Three die in two accidents

Four persons died in two different road accidents at Jharsuguda, 50 km from here, yesterday night. The first accident took place at 11.30 am when a Hero Honda bike collided with a coal-loaded truck killing three on the spot.
Out of the three, two are identified as Tikeswar Pradhan and Tengnu Bhoi of Brajrajnagar, the police said. In the second accident, one Laxman Jal died near Chauki Para.

Workshop on chemical disaster in Paradip

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest’s training-cum-workshop on industrial-chemical disaster titled Hazan and Hazop and Risk Analysis for two days ~ on 29 and 30 August ~ in Paradip will be meaningless as no steps have been taken for plantation programme to check pollution in the district, in spite of having 30 reserve forests.
Sources said the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest will conduct a two-day training and workshop programme on industrial and chemical hazard and disaster for the officials of five districts ~ Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack and Dhenkanal.
Officials of Paradip Port Trust and other industries, officials of Pollution Control Board, factories and broilers, Disaster Management Institute of Bhopal and health officials have also been invited to participate in the workshop to speak on the topic of risk analysis and risk management in chemical industry, environment pollution and plantation and other important topics.
Member of Board of Revenue Mr AK Tripathy, director of Factories and Broiler Mr SK Mishra, managing director of safety, health and environment Mr CR Mohapatra, former chief secretary Mr Sahedev Shaoo and revenue divisional commissioner Mr Suresh Mohapatra will participate in this programme.
Environmentalists have doubted that this training and workshop would not fulfil the aim of the ministry because nothing was done regarding the plantation programme as well. Social activist Mr Nirakar Beura has informed that plantation is the key to success to check environmental pollution and chemical hazard but nothing has been done yet for identification of reserve forests in this district.

Weather plays spoilsport

The weather Gods do not take it kindly when a VVIP visits the state ~ be it the President or the Prime Minister. It rained heavily, today just as it had done last month when the President was in the state.
The Air Force choppers and all that were at the disposal of the President, then and today, with the PM were stranded and schedules went haywire leading to cancellation of trips. Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh was supposed to fly to Talcher and dedicate the NTPC Talcher Super Thermal Power Station to the nation. Instead he had to visit the Doordarshan studio and do it through video conferencing.
At Talcher it was a day of despair for the local people who waited in vain for the PM’s arrival. Many had cherished hopes that the PM would see them and address their problems relating to rehabilitation, the workers were hopeful of their memorandum of demands getting fulfilled.
But the decision that he will address the people only through satellite transmission, the crowd thinned. The 5000 people gathered at the Kaniha NTPC plant were disappointed to learn that the PM’s visit has been cancelled.
The NTPC authorities were aggrieved due as the PM could not visit them because of the bad weather conditions. After striving for a year since they begun the commercial production from all six 500 MW units, NTPC and Power Ministry finally managed to get a date with the PM to dedicate its biggest plant as per its tradition. But nature acted against them.
Tapan Pradhan who along with his fellow villagers of Tailokbad had come to hear the PM speak, described the cancellation as “unfortunate” and expressed his despair on their issue of rehabilitation and resettlement remaining unsolved.

No respite from flood in Jajpur

Thousands of people in Balipatana and Atalapur villages under Rasulpur block of the Jajur district have been spending sleepless nights for the past two days after a crocodile was spotted in the nearby Brahmani river when villagers had gone to the river for a bath. The villagers are scared of the crocodile which is moving freely in the river. “A group of women from our village spotted a ten feet-long Ghadiala crocodile floating on the river near a school,” said Nirmala Chandra Sahoo of Balipatana village. “Earlier no crocodile was found in the Brahmani river. Probably, the crocodile has came here in the recent floods in the Brahmani river. The district administration should take necessary steps to avoid any tragedy,” said Batakrushna Sahoo, former sarpanch of the Atalapur village. n SNS
Statesman News Service
JAJPUR, Aug. 28: The flash floods in the rivers, the Kelua, the Birupa, the Gobari and the Genguti, have affected nearly 61 lakh people in 17 gram panchayats of Badachana block. The people in the low lying gram panchayats ~ Nalipur, Balichandrapur, Kolanagiri, Saudia, Raipur, Balichandrapur and Manduka ~ are still marooned even as the situation is improving in other parts of the district.
Jajpur collector Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Jajpur Zilla Parishad president Mr Goutam Ray and Barchana block chairman Mr Kailash Chandra Rout toured the flood-affected areas on Friday. Later, the collector reviewed the flood situation at the Barchana block office.
“We are trying to reach all the marooned villages by boats and making efforts so that the relief and rescue operations are not hampered,” Mr Ray said.
The death toll in the Jajpur district, meanwhile, has gone up to four after a woman at the flood-hit Bhanra village in Bari block died of snake bite on Friday.
Meanwhile, over 10,000 people from the flood-hit villages of Bhabilo and Bhagabanpur under Kotapur gram panchayats in the district today appealed to the people’s representatives, including the Jajpur zilla parishad president, Mr Goutam Ray, to take permanent flood-control measures.
The villagers made the request when a delegation of ruling party led by Jajpur zilla parishad president toured Bhabilo and Bhagaban villages to assess the flood situation in the area.
The villagers appraised the delegation of the difficulties they face due to the non-repair of the embankments of the Kelua river and the Brahmani every year. The delegation made an on-the-spot assessment of the embankments of the two rivers. The delegation assured the villagers that their pleas would be brought to the notice of the chief minister.

Chattopadhyay new chairman of IRMA

Dr Arup Kumar Chattopadhyay, executive director, Tata Refractories Limited has taken over as the chairman of Indian Refractories Makers Association (IRMA) at their last annual general meeting (AGM) held in Kolkata recently.
An M.Tech.(chemical), with a Ph.D degree from Calcutta University, Dr Chattopadhyay put in 30 years of his service in different Refractories and held many senior positions. He received the Refractory Technologist Award in 1996. He successfully completed Global Management Development Programme from University of Michigan and also Insead (Sr Management Development Programme) from France in 2005.

BJD demands cancellation of MCL exams

The Sambalpur unit of BJD led by Md. Mumtaz, the district president, sat on a dharna in front of the office of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) yesterday demanding the cancellation of the written examination for 52 different technical posts namely ~ mining sardar, over man and surveyor. “The candidates from Orissa have not been given a chance to appear in the written test,” Mr Mumtaz alleged. The BJD activists also met the director (personnel), Mr GD Gulab, to express their concern and the step-motherly attitude of MCL towards qualified candidates in Orissa.
It is learnt that only four candidates sponsored by Sambalpur employment exchanges are appearing in the examination. And these four are the relatives of MCL employees. “The entire procedure is designed to appoint candidates from Bihar since 70 per cent of the applicants are from outside Orissa,” Mr Mumtaz alleged.
“We demand that only the candidates from the mining schools of Orissa be appointed against the existing vacancies in MCL,” Mr Mumtaz said.
The BJD activists threatened that they would take law into their hands if the the demands were not considered. The MCL officials denied any irregularity in the recruitment procedure.

MindTree to set up campus in Bhubaneswar

The Bangalore-headquartered IT company, MindTree Consulting, is now looking at the eastern region for expansion after having opened its second campus in Chennai early this year. It is now scouting for space in Bhubaneswar to put up its third campus involving a cumulative investment of Rs 150 crore.
According to Mr Ashok Soota, chairman and managing director of the company, the Bhubaneswar campus will be set up on a 40 acre area. In the first phase, the company is planning to build about 250,000 square feet of office space involving an investment of Rs 60 crore. Work on the project will start in 2007.
Mr Soota told The Statesman that recent developments in Orissa and other neighbouring states had convinced MindTree that the eastern region had become the place to be in. More so, as there was significant investment in education. Consequently, it would help the company in recruiting high quality talent. Bhubaneswar, for example, was already known for its quality educational institutions, good work culture and supportive government. Collectively, these attributes had made it easy for the company to locate its third campus in the city after the likes in Bangalore and Chennai.
Asked about the number of people his company would recruit in its Bhubaneshwar campus, the chief said talent availability was a critical factor. The company had already been recruiting from top engineering and management institutions in the state.

