down to earth and always witty and naughty. To him life is simple and he likes to take it as it comes. He was very famous amongst his friends in college as the wittiest person and at the same time intelligent as well. He participated in the youth festivals and won laurels for his college.

Some excerpts of his interview

1. To layman who is fund manager?

Firstly, you should understand what a fund is. It is pool of money put in by various investors for some common purpose and as per the objective of the fund. The person who looks after the investment part (i.e. the assets in which the Money is to be invested) is a fund manager.

 2. Arbitrage Funds have outperformed other equity-oriented funds. More importantly, they have given positive returns. Is it a good time to invest in arbitrage funds?

Arbitrage funds are market neutral funds that are meant for every buy transactions there is a sell transaction in the futures market of the same quantity. It plays on the spread between the cash and futures market, hence in a bearish market or flat market, it tends to outperform the equity mutual funds.

 3. Since Arbitrage Funds give returns in line with debt funds, how much should an investor allocate (as a percentage) to arbitrage funds vis-a-vis his/her fixed income portfolio?

As the Arbitrage fund returns, are similar to debt funds but being tax efficient a person can allocate say 15-25% of the debt mutual fund portfolio to Arbitrage funds but should also take care that the Arbitrage market is not a big market, hence is lot of money starts chasing the Arbitrage funds, the returns will be hampered.

 4. What are the distinct benefits that SBI Arbitrage Opportunities Fund offers to its investors?

The prime benefit of any Arbitrage funds is that they invest 65% of their money in equities hence the return of Arbitrage funds are tax free if kept for more than a year as per the current tax regulation.

 5.  What should Investors keep in mind while investing in Arbitrage fund? Any advise that you would like to give to investors.

They should not expect extraordinary returns from Arbitrage funds the returns would be equal to your liquid fund returns. 

6. Is it good to go in for SIP for an Arbitrage Fund?

 Can compare fund to fixed deposit kind of investments hence sip may not be such a great idea as compared to equity funds.

 7. Any, suggestions to investors in general for making mutual fund investments?

Mutual funds are highly tax efficient instruments to invest money, further money is handled by professional people at a miniscule fee, so persons with idle funds should always park their money with mutual funds, debt or equity depends on the risk taking ability of the person.

 8. Narrate some interesting incident good or bad during your career till date?

 There are lot of incidents but difficult to put them in black and white.

 9. Your thoughts on the upcoming talent in Belgaum & how one can groom oneself being here.

 I have not come much to Belgaum in last 10 yrs hence I may not be able to comment on the same objectively, but based on my experience when I was in Belgaum and compared to people around I feel Belgaum has a lot of honesty, sincerity and politeness in the people of Belgaum.

 10. What is the best thing about Belgaum you miss?

 The best things I miss about Belgaum is its quite environment and great food especially the idly of Ajanta café and sol kadi being sold at pan shops.

 11. Best place you like in Belgaum? 

Hotel: Ajanta Park: Mahadev mandir, well: congress well at Tilakwadi.

12. What are your hobbies or what keeps you happy when not working?

 To be very honest whenever I have time I watch TV or go for movies in the weekend hence as such do not peruse any hobby as such.

 13. What do you think about this website?

One of the finest website to know everything about Belgaum.

Friends Speak:
 Anand (Vice President & Branch Manager HSBC)

Arun (Lalya as we call him) a true tribute to friendship. I know him for 20 years now. One great thing he does not expect anything from anyone neither does he have the fuss to try and show that we cares too much et al. As a friend, no hangups no goody goody talks; Clear straight talk. We shared and loved the Sheetal alipak & Ras, the Sol kadi, the pav bhaji, bhel the pan masala and have course Deshmukh road. While we know each other for 20 years, it was the first 7/8 years we were together at Belgaum. Nevertheless, it all feels like yesterday.

7^th semester student duo of Sandeep Hegde and Manoj Nair both away from their home town who came here to pursue their engineering have landed themselves in a position they would not have expected. The duo started the dotCORD IT Solutions private limited an IT company while still studying.

