Stir for permanent Bench of Orissa High Court at Berhampur

Members of Ganjam Bar Association decide to intensify

their peaceful stir demanding establishment of a permanent

Bench of Orissa High Court in Berhampur. 

Source: The Hindu

Ravi Kumar's Arjuna Award lifts Berhampur's spirits

BERHAMPUR: The Silk City was agog with joy on Monday when local boy and Commonwealth gold medalist K. Ravi Kumar was conferred the Arjuna Award at New Delhi. Ravi Kumar received the award from President Prativa Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. "I am very happy receiving the award," he told TOI from New Delhi.

At present, Ravi is busy practicing at the India camp in Patiala for the next world championships in Paris in November. He said, "The award is a big confidence booster and I will make all efforts to bring pride to mycountry," he said.

Crediting his success to his parents, coaches and well-wishers, Ravi who is now working in the Army said the award was a result of years of hard work. "It is a dream come true and I wish he beings more fame to the country," said his mother K. Suryakanta, who was present at the award-giving ceremony. Ravi Kumar is the seventh Oriya and second person from Berhampur to get this prestigious award. In 1982, another weightlifter Bijay Kumar Satapathy of Berhampur had received the Arjuna Award.

"It is a very proud moment us. His award will motivate many talented young people to scale heights," secretary of the Orissa Weightlifting Association Narayan Sahu said. "We wish he participates in the 2012 London Olympics," said Sahu, also the vice-president of Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Ravi's former coach Ramesh Chandra Padhy said, "We were expecting this award for him since long going by his talent".

The Veer Hanuman Club, from where Ravi started his career, will felicitate him when he returns. Ravi started his career about seven years ago and has established a brilliant track record of winning several gold medals in national and International events. He has also set a record in the men's 69-kg category by lifting 321 kg in the New Delhi Commonwealth Games last October and won the gold.

He has represented the country in the Asian Weightlifting Championships to be in China in April. He has also won three gold medals in the senior National weightlifting championships at Bangalore recently. Representing the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), Ravi won in the clean, jerk and overall weight category in the men's 77-kg event. The state has honoured him with the Ekalabya Award.

Sources: Times of India, First Post

Berhampur to have first waste-to-energy plant in state

BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned to generate renewable energy from solid wastes. Around 200 tonnes of solid wastes are generated in the town every day. “We have decided to set up a processing plant to utilize the municipal solid waste (MSW) on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode very soon”, said Bhim Manseth, commissioner, Berhampur Municipal Corporation. Generation of energy is one of the options for utilizing municipal solid waste. The other products which can be generated from solid waste include manure and industrial oil, he said. BMC has roped in International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as a consultant for the project. “We have requested the government to bear 90 per cent of the consultant's fees. The rest 10 per cent will be borne by the BMC. The BMC would sign MoU with the IFC for this purpose”, he said. The consultant would conduct the feasibility study and adopt the technology that suits the conditions of the town. Thereafter, it would float a tender inviting the firms for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for the project. The cost of the project would be known after the preparation of the DPR, but the project cost would not be less than Rs 100-crore, he added.

Siba Shankar Das, mayor of BMC said it would become the first MSW processing plant in the state. The BMC was constructing the boundary wall in around 20 acres of land at Chandania hill on the outskirts of the town to establish the plant. Meanwhile, BMC had dispatched a truck load of used polythene to the ACC cement factory at Bargarh after the company entered into a tripartite agreement with the BMC and the state government to receive these waste materials for use in its cement plant. BMC in its recent meeting has decided to campaign against the circulation of polythene having thickness below 20 microns in the town from September 1.

Source: Business Standard

Lawyers renew demand for High Court Bench at Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: Members of Ganjam Bar Association put forward their various demands before the Chief Justice of Orissa Justice V.Gopala Gowda through a memorandum. They handed over this memorandum to the Chief Justice during his visit to the city. A delegation of the bar association led by its president Sisir Padhi and secretary Jyoti Chhotray met justice Gowda and handed him the memorandum. Through the memorandum the bar association reiterated its demand for establishment of a permanent Bench of the High Court in Berhampur for the benefit of people of south Orissa.

