STPI-Berhampur: Ready for take-off

STPI-BERHAMPUR

Orissa's first Marine bio-technology park to come up in Ganjam

Read the full story from Business Standard on the proposed Marine bio-technology park in Ganjam

The Orissa government has decided to set up its first marine biotechnology park near Rambha in south Orissa's Ganjam district. The park would be developed in the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode. The Ganjam district administration has already identified 23.5 acres of government land for this purpose at Gokharakuda, about 40 km from here. The state owned-Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has initiated the process to hand over the land for the establishment of the park. A high-level meeting was held recently at Chhatrapur, the district headquarter town to review the progress of land acquisition for different projects including the marine biotechnology park. Priyabrata Pattnaik, chairman and managing director of Idoc said, “The marine biotechnology park would be one of the tourist destinations as it would have the data on the sea animals.” The government has decided to set up the marine biotechnology park but the modalities are yet to be worked out, said a government official. Gokharakuda, the site chosen for the marine biotechnology park, located near the Rushikulya river mouth is famous as the mass nesting site of the Olive Ridley turtles.

PS: Gokharakuda is around 30 kms from Berhampur and it is already a tourist destination for Olive Ridley sea turtles

Source: Business Standard

DNA article inspired by Prince Dance Group of Berhampur

N Raghuraman: Passion dictates destiny

(Read the Full Article)
Passion often defines an individual. It is something that you cannot fake. You either have it or you don’t. For example, consider 30 construction workers who fought their way to fame. Their passion steered them through adversity, propelling them towards a successful and different career — that was away from cement, steel, dust and grime. I’m talking about the Prince Dance Group that outperformed many professional dancers on a television programme called India Got Talent. Over the weeks, dancers showed their agile feet in every competition. The organisers of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi are currently negotiating with the troupe to perform in the games’ glittering opening ceremony on October 3.
The dance troupe consists of daily wage labourers and hails from Berhampur in Orissa. The troupe is unique because all 30 members of the dance troupe work on various construction sites, some as young as 15 and none are professional dancers. Their eagerness, fire in the belly and single-minded aim that their feat would open doors for the future did wonders for them, when they first took part in the reality talent show. The group went ahead and won the prize money of Rs50lakh and a car. For those 30 construction workers, Rs1lakh each (after Rs20 lakh tax deduction) was a big amount. Moreover the workers had a large heart and they donated their car to their village, so that it could be used in case of an emergency.

Source: DNA

16 students of Berhampur city among top 100 in HSC Exams

1. SUBHAM KUMAR PADHI SARASWATI SISHU VIDYA MANDIR,NEELAKANTHA NAGAR, BERHAMPUR
2. B GUPTESH SARASWATI VIDYA MANDIR,GOSANINUAGAON, BERHAMPUR
3. ASISH KUMAR MISHRA DIAMOND TANK ROAD, BERHAMPUR
4. DEBASISHA PANIGRAHI SARASWATI SISHU VIDYA MANDIR,NEELAKANTHA NAGAR, BERHAMPUR
5. PRADEEPTA DAS SARASWATI SISHU VIDYA MANDIR,NEELAKANTHA NAGAR, BERHAMPUR
6. ABHIJEET FERNANDES SARASWATI VIDYA MANDIR,GOSANINUAGAON, BERHAMPUR
7. RUCHI MAHAPATRA SARASWATI VIDYA MANDIR,GOSANINUAGAON, BERHAMPUR
8. B MILAN KUMAR GOVT HIGH SCHOOL,MEDICAL CAMPUS BERHAMPUR
9. DIPEN MAHAPATRA SRI AUROBINDO INTEGRAL EDCN. CENTRE,KHALLIKOTE
10. SIDHANTA CHOUDHURY SARASWATI VIDYA MANDIR,GOSANINUAGAON, BERHAMPUR
11. PRATEEK KUMAR NAYAK SARASWATI SISHU VIDYA MANDIR,NEELAKANTHA NAGAR, BERHAMPUR
12. SRIKANT PANIGRAHY NIMAKHANDI, BERHAMPUR
13. ANANYA MISHRA GOVT SEC AND TRG SCHOOL FOR WOMEN,BERHAMPUR
14. RANJIT KUMAR PANDA ONSLOW INSTITUTION,CHATRAPUR
15. AYUSMAN ACHARYA SARASWATI SISHU VIDYA MANDIR,NEELAKANTHA NAGAR, BERHAMPUR
16. SANTOSH KUMAR PANDA SARASWATI SISHU VIDYA MANDIR,NEELAKANTHA NAGAR, BERHAMPUR

