Entry gate to Maa #Tara_Tarini Shakti Pitha at Purnagiri Hills in Ganjam, Odisha

Players from Andhra Pradesh excel in AITA tennis championship in Berhampur

Players from Andhra Pradesh ruled in the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Talent Series 2011 tournament for ‘under 16 years' boys and girls that concluded in the city January 26,2012.

In the girls' singles final Sai Keerhi Behara of Andhra Pradesh beat her compatriot from Andhra Pradesh Likhita Landa in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to win the championship. In the boys' singles it was again N. Bhupal Raju of Andhra Pradesh was the winner of the final match. He beat M.M.K. Ramineni of Andhra Pradesh in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. The Andhra boys also excelled in the boys' doubles section. The pair from Andhra Pradesh comprising N.Bhupal Raju and Sajid Ur Rehman won the tournament. They beat the doubles team from Odisha of Adarsh Sahoo and Abhilash Ch. Sahoo in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.

Participants of this tournament gathered up valuable points for their AITA ranking. Winner of the tournament would get 25 points, runners-up 20 points, semi-finalists are to get 15 points, quarter finalists would have 10 points, pre-quarter finalists will get eight points and the participants who all won first round got four points for their AITA ranking. The closing ceremony was held at Union Club tennis courting the city.

Students' body urges the CM to set up proposed Bank of Odisha's headquarters at Berhampur

Berhampur: The South Orissa Students' Association (SOSA) has urged the State Chief minister to set up the headquarters of the proposed Bank of Odisha at a Berhampur. The Student's body has said that Berhampur city has contributed immensely to the vibrancy, cultural and social life and above all economic growth of Odisha. Even with inadequate state support, Berhampur city has carved a niche for itself and has grown exponentially in the spheres of business, transport and commerce. It still remains the only hope and bright spot in the utterly backward region of Southern Odisha. The city has always been a great centre for business and commerce since the days of Britishraj and most importantly it has flourished solely based on local entrepreneurship and initiatives. This aside, the greater Berhampur region with a population of close to 7 lakhs is the second biggest urban cluster in the state and supportive government policies are the need of the hour for its future growth that in turn will propel the growth of the state. In the past the shifting of government offices like the State headquarters of OSRT, Jail training academy, Cooperative Training Academy from Berhampur led to resentment among the locals and the state government must undo these erroneous decisions through the establishment of the proposed Bank of Odisha with its headquarters at Berhampur, which the city rightly deserves.
It should be noted that state Government forms a sub-committee under the state Revenue Minister for exploring the establishment of Bank of Odisha is a step long awaited and hence praiseworthy. Having taken the logical first step, we do expect that the state government will announce the formation of the Bank of Odisha with its corporate headquarters at Berhampur as it is logical that the rewards must go together with performance. The headquarters of the proposed Bank of Odisha at Berhampur in recognition of its standing in banking, business and commerce in the state will send the right signals and help the cities of Odisha focus on their core-competencies. This will become the first state level headquarters of any establishment of any sector that will be located in Berhampur city. Further, the headquarters of Bank of Odisha in Berhampur will ensure distributive justice in the establishment of state institutions and the State Government must give Berhampur the due recognition that it deserves through this initiative.
Source: Orissa Diary  (http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=16149)