Friday, May 11, 2007
Manipur in final
Rourkela: Reigning champions Manipur entered the final of the 15th senior National women's football championship demolishing Goa 5-0 in a one-sided semifinal at the Ispat Stadium here on Thursday.
Manipur, which led 3-0 at half-time, will clash with Bengal in the final on Saturday. Bengal had emerged easy winner against host Orissa 4-0 in the other semifinal on Wednesday.
A hat-trick by striker N.G. Bala Devi, who scored four of the five goals, was the highlight of the semifinal in which the Goans virtually presented no threat to the rival goal.
Bala Devi opened the scoring in the sixth minute and fired in two more goals in the 32nd and 40th minutes to complete her hat-trick.
Striker Gitarani Chanu fired home the fourth goal in the 47th minute, while Bala Devi found the net again a minute before the final hooter. — PTI

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Political activists, students demand IIT for Orissa
Hundreds of students and political activists Thursday demanded the central government set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Orissa, a day after the government said it had no such plan.
Over 300 activists of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged demonstration in front of the Raj Bhaban here, the official residence of Governor Rameshwar Thakur.
Students of Rupalli Vidyapitha, a residential school in the city, also launched a signature campaign to press the demand for setting up the premier engineering institute.
Orissa does not have any institute of national repute like the IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) or Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Samir Mohanty said.
The central government had earlier promised to set up an IIT but it did not keep its promise, he alleged.
On Wednesday, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeshwari categorically said in parliament that the central government had no plan to set up an IIT in Orissa.
The minister said this replying to call attention notices given by some Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members.
BJD and BJP MPs of Orissa had staged a protest at the main gate of the Parliament House Wednesday demanding an IIT in the state and denouncing the apathetic attitude of the HRD ministry.
'We will continue our fight against the step motherly attitude of the central government towards Orissa,' state BJP MP Jual Oram told IANS.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has described the central government's rejection of setting up an IIT in Orissa as 'unfortunate' and said BJD-BJP combine will take the issue to the streets.

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Five hurt in Maoist landmine blast in Orissa
At least five policemen were injured, three critically, in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district Thursday afternoon.
The incident took place near Sadagada village, about 100 km from district headquarters of Baripada, a day after Maoists set ablaze a forest building and killed an official, district collector S.K. Bashishth told IANS over phone.
The details of the latest incident are not known, he said, adding he was going to the area to assess the situation.
On Wednesday, around 50 Maoists had descended on Sadagada village and surrounded the forest house situated in the middle of the village. They asked forest official Rabindranath Patra, 55, who was resting inside, to come out. When the official came out they set the building ablaze and killed him, Bashishth said.


Coast clear for Orissa plant
Press Trust Of India / New Delhi May 11, 2007
The Orissa government has cleared the decks for setting up the Ib Valley Ultra Mega Power Plant by withdrawing its demand for free power. Orissa and Chhattisgarh wanted power from the respective Ib Valley and Akaltara UMPPs either free or at variable cost.

But with the Centre rejecting this demand, Orissa has extended its support without any pre-condition.Four other states are yet to give the necessary clearances for other projects.

“The earlier proposition by Orissa was contrary to the spirit of tariff-based bidding. However, recently the Orissa government has extended its support to the project without this pre-conditionality,” power ministry sources said.

A team appointed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has already visited the state and site details are being finalised.

While the government is yet to take a decision on whether to go for a re-bid for Sasan project in Madhya Pradesh, the Mundra project in Gujarat has been handed over to Tata Power.

Of the seven other proposed sites, bidding has started only for Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilliaya (Jharkhand), officials said.

The Akaltara UMPP is not making headway due to the lack of response from the Chhattisgarh government. Girye and Tadri coastal projects in Maharashtra and Karnataka respectively are on hold for want of necessary clearances from the state governments.

“The ministry has written to the states for expediting clearances or suggesting alternate sites,” they said.

