Sparrow conservationists of Ganjam invited to help in sparrow conservation efforts in mining areas

Sparrow conservationists of Ganjam district in Odisha have been invited to help in sparrow conservation efforts initiated in a mining area at Tensa in Sundergarh district.

Rabindranath Sahu of Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee (RSTPC), Ganjam and Lingaraj Panda, who played a major role in the successful sparrow conservation project at Purunabandha village in Ganjam district, have visited the area in Tensa. The authorities of the Jindal Steel and Power Limited has invited them for tips regarding sparrow conservation.

The mining colony, which has been recently adopted as home by the sparrows, is a part of the Tentra-Raikela-Bandal (TRB) mines of Jindal Steel and Power Limited. Company senior general manager Mahesh Raheja has said around 150 families stay in the mining colony which was established in 1992. A few years ago, all of a sudden a few sparrows were found at the colony. Sparrows are a rarity in this mining area located in the middle of dense jungle.

Number increased

According to Mr. Sahu, a few sparrows may have reached this human habitat by the trucks that ply to the area carrying essential goods like food grains. The inhabitants of this mining colony through their small efforts protected the sparrows. And now their number has increased many folds. Arun Kumar Kumar Mishra, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Banai, has also taken personal interest to enthuse the inhabitants of the colony to continue the sparrow conservation efforts. Mr. Mishra and Mr. Raheja have taken the tactical support from the team that had become successful in sparrow conservation at Purunabandha. The special artificial earthen pots, which the sparrows are adopting as their nests in Purunabandha in Ganjam district, have also been put at the mining colony.Mr. Sahu has said sparrows have started to stay in some of the artificial nests put at the mining colony. At present the sparrow population at the mining colony is around 300. If the conservation efforts continue, then their number will surely increase many folds, says Mr. Panda.

Source: The Hindu

Classroom teaching goes hi-tech at Berhampur city Kendriya Vidyalaya

Blackboards in classrooms will soon be replaced with interactive boards at three Kendriya Vidyalays in Odisha under the e-classroom project launched by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) in 50 KVs in India. The three KVs in Odisha are Berhampur, KV No.1 in Cuttack and KV Sambalpur. There are 55 KVs in Odisha.

At least ten classrooms of each of these schools (one section from Class III to XII) will be equipped with the necessary gadgets and hardware, which will be provided by the KVS. The students will sit in the e-classroom to interact with their counterparts and teachers of other KVs through the electronic-comprehensive teaching and learning tools (E-CTLT).

"It will enable students to interact with students of other Kendriya Vidyalayas. It will also make them tech-savvy. The classrooms will be highly equipped when all the necessary gadgets are installed to launch the e-classrooms," a senior teacher of KV Berhampur said. "We are ready to roll out the project very soon. Our teachers have already been trained at Mumbai and Mysore, while some other teachers are undergoing training," said K P Dash, principal-in-charge, KV Berhampur.

Source: The Hindu

City buses to hit Berhampur roads

Source: The Sambad

Olive Ridley turtles at Rushikulya mouth in Ganjam

Source: The Sambad

Gopalpur Port to start cargo handling from next year

The proposed all weather Gopalpur Port is expected to start cargo handling from its newly constructed berths from 2013 with construction of three berths - one for coal, one for iron and a multipurpose one. It was declared during a review meeting regarding the progress of the project. This meeting was attended by State Minister for Commerce and Transport Sanjeeb Kumar Sahu, Secretary of the Department Gagan Dhal, director of Ports and Inland Waterways and Transport, Subrat Raut, administrative officials of Ganjam district including Collector Kishen Kumar, Managing Director of Gopalpur Ports Limited (GPL) Mahimananda Mishra, directors of GPL Charchit Mishra and M.M.Moharana. The State Minister and dignitaries visited the construction site of the port. They also visited the breakwaters being constructed for the all weather port. It may be noted that the GPL has constructed one 670-meter-long backwater to the south of the port as well as another 360 meter-long intermediary breakwater.

The state government on this occasion promised to provide land needed for the expansion of the Gopalpur port. "We will provide the required land to Gopalpur Ports Limited (GPL) very soon for the expansion and development of the all weather direct berthing port," said state transport and commerce minister Sanjiv Sahu, after the review. The GPL requires around 783 acres of land for its phase-II and stage-I construction, which is scheduled to be completed by March next year. While around 393.67 acres of land has already been handed over to the GPL, the remaining portion, including 130 acre private land, will be acquired soon. "We hope the land handover process will be completed very soon to pave way for the construction of the port," the minister said. 

