Centre to decide soon on Koraput mega Food Park

The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) will take a decision on setting up of a mega food park in Koraput district of Orissa within next three months.

"The Koraput mega food park proposal is under our consideration.The ministry is examining the expression of interest (EoI) proposals sent bysome promoters last month. A special purpose vehicle will prepare the detail project report and will see the viability of the project. The entire process can take about two to three months, , said S K Nanda, under secretary with MoFPI whileattending a workshop on food packaging here recently.

He said, some promoters have expressed interests to set up a mega food parkin the Koraput region, but the ministry has to see whether it is situated near a farm product market or not, which is a key parameter to set up a food park. The Mega Food Parks Scheme (MFPS) is the flagship program included in the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The scheme envisages a cluster-based approach for the food parks, which will have facilities like food processing centres and collection centres close to farm fields.

"The cluster would be selected very carefully on the basis of agricultural and horticultural surpluses available in the catchment and take into account the logistics and processing infrastructure", according to food park guidelines of MoFPI.

The Central government official was also skeptic about the capability of investors from Orissa to arrange capital investment for such projects. According to MFP scheme, the government of India will provide half of the total cost of the project with a maximum investment of Rs 50 crores.

Courtesy: Business Standard

Kalahandi district reels under acute water crisis

Source: mapsofindia.com

With the onset of sweltering summer and the level of groundwater declining day-by-day in Kalahandi district, the denizens clamour for a bucket of drinking water. Even if one manages to get it, hardly any disinfected water is found. Almost in every house in the district headquarters town Bhawanipatna water is being used privately after spending Rs 25,000 on sinking a personal tube-well.

With the onset of the sizzling summer, bore-well machine dots every nook and corner of the town. Each and every household is found desperately digging a tube-well of its own in almost all the towns in the district.

On the other hand, the poor hardly get the scope of tapping the tube-well water as the stream water usually gets dried up in every area in the summer season. According to the Government records, one tube-well has been supplied for every 80 households. While it has been implemented only in the town areas, hardly one notices tube-wells in the rural pockets here in the district. If at all it is hit upon, it is found to be defunct.

The poor villagers have to trek two to three kilometres to collect potable water may it be from an old well, river water or tube-well. In the villages of Risida and Sapalahari GP under Karlamunda block, hundreds of women walk down to the river barefoot.

While some rush to the well, a few to the tube-well after covering minimum a kilometre. It takes hours to fill their bucket as they stand daylong in queues even under scorching rays of the sun.

It was shocking to notice the rural folks in Thuamul Rampur block using drinking water from the cultivated land after digging a small well with their own hands. With the temperature rising every year, the groundwater table is decreasing while the supply of water from the river to the industries is further compounding the woes.

The situation of the villages under Kesinga block has been worst, especially in summer, as gallons of water are being guzzled up by the industries from the Tel river.

Junagarh MLA Gobardhan Das told the media that the Centre has been clearly stating to the State Government for the last four years that the river water can be supplied to the households, but the State is yet to implement the scheme. The district administration is still reluctant to supply drinking water in the hamlets and thus has been a major concern for all.

Source: The Pioneer 

Naveen Patnaik offers special Puja at Tara Tarini Shrine; Inaugurates administrative building on the hill top

Orissa Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik visited the Adi Sakti peeth of Maa Tara Tarini on April 26, 2011. Tara Tarini, an ancient Shakti shrine is located on the banks of the mythologically famous Rushikulya River, 30 km from Berhampur city and is believed to be the Sthana Peeth (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti with its history dating back to antiquity. The Shrine is one of the ancient most places of Shakti worship and among the four major Shakti centers in India.

The Chief Minister landed at around 9.30am by a special copter near the hill shrine and directly went inside the holy temple and offered puja for around one hour. He visited the newly constructed temple complex and enquired about its progress. RDC of Southern Division, Orissa and Tara Tarini Development Board Chairman Shri Laxmi Narayan Nayak and TTDB secretary Shri Pramod Panda informed him about the progress of all ongoing developmental works on both the hilltop and on the foothill region. They also informed the CM about the future infrastructural requirements keeping in view the consistently growing number of visitors and devotees to the shrine. 

Shri Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the new administrative building constructed by Purushottampur block at a cost of 25 lacs on the hilltop and appreciated the ongoing works. He reviewed the widening work of the ghat road, which is constructed by the PWD department, government of Odisha at a cost of Rs 5 crores.   On the foot hill of the shrine the CM laid the foundation stone for the Tara Tarini bathing Ghat on the banks of holy river Rushikulya at a cost of 10 lacs.

TTDB secretary Shri Pramod Panda conveyed the CM that this holy shrine is fast emerging as a popular religious tourism destination. Last month during the Chaitra festivals around two million devotees visited the holy shrine from the cross section of the country and mainly from Orissa and other neighboring states. Shri Panda informed that bearing the growing number of devotees in mind the TTDB has decided to construct a lavatory complex, big rest shed and view-tower on the hilltop. 