Expressing concern over the ongoing agitations by lawyers for permanent high court benches in several places in Orissa, chief justice V Gopal Gowda urged the agitators to initiate talks to end the impasse. "Come to the talks table to try and solve your grievances amicably," Gowda told lawyers.The members of the Ganjam Bar Association here have been boycotting the courts in the last four days of the month for the past three years, demanding the establishment of the permanent bench of the state high court in Berhampur.

It may be noted that the members of the Ganjam Bar Association had taken up a long cease-work agitation for the same demand from December 4, 2007. The agitation had continued for 139 days. It had also led to lathi charge by the police on agitating lawyers on April 22, 2008 and more than 29 lawyers had been arrested. The lawyers had called off their strike in May 2008. Since then members of this bar association are continuing to press upon their demand through peaceful means.

They also wanted all vacant land near Berhampur court under the State Revenue department to be handed over to the Judicial Department. On this extra land new buildings could be built up to house other courts that are running in different areas of the city. They also demanded upgradation of furniture and amenities in the old court building of Berhampur. Members of Ganjam Bar Association also urged the Chief Justice to help them in upgrading their library. They wanted the existing library building of British era to be demolished and two-storied building to be built at the spot to house the new library.

Source: The Hindu, Times of India, OdishaToday

Berhampur celebrates Anna's success

Several organizations and common public came out on to the streets in Berhampur city to celebrate the victory of social activist Anna Hazare who succeeded in persuading the government for a strong and effective Lokpal Bill, a demand which saw huge support and spontaneous participation of the people across India. Celebrations replaced days of protests as the Gandhian broke his fast on Sunday with his supporters thronging the streets with loud slogans, dancing, waving of tri-colour and handing out of sweets. The festivities, which began last night after Parliament passed a resolution agreeing in-principle on Hazare's three demands on Lokpal issue, reached a crescendo, when the Gandhian accepted a glass of coconut water to break his 288 hours of fast that began on 16th August. Hazare supporters took out processions, burst crackers, danced to drums and took out motor cycle rallies in different parts of the City.

All roads in Berhampur lead to Anna Hazare

As the wave of support for Anna Hazare spread further, evoking anti-Centre protests for the second consecutive day, people of Berhampur, mostly youth, students and members of civil society, came out on to the streets and denounced the oppressive measures unleashed by the central government against the anti-corruption crusader. The city witnessed several rallies, dharnas and candlelight processions supporting Anna Hazare. Students, lawyers and people from different walks of life joined the protests condemning the UPA government's action against Team Anna. Lawyers boycotted courts in protest against Anna's arrest, while school and college students took out protest rallies. Hundreds of lawyers wore black badges and masks and took out a rally in the city. Students at the MKCG Medical College and Hospital took out a candle march on the college premises to express solidarity with Anna's fight against corruption. They carried placards and shouted slogans like 'Fight against corruption' and 'Save Anna Hazare'. Students staged a dharna outside the Khallikote autonomous college. Members of Berhampur Intellectual Forum held a demonstration in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Berhampur. Jagrat Bharat, a Berhampur based youth organization, took out a cycle rally in support of Hazare. Similar protests were held in different parts of Ganjam district. Dharnas, protest rallies and demonstrations continued unabated in various parts of Ganjam District and interior areas across the state. 

Source: Times of India, The Hindu

Tata Steel's Gopalpur SEZ attracts investors in gems & jewellery, apparel, mineral processing

BERHAMPUR: Tata Steel's multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Gopalpur has attracted downstream investments in sectors like auto components, gems & jewellery, apparel, speciality chemicals, ores and minerals processing, logistics and warehousing and marine food processing. This was informed by minister for industries, steel & mines and parliamentary affairs Raghunath Mohanty in response to a query in the state assembly. "The Centre has already granted in-principle approval for Tata Steel's multi-product SEZ at Gopalpur. Presently, boundary wall construction and road construction at the project site is going on. Tata Steel is developing an industrial park at Gopalpur wherein they will be building a 0.4 million tonne per annum steel rebar mill, 55,000 tonne per annum ferro chrome plant and 1,2 million gallons per day desalination plant at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore”, Mohanty said. The industrial park has the potential to attract investments of around Rs 15,000 crore.

