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Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

The Ong dam project at Pujaripali in Padampur block of Bargarh district has received the much awaited environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest(MoEF).

… Initially estimated to cost Rs 305 crore, the project was sanctioned by the Central Water Commission in September 2000.

The revised cost of the project will be nearly Rs 500 crore and this has been posed before the World Bank for funding under the Orissa Water Resources Improvement Project, official sources said.

The Water Resources Department has proposed to construct a reservoir on river Ong, a tributary of Mahanadi and the project envisages to irrigate about 30,000 hectares drought-prone areas of Bargarh and Balangir districts.

The submergence at full reservoir level is 5,100 hectares out of which, 167 hectares of neighbouring Chhattisgarh will be affected.

While 32 villages will affected by the project, 10 will be fully submerged.

As inter-state issues are involved, a public hearing was conducted in Chhattisgarh on September 11 and the willingness of people for the project has been communicated to the Centre.

Update: Pioneer reports that ‘"The NHAI has agreed to provide funds immediately to take up the widening and strengthening the NH-215 from Panikoeli to Rajmunda. Rs 96 crore will be spent for this purpose. The tender process for the four laning would start soon."

Odisha.in reports that IOC will set up a Biodiesel refinery in Orissa. Following is an excerpt from an Odisha.in  news item on this.

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Thursday announced to set up a Bio-Diesel Oil Refinery in Orissa.

This was announced by B.B.Choudhury, chief of IOC, Eastern Zone at the Banker’s Committee meeting on rising of energy plantation and Bio-Diesel production being organised jointly by OREDA and Science and Technology Department, Orissa.

Choudhury said that IOC had plans to support all necessary infrastructures for sustainable and qualitative production of Bio-Diesel.

He said that IOC would set up the proposed Bio-fuel processing unit in a centrally located area and urged the state government to help supply high yielding non-edible Jatropha or Karanja seeds of at least 2 lakh Metric tones annually to make the unit viable.

IOC has decided to blend Petrol and Diesel with ethanol content in rational level ,he said .presiding over the meeting Orissa Chief Secretary, Ajit Tripathy announced that a Bio-Diesel Park would be set up at Deras , in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

First an IT park, followed by a bio-tech one and now Orissa is set for a bio-diesel space.

Chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy in the capital city today flagged of the park project, which would boast of a research laboratory, as well as a plantation area with jatropha, karanja and castor plants — all of which produce oil.

… the chief secretary added that the construction work has been given to the Majhighariani Institute of Technology and Science Group, which has already started jatropha curcas plantation on 50,000 hectare in 10 Orissa districts.

“The group, in association with the government and banks, would set up the park. A minimum 100 acre is required and we have identified the land near Deras agricultural farm on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar,” said Balkrishna Panda, the chairman of the group.

He added that 10-odd acre would be required for the plantation alone. Besides, the park will be used for research, publicity and training of farmers on bio-diesel. In addition to it, the park would have one-stop solutions for fertiliser, spice and tissue culture issues, besides units of bio-diesel production plants

“It will be on public-private partnership (PPP) mode and will provide employment to 10 million in the state directly or indirectly,” said Panda.

Several banks, including Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, UCO bank and the Orissa State Cooperative Bank, have shown interest in the project. Indian Oil has also agreed to a marketing tie-up.

Jatropa is not a new concept for Orissa farmers. It often is planted on boundaries to protect the crop from stray cattle. But, its plantation on commercial basis in unproductive land is a new one.

Update: Economic Times says:  While it takes close to 275 days to obtain a license for any venture in Mumbai, it takes only 159 days to get a license in Bhubaneshwar,…

Following is an excerpt from a report in Livemint.com.

The private sector lending arm of the World Bank, International Finance Corp. (IFC), on Thursday said India can greatly improve its business environment if the best practices, currently followed only in some cities, can be replicated across the country.

“India can jump 55 places if best regional practices (in 10 business areas) are adopted nation-wide,” IFC’s chief economist Michael Klein said at a panel discussion on the ‘Doing Business 2008 Report’ of the World Bank.

India is currently ranked 120 in the Doing Business Index.

The report pointed out that best domestic practices in the area of launching a business exists in Jaipur, dealing with licences in Bhubaneswar, registering property in Hyderabad, paying taxes in Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh, trading across borders in Chennai, enforcing contracts in Bhubaneswar and closing a business in Bangalore. These practices, if adopted by the entire nation, would significantly improve the business environment in India, he said, adding that the country’s ranking in 2008 survey went up by 12 places to 120.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

The Orissa government has given administrative sanction for acquiring land at Patana tehsil in Kenojhar district for Arcelor-Mittal’s proposed 12 million tons per annum steel plant.

