MJ fan Harihar looks to burn the dance floor

 To vote for Harihar, type HD and send SMS to 56882

Voting lines are open till Friday1st October 2010

Following is an Excerpt from The Telegraph story on Harihar by Shilpi Sampad

BERHAMPUR: The Silk City of Orissa, Behrampur, went into celebration mode after Harihar Dash danced his way into the grand finale of a talent hunt show ‘India’s Got Talent Khoj-2’ being aired on a private entertainment channel. Harihar, with his signature ‘popping and locking’ dancing style impressed the audiences and received a huge number of votes that helped him secure a berth in the final round. Interestingly, Harihar has not received any formal training in dance. As a kid, he used to admire late pop star Michael Jackson. “I used to play his music and imitate his style of dancing. Soon I added my own steps to them and made it into a unique style of dancing,” he told The Telegraph on phone from Mumbai. Harihar, who completed engineering from MITS, is now preparing to get into a business management college. He was the cultural champion in the annual festival of BPUT for three consecutive years (2005 to 2007). Initially, Harihar’s parents did not support his passion for dancing. But they changed their minds when Harihar started doing well at the dance show. Earlier, we used to advise him to focus more on his studies. However, when judges appreciated his dance, we realised he had a gift. Now we hope that he wins,” said his parents. Family members, friends and relatives of Harihar have already started visiting temples to pray for his success in the final. The city has gone into a celebration mode. Harihar said: “From the auditions to the semi-finals, I have used my style, which is popping and locking with a bit of variation here and there. For the final, I am trying to fuse different dance forms and tell a story through that.” Moreover, the team of sand artists from the state, Manas Kumar Sahoo and group, has also gained entry into the finals with the help of a ‘wild card’. Harihar said he would be equally happy if either of them wins the title. "The Prince dance group from the state had won it last year. This year I want either of us to repeat their success. It is a tough competition with seven other participants from different states. However, Orissa stands a great chance to win the show. The sand artists are extremely talented and gifted. The best one should win,” he said.

Source: The Telegraph

Harihar Das of Berhampur storms into the finals of India’s Got Talent-II

• To vote for Harihar, Type HD and send SMS to 56882
• Voting lines are open from 25th September till Friday1st October 2010
• Click here to watch the Semi-final performance of Harihar
• Click here to read the news on Hari in Oriya daily Dharitri

SMS fever is running high in the silk city with firecrackers going up in the skies as Oriya boy Harihar Das sailed into the final of reality show India’s Got Talent Khoj-II. Harihar Das hailing from Berhampur captivated the judges as well as the audience with his breathtaking performance. The popping and locking artist also stunned Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra with his unique form of dance. Reality show’s judge Sajid Khan showered praise on Harihar and predicted him to have all abilities and potential to represent India globally in this category.

Meanwhile, animation sand artist Manas Sahu and his group, made it to the grand finale through wild card entry. With two teams from the state making it to the finale, everyone is now hoping either of them to rewrite history after Prince Dance Group winning the finale of the reality show in the last edition. To see Harihar scrapping through the final, the entire City has started making wishes and prayers in temples and houses. Students, youth, eminent citizens, organizations and political leaders are busy reaching out the public seeking votes for Harihar to win the competition. 

Publicity campaign in Berhampur for the success of dancing sensation Harihar Das

• Semifinals of India's Got Talent at 9 PM on Friday, 24th September
• To vote for Harihar, Type HD and send SMS to 56882
• Voting lines open from Friday, 24th Sept 10 PM to 25th Sept 9 AM

Different organisations, political outfits, traders, students and officials in Berhampur are now busy creating an SMS mania in the City and in the State in favour of Harihar Das of Berhampur who has emerged as a dancing sensation in India’s Got Talent reality show. People carrying leaflets and banners are going from street to street to mobilize support in favour of Harihar to see him win the final of ‘India’s Got Talent’ show of entertainment channel ‘Colors’. Not to be left out the MLAs of the city and leaders of various political parties accompanied by eminent citizens took out a rally in the city yesterday urging people to send SMS in favour of Harihar Das. The district hoteliers’ association, various cultural troupes and choreographers association are also into this publicity drive. People canvassing for Harihar are optimistic that the city lad will do what the Prince Dance Group did lat year and will make Berhampur and the State proud.