No new paddy for Nuakha celebration

Nuakhai, a major festival of western Orissa, is celebrated with gaiety and grandeur according to the pre-fixed lagna.
The agrarian festival celebrated each year in western Orissa gives an opportunity to the family members to unite on this particular day and pay gratitude towards the Almighty for a good weather and a successful crop.
The first prasad prepared out of the new crop was offered to the presiding deity of Sambalpur ~ Maa Samaleswari ~ on the forenoon of Monday in the presence of hundreds of devotees. The farmers perform the same in their respective houses also.
However, due to torrential rain and flood of the last week, some people are still staying in the relief camps at Goapalmal school and Gurunanak public school. “Rain took away everything from us. But to keep up the tradition, we are celebrating the festival in the camp. Maa Samaleswari will bless us for the year to come,” said Sudarshan Tandi, an inmate in the camp.
People found it tough to get new paddy (Nuan Dhaan) ~ the main ingredient of the festival ~ even in the market. Late rain followed by flood created a scarcity of the new paddy in the market unlike the previous years, said Sambhu Bisi of Dalaipara. Social and cultural organisations are all set to celebrate the festivals with dignitaries. The revenue minister, Mr Manmohan Samal, will also join them.

Bootleggers hurl bombs to settle old scores

The miscreants hurled bombs near Tata Benz Square, Siddha Vinayak temple and Bijipur in the city yesterday creating panic among people.
The first incident of bomb hurling occurred around 10 pm near Tata Benz Square. A group of ant-socials armed with swords and crude bombs reached a liquor shop ~ where country-made liquor is sold ~ in the area and hurled bombs at the shop. Then they moved towards the Siddha Vinayak temple and set off a few bombs near the temple. They were five in number.
They also tried to snatch away a bike from a person passing by but did not succeed. When the local people started to chase them, along with the police, one of the miscreants, who could not escape from the spot, jumped into a muddy pond near the temple. Later, he was rescued in an unconscious state from the pond and arrested by police. He is now being treated at the MKCG Medical College and Hospital. He has been identified as Simanchal Das of Malatipatpur village under Sadar police station limits.
The other incident of bombing occurred at the Boarding Street of Bijipur around 11 pm. All these incidents are suspected to be related to the gang war among illicit liquor traders in the city.
Luckily, no common man was injured in these blasts. In July, similar incident of bombing had occurred in the Lanjipalli. Gang war between two illicit liquor groups at Bijipur area of the city had prompted the inhabitants to take out a lathi rally in their area to invoke fear in the minds of miscreants.

Priests on tatkal service

This Ganesh puja several regular priests from various rural pockets, attached to particular households for years together, could not turn up due to inclement weather and absence of road communication, in consequence of the recent floods. So nanas (priests) were available on the basis of tatkal service.
For every eleventh hour need, arrangements can be made these days, with additional cost. “Why not our service?” argued a Brahmin, adding that while they charge Rs 150 to Rs 200 on normal occasions, in case of emergency the service charges will be a minimum of Rs 300.
The other puja which is widely observed in most the houses besides the educational institutions is the Saraswati Puja.
While this practice (tatkal) was observed for Ganesh Puja, congregation of groups of Brahmins in the prominent pockets, with mobile hand-sets was seen waiting for customers requiring emergency service.
The preconditions for tatkal are ~ conveyance must be provided (bike at least), a fixed duration of puja and the part payment to be made in advance . “The priests were scarce this time, but at least we are getting them in this crisis through tatkal”, said a satisfied priest-seeker.
“We worship in equal rhythm whether you burn 100 gm ghee or 10 kg ghee and we do all the rituals sincerely, so why should we compromise on our dues” said a Brahmin in tatkal service.
In Balasore, Ganesh puja is widely observed, while it is estimated that in the town, 6,000 to 7,000 idols are worshipped. Though bad weather continued for several days including the last night heavy down pour, it was also observed that idols of varieties of designs, particularly the ones of the club houses, were on the stage for final coating of colour till afternoon, in spite of the fact that dryers were used.

WB extends $225 million loan to Orissa

World Bank today extended a loan of $225 million (about Rs 1,035 crore) towards the Orissa Socio Economic Development Project II of the Orissa Government.
The credit granted would support the continued implementation of structural, fiscal and administrative reforms needed to boost inclusive economic growth, an official release said.
Of the total $225 million loan, $150 million loan has been granted by the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the remaining $75 million has been contributed by the International Development Association (IDA) OSEDL-II is the second tranche of the programme being executed with the World Bank assistance.
The first tranche of the programme (OSEDL-I) was signed in November 2004 for an amount $125 million (about Rs 575 crore) and since been executed satisfactorily, it said.

Singh plants power theme

Championing the cause of exploring all sources of power generation, including nuclear power, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today urged political parties to take a long term view of the development prospects and take bold and forward looking decisions in the power sector.
Implicitly referring to reservations expressed over the nuclear agreement with the USA, he said even coal is not as abundant as is generally believed and “in 25 years our coal requirement will cross 1.7 billion tones per annum.”
“We need a paradigm shift in our energy policies and in our planning for the power sector. The government recognises that we need to reform and attract massive investments in the sector,” he observed.
The Planning Commission has estimated that by 2030, electricity generation capacity would need to go up from current levels of 131,000 MW to more than 800,000 MW and for this India has to widen and diversify the choices and strategies.
The PM added that the supply had fallen short of demand as far as power was concerned and energy resources must be used optimally and efficiently, he said, while dedicating the Talcher Super Thermal Power Station of 3,000 MW to the nation today.
Though heavy rains prevented the PM from reaching Talcher, he dedicated the power plant by video conferencing from the DD Kendra in Bhubaneswar.
Significantly, the Prime Minister said he was expecting a massive surge in investment in captive coal mines so that power producers did not suffer due to lack of coal. “We have speeded up the procedure for allotment of coal blocks for captive consumption of power plants,” he added.
He complemented the NTPC for establishing the mega plant and the last 500 MW in the record time of 38 months. The plant has been operational for the past one year and today’s dedication was a mere formality.
The PM was one with chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik on the need to protect and fund environmental protection measures in coal bearing states. He readily accepted the CM’s demand for a 10 percent share to the state from the power generated at Talcher Super Thermal plant.
Union energy minister Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde noted that the foundation stone for the super thermal had been laid by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the plant today provides electricity to several states across the country. He said the target was to provide power to all and create a reserve capacity of 5 per cent . The per capita consumption is targeted to be raised from the levels of 600 units to 1000 units by 2012.
Mr Shinde emphasised the need for ultra mega projects and announced that one of that kind would be set up in Orissa.
The chief minister pressed for compensating generating states which bear the burnt in terms of environment degradation due to coal mining and increase in temperatures as well as air and water pollution.

