Source: The Pragativadi

Ganjam Youths take the initiative to protect coastline

BERHAMPUR: A group of volunteers of Purunabandh village in Ganjam district are trying to save the coastline near their village through mangrove plantations. These youths are members of the Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee (RSTPC) who play a major role in the protection of Olive ridleys which come to the coast near Rushikulya rookery for nesting. During past few years sea erosion had increased in the area. It increased during storms. “So, we decided to take up measures to save the coastline near our village,” said Rabindranath Sahu of RSTPC. It may be noted that in the past sea erosion had led to destruction of Olive ridley nests on this coastline.
These youths have already planted around 1000 mangrove plants by the side of the of the Palur canal near the Rushikulya rookery. Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats.
These youths have the faith that once established; the roots of mangrove plants would check erosion and enhance sediment deposition in area of plantation. Mangroves have always proved to have protected coastal areas from erosion and storm surge of sea waves. The intricate and massive root network of mangrove plants is efficient in dispelling wave energy. They also slow down tidal water and allow sediments to get deposited as the tide comes in. These youths are collecting the saplings of mangrove plants from a special nursery established near Gokharkuda by ‘Pallisri’. The mangrove plants from this nursery are also being planted near Gokharkuda village.

Source: The Hindu

Four NCC battalions in south Orissa mooted

BERHAMPUR: With ill-impact of growth of Left wing extremism uppermost in mind, the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) is actively considering setting up of four battalions of National Cadet Corps (NCC) at four district headquarter towns in south Orissa. Speaking at the NCC Day celebration here on Sunday, Commodore L. K. Agarwalla, deputy director general of NCC, said MoD was giving final touches to the proposals of establishing four battalions at Malkanagiri, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Bhawanipatna.
Left wing extremists are active in three out of the four places. “This will give the tribal youth of these regions new opportunities and help them join armed forces and paramilitary forces,” Commodore Agarwalla said.
According to NCC sources, while Malkanagiri, Rayagada and Nabarangpur will have cadet strength of 3000 each, Bhawanipatna will have 400 cadets. Malkanagiri and Nabarangpur army battalions will be dedicated for boys, while there will be all girls in Rayagada army battalion. Bhawanipatna will have 400-strong boys naval unit.
At present, the State has 46,139 cadets enrolled in NCC. In the phase-II expansion proposals, which has been recently proposed, two Orissa NCC Air Squadron has been planned in Sunabeda and a group headquarter at Koraput has been recommended.

Source: The Hindu

Famous Tribal festival 'Parab' concludes

Ambassadors of Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden attended
This year over 500 foreign tourists, including ambassadors of different countries, witnessed Parab festival. Five foreign dignitaries also joined as guests in the Parab grand final. In her first ever visit outside Delhi, Terhi Hakala, Ambassador, Finland was overwhelmed to witness the colourful expression of rural India at Koraput about 300 km from Berhampur city in South Odisha. She was at Koraput to attend the closing ceremony of Parab, the State level tribal festival along with five other ambassadors. The foreign dignitaries included Terhi Hakala from embassy of Finland, Gudmundur Eiriksson from embassy of Iceland, Ann Ollestad from embassy of Norway, Lars Olof Lindgren from embassy of Sweden and Ole Lendsmann Poulsen from embassy of Denmark. ‘The music of the tribals was melodious, cultural heritage was rich and the region where they lived was beautiful’ said Terhi Hakala ambassador of Finland.
Several ambassadors, who witnessed Parab, said it is a unique tribal festival where talents from several districts of South Odisha and other states performed on one platform.
Artistes from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Ganjam, Malkangiri, Balangir, Jagatsinghpur, Pottangi, Kotpad, Semliguda and Koraput performed during the festival.
Visit of people from different regions including scores of foreign tourists to Parab, had further risen the confidence of people on the return of progressive normalcy to the region on the face of various kinds of disturbances, Gadadhar Parida, district Collector said.
While the artists from the district and from other districts of South Odisha got enormous opportunity to exhibit their talent on the stage, there was more to cheer about for the great amount of business happened in the ground for all kinds of goods. The visitors had shown interest in purchasing items of handicrafts and many more forms of artistic expression in the ground over the last three days.