The Tamil Nadu government has not agreed to locate the plant at Cheyur and has suggested Nagapatnam as an alternative. The ministry has asked the state to confirm port availability at Cheyur at first instance, the officials said.

Friday, May 11, 2007
Orissa villagers face criminal case for blocking road
Police have registered criminal cases against over 200 people for causing inconvenience to local people by blocking a road in Orissa's Jajpur district in protest against the death of a minor in a road mishap, official said Thursday.
On Monday, hundreds of residents of Chandama and Kanheipur villages including students of a local school staged road blockade at Kanheipur on the national highway-215 on which the boy was run over by a speeding truck.
Debasish Samal, a resident of Kanheipur village, was a student of the school.
As the news of his death spread, local people blocked the road and demanded immediate ban on plying of trucks during daytime.
Thousands of iron ore-laden trucks were seen stranded along the road following the blockade, a district police official said.
The blockade caused inconvenience to public for over six hours as traffic movement on the highway came to a grinding halt, he added.
Normal movement of traffic was restored after the blockade was cleared, he said.
We have registered a criminal cases against 200 people under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, an official of the Jajpur road police station said.


It cannot get worse
Reform the PDS network or axe it

Posted online: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 at 0000 hours IST
If you insist on evidence of the sparse reach of India’s public distribution system (PDS) and its irrelevance in the poorest states, look at the latest figures on consumption brought out by the National Sample Survey Organisation. For the country as a whole, the share of the rural population served by the PDS network is less than a quarter: 24.4% in the case of rice, 15.9% for sugar and just 11% for wheat. And the urban scenario is even worse, with the coverage just 13.1% for rice, 11.5% for sugar and 5.8% for wheat. Given the disproportionately low distribution of ration cards among rural residents and migrant labour, it would be a surprise if the PDS network reaches even half the country’s poor.
The figures are even more appalling when it comes to the poorest states, with less than 5% of the population using the PDS network in most cases. In Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest number of poor (59 million), the share of the rural population getting PDS supplies is 5.8% in the case of rice, 5.6% in the case of wheat and 1.6% in the case of sugar. In urban UP, the share drops to 2.1%, 2.6% and 1.3%, respectively. The scenario is no better in Orissa, where close to half the population is still below the poverty line. In rural Orissa, just about one-fifth of the population gets delivery of PDS rice, while less than 2% gets wheat and sugar. The urban story is worse, in keeping with the pattern elsewhere. All that these numbers do is put a big question mark on India’s not insubstantial Rs 25,696 crore allocation for food subsidies. It is common knowledge that almost the entire sum goes to the Food Corporation of India to make up for the gargantuan gap between the amount it spends on procurement (including money spent on its supposedly security-assuring buffer stock) and the amount recovered on the standard issue of grains distributed through the PDS network. The latter sum is much lower than the aggregate prices that people actually pay for the food. The system is an unmitigated shame. It does next to nothing for the country’s poor, and fattens plenty of inbetweens who need no subsidies.

Orissa supports IB Valley plant, others yet to respond
Press Trust of India NEW DELHI, May 10: Orissa government has cleared the way for setting up of the Ib Valley Ultra Mega Power Plant (UMPP) by withdrawing demand for free power, but four states are yet to give necessary clearances for other projects. Orissa and Chhattisgarh earlier wanted a portion of power from the respective Ib Valley and Akaltara UMPPs either free or at variable cost. But with Centre rejecting this demand, Orissa has extended its support without any pre-conditions. “This proposition being contrary to the spirit of tariff-based bidding was not acceptable. However, Orissa government has recently extended its support to the project without this pre-condition,” power ministry sources said. A team appointed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has already visited the state and site details are being finalised by its government, they added. While the government is yet to take a decision on whether to go for a re-bid for Sasan project in Madhya Pradesh, the Mundra project in Gujarat has been handed over to Tata Power. Of the seven other proposed sites, bidding has started only for Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Tilliaya (Jharkhand), the officials said. While the Akaltara UMPP is not making headway on lack of response from Chhattisgarh government, Girye and Tadri coastal projects in Maharashtra and Karantaka respectively are on hold for want of necessary clearances from the state governments. “The ministry has written to the states for expediting clearances or suggesting alternate sites,” they said. The Tamil Nadu government has not agreed for locating the plant at Cheyur and suggested Nagapatnam as an alternative. The ministry has asked the state for confirming the port availability at Cheyur at first instance, the officials said.