PM’s NIS offer silences critics

In a fitting counter to all speculations and fears expressed by many, particularly the ruling BJD-BJP quarters here, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today not only announced the establishment of a National Institute of Science Education and Research in Bhubaneswar but went on to emphasis that it would be a world class institution on a par with the Indian Institute of Science, if not better than that.
It will become a Mecca for science just as TIFR and IISc are today, he declared.
He stated that the proposed institute would be under the Atomic Energy Department and would facilitate the synergy between research and higher education. The NISER will take up five-year masters courses and include an integrated M.Sc-Ph. D. also. It will have world class experimental facilities in all current and emerging branches of science and DAE will provide enough resources.
The PM said the project would be completed in two phases ~ the first courses will be started in three or four subjects such as Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology with existing faculty and new faculty. In the second phase, 200 acres of land will be acquired and activities expanded.
Admitting that expenditure on Science & Technology has been low, the PM said the government had increased R&D allocations by 20 percent last year. “We shall strive to reach the target of 2 per cent of our GDP in the 11th Plan,” he added.
There had been a hue and cry in the state over the alleged shifting of a proposed National Institute of Science from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata. The Agami Orissa, a civil society organisation, had led the movement demanding an NIS in Orissa. Political parties had joined the demand and of late, the ruling BJD-BJP combine had lambasted the UPA for ignoring the demand.
Even yesterday, the ruling BJD-BJP had cast doubts over the promised announcement of the PM and undermined it by saying it was nowhere on lines of the NIS or IISc. They had alleged that the PM was planning for a mere expansion of the existing Institute of Physics.
Today, Agami Orissa was the only one amongst those who had voiced the demand to come forward by thanking the PM for his announcement in engaging world champion sand artist Suadarsan Patnaik to pay tribute to the PM.
Senior Congress leaders as well as those belonging to other Opposition parties like the OGP and Left today met the PM separately and submitted memoranda. It is learnt that the OGP and Left combine had demanded publication of a White Paper on the KBK funds utilisation and a probe into the IAY scam in Orissa.

XIMB students launch �talking� yellow page

A group of students of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, has launched a talking yellow page service �Hello Orissa� for the overall benefit of the business community.
Arguably, the service is the first of its kind in the State. A toll free number 0674-2301616 has been provided under which people can get desired information about organisations like schools, colleges, offices and shops.
Besides, information on doctors, advocates and builders in the cities of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela and Berhampur can also be availed of by dialling the toll-free number. Information can also be availed of by clicking www.halloorissa.com.
A staggering database of more than 30,000 pieces of info can be accessed through the service.
The group plans to expand the service to other cities through franchise model.
On the other hand, City-based Dial Biz Information Services has also launched �The talking yellow pages of Orissa� service recently. People can dial 32,00,000 and avail of information on trade and commerce.
Initially the service would be available in cities of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri from 9 am to 9 pm. Later it will be launched in other towns in the State.

A buy-back scheme to fall back on

With the prices of engineering books touching never-before levels, one of the oldest book stores in the Steel City, The Best, has come up with an innovative scheme to make education affordable for students.
Under the �buy-back� scheme, the students can purchase books by paying only 50 percent of the cost. Informing about it, owner of the book store, which was started in 1974, Tulsi Das said a student can buy books at 10 percent discount in the beginning of the semester.
On completion of the semester, he can return the books for which he would be paid 40 percent of the original price, which means a total of 50 percent discount. He said usually students of the same discipline share rooms in the hostels and end up sharing the price of the books as well.
In such a situation, the buy-back scheme would make the entire process of purchasing books more affordable and cheaper for them. But how did the idea of the scheme sprout?
According to Das, he often came across brilliant but economically poor students browsing through books in his store but not being able to purchase them. Then there were students who borrowed books and got the relevant pages photocopied. �These students gave me the idea to come up with the buy-back scheme,� he said.
According to sources, a student requires books worth at least Rs 1,200 in his first semester itself. This apart, reference materials, drafter, scientific calculator and other related materials cost another Rs 500 to 700. The cost of books increases as one advances in semesters.

‘Workers’ safety top priority’

The need of the hour is to reflect, internalise and sustain the credo of safety. This was told to the collective of Rourkela Steel Plant by Mr BN Singh, managing director of the organisation during the closing ceremony of the Safety Week Campaign of the project department.
“Before carrying out any activity give a Safety Pause and then go ahead. Just as you follow a protocol in a place of worship you should follow a safety protocol in your place of work. This will ensure that every activity is safely undertaken,” the MD said driving home the essence of safety in a simple and succinct manner.
Stressing on the importance of safety he said: “Safety cannot be compromised at the altar of increased production or quick project completion. We have to fix accountability on all matters related to safety and we have to realise that safe working and living is our primary duty to ourselves, our family, our society and the country.”
Elaborating on the challenges ahead on the safety front the MD said: “RSP is going to enhance its capacity in the next four years. This will entail increased activity with a greater number of people. We have to plan and adhere strictly to all safety norms”. Speaking on the occasion, Mr AK Bhandari, ED (Works) said: “Employees should be responsible for ensuring their own safety during project activities in their areas. The real challenge on the safety front will be when the project activities will start in the coming years in the brown field areas”.
Mr SP Rao, ED (Projects) said: “Zero accident at the construction site is the pledge we have taken and we shall adhere to it”. Mr. Sashikanta, ED (Safety), SAIL Safety Organisation Ranchi said: “Project safety is a very difficult task since it involves coordination, dovetailing between many agencies and hence highest amount of dedication and involvement is a must.”
Later the dignitaries witnessed a thought provoking drama on safety along with posters and photography exhibition on the topic. A booklet, “ Construction Safety Practices Update” was released by the MD.

Rourkela hospital gives new life to infant

The pediatric department of I-spat General Hospital (IGH), managed and run by Rourkela Hospital, has created history by saving a baby from very critical condition.
A pre-term baby, 26 weeks premature and weighing 650 grams only, was saved after life-saving interventions undertaken by IGH. There being no provision of advanced neo-natal care in western Orissa, the parents of the infant came all the way from Bargarh to IGH on 22 June. The doctors of IGH took up the challenge of saving the life of the neonate.
The baby was not being able to take in any kind of food ~ from the mother or from the feeding tube. Parental nutrition to a pre-term baby is associated with dangers of infection, jaundice and even loss of life.
The baby was kept in an incubator while amino acid and fat was being inserted through his veins. Extreme care was taken to save the baby from any kind of infection, which many a time becomes a threat to the life of newborns.
The baby was revived twice from respiratory arrest, with minimum intervention.
It is an accomplishment for IGH for it is sometimes difficult for even advanced health centres to provide such specialised treatment. The baby was discharged on 25 July.
The neo natal centre of IGH has set a benchmark in the country in the field of baby care.
The implant of the first cardiac pacemaker in India was carried out here in the year 1997.
Besides, it has the distinction of being the first in the state to start exchange transfusion in newborns in the year 1997.
Earlier, in 1995, it had received the recognition of a ‘baby friendly hospital’. In addition the centre has a record in controlling the neo-natal mortality rate. The rate which was 16.9 per thousand in 1999 has been brought down to 8.03.

