Berhampur Municipal Corporation moots waste disposal plant

Excerpts of news report by Sunil Patnaik from The Telegraph

BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Municipal Corporation has initiated steps to set up a garbage disposal plant at the cost of Rs 72 crore to Rs 80 crore at Chandini Hills, much to the relief of the city residents in general and people residing near Sukunda Math. “We have built the boundary wall and the gate. Electrification work is under progress. The garbage disposal plant is expected to come up with in two to three years under the Urban Infrastructure Development for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT)”, said municipal commissioner Bhima Manseth. The sanitation scenario has worsened in the city, which generates about 150 tons of garbage per day. “We are presently managing 450km road and a stretch of 450km of sewage under the jurisdiction of the corporation with a pitifully small number of sanitary workers. There were 700 sanitary workers including 300 regular sweepers and 400 on contractual basis,” said city health officer Sashi Bhusan Panda. “Considering the national average, two sweepers are required to clean and maintain half-a-km of road and drain separately. We, therefore, require 1800 sweepers in Berhampur. But now we are managing with just 700 sweepers,” added Panda.

Source: The Telegraph

The Silk City is all set to be slum-free

Excerpts from news report by Sunil Patnaik from The Telegraph

           

BERHAMPUR: The slum dwellers residing in as many as 29 slums, located under the jurisdiction of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation, will be rehabilitated in new pucca buildings in five years, said the Integrated Housing for Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) and the Rajiv Awas Yojana launched by the Central government. The Silk City is all set to be slum-free in phases within the stipulated time mentioned by the Centre. “As many as 29 slums located under the jurisdiction of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation have been earmarked and will be demolished in phases. The slum dwellers will be rehabilitated in new pucca buildings to be built within five years,” said Bhim Manseth, city’s municipal commissioner. The Berhampur Municipal Corporation has already invited tender to build new buildings at the five slum areas he said. While the Union government is supposed to provide with the 90 per cent of the total cost, the state government would bear the rest of the cost under the IHSDP. In another development, a sum of Rs 31 crore has already been pumped in for the project under the IHSDP. The corporation has received a sum of Rs 11.60 crore in the first phase. Implementation of the Rajiv Awas Yojana, which is on the pipeline, is expected to further boost the project, sources said. “We have initiated process to provide pucca houses to the slum dwellers. Rs 1.50 lakh will be provided to each of the families for the construction of 1,202 houses. The colonies earmarked for the rehabilitation will be equipped with the facilities like drinking water, electricity, macadamised roads and drains,” said the mayor. “After the construction of the buildings for the dwellers of 24 slum areas, we will earmark other slum areas and rehabilitate the families in new buildings to be constructed under the Rajiv Awas Yojana,” he said.

Source: The Telegraph

Toyota Motors to set up rare earth oxide plant in Ganjam

Toyotsu Rare Earths Private Limited, a subsidiary of Japanese auto major Toyata Motors, will set up a rare earth oxide plant at Chatrapur in Ganjam district. The project will be a joint venture with Indian Rare Earths (IRE) Limited and commercial production will start from May next year. This will be 100 per cent EOU with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes a year. The joint venture company will invest Rs 150 crore while the State Government will provide infrastructure including land. IRE will supply raw material for the project. The project will open up employment opportunities for the local people. TREO Director Tsutomu Aoki who called on the Chief Minister here today discussed the project. (More on this story from Orissa Sambad)

Source: New Indian Express

Astha International plans Rs 500-cr township, mall & three-star hotel in Berhampur

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard                    

Astha International Limited, one of India's leading direct selling companies, expects to acquire 300 acres of land at Berhampur by January 2011 for its Rs 500-crore integrated township project called 'Astha City'. This would be the company's first residential cum commercial real estate project in Orissa which accounts for nearly 50 per cent of its overall turnover. S S Kisan, chairman and managing director, Astha International said, “We hope to take possession of 200 acres of land for our integrated township project at Berhampur by January 2011. Orissa is an important market for us and besides direct selling of the whole gamut of products, we would also like to invest in sectors like real estate and hospitality in the state.”