Andhra Bank to set up financial literacy centre in Ganjam

As a part of its endeavour to educate the rural people on various banking services, Andhra Bank has proposed to set up a Financial Literacy and Credit Counselling Centre (FLCC) in south Orissa’s Ganjam district. The bank has already set up FLCCs in the four districts of Andhra Pradesh, where it has the lead bank responsibility. “Andhra Bank is the lead bank in south Orissa’s Ganjam and Gajapati districts and it has proposed to establish FLCC in Ganjam to educate rural people in the district about the banking services”, said a senior officer of the bank. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stressed on the financial literacy among the rural people to bring them under the purview of banking services for ensuring 100 per cent financial inclusion (FI). RBI has developed nine model villages in the state including Pochilima, near Hinjili in Ganjam district.The bank will reach around 100 such villages under its Berhampur zone where no banking service is available. The Berhampur zone consists of six southern Orissa districts including Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkanagiri, Nabarangapur and the Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.

The banking services would be provided in the villages of these districts through the Business Correspondence (BC) model. The Government of India has stressed on providing banking services in every village having a population of over 2000 and the RBI has asked the banks to make arrangements to achieve the goal by the end of March, 2011. Commenting on the bank’s business projection in the Berhampur zone for 2010-11, sources said, the bank has targeted a business of Rs 3038 crore with a growth rate of 35.68 per cent. This includes Rs 2050 crore of deposits and advances worth Rs 1033 crore. In 2009-10, the bank’s Berhampur zonal office achieved Rs 2273.23 crore business with a growth of 20.32 per cent. The total business included Rs 1547.54 crore deposits and Rs 724.69 crore advances. The growth rate of the deposits and advances were calculated at 18.91 per cent and 26.07 per cent respectively. Total priority sector advances constitute 75.36 per cent of the total advances.

Source: Business Standard

Berhampur STPI to be operational soon

A software park, set up under the aegis of Software Technology Park of India (STPI) at Ambapua on the outskirt of Berhampur city, is likely to be fully operational soon. While a local IT firm, with about 100 employees, has already started its operation in this park, some more south-based software companies have shown interest to open their units there, a senior officer of IT department said. "We have invited some reputed IT companies to open their units in Bderhampur STPI centre, but they are yet to give any firm commitment", said Manas Panda, additional director, STPI.

The Berhampur STPI centre is the third such institute in the state after Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. The Berhampur complex was set up by STPI, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), at the outskirt of the city at an investment of Rs 5 crore. The state government had provided the land free of cost. The chief minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone for the project on December 13, 2006.

Panda said, STPI will work closely with the state government for promotion of software exports from this centre after it becomes fully operational. "The main objective is to make the region one of the preferred IT destinations for IT companies keen to come to the state and help create job opportunities for the technical educated youths", he added.

Source: The Business Standard

Wildlife Institute of India monitors Olive Ridleys on Ganjam coast

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, has established a temporary study camp near Berhampur at Ganjam (Rushikulya) for monitoring the population of Olive Ridley sea turtles, their nesting and breeding behaviour.

According to an official release the WII is also monitoring migration of these turtles through radio telemetry. Various protection measures have been taken by the State Forest Department to protect the off-shore and on-shore turtles’ populations along the Rushikulya river mouth.

A forest camp has been established by the Forest Department to monitor and protect both on-shore and off-shore sea turtles. The entire beach of the Rushikulya, where mass nesting takes place, is fenced to protect turtles’ nests from predators like dogs, hyena and jackals.

The State Government has also initiated education and awareness programmes in the nearby coastal villages for seeking cooperation of the local people in its endeavour to protect sea turtles.