State pulse:Orissa:A SLUM AND ITS RELIGIOSITY

Undoubtedly, religious feasts are a remarkable feature that makes our country always vibrant and irresistibly appealing to all. India being exceptionally rich in varied religions and religious traditions, there is no dearth in religiously solemnized occasions. In fact every aspect of human life, and its relation to animate and inanimate things are valued and celebrated in various ways by all religions, these are in addition to the major ones directly connected to the Divine Being/s. religious festivals thus truly, are an important part of the life of every Indian.
However, the popular style of celebration of the same feast varies from community to community depending up on a number of factors. In every religion there are the power distinctions on the basis of economics, society, culture, and so on. Each section of these people has their own acceptable and favorite ways of partaking and enjoying.
Recently, I had an opportunity to be part of a slum community in Rourkela, Orissa for a year. During my stay there with the people in the slum, I noticed they have an enviably fascinating way of celebrating the religious feasts. In matters of preparation, involvement and enjoyment they are second to none. The poor economic position was definitely a concern but they taught that there are more aspects to celebration than mere spending of money. They banked on relationships, cordiality, and religiosity as a substitute to their lack of sufficient income and gave themselves without reservation to fun and fair.
There are various reasons why the celebration of these people is the perfect display of what a typical way of making merry. A sizable number of the inhabitants here as told above are economically poor. Therefore one hardly finds the usual artificial junk of decorations and other articles connected with it. Their limited arrangements and beautification display a feeling of originality, creativity and rustic simplicity. The importance is not in competitive external show off but in cooperation, harmony and communitarian feeling. In spite of the tantalizing commercialization of all festivities people still don't completely give themselves in. One can not predict with any certainty how long this will be guarded against. People minimize their purchases partly want of money and partly because they want to preserve the rich traditions of their native villages.
The slums in Rourkela are filled with people migrated from villages. Even though they almost become part of a city, they still fall back to their village roots very often for identity, emotional and familial support. These people do not just come from the same state for culture but slums here can be told a mini India, a combination of people from various parts and traditions. The very fact of diversity in the cultures and religions in the slum adds to the frequency and variety of celebration. It is therefore quite natural for any slum to have one or the other groups mark a religiously significant day every now and then.
Religious festivities are one of the few occasions for these marginalized sections to forget their pain and suffering indulging in them completely. They infuse in them a sense of joy, celebration, meaning and hope beyond explanation. It is as if they have found a new leaf of life to their otherwise monotonous lifeless living. Although they have not much income to spend lavishly, they do spend every pie that comes to them. One can come across many men paying out money on drinks, all through a day or season of feast in comparison to other days. Probably the festivals provide the only happy reasons to drink as other times they take to drink due to depression. Children happily run around playing and munching snacks bought from one of the many petty shops in the slum. They either wear a new pair of dress bought for the occasion or a used but good one given to them by their benevolent employer. Women folk make up themselves during feast days in the best manner that befits to
their culture and religion. Again those would be the only days a sizable number of families afford to prepare or buy a couple of ordinary delicacies to add to their simple daily meal.
In the initial days of my stay with these people I used to wonder why those people drifted away all their meager earnings in a day or two during festivals. However small their savings must be it can surely come in handy in the future. As the months passed by I came to know them and their conditions personally. Although it was a slow learning, I realized as I interacted with them that they want to partake in the feasts in the same way as they prefer mainly to forget the woeful realities of every day life and to create a fantasy of fulfillment and happiness in life. They are aware that their joy is only an illusion and fleeting as well yet they want all the bliss it gives. Again, a profound sense of gratitude to the divine also prompts to observe them in a spontaneous style.
The religiosity of these people in general is very insightful and touching. They depend completely on divine providence. Their whole hearted participation, they believe, is a way to placate and propitiate the celestial being/s. The visiting of the regular places of worship, erecting temporary centers for worship during the feasts, offering of prayers and sacrifices, participating in dance, music and merry making etc are part of the one celebration with equal importance.
Another remarkable feature that adds a lot of meaning to their rejoicing is the fact of people professing different faiths coming together to make a particular sect's celebration a communitarian one. These ordinary slum dwellers find it easy as well as meaningful to transcend the regional and religious differences. My limited yet enriching experience in the slum where I was and other surrounding slums teach me that they have cordial and peaceful living. The daily struggles of earning livelihood, common sharing of resources, the poor living conditions, amenities and so on create too strong sense of unity to break at the mere thought of neighbors addressing the One in different tongues, names, and forms. I cannot but appreciate the level of religious tolerance and co-operation among these marginalized. The very fact of having a mixture of all sorts of religions and yet having a peaceful coexistence stands as a challenge to all the fanatically charged areas of our land.

10,000 litre methyl alcohol seized in Orissa

Six persons were arrested and forwarded to court for keeping a stock of 10,000 litres of denatured spirit or methyl alcohol in Cutack, Dhenkanal and Sundergarh district.
Getting a tip off about the illegal stock of alcohol, the state government had constituted a squad comprising excise department officials from Cuttack and Sambalpur, which had conducted raids, an official release said here.
The squad searched different places in Kamakshyanagar in Dhenkanal distirct, Angul, Rourkela daily market and Ranihat in Cuttack city and seized stocks of mythle alcohol over 10,000 litres.
The squad arrested six persons during the raid, it said.
"The arrested persons had stocked the spirit in pretext of wood colour. A racket is believed to be operating to import the spirit from Ghaziabad and Baroda," the release said.
It said the persons were not having license to trade the denatured spirit.
"Methyl alcohol is mixed with other ingredients to prepare liquor which is adulterated and injurious to health," the release said adding that samples of spirit had been sent for chemical examination.

10,000 litre methyl alcohol seized in Excise raids

Huge quantity of denatured spirit (methyl alcohol) was seized by Excise Department officials during raids at several places in the State on Monday. All the six arrested persons were forwarded to court on Thursday.
Official sources said that Excise squads from Cuttack and Sambalpur conducted joint raids at Kamakshyanagar, Angul, Rourkela daily market and Ranihat area of Cuttack on Monday and seized 10,000 litres of methyl alcohol, India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) of different brands and beer.
Excise Minister Debi Prasad Mishra told this paper that the arrested persons were selling methyl alcohol without licence. The denatured spirit was sold on the pretext of using them for colouring wooden furniture and walls.
The arrested persons are Prakash Kumar Sahu of Kamakshyanagar, Kulamani Panda of Jiranga, Ishwar Das Goel of Angul, Om Prakash Gupta and Debendra Kumar Behera of Rourkela and Shankar Prasad Ram of Cuttack.
Mishra said that the spirit was illegally transported to Orissa from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat.
He said that a racket is working behind the illegal transport and sale of denatured spirit that is being used for manufacture of duplicate IMFL and beer.
The Minister said that the State Government had launched a drive to check manufacture and sale of spurious IMFL of different brands and beer. The seized methyl alcohol, IMFL and beer have been sent for chemical examination.