Astha International, based out of Surat (Gujarat), clocked revenue of 40 crore from its operations in the Orissa market in 2009-10 and its revenue is set to reach Rs 50 crore by the end of the current financial year. To cater to its growing business needs, the company is planning to have ten offices in the state by this fiscal end. These offices would come up at locations like Balasore, Soro, Berhampur, Balugaon and Rourkela to name a few. The company has opened an office in Bhubaneswar and this would serve as the zonal office for the states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.Astha International would also scale up its employee strength from 50 at present to over 500 in the next couple of years. The direct selling firm would ramp up its strength of distributors in the state from 1.3 lakh a present to 10 lakh by the end of 2012.

Besides its proposed township project, Astha International has also evinced interest in setting up a three-star hotel in the city but the details are yet to be finalized. The company also intends to build a mall in the city with a total built-up area of 15,000 sq ft. Astha International, which has more than 10,000 products in 26 different segments, also plans to float a bank called Astha Bank by 2011-12. The company claims to have got the license from the Reserve bank of India and the bank is set to commence operations from 2011-12.

Source: Business Standard

CM lays foundation stone for Tata Industrial Park and inaugurates STPI in Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone of Tata Industrial Park at Gopalpur today. Tata Steel managing Director H.M. Nerukar was also present while laying the foundation. Tata Group will start the project by setting up a Ferrochrome plant and a bar mill as anchor industries for the Industrial Park. The project is likely to be completed in two years time and provide employment opportunity to about 1000 people.  

STPI-Berhampur

The Chief Minister along with the Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot today inaugurated the newly built Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in Berhampur in the presence of several Ministers of Government of Odisha and Central Government officials.

Link for related stories on this:  

Desalination plant key to Tata Steel's project: Business Standard

Ten anchor investors for Tata Steel's Gopalpur SEZ: Business Standard

Displaced people welcome Industrial Park: Business Standard

Naveen happy with Nerurkar: Tathya

Tata Steel to set up industrial park in Orissa: The Hindu

Tata Steel to set up industrial park in Orissa: Business Standard

Sources: OTV, Business Standard, The Hindu, http://www.tathya.in/ 

Berhampur Airport (Rangeilunda) progress updates from OTV

Click here to see the future plans for Berhampur Airport at Rangeilunda

The historic Berhampur Airport (Rangeilunda) is located at a distance of around 5km from the city and adjacent to Berhampur University. The Rangeilunda air base was built by the Britishers during the second world war period and it remained as an air strip since then. The runway is currently used by the defence establishment, state government, private companies and VIPs to reach Berhampur and other places in south Odisha. State's second flying training Institute is coming up at Berhampur Airport in Rangeilunda. The Air Traffic Control Tower (MSSR site) and AAI offices are located close to the Airport. Recently efforts are being made by the government to make it a full fledged domestic Airport. This news video on the history and progress of Berhampur Airport is from OTV.

Distance from Rangeilunda Airport- (Berhampur University- 0km, Berhampur city 5km, Gopalpur-On-Sea-5km, Taratarini Hill Shrine 30km, Taptapani-50km, Chilka- 40km, Bhairabi Temple- 15km, Chatrapur-10km).

Tata Steel to invest Rs 1000 cr at Gopalpur

Dillip Satapathy/ Business Standard/ August 19, 2010

BERHAMPUR: After a lull of nearly one and half decades, Tata Steel has finally geared up to put to use its 3,200 acres of land lying idle at Gopalpur in Orissa. Playing the role of the anchor tenant for an industrial park proposed to come up on this patch of land, the company is all set to launch two projects: a 50,000 tonne per annum ferroalloys plant and 40,000 tonne per annum bar mill there. The two projects together are estimated to cost about 1000 crore. Tata Steel managing director, HM Nerurkar is scheduled to meet chief minister Naveen Patnaik here tomorrow and give a presentation on the company’s plans for Gopalpur. Patnaik is likely to lay the foundation stone for the projects on Friday. “To start with, the proposed two units, the ferroalloys plant and the bar mill, will be our anchor investment. But our ultimate objective is to make this industrial park attractive for investors in the field of steel and steel downstream, speciality and bulk chemicals and engineering”, said a senior official of the company.