Berhampur University plans to introduce four new courses

BERHAMPUR: Berhampur University has sought funds for the establishment of four new departments under the twelfth plan (2012-17) of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The proposed centres include Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies (CSSEIP), Centre for Coastal Research (CCR), Centre for Extension Services on Coastal Zone Management (CESCZM) and Awareness Programme on Women Empowerment (APWE). The five-year plan proposal of the university was submitted to the UGC last week as per its guidelines, university sources said. "Since the central government has laid thrust on mainstreaming of disadvantaged people in the society and inclusive growth through education, the university has proposed setting up of the CSSEIP to undertake studies about the area, particularly the southern Odisha districts," said vice chancellor J K Mohapatra.

The southern Odisha districts are mainly inhabited by people from economically weaker sections of the society. Literacy rate and growth rate of Gross District Domestic Products (GDDP) are also poor in this region. "The university has to play a role in mainstreaming the disadvantaged people. So we have sought to establish the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies," said register B P Rath. Similarly, the university wants to establish the Centre for Coastal Research to undertake research and training in coastal and ocean science. The university has a department on marine science. The proposed Centre for Extension Services on Coastal Zone Management, university authorities feel, will create awareness on Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and help explore possibilities of development of economic condition of the fishermen across the state. Under the UGC's new research initiative, the university has proposed to set up the APWE to create awareness about programmes on women. The proposed centre would function under the Women's Study Research Centre (WSRC) of the university, sources said.

Source: Times of India

New cricket stadium planned for Berhampur

Barracks Stadium, Berhampur

The Ganjam District Cricket Association has taken steps to construct a cricket stadium, a training centre for children and four turf pitches in Berhampur. “This year, we are going to celebrate the association’s silver jubilee and our priority is to build a stadium exclusively for cricket,” said president of the association Ramesh Patra, who was elected unanimously for another four-year term this month. The association will build turf pitches at four places — Khallikote College, Berhampur Stadium (Barracks), MKCG Medical College and Hospital playground in Silk City and Sanjaya Memorial Institute of Technology at Ankuspur, located near Berhampur — for the benefit of aspiring cricketers. The cricket association would soon sign a MoU with the authorities concerned to build the turf pitch, Patra said. Patra said that though a turf pitch at Barracks Stadium  in Berhampur was built last year for the budding cricket players of Ganjam, it was damaged about a fortnight later because an athletics meet was held at the same venue. The district administration must take steps to preserve and look after the pitch until a stadium meant exclusively for cricket was built, he said. 

“The association proposed to set up a stadium and academy over 18 acres at Aruapalli near Berhampur. It will also provide a sophisticated bowling machine for the young players,” Patra said. “The bowling machine will help young players of the district to improve their bowling, batting and fielding skills. Youngsters can practise even during the off season once the machine is installed here,” he said. 

“The association is taking steps to organise national events, including the Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Ranji Trophy matches at Berhampur,” said Patra. There will be a permanent coach of the Sports Authority of India in Ganjam by next June. Anup Patra, vice-president of the Odisha Cricket Association, said the body had now decided to set up an academy and a turf pitch in every district of the state. Ajit Kumar Mishra, sub-collector, Berhampur, said the district administration would ink an agreement with the association to construct a turf pitch at Berhampur Stadium.

Source: The Telegraph

Sea erosion destroys turtle eggs in Rushikulya river mouth near Berhampur

Berhampur (Odisha): A large number of eggs of Olive Ridley turtles were destroyed due to sea erosion in the mouth of Rushikulya river near Berhampur city in Odisha's Ganjam district where the endangered sea species nest. "We think around 10 to 20 per cent of eggs were washed away due to the sea erosion," divisional forest officer, Berhampur AK Jena said.

Around 1.06 lakh eggs were laid by Olive Ridley sea turtles in the Rushikulya river mouth, one of the nesting sites in the state in February.  Very few Olive Ridley turtles had nested in the place, where largescale sea erosion was taking place, DFO said. Local activists, however, said around 50 per cent of the eggs washed away in the high tidal wave.

The sea erosion took place just ahead of their hatching. The hatching is likely to be taken place in the second week of this month, about 45 days of the nesting, experts said. "As a large number of eggs destroyed due to the high tidal wave, this year very few hatchlings are likely to emerge from the eggs," said an expert.

Instead of their traditional site, the Olive Ridley turtles had nested in a new site, measuring about two-km near the river mouth. The new site is like an island and very vulnerable to sea erosion, DFO said.

He said the forest officials were waiting for the baby turtles, which are likely to emerge from the eggs from April 15 to 20. ? We will take steps to protect the baby turtles by deploying forest staff and volunteers in the area? he said.