Li’l Champs and The Prez

The Li’l Champs of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa seem to be drawing admirers from all walks of life. After the certificate of appreciation from ex-Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee they received last week, the little kids are all set to meet President of India, Dr APJ Kalam. They will be calling on the President on August 13 and the clippings will be aired in the August 17 episode on Zee.
Directors’ choice
Mahesh Manjrekar, Prahlad Kakkar and John Matthew Mathan have been roped in as the judges for CID’s Operation Talash wherein they will be selecting a male and a female who will join the CID team. The thousands of applications received will be short-listed and ten candidates (five girls and five boys) will be selected and called to Mumbai to go through a series of tasks after which two youngsters would be finalised. The names of the selected ten will be announced on August 18 (boys) and August 25 (girls). Finally all the ten finalists will be presented before the viewers in September and the voting lines will be thrown open. The final contestant will be decided on basis of judge’s choice and viewer’s vote.
Boogie Woogie finalists to perform at Kudiya Bemisaal
Four finalists of Boogie Woogie will be performing at Sony’s concert Kudiya Bemisaal, celebrating the power of womanhood. The four kids who will perform are Sangeeta from West Bengal, Roza from Rourkela, Sukanya from Mumbai and the only boy, Joel, to reach the final, also from Mumbai. They have been specially called for the event to be held on August 16. They arrived recently for the rehearsals. The kids also performed at the children’s orphanage Nanhi Kali and as part of the tour have been taken on a Mumbai Darshan.
STAR Plus tops the weekend slot
STAR Plus which is the only channel so far to have regular soaps on the weekend primetime slot has managed to acquire the top slot in the ratings game, beating even Hindi movies and events. The weekend programming includes Dharti ka Veer Yoddha- Prithviraj Chauhan and Baa Bahoo Aur Baby. The channel has ranked up on the TVR charts averaging a rating of 5.2 TVR in week 30, ended on July 29, 2006 for Prithviraj Chauhan; with this, the show has jumped up to a spectacular 48% increase against its TVR of 3.5 in the weeks 22nd - 25th. Baa Bahoo Aur Baby has also garnered impressive numbers for the channel. Beefing itself by 25 %, i.e. from TVR of 4.4 in the weeks 22nd - 25th soaring to TVR 5.6, in the weeks 27th-30th.
Gaurav in Aisa Des Hai Mera
With Ajit married to Candy, Rusty is deprived of a love interest. But things will look up for her when Gaurav Chopraa enters Aisa Desh Hai Mera and weaves his magic with an item number ‘Aisa jadoo dala re...’ choreographed by Seemaa Desai. Gaurav plays the role of an arrogant, assertive man with an attitude. He makes his entry from the August 16 episode.
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Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyan.. on Zee
Even as his Man Mein Hai Vishwaas launches on Sony, Dheeraj Kumar is readying another show Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyan; a social soap for Zee. A huge set is being constructed at Magnum for the soap which is scheduled to go on air in September. The soap will have Dheeraj playing a pivotal role. The rest of the cast is yet to be finalised. Though the date of telecast has not been decided yet, the serial will be aired on a primetime slot Monday - Thursday.
Soul searching
Nitish Bhardwaj is doing a research on the intriguing subject of soul. After doing the mega mythological Geeta Rahaya which says soul is eternal while body is perishable, Nitish was intrigued by the whole concept. So much so that he decided to research on matters related to the soul. In the meantime, he will look at acting assignments on television too. He has been offered a role in a social soap with a challenging role. “I will not play a Tulsi or Parvati’s husband. I need a substantial role,” avers Nitish. He is also planning to write and produce a film, the scripting for which he will start in September.
Trivia and titbits of RDB
STAR Plus is premiering the hit Aamir Khan-starrer Rang De Basanti on August 20 at 12 pm. Did you know that Rang De ... was to be made both in Hindi and English languages. The English version was to be titled Paint It Yellow. But the plans for the English version were dropped subsequently. Aamir was initially uncertain about taking on the role of DJ, as he was in his 40s and the character was of a 25-year old Punjabi munda. Aamir eventually accepted the role but knew that he had to work on his accent that he had to build into the character. So while the dialogue coach on the sets was training Alice with her Hindi, he was being trained for his Punjabi speech and accents. It is little known that Hrithik Roshan turned down the role of Karan. Shah Rukh Khan was the original choice for Fl. Lt. Ajay Rathod’s character, but he couldn’t do it owing to his busy schedule...
Krishna: The Birth on CN
Coinciding with the Janmashtami celebrations, Cartoon Network is premeiring Krishna: The Birth on August 16 at 2 pm. Produced by Hyderabad-based Green Gold Animation Studio, the 75-minutes long, 2-D animation movie traces the birth of Lord Krishna, the revered avtaar of Lord Vishnu. The four-part series chronicles the events and incidents of Krishna’s life. The first part itself has been worked on by over 100 animation specialists and it took almost a year to make the same, from the stage of pre-production, with production taking six months.
No GenNext writers, please
It’s okay for all the well-intentioned professionals in the film and TV industry to present courses in scripting, editing, directing, etc. Such workshops bring out the latent talent in so many writers, who come up with a new approach to work and fresh ideas. But has anyone considered that the younger generation of writers are high on attitude and low on tradition. So whenever the group of GenNext writers are looking for work with production houses, they mostly stay clear of Balaji Telefilms. Nothing wrong with Balaji and Ektaa Kapoor they say. Only the young ones cannot think in terms of parampara and mangalsutras. What could help is the inclusion of Indian culture in the course for scripting.

Sports govt’s top priority’

Slowly but steadily, Orissa is gaining the image of a sports power house. Sports persons from the state are making their presence felt in sports such as Hockey, Women’s Football, Handball and Martial Arts. Names like Dilip Tirky, Jyoti Sunita Kullu along with Sradhanjali Samantray and Ranu Mohanty are becoming popular by the day. There has also been a marked change in the attitude of the government towards sports and it has undertaken many activities for the promotion of sports.
Behind this success story of sports in Orissa is a fair man of medium-built, a face with an effervescent smile, a person with mild mannerisms clad always in white and an easily approachable personality who has shouldered the responsibility of developing sports activities with an undaunting spirit. He is none other than Mr Debasish Nayak, the minister for I&PR, Sports and YS. In an exclusive interview with The Statesman,Mr Nayak spoke at length about the latest developments in sports in the state:
The Statesman: Congratulations for the successful re-laying of the turf at the Panposh Sports Academy.Debasis Nayak: I should be thankful to the public for keeping a constant pressure on me and keeping me on my toes so that the turf could be laid on time. In fact the state government is very serious about development of sports in the state. Besides, Hockey ranks among our top priorities and we want to emerge as the best Hockey team in the country. We are working towards the achievement of this goal.
TS: What are the plans for development of hockey?
DN: Apart from the Panposh academy, we will set up an ultra-modern sports centre at Bhubaneswar at a cost of Rs 20 crore. Mr Naveen Pattnaik has agreed to invest more funds if required. The new centre will have another synthetic turf, increasing the total count of turfs to four in the state.
TS: Four turfs within the state itself?
DN: Yes. At the moment, we have two turfs including SAIL, where talented players are being groomed. Very soon, the SAI centre at Sundergarh will have the third one under the Special Area Games project. Finally, the turf at Bhubaneswar makes a total of four turfs.
TS : When will the Bhubaneswar one will come up?
DN: The specific target date has not been fixed as it requires a coordination of the centre and the state but hopefully it would come into operation within a year.
TS: Do you have other plans in mind?
DN: Yes. When I informed the chief minister, he readily approved the Bhubaneswar project. Meanwhile, we will start the Hockey Nursery project in Sundergarh district. This centre will work as the nodal centre for training talented young boys and girls. Very soon, people will see the results of these efforts.
TS: Is there any programme for training the coaches?
DN: Yes, that is a good question. We are planning to send the coaches to higher coaching centres to learn the advanced intricacies of the game. This will help us to improve the standard of the game by giving better training to the players.
TS: What about other games?
DN: The state capital centre has the necessary infrastructure to host ten other sports besides Hockey. Besides, we have swimming and diving facilities at par with international standards.
TS: What about the activities at the district level?
DN: Talents are fast coming up with the organisation of intensive non-residential summer coaching camps. In the coming days, more competitions will be held on the rural and district levels along with the women’s sports festivals. We also have plans to start adventure sports like river rafting, coastal trekking and mountain trekking.

Tainted IAS officer arrested, remanded

Second-time suspended IAS officer Vinod Kumar was arrested by State Vigilance here on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in fraudulent disbursement of Rs 1.22 crore as loan to two Rourkela-based firms during his tenure in the State-owned Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC).
He was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days after a Vigilance court declined bail.
Earlier, the anti-corruption sleuths arrested Kumar from his residence and took him to Vigilance Cell office at BJB Nagar area where he was interrogated for about five hours.
Kumar, who was suspended by the State Government on July 26 for the second time, was then produced in the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Santanu Das who turned down his bail plea before sending him to judicial custody.
The bureaucrat, now facing charges under Sections 420 and 120 (B) of the IPC and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, had allegedly connived, forged documents and sanctioned Rs 1.22 crore to Duro Weld Pvt Ltd and Duro Wire Pvt Ltd, located in Rourkela, during 2001. He was Managing Director of the ORHDC then.
Vigilance inquiry had revealed that though the loan was sanctioned in favour of 37 individuals, it was fraudulently disbursed to the two firms. The firms and loanees did not repay the loan as a result of which the principal amount with interest stood at Rs 2.44 crore.
During his tenure at ORHDC, the Vigilance sources said, fraudulent loan transactions amounting to Rs 100 crore took place. The loans are yet to be repaid. A number of ORHDC employees have also been arrested in that connection.
Kumar is also facing charges of accumulation of assets disproportionate to known sources of income. Six criminal cases are pending against him.

