Khallikote Autonomous College to be elevated to Unitary University

In a significant decision the State Government has decided to elevate KhallikoteAutonomous College in Berhampur to unitary university status, said Higher Education Minister of Odisha Debi Prasad Mishra. A government appointed task force on higher education reforms had suggested upgrading the Khallikote autonomous colleges to university status, the Minister said while addressing a function of the Students’ Union of Khallikote College. Mishra however stressed the need to develop necessary infrastructure facilities before the second oldest college of the State was declared a unitary university. While at least 50 acre was required, Khallikote Autonomous College had only 16.74 acres of land in its possession. “There is a proposal to get another 2.50 acres from transport departments garage adjoining the college”, he said. The Minister asked the local MLAs to locate another 50 acres in the town for the college’s expansion. He also assured the students to fill up the vacant posts soon. Around 50 percent of the posts of teaching staff are vacant in the 132-year old college, where over 3,600 students are pursuing studies in 19 different departments, 15 of them having post-graduate departments. The proposal for a foot bridge from KKC to Junior college has just been approved and funds have been released for renovation of Jhansirani ladies hostel, Swami Vivekananda boys hostel of the college. Among others, Berhampur MP Sidhant Mohapatra, MLAs RC Choupatnaik, P Panigrahy, BMC Mayor SS Dash and BDA chairman Kailash Rana were present on the occasion.

Source: New Indian Express

Harihar Dash of Berhampur features in the new Airtel ad

Dancing from Orissa town to Prague

Things are moving fast for Harihar Dash, and they are taking him places. The 24-year-old dancer from Berhampur, a commercial town in coastal Orissa, thought he had had his most famous moment when he made it as a finalist in Colors channel’s India’s Got Talent- Khoj 2. But more was in store: he is now the face of Airtel’s latest ad, which is shot in Prague and expected to go on air on Monday.

The journey from Berhampur to Prague has been nothing short of an adventure, he says. “It all happened in such a rush, right from arranging a passport or getting a visa or the dance preparation, it was so sudden. The only thing I could say when I got to know (about selection) was ‘Wow! it’s just so unbelievable’,” says Harihar, a B Tech in electronics and communication.

For a moment, it seemed that he won’t be able to make the trip in a fortnight’s time. He had to reach Delhi for his visa but missed the flight from Bhubaneswar. Tickets for a flight via Kolkata were arranged. He was caught in traffic on way to airport and barely made it.

“It was truly an adventure but worth the effort. Harihar is fantastic,” says Rohit Ohri, managing partner at JWT, marketing communications brand working with Airtel for the ad. Agrees Airtel Head (Brand and Media) Mohit Beotra, “He didn’t have much time to prepare but did a commendable job.” The 60-second ad was shot in three days a couple of weeks ago.

There was a bit of luck involved in his selection too as, Beotra says, they were looking somewhere else when Harihar’s name cropped up. “We were looking for somebody who is a street entertainer, a juggler, fire-eater or a dancer. We were watching some tapes of a few people from London School of Dance and then Sanjay Kapoor, CEO of Bharti Airtel, suggested Harihar’s name and we saw his tapes. He was striking.”

They tracked him down but he didn’t have a passport, and they had to get a visa for him in a short time. But finally things fell in place. “My dancing style is popping and locking but the one I was required to do was a mix of popping and ballet for which I had to slow down in between and then pick pace. I was trained by some of the best,” says Harihar. “I had no plans of acting but after this ad, I would like to try my hand at it.” Also in his wishlist: travelling to Prague again — on vacation.

Source: Orissa Links, Indian Express

South Orissa Students’ Association (SOSA) demands greenfield domestic airport at Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: South Orissa Students’ Association (SOSA) through a letter to the Chief Minister of Orissa has demanded a green field domestic airport at Berhampur keeping in view the growing air traffic and need of people in the southern region comprising of ten districts of Orissa. The students’ body in its letter to the Chief Minister informed that spectacular growth in the aviation sector witnessed in India in recent years has completely by-passed the state of Orissa. Orissa has seen a spurt in private investment in the recent years and now it is being compared with some of the more advanced states like Maharashtra, Gujarat etc in terms of attracting investment. But, when it comes to air connectivity the state is considered a laggard with poor and inadequate aviation infrastructure. Moreover, most of the states have developed multiple functional airports; the state of Orissa still doesn’t have a second airport after Bhubaneswar. While the only airport of Orissa is still languishing as a domestic airport, prominent cities of the state like Berhampur are yet to be a part of the aviation map of the country. This is regrettable as Berhampur city caters to a vast population of South Orissa and is a major educational, healthcare and commercial hub of the state. As far as Southern Orissa is concerned, the demand for a green field domestic airport at Berhampur has been raised at various points of time but nothing concrete has happened as yet. It is needless to mention that Southern Orissa comprising of 10 revenue districts and Berhampur; the second biggest urban cluster of the state and the principal city of the region is not only the regional hub for business, transport, health and higher education, but it is also among the fastest growing cities of eastern India. Moreover, the region is having a great tourist potential with places like Gopalpur on sea, Chika Lake, Tampara Bay, Taratarini Hill Shrine, Taptapani hot stream and rich tribal culture. Besides, Berhampur is going to be a commercial hub of Orissa with the upcoming industrial corridor of the state. The Gopalpur Port, Tata Industrial Park and SEZ, Titanium SEZ, IREL, proposed Sonepur Energy and Oil City located in the area. The Student's body urged the Chief Minister to take urgent steps for a greenfield domestic airport at an appropriate location near Berhampur city in Orissa which would felicitate faster industrialisation and development of southern region of the state and would ensure faster connectivity for large number of people, the letter addred.

Deepavali wishes

Training programme on plant genetic resources begins in Jeypore

22 participants from different countries take part in it

Indian culture started from agriculture and Koraput region is proud of the people who were working hard to preserve the traditional varieties of seeds on the face of challenges of modern ones, Damodar Rout, Minister of Agriculture ,Orissa said while inaugurating the international training programme on plant genetic resources and seeds at Biju Patnaik Medicinal Plants Garden & Research Centre , Jeypore. 

Emphasising on the need of community-based management of bio-diversity , he said that Koraput had been recognised world over for its rich natural resources and this international event could add more value to it .

A total of 22 participants from Brazil, Ethiopia, France, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, The Netherlands, Sudan, Yemen, Zimbabwe and India , were taking part in the training programme, its overall objective was to enhance the participants' capabilities to deal with contemporary issues in the management of genetic resources and seeds, Walter de Boef , global training coordinator, Wageningen International, The Netherlands said. During the 13-day long training programme, the participants will share their own country's experience while interacting with the tribal communities in Kundura block on management of traditional varieties of rice, community seed bank and the way they had improved their local crop varieties, S.V.Ramana, Director, MSSRF said.

Source: The Hindu