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.

Source: Business Standard, Orissa-Tourism

Berhampur to use solid waste for energy

BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Municipal Corporation plans to generate renewable energy from solid wastes. "We will set up a processing plant in PPP mode to utilize the municipal solid waste (MSW)," commissioner of the municipality Bhim Manseth said. Manure will be one of the remnants of the process.

The corporation has selected International Finance Corporation (IFC) as consultant for the project. It will conduct a feasibility study and adopt the technology that suits the town. Only then a tender will be floated inviting firms for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) and the project cost would be known then. Around 200 metric tonnes of solid wastes is generated in the town everyday. The civic body has constructed boundary wall around 20 acre land at Chandania hill, on the outskirts of the town, for the plant. tnn

The corporation has also decided to campaign against use of polythene below 20 microns in thickness in the town from September 1. Instead, we will encourage people to use paper, cloth or jute bags, which are not harmful for the environment and are biodegradable, the commissioner

said.

Source: Times of India

Students protest at Berhampur University supporting Anna Hazare

BERHAMPUR: The country wide support for Anna Hazare’s anti corruption movement has also found massive support at the Berhampur University campus. A rally was taken out by the students' Union of Berhampur University at the Bhanjabihar campus. Students from all the departments participated in the protest march and marched on the rally by holding placards on hands and making slogans against Anna Hazare’s detention. The students were seen raising slogans opposing the UPA Government’s decision of disallowing the peaceful protest of the common people led by Anna. On a huge gathering at the University bus stand the protest march was started by members of the students union which later joined by maximum number of students from various departments. According to the Student’s union president R. Santosh reddy “The ruling Government has started a dictatorial form of governance by not giving the right for a peaceful protest to its own citizens. Being the youth of the country we support the Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by Anna Hazare to end the huge scandals made by our politicians and Bureaucrats and we demand to free Anna ji by allowing him to protest for the jan Lokpal Bill.”

Source: OrissaDiary

Centre clears multi-product Tisco SEZ at Gopalpur

Berhampur: The Centre has cleared Tisco’s proposal for establishment of a multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) at Gopalpur, Orissa steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty told the Assembly today. A number of industries will come up in the proposed SEZ, said the minister, adding that land allotted to Tisco earlier to set up a steel plant would be utilised for the purpose. Mohanty said the civil construction work for the project was currently in progress at the proposed site. The work for the boundary wall and road project has already begun. At the proposed SEZ site, Tisco will set up an industrial park. The company will invest Rs 1,000 crore in the park and set up a 4-lakh tonne per annum steel rebar mill, a 55,000 tonne ferro chrome plant and a 1.2-million gallon per day water desalination plant. For the infrastructure development, Rs 5,000 crore will be invested. Once the park is developed, Rs 15,000 crore will be invested for the development of downstream industries. Mohanty said: “The park will invite investment in steel, accessories of motor vehicles, apparel, gems, jewellery, speciality chemicals and other technical areas.” Last month, Tata Steel managing director H.M. Nerukar met chief minister Naveen Patnaik and said they were waiting for the environmental clearance for the project which is likely to be obtained by October. In December 1995, former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao laid the foundation stone for the steel plant project. 