Young innovators designs shoes that vacuum

In 2020, you could slip your feet into Dustmate — a pair of shoes with compact vacuuming engines that clean your house as you walk. Or fold up your ‘Soft-Refrigrator’ and take it with you on a picnic. Or ‘Airwash’ your dirty laundry without using detergents or water.
These are some of the award winning designs from the Electrolux Design Lab competition 2005, on display until August 20 at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.The display is part of the 10th International Sydney Design festival, which covers the breadth of design, ranging from product design and interior design to graphics, textiles and architecture. Running across 40 venues, the annual festival features over 70 events including exhibitions, seminars, film screenings, designer markets, walks and tours
The design lab competition, which challenged students from across the world to design household appliances for the year 2020, received over 3,000 entries from 88 countries — with India making it to the top six countries. Among the 12 finalists invited to participate in a six-day design event in November 2005 in Stockholm, was 23-year old Sandeep Pradhan from Rourkela, Orissa. His ‘Umbi Fridge’ consists of two refrigerators — mother and child. Sometimes connected by cable, the mother unit is kept in the kitchen, while the smaller one can be toted to different rooms, or to the terrace or garden.
“In 2020, it’s back to the basics, and what could be more basic than mother and child?” explains Pradhan who graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore after completing the accessory design course.
“This was my first entry into a design competition and my first air travel — so you can imagine what the experience was like. Designing has given me a sense of freedom and I would like to pursue it further, especially automobile design,” says the youngster.
‘Dustmate’ designers, Sebastian Alberti and Gustavo Maggio say, “With time at a premium, why not combine two necessary activities: cleaning and exercise?” They add, “Normally shoes track dirt throughout homes. But with ‘dustmate’, shoes suck dirt as you walk, run or dance through your home.”
The competition wasn’t simply about some geeks fantasising on paper. Pradhan along with the other finalists worked with model making experts in Stockholm to design
prototypes of their ideas. “It only took me about five seconds to come out with the idea, but three weeks to do my research and another four weeks to finalise my design,” said another finalist Wang Sin Ee. This student of the University of New South Wales, Australia, designed the ‘Kaionwave’, which uses ultra-violet light, instead of water to wash clothes.
The finalists also had the opportunity to present their designs to a distinguished international panel of jurors and media representatives. A special workshop during the first four days of their visit included an overview of the Electrolux design processes as well as presentations from world-class speakers, designers, engineers and visionaries.
"I think the best experience was the design workshop, knowing there are others who share the same passion for design,” says Sin Ee. The Electrolux Design Lab 2006 competition seeks solutions for ‘healthy eating habits in 2016’. For more information visit www.electrolux.com/designlab.

Six reconverted to Hinduism

Six Hindus who converted to Christianity were today reconverted to Hinduism here today. They belonged to two families and hailed from Sialzor and Tangarmunda villages in Sundargarh district.
The local unit of VHP organised the ceremony at the Sitaram temple here. It was attended by top VHP functionaries including state organising secretary Achyutananda Kar and Sundargarh district president Mitrabhanu Panda. n PTI

Tainted IAS officer arrested, remanded

Second-time suspended IAS officer Vinod Kumar was arrested by State Vigilance here on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in fraudulent disbursement of Rs 1.22 crore as loan to two Rourkela-based firms during his tenure in the State-owned Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC).
He was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days after a Vigilance court declined bail.
Earlier, the anti-corruption sleuths arrested Kumar from his residence and took him to Vigilance Cell office at BJB Nagar area where he was interrogated for about five hours.
Kumar, who was suspended by the State Government on July 26 for the second time, was then produced in the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Santanu Das who turned down his bail plea before sending him to judicial custody.
The bureaucrat, now facing charges under Sections 420 and 120 (B) of the IPC and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, had allegedly connived, forged documents and sanctioned Rs 1.22 crore to Duro Weld Pvt Ltd and Duro Wire Pvt Ltd, located in Rourkela, during 2001. He was Managing Director of the ORHDC then.
Vigilance inquiry had revealed that though the loan was sanctioned in favour of 37 individuals, it was fraudulently disbursed to the two firms. The firms and loanees did not repay the loan as a result of which the principal amount with interest stood at Rs 2.44 crore.
During his tenure at ORHDC, the Vigilance sources said, fraudulent loan transactions amounting to Rs 100 crore took place. The loans are yet to be repaid. A number of ORHDC employees have also been arrested in that connection.
Kumar is also facing charges of accumulation of assets disproportionate to known sources of income. Six criminal cases are pending against him.

Girls rescued from Delhi

Five minor girls were rescued by the Bisra police, from New Delhi, with the help of a local NGO’s child-line centre. The girls, Bimla, Etwari, Mukti, Lalita and Paolita, all belonging to Nua Gaon village, were persuaded to go to Delhi with the promise of a better life. One Pawan, alias Prahallad Badaik of Jharkhand managed to persuade these five girls to flee to Delhi without informing their parents.
On reaching Delhi, the girls were placed at different households through an agency, Om Hari Consultancy, operating from Malabya Nagar and they were subjected to all kinds of physical abuse and three of them alleged of sexual abuse as well.
While these girls were facing the hardships they were subjected to, Badaik returned to the village to procure more girls for the agency. This time however, the villagers suspected Badaik, subsequently handing him over to the police. Meanwhile, based on the FIR of Mr Nagua Kujur, the maternal uncle of Bimla, and the diary seized from Badaik, action was initiated by the police.
With the help of Disha, an NGO with a child-line facility, the police contacted the former’s counterpart Prayash. With the help of the police, the agency Om Hari Consultancy at Malabya Nagar, was raided and the whereabouts of the girls were obtained. The agency has reportedly been shut down after the raid, according to Bimla Maurya, a social worker and part of Prayash childline. She informed that the girls were exposed to all kinds of abuse, were not fed properly and were not even paid the amount of Rs 2000 per month, promised to them. Mr Gouranga Mohanty, Inspector of Bisra police station said, “ We were well aware of Badaik’s activities, but it was only with the help of the villagers that we managed to catch him.”

Girls rescued from Delhi

Five minor girls were rescued by the Bisra police, from New Delhi, with the help of a local NGO’s child-line centre. The girls, Bimla, Etwari, Mukti, Lalita and Paolita, all belonging to Nua Gaon village, were persuaded to go to Delhi with the promise of a better life. One Pawan, alias Prahallad Badaik of Jharkhand managed to persuade these five girls to flee to Delhi without informing their parents.
On reaching Delhi, the girls were placed at different households through an agency, Om Hari Consultancy, operating from Malabya Nagar and they were subjected to all kinds of physical abuse and three of them alleged of sexual abuse as well.
While these girls were facing the hardships they were subjected to, Badaik returned to the village to procure more girls for the agency. This time however, the villagers suspected Badaik, subsequently handing him over to the police. Meanwhile, based on the FIR of Mr Nagua Kujur, the maternal uncle of Bimla, and the diary seized from Badaik, action was initiated by the police.
With the help of Disha, an NGO with a child-line facility, the police contacted the former’s counterpart Prayash. With the help of the police, the agency Om Hari Consultancy at Malabya Nagar, was raided and the whereabouts of the girls were obtained. The agency has reportedly been shut down after the raid, according to Bimla Maurya, a social worker and part of Prayash childline. She informed that the girls were exposed to all kinds of abuse, were not fed properly and were not even paid the amount of Rs 2000 per month, promised to them. Mr Gouranga Mohanty, Inspector of Bisra police station said, “ We were well aware of Badaik’s activities, but it was only with the help of the villagers that we managed to catch him.”