Source: Orissa TV

Orissa Sambad on Harihar

BMC restarts anti-encroachment drive

Berhampur Municipal Corporation has finally woken up to the problem of traffic congestion and encroachment of pavements by traders for commercial use. In the fourth phase of anti- encroachment drive the City Corporation removed illegal constructions and hoardings in the presence of senior officials of the local body, district administration and police force. The present drive is aimed at constructing pavements and parking space for vehicles and de-congesting the City roads. The drive passed off peacefully in most of the areas like Khallikote College Road, Town Hall, PVN Rao, Barracks, Annapurna Market, UB Road, SNT Road, Girija Junction, Ram Lingam Tank Road but it faced some resistance in Old Bus Stand area and Aska Road where people raised slogans demanding proper rehabilitation and alternative arrangement. In some parts of the city like Bhapur Bazar and One-way Traffic Road people were seen voluntarily removing the encroachments. While welcoming the anti- encroachment drive carried out by the Municipal Corporation, senior citizens of the city demanded special vending zones for the evicted traders and to expedite the ring road and NH-217 bye-pass projects to de-congest the city. Further, they also appealed the authorities to make alternative arrangements for the hundreds of slum-dwellers who have been recently evicted. As per official records the number of slums in Berhampur city is around 103 where more than two lakh city residents live   Presently Berhampur city is dealing with huge influx of migrant population from the adjoining districts of south Orissa and north Andhra and most of these migrants find an easy living in the city pavements by taking up petty business. The City Corporation is carrying out the anti-encroaching drive for the last couple of months to give a face-lift to the historic Berhampur city and has started building vending zones to rehabilitate the traders whose livelihood has been affected due to this drive.  Recently the local body has also initiated a massive slum development programme under the IHSDP scheme sponsored by the Central Government with an investment of over Rs 35 crore. 

Berhampur city plays host to National seminar on green building technology

BERHAMPUR: A three-day national seminar on ‘eco-friendly material and techniques for green building technology' is under way in Berhampur city. The seminar is being organised by the city chapter of the Institution of Engineers (India). Several experts of building technology and architects from different parts of the country are attending the seminar as resource persons, said organising secretary of the seminar Swadhin Kumar Panigrahy. On Tuesday, an interactive session to discuss implementation of green building concepts in fast-growing urban areas like Berhampur was held. It was attended by MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, Mayor of Berhampur city Siba Shankar Das, city SP Shefeen Ahmed Khan as well as several experts of the field. Dignitaries of the city discussed the issues related to comprehensive development plan for the city by the Berhampur Development Authority.Elucidating the need of the seminar, P.K. Maity, chairman of the Architecture Engineering Division Board of Institution of Engineers, who is attending it as an expert, said green buildings were an extreme need in this fast urbanising world. According to him, in the next three decades half of the population may shift to urban pockets. Green building practices aim at reducing the environmental impact of new buildings that come up in an area. For future sustainability there is a need for reducing amount of natural resources buildings' consume and the pollution caused by them, according to Mr. Maity. These steps have become need of the hour as buildings have started to account for large amount of land use, energy and water consumption, environmental alteration in urban areas. Experts attending the seminar were of the opinion that cost of a green building would be around six to eight per cent higher than conventional buildings. “But they felt this extra cost would get paid back through environmental restoration and energy conservation within decade. But conversion of existing buildings into ‘green buildings' is not cost effective at the present moment,” Mr. Maity said.