Besides the famous Rushikulya river mouth, other famous nesting sites of the Olive Ridley sea turtles are Devi river mouth and Gahiramatha of Odisha coast.

Source: Zee Tv

City bus service mooted for Greater Berhampur under PPP

Source: The Sambad

State urged to take up Mahanadi-Rushikulya river linking project

River Rushikulya (Source: Flicker)

‘Rushikulya Bachao Manch (RBM)' has urged the State government to initiate the process to link the Mahanadi and the Rushikulya rivers on its own. According to RBM, the project is not having any legal or technical stumbling block. “The Supreme Court has opined that the Central and State governments should give priority to implementing the river-linking project and the pre-feasibility report of National Water Development Agency (NWDA) is also in favour of the Mahanadi-Rushikulya river linking from Baramul,” says RBM chairman Ram Chandra Panda. Mr. Panda, who was the former deputy speaker of the State Assembly, has been making the demand of RBM to link the Mahanadi and the Rushikulya rivers since 1986.

Total cost

As per the pre-feasibility report of NWDA, the total cost of link canal to connect the two rivers from Baramul is estimated to be Rs. 3806.61 crore. Annual cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs. 402.43 crore, while its annual benefit from irrigation, power and municipal use is worked out to be Rs. 412.88 crore. Seven villages with population of 1331 are likely to be affected by the barrage to be constructed at Baramul.

Irrigation

The proposed link canal is to start from proposed Baramul barrage on the Mahanadi river.

The link canal would irrigate 1,00,000 hectares in Nayagarh, Khurda, and Ganjam districts.

Power generation

The project also envisions annual power generation of more than 373.30 megawatt. The RBM activists say the State government has also committed in the State Assembly to take forward the Mahanadi-Rushikulya river linking plan. “Now it is time for the State government to keep up the promise and start work on the project as soon as possible,” says Mr. Panda.

Source: The Hindu

Berhampur University becomes first in Eastern India to introduce written test & interview for recruitment of lecturers

Those interested to work as a lecturer in Berhampur University would now have to undergo a written test besides facing a face-to-face interview. Berhampur became the first varsity in the state and perhaps very few universities in the country to conduct both written test and interview to select candidates for the posts of lecturers. The syndicate of the university, in a resolution, suggested the vice-chancellor to hold written examination in recruitment of the lecturers. The apex decision making body of the university however authorised the vice chancellor to take such decision of conducting of the written test for the aspirant posts of the lecturer before appearing for interview. The syndicate's decision in this regard was to ensure quality education in the university by recruiting good teachers. The decision, however, will be only applicable for the recruitment at the level of the lecturers, but not for the posts of the reader and professor. Vice Chancellor J K Mohapatra welcomed the decision of the syndicate. "It was an unanimous decision of the syndicate and I welcome it, which will ensure recruitment of good quality of the teachers in the university," he said.  The university will soon issue advertisements for filling 25 teaching posts in different faculties, including lecturers, readers and professors, university sources said.

Berhampur University convocation on 2^nd May

Berhampur University will hold its annual convocation on May 2. It will be attended by Dr Syeda S Hameed, Planning Commission member. This was decided by the university Syndicate on April 1. This time, the varsity proposed to confer LL.D on 10 eminent persons and D.Sc on cardiologist Kabiprasad Mishra. The proposed list of LL.D includes Mohini Giri, Arun Jaitly, Sudarsan Patnaik, Justice Dipak Misra, Dr Syeda S Hammed, Iqbal Chagla, Pinaki Misra, Chandrabhanu Satpathy, Soumayranjan Patnaik and Sidhanta Mohapatra.

Sources: Times of India, Indian Express & IBN Live

CAG slams the Government for the delay in the proposed Sanskriti Bhavan project at Berhampur

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India took potshots at Odisha government for failing to execute two projects, announced by the tourism and culture department almost seven years ago. Though the proposed Kalamandal project, involving establishment of a multi-purpose cultural complex in Bhubaneswar was mooted in 2005, it is still stuck in limbo. Likewise, the proposed Biju Patnaik Sanskriti Bhavan project at Berhampur, announced in 2005, remains a nonstarter till date. According to the CAG audit report, placed in the Assembly last week, the construction of building for Biju Patnaik Sanskriti Bhavan at Berhampur is yet to start even seven years after laying the foundation stone by chief minister. The culture department in January 2004 decided to set up the Bahvan on 1.253 acre land. During a survey in December 2008, it was found that the site was situated in a low-lying area filled with garbage and sewage water, due to which the soil strata had disintegrated. "It is the initial failure of the director, culture to inspect and survey the site properly leading to the blockage of Rs 1.35 crore," the report said.