Source: The Pioneer

Ganjam shows the way; MoU inked with folk artistes to help popularise social schemes

Indian Express/Debabrata Mohanty

In a novel bid to popularise the central schemes like the NREGS and save folk arts from dying out, the state government on Thursday signed an MoU with 22 cultural bodies of Ganjam district. These popular folk art forms of Ganjam are now in a moribund state due to changing preferences of people and a lack of patronage. At present, there are 5,000 artistes who practise these folk arts and make a living out of it.

The MoU, a brainchild of Ganjam collector V K Pandian, aims to give a new lease of life to folk art forms like Pala, Daskathia, Prahallada Nataka, Radha Krushna Leela, Ghudki, Ram Leela and Bagha Nacha by making the artistes a part of central schemes like NREGS, National Rural Health Mission and Sarva Shikha Abhiyan. The organisations based in 22 blocks of the district signed the MoU with the district executive heads of each of the schemes that would fund their performances at villages and help them buy new musical instruments.

The MoU is based on the premise that these central schemes have IEC (information, education and communication) component and the money allocated for IEC is used to spread awareness about such schemes in rural areas through folk art forms. “It is a double whammy. Since these missions are meant for the rural poor, these folk arts are the best medium to popularise the benefits of the government schemes. For a labourer working in NREGS, messages told through folk arts like Pala and Daskathia are easily understood than through TV and radio. In the process, the art forms that are dying out due to a lack of patronage also get a fillip,” said Pandian.

In a novel bid to popularise the central schemes like the NREGS and save folk arts from dying out, the state government on Thursday signed an MoU with 22 cultural bodies of Ganjam district.

These popular folk art forms of Ganjam are now in a moribund state due to changing preferences of people and a lack of patronage. At present, there are 5,000 artistes who practise these folk arts and make a living out of it.

The MoU, a brainchild of Ganjam collector V K Pandian, aims to give a new lease of life to folk art forms like Pala, Daskathia, Prahallada Nataka, Radha Krushna Leela, Ghudki, Ram Leela and Bagha Nacha by making the artistes a part of central schemes like NREGS, National Rural Health Mission and Sarva Shikha Abhiyan. The organisations based in 22 blocks of the district signed the MoU with the district executive heads of each of the schemes that would fund their performances at villages and help them buy new musical instruments.

The MoU is based on the premise that these central schemes have IEC (information, education and communication) component and the money allocated for IEC is used to spread awareness about such schemes in rural areas through folk art forms. “It is a double whammy. Since these missions are meant for the rural poor, these folk arts are the best medium to popularise the benefits of the government schemes. For a labourer working in NREGS, messages told through folk arts like Pala and Daskathia are easily understood than through TV and radio. In the process, the art forms that are dying out due to a lack of patronage also get a fillip,” said Pandian.

The MoU, which was inked after suggestions from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, would see an annual expenditure of Rs 3 crore to these folk artistes for dissemination of information about the government schemes.

ADM Sashi Bhushan Padhi said each of the cultural troupes in 22 blocks would perform at least 300 days a year, making it 6,600 performances. Each of the troupes has been given the seed money of Rs 1 lakh, of which Rs 20,000 was spent for buying new musical instruments.

The MoU has infused a new lease of life in the folk artistes. “The MoU is a second life for us,” said Santosh Kumar Padhi, a lead singer in Bharat Leela.

World famous Prince Dance Group to perform at Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

Berhampur (Orissa) based world famous Prince Dance Group, which came to prominence after winning a national reality TV show, 'India's Got Talent' on Colors TV channel last year, will perform at the opening ceremony of the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG) on October 3rd 2010 in the national capital New Delhi.

Disclosing it to the media persons in Mumbai on June 01, the programming head of Colors channel Ashwini Yardi said, "We are very happy to announce that the Prince Dance Group that won the season one of 'India's Got Talent show' has been selected to perform at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi".