After knowing the facts the Chief Minister immediately directed the officials to expedite the ongoing developmental works for the benefit of the devotes and assured all possible help from the state government for creating required infrastructure facilities. Among others, Law and Rural Development Minister, Government of Odisha Shri Bikram Keshari Arukh, RDC and TTDB Chairman Shri Laxmi Narayan Nayak, Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyau Pattnaik, Gopalpur MLA Dr. Pradeep Panigrahi, MLAs of Khallikate and Polosara, District Collector Shri V. Kartikeyan Pandian, SP Ganjam, SP Berhampur, all the office bearers of TTDB, Executive Officer of Tara Tarini temple and other officials of government of Orissa were present on the occasion.       

Silk city Berhampur gets air connectivity; first flight takes off from Rangeilunda

A new chapter was added to the state’s aviation history today with the launch of a non-scheduled air charter service from Gopalpur to Bhubaneswar. Global Avianautics (GAL), which runs the Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) for the state government in Bhubaneswar, is operating the service. “The flight will take off daily from Gopalpur’s Rangeilunda air strip for Bhubaneswar. The six-seater twin engine mini aeroplane Pipper Seneca will carry four passengers and two crew members. The cost of a flight from Gopalpur to Bhubaneswar would be between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000. The distance between the two cities, which is about 186km by road, will be covered in 40 minutes,” said O.P. Suri, CEO of GAL, and wing commander Pradeep Chakravarty. Ganjam collector V. Kartikeya Pandian inaugurated the service on the auspicious day of Ram Navami. However, there were no passengers in the inaugural flight.

GAL would provide air journey to Visakhapatnam and other nearby cities having big or small airstrips, provided the plane covers the distance within two hours. Clarifying the status of the non-scheduled air charter services, officials of the GAL said that there is no schedule journey of the flight. “When we have four passengers, we will take off,” said a GAL officer.

Although there is no air ticket booking office or enquiry counter at Rangeilunda at present, GAL is planning to open an office on the premises of the PWD office situated near the air strip, sources said.

The GAL aviation services company is providing various aviation services such as flying training for fixed and rotary wing aircrafts, development and operation of small airstrips, non-scheduled air charter services and aero sports. The officers are quite optimistic about the prospects at Rangeilunda.

GATI at Bhubaneswar is using Rangeilunda as the second flying club in Orissa. “As the Bhubaneswar airport runway suffers from traffic congestion most of the time, the civil aviation ministry was in search of a suitable substitute and considered Rangeilunda air strip as the best,” captain M.S. Mander, flight instructor in-charge of GATI, had said earlier.

Mander, who had surveyed the Rangeilunda air strip along with wing commander Pradeep Chakravarty earlier, had urged the district administration to extend the present runway of the Rangeilunda air strip so that bigger aircraft could land and take off. Gopalpur, which is a major tourist destination, could have air connectivity with Calcutta, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar.

Rangeilunda is located at a distance of around 5km from Berhampur and is adjacent to Berhampur University. The Britishers built the Rangeilunda air strip during the Second World War.

Meanwhile, Road and Building, Division-II, Berhampur has prepared an estimated Rs 27.29-crore plan for development of Rangeilunda airstrip. Further, a green filed domestic airport has been proposed to come up at Konisi on the outskurts of Berhampur city.

Source: The Telegraph, IBNLive.com

Lakhs of devotees throng Taratarini hill shrine on 2nd Tuesday of Chaitra fest

Tara Tarini Hills (Kumari Hills) from the Sky (Image Source: Google earth)

Around four lakh devotees from various parts of Orissa and from neighbouring states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh thronged the Tara Tarini hill shrine on the auspicious Second Tuesday of the month of Chaitra. Tara Tarini, an ancient Shakti shrine located on the banks of the mythologically famous river of Rushikulya, 30 km from Berhampur city, is believed to be the Sthana Pitha (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti. The Shrine is one of the ancient most places of Shakti worship and among the four major Shakti centers in India. It bears a history of not less then 5000 years.

It may be noted that all the Tuesdays of the month of Chaitra are days of festivity at this hill shrine and this month long fest in honour of the twin goddess is the biggest fair of India held at any religious shrine.

As per the report available, on the second Tuesday of Chaitra festival around 10,000 babies offered their hairs to the goddess and the number this year surpassed the number registered in the corresponding Tuesday of the previous years.

The festivities started at this shrine from Monday midnight itself and throughout the night there were cultural programmes to entertain the devotees. After the traditional ceremonial works, the sanctum of Maa Tara Tarini opened at around 1 a.m in the morning and darshan started after that.

Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of Southern Division, Odisha, Shri Laxmi Narayan Nayak, Secretary Fisheries Government of Odisha Shri Satyabrata Sahu, Ganjam District Collector Shri VK Pandian, Superintendent of Police Berhampur and Ganjam and many other senior state and central government officials, apart from the executive officer and all other office bearers of Tara Tarini Development Board, were present on the occasion.

Last year on the third Tuesday of Chaitra, more than 6 lakh people visited the hill shrine. Therefore, sensing that, the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB) is making elaborate arrangements for the smooth darshan of devotees on the upcoming 3rd and 4th Tuesdays.

Berhampur Boy K. Ravi Kumar to represent India in Asian Weightlifting C'ship

BERHAMPUR: Commonwealth Games gold medallist K. Ravi Kumar has been selected to represent India in the Asian Weightlifting Championship, to be held in China from April 12. "He is the only weightlifter from the country, selected by the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to participate in the Asian Weightlifting Championship, which will be held at Tongling, China from April 12 to 17," said IWF vice president Narayan Sahu. The 22-year-old from Berhampur, Orissa had also won three gold medals in senior National Weightlifting Championships, held in Bangalore on Friday. Representing Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), Ravi won in clean, jerk and overall weight in men's 77-kg event. Ravi lifted a total of 306 kg (138, 168) in the event. Sahu, who was also a former coach of Ravi, expressed confidence about his success in the Asian Championship. Ravi said from Bangalore that he has already started preparing for the meet. "I am very much confident of winning gold in the Asian Championship and I am practising regularly," he said. Starting his career as a weightlifter from the Veer Hanuman Club here about seven years ago, he has established a brilliant track record by winning several gold medals at national and international events. Ravi had also set a record in men's 69-kg category by lifting 321-kg in the last Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Source:Times of India

World famous Berhampur Thakurani Yatra to be held from 28th March

•Official website of the famous Thakurani Yatra (www.thakurani.com) launched

•City waits anxiciously to welcome her daughter

•Month long festivity associated with this grand carnival to draw millions

BERHAMPUR: The 29-day-long biennial festival of Buddhi Thakurani, popularly known as 'Thakurani Yatra' will commence here from March 28 to April 25. According to some eminent historians, the cult of Buddhi Thakurani originated along with the emergence of Berhampur town in and around 1672 AD. Telugu Lengayat Dera (weaver) community, who came to Mahuri on the invitation of Raja Saheb of Mahuri to take up their profession of weaving, started their ‘Ghata Yatra’ (Pot Festival) for highlighting the divinity of Mahamayee Thakurani of his capital town Berhampur. The Chief of the Dera community, Kota Chandramani Kubera Senapati, led his community people to migrate to Mahuri and Berhampur who settle down into their hereditary profession of weaving tussar silken products or ‘patta matha’. The ‘Ghata Yatra’ was initiated for the purpose of highlighting the tradition of worshiping Thakurani as well as to use it as a platform for sales promotion of their silken products. The date for Thakurani Yatra was fixed by the yatra management committee at the house of Desi Behera, Chief of the Dera community here late last night. The district administration accorded final approval for the Yatra, Desi Behera P Durga Prasad said and sought the cooperattion of everybody.Buddhi Thakurani is considered as the daughter of the Desi Behera and the deity stays with her father's family during the entire Yatra period. The last biennial festival of Buddhi Thakurani was observed for 27 days in 2009 from April 8 to May 4.

Source: Newkerala.com

Dancing sensation Harinath Reddy from Berhampur wins national reality show

Harinath Reddy and his group from Berhampur, South Orissa were declared the winners of Colors TV's dance reality show 'Chak Dhoom Dhoom Team Challenge' with their stunning performance. The dance troupe beat Rohan and group from Mumbai, Rock On from Gujarat and AM Unit, in the show, which had participants from Delhi and Bhubaneshwar. The winners walked away with a trophy and cash prize of Rs.11 lakh. The performances of the group left the judges speechless.

Last year Harinath Reddy and Group participated in the Quarter Finals of India’s Got Talent on Colours TV along. Earlier they had won a dance reality show ‘Boogie Woogie’ in Sony TV.

Interestingly, Harinath is the elder brother of Krishna Mohan whose Prince Dance group won the first season of talent hunt show 'India's Got Talent'.

The show, hosted by Pravesh Rana, had Terence, Javed Jaffery and actress Urmila Matondkar as judges. The show previously had Mallika Sherawat as a judge but she was replaced by Urmila as the production house and the channel found it too hard to handle her tantrums.

Month long famous ‘Chaitra' fest begins at Tara Tarini Hill Shrine

BERHAMPUR: Traditional Chaitra festival began at Tara Tarini hill shrine near Berhampur city, Ganjam district on Tuesday. Four Tuesdays of Hindu month of Chaitra are celebrated as a festival called ‘Tara Tarini Chaitra Jatra' at this hill shrine. Over a lakh devotees thronged to this hill shrine on the first Tuesday of Chaitra.

