NIST Berhampur gets E-India 2013 Award

Source: The Sambad

Promises galore for Berhampurians

Source: The Sambad

Monsoon rains lash Berhampur

Source: The Sambad

New VC of Berhampur University eyes academic progress

Discipline and development will be the buzz words on the Berhampur University campus as Deepak Behera will take over as the new vice-chancellor tomorrow. “My priority would be to maintain co-ordination among the students, employees and the faculty members and put the university on the track of academic progress,” Behera, who was serving as a professor of anthropology at Sambalpur University prior to this appointment, told The Telegraph over phone. Behera had been teaching at Sambalpur University since 1985 and published more than 70 research-oriented articles in various journals and magazines. Outgoing vice-chancellor Jayant Kumar Mahapatra said that during his three-year term since July 2010, discipline had strictly been maintained on the Bhanja Bihar campus. “There was not a single strike in this period. I carried out a series of academic reforms, including restructuring of UGC-NET syllabus, non-negotiable exam calendar and publication of results within 45 days,” he said. Students of Berhampur University, apart from teaching and non-teaching employees, described Mahapatra’s term as the “golden period” of the university. Source: The Telegraph

Rare Egyptian vultures sighted in Chikiti forests near Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: Forest officials will carry out a survey on the rare Egyptian vultures, after a number of them were spotted near Laxmipur in Ganjam district's Chikiti forest range. A bird-watcher recently sighted 13 such birds and reported it to the divisional forest officer (DFO), Berhampur. "A survey should be conducted and their nesting site located," said honorary wildlife warden of Khurda Pityush P Mohapatra. Supporting Mohapatra's view, DFO (Berhampur) S S Mishra said, "The sight of vultures indicates a healthy and rich biodiversity of the area. We will soon launch a survey."

Berhampur forest division has planned to submit a proposal to the wildlife wing of the forest department to take up a project to conserve the endangered species. The action plan will be prepared after conducting a detailed survey, said Mishra. Locals have sighted these vultures at different places in the rainy season and feel these have come to eat the fish or other small animals. The number of vultures in south Asia, mainly in India and Nepal, has declined drastically over the last few years. Residues of poisonous veterinary drug in the animal carcasses are a major reason behind the trend, said Swaparna Rani Das, a zoologist. The government has already banned the drug, she added.

Source: Economic Times

Hostel relief for Berhampur University students

Accommodation for postgraduate students seeking admission in Berhampur University would no longer be a problem with university authorities allotting hostel facilities at the time of admission. Hostel with sufficient accommodation facilities have been reserved for first-year students - both girls and boys. The allotment of rooms was made on the spot of their admission like the major Indian institutes-IIMs, IITs and NITs.

Students had to face a harrowing time to get accommodation in the hostels before implementation of this method. The students, especially girls, constitute around 50% of total students' strength in the university, were the biggest sufferers. "We have adopted this student-friendly approach from last year to help students, who came from far-off places," said vice-chancellor J K Mohapatra, whose three-year term as VC was over on Friday. Most of the parents expressed satisfaction on the approach, he said. "We have already allotted hostel facilities to 130 freshers - 70 girls and 60 boys - in the past two days," said hostel warden Prasanna Kumar Biswasray. The admission process in postgraduate departments in the university started on Wednesday. There would be no problem to accommodate hostel-seekers this time, particularly for girls, as the university will add three more hostels for them this time, Biswasray said. While a 42-capacity girls' hostel meant for research scholars would start soon, construction of two other hostels with accommodation capacity of around 200 girls is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, he said, adding that the university has also hostels facilities to accommodate over 500 boys.