 While they are taught new technologies at dotCORD the duo have seen that they know all the latest technologies in web designing and other allied works. At this time of global recession when students who get a campus placement will be the happiest of the lot, these two have proven that why wait for other companies to hire you, we can hire a few and they have done just that.   

dotCORD is a company founded by a group of students of Gogte Institute of Technology(GIT), Belgaum with a professional tint to their pursue of knowledge. They pioneer in providing superior and world standard web based solutions for small to large corporate companies; offshore and local. They seize each new opportunity and leverage it to the enhancement of overall development procedures. They fully appreciate the fact that in a highly competitive biz world a well designed web site can act as a strong and effective marketing tool for your company. Working closely with your ideas and necessities coupled with technical expertise can turn a simple web design from a mere presentation to powerful business equipment.

Their vision is based on the Internet wave. The ability to transmit information at a ZERO cost opens up possibilities that never existed before. Individuals and Entities worldwide must adopt and adapt to a new way of doing business, learn new lessons, evolve their processes and leverage on the advantages and opportunities presented by a connected globe, in order to increase efficiency, remain competitive, and enhance quality of life.

It is their goal to build unique software, applications and services that leverage the internet and assist individuals and entities to communicate, collaborate and stay in touch. 

The duo has now taken the responsibility of designing the IT Belgaum site which is a part of this blog’s initiative for collective IT growth in Belgaum.

 They have a full plan for the future laid down. In the coming month a new website for Belgaumites will be launched known as Belgaumpages where each one and anyone could get in touch with his friends, blog, share etc. They don’t stop here; they have future plans ready which would be sites on a global scale and web marketing as well.

Some excerpts of the interview with Sandeep Hegde, MD dotCORD IT Solutions private limited-

 How and when did u get the idea of starting the company?

Manoj and me got together to work on a project during the 2nd year of our engineering (2007 July). It was for a competition hosted by IBM. Getting into project, we soon discovered that we had to use only IBM products to develop the software. We understood that it was more of business intent from “Big Blue” and dropped out of the project. Then we started to build a website for a domain name I had registered in order to tryout some stuff online. Meanwhile we worked for IEEE GIT website design competition. Manas being the next roll number to Manoj assisted us in graphic design work. Everyone appreciated our design and the level of professionalism we showed in developing it. This made us think, why we don’t start our own company! And we never looked back again

Why this name dotCORD?

Once we decided to start a company next question was off course the company name. We wanted something unique, suitable for IT field, brand able in long run and a .com domain name availability for registration. We were trying to get a name for around two months. None of our friends also could suggest a good name which has unregistered domain name. Finally I and Manoj were trying to find a company name with dot and dotCORD was the outcome. We registered the domain name on 14th December 2007. On 11th February 2009 we were incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 (No. 1 of 1956), Government of India as dotCORD IT SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED with the help of our C.A., Mr.Shivangi.

dot – Symbolizes internet, technology, global
cord – Binding dot

 Your parents reaction on starting company -
Sandeep – My parents have been very supportive always. Once we handled few projects and were firm with establishment of company I told my parents about the stuff in detail.  Although they do not know the technical aspects, they have been supportive in company matter also as usual. Dad has been giving me suggestions and tells me do’s and don’ts etc. This kind of support from parents has always been helping me to focus on my goals and achieve it

 
Manoj- My parents had doubts about me getting into such a job during my education. But ever since we got the company registered, they have been extremely supportive and constantly keep asking about any developments that take place. They also give me tips on what to do in certain situations as and when I encounter them. Surprisingly, even my mom likes this idea very much (thanks to the astrologers she consulted).

The fact that we have not demanded anything extra in monetary terms from our parents even during the registration process, gives us more self-confidence and a sense of independence

How was the response from the college and staff?

College and staff have been supporting us right from the initial stages. We have got a very friendly and supportive environment in GIT. We could approach any staff and they are always there to guide us. Prof. Santosh Saraf who was the judge for the first website we did (IEE GIT) is with us till date as our mentor. Being the coordinator of IT Incubation Center of the College he suggested starting our office there. Our Pricipal Dr.D.H.Rao and Management have been very supporting in setting up our office. We have got many projects through the reference of staff, students and alumni of our college.
 

You are in the 7th sem now how do u manage work and studies?