While the ferroalloys plant will cost about Rs 200 to 250 crore, the bar mill will be set up at an investment of Rs 750 to Rs 800 crore. This will be the third ferroalloys plant of Tata Steel in Orissa. The company is operating two ferroalloys plants at Bamanipal and Athgarh (through its subsidiary Rawmet) with capacities of 50,000 tonnes per annum each.For the bar mill, the company intends to get the ingots from Jamshedpur by rail and road. Similarly, the company will source raw material for the ferroalloys plant, which will be a backward integration project for the company’s proposed six million tonne plant at Kalinganagar, from its chromite mines in Sukinda valley. Both the units are expected to be commissioned in 30 months time. It may be noted Tata Steel had acquired 3,700 acres (including 500 acres for the rehabilitation colony) in mid 1990s for setting up of a 10 million tonne steel plant at Gopalpur. However, it shelved the project and the land was lying vacant. The company later proposed to set up special economic zone (SEZ) on this patch of land and also got in principle approval from the Centre for the purpose. “But now with proposed changes in the tax codes, SEZs have become irrelevant. We would rather prefer to develop the land as an industrial park for steel downstream and engineering projects”, said the company official. The infrastructure for the industrial park will jointly be developed by Tata Steel and its associate company, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd (TRIL). A feasibility study on the complex has been done by Ernst and Young while another internationally famed consultant, Jurong of Singapore is currently preparing its master plan. The master plan will be ready in 3 to 4 months following which the company will market the project and attract investors to set up their units in the park, said the sources. The cost of infrastructure, which includes developing the land and providing road, rail, power, water supply facilities within the park and linking them to external sources, is estimated at about Rs 5000 crore.

Source: Business Standard

Oriya boy Harihar from Berhampur in India’s Got Talent-II

Click here to watch Hari performing at India's Got Talent Show

Orissa Sambad on Harihar Das
Times of India news on Harihar

A Prince in the making  

In the season 2 of the India’s Got Talent show by Colors TV Channel, Oriya lad Harihar Das from Berhampur has entered the quarter finals. The news has sent a wave of jubilation among the people of Berhampur city and Orissa as this is the second year in a row when a boy from the state and Berhampur city has reached up to this level in a national realty show. Last year the Prince Dance group of Berhampur got massive support from the entire state and stole the national limelight. 23 year old Harihar is from Ram Nagar area of Berhampur city and has completed his B.Tech from MITS, Rayagada and has earlier participated in DPL and Dance India Dance shows by Sony and Zee TV respectively.

Cadence centre of excellence inaugurated in NIST

BERHAMPUR: The Cadence, a VLSI Tool Company, in association with National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), got the Cadence Centre of Excellence inaugurated at the institute premises on Tuesday. Prof. Sangram Mudali, Director, NIST, expressed the importance, and brighter prospects of opening this centre of excellence which is not only first of its kind in the state of Odisha but in the entire country. A total of sixty final year students registered for the same in the Cadence lab incepted in the institute premises. The Cadence team emphasized that the collaboration with NIST would enable the students to be exposed to industry relevant practical training, have access to the latest EDA Software/flows, certifications, industry access via cadence and soft skills training. NIST has now many firsts to its credit among the technical institutes in the state. NIST has the unique distinction of having students from 13 different states of India who are studying here. Further, it is the first such technical institute in the state to get TIFAC-CORE facility and also to have a Business Incubator in the campus.