Source: Times of India

Odisha objects to JSPL acquiring 60% stake in Gopalpur port

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd’s (JSPL) plan to acquire up to 60 per cent stake in Gopalpur Ports Ltd (GPL) has been aborted with the Odisha government refusing to permit the company to acquire controlling stake in the project. The state government reasoned that acquisition of controlling stake by JSPL would violate the terms of concession agreement signed with the original promoters of GPL. “The law department has raised objections to acquisition of 60 per cent stake in GPL by any firm. As per the concession pact signed with the developers of GPL, the original promoters of GPL have to retain at least 51 per cent stake for at least three years from the start of commercial operations. So, we have refused dilution of 60 per cent in GPL in favour of JSPL,” said an official of commerce & transport department. JSPL said, the state government has reacted belatedly to its earlier proposal of acquisition of 60 per cent share in the port project. “Initially, we had submitted a proposal for picking up 60 per cent stake in GPL. Later, JSPL presented a revised proposal, stating it is okay with 49 per cent equity since the concession pact would not allow the company to acquire controlling stake in the project. But, our revised proposal is yet to be sent by GPL promoters to the state government,” said a senior company official.

GPL was initially floated as a consortium of three partners- Hong Kong-based Noble Group, Odisha Stevedores Ltd (OSL) and Delhi-based Sara International Ltd (SIL). Noble Group exited the consortium in May 2010. The consortium was to develop the seasonal port at Gopalpur into an all-weather port. Presently, OSL’s holding in GPL is 50.5 per cent while the rest 49.5 per cent is with SIL. The port started its commercial operations last month when 7,500 tonnes of ilmenite, the sand mineral product of Odisha Sands Complex (OSCOM), a unit of the Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), was shipped through a small vessel to South Korea. The port’s total capacity was envisaged at 54 million tonne per annum (mtpa) and it was to be developed at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore. The state government has initiated the process to resume 269 acres of mined out land of Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL). The patch will be leased out to GPL for expansion.

Source: Business Standard

Padma Sambhav Mahavihar at Jirang near Berhampur: The largest Buddhist monastery in Eastern India

Ray of hope for lighthouses in Odisha

Gopalpur-on-Sea (Berhampur)

If you love spending time on the beach, wait for a spate of exciting activities in the near future. The directorate of Lighthouses and Lightships, Mumbai, has decided to include three heritage lighthouses of Odisha to make them more attractive with beautiful landscape designs, conservation work, development of amenities and cafeterias. Three lighthouses at Gopalpur, Chandrabhaga and Paradip port will be developed as tourist destinations and have additional recreational avenues for which Union tourism ministry will be spending money. The shipping ministry has decided to develop 15 such heritage lighthouses across the coast of India.

Gopalpur, the famous beachfront town near Berhampur city in Ganjam district of Odisha is also a well-known tourist destination. “In the past, we have climbed on the top of the lighthouse, and seen the beautiful Bay of Bengal and the shadow of it on the beach. With the proposal from the shipping ministry to make it more attractive, a lot of tourists will definitely avail the opportunity to explore the British-era wonder,’’ said Manas Panigrahi of Berhampur city, which is also known for its silk saris.

Gopalpur lighthouse came into existence in 1871 for assisting coastal shipping between Rangoon and Coromandal coast ports. The steamer service to Rangoon also touched Gopalpur port in the past. Local residents said due to erosion of the coast in 1943, the lighthouse got heavily damaged and stopped functioning. Later, it remained unused due to World War II. In 1948, a new gas light inside a 500mm lantern was established on a hillock about 1km north from the coast. The present lighthouse was constructed on December 15, 1967.

Tour operator Srikant Mishra from Bhubaneswar is happy that the Centre has considered the renovation and development of the heritage lighthouse. “We often get tourists who want to take beach tourism very seriously and also explore the lighthouses, but there is no amenities for them. The project will help them to spend quality time there. The destinations will be helpful for the niche tourists,” he added.