A new ghat road to the hill top was also opened for devotees. Apart from the road communication there is also a ropeway to the hilltop. But most of the devotees who visited the hill shrine on Tuesday preferred to trek to the hill top rather than opting for easier modes of travel. As per Pramod Panda, secretary of the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB), special buses have been arranged to transport devotees to the hill top, yet devotees including the aged, women and children preferred to climb 999 holy steep steps to reach the hill shrine. Around 95 per cent of the devotees preferred to climb to the hilltop. Flow of devotees continued from 4 a.m. when the gates of the temple were opened. It continued till evening. The TTDB authorities arranged medical facilities. A village fair also came up at the foot hill. Devotional cultural programmes continued at the hilltop and downhill.

This year, the almost complete new temple of this hill shrine attracted the visitors. According to TTDB authorities, the date for the ritualistic inauguration ceremony of the new temple would be decided a meeting to be held Thursday. Twelve senior Vedic pundits from all the nine traditional taluks of Ganjam district will attend the meeting.

Source: The Hindu

New chairman of Tara Tarini Development Board takes charge

The new Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of Southern Division, Odisha, Shri Laxmi Narayan Nayak has taken over the charge of new chairmanship of the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB), on March 16. The Board is considered as one of the prominent temple administrative bodies of Odisha after the Jagannath Temple administration, Puri.

The prehistoric Tara Tarini hill shrine is believed to be the Sthana Peetha (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti and as one amongst the four major ancient Shakti shrines in India. TTDB was formed in the year 2003 for the development of the hill shrine. After the formation of TTDB the shrine got the much needed attention along with infrastructure. As per the convention of the Board, Shri Nayak who has recently joined as the new RDC, Southern Division has taken over charges from the outgoing RDC and the Chairman of TTDB Shri Chandra Sekhar Kumar. On this occasion the TTDB office bearers, members and the temple administration while congratulating Shri Nayak expressed the hope that the Hill Shrine will become a great center of religious and tourist importance like Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu & Kashmir and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh under his chairmanship.

After taking over the charge Shri Nayak visited the holy shrine and discussed the status of the 2nd phase of work, which is going on in full pace. Board secretary, Executive officer TTDB and other Board Members tabled the draft of the 2nd phase of work. It was agreed that the Board would ensure the completion of the ongoing projects like the widening of Ghat road and unfinished first phase work of the main temple complex before the commencement of the forthcoming Chaitra Mela, which was visited by more than 20 lakh devotees last year during the month of Chaitra.

It is worth mentioning that the second phase work of the temple which is presently underway includes the following projects;

• Construction of, 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, Mundan shade and Bhog Bazaar 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.
• 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 Tara Tarini junction.
• Further widening of stone steps and ghat road leading to the hill top.
• Maintenance of eco-system in and around the sacred hill by huge plantation in its nearby areas.
• Construction of a hospital, a residential school and training centre for the physically challenged etc.

In the mean time the traditional ritualistic inaugural ceremony of the new temple of Tara Tarini hill shrine which was scheduled to be held on March 03 -09, has been deferred. The new chairman of TTDB in consultation with the Vedic pundits will decide the new date for this ceremony on 24th March. Decision to defer the inauguration ceremony was taken at a meeting of Vedic pundits. Twelve senior Vedic pundits from all the nine traditional taluks of Ganjam district have been invited to the March 24th meeting convened by the TTDB. Among others, TTDB Vice President and Ganjam Collector, office bearers, members of the technical committee, members of TTDB and senior officials of government of Odisha and district administration will participate. In this meeting the new Chairman will also review the progress of on-going works, including the dedicated bus service to the hill shrine from Berhampur city and other towns of the district, construction of a bus Stand on the foot hill, permanent accommodation facility for the visitors on the foot hill and about the decision of the Ministry of Law govt. of Orissa to recover all the donated cultivated and uncultivated land (Around 600 acres of land in various parts of the state) on the lines of Jagannath Temple, Puri.

‘Krushna Leela' gurus keen on keeping alive the folk art form in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: Surviving gurus in their seventies and eighties have decided to come together to keep alive their dying ‘Krushna Leela' a famous folk art form of Ganjam District, for the next generation.

They have agreed to take part in a two-day workshop-cum-demonstration programme to be held in Berhampur city in the first week of March. Three cultural organisations -- Loknatya Gabesana Kendra of Bhubaneswar, Jagruti Natya Sansad and Chaitanya Kala Parishad of Sunathar in Ganjam district -- have joined hands for this effort.