Source: Orissa Barta

Berhampur People: K Ravi Kumar (Spearheading the national weightlifting squad in CW Games)

International weight lifter K Ravi Kumar of Berhampur who has been selected to take part in the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in October is expecting to get the gold medal. "I am vying for the gold in the International event. I am confident about it," he said. Twenty-two-year-old Ravi is the only Oriya boy who was selected to compete in the CWG's 69 kg category. He figured in the 15-member weightlifting squad, declared by the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Hailing from Berhampur, Orissa, Ravi Kumar is a weightlifting trainer with the Army Sports Institute, Pune, and is a hot prospect for gold at the Games. At the recent selection trials, Ravi broke his own national record 5 times in the 69 kg category, making his selection a surety, and taking a definite step towards reaching the peak performance levels. Starting his career as a weightlifter from the Veer Hanuman Club in Berhampur about six years ago, he has established the brilliant track record with winning silver in the Asian Junior Men's weightlifting Championship held at Jordan in November 2007, gold medal in the WG held in Malaysia last year.

Sources: Hindustan Times, Times of India

TaraTarini and Ganjam Tour (Travel Odisha- OTV)

Click here for Tara Tarini tour

Source: Travel Odisha (OTV)

First Ayurvedic manufacturing cluster of Orissa to come up at Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: Plagued by rejection on non-standardisation, testing and validation issues, the Ayurvedic drugs and formulation manufacturing sector in the State now has reasons to look forward to a bright future. The first Ayurvedic cluster with state-of-the-art testing and validation laboratories, packaging along with marketing facilities is soon to come up at Berhampur to not only aid the existing units in upscaling their products to international standards but also give a boost to entrepreneurship in the sector. Along with it, the cluster would give birth to a unified brand of Ayurveda formulations called Rushikulya.

Christened Rushikulya Ayurvedic Cluster Pvt Limited, the project would kickstart with 15 manufacturing units that already are in operation at Berhampur. Spanning over four acre, the cluster would have a Common Facility Centre (CFC) with Raw material store and advanced testing laboratories for analysis as well as research and development, process validation set-up, a common manufacturing and packaging centre along with product display, IT and marketing infrastructure. The Union Department of AYUSH would bear the bulk of the Rs 10 crore project cost at Rs 6 crore. The member units of the Special Purpose Vehicle would pitch in with Rs 2 crore and the rest sourced from banks and financing organisations. With the Centre releasing the first phase investment amount, work is ready to commence and the whole facility is targeted to be operational in 12 months. The basic objective is to upgrade the process technology of Ayurvedic drugs so as to compete in the international market. By securing a foolproof quality control mechanism and certification, major bottlenecks hindering the export potential would be eliminated.

Orissa at present has nearly 260 units in Ayurveda sector and contributes close to 10 per cent of the overall industry turnover in the country. But the acceptance of Ayurvedic drugs and formulations and methods of treatment are low for lack of validation and adoption of global manufacturing practices.

The cluster would not be limited to the promoting units only but would be open to participation of manufacturers across the State. They can source the raw materials from the CFC bank, use the testing labs as well as research labs, packaging and also be a part of the common brand.

Handholding support to the SPV is being extended by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services. The SPV would also strive to tap domestic markets in arrangement with the Tourism Department, sources said.

Source: New Indian Express

Berhampur People: Tributes to Late Shri V.V. Giri on his birth anniversary today

  Varahagiri Venkata Giri (10 August 1894 – 23 June 1980), known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth President of the Republic of India. He was born in a Telugu-speaking family to Varahagiri Venkata Jogaiah, residing in Berhampur city of the erstwhile Madras Presidency. He received India's highest civilian decoration, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975. The nation and his hometown Berhampur pay tributes to Shri V.V. Giri on his birth anniversary today.

