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Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36341.

As part of the on-going process of development, it is planned to construct Deep Draught Iron Ore Berth and Deep Draught Coal Berth at Paradip Port at a total estimated cost of Rs.892.60 crore. The projects are at tendering stage. Plan for Development of Southern Dock Complex at the Port is also at preliminary stage.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Economic Times.

Railways may seek Chinese help in developing railway stations at Bhubaneswar and Bypanahalli in Bangalore.

A high-level Chinese delegation is visiting India from tomorrow to understand the Indian Railway system in a better way as part of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between both the countries.

The 13-member delegation headed by Wu Wei, Director of Sino-India Railway Cooperation Working Group will visit Agra, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Bangalore during their 12-day visit.

… The two countries’ cooperation in rail sector is envisaged in the MoU signed on January 14 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing. The agreement, valid for three years, envisages development of rail-related programmes of mutual interest.

… The team would visit railway station at Bhubaneswar and Bypanahalli to explore the possibility of developing these stations at the international level. "After visiting these places, the team would share their views with us about the way to go ahead with the project, said the official.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

All most all the artistes said that they were not able to arrange a square meals for them before the Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner assigned them the task of wall painting. "Now we are flooded with offers from Mumbai, Delhi and Private Individuals to do wall paintings for their concerned organisations," said the team leader Simanchal Mallick.

Sharing the dais with the BMC Commissioner, Mallick said he was bit nervous before the Press. "Though I am a qualified artist, I wasn’t able to arrange even Rs 30 a day for my sustenance before this assignment," he said, adding that he even had left the profession and engaged in other profession.

… Thanks to the initiatives of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner. Things have started changing.

Simanchal continued in the last three months, they have been so far able to earn Rs 11 lakh by painting walls in different parts of the city. Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner has promised to give more works in the near future. "We do use weather coats and other modern technology to give it a permanent look.

The paintings would last for five to seven years," he said.

Giving a detailed plan, Commissioner Sarangi said that 13 more walls would be painted "We just decide upon the wall that comes under public eyes. If any individual wishes to paint a wall he must enter into an agreement with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner.

… She further continued that Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner wants to project Bhubaneswar as the face of the entire Orissa. All the paints relating to the composite culture of Orissa will be painted in the city walls.

The following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36286.

The Ministry of Rural Development has allocated Rs. 1213330 lakh during the last four years ( till 2007-08) for its Rural Housing projects under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) Scheme. The total number of Houses constructed during this period stood at 1458367. An amount of Rs.134846.35 lakh was released as Second installment during the finacial year 2006-07. However, as per the guidelines of the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) Scheme, second instalment of funds is released only to those States/DRDAs who have spent at least 60% of the total available funds during the year including the amount of 1st instalment. Also, the construction of IAY houses is done by the beneficiaries themselves with a layout and type design of their own choice. As per “All India Report on Concurrent Evaluation of Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)” conducted during 1998 – 1999, 86% of the beneficiaries have expressed satisfaction with the constructed houses. The Central allocation for the last three years and current year and amount released to various States/UTs as second instalment of funds under Indira Awaas Yojana during the year 2006-07, alongwith the amount utilized by them and the houses constructed, is given in the table enclosed.

Following is from the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36250.

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Parliament today the target date for completion of modernization process of the 35 non-metro airports by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), is March 2010.

New Terminal Buildings expandable on modular basis are being constructed at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Agatti, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Goa, Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Khajuraho, Madurai, Mangalore, Port Blair, Ranchi, Raipur, Rajkot, Trivandrum, Trichy, Udaipur, Varanasi and Vishakhapatnam airports. Modification/expansion of existing Terminal Buildings is being undertaken at airports in Agra, Agartala, Coimbatore, Dimapur, Guwahati, Imphal, Jammu, Nagpur, Patna, Pune and Vadodara.

Airside works including expansion and strengthening of runway for wide bodied aircraft operations, extension/new construction of Apron for more parking of aircrafts, link taxiways and parallel taxi tracks are being taken up at these airports as per requirement. At 24 of these airports, cityside development through Public Private Partnership is being undertaken. Bids for pre-qualification have been received for Amritsar and Udaipur airports.

Following is an excerpt from a report by Reuters, UK.