Hailing from Berhampur city in Orissa, the group comprises of 26 artistes and Krishna Mohan Reddy is the group leader. The group members are mainly from disadvantaged sections of different parts of Ganjam district. Two of them, Padmanabha Sahu and Telu Tarini are physically challenged and majority are daily wage earners.

Yoga training camp concludes in Berhampur

A two-and-a-half-month long yoga summer camp for young students concluded in Berhampur on May 31. Sixty youngsters, mostly from KBK districts of south Orissa, participated in this camp organised on the campus of Herambalaya residential college in the city. The participants also included 25 girls. Nine participants were from Nabarangpur district and four were from remote naxal affected Malkangiri district. It hinted the increasing interest among youngsters towards use of yoga in developing physical fitness and mental skills. The average age of participants was around 15 years, who had just appeared their secondary school board examination. After completion of their examinations they had joined the yoga camp on March 8.

A young yoga expert of the city, Santosh Kumar Biswal was the main trainer of this camp. Participants could extract much from the camp due to small age difference between the trainer and them. During this summer camp the participants were taught techniques of asana, pranayam, mudra and bandha. Mr Biswal said this training would help these teenagers cope with the stress and strain of competitive life which they would start to face after their school days. The participants also experimented in using yoga in the fields of athletics and dancing. Some of them also tried to perform asanas hanging from a rope. During the concluding session the participants demonstrated their acquired skills of yoga. Their guru Mr Biswal also displayed suppleness of his body and breath control by getting himself packed in a cardboard cube of 20 inch dimension for more than half an hour. He plans to remained packed in a similar box for five hours for travel from Berhampur to Bhubaneswar.

Source: The Hindu

Orissa to get second flying training institute in Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: Plans are afoot to develop Orissa's second flying training institute at Rangeilunda airstrip (in Berhampur University campus) near Berhampur city.

The ministry of Civil Aviation wants to use Rangeilunda airstrip as a flying training institute. Binodini Devi, a senior captain from the ministry, visited the airstrip recently and discussed the project with engineers of the works department in Berhampur, Ganjam district collector V K Pandian said. It is noteworthy, Orissa's first flying training institute is in Bhubaneswar.

A senior pilot of the ministry also visited the Rangeilunda airstrip site last week and asked the works engineer to develop it as a Visual Flight Rule (VFR) airstrip and to provide at least two rooms to conduct the pilot training institute. "We have agreed to provide all necessary infrastructure facilities to the ministry to use Rangeilunda airstrip as a flying training institute," K Pandian said.
The airstrip has a 720 meter run-way facility, besides a large area for parking. The works department recently constructed the boundary wall, which is one of the components for the pilot training institute, executive engineer, Berhampur(Division-II) P K Das said.
Rangeiulinda will be the second pilot training institute in the state after Bhubaneswar. At Bhubaneswar, 80 students are currently taking pilot training.

The civil aviation ministry has mooted the second flying institute in the state because of traffic congestion at the Biju Patnaik airport in Bhubaneswar. At least 50 percent of students from the Bhubaneswar centre will be diverted to the new pilot training institute at Rangeilunda. There are now 22 airstrips in the state including Rangeilunda.
Sources: PTI & Bussiness Standard

Berhampur University introduced on-line admission

The portal for the purpose was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the university, Bijay Kumar Sahu on May 28. This new portal of the Berhampur University has been developed by the Biju Patnaik Computer Centre (BPCC) on the campus with assistance from the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The newly developed website of the university is www.bamu.nic.in.

The function organised for the purpose was presided by the new Post Graduate Council chairman of the university, L.N.Raut. The director of the BPCC Trinath Sahu and its former director Rabindra Mishra elaborated how the portal had been made extreme user-friendly for the applicants for admission. The V-C said this project was part of the continuing University Grants Commission (UGC) sponsored e-governance project in the university. According to him every University now had to be technically advanced to match with the changing times.

Source: The Hindu

Berhampur-Bangladesh power transmission line mooted

Bangladesh preparing to import Indian power

DHAKA: Bangladesh will allocate Taka 17 billion (USD 245 million) in its annual budget next month for constructing the infrastructure necessary to import 500 MW of electricity from India, an official said. Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has consented to the allocation.