Some of the major lighthouses included in the programme are the ones at Kanhoji Angre in Mumbai, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Mahabalipuram, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Aguado, Dwarka and Minicoy. Source: The Telegraph

Berhampur Ring road to be ready in 6 months

A 45km-long Ring Road will come up here within six months to ease traffic problem in the city. “The National Highway (NH) No. 16 has a 13km road from Raghunathpur to Ratnapur around Berhampur. We are planning to connect with the 13-km stretch from Ratnapur to Haldiapadar through Dakhinpur and Lathi (15km) and Haldiapadar to Mandiapalli (17km),” said executive engineer (Berhampur division No. II, PWD) Pradip Kumar Das. The proposed Ring Road will cover Raghunathpur, Ratnapur, Digapahandi Road, Chikiti Road, Haldiapadar, the NH, Korapalli, University Road and Golabandh Gate. “The Ring Road will link all the radial roads touching Berhampur, said development authority Chief Kailash Rana. Source: The Telegraph

Centre for Canadian studies of Berhampur University organised a lecture on Indo-Canadian ties

The centre for Canadian studies of Berhampur University organised a lecture on Indo-Canadian ties at the political science department on 24 July.

Charles Borges, associate professor in history from Loyola University, Maryland, USA, gave a talk on various dimensions of Indo-Canadian relationship. He also spoke about contribution of Indians living in Canada in various fields like education, social service, sports and general civic life. Source: The Hindu 

LED lights planned along major Berhampur cityroads

The Berhampur Municipal Corporation has decided to install energy-efficient LED (light- emitting diode) lights on a pilot basis under its ongoing street lighting programme. At least 25 LED lights would be installed along half-km stretch from Courtpeta to New Bus Stand road. "The tender process is over. Installation of lights will start soon," said assistant engineer (mechanical) of the civic body Sukant Kumar Sabat. Installation of LED lights is part of the corporation's ongoing illumination drive at an estimated cost of Rs 2.50 crore. The government has sanctioned Rs 1.30 crore to the corporation for the purpose, said MLA (Berhampur) R C Chyaupatnaik.

Aska Road Berhampur

While LED lights are costlier, in the long run they prove to be major energy savers and are low on maintenance. Moreover life of LED light is roughly three times that of a sodium lamp while giving more illumination, Sabat said. The civic body has also decided to install at least 13 more high-mast lights in different places of the city. "We have identified the places and work will start soon," said mayor S S Das. At present, the city has five high-mast lights.

The civic body has launched a drive to replace vapour lights along major roads, including the national highway passing through the city, with decorative lights. Around 40 decorative lights have already been installed in one-km stretch from Bijipur to Goshaninuagon and 70 along Aska road. Another 40 such lights would be installed along the Aska road. The civic body has also drawn up plans to install decorative lights from Gundicha mandir to Andha Pasara, Kamapalli to Engineering school road, Engineering school road to Gopalpur chhak and Lanjipalli to national highway, Sabat said.

Source: Times of India

Berhampur Mayor and Corporators meet the Chief Minister

Source: The Sambad

Devotees throng Gundicha temple in Berhampur

MKCG eyes better set-up

Authorities of the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur had a detailed discussion with officials of the construction company which the state government has asked to execute nine development projects on the campus. The state government has sanctioned Rs 118.8 crore for the projects and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been entrusted with the task of executing the plan. The facilities include an academic block with a concrete stage and lecture theatre, 1,500-seat capacity auditorium, a six-storey building near the boys’ hostel to house super-specialty departments, including neurology, burn and plastic surgery and euro surgery. Separate blocks will be built for some of the departments and a laboratory.

According to the new proposal, a 300-capacity boys’ hostel, a 100-capacity PG hostel, a 100-capacity senior residents’ hostel, two ladies’ hostel (100-capacity undergraduate and 100-capacity postgraduate), separate building for the nursing school with 50-capacity boys’ hostel and 200-capacity girls’ hostel will be built. Principal A.K. Dandapat said: “L&T will built these projects on a turnkey basis and the medical college will get an infrastructural boost. The intake of MBBS seats will be hiked from 150 to 250 once the construction is over. Better set-up will help us to approach the Medical Council of India for an additional increase of 100 MBBS seats from the next academic year.” He said infrastructure development of the medical college was the council’s precondition to increase the MBBS seats.