Source: The New Indian Express

Malyabanta Mahotsav begins in Malkangiri

The three-day-long district level annual cultural extravaganza Malyabanta Mahotsov-2009, showcasing the rich cultural diversity and heritage of the district, was inaugurated by former Indian hockey team captain Dillip Tirkey. The event is organised at the DNK Ground in Malkangiri.
Organised by the District Council of Culture in collaboration with Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) and Song & Drama division of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting every year, the event provides a platform to the tribals to exhibit their hidden talents. Besides Tirkey, Nabarangpur MP Pradeep Kumar Majhi, Chitrakonda MLA Mamata Madhi, Malkangiri MLA Mukund Sodi, ZP president Gangadhar Buruda and NAC Chairman Dhanurjaya Madkami attended the inaugural ceremony. Collector and District Council of Culture Chairman Nitin Bhanudas Jawale presided over the ceremony. More than one lakh people from the state and outside are expected to throng to the town to enjoy the cultural extravaganza.

New chairman takes over charge of Taratarini Development Board

TARATARINI DEVELOPMENT BOARD

Regd. No.: GJM No. - 7177-A – 676/2002-2003

Hillpatna, Berhampur – 5, (Ganjam), Orissa(0680) 2215168,

Website:http:/taratarini.nic.in

E-Mail:rdcbmp@ori.nic.in, hillshrine@hotmail.com
Press Release

Shri Chandrasekhar Kumar, IAS and the new Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of Southern Division, Odisha has taken over the chairmanship of the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB), considered as one of the prominent temple administration of the State. This famous prehistoric religious hill shrine is believed to be the Sthana Peetha (Breast Shrine) of Mata Sati and one amongst the 4 major ancient Shakti centers in India.

As per the convention of the Board, Mr Kumar who has recently joined as the RDC, Southern Division is replacing the outgoing RDC and the Chairman of TTDB Shri Satyabrata Sahu, who has since joined as the Commerce & Transport secretary of Government of Orissa.

It is noteworthy that Shri Satyabrata Sahu’s Chairmanship was eventful as it marked the completion of the 1st phase of the magnificent stone temple at Taratarini Hill Shrine. During his tenure the Board has successfully completed the Work of the main temple for the Twin Goddesses, Initiated the work of widening of the 999 holy steps with rest sheds, Widening the roads leading to the hilltop, Providing drinking water facility on the hill top, Constructed the first Arial “Rope Way” of Eastern India for fastest communication of visitors and Started massive plantation in and around the hill shrine for the maintenance of eco-system.

After taking over the charge Shri Kumar visited the holy shrine and discussed the status of the 2nd phase of work, which is going to commence soon to fulfill the basic requirements of the visitors. Board secretary Shri Pramod Panda and other board members tabled the primary draft of the second phase of work and it was decided that after through consultation, the Board will shortly start the 2nd phase work and will try its best to complete the on going projects before the commencement of the forthcoming Chaitra Mela.The TTDB members, office bearers and the temple administration while congratulating Shri Kumar expressed the hope that the Hill Shrine will become a great center of religious and tourist importance in the country under his chairmanship.

It is worth mentioning that the second phase work of the temple which will start soon includes; Construction of a huge multipurpose complex on the hilltop, four side-temples, boundary wall and outer protection wall / river side retaining wall to check land sliding and soil erosion at the hilltop.Construction of administrative office on the hilltop.Construction of Bhog Bazaar on the hilltop.Construction of Mundan shade on the hilltop.Construction of a big public utilities complex.Construction of waiting hall for the Rope-way on the hilltop.Further development of Arial Rope-way.Arrangement of space to accommodate the buildings for ATMs, Lockers, Shoe stands and other facilities.Completion of Kalyana Mandapam.Construction of huge parking space at the hilltop.Flood lighting arrangements at the hilltop and inside the temple premises. Lighting arrangement on the 999 holy stone steps and road leading to the Hilltop from Taratarini junction.Further widening of stone steps and arrangement of public utilities/ rest houses.Further widening of the existing road to the Hilltop.Maintenance of eco-system in and around the sacred hill by huge plantation in its nearby areas.Construction of a hospital.Construction of a residential school and training centre for the physically challenged etc.