Source: Times of India

Month long Chaitra Jatra ends at Tara Tarini Hill Shrine as faith enlivens tradition

With the chanting of the holy names of Maa Tara Tarini, recitation of hymns, Mantras and Jagna on the Fourth Tuesday, the month long Chaitra Jatra came to an end at the famous Tara Tarini Hill Shrine near Berhampur in Odisha. Considered as one of the biggest religious fairs in India, the Chaitra Jatra at this hill shrine has centuries old history behind it.  

It is noteworthy that of the 4 Adi Shakti Peethas and other major Shakti Peethas in India, it is only in the Tara Tarini Peetha, considered as the Sthana Pith (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti that the Chaitra Jatra is held over the entire month of Chaitra whereas in most other shrines it is held for just one day or the Nine days coinciding with Navratra culminating on Ram Navami.

Source: The Sambad

On the last Tuesday, following the age-old traditions, the Sevakas opened the sanctum sanctorum of the temple past the midnight on Monday. After Snana (the divine bath), Majana and Maha Arati the Amruta Kalasha or the first Bhoga was offered to the goddesses at around 3.55 a.m in the morning. Then the goddesses went for a Parikrama of the temple. After the completion of the Parikrama, large number of devotees who gathered on the hilltop to take the first glimpse of Maa were allowed for Darshan. The Darshan continued non-stop till the late evening of Tuesday.   

Like other Tuesdays of this month, around two to three lakh devotees gathered on the fourth and last Tuesday of Chaitra month in the Shrine. The large gathering of devotees and their prayers filled with emotion and enthusiasm surcharged the atmosphere of the ancient Shrine.

Around one thousand barbers were engaged in tonsuring the heads of around five thousand newborn babies on this occasion.   

As per traditional beliefs devotees preferred to climb the 999 holy steps to reach the hill top though transportation facilities to the hill top by Arial Rope way and special Buses were made available. They climbed 999 steps as a penance to get the blessing of the deities.

As per initial reports, so far around 20 lakh people have visited the shrine for Darshan during the month, including the four Tuesdays.

People from far off places like North and South India and from the neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Chhattisgarh, many Sadhakas from the Tara Pith and other famous Shakti Shrines of India, many Buddhists and Hindu researchers from Nepal and many people from abroad were present during the Chaitra Mela.  

A unique feature of this Shrine is that large number of people flocked to the Shrine from various nearby villages in their bullock carts along with their kith and kin. There were also large number of people seen feasting all across the Shrine as a thanksgiving gesture to the Goddesses. The fair comprising rural artisans had large number of buyers and onlookers. Many devotees who could not take the pain of reaching the hilltop made it a point to worship the sacred Ratnagiri Mountain (Tarini Parvat) from a distance.

It may be noted that over the years the number of visitors to this hill shrine have been growing steadily during this Chaitra festivals. As a result, large number of visitors and mainly the elderly persons who find it difficult to reach the hilltop by taking the overcrowded steps and special buses generally prefer the aerial Ropeway to the hill top which is first of its kind in Eastern India. But, the capacity of the existing aerial ropeway is limited. So, sensing the need to accommodate the ever increasing number of devotees, the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB) has decided to raise the capacity and frequency of Aerial rope-way service in collaboration with ‘USHA Pvt. Ltd’ a reputed Rope Way service provider in the country. It is expected that by this time next year the carrying capacity of the Aerial rope Way will increase many folds.      

On the occasion of the last Tuesday the District administration, Temple administration and Development Board made wide range arrangements like drinking water, Prasad, Transportation, Primary health care facility, traffic control, and police deployment for peaceful Darshan of the devotees. The office bearers, volunteers of the TTDB, different NGOs, voluntary organizations, media houses, corporate houses and local residents extended their helping hand through out the month to the devotees who came from various parts of the country. 

Visitors throng Tara Tarini

Some eight lakh visited the shrine during four Tuesdays of 'Chaitra'

Over eight lakh pilgrims visited Tara Tarini hill shrine in Ganjam district during the four Tuesdays of the Hindu month of Chaitra. 
On Tuesday which was the fourth and last one of the month, around two lakh devotees visited the shrine. Visitors in large numbers thronged the famous Shakti shrine from the wee hours till late evening. Devotees started thronging the spot from Monday night.......................... Link..The Hindu
The annual festivities pass off peacefully
A few projects were inaugurated during the festivities 

Ganjam Culture: Danda Jatra

Source:  The Sambad