Source: The Telegraph

‘Rail roko' staged demanding passenger halt at Industrial Estate in BAMP

BERHAMPUR: ‘Rail roko' was staged in Berhampur demanding a passenger halt near industrial estate of the city. The agitators were led by Umacharan Nayak and corporator Jyotsanarani Nayak. Residents of Lanjipalli, Industrial Estate, Ankuli, and Gajapati Nagar took part in the agitation. The agitators gathered under the banner of ‘Ward number 34 Unnayan Committee'. They blocked the railway tracks near industrial estate for around two hours from 7a.m. The Berhampur-Cuttack DMU and the Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Prashanti express were delayed due to the agitation. There has been a demand for a passenger halt near industrial estate for the past two decades.A special citizens' committee, named ‘Shilpanchal Passenger Halt Sangram Samiti' has also been formed to pursue the issue with the railway authorities. Several trade unions have also extended their support to the demand. It is felt that as the size and population of the city have increased manifold, there is a need for a passenger halt. The establishment of the passenger halt would end overcrowding of Berhampur railway station during the timings of DMUs in the morning and evening. Last year, East Coast Railway authorities agreed on principle for establishment of the passenger halt near industrial estate. But the provision of the halt has not yet materialised.

Source: The Hindu

Amiyabala Patnaik of Berhampur bags Kendra Sahitya Akademi award

People protest demaning speeding up industrial project in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: Villagers who had given up their land for the proposed titanium dioxide plant in Ganjam district staged a dharna in front of the district collector's office at Chhatrapur on Tuesday demanding an early completion of the project. This was in sheer contrast to other places where land losers are blocking plants, asking governments to return their land. Around 500 villagers from Tikiria Berhampur, Chandrapada, Maipatna and Kanabana participated in the dharna.

"We readily gave up our land thinking that the project would bring about a lot of development in the area. But four years have gone by and there's been no headway," complained Braja Mohan Acharya, adviser to the land losers' welfare association. "If the joint venture is not working out then the government should alone go ahead with the project," felt the president of the association, P Dharma Rao. The government acquired around 250 acres of land, including 200 acres from private parties, in 2007 for the proposed plant.  Land was acquired on time, but the project never took off.

Source: Times of India

Berhampur to host National Weightlifting Championsip

BERHAMPUR: National Senior Weightlifting Championship would be held in the city from December 25 to 29. This championship is being organised by Orissa Weight Lifting Association (OWLA) under the aegis of Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF). First preparatory meeting for the purpose was held at Berhampur stadium on Saturday evening. This meeting was attended by vice president of IWLF Narayan Sahu, Arjun ward winning weight lifter Bijay Kumar Satpathy, International referee V.Venugopal, office bearers of OWLA like Ramesh Padhi, Pradeep Sahani, secretary of district athletic association Ashok Sahu. Berhampur MLA RCC Patnaik and Pradesh Congress Committee member Bikram panda also attended the meeting.

This national championship would include 64th senior men's weight lifting championship and 27th senior women's weightlifting championship. Such national weightlifting championship is to be held in the city, which is known as cradle of this power sport in the State after a gap of 28 years. In 1983 national junior weightlifting championship had been held in the city. It was decided to hold the championship in the open at Berhampur stadium rather than holding it in a closed auditorium. Our aim is to attract more spectators and enthusiasts to witness the tournament to create more following for the sport in the city, said Mr Padhi.

Source: The Hindu

Happy Independence day

Minister Jayram Ramesh visits Berhampur

Source: The Anupam Bharat

ROYP demands modernization of Berhampur railway station

BERHAMPUR: Members of Rashtriya Oriya Yuvak Pratisthan organised a demonstration in front of the Berhampur railway station and submitted to the to the station superintendent a memorandum addressed to Union Railway Minister. President of the organisation Srikant Padhi said delay in development of the railway station into a model reflected the apathy of authorities towards this major station. The activists alleged that though a declaration was made by the Railway Ministry two years ago in this regard, no steps had been initiated yet to make it a reality.It may be noted that three railway stations in the State including Berhampur had been shortlisted to be transformed into a model railway station.The ROYP members said there had been delay in development of platform number 4 at Berhampur station.“Lack of infrastructure and apathy of authorities can be assessed from the fact that there were overhead sheds only for some length of the platform. Moreover the existing overhead sheds leak during rain,” said secretary Sibaram Patra.