Naveen inaugurates three KVs in Ganjam District

• State requests the Central Govt for Berhampur-Koraput National Highway
• Survey work for Gopalpur-Rayagada railway line in progress
• Inaugurates market yard for cotton farmers built at a cost of 2.62 crores

BERHAMPUR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated three new Kendriya Vidyalayas during his visit to his home district Ganjam on Monday. These new Kendriya Vidyalayas were inaugurated at Digapahandi, Aska and Bhanjanagar. Several other inaugurations and foundation stone laying ceremonies dotted his whirlwind tour. He used a helicopter to hop from one place to the other. The first destination of the Chief Minister was Digapahandi. There he inaugurated an indoor stadium and an art gallery on the premises of the local boys High School. He unveiled statue of his father and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and also inaugurated the new market yard of Digapahandi RMC before reaching the inaugural ceremony of the Digaphandi Kendriya Vidyalaya. From Digapahandi he air dashed to Aska to inaugurate the new Kendriya Vidyalaya at Aska. He then reached Bhanjanagar to inaugurate another Kendriya Vidyalaya. He also laid the foundation stone for the renovation of major road at Bhanjanagar before departing to Bhubaneswar. Addressing the public during the inauguration ceremonies of the three Kendriya Vidyalayas, the Chief Minister said his government was trying to enhance the standard of education in the State as it was one of the basic parameters of development. He called upon the parents to provide proper education to their children for their future development. State Revenue minister Surya Narayan Patra, MLAs and MPs of Ganjam district accompanied the Chief Minister during his visit.

Sources: The Hindu, OrissaSambad

Decks cleared for Centurion University at Parala

Decks were cleared for setting up the Centurion University, the first private university in South Orissa, with the passing of the Centurion University of Technology & Management Bill 2010 on 5 August by the Orissa legislative assembly. The new University, which will be a self financed private university, will come up at Parlakhemundi of Gajapati district. The Centurion University, which is being promoted by the JITM Trust which runs Jagannath Institute of Technology and Management will run the new University. Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister Higher Education while piloting the Bill in the House, said that the approach to the 11th Plan Report has pointed out that the extent of access to higher education is limited. Only about 10 per cent of the relevant age group go to Universities. There is an overwhelming need to undertake major expansion to increase access to higher education, pointed out he. Minister said the new University aims to provide high quality education and will open the School of Engineering & Technology, School of Natural Science, School of Humanities & Social Science, School of Management & Law, School of Vocational Education & Training and School of Tribal & Development Studies. The Central Government have enacted the UGC (Establishment and maintenance of standard of private universities) Regulations,2003. Accordingly, the State Government have proposed to allow reputed sponsoring bodies for setting up of multi-disciplinary university for imparting higher professional and technical education. The State Assembly has already passed three private university bills. These were the Vedanta University by the Anil Agarwal Foundation, Sri Sri University by the Spiritual Guru Sri Ravi Sankar and the ICFAI University by the Hyderabad-based ICFAI organization.

Source: Tathya.in

Ground-levelling for Tata's Gopalpur SEZ by Dec

The land leveling and boundary wall construction work of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being set up by Tata Steel at Gopalpur in south Orissa's Ganjam district will be completed in December, this year. The SEZ will come up on 3585 acres of land acquired by Tata Steel. The company had acquired the land in mid 90s for setting up a steel plant. But with the project being shelved later, it had decided to use the land for setting up of a SEZ. “Tata Steel has kicked off work on boundary wall construction and land leveling work in the first phase. The company has engaged 400 labourers for the SEZ work”, industries minister Raghunath Mohanty said in a written reply in the state legislative assembly. About four km of boundary wall has been constructed and the work on remaining six km of boundary wall is underway. “The company has taken possession of 2792.65 acres of private land and 792.64 acres of government land for the SEZ. It expects to complete boundary wall construction and land leveling work on the Gopalpur SEZ project by December 2010”, the minister added. The land acquisition work on the Gopalpur SEZ started in 1998-99 and at that time, a compensation of Rs one lakh per acre was fixed for the land oustees, minister for revenue and disaster management S N Patra said in response to another query.

Source: Business Standard