Indane organises customer relation and service camp

A two-day long Customer Relation and Service camp was organised by the area office of Indane of Indian Oil Corporation.
Mr Dilip K Shah, the chief of the LPG division for Orissa, was the chief guest on the concluding day of function. Mr K Mukherjee, the area manager of Indane and Mr U Ghosh, the manager of the LPG plant in Jharsuguda, were also present in the function held at Pantha Nivas.
To motivate the channel operators of Indane, various competitions were conducted among the families of the distributors, delivery boys and those managing the offices of the distributors. “The aim was to increase the involvement of everybody for more profitability,” said Mr Ghosh. Prizes were given away to the winners of various events such as musical chair, balloon busting and other such funny competitions.
The company also organised free checking of gas stoves and repairing camp at Sector-18 on both the days. All the distributors of Indane played major role in the two-day long event.

Girls rescued from Delhi

Give minor girls were rescued by the Bisra police, from New Delhi, with the help of a local NGO’s child-line centre. The girls, Bimla, Etwari, Mukti, Lalita and Paolita, all belonging to Nua Gaon village, were persuaded to go to Delhi with the promise of a better life. One Pawan, alias Prahallad Badaik of Jharkhand managed to persuade these five girls to flee to Delhi without informing their parents.
On reaching Delhi, the girls were placed at different households through an agency, Om Hari Consultancy, operating from Malabya Nagar and they were subjected to all kinds of physical abuse and three of them alleged of sexual abuse as well.
While these girls were facing the hardships they were subjected to, Badaik returned to the village to procure more girls for the agency. This time however, the villagers suspected Badaik, subsequently handing him over to the police. Meanwhile, based on the FIR of Mr Nagua Kujur, the maternal uncle of Bimla, and the diary seized from Badaik, action was initiated by the police.
With the help of Disha, an NGO with a child-line facility, the police contacted the former’s counterpart Prayash. With the help of the police, the agency Om Hari Consultancy at Malabya Nagar, was raided and the whereabouts of the girls were obtained. The agency has reportedly been shut down after the raid, according to Bimla Maurya, a social worker and part of Prayash childline. She informed that the girls were exposed to all kinds of abuse, were not fed properly and were not even paid the amount of Rs 2000 per month, promised to them. Mr Gouranga Mohanty, Inspector of Bisra police station said, “ We were well aware of Badaik’s activities, but it was only with the help of the villagers that we managed to catch him.”

OCC recovering fast: Steel Minister

The Orissa Construction Corporation (OCC), a State undertaking, is recovering fast and the cumulative profit in the last two years is over Rs 2 crore, informed Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera.
Replying to a motion moved by Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, Congress, Behera on behalf Works Minister AU Singh Deo said OCC has received contracts worth Rs 430 crore in the current fiscal. The corporation which was in red has done a business of Rs 63 crore last fiscal in the past two years.
Dismissing the allegation of Mohapatra, that OCC is offering job contracts tocontractors without tender, the Minister said OCC has helped usher in transparencyin the tendering process and the names of contractors are available on the Government website.
Alleging that OCC is providing job contract to blacklisted contractors at higher rates than the actual estimate, Mohapatra pointed out that while the original estimate of a work was Rs 3 crore, one of the contractors had billed it at Rs 8 crore towards labour component alone. Mohapatra has demanded a CBI probe into all the jobs given to the blacklisted contractors.
He also sought to know the labour and material components of 307 jobs awarded to contractors, a majority of whom are either blacklisted or facing vigilance probe.
Refuting the allegations, the Minister said OCC has been following due procedure while awarding job contract to registered contractors. The PSU has earned reputation by successfully completing projects of Orissa Hydro Power Corporation, Water Resources Department, National Thermal Power Corporation, Paradip Port Trust, Nalco and Rourkela Steel Plant to name a few.

Cong attacks Naveen govt

"The Naveen Patnaik government is one of the most corrupt and anti-people government seen in the state,” charged Mr V Narayanaswami, AICC general secretary, in charge of the state, today. Yesterday, at Sambalpur Mr Narayanaswami had demanded a CBI probe into the misuse of central funds, in the state. Speaking on the Rourkela District Congress Workers Conference, Swamy castigated the BJD-BJP alliance in the state.
Earlier, Mr JB Patnaik, former CM and leader of the party denounced the Naveen Patnaik government and also took a dig at the attempt to usurp all central schemes with the stake claim that they were all state schemes. The BJD goes about saying that everything was done by Mr Biju Patnaik including the Rourkela Steel Plant, which is not a fact, said the former chief minister.
The other leaders like Mr Jayadev Jena, Mr Ram Chandra Khuntia and Mr Ganeswara Behera continued the diatribe against the BJD-BJP government.
Mr Jena in his speech blamed the present government for the problems faced by the displaced people. The government does not even listen to the demands of the displaced, he remarked.
SNS reports from Sambalpur: “The Naveen Patnaik government is unable to spend the fund provided by the central government on different welfare heads. There has been only 30 percent utilization of the central grant and the rest is misappropriated in toto,” alleged the AICC general secretary yesterday.
He assured everyone that he will appeal to the rural development ministry, to initiate a CBI enquiry against misappropriation of central fund in the state.
Swami further alleged that National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was hardly benefiting the poor people of the state since only selective persons and supporters of BJP and BJD are included under this scheme. The ongoing industrialisation is also not for people’s interest since locals will not be employed on a permanent basis.

Orissa get a brand new astro-turf

It has been billed as one of the biggest reasons for India not having won any Olympic gold in hockey since 1980.
The fact that the world has switched to astro-turf while we have only about two dozen of the synthetic surfaces all over the country.
Not surprising since each one costs more than a crore and a half but atleast the latest one has got to the right place, a hockey hostel in Orissa that has given India28 international players.Panposh sports hostel in Rourkela will get the perfect Independence Day gift in the form of spanking new astro-turf laid at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore.
It would be formally inaugurated on August 15, a long overdue move given that this hostel is a hot bed of tribal talent and features many players who have already represented the country at the junior and senior level.
"Earlier we had to travel long distance for practice. But after we got this astro-turf at the hostel backyard things have become much easier," said Jyotsna Kujjur, a trainee, Centre for Excellence, Panposh sports hostel.
"Now, the movement across the field, passing, striking, everything has become so easy. The old turf was a serious problem as injury due to slipping was common then and one felt scared doing practice," said Amar Dipakka, a trainee the hostel.
The state government run Panposh Sports Hostel, which was established in 1985 to groom budding hockey talents in Sundargarh district, has so far produced 28 international hockey players.
The players include the present national women's team skipper Jyoti-Sunita Kulu and Olympians like Lazarus Barla, Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey, and William Xalxo.It is expected that this brand new facility will only help in adding to that list.
"The old astro-turf had become thin and did not help the development of leg power and movement. Now the players can develop better leg power and be active through the 70 minute of the game. Practice on grass fields and practice on astro-turf have a whole lot of difference," said S Bihari, Hockey coach.
"Four years ago when we came the turf was already in a bad shape. Now that we have a brand new one, we hope we will be able to emulate the great examples set by our seniors and reach the international and Olympic arena," said Sameer Bakhla, another trainee at the hostel.
Perhaps the Sansarpur hockey academy could take a cue as well and get itself an astro-truf. That would give the famous hockey nursery of Punjab a chance to compete with Panposh hostel on equal terms.

Four killed in bus-truck collision

Four persons were killed and seven injured, four of them seriously, when a luxury bus collided with a truck near here today, police said.
The dead included a woman who is yet to be identified, they said.
The coal-laden truck coming to Hirakud from Khinda coal mines and the Rourkela-bound bus coming from Purushottampur in Ganjam district collided at Sasan, 15 km from here, police said.
Four of the injured, including a woman and her daughter, were taken to VSS Medical College Hospital at Burla. Three others were discharged after being administered first aid, officials said.
The police have registered a case.