Source: The Hindu

Centre sponsors two M.Tech courses in NIST

BERHAMPUR: The Department of Science and Technology has sponsored two M.Tech programmes at Berhampur-based National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) for 2010-11 session. According to a release, NIST is the only TIFAC CORE center in India for research and development in 3G/4G communication technologies. The programmes, which are AICTE approved, are M.Tech in Wireless Communications and M.Tech in Embedded Systems. Admission to the courses will be through the PGAT conducted by the Orissa JEE. All students (GATE or non-GATE) admitted into these programmes will be given a scholarship as per norms. Recently NIST has also signed an exclusive agreement with CADENCE, USA, based on which a CADENCE Center of Excellence in VLSI has been established in NIST campus with full semester training for 60 students per batch on CADENCE tools.

Source: New IndianExpress

Thousands of devotees visit Panchama on Ganesh chaturthi

BERHAMPUR: Panchama, a sleepy village on the outskirts of Berhampur city was agog with influx of thousands of devotees from far off places like Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. Mostly children and womenfolk made a beeline in front of the historic Ganesh temple, located on the outskirt of the village from the wee hours, as people from far flung places thronged the ancient shrine to appease Siddha Vinayak the elephant God, appearing on an old tree. The tree believed to be 500-year-old withstood the passage of times. The tree happens to be a big attraction for the devotees, where they perform the rituals.

Police made elaborate arrangements to maintain traffic and the law and order. Local volunteers also came forward to help the visiting devotees by providing drinking water and to maintain traffic."Unlike the last several years, this year we have performed puja smoothly" said one of the devotees.

According to legend, the temple was built by King Purushottam Dev of Gajapathi dynasty of Utkala during his Kanchi Abhijan to marry Princess Padmabati, daughter of King of Kanchi. The King during his journey, used to take rest in the Goddess Bhairabi temple, located near Panchama. Once while the king was sleeping, he heard a celestial voice instructing him to appease Lord Ganesh before leaving the place. If the elephant God was pleased, the princess would surely be his.

Source: PTI

Harihar Das of Berhampur enters the semi finals of India's Got Talent-II

Following news is from daily Orissa Sambad

CM launches water body repair scheme in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: The irrigation sector in the state is likely to get boost with the chief minister Naveen Patnaik launching the repair and renovation of the water bodies, mostly related to minor irrigation projects, under the repair, renovation and restoration (RRR) scheme of the government. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during his visit to Ganjam district on Thursday launched ‘Repair, restoration and renovation of water bodies' project in Orissa. The project is a joint venture of State and Central governments. Existing minor irrigation projects will be renovated under the project for the benefit of farmers. During his eight-hour whirlwind tour to the areas of his home constituency Hinjli, the Chief Minister laid the foundation for works to be taken up under the project. He laid the foundation for three such projects in Shergarh block. These projects were Kanaka Bandha at Kulagarh, Sagar Bandha at Sagarpalli and Kumutibandh of Terikarijhola. Thirty medium irrigation projects in Shergarh block and 24 in Hinjli block will be renovated under the project. They are part of Hinjli Assembly segment represented by Mr. Patnaik.

In total, 782 minor irrigation projects will get a facelift in Ganjam district under the project. More than Rs. 240 crores will be spent on them. Most minor irrigation projects in Ganjam district depend on rain. It may be noted that in 2004-05 a pilot project of ‘Repair, restoration and renovation of water bodies' was taken up in Ganjam district. Under it 24 minor irrigation projects were provided a new lease of life. He reached Hinjli by helicopter from Bhubaneswar at around 9.30 a.m. and departed for State capital at around 4.30. In between he managed to attend 22 inauguration and foundation-stone laying ceremonies of public amenities in different parts of Hinjli and Shergarh blocks. The chief minister today laid foundation stone for repair and renovation of three MIPs in Ganjam district’s Sheragada block during his day-long visit to the district. The MIPs included Kanaka Bandha at Kullagada, Kumuti Bandha at Kerikerijhola and Sagara Bandhh at Bhusunda. As many as 1761 water bodies in 21 out of 30 districts of the state will be revived with an estimated cost of Rs 595.14 crore over next three years.