“Our aim is to keep alive this traditional folk art of Ganjam district in its original form among the new generation,” said Bighneswar Sahu, adviser of organising committee of the event. Eldest ‘Krushna Leela' guru to attend the workshop is Narasingha Sadangi from Kadua village, who is above 80 years.

Around 25 gurus of ‘Krushna Leela' will attend it. Pramod Kumar Nahak, a veteran guru of ‘Krushna Leela' said during the workshop they would discuss and try to chalk out plans to make this art form survive in this era of electronic entertainment.

‘Krushna Leela' is enactment of 48 chapters of tenth ‘Skanda' of Oriya Bhagavat written by Jagannath Das. Performers enact the story of Lord Krishna from his birth till the killing of Kamsa. Performance related to each chapter takes around eight to 12 hours. So, complete performance of ‘Krushna Leela' needs 48 nights.

The script of this folk art form is based on Oriya Bhagavat. Performers come up with lyrical dialogues among them on stage. Actors of ‘Krushna Leela' are only children between the ages of 10 to 15 years. So, it is quite hard to train these young children for such a vast folk art form, according to Mr. Sahu.

Despite all odds this 48-day-long performance is still being held in some rural areas of Ganjam district. But these performances have gone down drastically.

Source: The Hindu

Pratistha Utsav of Grand temple at Tara Tarini to be held in March

Traditional ritualistic inaugural ceremony of the grand new temple dedicated to Adi Shakti Maa Tara Tarini will be held from March 03-09, 2011. This was decided at a general body meeting of the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB) held at Tara Tarini Hill shrine. The Law and Rural Development Minister, Government of Odisha Shri Bikram Keshari Arukh presided over the meeting. Ganjam District Collector and Vice President of TTDB, Shri V. Kartikeyan Pandian, Secretary TTDB Shri Pramod Panda and other office bearers of TTDB, members of the Technical committee TTDB and senior officials of Government of Odisha were present on the occasion.

It is believed that Taratarini Sthana Pitha (Breast Shrine) is one of the ancient most and among the four major Shakti centers in India. It bears a history of not less then 5000 years. After the formation of the Tara Tarini Development Board the oldest Shakti Shrine got the much needed attention and owing to that in the last 7 years the number of pilgrims visiting to the shrine has gone up significantly. Last year more than 20 lakh devotees and tourists visited the hill shrine during the famous Chaitra Yatra in the month of Chaitra.

The new temple on the hilltop replacing the old temple of 18^th Century, built by one of the historic and iconic figures in the religious history of Odisha Shri Basu Praharaj, is being built as part of the measures initiated to transform the hill shrine into a major religious- tourist destination of the Country. It is important to mention that during its more than 5000 years old history the temple has come up again and again.

The new temple is unique as it is a modern temple completely built adhering to the tenets of ancient Odishan temple architecture. Construction of the temple started in 2003. It is a ‘Rekha' style temple and bears intricate carvings. Sculptor Padmavibhusan Raghunath Mohapatra was the master architect of this modern temple built up in ancient form. Its major building material was sandstone which was abundantly used in the ancient temples of Orissa. Like the traditional temples, large black granite slabs were used as lintels for the new temple. These black granite slabs were procured from Buguda region of Ganjam district. The finishing work of the construction is on and within next one-and-half months total construction work of the main temple will be completed. The new Rekha style temple at the hill shrine has an elevation of about 68 ft. above the hilltop. The sandstone slabs used for the construction of the temple were procured from Ganjam and Nayagarh districts.

To cater to the needs of lakhs of visitors and to improve the communication facility on the lines of Tirupati and Vaishno Devi Hill Shrines the work on the new ghat road to the hill top is also under way.  The new road will be less steep and wider than the existing old road. The road is being laid at a cost of Rs. 5 crores by the Rural Development Department of government of Odisha. Another ring road is also being laid around the Tara Tarini hill Shrine. These new on going projects are also scheduled to be completed by the end of February, 2011 much before the commencement of the famous Chaitra Festival.

Parab fest to begin on December 22

KORAPUT: One can have the taste of tribal food during this year's Parab festival at Koraput, according to district Collector Rajesh Pravakar Patil. Apart from the food festival, a tribal medicine centre, giving an exposure to the richness of indigenous know-how of the tribal community in treating diseases would be opened at the venue, he said at a press conference here on Thursday. The fortnight-long tribal festival, after getting launched on December 22, would be an educational venture even for researchers. While the national-level seminar on tribal culture, to be organised by the district council of culture in association with Central University of Orissa here would provide a platform for researchers and scholars from across the country to discuss the impact of the modernisation on the tribal way of life, presentation of cultural heritage by the tribal communities themselves could be of greater advantage, Mr. Patil added.