State to boost power transmission infrastructure
Press Trust of India BHUBANESWAR, May 10: Underlining the need to strengthen transmission infrastructure in the state, state government today said it had decided to borrow Rs 500 crore from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and other such agencies. “Though Orissa is capable of meeting electricity demands from different categories of consumers, including industries, it lacks requisite transmission infrastructure,” said energy minister Mr SN Patro. He said that the state would require at least 3,633 MW of power during 2009-10 because of the commissioning of some new industries here. Officials said that the state suffered nearly 50 per cent of transmission loss every year due to poor infrastructure in the power sector. The state’s revenue loss owing to transmission loss was calculated to be Rs 2,250 crore per annum. Most of the transformers operating in the state were in bad conditions, while the high tension lines were also weak to take the load thus causing severe power loss, the sources said. Mr Patro said that while Posco, Vedanta and Indian Oil Corporation would require 100 MW of power each in 2009-10, some other medium industries needed 200 MW. Overall, the industries would demand more than 500 MW of power during 2009-10, a study conducted by the government had revealed. Mr Patro said the government had also decided to undertake electrification in 10,000 villages under the rural electrification scheme during 2009-10. “Therefore, there is a need to strengthen the transmission system in order to meet the demand,” the minister added. He said that the state urgently needed to have at least three direct current (DC) line between Meramunduli-Duburi and Meramunduli-Chandikhol.

IIT ~ Naveen’s missive to PM
Statesman News Service BHUBANESWAR, May 10: “The recent reply of Union minister of state for human resource development on the floor of the Parliament regarding establishment of IITs in the country has come as a shock to us,” said chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik in his letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today. Carrying forward the protest of BJD-BJP MPs in New Delhi and their walkout over the issue in parliament, CM today wrote to the Prime Minister iterating the demand for an IIT in the state. The BJP, on its part, staged a protest dharna in front of Raj Bhavan here today and some of their leaders said they would continue to agitate till the demand was met. Union minister of state for HRD Mr MM Fatmi as recently as on 28 August 2006 had mentioned in Patna that Orissa was included in the proposal for three green field IITs in the 11th Five Year Plan. It is indeed painful that this has been reversed by the ministry of HRD for reasons not known to others, noted Mr Patnaik in his letter. Orissa does not have any institute of excellence in higher learning. There was a proposal to open a branch of IIT, Kharagpur, in Bhubaneswar for which government of Orissa had promised land of nearly 300 acres. It appears that even this proposal has been turned down. “When I met the honourable minister of HRD in this connection, he had indicated to me that the case of Orissa can be considered for a full-fledged green field IIT. The recent decision of government of India to locate the IITs in states which already have the benefit of many Central institutes indicates that objective criteria have not been followed in deciding the locations of the 3 IITs. Mr Patnaik implored the PM to include Orissa’s case in the 11th Five Year Plan.

Six injured in mine blast by Maoists
Statesman News Service BARIPADA, May 10: Six policemen, including sub-inspector Mr MK Deo, were injured when Maoists triggered a land-mine as the police vehicle was passing near Chadahipahadi grama panchayat area today. Two of the injured policemen were serious and rushed to SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack. Police said the mine was laid apparently to check intensified combing operations launched since yesterday following the killing of a forester by the ultras. Yesterday, armed Maoists had shot dead a forester and set a forest beat house ablaze. Since combing operations were stepped up and bordering areas of Jharkhand sealed, the radicals had in their usual style of operation laid mines to delay the chase. Following the blast, the Maoists had reportedly resorted to firing but police did not confirm the firing incident. SP Mr Sanjay Singh said the blast took place at 2 pm. Meanwhile, home secretary Mr TK Mishra and senior police officers took stock of the situation at a meeting in Bhubaneswar today. Mr Mishra said the state government was in constant touch with bordering Jharkahand and Chhattisgarh governments to adopt a coordinated model of tackling Maoists. “Our joint efforts with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh police has been successful and we want to adopt a similar model with Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to combat extremists,” said Mr Mishra.