Reliance Industries (RELI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), India’s largest listed firm, plans to spend about 1 billion rupees ($25 million) building a solar power plant, the Times of India reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

The paper said work on the project in eastern state of Orissa would start during 2008/09 (April-March) and take six months to complete.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Government has approached the Indian Airports Authority of India for night landing facilities at the Biju Patnaik Airport here. The IAAI authorities have assured that a Terminal Approach Radar would soon be installed which could enable night landing facilities. The night landing facilities would help the local hospitality industries occupancy rates, Mishra said. A proposal has been mooted for three more airports other than Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda for improving connectivity.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindustan Times.

In percentage terms, Tier 2 cities like Hyderabad, Pune and Bhubaneswar are creating more white-collar jobs than the old employment hubs of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, says a new survey. In percentage terms in fact, for every job Delhi has created this year, Hyderabad has created nearly two.

The cyber city has seen the fastest growth among all cities: from 46,605 new jobs in 2006-07, it is projected to jump to 60,427 new jobs in 2007-08, a rise of 30 per cent. (The projection is based on actual figures till December 2007). Pune comes second, projected to create 28 per cent more new jobs in 2007-08 as compared to 2006-07. Bhubaneswar sees a growth of 22.1 per cent, though its base is smaller than both Hyderabad and Pune.

By contrast, in Delhi, new jobs are projected to grow by 17.4 per cent. It does better than Mumbai, however, which is projected to reach only 11.4 per cent growth. Chennai, at 9.5 per cent, fares even worse.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu. (See also http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/?p=526, http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/?p=480  and http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/?p=319 )

Construction companies eyeing the access controlled, six-lane expressway projects of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are likely to get investment opportunities for at least four such projects spread over 495 km over the next few months.

They are Chandikhol-Jagatpur-Bhubaneswar (70 kilometre length, estimated cost Rs 761 crore), Delhi-Hapur (47 km, Rs 474 crore), the 198-km stretch of Vijayawada-Elluru-Rajamundri (Rs 1,602 crore) and the 180-km stretch on Delhi-Agra highway (Rs 1,918 crore). The feasibility reports for these projects are already completed and the work is likely to be awarded in about six months, said NHAI officials. Toll collection

These projects are for widening the current four-lane highways into six lanes and operating them for certain durations.

Companies would have to bid competitively for these projects on a revenue-sharing basis. Thus companies would have to bid on the extent of toll revenue that they are ready to share with the Government if they are allowed to operate the roads.

Since these highways are already four-lane stretches, the road operators can start toll collection even during the project construction phase from an ‘appointed date’ (within six months of winning the project), mutually decided by NHAI and the road operator. The toll revenues will be routed to an escrow account.

… From the NHAI perspective, these projects have emerged as money-spinners, with companies willing to foot the entire construction cost and part with two per cent to 48.06 per cent of their revenues in the initial leg of the project.

At the end of the concession period, which is about 12 to 15 years duration, the winning firms have agreed to part with 12 per cent to 59 per cent share of toll revenues.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Pioneer.

… with reports of flocking of a huge number of flamingoes from the Far East and South Asian countries including Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh to the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary in the Chilika lake pouring in. There are also speculations that the birds, in due course of time, may make the sanctuary their permanent home.

Nalabana Bird Sanctuary, which falls under the Chilika lagoon, is situated some 100 km away from Bhubaneswar. While 40 per cent of the visiting birds have already left Chilika with the onset of summer, flamingoes and pelicans are yet to start on their journey, informed Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Abhimanyu Behera. Around 1,680 flamingoes were counted this year during the annual bird survey, conducted on January 5. Their number increased to 2,600 by the end of February. Almost all of them had gathered in the 16.59 sq km Nalabana sanctuary, Behera said. In the last two years, hundreds of flamingoes have chosen to stay back in Chilika instead of returning home, he said. "The flamingoes which preferred to stay back in Chilika, go to Kutch in Gujarat during the rains for breeding before returning to the lake," he said.

Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India.

Thousands of endangered Olive Ridley turtles have begun mass nesting on the coast of eastern Orissa state, home to the world’s largest nesting site for the turtles, officials said on Wednesday.

Over 20,000 turtles came ashore for mass-nesting early on Wednesday, within a two-kilometre stretch from the mouth of the Rushikulya river in Ganjam district, a local forest department official said.