They also demanded construction of more railway tracks in south Orissa to connect areas with Berhampur. They also wanted formation of a new railway division with its headquarters in Berhampur. Other demands of the ROYP members were a new train to Mumbai from Puri via Berhampur, other areas of south and western Orissa. They also wanted introduction of train to run between Berhampur and New Delhi. Rashtriya Oriya Yuvak Pratisthan says no steps have been taken on the declaration made in this regard by the Railway Ministry.

Source: The Hindu & Berhampurphotoblog

Berhampur University mulls semester exams for colleges

BERHAMPUR: Berhampur University is contemplating to introduce the semester system of examinations in its undergraduate colleges from the next academic session. The semester system of examinations presently pertains to only postgraduate courses of the university. "We have already started to introduce the semester system in the undergraduate colleges as per the decision of the high power committee on higher education of the state government," said vice chancellor of BU, J K Mohapatra. The committee meeting was held in Bhubaneswar on June 13, attended by officials and the vice chancellors of various universities in the state. Although several other states have already introduced the semester system of examinations in their institutes, in Orissa the system has been implemented in autonomous colleges and postgraduate departments of universities only. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also suggested introduction of the semester exams and choice-based credit ( CBC) system in undergraduate colleges instead of the annual system of exam pattern practiced at present. In semester system the duration of the examination will be shorter. "When the duration of the examination will be shorter students will always prepare to appear in the examination," Mohapatra said. "It will not only help the student to develop his skills but also reduce the course burden before appearing in the tests," the VC added.

Source: Times of India

Cement from solid waste: BMC shows the way

By Sunil Patnaik (The Telegraph) BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Municipal Corporation today sent its first consignment of non-degradable waste materials like disposed water bottles, polythene and other waste to a cement factory in Bargarh district.   Everyday the corporation is collecting nearly 150 tonnes of solid waste from the town. Bulk of the non-degradable waste consists of polythene and plastics. “We have collected 81 bags of plastic waste materials within a fortnight,” commissioner Bhim Manseth said. “Disposal of the non-degradable waste is a major issue as such materials cause pollution. We were worried about this. A cement manufacturing company has decided to process the non-degradable waste materials to make cement. The company entered into an agreement with the corporation to take non-degradable waste materials from the civic body. The agreement was formalised with the company in consultation with the Orissa State Pollution Control Board,” the commissioner said.  The corporation, however, would not get anything in return from the company for supplying the waste, he said. “For us, it’s a major achievement that we would be able to dispose of the waste,” he said. “It’s a big step in our efforts for effective solid waste management,” said mayor Siba Shankar Das. Proper disposal of the non-degradable waste is a cause of concern for the corporation, though the civic body has already prohibited sale and manufacture of the polythene-packed water pouches in the municipality areas. The cost towards transportation of the items to Bargarh would be borne from the sold waste management funds, the commissioner said. The non-degradable materials would be separated from the wastes that are collected from streets and houses by the corporation workers.

Berhampur Airport and Stadium projects in limbo

Puri-Parlakhemundi train extended to Gunupur

In fulfillment of the announcement in the last Railway Budget, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has announced the extension of Puri-Parlakhemundi passenger train to Gunupur from August 2, 2011. The timings of this train in both the direction between Puri and Parlakhemundi will remain unchanged. Puri-Gunupur passenger will leave Puri at 07.50 hrs and reach Parlakhemundi at 18.45 hrs. It will leave Parlakhenundi at 18.50 hrs towards Gunupur. In the extended portion, this train will halt at Sitapuram Passenger Halt (PH), Haddubhangi PH, Kashinagar PH, Lihuri PH, Bansadhara, Palasinghi PH and reach Gunupur at 20.30 hrs. In the return direction Gunupur-Puri passenger will leave Gunupur at 08.00 hrs and arrive at Parlakhemundi at 09.40 hrs. It will leave for Puri at 09.45 hrs and reach Puri at 21.25 hrs.