Principal architect of the company S. Krishnamoorty and its project head Jaydeep Sengupta visited various sites of the proposed projects on the campus yesterday. “They discussed with me about the inflow of patients, college and hospital management and the present status,” Dandapat said. “We want to build a united structure for smooth hospital and college management,” the principal said. The site selection and development committee of the MKCG consisting of five professors of various departments, including Dr Srikrushna Mahapatra (Biochemistry), Dr Bipin Bihari Pradhan (physiology), Dr K.C. Biswal (radiology) besides the principal, have suggested sites to set up various buildings.

Source: The Telegraph

City bus in Greater Berhampur expected by end-August

Rs. 118 crore sanctioned for development of MKCG Medical College

The State government has sanctioned Rs.118 crore for infrastructure development projects in MKCG medical college and hospital campus in Berhampur. According to Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik, this money would be spent during the year 2013-14. “This infrastructure development would ensure increase of student intake strength of MKCG medical college and would also make it a premier referral medical centre of the State,” Mr. Chayau Patnaik said. It may be noted that the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in his speech during golden jubilee celebration of this government medical college on December 1, 2013 had declared that the State government would make all efforts to enhance infrastructure to increase MBBS student intake capacity of this college in the city by another 100 students.

As part of the developmental projects to be taken up on the MKCG medical college and hospital campus, a new central Intensive Care Unit (ICU) would come up. A building for super specialisation departments would also be built up. This building would house departments like plastic surgery, neurology, urology, nephrology, endocrinology, cardiology etc. To meet the proposed increase in student strength a new hostel for boys and another for girl students would be built. A new hostel for senior residents of the medical college hospital is also on the anvil. There would be two new hostels for nursing students.

This medical college would have a new well equipped auditorium with capacity to hold an audience of 1,500. Four new large lecture theatres of the medical college would also come up. They would include three lecture theatres of 350 persons capacity while the other would have a capacity to have 650 persons. There would be a new building to house all laboratories of the medical college. It is also planned to have an apartment for the nursing staff on the campus. Speaking on the vacancies of staff in MKCG medical college, the MLA said he has urged the State government to make ad hoc appointment of one associate professor in each of the super speciality departments.

Source: The Hindu

Berhampur Municipal Corporation corporators demand wards’ reconstitution

Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has demanded reconstitution of its wards as per the 2011 Census. The corporators of the BMC have passed a resolution in support of their demand. They have also decided to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the issue, according to BMC Commissioner Ajit Mishra.

It may be noted that elections for the BMC is likely to be held this year. There are three municipal corporations in the State -- Berhampur, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Number goes up

Meanwhile, the wards of the BMC have been reconstituted. Earlier there were 37 wards in the BMC. After the reconstitution, the number of wards has increased to 40. But complains have poured in from all major political parties regarding the reconstitution of wards. Even the present BMC Mayor S.S. Dash has expressed his dissatisfaction over reconstitution of wards. Former Union Minister Chandrasekhar Sahu, who was the chairperson of the municipality in the past had also objected to the reconstitution of wards.

The objections are regarding area, population as well as reservation of wards as per the census of 2001. Some Congress corporators have also decided to approach the court of law against the ward reconstitution and reservation.

It is felt that the recent reconstitution of wards of the city as per the 2001 Census does not reflect the proper representation of the present city populace. It may be noted that in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack municipal corporations, there have been similar protests against demarcation of wards as per the 2001 Census. Most of the corporators of the BMC were of the opinion that 2011 census report should be teh basis for demarcation of wards in Berhampur Municipal Corporation.

Not in uniform

As the recent demarcation of wards is as the per 2001 census, the wards are not uniform in nature. Some of them have around 3000 voters while in some other wards the number is more than 7000 voters.