NCC inspired by commodore’s visit

Apart from defence activities, the NCC is determined to serve the down-trodden of the society and it also works to bring about social changes and had done so at various places of the country including Orissa, said commodore K Chaturvedi, the deputy director general of NCC, during his visit to Sambalpur on Thursday.
“The efforts of NCC cadets and officials have turned a Chilam (Ganja) park into children’s park at Rourkela. Similarly, it has successfully rehabilitated 56 exploited women at different places. Now these women have come into the main stream of life and are proud citizens of the country,” said Mr Chaturvedi, the deputy director general. The very aim of the NCC now is to serve people and safeguard their lives as well as property from the clutch of anti-socials, Mr Chaturvedi added.
Hirakud reservoir has vast potentiality for being a naval unit of the NCC and an air force training centre is also needed at Hirakud (Jamadarpali) airport for which the place is the most befitting one, he said.
Keeping in view the growing Naxal activities in Orissa, particularly in western and southern parts of the state, a proposal for a group headquarters in Koraput, Balangir and Kalahandi districts gad been placed before the government, Mr Chaturvedi said. The proposed NCC Nagar on an area of 30 acre at Sambalpur would begin soon after the land allotment is completed, he added.
During his visit to Sambalpur, Mr Chaturvedi inaugurated a traffic roundel at the Zilla School Chowk, visited a blood donation camp organised by NCC cadets and participated in various other activities. Lt Col VK Pillai, the training officer of NCC, Col KA Khan and other officials accompanied the commodore during his entire programme. “The visit of the commodore inspired our cadets immensely,” Mr Khan said.

Operations at hospital-on-wheels

Eighty-four cleft-lip children got a new lease of life after undergoing corrective surgery at the Lifeline Express, a hospital-on-wheels.
Besides, 35 other patients, suffering from ear problems were also treated in the train, run by Impact India Foundation, official sources said.
Most of the patients were tribals from remote areas of Sundargarh district.
On the Lifeline Express, which had chugged into Rourkela railway station on July 11, nearly 400 operations and over 800 medical check ups were carried out during the camp, which concluded on Sunday.
The medical experts conducted 84 cleft-lip corrective operations, 72 surgeries for correcting polio deformity, 35 for rotting ear and 200 cataract operations.
The administration bore the expenses incurred for the surgeries.
The sub-divisional medical officer, Panposh, Dr. R.N.Das, who served at the hospital-on-wheels, said patients from neighbouring Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand also attended the camp.
District Collector Sujata Karthikeyan said the administration would organise such surgical camps every two months and a super speciality camp once every year.

Sefi hunger-strike from 11 August

The Steel Executives’ Federation of India (Sefi), which is an apex national body representing nearly 20,000 professionals working in different public sector units under the ministry of steel, has decided to go for an indefinite hunger-strike at Sail’s corporate headquarters from 11 August. This action is being organised to press for its long pending demand of implementation of 4 per cent of basic pay as the principle for annual increment with effect from 1 January 1997.
This was talked about during the discussions leading to salary revision and Sefi was persuaded to agree to defer the matter in view of the adverse financial condition of Sail. Meanwhile, Sail achieved a turnaround in the year 2002-03 and has thereafter started making substantial profits regularly and is now within the top five profit earners of the country taking into account both the private and public sectors. Under these circumstances, Sefi has been pursuing with the management of Sail and the government to implement the same in SAIL in view of its
status as a profit-making Navratna Company. The principle of 4 per cent of basic pay as annual increment has been in force in (NTPC), oil and coal sectors since 1997. The cumulative effect of this difference has resulted in the pay of a manager of the benefited sectors equal to or more than a deputy general manager of Sail . There cannot be a worse exhibition of apathy to the dedicated, committed and hardworking professionals engaged in steel making.
Speaking to this reporter Mr Brahma Mishra, chairman Sefi, said: “The performance of Sail is distinguished by the fact that it has to compete against global competitors because of the fact that prices of steel are fixed by global steel market behaviour unlike power or oil where government regulates prices. Besides, private sector steel players are giving remuneration packages that are many times that of the public sector steel plants.”
Mishra felt if such a situation continues for long then, Sail may lose “very trained and efficient manpower to the private players entering the market in not a very distant future as they will find them much more lucrative. Mr Mishra said that Sefi is very pragmatic to the prevailing
situation and situations in the coming days.
“While Sefi has been pragmatic to this situation, the demand for the minimum benefits to ensure parity with the best in the public sector cannot be termed as undue. It is another story that private sector steel plants are using this discrepancy to woo away talent from the large hearted but low paying public sector units,” he said.
Almost sounding a warning bell to the mandarins in the Sail’s corporate house he said: “ It is widely believed that there is a deliberate attempt to destabilise the steel behemoth Sail so that it will be easier to hand over this enterprise to private hands by ‘killing’ its managers through this kind of humiliation.”
Citing an example he said: “The private sector tycoons at the same time have been lobbying intensely to grab the Chiria Mines as a part of this strategy. It is also being alleged that with the connivance of the government the private sector tycoons are paving the way to grab the steel giant.” He lamented the fact that what appears rather painful, neither the Central nor the state Governments are extending any support to renew the lease of Sail mines in spite of the fact that Sail has been the highest contributor to the state and Central government exchequers in the form of royalty, sales tax, excise, Income-Tax and corporate tax. Thus by ‘killing’ its Managers, the process of privatisation will become a lot easier. His apprehension was not totally misplaced as Mr LN Mittal, was found favourably disposed towards Sail and his words had a smell of taking over the PSU giant in the field of steel making.
“In this backdrop, Sefi feels a deep sense of hurt when National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (another Public Sector) was also allowed the benefit of “4 per cent of basic pay as annual increment” only a few months ago while the long pending genuine demand of Sail and other member units affiliated to Sefi was pushed to the back burner,” Mr Mishra said. He further added that under these circumstances, Sefi is not able to find any convincing reason why the benefit should be denied to its constituents. Besides, this needs to be emphasized that it is only after being forcibly pushed to the wall that Sefi council members in their meeting held on 27 July 2006, decided to resort to the unpleasant act of “indefinite hunger-strike” at the Sail corporate headquarters. Sefi has also decided to join hands with officers associations of Navratna PSUs like power and oil sectors to pursue its demands on the pay revision front during the coming days.

SAIL achieves best-ever April-July production

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) continued with its robust performance as it posted a record saleable steel production of 4.08 million tonnes (MT) during the first four months of the current financial year. This marked a 10% growth over saleable steel production in April-July 2005. The average capacity utilisation of the SAIL plants during the first four months of 206-07 was 110%.
Production by SAIL's integrated steel plants at 3.94 million tonnes was up by about 3.5 lakh tonnes compared to last year. Rourkela Steel Plant put up a strong performance with additional output of about 2 lakh tonnes of saleable steel compared to last year. The speciality steels plants of SAIL produced 1.4 lakh tonnes of saleable steel during this period. This was 30,000 tonnes more than the production during the corresponding period last year (CPLY).
Major techno-economic parameters, too, showed substantial improvement during April-July 2006 over CPLY. Energy consumption reduced by 1% while production through the continuous casting route increased by 8.5%.
Keeping pace with production, overall sales by the company rose by about 9 lakh tonnes during April-July 2006. With export volumes up only marginally at 1.7 lakh tonnes, compared to 1.6 lakh tonnes during the same period last year, growth in the domestic market has been sharper.
In line with SAIL's Corporate Plan target of producing 22.5 million tonnes of hot metal, projects valued at over Rs. 17,000 crore are presently in various stages of implementation in the company's plants/mines.

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