A senior official of the power ministry said that the allocation would be used for building a transmission line from Berhampur in India's Orissa state to Bheramara in Bangladesh and to set up a substation. The official, however, said that the project may need more than the sum allocated, New Age newspaper said Monday. Energy-starved Bangladesh signed an energy deal with India in January when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia has criticised the government for creating "an artificial power crisis" that would require power import without going through tenders and other trade procedures.

Economists and businessmen at a seminar organised Sunday called for "transparency" in power deals and asked the government to take a long-term view of the country's power requirements.

Source: Economic Times

NIST ranked best professional College in Orissa along with CET by BPUT students

All Odisha BPUT Students Association (AOBSA), the students body of Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Odisha has launched the 1st edition of “Odisha Professional College Ranking -2010” a 50 days programme which has started from 10th May 2010. The college ranking has covered nearly 180 professional colleges providing bachelor and master degree in Engineering, Pharmacy, Architecture, Hotel Management etc. This ranking was open to all constituents and affiliated colleges of the state run technical university i.e BPUT. Nearly 90000 students from 180 colleges have rated their college online on the Students Portal i.e. www.bputstudents.com

At the end of the ranking period the result was announced, in which with 98% score NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (NIST), Berhampur and COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Bhubaneswar jointly stood at the top of Odisha Professional College Ranking -2010

It’s the first of its kind in India where students of various institutes have voted for their college on parameters like Industry Exposure, Learning and faculty, Infrastructure, Placement & Extra-Curricular.

Since the formation of a technical university in Odisha no such initiative was taken by the university authority to rank the colleges .Even after various demands from the students along with the colleges it take nearly 8 years to start the ranking of colleges on the basis of students feedback.

Undoubtedly, Odisha Professional College Ranking will surely unveil a new dimension to nearly 73,587 students those who have appeared the Orissa Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) 2010.Parents of the OJEE aspirants will also get an opportunity to judge the best college for his ward by following this ranking procedure.

Top 20 professional institutes in Odisha

1. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, BHUBANESWAR (98)

2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, BERHAMPUR (98)

3. IIIT, BHUBANESWAR (96)

4. INSTITUTE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION & RESEARCH, BHUBANESWAR (95.4)

5. SILICON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, BHUBANESWAR (92.87)

6. CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF PLASTICS ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (92)

7. ORISSA SCHOOL OF MINING ENGINEERING, KEONJHAR (86)

8. C. V. RAMAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BHUBANESWAR (84)

9. INDIRA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, SARANG (79.8)

10. GANDHI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, GUNUPUR (79)

11. TRIDENT ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY, BHUBANESWAR (78)

12. EASTERN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, PHULNAKHRA (77)

13. TEMPLECITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING, BHUBANESWAR (75.8)

14. ORISSA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, BHUBANESWAR (75)

15. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BHUBANESWAR (74)

16. KOUSTUV INSTITUTE OF SELF DOMAIN, BHUBANESWAR (73.5)

17. GANDHI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT, BHUBANESWAR (72)

18. PARALA MAHARAJA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, (Govt.) BERHAMPUR (72)

19. KRUPAJALA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, BHUBANESWAR (71.2)

20. DHANESWAR RATH INSTITUTE OF ENGG. AND MGMT. STUDIES, CUTTACK

Source:www.bputstudents.com

Berhampur Municipal Corporation takes up beautification of the city

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  Paintings on tribal life of Koraput depicted on city walls

The Silk city walls have started to come alive with paintings depicting tribal life of undivided Koraput district. It is part of the effort of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation to beautify the city. Most of the walls of public buildings by the side of major roads in the city have got decorated by paintings. These walls earlier bore mutilated look due to posters and graffiti.

But the city dwellers are wondering how come tribal paintings and pictures depicting tribal life got predominance in these paintings. It may be noted that Silk city Berhampur, the largest trading centre of south Orissa and an emerging business destination in eastern India also known as the gateway to South Orissa and the undivided Koraput district. So, no one has complained about it.