Source: OrissaDiary

Berhampur-Taptapani road still a distant dream

BERHAMPUR: Irked over inordinate delay in the completion of the 41-km- Berhampur - Taptapani road in Ganjam, some locals agitated in front of the chief engineer of the project at Digapahandi. The Rs 82-crore project was undertaken in November 2008 as part of the World Bank funded Orissa State Road Project (OSRP) and was scheduled to be completed in November 2010. Only 10 per cent of the work has been done till now. People are suffering a lot as work is going on at a snail's pace, president of the Khemundi Bar Association Hruday Ranjan Mekap and several others, who took part in the agitation, told the chief engineer. The road project is a significant one as tourists travel to Taptapani which is famous for a hot-spring, via Berhampur. Padmanavpur, a weavers' village, which is being developed as a rural tourist destination, is also on the road.

Road engineers said the hold up was caused by delay in land acquisition for the project. Land acquisition was completed in 28 out of 31 villages, they informed. "Since land acquisition is yet to be completed, we have extended the deadline for the project to October 2012, said the executive engineer of the project. M R Mishra. Revenue minister S N Patro, while conducting a review on the progress of the project two months ago, had directed officials to expedite the land acquisition process and complete the work as soon as possible. He also directed departments of health, telephone and Southco to shift their pipelines, electric and telephone poles to ensure speedy completion of the work.

Source: Times of India

Berhampur People: Acharya Dr. Chintamani Rath

A rare treat to music lovers

Classical music lovers of Berhampur city had a rare experience on July 31st evening as they had noted Hindustani classical instrumentalist Acharya Chintamani Rath performing on the premises of historic Ganjam Kala Parishad. 

 Violinist Dr. Chintamani Rath giving a performance
at a function organised by Jagrat Bharat
at the historic Utkal Ashram hall in Berhampur city.



This classical violin maestro is best known for his magical adeptness to use violin with a traditional approach with additives of innovative and insightful musical imaginations

According to noted music critic Aditya Mohapatra, who accompanied Acharya Rath, the maestro can experiment with this as he is equally at home in Indian as well as western classical music.

Acharya Rath is an NRI who works as an investigator for the Inland Revenue Department and runs an independent business in New Zealand. But his passion continues to be music.

He holds a Ph.D. in Hindustani music from Rabindra Bharati University of Kolkata and has resurrected several ancient and medieval Ragas from musicological texts. 

His greatness is that he always links up with the audience who are always from different socio-cultural background as per the place of concert.

So, the maestro who has enthralled audience all over India, Nepal, England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Australia and New Zealand did not fail to mesmerise an entirely different kind of audience in Berhampur.

He started with Raag Puria and also performed Raag Durga and Raag Pilu with wizardly innovations to spellbind even the persons in audience who are ignorant about grammar and syntax of classical music.

Source: The Hindu

Living, loving and surviving in urban India: HT

In 2005, when SP Padhy (27) arrived in Hyderabad to work as an engineer in a telecom MNC, he hadn’t planned to stay on. After working for a year, he would move on to the IT Mecca that is Bangalore, he had thought. Five years later, not only has he remained in Hyderabad but has come to terms with the erstwhile city of Nizams.

From a lower middle class family, Padhy’s father retired as a government school teacher in 2009 and his mother is a home-maker in the sleepy town of Berhampur in southern Odisha. After doing a Computer Science degree from the College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, he joined a US-based MNC at Hyderabad.

“Initially the language and the food were big problems,” he says. A few months into his stay into the city, the water tap went dry one morning. He was told that there was water scarcity in the summer and the pressure was not enough to reach his floor. “ Every morning, it was a struggle carrying buckets of water from the basement through the steep steps to my floor.”

He also misses the warmth of his home town. “There, people stop you on the street to ask about your well-being. The soul is missing in big cities.” he says. Still he wants to continue in Hyderabad. “Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore may offer better job opportunities but I will be cut off from my hometown. At least here I can catch a train from Secunderabad in the evening and be at home next morning, which will not be possible if I work in those cities.

— By Ashok Das

Source: Hindustan Times