Well engineering is not that difficult. I’m a bit allergic to books and clear the 3 hours exam with 3 hours study while Manoj does have an aggregate of 70% +. We have been instructed by college to work at office only after college hours. We attend college regularly with others and work for the company in our free time which would have gone waste otherwise.
 

Who were the co founders with you?

Manoj and I are the co-founders of dotCORD. Then Manas joined us followed by Chinmay. We do have many internees who work part time for the company.

Some good/bad experience while on work

Everything was a new experience to us. Being technical students we jumped into something that requires management. However good we are at work, we need to convince people that we can do it. Initially we did not have a portfolio and also the fact that we are still students made many doubt if we could deliver in time and up to their expectations. Yet, some people trusted us with the job. We would like to thank all our clients for this trust they share in doing business with us.

According to me, we have not undergone anything such as a bad experience. Due to our limited exposure to outer world we did face some hurdles. We had to face problems with the market survey for product pricings. We faced problems with collection of payment as well. Some companies outsourced their work to us but cancelled the project without any payment. We faced problems in setting up our bank account as well. Thanks to the support provided by Axis Bank, our problems with a bank account ended there. We are lucky enough that someone or the other helped us when we were facing problems.

What are your future plans?

Till now we have followed a path that revealed itself to us, and which brought us here. But we now know that we require to lay our own paths in order to move forward and make DOTCORD a true success story. We are in the process of developing a comprehensive plan for our growth, especially extending our client base to more locations within the country as well as abroad; with Belgaum remaining the center of our operations. At this point in time, we cannot afford to think of a situation where we may have to disintegrate after our engineering course. We will give it all we’ve got in keeping abreast with the market demands and satisfying our customers.

Best thing you like about Belgaum?

The best thing I like about Belgaum is its collaborative nature. The people of Belgaum are very friendly and supportive. It is a cool and calm city. The quality of education is very high here. It does not have pollution and traffic problems like larger cities but we do have all the facilities which are available in any metropolitan city. Our company has a lot of scope parallel to the growth of Belgaum.

What are your thoughts on the initiative taken by AllAboutBelgaum for the IT development?

We were already aware of the earlier version of AllAboutBelgaum, that is, Belgaumblog. My instinct said me that this blog is going to grow one day which is quite evident with the transformation into AllAboutBelgaum and the number of Facebook fans. We know that team of AAB is quite capable of living up to any initiative. The recent initiative of bringing together IT companies in Belgaum is another such example. We extend our complete support to AllAboutBelgaum for all future undertakings. All the best to the team of AAB!!!

Here are some of the sites developed by them:

• http://alumni.git.edu
• http://www.sdmchonavar.org
• http://www.cogentedu.com
• http://www.timeenglish.in
• http://www.eefabelgaum.com
• http://www.parijatha.co.in
• http://www.hedabuilders.com
• http://www.knowmepersonally.com
• http://www.anantterdal.com
• http://www.ashokayoga.com
• http://www.pingsense.com
• http://www.designfeatured.com
• http://www.belgaumpages.com

www.dotCORD.com

Mr. Kiran Kulkarni is the Co-founder/ Managing Director of Geodesic Limited who hails from Belgaum has sought 239^th place in the India’s Super Rich 2009 in the Businessworld Issue Dated 23-29 June 2009). His net worth in 2008 was Rs.165.42 crores in 2009 it is Rs.108.72 crores.

 Kiran did his schooling from St.Pauls and Pre University from GSS. He then pursued his engineering from Gogte Institute of Technology in B. E., Electronics and Communication.

 He helped the company to create successful products viz. Bazaar (A B2B/ B2C engine), Mundu interoperable instant messenger and a strong content aggregation tool.

He was part of the team that positioned the company to trail-blaze onto the Internet, into 2004 and beyond. He was a part of the team that created products that are fun, powerful, and easy to use.

 Mr. Kiran Kulkarni is the Co-founder/ Managing Director of Geodesic Limited and has held the helm since Geodesic’s inception in 1999. An Electronics and Communication Engineer, Kiran is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company and works with Geodesic’s development team to turn great ideas into useful software solutions. Kiran has led Geodesic to be the only Indian company to be ranked by Red Herring as one of the top 100 innovative companies in the world in 2006. Kiran pioneered a low cost value communication and collaboration system for the enterprise as well as a consumer. Kiran has one of the best long-term track records in the industry and was a Co-founder/ Director of Aftek Ltd prior to Geodesic. After a 12 year stint and a market capitalization of US$ 300 million or Rs. 12000 million, Kiran retired from Aftek’s board to pursue building a brand out of

India.