Source: The Hindu

PM confers best listed CPSE award to Orissa-based PSU NALCO

Bhubaneswar: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) – a Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India, has received the Best Listed CPSE Award for its excellent performance in significant value addition to its shareholders. The award was received by Shri A.K. Srivastava, CMD, NALCO from Hon’ble Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh at the MoU Excellence Awards & SCOPE Excellence Awards ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

NALCO has received this award for achieving the highest growth in market capitalization during 2008-09, among 42 listed Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). The MoU Excellence Awards, instituted by the Department of Public Enterprises under the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Govt. of India has recognized twelve Best-Performing CPSEs under the MoU scheme with the Government – one each from ten industrial sectors and the other two from among listed companies and turnaround enterprises. The company has recorded the highest ever production since inception with respect to Bauxite, Alumina, Cast Metal and Power. Mines, Refinery, Smelter and CPP have achieved 101.64%, 101.05%, 99.88% and 88.33% capacity utilization respectively during 2009-10. In 2009-10 NALCO marketing divisions achieved the highest ever sale of 4,35,979 MT metal as against sale of 3,53,589 MT metal during the previous financial year. This comprises 2,89,031 MT, the highest ever domestic sale of metal surpassing the previous best of 2,71,274 MT achieved in 2008-09 and the highest ever export sale of 1,46,948 MT against the previous best of 1,32,730 MT achieved in 2004-05. The company has recorded a higher export earning of Rs.2209 crore during the year 2009-10 against Rs.2071 crore achieved during the previous year.

It may be mentioned here that, NALCO has been on the growth path right from the beginning. Presently, the company has lined up various projects involving an investment of over Rs.45,000 crore. NALCO has drawn up ambitious plans to grow both organically as well as inorganically to be a reputed global company in the metals and energy sectors. The company also intends to enter into energy sector as an independent power producer and acquire new mineral resources especially coal, bauxite, copper etc.

As part of these plans, NALCO has signed MoU with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.(NPCIL) for establishment of a nuclear power plant in Joint Venture. Besides, NALCO has plans to venture into both upstream and downstream fields to leverage its strength in alumina and aluminium business in India and abroad. In this direction, the company is actively pursuing various proposals including a Greenfield Project in Indonesia.

Source: Orissa Diary

Hirakhand Express to stop at Jeypore

JEYPORE: Their nine years of fight has borne fruit with the East Coast Railways announcing extension of Hirakhand Express up to Jagdalpur via Jeypore from December 18. The people of South Odisha and KBK backed by several political parties, student organisations, social organisations of Koraput, Malkangiri, Ganjam and Nabarangpur districts have been demanding extension of Hirakhand Express from Koraput to Jeypore station.

They had even staged agitations in Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar and Delhi to press for their demand.

However, it was not possible to extend the train service to Jeypore station due to nonavailability of necessary facilities for arrival and departure of trains. Recently the locals of Jagdalpur also staged an agitation over the demand which was taken seriously by the Government, as Jagdalpur has all facilities to accommodate passenger trains.

Source: The New Indian Express 

South Orissa News

Olive Ridley turtles arrive on time near Rushikulya near Berhampur

Project Smile India

Rushikulya is one of the biggest mating grounds of Olive Ridleys in the world

Measures have been initiated to protect these mating Olive Ridleys

At present small number of mating pairs are visible which is expected to increase

Fishing has been banned in the area where these turtles are congregating

BERHAMPUR: Rare and endangered Olive Ridley turtles have started to arrive for mating near Rushikulya rookery (about 30km from Berhampur and 30km from the famous Tara Tarini hill Shrine) in Ganjam district is considered as one of the biggest mating grounds of Olive Ridleys in the world. According to officials of the forest department they are now gathering up at a distance of seven kilometres from the coast line. At present small number of mating pairs are visible. But a large number of turtles can be seen. Mating of Olive Ridleys picks up in this area in the last week of December and January. This year these endangered marine turtles have arrived in time.

The Olive Ridleys usually start their mating in the sea near their preferred nesting coast. According to experts these rare turtles have a single mating season in a year. After the end of the mating season most male turtles usually return back leaving behind the female turtles to lay their eggs. The nesting of Olive Ridleys starts from the end of January in sporadic manner which picks up in February.

Measures have been initiated to protect these mating Olive Ridleys in the sea. Fishing has been banned in the area where these turtles are congregating. This involves the stretch of sea up to a distance of ten kilometres from the coast line of Rushikulya rookery. Extension of fishing ban area extends to ten kilometres towards the north and ten kilometres towards south of the rookery.

Illegal entry of fishing trawlers to this region is being checked through regular patrolling at sea said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer. A team of forest officials is also monitoring the Rushikulya rookery coast line where the turtles would lay eggs after two months. They are also documenting the carcasses of turtles found on this coast to assess the number and cause of deaths of Olive Ridleys out here. DFO said this year deposition was quite good at Rushikulya river coast, which means the turtles would have a good stretch of beach to lay their eggs.