The company … has already deposited Rs 4.03 crore with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDCO) as processing fee for phase-I land acquisition.

The government has also appointed a nodal officer to oversee land acquisition process and other issues concerning the company’s greenfield project, said Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera.

Arcelor-Mittal is understood to have sought nearly 8,000 acres of land for the purpose and the state is believed to have agreed to the request.

The government has, however, cleared acquisition of only 1,224 acre of land spread over three villages like Angikala, Baradangua and Bhrungaraj under Patana tehsil in the first phase of land acquisition.

The 1,224 acres demarcated for the first phase acquisition comprised 431 acres of government land and 739 acres belonging to private owners.

While the government had fixed price per acre of state land at Rs two lakh, it was yet to decide cost of private land which would be fixed according to rehabilitation and resettlement policy.

This appears in various news media. Following are excerpts from a report in Kalinga Times.

… IBM India on Wednesday announced the launch of its SMB operations in Bhubaneswar .

This expansion will enable IBM to provide better support to SME clients in and around Bhubaneswar and help IBM’s customers leverage IT for business growth.

In addition, mid-market businesses will also benefit from the new IBM Express Advantage initiative that provides SMEs with a unified end-to-end approach to help them innovate and expand.

…Earlier this year, IBM had announced a plan to extend its presence to 14 cities outside of the key metros, and has successfully launched operations in Bhopal , Chandigarh , Coimbatore , Cochin , Goa, Jaipur, Jamshedpur , Lucknow , Nagpur , Nashik, Surat , and Vizag. It will look to expand into Ludhiana and Madurai as well.

… IBM’s SME offerings have already been accepted in various industries and organisations. Some existing customers in Bhubaneswar include, Government of Orissa IT Department – OCAC, Dept of Treasury Orissa, Paradeep Phosphates Ltd, Vedanta Alumina Ltd, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Biju Patnaik University of Technology, and Utkal University to name a few.

Following is an excerpt from a news item in odisha.in on this.

World Tourism Organisation (WTO), a United Nations body has expressed its interest to develop the coastline from Chandipur to Balaramgadi as a tourist resort of international standard.

Recently, a seven member expert team of WTO headed by James Craig Jessamine has visited the 3 km beach to examine its potential for growth and marketing.

Maintaining it as one of the world’s best tourist sites, the expert team has stressed on immediate steps to arrest coastal erosion, besides development of the beach site.

The WTO members included tourism infrastructure specialist Samuel E Sapuay, Thomas Fletcher, Richardian Batchelor, KVS Menon, Bez Beoura and BN Mishra also discussed the matter with government officers, NGOs and hoteliers after visiting the site.

"Considering Chandipur as base point for coastal development, the team put forth a plan to erect one tourist resort of international standard over 200 acres of land between the Panthaniwas and Balaramgadi," said ADM Sribatsa Jena, who accompanied the team.

… Of the 480-km coastline in Orissa, the golden beach of Chandipur in Balasore district has a unique characteristic of its own. …
It is the only beach where the seawater recedes more than five km everyday and return rhythmically after a regular interval – a phenomenon seldom found anywhere else. It’s like magic when one can see the sea literally vanishing before his own eyes and coming back as if playing hide and seek with the beholder.

"This uniqueness has attracted WTO to develop it as a tourist resort of world class," said Balasore Collector Alekh Chandra Padhiary.

The Collector said that with an assistance of Rs 2.06 crore from government of India the tourism department has started preliminary work for the development of Chandipur beach. …

The insert mentions that there are 10.2 lakh differently abled people in Orissa out of which 17,245 have been identified in Khurda district.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) on Tuesday announced that it has planned to cultivate Jatropha over 2 million hectares of wasteland in the KBK region.

… Science and Technology Minister Sanjeeb Kumar Sahoo said the need of the time is to go for an alternative of fossil fuels. Therefore, the production of bio-fuel from non-edible vegetable oils, particularly Jatropha curcas, is a much talked-about subject in the world. Orissa is among the first five States in the country that have come forward for bio-fuel production. The objective of the plan is to get substitution of fossil fuels, generation of employment and utilisation of wastelands, he said.

Secretary, Science and Technology, NC Vasudevan, said the Indian Oil Corporation has agreed to take the responsibility of bio-fuel marketing through its already existing network in the country. Director, OREDA, Ajit Bharthuar, said the oilseeds would be produced by the farmers and OREDA would buy the seeds from them to support them.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Under the PPT mode, the State Government has decided to build a Capital Region Ring Road. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Empowered Committee on Infrastructure (ECI) chaired by the Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy on Tuesday.

The proposed ring road will constructed with an aim to lessen pressure on the vehicular traffic movement on Bhubaneswar-Cuttack road. The road will start from Khurda and pass through Bhubaneswar via bypass and touch Nirgundi near Cuttack. The survey work for the project will commence soon.