Regards,
R P Tripathy

Second State-level drama festival concludes in Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: Even in this era of television, good plays can drag audience out of their drawing rooms to auditorium. The second State-level drama festival organised in the city proved it.
This week-long drama festival concluded on November 15 evening. All the seven plays enacted during the festival had packed house at its venue the Ganjam Kala Parishad auditorium. It was a non-competitive drama festival where prominent amateur theatre groups from different parts of the State enacted their best plays, which have won accolades in national level theatre festivals. Some of these plays were decades old and part of development of amateur theatre in Orissa.
Despite the odds like acoustics lacking and bad ventilation in the auditorium, audience filled it up every evening. Veteran theatre activist, Raju Padhi said the welcome sign was that more than 50 per cent of the audience was general public having no relation with stage activities. They had come over only to enjoy the plays. “They enjoyed the plays till the end which hints that despite speculations the live attraction for live theatre would continue in the minds of general public”, he said.
Swagatika Padhi, who came over to see three plays in this drama fest said one of the major reason behind its success was the professional management of the organisers. Usually the enactment of plays precedes elongated boring meetings comprising of long speeches. It delays the beginning of enactment of play. But in this drama festival the enactment of plays started sharp at 7.30 p.m. The meetings that preceded, were short and were attended by prominent personalities related to stage and cinema.
The variety of theme and format of plays was a major draw for the audience. The first two plays ‘Jeeara’ and ‘Baunsa Thenga re Swadhinata’ enacted by ‘Ka Kha Ga’ of Damanjodi and ‘Kala Parishad’ of Dhenkanal were plays based on human formations on stage. ‘Emiti bi Dine’ enacted by ‘Canmas’ of Paradip and ‘Kurukhyetra ra Thikana’ of Tulasi Cultural Association of Kendrapara were based on burning contemporary issues. The play of Casmas dealt with the topic of female foeticide and depicted a time when there would be dearth of women in the country. The other play was based on the corruption that continues in the name of social service. On Saturday a famous folklore of Orissa came alive in the play ‘Ati Achambita Katha’ enacted by three decades old organisation, Manan of Bhubaneswar. Its apt presentation enthralled children as well as the elders. ‘Jhada’ of ‘Sampark’ from Rourkela was the play of the concluding evening of the drama festival.

Courtesy: The Hindu

‘Yellow ribbon’ campaign launched in Ganjam district

Parents, teachers, police will be educated about child rights

Ganjam Collector inaugurates the week-long campaign

Competitions and seminars will be conducted in schools
BERHAMPUR: Week long ‘Yellow ribbon’ campaign to create awareness against child abuse was launched in Ganjam district on November 14. Ganjam district Collector V.K. Pandian inaugurated the campaign taken up by the ISRD-Childline at Chatrapur. The slogan of the campaign is ‘Say YES to Prevention of Child Abuse’. Signature campaign
It would include a signature campaign through out the district where people would take pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about abuse and violence against children. Parents, teachers, civil society activists, police personnel etc would be educated about child rights during the campaign.
During this week long campaign yellow ribbons will be worn, placed on different publicly visible locations like doors, windows and computers in offices and institutes.
Director of the ISRD-Childline, Sudhir Sabat said they would take up competitions and seminars at different schools where parents and teachers would get together with students to discuss the issue of child abuse.
It may be noted that as per a Global School-Based Student Health Survey carried out developing countries like India, between 20 and 65 percent of the children of school going age reported to have verbally or physically bullied in school.
Mr Pandian said parents have the most important role to play in the bringing up of children. But at times socio-economic condition leads to abuse of children even in their families. During the yellow ribbon campaign special targeted group would be the fishermen families living on the Ganjam coast.
It is alleged that large-scale incidents of child abuse is reported from this community. The parents of this community would be educated about the rights of their children. There would be special sensitisation programmes for the parents of working children, labour class mothers members of Women Self Help Groups.