Source: The Hindu

Haldia-Chennai (new weekly superfast), Paralakhemundi-Puri (Earlier Palasa-Puri) and Bhubaneswar-Jagdalpur (Earlier Bhubaneswar-Koraput) trains pass through Berhampur city
BERHAMPUR: As announced in the last Railway Budget the 2755 Chennai-Haldia weekly Super Fast Express has started operation from December 9 from Chennai. The train will leave Chennai at 2.35p.m every Thursday and will arrive at Howrah at 06.10p.m on Friday. In the return direction, 2756 Haldia-Chennai weekly Super Fast Express will leave Haldia at 11.30 am every Saturday and will arrive at Chennai at 5 pm on Sunday. This train has one AC-2 tier, five Sleeper Class, six General Second Class and two guard cum luggage vans having stoppages at Ongole, Vijaywada, Rajahmundry, Vizianagaram, Berhampur, Khurda Road, Cuttack, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Kharagpur, Panskura and Tamluk between Chennai Central & Haldia.

Similarly, Ministry of Railways has decided to extend the services of Bhubaneswar-Berhampur-Koraput Hirakhand Express upto Jagadalpur and Puri- Berhampur-Palasa passenger to Parlakhemundi w.e.f. 18th December 2010 in East Coast Railway jurisdiction. 217 Puri-Palasa passenger which is leaving Puri at 07.50a.m and arriving Palasa at 03.25p.m will leave Palasa at 04.30p.m and will arrive at Paralakhemundi at 06.45p.m in the extended portion. In the return direction, 218 Paralakhemundi-Puri Passenger will leave Paralakhemundi at 07.45a.m and will arrive at Puri at 09.05p.m. This train will stop at Pundi, Rauthpuram, Naupada, Tekkali, Pedasana, Temburu, Ganguvada, and Pathapatnam between Palasa and Paralakhemundi. The timings of 217/218 Puri-Paralakhemundi-Puri passenger will remain unchanged between Puri & Palasa. The train will run as a special train on the flagging off day of the extended portion and the regular run will be from Puri w.e.f 19th December and from Paralakhemundi w.e.f 20th Dec’2010. 8447 Bhubaneswar-Berhampur-Koraput Hirakhand Express, which is leaving Bhubaneswar at 07.35p.m and arriving Koraput at 09.45a.m on the next day, will leave Koraput at 10.05a.m and will arrive at Jagadalpur at 12.40p.m in the extended portion. In the return direction, 8448 Jagadalpur-Berhampur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express will leave Jagadalpur at 03.30p.m and will arrive at Bhubaneswar at 08.25a.m on the next day. This train will stop at Jeypore and Jagadalpur in the extended portion. The timings of 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express will remain unchanged between Bhubaneswar and Koraput. The train will run as a special train on the day of flagging off of the extended portion and the regular run will be from Bhubaneswar on 18th December and from Jagadalpur from 19th Dec’2010.

BERHAMPUR: The department of journalism and mass communication has started the campus radio in Berhampur University. Vice-chancellor Jayanta Kumar Mohapatra officially inaugurated “Bhanjabani”. The vice-chancellor appreciated the efforts on part of the staff and students in this and also highlighted the decisive role of campus radio as to how it promotes one to be an effective communicator. He further encouraged the students to take part and gain much out of this opportunity. Third semester student Sulachana Nayak was the anchor of the day. Rajeev Lochan Rathan and Sangram Kesari Das Mohapatra, being at the desk, furnished news collected by the students. Mohapatra has also announced to set up a multimedia lab for the department by March 2011. Laxmi Narayana Rout, chairman of the post graduate council, encouraged the students to avail of the opportunity. Sunil Kant Behera, J.S. Giri Rao, Pradeep Mohapatra, Jaganmohan Mohapatra and Sanat Panda guided the students in running the campus radio.

Source: The Telegraph

Tele-monitoring of schools to prevent absenteeism in Koraput

In an effort to prevent absenteeism in schools, the Koraput district administration has launched 'tele-monitoring', using a database of mobile numbers of all teachers.

On each working day, teachers of at least 20 randomly-selected schools would be called up to find out their whereabouts, District Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said.

"There have been frequent complaints that teachers remain absent from schools and this programme aims at checking their non-attendance," he said.

Officials from the district headquarters would call these teachers on their mobile phone and ask questions on various school-related issues like number of teachers present, attendance of students and functioning of the mid-day meals.

The teacher would then be asked to give the phone to a student, who would be asked about facilities like lavatories, drinking water, hand-washing and attendance of teachers etc, Patil said.

The calls would be made between 10.30 am and 4 pm.

Official sources said the new programme would add teeth to the prevailing 'rapid monitoring system' in the district in which two officials randomly visit selected gram panchayats to find out if the schools and 'anganwadi' centres are open, if the people get essential commodities under PDS and work and wage under MGNREGA among other services.