Police-dacoity charge to be probed
Statesman News Service BHUBANESWAR, May 10: The director general of police, Mr Amarananda Patnaik, will probe into allegations that certain persons from Jharkhand had contacted a senior police officer in connection with a case of dacoity. With a section of the media here reporting the matter today, the home secretary, Mr TK Mishra, said the DGP had been asked to inquiry and furnish a report within one week. Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik said appropriate action would be taken if anybody of found guilty. Apparently, a senior police officer had been requested by some persons of Jharkhand who wanted to meet the arrested accused in a dacoity case. These people were not criminals but friends and relatives of those arrested by the Bhadrak police. Six persons had been arrested from Jharkhand when they committed a dacoity in Bhadrak. The senior police officer is understood to have asked another youth to help the persons from Jharkhand meet the ones in jail.

‘Exploitation drove farmers to suicide’
Statesman News Service BHUBANESWAR, May 10: Lured by private companies and exploited by money lenders, distressed cotton farmers in the state have very little option but to commit suicide, observed peasant leaders and social activists who returned from Bolangir after conducting an inquiry into the death of Akrura Sahu and his two daughters. Scoffing at government claims of intervention in terms of lifting cotton from mandis at a decent price, the delegation of social activists said even a fleeting visit to cotton growing areas exposed this lie of the government. It is vicious circle ~ the middlemen, private money lender, BT cotton, low production all combine to virtually strangulate the cotton farmer, they charged. Mr Sahu and his daughters consumed poison and the version of family feud-related suicide is being dished out to cover up the facts, said Mr Prafulla Samantara, president of Lok Shakti Abhijan. He had incurred loan of Rs 25,000 from the cooperative bank, Rs 9000 from a money lender and even sold his daughters’ cycle, said Mr Chitta Mohanty, human rights activist, while Natabar Sarangi and other alleged that BT cotton as well as BT brinjal was given secretively. The farmers got a good yield in the first year but the second and third year production of cotton dropped resulting in distress conditions. They could not return to paddy cultivation as the soil condition had been destroyed due to excessive fertiliser and pesticide. Sahu for instance got only two quintals from one acre of land and the price of cotton was only Rs 2,000 per quintal. He had spent over Rs 7,000, said the fact finding time. But more than the sad demise of Sahu, the other facts revealed by the probe team was shocking .They alleged that during their visit to Bolangir district, they found that a private company had managed to fraudulently purchase land from scores of villagers. The company engaged a “baba” who went around telling distressed cotton farmers to perform puja. He then explained to them that they will prosper if they provide the land on lease. The private company entered with attractive offers of three-year lease, wages to work in the field and a bonus at the end of the lease period. Several illiterate villagers promptly put their thumb impression to what they presumed was a lease document. But most of these documents were sale deeds, said Mr Samantaray. Unless the government intervenes, Bolangir which is poorest and most backward district. of the state will witness a spate of suicides, he said.