Courtesy:The Hindu

Chandrasekhar Kumar takes over as the chairman of Taratarini Development Board

BERHAMPUR: Shri Chandrasekhar Kumar, IAS and the new Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of Southern Division has taken over the chairmanship of the Tara Tarini Development Board, considered as one of the prominent temple administration and development bodies of the State. As per the convention of the Board, Mr Kumar who has recently joined as the RDC, southern division is replacing the outgoing RDC and the Chairman of TTDB Shri Satyabrata Sahu, who has since joined as the Commerce & Transport secretary of Government of Orissa. Shri Sahu’s Chairmanship was eventful as it marked the completion of 1st phase of the magnificent stone temple at Taratarini Hill Shrine and the shrine and its peripheral areas witnessed massive development in the past few years.
The TTDB members and office bearers while congratulating Shri Kumar expressed the hope that the Hill Shrine will become a great center of religious and tourist importance in the country under his chairmanship. It is worth mentioning that the second phase of the temple, which includes construction of a massive complex for the devotees and the construction of four side-temples, boundary walls, social initiatives apart from many other small projects and plantation drive, have started recently.

20 years into construction, Berhampur Barracks stadium is still incomplete

BERHAMPUR: Two decades have passed since construction of Berhampur stadium began at the Barracks Ground in Berhampur City. The work, however, is far from over due to delay in identifying a patch of land that would be handed over to the Defence Ministry and payment of Rs 88 lakh by the State Government.A portion of the land in the Barracks Ground that would be used for the stadium is under the possession of the Defence Ministry. The State Government has to hand over another piece of land to them in lieu of Barracks Ground. The Ministry owns 9.183 acres, housing residential quarters for the NCC officials, of the total 17.68 acres earmarked for the stadium-cum-sports complex.In September 2005, the Defence Ministry agreed to vacate the land in lieu of another piece of land within Berhampur and payment of Rs 88 lakh for relocation. The State Government had agreed to provide 9.183 acres of land to the Ministry at Ambapua area of the city. However, it approached the Ministry seeking exemption from the payment of Rs 88 lakh. The latter, though, kept mum over the issue. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry constructed a polyclinic for ex-servicemen on the Barracks Ground.Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) chairman Sarat Ranjan Patnaik said that the Ministry had not sought any approval from the BDA for the polyclinic. “With none taking the initiative for the land transfer, the Berhampur stadium might go into oblivion,” said Prafulla Jagananth Padhi, founder office-bearer of Ganjam District Athletic Association.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express

Mondei festival begins on a colourful note in Nabarangpur

NABARANGPUR: The three-day mega cultural festival of Nabarangpur district - Mondei- 2009 - began in Nabarangpur at the Maa Bhandargharni temple. Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatro, Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro, Science and IT Minister Ramesh Majhi and District Collector Roopa Mishra performed the puja at the temple and a colourful procession was then taken out which culminated at the Mondei ground.
The main function was inaugurated by the MP at the Mondei Ground in the evening. On the occasion, the Revenue Minister recalled the glorious tradition of the district and said Mondei helps in giving a boost to the local culture and at the same time, give a chance to local artistes to exhibit their talents to a larger audience. Mohapatro said experts should be recruited during the Mondei festival to train the local artistes.
At the inaugural function, troupes from Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Konark, Ganjam, Bargarh and Puri besides local troupes from a number of blocks in the district staged shows.
Source: New Indian Express

Tribal festival Parab begins in Koraput

Amid tribal drum beats, the State-level tribal festival Parab was kicked off on November 02 by Koraput MP Jayram Pangi at the Pataleswari Shiva temple in Pepadu village under Pottangi block. The Parab torch was lighted after traditional rituals in the Pataleswari caves. As many as 5,000 people from all blocks of the district participated in the ceremony.
District Collector Gadadhar Parida conducted an oath-taking ceremony seeking smooth conduct of the festival at the block-level.Later in the day, the Parab poster was released.
Parab will be celebrated for 18 days. Various cultural, literary, sports, art and craft competitions will be conducted from panchayat to district level and the finale of Parab will be celebrated for three days in Koraput stadium from November 16.
Among others, MLAs of Pottangi, Koraput and Laxmipur Ramachandra Kadam, Raghuram Padal, Jhino Hikoka respectively and Sub-Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil attended.
Source: New Indian Express