The Rushikulya river mouth is around 175 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

For more than a decade, the beach at the Rushikulya river mouth has been witnessing mass arrival of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles. But the turtles did not land here last year, the official said.

… There are three mass nesting sites of turtles in Orissa: Nasi Islands in Gahirmatha, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth.

… The Rushikulya river mouth is the only place along the coast where turtles are safe from marauding trawlers, said Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of the NGO Wildlife Society of Orissa.

Note: Several companies have expressed interest in developing Barunei muhana in Kendrapada as a top notch port. These companies are: Mittal Steel, Adhunik Metallic and SPI infrastructure.

Their web page is at http://pgportal.gov.in/. The page http://dpg.gov.in/purview.htm lists the departments which are under the purview of this mechanism. At present they are:

Their web site is http://www.ngtechinc.com/. Following is from Samaja.

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

Andhra Pradesh has agreed to the State Government proposal to share 50 percent of the total energy generated from Machhkund hydro power station in Koraput district.

A ministerial level meeting of the two States in Hyderabad today resolved to get approval of the governments on the proposal within one month. The two States will sign an agreement here sometime in April, said Energy Minister S N Patro.

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) will be approached for evaluation of asset and the cost of the additional 20 percent share of the hydro power station will be paid to Andhra Pradesh.

The meeting also decided to go for renovation and uprating of the hydro power station having installed generating capacity of 114.75 mega watt. The cost for renovation and uprating will be shared on 50:50 basis, Patro said, adding the staffing pattern will be on equal basis.

See http://oceanworldwaterpark.com.

They are located between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and their Physical address is:

BSNL in Orissa now has many plans on land line, cell phone and broadband, including certain combinations of them. Following is a recent ad.

Following is an excerpt from a report in The economic Times.

The long awaited Garib Rath air-conditioned train between Bhubaneswar and Ranchi will be inaugurated on March 10, railway officials said on Sunday.

While the special inaugural run would be flagged off on March 10 7 from here, schedules for the regular service of the train, proposed to be provided thrice a week, were being finalised, a senior railway official said.

The Bhubaneswar-Ranchi Garib Rath would effectively have eight 3-tier AC coaches, each having a capacity of 78 berths, sources said adding though the train had been announced in the last rail budget, its introduction was delayed because of various reasons.

Perceived as the poor man’s AC train, Garib Rath passenger fare is around 50 per cent less than the three tier AC coach fare in other trains, they said.

There has also been a demand from some political parties and section of public for a long time to extend the Garib Rath train currently running between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam upto Bhubaneswar, they added.

In regards to the last sentence, how can there be a long standing demand, when the announcement of Secunderabad-Vizag Garib Rath was only made 5 days back. In any case, it is better to extend it before the introduction of the train than after, as the later will create more resentment from the people in Vizag.

Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in.

Take the case of Bhusan Power & Steel (BPSL), an integrated power and steel plant set up at Thelkoloi in Sambalpur district.

The Orissa Pollution Control Board (OPCB) on 16 February issued a closure notice to BPSL for violating the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.

BPSL was asked to stop all production until further orders, failing which stringent penal proceedings would be initiated against the company.

According to sources though the company is producing power for more than 2 years is has no designated site to dump fly ash released from the plants.

In absence of a proper place the company authorities were dumping in nearby places like Laripalli, for which villagers raised hue and cry.

Now they are dumping in Khinda, said a source.

Secondly BPSL filled up the river bed of the Bheden River by dumping earth.

These, according to environmental norms are serious offences.

OPCB had been asking BPSL to conform to environmental norms for the past six months, said the source.

However, the company allegedly did not pay any heed to it, added an official.

OPCB waited for six months and finally decided on closing down the unit.

… On 1 March OPCB has lifted the closure notice.

… Months ago when Dr. Hrushikesh Panda was at the helm of Forest & Environment Department, Tata Refractories Limited (TRL) at Belpahar,  was accused of pollution.

He impressed upon the OPCB to issue closure notice to the company.

OPCB issued closure notice and the Chief Minister announced the closure of TRL in the floor of the House.

So unrelenting was he that the State Government was to shift Dr.Panda to provide relief to TRL.

With so many pollution prone large mineral based industries coming up in Orissa, the soft approach of the Government’s Green Authority bodes ill for the state, feel an environmentalist.