Source : Press Trust of India

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

Southco draws up plan to arrest power loss in South Orissa

After initiating measures to address low-voltage problem by commissioning new transformers as well as repairing old ones, Southco, a unit of Reliance Energy and one of the power distribution companies, has drawn up a ` 492-crore plan for next four years to reduce the aggregate transmission and commercial (ATC) loss by 21 per cent. The present ATC loss in Southco is estimated at 50 per cent.

With the fund, the company seeks to reduce the loss to three per cent in the current year.

Addressing mediapersons in Berhampur recently, vice-president of Southco, Tapan Mishra, said out of the total estimated cost, the State Government will provide ` 109.33 crore as a soft loan at four per cent interest and ` 136.67 crore without interest.

The rest 246 crore will be spent by the distribution company from its own resources as matching fund. Besides reducing the ATC loss, the fund will also be utilised for improvement of power distribution system and avoid low-voltage in some parts of the distribution area.

Southco has taken responsibility to distribute power in 10 southern Orissa districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangapur, Malkanagiri, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Kandhamal and Boudh.

Due to ATC loss, distribution companies Southco, Wesco, Nesco and Cesu are riddled with various problems and the State Government is also incurring huge revenue loss.  To arrest this, the Government took a policy decision to spend around 2,400 crore. Of which the Southco would get 492 crore, said Mishra and added a sum of 61.50 crore would be spent during the current year and ` 123 crore next year.  In 2012-13 and 2013-14, ` 133.25 crore and ` 174.25 crore would be spent respectively. Mishra said the power loss was mainly due to pilferage, tampering of meters and non-payment of electricity dues.  If one per cent of ATC loss can be curbed it would save around 200 crore, he said. Under the plan, pre-paid meters would be installed in some of the urban areas besides other measures like supply of power through insulated bunch cables and installation of 11/33 KV sub-stations to address the low-voltage problem.

Source: New Indian Express  

Postal dept to open raillway ticket counters in post offices of South Orissa

Berhampur: Encouraged by good revenue collection through booking of railway tickets at the head post office at Aska in Orissa's Ganjam district, the postal authorities have proposed to the Railways to provide such facilities in 10 more post offices in southern Orissa."The railway ticket booking at Aska post office is functioning very well. We have given a proposal to the Railways to open such centers in other places in southern Orissa," Post Master General (PMG), Berhampur Region, S K Kamila said here today.The proposed places were Berhampur, Bhanjanagar, Polasara and Gopalpur in Ganjam district, Phulabani in Kandhamal district, Boudh, Damanjodi in Koraput district, Khariar in Kalahandi district and Nabarangapur.The decision would be taken after discussion with the Railways and the department of post, he said.Railway ticket booking was now available in only two post offices in Orissa, the other being at Sundargarh.The revenue collection from the Aska Head Post Office from sale of railway tickets, which was opened on September 11 was 'very satisfactory', he said.The Department of Post provided the infrastructure and manpower while the railways gave the computer connecting to its server to run the center.Despite e-ticket booking system available, every month on an average 2500 tickets were sold fetching a revenue of about Rs 25,000."The e-ticket booking system is for the elite. The general public who cannot go to a railway booking counter to book a ticket prefer to get it from post office," he said.The postal department is getting a commission of Rs 15 and Rs 10 per ticket towards booking and cancellation charges respectively.

Source: PTI

Sporting sensation Ravi Kumar strikes Gold at the CWG Delhi 2010

Berhampur erupts in jubilation

Silk city Berhampur erupted in jubilation and people came on to the streets to celebrate with fire crackers as soon as news broke about the record breaking performance of city lad Ravi Kumar at the Common Wealth Games. Despite rains, the sports lovers and his friends thronged Ravi's house at Golapalli street immediately after the news about his victory spread to congratulate his family members. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Governor M C Bhandare congratulated Ravi, while the Indian Olympic Association announced a cash reward for him. Ravi has not only brought glory to the town, but entire state as well as the country, said Biswanath Patra, a former weightlifter in the town. India’s K. Ravi Kumar won the gold in the men’s 69 kg weightlifting event at the Commmonwealth Games in Delhi on wednesday, setting a new Games record in the process. Members of Veera Hanuman club of Berhampur, to which Ravi Kumar belongs, celebrated by distributing sweets and greeting the crowd. Ravi Kumar broke the Games record by lifting 321 kg (146+175) and surpassed Cameroon’s Venecelas Dabaya’s total of 310kg, achieved in the 2002 Manchester Games. It is also a new Commonwealth Championships record. The 22-year-old from Orissa was always the runaway favourite having lifted a combined 307kg to win the Commonwealth title in 2009, 22kg more than his closest rival in the field Mohammad Talib of Malaysia.