Keeping the growing industrialisation in view, another road under PPT will be built connecting directly Bhubaneswar to Paradip. It will also help the smooth movement of traffic from Capital to Port City. ILFS will do the necessary survey work.

In order to strengthen the PPT mode, Government has constituted seven cells in different departments like Fisheries and Animal Development, Energy, Panchayat Raj and Information and Technology.

The committee approved five proposals under PPT. In a bid to develop the infrastructure of Berhampur city, Government has decided to build an integrated commercial and residential complex under the banner Gajapati Plaza. Rs 10 crore will be spent to build this project. Government will provide five acre of land for this purpose. All the modern amenities including swimming poll facilities will also be available in the complex. The project work would be entrusted to Forum Project Private Limited. Work on the project would commence in the next 15 days. The ECI also gave its nod to set up a bio-tech farm in an area of 64.86 acres of land near Andharua on the outskirt of Bhubaneswar city. A bio-tech incubation centre will be set up in another 10 acres of land in Andharua also. Five major state-of-the-art infrastructure in the form of modular laboratories, loaded wet laboratories, common equipment facilities and amenities, pilot plant facilities and training centre would be provided in the park.

These facilities in the Biotechnology Research Platform will help to multiply the number of users on free-for -use basis. Selected private developers will be allowed to operate, manage, maintain and market the park in Bio-Tech Pharma and Bio-Informatics -IT related issues.

The Orissa government has already involved itself in preparing the master plan for greater Bhubaneswar area. Now there is news regarding its intention to make master plans for 8 more areas. These areas are: Puri-Konark, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Kalinganagar, Paradeep, Jharsuguda, and Talcher-Angul. The govt. is missing a few other areas which it should take up soon. Those are: Baripada, Balasore, Dahamara, Rayagada-Therubali and Koraput-Jeypore. Following are excerpts from a report in Statesman on Orissa govt.’s recent thoughts on this.

In a bid to give major facelift to the upcoming urban areas of the state and for their integrated development, the government will prepare a master plan, within one and half years. The localities include Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Puri-Konark, Talcher-Angul, Paradip, Kalinga Nagar and Jharsuguda. … Mr Patnaik underscored the need of adequately trained personnel to successfully handle the technical problems of under-ground sewerage and solid waste management,…. He also stressed on better sanitation, drinking water, housing and slum development. It may be mentioned here that while Rs 950 crore from the funds of JBIC has been sanctioned for sewerage of Cuttack; the capital city has been allotted Rs 499 crore for the same under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. Rs 88 crore has been sanctioned for drinking water in Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur. Rs 3.65 crore has also been allotted for slum development in Bhubaneswar.

Telegraph also writes about this.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Zee News.

… the Nandankanan Zoo authorities are all set to launch a novel scheme that will ensure a tax rebate on adoption of an animal by the income tax department.

The scheme is being made possible in collaboration with the State�s income tax department to bring individuals closer to birds and animals apart from bringing transparency in the administrative activities.

"The basic objective is to bring people closer to the captive animals and birds��one is that of course it generates some earnings which give you an option and space for better management. At the same time, it gives a kind of insight on how the animals are reared," said Ajit Kumar Patnaik, Director, Nandankanan Zoo.

Though the novel scheme is a first of its kind in Orissa, the credit for initiating the novel scheme goes to the authorities at Mysore and Lucknow zoos where even schoolchildren are encouraged to adopt animals.

The scheme, which has motivated many individuals, will commence with the new financial year starting April 1, 2008.

… The interested individuals are required to fill up an application form and pay for an annual maintenance on which one can claim the tax rebates.

Names of the people adopting the animals would be displayed on enclosures of the adopted animals.

Nandankanan Zoo authorities are the waiting State government�s approval for starting the scheme.

Currently, the State government spends nine million rupees (0.22 million dollars) on feeding the animals while around Rs. 3 million (0.57 million dollars) are spent on the maintenance of the Nandankanan Zoo.

Nandankanan Zoo, 25 kilometres from Bhubaneshwar, lies in the splendid environs of the Chandaka forest, along the rippling waters of the Kanjia Lake. It also contains a Botanical Garden and part of it has been declared a sanctuary.

Famed for its white tiger population, Nandankanan, or the ‘Garden of Gods’, has become a hot family favourite, with visitors getting an excellent opportunity to enjoy seeing these regal animals in their natural glory.

Over 67 kinds of mammals, 18 varieties of reptiles and 81 species of birds co-exist in the deeply forested boundaries.

The zoo enjoys an excellent reputation internationally, for successfully breeding black panthers, Gharial, crocodiles and white tigers in captivity.