An expert in networking and web technologies, Kiran is the winner of ‘The Indira Super Achiever Award’ – aimed at recognizing professional talent that has made a difference.

Kiran has been part of technology companies for over two decades and is an active environmentalist. Kiran is passionate about agriculture, building Robots and driving his battery operated car in Mumbai.

At the age of 4 when kids play with toys and when asked, what will you be when you grow up, you can get many a answers and one most common one is a pilot. He also dreamt the same to become a pilot. There is an Air Port in Bidar, Air Force Station where pilots are trained on Surya Kiran fighter planes. In fact, he was inspired by Surya Kirans when he was just 3 years old and run out of his house every time the plane flew over his house.

He studied music as his love, became a Sangeet Visharad but to grow to be a pilot was his only reverie and this dream of his became a reality on July 11, 2009 as he got his FAA [Federal Aviation Administration, Government of USA] approved Commercial Pilot License (CPL).

Cap.Hrishikesh V. Patil

Hrishikesh V. Patil now Cap. Hrishikesh V. Patil aged 21 who was born in Bidar who also studied there and then later came to Belgaum with his father’s transfer to Belgaum 10 years ago who is the Principal Correspondent, THE HINDU, Belgaum. He studied at the Kendriya Vidyalaya No-II, Camp, Belgaum and passed with flying colors. He then moved on to R.L.S. College for his science course. He studied in Bidar, Gulbarga, Mysore and Beglaum

Hrishikesh is a unique blend of character and qualities. He is a Sangeet Visharad [B.Music(Tabla)] from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahamandal Vidyalaya, Mumbai and disciple of Musicologist Pt.Hayavadan Joshi of Belgaum. He has performed at the State-level competitions, Bangalore; Kittur Utsav, Kittur; Pt.Savai Gandharva Utsav, Kundgol; Stage performances/Jugalbandi in Belgaum, Dharwad, Mysore & Miraj. He has also a Rajya Puraskar in Bharat Scouts.

Flying was his dream and Music is his life. He is a very humble, disciplined, self-confident, hard-working, goal oriented, affectionate and caring with high moral values.

Hrishikesh getting Blessings from padmavibhushan Dr.Gangubai Hangal

He attributes his success to blessings of the GOD the almighty, parents, paternal and maternal grandparents, close relatives in Bidar and moral support from close friends from Belgaum. He is deeply grateful to his grandfather Shri Vishwanath Patil, grandmother Amrit Patil, maternal grandfather late Shri Hanmanthrao Deshmukh and grandmother Gangabai Deshmukh, close relatives – Mr.V.V. Bhushetty and family, Advocate Pradeep Deshmukh, Venkatesh Deshmukh, IPS, Mahesh V. Patil, Bharat V, Patil, Dr.Gayatri Patil. He is highly grateful to his Instructors at Falcon Aviation Academy Cap.Dallas Lowen, Cap.Olamide Iledare and Falcon Aviation Academy’s Chief Administrator Mary Jane, local guardian in Atlanta Commander Mrighendra Kale and his family; besdies close friends of his father in Mysore Mr.A.Laxminarasimaiah, Dr.K.N. Doddamani and Mr.D.B. Patil in Belgaum for their timely support. He is also grateful to the Corporation Bank, Bidar, its Manager Ramanna S. Kalkutagi and his staff for lending Education Loan to support is pilot training programme.

Now, he is looking forward to seek pilot’s job in a good airline, preferably in India. His priority in the flying profession will be safety of the passenger on board and the aircraft, as well. Also, he would continue further education and Indian Classical Music, too…But, owes his magnificent achievement to the his mother Mrs.Madhumati Patil and elder sister Risha V. Patil who had been praying every day for his success and safety

His family is euphoric over his achievement. ‘My son has made me proud’ his father told this blog. His elder sister is blissful about his brother’s accomplishment and wished him all the best and look forward to fly in the plane he is piloting.