Apart from it, the wards are also not in series as per their boundaries. But some corporators like Ashok Shukla are of the opinion that the recent resolution of the BMC is a delayed one. “This resolution should have been passed much earlier and sent to the government for timely action,” he has said. Source: The Hindu

High Court Bench in Berhampur still elusive

Berhampur continues to be deprived of a separate Bench of Orissa High Court in spite of several agitations by different sections of society for several years. On the other hand, a commission set up by the State Government to look into the demand is yet to file even an interim report after five years of its formation.

The demand for the Bench at Berhampur dates back to 1st April 1936 when Orissa was made a separate State. Since then the litigants, the people’s representatives, general public, the Ganjam Bar Association and other bar associations have been bringing the matter to the notice of the State Government, Central Government and the High Court of Odisha but to no avail.

The Ganjam Bar Association (GBA) has been resorting to agitations to press the demand since 1974. The advocates boycotted all the judicial courts in the city from December, 2007 to April, 2008. Closure of judicial courts for around four and a half months has posed serious problems for the litigants and the work of judicial courts came to a standstill.

During the period the advocates regularly brought out rallies, organised street corner meetings, besides boycotting the the meetings of ministers.

Following the agitation, the State Government appointed a Commission headed by CR Pal, a retired judge of Orissa High Court, to look into the demand.

The Commission has been continuing its enquiry till date with five extensions and around ` 1.4 crore has been spent on it, But it is yet to submit an interim report.

Meanwhile Jyoti Prasad Chotray, former secretary of GBA, compiled a booklet elaborating the justification of setting up a high court bench in Berhampur and sent it to the President of India requesting him to intervene in the matter.

In the book Chotroy has stated that in 2007 the State Government had requested the Orissa High Court to consider the proposal afresh for establishment of permanent bench in western and southern Odisha.

But the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court turned down the proposal for want of material and considering the judicial guidelines of the Supreme Court.

Chotroy has pointed out that due to lack of safe and comfortable communication system, the litigants have to face hardship in instituting, prosecuting and defending their cases in the High Court at Cuttack. It takes the litigants of Malkanagiri, Nuapada, Koraput, Rayagada and Nawarangapur more than 10 hours to come to Cuttack.

Chotroy further said increasing the number of judges in the Orissa High Court cannot serve the purpose due large number of pending cases. The only remedy lies in setting up benches of Orissa High Court at Berhampur, Chotroy concluded. Source: New Indian Express 

Berhampur University (BU) to have special website for distance mode

Several developmental projects would be taken up in Berhampur University during current academic year.

They were elaborated by the Vice-Chancellor of the Berhampur University Jayanta Kumar Mohapatra during the 18th convocation of the university.

He said the university was planning to introduce more innovative courses under distance education. To make learning under distance education mode easier the university plans to launch a separate website for its Harihar Mardaraj Distance Education Centre. It has been proposed to start a full-fledged placement cell at Berhampur University during current academic year.

It would cater to the needs of the students on the verge of entering the competitive world to face the challenges. During current academic year the total number of womens’ hostels on the campus would increase to six.

It may be noted that this university has more than 50 per cent girl students. The V-C said, the new womens’ hostel named Jhanjhabati would be ready to accommodate students during the start of admissions of current academic session. Two more ladies’ hostels which are under construction were expected to be complete by October, he added.

The university is trying to further strengthen teaching, research and extension activities during 12th plan period.

According to the V-C, it has been decided to renovate and upgrade the laboratory facilities at the university to undertake advanced research. “We are conscious of the fact that there would be financial constraints but we are confident of making best use of our limited resources for the purpose,” the V-C said.

According to Prof. Mohapatra, the university is also exploring possibilities of undertaking collaborative research and promoting industry-academia collaboration. It is need of the hour, he added.

The university plans to sign up MoUs with reputed research organisations and universities for the purpose. Source:The Pioneer