But the reason behind this predominant depiction of tribal life on city walls is that some of the painters are from Koraput. Five painters from Koraput have been utilised by the local municipal corporation are involved in this painting work. These painters are also quite happy as it has provided them necessary income source. Senior painter in the team, Manoj Kumar Patnaik said such beautification efforts by urban bodies can provide income source to painters. He added that in recent years, advent of modern printing and large printed flex boards had snatched away earnings of painters. He said they are being paid Rs. 22 per square feet of painting. Till now they have painted 22,000 square feet of wall around the city.

Apart from tribal life and traditional tribal paintings, these young painters have also depicted issues related to common man like global warming, depletion of forest cover, wastage of water resources etc. But most of the time the characters depicted in these paintings tend to be tribals. These painters have also drawn up some paintings related to problems of the city like drinkig water crisis and rise in fire accidents during summer months. Source: The Hindu

Over 150 unauthorized structures demolished in Berhampur city

With growth of population, the Silk City expanded beyond limits. The roads remained narrow and rampant encroachments in residential area ate into the cultivable lands by converting them into homestead lands and no attention was paid to old structures, those that encroached on a good portion of the government lands. With an aim to beautify the city by clearing encroachments, the district administration took up a demolition drive on May 16. More than 150 structures were demolished in the major anti-eviction drive in Berhampur city to clear up stretch of National Highway 217 that passes through it.

The demolition of unauthorized encroachments on both sides of the NH-217 from Gate Bazar area started from early morning. It continued till evening. Five platoons of police force were deployed to check any untoward incidents during this anti-encroachment drive. Berhampur sub-collector, Ajit Mishra, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Sarat Mohapatra, city tehsildar Satrughna Kar monitored it. No untoward incidents were reported during the process although there were verbal protests from some traders whose business establishments fell prey to the bulldozers.

According to the sub-collector no partisan attitude was shown during this anti-encroachment demolition drive. Ten permanent shops erected and rented out by the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) were not spared. A dilapidated building of the BMC near Gate Bazar square, which served as library decades back was demolished. The large gate of the Kuthari temple which had been constructed on encroached land was pulled down.

Most city dwellers welcomed this anti-encroachment drive as Gate Bazar area had become a major constraint for traffic on the high way. Efforts are also on to streamline traffic at Gate Bazar square. A bypass road from new bus stand road to Lochapada road is being constructed. The administrative officials said survey work was on to assess the encroachment on the constricted portion of the Lochapada road that connects to NH-217 at Gate Bazar square.

Source: The Hindu & The New Indian Express

Software Technology Park of India (STPI) will be operational soon in Berhampur

Orissa's Minister for Information Technology (IT) Ramesh Majhi hoped that the centre of the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) in Berhampur would be functional soon.

The third Software Technology Park of India (STPI) being set up at Ambapua on the outskirts of the city. The construction work of the project is almost complete, according to the authorities. But, during his visit to the city, Mr. Majhi said proposals were on to open up another STP centre in Balasore in north Orissa.

He requested the local entrepreneurs to come out and utilize the STPI in Berhampur to make this city another IT hub of Orissa. Speaking to newsmen, he said there was ample scope for development in the field of IT in the State which was evident from the success of infocity project in Bhubaneswar. He hoped that this success would be replicated in other parts of the State.

According to sources, the STPI authorities had approached some major IT companies for taking up projects with the help of Berhampur STPI, but no company has committed for it. The impact of slump in the international economy, especially in the IT sphere, was a major reason behind it. With the recession phase over, the authorities hoped that STPI Berhampur would become operational. Berhampur happens to be the third centre of the STPI in the State after Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. It was to act as a resource centre for the software-exporting units by offering plug and play office space and high speed data communication with uninterrupted data connectivity.

The Berhampur STPI centre has built-up area of about 10,000 sq ft. The MoU (memorandum of understanding) for the centre was signed between STPI and the Orissa government in July 2005. 