Indeed a unique mix of persona, all the best Hrishikesh.

MONEY SCHOOL is a venture of academicians and practicians in the stock markets. It is an effort to bring financial literacy to the investing public in Belgaum. They conduct courses related to stock markets to educate the investors about taking calculated risks. The school is run by  Prof. Anil Kumar Garag as person with great knowledge of markets and deep study in the economics of the market.

The Money school offers various courses like Basic Course on Stock Markets, Technical Analysis,  Fundamental Analysis, Futures and Options, NCFM/BCFM Training, Mutual Funds, Elliot wave Theory,  Point and Figure charting.

The fees are normal and any common man can afford the same and also the timings are feasible like in the evenings etc. so that even if you are jobber you can study after your work.

The BASIC COURSE ON STOCK MARKET course contains the basic knowledge to enter the stock market and includes the following:  Overview of Financial Markets, Primary Markets (IPO Markets), Secondary Markets (Stock Exchanges), Introduction to Fundamental Analysis
Introduction to Technical Analysis, Common Terms & Money Management.

After you have attained the basic knowledge now study Technical Analysis and the course includes:  
Introduction to Technical Analysis Charting Dow Theory, Chart Patterns, Moving Averages, Oscillators, Short Term Trading, Common Terms, and Money Management.

Making money after knowing all these many things you need to higher risks and for that Futures and options is the best option.

The COURSE ON FUTURES AND OPTIONS includes basics of Futures, Options, Trading in Futures and Options, Hedging, Speculation Arbitrage, Strategies.

MUTUAL FUNDS COURSE (For AMFI Certification) contains Introduction to Mutual Funds, Structure of Mutual Funds, Types of Mutual Funds, Investment Strategies, Mutual Fund Evaluation
Life cycle Investing.

Only knowledge of these things is not sufficient and in-depth knowledge of economics is required and hence the  COURSE ON FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS which includes: Economic Analysis, Sector Analysis, Industry Analysis, Company Analysis.

Money school also trains you for the NCFM and BCFM Training.

There are various theories which are used in charting and the best amongst them is ELLIOT WAVE THEORY. So you can learn more about the theory in detail Wave Theory, Application of Elliot wave theory in Investing.

One more important part is charting: POINT AND FIGURE CHARTING, this course includes Drawing point and figure charts, Chart patterns, Chart inferences, Entry and exit points & trading rules.

About Prof.Anilkumar Garag, the man behind Money School:

Anil straddled the world of academics and financial consultancy. Apart from teaching as an Associate Professor at MATS School of Business and an Entrepreneur in Financial Services he is also an entrepreneur running a small company called MONEY CENTER. Money Center is involved in Stock Broking, Life Insurance, General Insurance, Mutual Funds, Housing Loans and Personal Loans in Belgaum.

Prof Anil Kumar is also a visiting faculty at Goa University, Karnatak University, Visvesvarayya Technological University and has delivered guest lectures at a host of Management Schools in Karnataka.

He specializes in Investment Management, Derivatives, International Finance, Management Consulting, and Management Development Programmes.

He has worked for NH Securities; Mukand Global Finance Limited; Enercon India Limited; KLS’ Institue of Management Education and Research earlier in his career.

He did his schooling from St. Xavier’s High School Belgaum; then GSS College Belgaum, B.E., Industrial and Production Engineering from GIT Belgaum & MBA, Management from KIMS Karnatak University Dharwad. He has submitted his Ph.D Thesis ‘“Valuations Of Futures In Indian Stock Markets: An Empirical Analysis”’ to the Goa University.

He also worked as Faculty and Placement Co-coordinator at Institute of Management Education and Research Belgaum for over 7 years. As Faculty of Finance he taught courses in Financial Markets and Institutions, Derivatives, International Finance, Security Analysis and Portfolio Management. He also co-ordinatined Placement Activities for the Institute for five years and was the public face of the Institute as Placement Co-coordinator.

Garag Financial Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. 203/2B, Shukruwar Peth Tilakwadi, Belgaum – 590 006 Ph: 0831-4204231 Cell: 9343184895
 email: moneycentre@airtelmail.in

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