Jindal Stainless to set up Rs 5,600-cr Orissa plant
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2007 02:14:03 AM]
NEW DELHI: In a major expansion drive, Jindal Stainless (JSL) plans to spend Rs 5,600 crore to set up a 0.8 million tonne (mt) per annum stainless steel plant at the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex, Orissa. The in-vestment is part of the second-phase expansion of the integrated stainless steel project. The company intends to reach a final capacity of 1.6 mt by 2012. “We are moving ahead on our greenfield project in Orissa at a fast pace. The first phase entailing an investment of Rs 2,250 crore would be completed by year end. Work on the second phase would start simultaneously so that we commission the 0.8 mt plant by December, 2009,” Jindal Stainless managing director and CEO VS Jain told ET. He said that technical detailing and agreement for all major machinery and equipment for the new plant have been concluded. JSL has signed the contract for steel melt shop with SMS Demag, Germany and for hot strip mill with Siemens-VAI, Austria. Once complete, Jindal hopes to become one of the cheapest producers of stainless steel since all the input linkages for the plant have already been assured.

Orissa siblings' plea for euthanasia
By Sarada Lahangir, Bhadrak (Orissa) May 9 : Three poor siblings in Orissa's Bhadrak District which is about 160 km from Bhubaneshwar have appealed to the President for granting them mercy deaths as they are suffering from a rare genetic disease. Raffimuddin, Hafimuddin and Mustaf, all in their early thirties, suffer from Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD), a genetic disorder that involves progressive muscle degeneration weakness and over a period of time.The Khan brothers and their old parents are extremely poor, and they claim that no government help has been forthcoming despite repeated requests. Therefore they have thought of this drastic step."We have sent a letter to the government...We do not want to live. We will anyway die like this," said Hafimuddin. The brothers are not educated and do not possess skills to take up any job. Hakimuddin, the distraught father of three, says he supports his sons' wishes as he is unable to do anything for them. "For the past 15 years they have been like this. They cannot go out. I am myself so poor, how will I take care of them?" he said. Authorities, however, claim the family has been provided with a handicap pension, but admit that the amount is insufficient. Brajeswari Devi, a senior state government official visited the family recently and assured them of all help. "I can see that they are suffering, but I cannot do anything. I will go and submit my report to collector. Whatever help they require will be given to them. I cannot say anything other than this," she said. India does not have a law on euthanasia. Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland have passed laws for allowing assisted euthanasia and though it is not legal in other countries, research shows it is not uncommon.However, the Parliament has passed the Transplantation of Human Organs Act a decade ago to allow organ transplants of "brain dead" patients.

Political activists, students demand IIT for Orissa
Bhubaneswar, May 10 : Hundreds of students and political activists Thursday demanded the central government set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Orissa, a day after the government said it had no such plan.Over 300 activists of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged demonstration in front of the Raj Bhaban here, the official residence of Governor Rameshwar Thakur.Students of Rupalli Vidyapitha, a residential school in the city, also launched a signature campaign to press the demand for setting up the premier engineering institute.Orissa does not have any institute of national repute like the IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) or Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Samir Mohanty said.The central government had earlier promised to set up an IIT but it did not keep its promise, he alleged.On Wednesday, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeshwari categorically said in parliament that the central government had no plan to set up an IIT in Orissa.The minister said this replying to call attention notices given by some Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members.BJD and BJP MPs of Orissa had staged a protest at the main gate of the Parliament House Wednesday demanding an IIT in the state and denouncing the apathetic attitude of the HRD ministry."We will continue our fight against the step motherly attitude of the central government towards Orissa," state BJP MP Jual Oram told IANS.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has described the central government's rejection of setting up an IIT in Orissa as "unfortunate" and said BJD-BJP combine will take the issue to the streets.

Five hurt in Maoist landmine blast in Orissa
Bhubaneswar, May 10: At least five policemen were injured, three critically, in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district Thursday afternoon.The incident took place near Sadagada village, about 100 km from district headquarters of Baripada, a day after Maoists set ablaze a forest building and killed an official, district collector S.K. Bashishth told IANS over phone.The details of the latest incident are not known, he said, adding he was going to the area to assess the situation.On Wednesday, around 50 Maoists had descended on Sadagada village and surrounded the forest house situated in the middle of the village. They asked forest official Rabindranath Patra, 55, who was resting inside, to come out. When the official came out they set the building ablaze and killed him, Bashishth said.