Source: The Hindu

Astha International to establish integrated township project near Berhampur

Astha International Limited, one of India's leading direct selling companies based out of Surat (Gujarat), would invest Rs 5000 crore on a slew of business ventures in Orissa by the end of 2012. The investment which is to be raised through a mix of debt and internal accruals as well as from its 4.5 lakh odd distributors across the country, will be made on developing an integrated township project called 'Astha City' near Berhampur city, a star hotel in Puri and a textile mill in Bhubaneswar. Besides, Astha International would set up a dairy production unit, a multiplex and a hyper mall in the city. The company has opened an office in the city and this would serve as the zonal office for the states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

Together, all these projects will generate direct employment for over 10,000 people in the state. All these projects are expected to be commissioned by the end of 2012.

Addressing media persons here, Chandra Singh Chauhan, chairman and managing director, Astha International Limited said, “We have lined up an investment of Rs 5000 crore for Orissa by the end of 2012. The company would first begin with the integrated township project for which it has already identified around 200 acres of land near Berhampur.”

The company is betting big on the Orissa market which currently accounts for about 50 per cent of its overall revenues. Astha International which has operations in 12 states of the country, clocked a revenue of Rs 300 crore in the last fiscal. Out of 4.5 lakh distributors of the company, 1.5 lakh are based out of Orissa. 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. “We have already got the license of the Reserve Bank of India for starting banking operations and our bank will commence operations from 2011-12”, Chauhan claimed.

Source: The Business Standard

Tampara & Pati Sonepur near silk city Berhampur to get facelift

The Orissa Tourism Department has decided to promote Tampara and Pati Sonepur near Berhampur city in Ganjam district into eco-tourism centres.

The department has already approached the Revenue Department for use of 636 acres at Tampara and 64 acres at Pati Sonepur for the purpose. According to sources, State Tourism Director T. Apang Ao has come up with a proposal to hold ‘Tampara festival' to attract tourists interested in eco-tourism to the spot. The in charge tourist officer of Ganjam district, Sukanta Patnaik, has said plans have been mooted to build up an eco-tourism camp and an eco-friendly temporary toilet complex at Pati Sonepur. Similarly a cycling track and bullock cart riding facility have been proposed at Tampara site. Beach trekking and beach volleyball will also be promoted at both these places.

Pati Sonepur is located near the Bahuda river mouth. The river flows parallel to the sea near the spot and divides a portion of main land along the sea cost. It is situated at a distance of around 20 km from Berhampur. The tourist officials felt the serene virgin beauty of this beach will attract tourists.

Tampara is located adjacent to NH 5 near Chatrapur. It is a large brackish water body. At present, there is water sport complex at the spot with facility of water scooter, paddle boats etc. There are proposals to add speed boats and a hover craft at Tampara to attract tourists.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Silk city to host sixth national Telugu conference in November

The sixth national conference of the Telugu Mahasabha is scheduled to be held in the city this year. The dates for this three day conference are yet to be fixed. The organisers hinted that it may be held in November. The last national conference of Telugu Mahasabha was held in Chennai in 2007. A preparatory meeting for the conference was held in the conference hall of the Andhra Bhashabhivriddhi Samajam in the city on May 11 under the chairmanship of president of the Samajam, P.Satyanarayana.
Delegates from the Putti Sriramulu Telugu University (PSTU) and Mandali Venkateswar Rao International Telugu Centre (MVRIT) of Hyderabad attended this meeting. Director of the MVRIT Muniratnam Naidu was the chief guest. Delegates of Telugu associations from different parts of Orissa participated in the meeting.

Most of the delegates were of the opinion that the climate in November would be conducive for the conference. The final dates for the conference are to be decided later. The venue of the conference would be the City High School ground. More than 700 delegates from outside Orissa are expected to attend the conference.

Equal number of delegates from different parts of Orissa would also participate. The three day conference would have seminars related to traditional culture and language of Andhra Pradesh and efforts to boost Telugu culture among the Telugu speaking new generation, who live outside Andhra Pradesh.

Cultural events especially the traditional art forms of Andhra Pradesh would be highlight of this conference. As per the organisers the details of the preparations would be chalked out in the next meeting which will in the city in June. It may be noted that a sizeable number of Telugu-speaking families are permanent residents of south Orissa.

Source: The Hindu