Source: The Hindu & Business Standard

Berhampur People: Prabir Kumar Dash (The man behind Padmasambhav Mahavihara)

Excerpts of news report by Sunil Patnaik from The Telegraph

BERHAMPUR: The Padmasambhava Mahavihara monastery, located at Chandragiri is an architectural marvel. Its design was conceptualised by an Oriya engineer from Berhampur, Prabir Kumar Dash. For the 44-year-old, it was the biggest challenge of his career. The foundation stone of the monastery was laid in 2003. Finally, in 2008 Prabir’s hard work paid off. The building was completed and was considered as the largest Buddhist monastery in South Asia. The monastery, inaugurated by Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on January 12, 2010, during his last visit to Chandragiri, has since attracted many foreign and domestic tourists. Prabir said: “I put my heart and soul into the project. Dalai Lama praised and admired me for the architecture and structural design of the Padmasambhava Mahavihara monastery. It was really a great feeling and indeed the turning point of my career.” Prabir did his schooling from KC High School, Berhampur. He passed MTech. in structures from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2009. At present, he has launched an environment engineering consultancy in Berhampur.

“Earlier, I didn’t have any idea about the structural designs of Buddhist monasteries. But in 2003 Pema, the in-charge of Lamas in the Phuntsokling Tibetan settlement, Chandragiri, contacted me and asked if I was interested to work on the monastery project. I agreed immediately. Later on I found out that he got my phone number and address from the Berhampur city directory,” said Prabir. Before starting work on the project, Prabir visited a Tibetan monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. “I designed everything on AutoCad, a software application for design. Initially, it was difficult to coordinate with Lama Tashi, the chief Tibetan designer based in USA, to prepare the design of the Padmasambhava Mahavihara monastery because he could communicate only in Tibetan. But slowly things fell in place,” he said. Taslim Khan, a contractor based in New Delhi who had experience of building about five monasteries, worked with Prabir. Those days Prabir used to stay at Camp Number 4 at Jiranga in Chandragiri. The five-storeyed, 96-foot high Padmasambhava Mahavihara monastery was build over 10-acres at a cost of Rs 8 crore. Its main attraction is a 21-foot statue of Buddha and his two main disciples in the assembly hall. The other attractions are a 17-foot statue of Padmasambava with his eight manifestations and two consorts and a statue of Buddhisatva Avalokitesavara with thousand arms and eyes.

“Monastery is a center for spiritual activities where residential monks are trained in the philosophical foundations of Buddhist sutras and the tantric techniques that lead towards enlightenment. They also learn traditional painting, astrology and Tibetan medicine. The monastery is engaged actively in prayer ceremonies where people come to receive blessings. It was a powerful place to experience the living tradition of Buddhism,” said Jampel, chairman of local Tibetan assembly.“The monastery has boosted tourism in Orissa,” said Gyetral Jigmei Rinpoche, chief abbot of the monastery. Brad, a tourist from the US, who recently visited the monastery, said: “I saw the monastery during my visit to Chandragiri. The interiors and the main structure are beautiful.” “It is the third best tourist place in Orissa after Puri and Konark. But the authorities must take immediate steps to construct a proper road from Lobarsingh to Jiranga temple to enable more tourists to visit the monastery,” said Prabir. After achieving success in building the Padmasambhava Mahavihara monastery, Prabir began receiving offers for various other projects. Some of them include the upcoming 76-foot high and 55-foot wide Lotus Temple at Aurobindo Matru Mandir in Ankuspur near Berhampur and one Iskcon temple in Berhampur.

Source: The Telegraph

Harinath Reddy of Berhampur in India's Got Talent-II

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

After Harihar Das, now it is T. Harinath Reddy of Berhampur city, brother of Krishna Mohan Reddy of the Prince Dance Group, who has entered the Indian's Got Talent- II quarter finals. With three formidable contestants from Orissa, Harihar Das and Harinath Reddy from Berhampur and the amazing sand animation artists Manas Sahu and Group from Puri the dominance of the state continues in one of the most popular television reality shows in Indian television.  Meanwhile the Manas Sahu and group has entered the semi-finals of India's Got Talent-II telecast by Colors channel.